Treating Opium Addiction in China: Medical Missionaries, Chinese Medicine, and the State, 1830-1910.

Abstract

From the 1830s onward, Euro-American medicine began addressing opium addiction among the Chinese population. Drawing upon records from medical missionaries, medical journals, and related Chinese sources, this article examines the transformation of opium addiction treatment in late Qing China (1830-1910). Despite their pioneering efforts, medical missionaries encountered various challenges in gaining cooperation from patients and Chinese authorities. In contrast, Chinese medical practitioners, particularly elite scholar-physicians, enjoyed favor with the Qing government throughout much of the nineteenth century. By the turn of the twentieth century, the scientific knowledge introduced by the missionaries had gained greater acceptance in the country. By creatively translating this knowledge, Chinese medical practitioners began to recognize new theories for addressing the opium problem.