Health care in late Qing Dynasty and Republican China : Western influences, Chinese solutions

Western influences from about the middle of the 19th century played a pivotal role in modernising and improving health care in imperial and post-revolutionary China. But these influences also came up against the forces of a long medical tradition, cultural pride, and xenophobia. Much has been written about the “barefoot doctors” and the move to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution from the mid-1960s.1,2 This article explores the less well known period that preceded it.