It has also been said that during the Cultural Revolution, when scientific research and publications had all but ceased in mainland China, a visitor to the Needham Research Institute brought along a mainland Chinese medical journal.
在文化大革命期間，中國大陸的一切科技史研究都停頓了，所有學術刊物也停刊了好一陣。當時研究所來了一位訪客，正好拿了一份當期中國大陸出版的「醫學雜誌」，其中除了一篇與眼科針灸有關的文章，其餘全是談政治和主義。