Eugenics Discourse and Racial Improvement in Republican China (1911-1949)

SIHN Kyu-hwan 大韓醫史學會 2010 醫史學 Vol.19 No.2

This paper aimed to examine the advent of eugenics and its characteristics in republican China. Although eugenics was introduced into China as a discourse to preserve and improve race by the 1898 reformers such as Yan Fu (1854-1921) and Yi Nai (1875-?) in the late imperial period, it was not until the republican period that eugenics discourse started to combine with the discourse and movement related to social reform. The May 4th intellectuals put forward criticisms of Confucian patriarchy, propagating science and democracy. They pointed out that the large family system was a source of every social evil, and argued the need for a small family system based on monogamy. The aim of the small family system was to improve both the race and the environment. Such thinkers argued that freedom of love and the liberation of individuality were necessary for this end. Zhou Jianren (1888-1984), Lu Xun’s youngest brother and representative eugenicist in the May 4th period, combined eugenics with freedom of love and the liberation of individuality. Pan Guangdan (1899-1967) and Zhou Jianren debated the eugenics controversy in the 1920s. They raised the freedom of love and the liberation of individuality as central issues related to the eugenics controversy. The eugenics debate was developed into the controversy between biological determinism and environmentalism in the late 1920s. However, these issues did not continue to be brought up in the 1930s. The main issues concerning the eugenics controversy in the 1930s were cultural identity and the population problem. Particularly in the 1930s, the scope of birth control as the solution to the population problem was extended from the individual person and family to nation and race. For eugenicists like Pan Guangdan, birth control violated the aim of eugenics and brought about the degeneration of the race. However, such theorists did not deny the value of birth control itself. The supporters of birth control thought that selecting superior descendents and eliminating inferior descendents fit with the ideals of eugenics. They thought that the propagation of contraception could suppress the increase of inferior and weak descendents, and result in the improvement of the race. Physicians suggested the necessity of birth control and organized birth control clinic, Chinese society did not pay attention to their arguments and activities in 1920s. After birth control made at issue from the 1930s, physicians started to discuss eugenics and play the important role in the medical practice. Chinese physicians passed a resolution of birth control for mothers and children’s happiness and health and public health in 1930s.As a result, Chinese intellectuals supported eugenics and supported the proposition that eugenics could improve the race. On the basis of this situation, the Guomindang government legislated eugenic laws related to contraception, eugenic marriage, and sterilization and the isolation of hereditary defaulters in 1945.

Concealment and Disclosure: The Cholera Crisis of 1969–70 in Korea

SIHN Kyu-hwan 대한의사학회 2021 醫史學 Vol.30 No.2

The anti-cholera measures of 1969–70 represent one of the most unsuccessful quarantine cases in modern Korea. The military government, which overthrew the democratic government in 1961, tried to amend the Constitution aiming for a long-term seizure of power, and had to overcome the cholera crisis of 1969–70. Previous scholarship has emphasized the limitation of the state power when it came to controlling the cholera epidemic or the poor sanitation system of 1969–70. However, it is undeniable that the military government did have organizations, facilities, and human capital available. When a cholera epidemic broke out in 1963–64, the military government defended its people against cholera as part of the Revolutionary Tasks. Furthermore, it took counsel from a team of medical professionals knowledgeable in microbiology. In 1969, the possibility of bacteriological warfare by North Korea emerged while the government responded to cholera. To avoid this crisis, Park Chŏng-hŭi’s military government, which had been preparing for long-term rule, had to provide successful model in the cholera defense. For the military government, the concealment and distortion of infectious disease information was inevitable. Many other medical professionals trusted the activities of international organizations more than they did the government bodies, and the media accused the government of fabricating cholera death statistics. As the government failed to prevent the cholera crisis, it tightened its secrecy by concealing facts and controlling information.

세브란스의 독립운동과 스코필드 교수

Sihn, Kyu hwan 강원대학교 사학회 2016 江原史學 Vol.0 No.28

이 글은 일개 선교병원인 세브란스병원이 어떻게 한국 독립운동의 산실이 되었으며, 34번째 민족대표로 여겨지는 프랭크 스코필드 교수가 어떻게 해서 독립운동에 참여하게 되었는지에 대한 의문에 답하기 위한 것이다. 세브란스에서 독립운동이 활발하게 전개될 수 있었던 이유 중의 하나는 세브란스병원의 지정학적인 위치이다. 세브란스병원 앞의 서울역은 전국 교통망의 중심이고, 서울역 앞은 서울 진입의 중요한 관문 구실을 하고 있었다. 세브란스병원이 해방정국, 한국전쟁, 4·19혁명 등 한국정치사의 주요 무대가 된 것은 이러한 지정학적인 위치가 중요하게 작용했을 터이다. 둘째, 제중원·세브란스의 사회운동 및 독립운동의 전통이다. 제중원은 한국 최초의 근대식 서양병원으로서 한국사회에서 계몽적 위치에 있었고, 제중원의학교 출신 학생과 졸업생들은 사회 각 분야에서 지도적인 역할을 수행했다. 제중원 의료선교사들 역시 의료활동과 선교활동에 만족하지 않고, 각종 사회운동과 계몽운동에 참여하여 한국인들의 문명개화와 고등교육을 선도하였다. 특히 1907년 구한국 군대의 해산 당시 부상병 치료, 세브란스병원의학교 제1회, 제2회 졸업생들의 독립운동 및 사회운동 참여 등으로 세브란스인들은 사회운동과 독립운동에서 확고한 지위를 가졌다. 셋째, 한국 YMCA설립 초기부터 알렌, 에비슨, 오긍선 등 제중원·세브란스의 지도자들은 YMCA의 조직과 설립에 적극 개입하고 있었다. 학생 YMCA라는 조직은 세브란스의전 학생들이 전원 가입되어 있을 정도로 세브란스의 학생조직을 대표했고, 전국적인 네트워크까지 갖추고 있어 정보공유와 조직동원에 유리하였다. 학생 YMCA가 전국적인 조직망을 갖추고 사회·계몽운동의 전진기지가 되면서 자연스럽게 3·1 운동과 각종 독립운동에서 주도적인 역할을 수행했던 것으로 보인다. 세브란스 독립운동의 주요 인맥과 조직도 학생 YMCA와 밀접한 관련을 가졌다. 넷째, 세브란스의 내부 인적 네트워크에도 주목할 필요가 있다. 병원에는 의사,간호사,직원 등 다양한 직군들이 상주한다. 이들은 사회운동과 독립운동에 필요한 직군 자체의 경험을 전수시켰으며 직군 상호간 필요한 정보를 유통시켰다. 특히 세브란스는 기독교와 연합선교를 대표하는 곳이기에 인적 교류가 보다 다양하고 전국적인 규모로 이루어졌으며, 각 직군 간에 필요한 업무를 분담하거나 협조하는 형태로 사회운동과 독립운동을 전개해 나갔다. 세브란스의 독립운동이 단지 일회적인 사건으로 끝나지 않고, 끊임없이 사회변화의 동인으로 작동한 것은 이러한 인적 네트워크를 바탕으로 운동을 전개해 나갔기 때문일 것이다. 세브란스의 인적 네트워크 속에서 빛을 발하는 인물 중의 하나가 프랭크 스코필드 교수이다. 그는 세브란스의 연합의학교육이 출범하면서 캐나다 장로회를 대표하여 세브란스로 파견되었다. 그는 강직한 성품으로 학생과 교직원들로부터 존경을 받았고, 세브란스 학생 YMCA 조직과 긴밀히 연계되어 사회계몽운동을 전개하였다. 그가 3·1운동에 참여하게 된 것은 세브란스라는 독특한 사회환경이 그를 3·1운동으로 이끌었기 때문이다. 그에게 주어진 임무는 3·1운동의 진상을 국내외에 알리는 일이었는데, 그는 불편한 몸을 이끌고 3·1운동의 진상을 폭로하고, 수촌리·제암리 학살 사건을 보도하였으며, 제소자의 인권보호를 위해 몸을 사리지 않았다. 스코필드 교수의 행적이 많은 사람들에게 감동을 주는 것은 단순히 자신에게 주어진 직분을 충실히 수행해서가 아니라 그의 삶 자체가 정의를 사랑했을 뿐만 아니라 한국을 사랑했으며, 실천하는 지성인으로서의 삶이 무엇인지를 보여주었기 때문일 것이다. This paper illuminates how a medical missionary and a missionary hospital are related to the independence movement in Korea. The missionary hospital was a medical and charitable institution, not a hotbed of politics and social movement. However, as a missionary medical center, Severance Hospital became the center of the Korean Independence Movement in the early 20th Century, and Professor Frank Schofield (1887-1970) played a crucial role. Several reasons underlie Severance Hospital`s focal position in the Korean Independence Movement. The first of these is geopolitical: Seoul station, situated in front of Severance Hospital, was the center of traffic for the whole country. Essentially, Seoul station was the gateway to Seoul. Because of this geopolitical factor, Severance Hospital served as the main stage for political history in Korea and saw movements such as the Korean Liberation in 1945, the Korean War, and the April 19th Revolution. A second reason why Severance Hospital was the base for the independence movement relates to its social history. The hospital had a tradition of inaugurating social and independence movements. Chejungwon, the first Western hospital and medical school in Korea, graduated many students from medical school. These graduates, and the medical school personnel who taught them, participated in missionary activity, social enlightenment, and the independence movement. A third factor enabling Severance Hospital to play a key role in the independence movement is connected to its leadership at the time. Horace Allen, Oliver Avison, and Oh Geung-sun, the heads of Chejungwon and Severance Hospital, organized the student Young Men`s Christian Association (YMCA) in Korea. Most students in Severance Medical College (SMC) joined the student YMCA, which networked with other branches throughout the whole country network. The branch at SMC carried out missionary and social work through this network. As the March 1st Independence Movement proceeded, the student YMCA at SMC was heavily involved in promoting the independence movement. Finally, the human network in Severance Hospital was pivotal in the independence movement. Many people, such as doctors, nurses, and other medical staff, stayed in the hospital. They communicated vital information with each other and passed down their personal experiences. This human network operated in Severance Hospital and throughout the country as a whole. Human networking was not a one-time event in the independence movement; it was a critical, on going factor. Professor Frank Schofield became the symbol of the human network. As the Severance Union Medical School (SUMC) started in 1913, the Canadian Presbyterian church decided to dispatch a bacteriologist, Professor Frank Schofield to SUMC. Over time, he came to be respected due to his upright character. He participated in YMCA activities and the human network in Severance Hospital, which led him to become a major player in the independence movement. As an ardent supporter of the struggle for independence from Japanese occupation, he made a photographic record of events, including the Suchonri and Jeamri massacres. He gathered information about independence fighters and campaigned for civil rights for prisoners. Throughout his life, he showed himself to be a practical and intellectual man.

Reorganizing Hospital Space

Sihn Kyu-hwan 대한의사학회 2017 醫史學 Vol.26 No.1

This paper examined whether the preventive measures taken by the Hong Kong’s colonial authorities were legitimate during the 1894 Hong Kong plague epidemic, and illuminated the correlation between the plague epidemic and hospital space in Hong Kong in the late 19th century. The quarantine measures taken by the colonial authorities were neither a clearcut victory for Western medicine nor for a rational quarantine based on scientific medical knowledge. Hong Kong’s medical officials based on the miasma theory, and focused only on house-to-house inspections and forced quarantine or isolation, without encouraging people to wear masks and without conducting disinfection. Even after Hong Kong plague spread, the Hong Kong’s colonial authorities were not interested in what plague bacilli were, but in where they were to be found and how to prevent and control an outbreak of the disease. The germ theory brought significant changes to the disease classification system. Until the 1890s, Hong Kong’s colonial authority had classified cause of death mainly on the basis of symptoms, infectious diseases, parts of the body and diseases of systems. Microbiological analysis of the cause of death in Hong Kong was started by Hunter, a bacteriologist, in 1902. He used bacteriological tests with a microscope to analyze the cause of death. New disease recognition and medical recognition brought large changes to hospital space as well. In particular, from the 1880s to the early 1900s, Western medical circles witnessed shifts from miasma theory to the germ theory, thereby influencing Hong Kong’s hospital spaces. As the germ theory took ground in Hong Kong in 1894, the bacteriological laboratory and isolation ward became inevitable facilities, and hospital space were reorganized accordingly. However, the colonial authorities and local elites’ strategy was different. As a government bacteriologist, Hunter established a central facility to unify several laboratories and to manage urban space from ouside the hospital. On the contrary, the Tungwah Hospital tried to transform hospital space with isolation ward and Receiving Ward System as the eclectic form of Chinese and Western medicine. The 1894 Hong Kong plague promoted the introduction of germ theory and the reorganization of hospital space.

근대 동아시아 위생 개념의 확산과 공공의료 담론의 형성

신규환(SIHN Kyu-hwan) 대한의사학회 2022 醫史學 Vol.31 No.3

한국 근대 사립병원의 발전과정 : 1885년~1960년대까지

신규환(SIHN Kyu–Hwan),서홍관(SEO Hong–Gwan) 대한의사학회 2002 醫史學 Vol.11 No.1

청말 해부학 혁명과 해부학적 인식의 전환

신규환(SIHN Kyu-hwan) 大韓醫史學會 2012 醫史學 Vol.21 No.1

This paper aimed to examine the anatomical revolution from Yilingaicuo(Correcting the Errors of Medicine) and Quantixinlun(Outline of Anatomy and Physiology) in late imperial China. As the cephalocentrism which the brain superintend human operation of the mind was diffused in China since 16th century, the cephalocentrism and the cardiocentrism had competed for the hegemony of anatomical conception. Because of the advent of Yilingaicuo and Quantixinlun, the cephalocentrism became the main stream in the anatomical conception. The supporters of the Wang Yangming's Xinxue(the Learning of Heart and Mind) argued that the heart was the central organ of perception, sensitivity, and morality of the human body in medicine since 16th century. Even reformist and revolutionary intellectuals like Tan sitong and Mao zedong who had supported the Wang Yangming's Xinxue embraced the cephalocentrism in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. May Fourth intellectuals had not obsessed metaphysical interpretation of human body any more in the New Culture Movement in 1910s. They regarded human body as the object of research and writing. The anatomy was transformed into the instrumental knowledge for mutilation of the body. Yilingaicuo challenged the traditional conception of body, and Chinese intellectuals drew interest in the anatomy knowledge based on real mutilation. Quantixinlun based on Western medicine fueled a controversy about anatomy. Though new knowledge of anatomy was criticized by traditional Chinese medical doctors from the usefulness and morality of anatomy, nobody disavowed new knowledge of anatomy from the institutionalization of Western medicine in medical school. The internal development of cephalocentrism and positivism had influence on anatomy in China since 16th century. The advent of Yilingaicuo and Quantixinlun provided the milestone of new anatomy, though both sides represented traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine respectively. They contributed to the development of new knowledge of anatomy, getting over the metaphysical system of knowledge. Based on the internal development of anatomy, Chinese anatomy was half century late than Japanese anatomy founded on Dutch anatomy.

지방병 연구와 식민지배 : 1927년 영흥 및 해남지역 에메틴 중독사건을 중심으로

신규환(Sihn Kyu-hwan) 大韓醫史學會 2009 醫史學 Vol.18 No.2

This paper aims to examine the spread of paragonimiasis and the Japanese colonial government’s response to it. To consolidate colonial rule, the Japanese colonial government needed medications to cure paragonimiasis. When Dr. Ikeda Masakata invented acid emetine to cure paragonimiasis in Manchuria in 1915, emetine treatment carried the risk of emetine poisoning such as fatigue, inappetence, heart failure, and death. Nonetheless, Japanese authorities forced clinical trials on human patients in colonial Korea during the 1910s and 1920s. The emetine poisoning accident in Yeongheung and Haenam counties in 1927 occurred in this context. The Japanese government concentrated on terminating an intermediary host instead of injecting emetine to repress endemic disease in Japan. However, the Japanese colonial government pushed ahead with emetine injections for healthy men through the Preliminary Bureau of Land Research in colonial Korea in 1917. This clinical trial simultaneously presented the effects and the side effects of emetine injection. Because of the danger emetine injections posed, the colonial government investigated only the actual condition of paragonimiasis, delaying the use of emetine injection. Kobayashi Harujiro(1884?1969), a leading zoologist and researcher of endemic disease for three decades in the Government General Hospital and Keijo Imperial University in colonial Korea, had used emetine while researching paragonimiasis, but he did not play a leading role in clinical trials with emetine injections, perhaps because he mainly researched the intermediary host. Government General Hospital and Keijo Imperial University therefore faced limitations that kept them from leading the research on endemic disease. As the health administration shifted the central colonial government to local colonial government, the local colonial government pressed ahead with emetine injections for Korean patients. Emetine poisoning had something to do with medical power’s localization. Nevertheless, the central colonial government still supported emetine injections with funds from the national treasury. The emetine poisoning accident that occurred simultaneously in two different regions resulted from the Japanese colonial government’s support. This accident represented the Japanese colonial rule’s atrocity, its suppression of hygiene policies, and its disdain for colonial inhabitants. The colonial government sought to accumulate medical knowledge not to cure endemic disease, but to expand the Japanese Empire.

20세기 전반 北京의 都市空間과 衛生

신규환(Sihn Kyu-hwan) 동양사학회 2014 東洋史學硏究 Vol.128 No.-

동아시아 역사의 기억전시교육 세균전의 기억과 중국 애국주의 교육기지 건설의 새 방향 -침화일군(侵華日軍) 제(第)731부대(部隊) 죄증진열관(罪證陳列館)을 중심으로-

신규환 ( Kyu Hwan Sihn ) 수선사학회 2014 史林 Vol.0 No.47

This paper aims to examine how has the nationalist education using museums been circulated and consumed to the masses. While the troubles of history and territory among East Asian countries are heating up, the Chinese government has built up national and warfare museums as Educational Base of Patriotism. The Unit 731 Museum will be the proper case for telling the new characteristics of Chinese nationalism and patriotism. The existing history museums and warfare museums have underlined the sufferer of war and the heroic struggle of chinese people over imperialist invasion. This exhibition has relation to building Educational Base of Patriotism as the ideology of socialist spiritual civilization which promoted the unity and harmony of nation and recovered the pride of the Middle Kingdom. The Chinese government tried to produce powerful ideology for national unity, underlining patriotism rather than socialism. However, patriotism is likely to promote narrow-minded nationalism. On the contrary, the education of patriotism applying the memory of germ warfare could highlight Chinese people as a sufferer of war and anti-theme of Japan`s inclination toward the rightist ideology. The damage of germ warfare not only applied to Chinese people, but also magnified to East Asian people. Recently the exhibition contents of Unit 731 Museum underlines human universal conscience and worth. That is, though China was damaged by germ warfare, Chinese mothers cordially cared for Japanese orphans to keep universal worth of mankind. While the history museum and the warfare museum are likely to head to exclusive nationalism through heroic patriotism, the memory of germ warfare in Unit 731 Museum opens the possibility of universal love of mankind and international nationalism.