[A study on the awareness of Chinese medicine by medical missionaries: focused on the China Medical Missionary Journal (1887-1932)]. 2015

Jeongeun Jo
Department of History, College of Humanities, Kyung Hee University Address: 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 130-701, KOREA.

Protestant medical missionaries, who started entering China during the beginning of the 19th century, set the goal as propagating Western medicine to the Chinese while spreading the Christian gospel. Back in those days, China formed deep relations with their own ideology and culture and depended on Chinese medicine that caused major influence on their lives instead of just treatment behaviors. Accordingly, it is natural to see information about Chinese medicine in documents that were left behind. Yet, there are not many studies which dealt with the awareness of Chinese medicine by medical missionaries, and most were focused on the criticism imposed by medical missionaries regarding Chinese medicine. Thus, there are also claims amongst recent studies which impose how the medical missionaries moved from overlooking and criticizing Chinese medicine to gaining a "sympathetic viewpoint" to a certain degree. Still, when the documents left behind by medical missionaries is observed, there are many aspects which support how the awareness of Chinese medicine in medical missionaries has not changed significantly. In addition, medical missionaries actively used medicine like traditional Chinese drugs if the treatment effect was well known. Yet, they barely gave any interest to the five elements, which are the basics of traditional Chinese drugs prescription. In other words, medical missionaries only selected elements of Chinese medicine that were helpful to them just like how the Chinese were choosing what they needed from Western knowledge. The need to understand Chinese medicine was growing according to the flow of times. For instance, some medical missionaries admitted the treatment effect of acupuncture in contrast to claiming it as non-scientific in the past. Such changes were also related to how focused medical missionaries were on medical activities. The first medical missionaries emphasized the non-scientific aspect of Chinese medicine to verify the legitimacy of medical mission. Then, medical missionaries gradually exerted more efforts on medical treatment than direct mission activities so the need of Chinese medicine became greater. This was because Chinese relied on Chinese medicine the most and even used Chinese medicine terms that they knew to explain their conditions while getting treatment from doctors who learned Western medicine. Additionally, medicine missionaries witnessed patients getting better after receiving treatment so they could not completely overlook Chinese medicine. However, medical missionaries strongly believed in the superiority of Western medicine and considered that China certainly needed Western medicine from a scientific perspective. Chinese doctors who were close to medical missionaries and learned about Western medicine believed in Western medicine and thought that Chinese medicine only held historical value besides some fields like Chinese traditional drugs.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008516 Medicine, Chinese Traditional A system of traditional medicine which is based on the beliefs and practices of the Chinese culture. Chinese Medicine, Traditional,Chung I Hsueh,Traditional Medicine, Chinese,Zhong Yi Xue,Chinese Traditional Medicine,Traditional Chinese Medicine,Traditional Tongue Assessment,Traditional Tongue Diagnosis,Hsueh, Chung I,Tongue Assessment, Traditional,Tongue Diagnoses, Traditional,Tongue Diagnosis, Traditional,Traditional Tongue Assessments,Traditional Tongue Diagnoses
D002681 China A country spanning from central Asia to the Pacific Ocean. Inner Mongolia,Manchuria,People's Republic of China,Sinkiang,Mainland China
D001364 Awareness The act of "taking account" of an object or state of affairs. It does not imply assessment of, nor attention to the qualities or nature of the object. Situation Awareness,Situational Awareness,Awareness, Situation,Awareness, Situational,Awarenesses,Awarenesses, Situation,Awarenesses, Situational,Situation Awarenesses,Situational Awarenesses
D049672 History, 19th Century Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era. 19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History
D049673 History, 20th Century Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era. 20th Century History,20th Cent. History (Medicine),20th Cent. History of Medicine,20th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 20th Century,History of Medicine, 20th Cent.,History, Twentieth Century,Medical History, 20th Cent.,Medicine, 20th Cent.,20th Cent. Histories (Medicine),20th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 20th (Medicine),Cent. History, 20th (Medicine),Century Histories, 20th,Century Histories, Twentieth,Century History, 20th,Century History, Twentieth,Histories, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 20th Century,Histories, Twentieth Century,History, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Twentieth Century Histories,Twentieth Century History
D033303 Protestantism The name given to all Christian denominations, sects, or groups rising out of the Reformation. Protestant churches generally agree that the principle of authority should be the Scriptures rather than the institutional church or the pope. (from W.L. Reese, Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, 1999) Seventh-Day Adventists,Anglican Church,Anglicans,Baptist Church,Baptists,Episcopal Church,Episcopalians,Lutheran Church,Lutherans,Methodist Church,Methodists,Presbyterian Church,Presbyterians,Protestant Ethics,Protestants,Quakers,Society of Friends,Adventist, Seventh-Day,Adventists, Seventh-Day,Anglican,Baptist,Church, Anglican,Church, Baptist,Church, Episcopal,Church, Lutheran,Church, Methodist,Church, Presbyterian,Episcopalian,Ethic, Protestant,Ethics, Protestant,Friends Society,Lutheran,Methodist,Presbyterian,Protestant,Protestant Ethic,Quaker,Seventh Day Adventists,Seventh-Day Adventist
D066189 Missionaries Persons sent into an area to evangelize or to perform acts of service, such as medical care, EDUCATION, or SOCIAL JUSTICE. Missionary

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