A Study Of The Health Education Society Of China(1935-1948)

Since the opium war, China had suffered from the aggression of western invaders constantly, and the Chinese had suffered a lot of miseries. In order to realize national independence and national rejuvenation, some excellent Chinese explored many roads to save the country, such as"saving the country by promoting education", "saving the nation by engaging in industry", and "saving the country by promoting people’s healthy conditions". The ideological trend of "saving the country by promoting people’s healthy conditions" rose in the period of the Reform Campaign, and got inherited and developed during the period of the republic of China, and became extremely urgent before the Anti-Japanese War. The Health Education Society of China was just set up in this background.The Health Education Society of China founded in 1935 and ended in 1948. It was a non-governmental academic organization dedicated to health education. It was initiated by Chinese educators, doctors and politicians, and it was led by Chen Guofu and Hu Dingan. With perfect organizational structure, it devoted to promoting the health education by hosting a lot of academic activities and health activities. Academic activities, including hosting annual conferences four times, participating in the joint education academic society annual meeting, and publishing periodicals (Wartime Medical Administration), etc; Health activities, including hosting the health education exhibitions four times, holding the children’s healthy competitions, and carrying out the national health movement, etc. These activities committed to popularizing the knowledge of public health, and improving people’s consciousness of public health.The activities of the Health Education Society of China conformed to the demand of the war, and their modes were very enjoyable. What’s more, it had the nature of being the health advisory body of the government. Although the Health Education Society of China was a national academic organization, affected by the political unrest in that time, it had to travel westwards, so it presented obvious regional characteristic. The development of public health service has been facilitated by the spread of hygienic knowledge since the founding of Health Education Society of China. It also cooperated the "New Life Movement" which set up by nationalist government. As an important non-governmental public health organization during the republican period, it made up for the lack of governmental health education and promoted the modernization of Chinese public health service.