Conflict, co-existence and continuity: Chinese versus Western medicine in Hong Kong : the case of Kwong Wah Hospital (1910s to 1940s)

Ph.D. ; This thesis discusses the adaptation and evolution of Western medicine in the Hong Kong Chinese community through the case of a Chinese hospital, Kwong Wah Hospital. The research outcomes provide insights to understanding public health governance of the Hong Kong colonial government as well as cultural conflicts between Chinese and Western medicine in Hong Kong society. ; Large volumes and consistent historical materials were made available by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Archives, such as minutes of the board of directors of Tung Wah and Kwong Wah Hospital, minutes of the Tung Wah Hospital Medical Committee, annual reports of Tung Wah Hospital and Kwong Wah Hospital, and correspondence of the Tung Wah Group of hospitals. These materials are indispensable for the study, in particular, the discovery of over 178 volumes of Admission and Discharge Registries of Kwong Wah Hospital in 2011 covering the period from 1917 to 1940. These registries, containing the data of 269,431 in-patients, reveal detailed information on all the daily patients admitted to the hospital - records on each patient's name, gender, age, place of dwelling, sickness(s), treatment by either Chinese or Western medicine, and treatment outcome. A picture can be drawn on the composition of the hospital's in-patients, providing useful hints on the changes of Hong Kong's Chinese society and population. Moreover, comparison can be made between Chinese and Western medicine in regard to their effectiveness in treating the same type of sickness. ; By combining the data from the hospital's registries and the Tung Wah archives, this study reveals the political wrestling between the colonial government and the hospital board in regard to Westernisation of medical treatment in the hospital, as well as the economic, social and public health factors prevailing in Hong Kong during the period from the 1910s to the 1940s. ; It is believed that Western medicine was introduced to the Hong Kong Chinese community after the outbreak of the bubonic plague in ...