Incurable Disease:the Concept Of Tuberculosis In Modern China (1912——1937)

In this article, the author intends to examine the changing process about the concept of "tuberculosis" in modern China from three aspects.The First part, in terms of the changes on name translation, from "fei-lao" to "fei-jiehe", examines the concept of two different systems, Chinese and Western’s, of medical culture, understanding and blending with each other.This part introduces the concept of "fei-lao", from Chinese medical system; and that of "fei-jiehe", from Western medical system. It also specifies a series of changes in the translation process of the word "tuberculosis" when China’s "fei-lao" hit the Western’s "fei-jiehe" and reveals people’s changing cognitive process, from "feilao", the concept from traditional Chinese medicine, to "fei-jiehe", the concept from western medicine.Concluded, despite the late Qing to the Republic of China, people were still used to use "fei-lao" as the name of tuberculosis, but it is undeniable that the concept of tuberculosis based on the germ theory was gradually accepted by people as a scientific knowledge.The second part will describe the cognition of tuberculosis from the perspectives of nation, western medicine and social groups in the context of modern public health prevention campaigns and nationalism. This section focus on investigation of four parts, namely tuberculosis work during the period of the republic of China; doctors efforts to promote the prevention and control of tuberculosis in China; the cognition that "the number of Tuberculosis patients in China is huge" in early 20th century and the "prevention-instead-of-cure" principle in the campaign of the prevention and control of tuberculosis in modern China.In this section, the author attempts to explain the influences of the germ theory’ two sides on China.One hand, along with the rise of the public health system and the establishment of national health administration system, the germ theory began to establish its authority. At that time, the campaign of tuberculosis prevention and control was trying to make people gradually understand the principle of bacteriology of the spread of tuberculosis, through a series of tuberculosis prevention publicity.The germ theory also began to enter the vision of public life. This campaign involved the ordinary people in public health campaigns and let them realize that they should take on the job of protecting themselves from diseases and reshaped the moral standard, like no spitting, and so on.But on the other hand, in the field of tuberculosis’treatment in the wide range of fight against tuberculosis, compared with Chinese medicine, the competitiveness of Western medicine was limited.Doctors and public health experts believe that, under the case in the absence of effective medicines and prescriptions, prevention is the most effective way. Therefore they stresses that "prevention instead of treatmenf" -principle. At the same time, this part also affirmed that the western medicine, social organizations and countries all played a huge role in tuberculosis’ prevention and treatment.In the field of tuberculosis’ treatment in the wide range of fight against tuberculosis, compared with Chinese medicine, the competitiveness of Western medicine was limited. The "offensive" of prevention and control of bacteriology in western medicine, formed a sharp contrast with the "defensive" in treatment.And behind this, it also shows Chinese government’s efforts in order to promote the pace of China’s modernization, through a series of system and health propaganda, such as introducing western’s germ theory and public health system into China.The third part explores a series of competition and the exchange in the treatment of tuberculosis between the western medicine and Chinese medicine.Section 1 includes three parts:a series of criticism by western doctors to traditional Chinese medicine on the tuberculosis treatment methods; doctors’response of traditional Chinese medicine and its internal differences.In section 2, a question is raised:during the period of the republic of China, in front of tuberculosis, neither western medicine nor Chinese medicine had useful ways to treat it. Had the treatment ideas of the two medical system appear a certain degree of blending?In this section, the author from two person’s perspective, which are Zhang gongrang, a doctor of western medicine, and Luo zhiyuan, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, explores the attitudes and performances of Chinese and western doctors in treating tuberculosis. Finally the author points out the characteristics of the dual nature of modern Chinese medicine behind this contrast.Along with the entrance of germ theory and public health, China made great efforts to promote the national modernization pace through the establishment of the public health system and health education. As a result, traditional Chinese medicine had "aphasia" in front of the public health leadership roles and status.Although doctors of traditional Chinese medicine were unable to participate in prevention of tuberculosis, they were still trying to promote its effectiveness of tuberculosis treatment through organizing the classics of traditional Chinese medicine.Facing the attack of the western medicine, although doctors of Chinese medicine internally had differences, but the discussion of traditional Chinese medicine for tuberculosis, the "incurable" disease at the time showed that doctors of Chinese medicine were trying to absorb the essences of western medicine.Panic patients more accustomed to using western medicine’s technology to verify the existence of disease, tuberculosis bacterium, and constantly trying traditional Chinese medicine treatment in the lengthy treatment process.In the civil areas of tuberculosis treatment, patients’ fear of fei-lao reflected the success of the western medicine of tuberculosis prevention and control publicity and also attested to both Chinese and Western medicine had no solution for the treatment of tuberculosis at that time.