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The Making and Remaking of a Chinese Hospital in Hong Kong

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 August 2010

SHU-YUN MA
SHU-YUN MA*
Affiliation:
Department of Government and Public Administration, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Email: syma@cuhk.edu.hk
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Abstract

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.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 45 , Issue 5 , September 2011 , pp. 1313 - 1336
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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References

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13 As Granshaw noted, ‘Tracing hospitals in ancient times depends a great deal on the definition of “hospital”’ (Granshaw, Lindsay, ‘The Hospital’, in Bynum, W. F. and Porter, Roy (eds), Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine (London: Routledge, 1993), Vol. 2, pp. 1180–1203)Google Scholar. In the case of CM hospitals, there are different versions about their origin. One extreme traced them to as early as 1000 BC (Xue Wenzhong (薛 文 忠), Zhongguo yixue zhizui (The Most in Chinese Medicine 中 國 醫 學 之 最), (Beijing: China Tourist Press, 1991), p. 173), while the other extreme dated them to sometime in the sixth century (Shangguan Liangfu (上 官 良 甫), Zhongguo yiyao fazhanshi (A History of Chinese Medical Development 中 國 醫 藥 發 展 史) (Hong Kong: Xinli Press, 1974), pp. 221–222). This paper follows the more commonly accepted account.

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18 Hsu, The Transmission of Chinese Medicine, pp. 8–14; Personal interview with a Visiting Professor at the School of Chinese Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 26 April, 2006; Scheid, Chinese Medicine in Contemporary China, pp. 81–96.

19 Jing Shao, ‘Hospitalizing’ Traditional Chinese Medicine: Identity, Knowledge and Reification, Doctoral Thesis, University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology, 1999, p. 15.

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22 See ‘The case of Tung Wah Hospital’, below.

23 Ho Pui Yin (何 佩 然), Yuan yu liu – donghua yiyuan de chuangli yu yanjin (Source and Flow: the Formation and Evolution of Tung Wah Hospital 源 與 流 – 東 華 醫 院 的 創 立 與 演 進) (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing, 2009), pp. 390–393; Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 19–21; Wang Huiling (王 惠 玲), ‘Xianggang gonggong weisheng yu donghua zhongxiyi fuwe de yanbian’ (Hong Kong's Public Health and the Evolution of Tung Wah's Chinese and Western Medical Service 香 港 公 共 衛 生 與 東 華 中 西 醫 服 務 的 演 變), in Elizabeth Sinn (冼 玉 儀) and Liu Runhe (劉 潤 和), Yishan hangdao – donghua sanyuan 135 zhounian jinian zhuanti wenji (Be More Charitable, and Follow the Right Way: Collected Essays in Commemoration of the 135th Anniversary of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals 益 善 行 道 – 東 華 三 院 135周 年 紀 念 專 題 文 集) (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing, 2006), pp. 34–79, esp. 37 and 76; Xie, History of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong, pp. 3–4, 295–296.

24 Snow, Philip, The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China and the Japanese Occupation (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), p. 164Google Scholar.

25 Xie, History of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong, pp. 35–38.

26 Ibid., pp. 8–11.

27 But there have been mistaken uses of the term ‘TCM’ referring to CM in Hong Kong. Examples of this include Gauld and Gould, The Hong Kong Health Sector; and Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences Society, Plague, SARS, and the Story of Medicine in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2006)Google Scholar.

28 Gauld and Gould, The Hong Kong Health Sector, pp. 84–85.

29 Gauld and Gould, The Hong Kong Health Sector, pp. 84–90; Grant, Colin and Yuen, Peter, The Hong Kong Health Care System (Sydney: School of Health Services Management, University of New South Wales, 1988), pp. 108, 162, 239Google Scholar; Xie, History of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong, pp. 12–19.

30 This part of the study is based partly on archival research conducted in Tung Wah Museum. I am indebted to Stella See and Jenny Leung of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals for their administrative support, and to my former students Cheung Kin Hang, Ngan Chun Yat, Chan Chun Yin, and Chan Ka Ho for their research assistance.

31 Pickstone, John, ‘Medicine, Society, and the State’, in Porter, Roy (ed.), The Cambridge History of Medicine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 260–297Google Scholar, on p. 265.

32 Ho, Yuan yu liu, pp. 18–19; Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 18, 30–39; Xie, History of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong, pp. 125–130.

33 Liu Runhe (劉 潤 和), ‘Jianzhi donghua – xianggang di yi suo zhongyiyuan’ (‘Establishing Tung Wah – The First Chinese Hospital in Hong Kong’ ‘建 置 東 華 ⼀ 香 港 第 ⼀ 所 中 醫 院’), in Sinn and Liu, Yishan hangdao, pp. 2–33, on pp. 32–33; Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 96–98.

34 Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 39–47.

35 Ho, Yuan yu liu, pp. 26, 142.

36 Donghua Zhengxinlu (Tung Wah Annual Reports 東 華 徵 信 錄), A86, 00162.

37 Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 52, 60–69, 79–81.

38 Lethbridge, Henry, Hong Kong: Stability and Change (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1978), pp. 56–65Google Scholar; Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 74–120; Wang, ‘Hong Kong's Public Health’, pp. 40–41.

39 Ho, Yuan yu liu, p. 78; Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 121–158.

40 Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 159–161.

41 Ibid., pp. 161–162; Sutphen, Mary Preston, ‘Rumoured Power: Hong Kong, 1894 and Cape Town, 1901’, in Cunningham, Andrew and Andrews, Bridie (eds), Western Medicine as Contested Knowledge (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997), pp. 241–261Google Scholar.

42 Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 162–166.

43 Ho, Yuan yu liu, pp. 244–245.

44 Unschuld, Medicine in China, p. 241.

45 Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 167–183; Wang, ‘Hong Kong's Public Health’, pp. 45–49.

46 Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 184–189; Xie, History of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong, pp. 5, 131.

47 Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 189–195.

48 Gauld and Gould, The Hong Kong Health Sector, p. 40; Sinn, Power and Charity, pp. 196–212; Wang, ‘Hong Kong's Public Health’, pp. 49–57; Xie, History of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong, p. 138.

49 Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, ‘Tung Wah's Chinese Medicine Services’, DVD produced by the Medical Section of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, 2006.

50 Donghua dongshiju huiyi jilu (Minutes of Tung Wah Board Meetings 東 華 董 事 局 會 議 紀 錄), B35/36, 00955; Zhengfu zhi dongdua shuhan: huamin zhengwusi laihan (Letters from the Government to Tung Wah: Letters from the Hon. Secretary for Chinese Affairs 政 府 致 東 華 書 函: 華 民 政 務 司 來 函), B35/37, 00307; Donghua zhi zhengfu shuhan (Letters from Tung Wah to the Government 東 華 致 政 府 書 函), B35/37, 00308.

51 Donghua dongshiju huiyi jilu, 2 March, 1939; 12, 28 August, 1940; Xie, History of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong, pp. 140, 145.

52 Donghua dongshiju huiyi jilu, B40/41, 00959; B41/43, 00960.

53 Kwan, Lai-Hung, ‘The Charitable Activities of Local Chinese Organizations during the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong, December 1941—August 1945’, in Faure, David, Hayes, James, and Birch, Alan (eds), From Village to City: Studies in the Traditional Roots of Hong Kong Society (Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1984), pp. 178—190Google Scholar; Donghua dongshiju huiyi jilu, B41/43, 00960.

54 Donghua dongshiju huiyi jilu, B44/45, 00962; B45/46, 00963; Wang, ‘Hong Kong's Public Health’, pp. 69–70.

55 Donghua dongshiju huiyi jilu, B45/46, 00963; B46/47, 00964; Wang, ‘Hong Kong's Public Health’, pp. 70–71; Xie, History of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong, p. 145.

56 Hong Kong Television Broadcasting Company, Documentary on Combined Chinese-Western Medical Treatments of SARS (9 June, 2003).

57 South China Morning Post, 9 April, 1970; Xingdao ribao (Xingdao Daily 星 島 日 報), 10 April, 1970; Gongshang ribao (Gongshang Daily 工 商 日 報), 8 July, 1975.

58 Personal interview with a senior medical officer at the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, 11 April, 2006.

59 Gauld and Gould, The Hong Kong Health Sector, pp. 51–73; Fuicui zhoukan (Fuicui Weekly 翡 翠 周 刊), 5 December, 1984; Kuaibao (Kuai Daily 快 報), 3 December, 1986; Jingbao (Jing Daily 晶 報), 24 August, 1989; Xinbao (Xin Daily 新 報), 3 November, 1989; Wenhuibao (Wenhui Daily 文 匯 報), 18 January, 1990; Mingbao (Ming Daily 明 報), 21 February, 1990; Chengbao (Cheng Daily 成 報), 11 April, 1990; Dagongbao (Dagong Daily 大 公 報), 23 March, 1991; Xianggang shibao (Hong Kong Times 香 港 時 報), 26 March, 1991; Huaqiao ribao (Huaqiao Daily 華 僑 日 報), 25 May, 1991.

60 Chengbao (Cheng Daily 成 報), 1 March, 1997; Dagongbao (Dagong Daily 大 公 報), 5 March, 1997; Wenhuibao (Wenhui Daily 文 匯 報), 5 June, 1997.

61 Dagongbao (Dagong Daily 大 公 報), 19 July, 2000 and 13 December, 2000; Mingbao (Ming Daily 明 報), 11 December, 2000; South China Morning Post, 14 December, 2000.

62 Personal interview with a Chief of Service at the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, 11 May, 2006; Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, ‘Tung Wah's Chinese Medicine Services’.

63 Dagongbao (Dagong Daily 大 公 報), 5 January, 17 May, 15 June, 2001; Chengbao (Cheng Daily 成 報), 9 June, 2001; Mingbao (Ming Daily 明 報), 2 August, 2001 and 19 March, 2002; Wenhuibao (Wenhui Daily 文 匯 報), 29 November, 2001.

64 Abraham, Twenty-First Century Plague, Chapters 1–4.

65 Hong Kong Television Broadcasting Company, Documentary. From the Western medical perspective it is problematic to classify a new disease under a general category, and then claim experience in handling it. This is just like Western medical doctors who are experienced in treating pneumonia patients who cannot claim that the experience is applicable to cases of atypical pneumonia (another name for SARS) (Derrick KS Au (區 結 成), Dang zhongyi yu shang xiyi – lishi yu shengsi (When Chinese Medicine Meets Western Medicine—History and Ideas 當 中 醫 遇 上 西 醫 – 歷 史 與 省 思) (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing, 2004), p. 486. But in the view of Chinese TCM practitioners, TCM provided undeniably effective treatment for SARS (Deng Tietao (鄧 鐵 濤), ed., Zhongguo fangyi shi (History of Chinese Epidemic Prevention 中 國 防 疫 史) (Nanning: Guangxi Science and Technology Press, 2006), pp. 701–706; Hai Tian (海 天) and Yi Xiaowei (易 肖 煒), Zhongyi jie – bainian zhongyi cunfei zhi zheng (Calamity of Chinese Medicine: A Century-Long Debate about the Preservation and Abolition of Chinese Medicine 中 醫 劫 – 百 年 中 醫 存 廢 之 爭) (Beijing: China Friendship Press, 2008), pp. 216–227).

66 Coincidentally, this first SARS patient in Hong Kong was admitted to Tung Wah (Wenhuibao (Wenhui Daily 文 匯 報), 24 July, 2003).

67 Dagongbao (Dagong Daily 大 公 報), 7 May, 2003; Xianggang shangbao (Hong Kong Business News 香 港 商 報), 8 May, 2003.

68 Hong Kong Television Broadcasting Company, Documentary.

69 Xinbao (Xin Daily 新 報), 25 February, 2004. This is in fact controversial. According to an expert in both Western and Chinese medicine, though ‘positive preliminary results’ have been presented as to the benefits of TCM for treating SARS patients, Hong Kong physicians have in general been ‘skeptical and cautious’ about this. From the Western medical perspective, there is no sufficient evidence to confirm the efficacy of TCM treatment of SARS patients (Au, ‘Role of Chinese Medicine’). The Hospital Authority was thus acting ‘against the mainstream view’ of Western physicians. But on the other hand, this expert is sceptical about whether it is appropriate to follow the Western ‘evidence-based medicine’ to judge Chinese medical knowledge, particularly in the face of new diseases such as SARS (Au, When Chinese Medicine Meets Western Medicine, pp. 176–199).

70 Xinbao (Xin Daily 新 報), 6 May, 2004; Taiyangbao (Sun Daily 太 陽 報), 28 November, 2004; Xianggang shangbao (Hong Kong Business News 香 港 商 報), 18 December, 2004; Xingdao ribao (Xingdao Daily 星 島 日 報), 14 March, 2006.

71 Personal interview.

72 Yang, Zaizao ‘bingren’, pp. 263–266.