The Medical System Of Chinese Country Since Qing Dynasty

There is little studies on the medical practitioners and the medical systerm ofcountry.My paper is the case of research them in the angle of history of medicial andculture and social.The evolution of the relationship in country and society is deeplyreflected by the construction and dispersion of country disease and medical discourse,the systematization and institutionalization of rural doctors and medical behaviours.These transitions mainly starts from Qing dynasty. Researching from folkpractitioners to barefoot doctors, the purpose of this dissertation is to explore thetortuous development of rural medical system and the deep factors behind it---thechangeable state system and social relations---from Qing dynasty.Before Qing dynasty, there was a free and diverse medical system existed in thecountryside, which represented by folk practitioner and consisted of various anddispersive medical resources to meet the ordinary need of villagers.The governmentseldom interfered the local medical affairs unless there was a severe epidemic, for thelocal elites basically undertook the epidemic treatment in the countryside. During thelater period of Qing dynasty, with the introduction of western public health conceptwhich gradually changed the Chinese traditional ones, the epidemic preventionbecame a basic function of the government.The implementation of port quarantine and the reformation of healthadministrative policies in later Qing dynasty were the beginning of healthsystematization. The condition that plenty of medical missionaries swarmed intoChina also had a deep influence on rural medical treatment, and formed a competitiverelation with traditional doctors.During the republican period, although the country lack of a powerful andunified regime, the health systematization also obtained some development, such asthe rural social power, experimental area held by local government and country,health care provider and the cooperative medical system, etc. Compared with folkpractitioner, health care providers were systematic health workers. Besides using western method treated some simple disease, they also took the responsibility forepidemic prevention. But this reformation only limited in a small scope, most of therural area also need the traditional doctors to provide medical service.The establishment of the new regime in1949totally changed this laggardsituation. The new government applied various methods to change the epidemicsituation in rural areas.Traditional Chinese medicine workers were integrated intounion clinics, medical missionaries and folk practitioner were not allowed to domedical work. Mobile medical team which were sent from city to the rural areasactively treated and prevented disease in the countryside, cultivated in-service farmerhealth care providers and new-method midwives. After the Movement of People’sCommune, the three-level management system which consists of commune,production brigade and production team provided a organizational guarantee forhealth systematization. The system of commune health center, brigade health officeand production team health worker was set up throughout the world. During the GreatLeap Forward period, the cooperative medical system which means receive treatmentfor free once implemented for a short time, but ended soon due to the limitedobjective conditions.In1965, the instruction that "put the key point of medical health work in thecountryside" motivated the cultivation of countryside health care providers. Theexamples of barefoot doctors in Shanghai Jiangzhen Commune and Hubei Paradisecooperative medical service aroused the fast development of both throughout thecountry. The appearance and development of barefoot doctor is not only thefunctional requirement of country medical service, but the expression of medicalpoliticalization. As the executor of rural medical revolution, barefoot doctor itself isan element of culture revolution. To some extend, the requirement of revolutionsurpassed the pursuit of medical effect. When the country transferred its aim fromcultural revolution to realize modernization and loosened the control of ruralorganization, the barefoot doctors and cooperative medical services which tookrevolution as motivation, obeyed to the mass line, belonged to the sportivedevelopment were difficult to exist.The construction of this rural medical system rebuilt the doctor and medical objects through political method. So, we have to hold an objective attitude to this. Tosome extend, it covered the dilemma of rural medical treatment, made up a medicalmiracle which can reflect the superiority of system. When the dust settled, ruralmedical service is still an unsolved problem. The rise of new rural cooperativemedical service no longer rely on the rural doctors, as well, the government alsoincrease the investment. But the clustered problems that caused by it still reflect thatthe rural medical system lacks of creation and depends heavily on traditionalmethods.Since the Qing Dynasty the changes of rural medical service indicate thatcountry increasingly played a part of a salvor who provided medical assistance forpeople, which reflects the modernity of hygiene. However, deviationes and errorsalways appeared in the country’s playing. Either it wins the legitimacy of ruling andstrengthened the village control, or it provided faint medical services for people.How to achieve a balance in realizing the functions of the state, bring into play localautonomy and making full use of local resources is still a problem to be solvedurgently.