The Making and Remaking of a Chinese Hospital in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's hospital system has long been the territory of Western medicine. However, during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, an integrative approach, combining Chinese and Western medicines, was used in some hospitals in Hong Kong, suggesting a revival of Chinese...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Modern Asian studies 2011-09, Vol.45 (5), p.1313-1336
Main Author: MA, SHU-YUN
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
19th century
Bubonic plague
Charities
Charity
Chinese history
Chinese medicine
Colonial history
Diseases
Epidemics
Herbal medicine
Hong Kong
Hospital administration
Hospital ships
Hospital units
Hospitals
Institutionalization
Medical care
Medical profession
Medical treatment
Medicine
Modern medicine
Peoples Republic of China
Plague
Politics
Public health
SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Social Interest
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Medicine
United Kingdom
Westernization
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Summary:Hong Kong's hospital system has long been the territory of Western medicine. However, during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, an integrative approach, combining Chinese and Western medicines, was used in some hospitals in Hong Kong, suggesting a revival of Chinese medicine in the hospital system of this former British colony. This paper will explain how this could happen, by situating the event in the over 160 years' long history of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. Specifically, it will focus on the role of 'Chinese medicine' and 'traditional Chinese medicine' in Tung Wah Hospital, a local charity established in 1870, which grew subsequently into one of the largest voluntary organizations in Hong Kong. It will also show how the fall and revival of Chinese medicine in this hospital were related to two epidemics: the bubonic plague in 1894, and the SARS outbreak in 2003.
ISSN:0026-749X
1469-8099
DOI:10.1017/S0026749X10000107