Early twentieth century China went through a tumultuous period marked by the end of an ancient
monarchy political instability and profound cultural upheaval. The medical discourse both
reflected and contributed to these transformations. Western medicine arrived in China as part
of missionary foreign imperialist and internal modernization efforts. In various ways it
interacted with Chinese practices and belief systems. The contributions in this volume explore
important episodes of this multi-faceted process describing key institutions personalities
and their respective motives and interests. Collectively the chapters reveal a complex web of
interlocking dimensions which evade simple categorizations of Western or Chinese exploitive
or supportive traditional or modern.
