The History of Western Medicine in China

Resources Portal

Welcome to the resources portal of the History of Western Medicine in China project. Categories of resources are listed on the left, or they can be browsed by scrolling down this page.

This is a wide collection of information -- archive guides, primary sources, digitized materials –- selected to assist lay people and undergraduate students, as well as established scholars and graduate students. Most sources to date focus on the period from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the formation of the People's Republic of China. In the future we plan to include all aspects of institutionalized medicine in China from the nineteenth century to the present, including TCM. Suggestions are welcome.

Items marked with an asterix (*) were prepared directly through project funding by the Henry Luce Foundation.

Archive and Library Guides

The following guides have been prepared for the substantial records both in and outside of China documenting the history of Western medicine there. American holdings are largely records of the work of medical missionaries and the Rockefeller Foundation, while Chinese archives include public health records, government documents and institutional archives for hospitals and medical schools. This is only a selection of worldwide records on this subject and we hope to eventually include guides to other key repositories in the United States and China, and add guides for collections in the Republic of China (Taiwan), Japan, and beyond.

United States, Canada, and Europe

The Burke Library (Columbia University Libraries) at Union Theological Seminary, NYC *

Harvard University *

Presbyterian Historical Society *

Rockefeller Archive Center *

United Church of Canada Archives, Toronto *

United Methodist Archives*

Yale University*

Other Repositories in the U.S. and Canada*

U.K. and European Repositories*

China

Beijing Repositories*

Shanghai Library*

South Central University Medical School, Changsha*

Sichuan University and Medical School, Provincial Archives*

Medical School of Sun Yat-sen University*

Database of Hospitals and Medical Institutions

From the early dispensaries founded by missionaries to the substantial medical infrastructure incorporated into the People's Republic of China in 1949, hundreds of institutions have left records of their work in China. Many institutions had multiple names in English and Chinese, while other small hospitals or medical schools were shuttered or formed larger and more efficient institutions.

Enter names, places, and keywords in the box below to search a database designed to help researchers track name changes and identify archival repositories that hold historical materials about them. 

Or browse the database in table view. 
Suggestions and corrections are welcome. Abbreviations of the archival repositories are as follows: Burke (CUL)=Burke Library, Columbia University; Methodist GCAH=Methodist General Commission on Archives and History; PHS=Presbyterian Historical Society; RAC=Rockefeller Archives Center; SOAS=School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; Yale=Yale University. See the archive guides above for more information.
See also Chinese Medical Guides - 中國醫界指南 (1928, 1930, 1932, 1937, 1940)* for information about hospitals

Hospital and Medical School Records

These long runs of institutional reports provide information not only about individuals and institutional history, but also about diseases encountered in various regions from Canton (Guangzhou) in the south to Peking (Beijing) in the North.

General Reports and Guides

These guides and reports provide detailed “snapshots” of health and disease conditions, in addition to the development of medical personnel and institutions in China over time.

Medical Missionary Reports, 1838-1921

Chinese Imperial Customs Medical Reports, 1870-1910

Rockefeller Medical Commission, 1914

Chinese Medical Association Guides, 1928-1940

Periodicals

Medical Periodicals offer one of the best "archives" of the history of medicine in China. Two of the most important are the China Medical Missionary Journal and its successor which ran from 1887-1931 (English only), and the National Medical Journal (1915-1931). These two merged in 1932 to become the Chinese Medical Journal (in Chinese 中華醫學會, 1914-23; 1931-1966 (keyword search only, via Hathi Trust)).

Full access to the National Medical Journal (and many other Chinese language medical journals) is available through the digital database 大成老旧刊全文数据库 at major research institutions in the U.S. and China (one month trial access may be available through your library). That database is missing the volumes scanned and available below for the years 1919 to 1923. See OCLC Worldcat for paper holdings.

China Medical Missionary Association, 1886-1907 (1907 name changed to China Medical Association, in 1932 merged with National Medical Association to form the Chinese Medical Association and Chinese Medical Journal)

National Medical Association 中華醫學會 (1915-1932, when it merged with China Medical Association, English name became Chinese Medical Association, Chinese Medical Journal).

The following missionary periodicals also provide valuable information about medical work:

Digitized Photograph and Image Collections

The following collections of images and photographs provide visual evidence of the evolution and variety of Western medicine in China from Lam Qua's grotesquely beautiful paintings of tumors, to black and white photographs of the vaccination work of ABMAC during WWII, to the stunning posters of the mass mobilization campaigns of the People's Republic of China. Please see each collection's website for copyright issues.

Late Qing China (19th century to 1911)

Republican China (1912-1949)

People's Republic of China (1949 to present)

Bibliography 

The project is building a bibliography of relevant works in the history of Western Medicine in China. This bibliography is housed externally with Zotero to allow for better exporting and searching capabilities. Suggestions for additional references are welcome.*

Access Bibliography »

Selected Electronic Texts

Selections below are organized by chronologically by period. Thanks to the Internet Archive and the Medical Heritage Library where many additional texts are available, with particular strengths in pre-1923 texts about medical missions.

Nineteenth Century

Republican Period:

People's Republic of China/Maoist China: