| In human history,infectious diseases have posed a grave threat to public health and impeded social progress.Although the opening of the modern Shanghai harbor led to rapid economic growth and increased cultural exchanges between China and the West,it also brought with it invisible viruses and bacteria that posed a significant risk to public health.Shanghai was repeatedly ravaged by infectious diseases such as cholera,plague,and smallpox,which caused a "plague scare" that disrupted foreign trade and people’s lives.In 1899,the Chongbaosha Quarantine Station was established in Woosung,marking the first step towards institutionalizing and standardizing Shanghai harbor quarantine.However,under the control of consular corps and western medical inspectors,the Shanghai harbor quarantine which had been "transplanted" by force,was still in a backward state of development.As liberal and democratic ideas began to take hold in modern China,and with the decline of harbor quarantine under customs jurisdiction,Chinese people started to resist the injustice and humiliation that they suffered during quarantine.Modern intellectuals and medical experts played an active role in the movement to reclaim the sovereignty of harbor quarantine.With the support and assistance of League of Nations,Nanking National Government successfully recovered the sovereignty of harbor quarantine.In 1930,the sovereignty of Shanghai harbor quarantine was handed over to National Quarantine Service.Under the leadership of Wu Lien-Teh,the harbor quarantine embarked on the road of "rebirth" and innovation.Wu Lien-Teh carried out indigenized reforms according to health level of modern Shanghai and medical habits of people.The "rebirth" of Shanghai harbor quarantine had met the modernization expectations of the League of Nations by formulating scientific and standardized quarantine regulations,introducing advanced and efficient quarantine facilities,and cultivating professional quarantine personnel.Quarantine medical inspectors with "Chinese face" pulled into the distance with quarantined people,quarantine science publicity enhanced public’s attention to infectious diseases,"corpse coffin"transport took into account Chinese funeral custom.Various indigenized reform measures,had gained the cooperation and praise of passengers.It is worth mentioning that National Quarantine Service and Shanghai Harbor Quarantine Office,based on the backward level of public health and medical treatment in modern Shanghai,actively performed social functions such as vaccination,immigration management,wartime relief,and infectious disease research,demonstrating a sense of national mission and social responsibility.However,there were not only praise and support during the Autonomously Quarantine Period.The "quarantine fee"and "disinfection donation" levied to alleviate financial predicament had caused dissatisfaction among merchants and travelers.The shipping had difficulty adapting new quarantine regulations,resulting in constant frictions and conflicts.The collision and fusion of Chinese and Western medical civilizations run through the overall process of "transplantation" and "rebirth"of modern Shanghai harbor quarantine.Influenced by cultural barriers between China and the West,Chinese society,accustomed to TCM(traditional Chinese medicine)treatment,violently rejected to harbor quarantine,which was initially "transplanted" by force.As a result,modern harbor quarantine technology repeatedly setbacks.Under the pressure and exclusion of Western medicine,Chinese medicine actively studied the advantages of Western medicine,engaged in self-reflection and innovation.After the sovereignty of harbor quarantine was regained,Chinese quarantine medical inspectors promoted the combination of TCM epidemic prevention concept and modern quarantine technology.As a result,the contradictions and conflicts between Chinese and Western medicine in the field of harbor quarantine were alleviated to some extent. |
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