Relocating Pastorian Medicine: Accommodation and Acclimatization of Medical Practices at

257 Pages·2016·24.43 MB·English

UCLA
UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Relocating Pastorian Medicine: Accommodation and Acclimatization of Medical Practices at
the Pasteur Institutes in China, 1899-1951
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8n2727vb
Author
Liu, Chien-Ling
Publication Date
2016

Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
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Relocating Pastorian Medicine:
Accommodation and Acclimatization of Medical Practices at the Pasteur Institutes in China,
1899-1951

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy
in History

by

Chien-Ling Liu

2016
© Copyright by

Chien-Ling Liu

2016
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

Relocating Pastorian Medicine:
Accommodation and Acclimatization of Medical Practices at the Pasteur Institutes in China,
1899-1951

by

Chien-Ling Liu
Doctor of Philosophy in History
University of California, Los Angeles, 2016
Professor Peter Baldwin, Chair

In contrast to the historical assessment of modern medicine as an emanation of hegemonic
European domination operating exclusively under its auspices and presumably diffused to the
rest of the world, this dissertation offers a new approach to discovering the collision,
collaboration, and compromise between the local Chinese and the Pastorians in China, by
focusing on medical practices in the network of knowledge circulation and influences of material
culture and social beliefs on knowledge formation. Drawing upon evidence from archives both in
China and in France and investigating how the practices had been shaped within environmental,
political, and socio-cultural constraints, it argues that Pastorism in China functioned as a special
style of practice, marked by its emphasis on localism that was unique to China. On the one hand,
Pastorians in China validated traditional medical practices, which relied upon the Chinese textual
tradition, by providing scientific explanations based on toxicology, immunology, and

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pharmacology. Moreover, they learned and adapted on the ground, by incorporating local
knowledge and accommodating local political circumstances and socio-cultural practices within
their vaccination campaigns. On the other hand, they accounted for the acclimatization of local
environmental specificities, pertaining to pathogens and animal species, in their vaccine
production. These encounters and practices informed the colonial understanding of local
meaning of public health, contagion, and immunity. Conversely, the ensuing knowledge
reshaped the colonial medical practices and public health measures. The connections among the
European Pastorians, Chinese practitioners of traditional medicine, and Chinese practitioners of
Western medicine, as well as other colonial and international medical personnel and institutions,
enabled multi-directional and transnational mobility that served as a fertile ground for mutual
accommodation and created the contemporary medical landscape, which laid the foundation for
modern integrative medicine and health care in the present day Chinese state.

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This dissertation of Chien-Ling Liu is approved.

Theodore M. Porter

Andrea Sue Goldman

Hannah Louise Landecker

Peter Baldwin, Committee Chair

University of California, Los Angeles

2016

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I dedicate this work to my parents,
Liu Jenho 劉仁和 and Lin Meilien 林美蓮.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

DISSERTATION ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLDEGEMENTS viii

CURRICULUM VITAE xi

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER I:
“Following ‘Science,’ Serving Fatherland”: Pastorian Culture in Republican China 40

CHAPTER II:
A Tangled Transition from Variolation to Vaccination in Chengdu, China, 1908-1927 87

CHAPTER III:
Microbiological Studies of Rabies Virulence and Treatment at the Pasteur Institutes in Shanghai,
1899-1950 122

CHAPTER IV:
International Collaboration on Vaccination and Related Public Health Measures against
Smallpox and Blindness in Tianjin, 1922-1942 158

CONCLUSION: Pastorism and the Pastorian Legacy in China 205

APPENDICES:

Appendix 1.1: Chinese Pastorians 221

Appendix 2.1: Map of Variolation and Vaccination Transmission Routes, Late Seventeenth
Century - Early Nineteenth Century 223

Appendix 2.2: Map of Vaccination Cities and Routes in China, 1805-1900 224

BIBLIOGRAPHY 226

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FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 2.1: Vaccination Acupunctural Points 99

Figure 2.2: Heifer Vaccination at the Pasteur Institute of Chengdu 112

Figure 3.1: J. H. Jordan’s Observation of the Time at Which Death Took Place in Fatal Cases
Treated and Untreated 142

Figure 4.1: Foreign Concessions in Tianjin 161

Figure 4.2: Clinics Directed under the Collaborative Franco-Chinese Control 173

Table 4.1: Statistics of the Clinics for Blindness Prevention 179

Table 4.2: Statistics of the Visits to the Factories and Small Workshops 187

Table 4.3: Materials Sent to the Missionary Posts in the Interior China 190

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The assistance that I have received to complete this dissertation is akin in its cross-cultural nature
to the subject of the dissertation itself. I was most fortunate to study at UCLA, to conduct my
research at multiple archives in China and in France, and to have constant support from many
individuals and institutions both in the United States and abroad.
My dissertation chair, Peter Baldwin, was unstinting in his advices dispensed with
exemplary patience at every stage of the project, from the commencement of my research to the
completion of this dissertation. I am profoundly grateful for his encouragement and ongoing
support. I sincerely thank my committee members, Ted Porter, Andrea Goldman, and Hannah
Landecker. Much of the conceptual formation on history of medicine for this dissertation was
shaped since the early stage of my doctoral work thanks to Ted, who has not only guided me
intellectually, but also served as an inexhaustible wellspring of humor and encouragement.
Andrea has consistently supported my interest and encouraged my curiosity on the subject of
Sino-European contacts that became instrumental in my historiographical understanding. Hannah
enabled me to explore unexpected archival materials and guided my development of analytical
perspectives. I deeply appreciate their insightful suggestions for improving and revising each
individual chapter and the entire dissertation.
The remarkable faculty and fellow students at the History Department of UCLA have
inspired me and provided constant intellectual support. I thank Mary Terrall, Soraya de
Chadarevian, Robert Frank Jr., Lynn Hunt, David Sabean, Ben Madley, Bin Wong, Caroline
Ford, Muriel McClenden, and Robin Kelley. I would like to extend a particular thanks to Kapil
Raj at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). He has exerted a significant
influence on this project that is felt throughout. Other scholars who have provided me with

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