The Invention of Madness: State, Society, and the Insane in Modern China

281 Pages·2018·3.095 MB·English

by  Emily Baum

The Invention of Madness
STUDIES OF
THE WEATHERHEAD EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE,
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
The studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute of Columbia University were
inaugurated in 1962 to bring to a wider public the results of significant
research on modern and contemporary East Asia.
The Invention of
Madness
State, Society, and the Insane in Modern China
emily baum
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2018 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in
critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the University of Chicago
Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2018
Printed in the United States of America
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 1 2 3 4 5
isbn-1 3: 978- 0- 226- 58061- 6 (cloth)
isbn-1 3: 978- 0- 226- 55824- 0 (paper)
isbn-1 3: 978- 0- 226- 58075-3 (e- book)
doi: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226580753.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Baum, Emily, author.
Title: The invention of madness : state, society, and the insane in modern China /
Emily Baum.
Other titles: Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University.
Description: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2018. |
Series: Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Identifiers: lccn 2018017663 | isbn 9780226580616 (cloth : alk. paper) |
isbn 9780226558240 (pbk. : alk. paper) | isbn 9780226580753 (e-book)
Subjects: lcsh: Mental illness—China—History—20th century. | Mental health
services—China—History—20th century.
Classification: lcc rc339.c4 b395 2018 | ddc 362.20951—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018017663
♾ This paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 Contracting the “Mad Illness” 16
2 The Birth of the Chinese Asylum, 1901– 1918 39
3 The Institutionalization of Madness, 1910s– 1920s 63
4 The Psychiatric Entrepreneur, 1920s– 1930s 86
5 From Madness to Mental Illness, 1928– 1935 111
6 Mental Hygiene and Political Control, 1928– 1937 137
7 Between the Mad and the Mentally Ill 159
Conclusion 180
Glossary of Chinese Terms 189
Notes 195
Bibliography 239
Index 261

Acknowledgments
Madness, it is said, is the most solitary of afflictions. One could easily say the
same about writing a book. I am fortunate, however, to have been surrounded
by a supportive group of mentors, colleagues, and friends who made this pro-
cess a much less solitary one.
This book would not have been possible without the unfaltering encour-
agement of Joseph Esherick and Paul Pickowicz. Their intellectual rigor, pro-
fessional guidance, and (dare I say?) paternal support have shaped me into
the scholar I am today. Andy Scull has the dubious honor of being the only
person in the world to have read and commented on two entirely different
iterations of this manuscript. When I was still poking around for a research
project many years ago, he provided my first entryway into the seemingly im-
penetrable world of madness; since then, his humor, guidance, and incredible
generosity have shaped this project in innumerable ways.
At the University of California, San Diego, Sarah Schneewind set a con-
sistently high standard and challenged me to surpass it, and Suzanne Ca-
hill, Lu Weijing, Cathy Gere, and Ari Heinrich were all formative influences.
Throughout graduate school, I was lucky to be surrounded by an incredible
group of fellow Sinologists, including David Chang Cheng, Maggie Greene,
Miriam Gross, Brent Haas, Jenny Huangfu Day, Justin Jacobs, Judd Kinzley,
Jeremy Murray, Amy O’Keefe, Jomo Smith, and Xiaowei Zheng. Today, they
continue to provide a network of personal and professional support across
the United States and overseas.
In Beijing, Yang Nianqun sponsored my research and provided a univer-
sity affiliation. Zhang Daqing facilitated my return to Beijing for additional
research. I am extremely grateful to Chen Qi for her assistance on several oc-
casions. The staff at the Beijing Municipal Archives, in particular Liu Yanchen,
viii acknowledgments
offered a welcoming place to set up shop, and Janet Upton and Nathan Kelt-
ner made Beijing feel more like home. Yvon Yiwen Wang was not only a fel-
low researcher, runner, and roommate but also a dear friend. In Taiwan, Sean
Hsiang-l in Lei gave helpful feedback when my project was still in its infancy,
and Wang Wen- ji brought useful references to my attention and pointed out
errors in interpretation. In New York, Lee Hiltzik and the rest of the staff
at the Rockefeller Archive Center provided a comfortable place to conduct
research.
I was fortunate to land at the History Department at the University of
California, Irvine, where my colleagues have, without complaint, helped me
to navigate the strange and entwined worlds of academia and Southern Cal-
ifornia. I’d especially like to thank Jeff Wasserstrom, Laura Mitchell, Anne
Walthall, and David Fedman. Jennifer Munger offered assistance in countless
ways, and I’m exceptionally grateful for her constant optimism, reassurance,
and editorial eye.
The idea for this book first took shape during a conversation with Andy
Liu in a Taiwanese cat café. Throughout, he has provided a sympathetic ear
to my frustrations, both academic and existential. Philip Thai read every
word of my early drafts and gave insightful feedback. When we first began
our scholarly exchange, we were little more than acquaintances; today, I am
happy to consider him a close friend. Maggie Greene generously offered to
read more versions of my introduction than I’d care to count, even when she
did not necessarily have the time to do so. Y Thien Nguyen gave perceptive
comments and unflagging support, reminding me numerous times that what
I had to say was worth saying.
Over the past few years, I’ve presented several parts of this book in embar-
rassingly inchoate forms. I am grateful to have received encouraging and per-
ceptive comments from Amy Borovoy, Marta Hanson, Yumi Kim, Zhiying
Ma, Sonya Pritzker, Ruth Rogaski, Fabien Simonis, and Margaret Tillman. A
University of California Humanities Research Initiative Junior Faculty Man-
uscript Workshop grant gave me the opportunity to bring together several
gifted scholars from across the University of California system and beyond.
I am indebted to Perry Link, Laura Mitchell, Jennifer Munger, Andy Scull,
Jeff Wasserstrom, Theodore Jun Yoo, and Mei Zhan for their invaluable com-
ments on everything from my theoretical grounding to my prose.
The research, writing, and publication of this book would not have been
possible without the generous funding provided by a Fulbright Institute of In-
ternational Education grant, a Social Science Research Council International
Dissertation Research Fellowship, a Jacob K. Javits fellowship, the Rockefeller
Foundation, a University of California Hellman fellowship, a National Endow-
a cknowledgments ix
ment for the Humanities summer stipend, an American Council of Learned
Societies Henry Luce Program in China Studies postdoctoral fellowship, sev-
eral grants from UC San Diego, UC Irvine and its Medical Humanities Ini-
tiative, and a UC Irvine Humanities Commons subvention grant. I am ad-
ditionally grateful to Amanda Swain and Julia Lupton for bringing funding
opportunities to my attention and helping to hone my proposals.
At the University of Chicago Press, Karen Merikangas Darling seamlessly
guided me through this daunting process. Priya Nelson convinced me that
Chicago would be a fitting home for the book, and she was entirely correct. At
the Columbia Weatherhead Center, Ross Yelsey has consistently been enthu-
siastic about the project and responsive to my queries. I would additionally
like to thank Evan White and Susannah Engstrom for their editorial assis-
tance, Julia Turner for her close reading of the manuscript, and two anony-
mous reviewers for their perspicacious feedback.
A version of chapter 6 appeared as “Healthy Minds, Compliant Citizens:
The Politics of Mental Hygiene in Republican China, 1928– 1937,” Twentieth-
Century China 42, no. 3 (October 2017): 215– 233. It is republished here by per-
mission of Twentieth Century China Journal Inc. Parts of chapter 7 were previ-
ously published in “Choosing Cures for Mental Ills: Psychiatry and Chinese
Medicine in Early Twentieth- Century China,” Asian Review of World Histories
6, no. 1 (January 2018): 8– 32. They have been reproduced by permission of Brill.
On a personal note, I would like to thank Keith Murphy, for his aesthetic
and editorial sensibilities, among many other things; John Moule, for sup-
porting my endeavors with pride; the city and people of Rogers Park, Chi-
cago; the trainers at Barry’s Bootcamp; the numerous cat cafés of Beijing and
Taipei, where most of my ideas were incubated; and my own cat, Lou, for re-
minding me that nothing is more important than punctual feedings and copi-
ous brushings.
Finally, my mother, Donna Hansen, has, in one way or another, sustained
and supported everything that has gone into this book, as well as everything
that has come before it. I dedicate this to her.