Malaria in China: a discourse-historical perspective.

IF 3.1 3区 医学 Q1 MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL
Frontiers in Medicine Pub Date : 2025-07-02 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.3389/fmed.2025.1590518
Peng Miao
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Abstract

The translation, transmission, and re-conceptualization of malaria in late Qing and Republican China exemplifies how knowledge on an ancient disease is reshaped through linguistic and cultural mediation. This article analyzes diverse textual medical sources, namely English-Chinese dictionaries (1830s-1900s) and vernacular newspapers and periodicals, to trace and observe the lexical journey of "ague" and "malaria" into the Chinese domain as "nueji" (/) and "zhangqi" (/). Three phases of conceptual transfer are identified: first, early missionary dictionaries (1822-1860s) prioritized symptom-based translations (e.g., faleng /, chills); second, the 1870s-1920s witnessed terminological competition between nueji and zhangqi, reflecting clashes between traditional Chinese etiology and western theories; third, by the 1930s-1940s, nueji became dominant through institutional standardization, while western parasitological frameworks were selectively assimilated, as "Plasmodium" was lexicalized as "nueyuanchong" (/), yet the mechanism of "immunity" remained unexplained in Chinese medical discourse. This process was formed by intra-medical debates: while western-trained practitioners weaponized microscopy to validate Plasmodium as a pathogen, traditional healers reframed it through local cosmology. Newspaper and periodicals served as contested epistemic spaces, where terms like "weichong" (/) and "jishengchong" (/) mirrored public struggles to reconcile western knowledge with local beliefs. This article demonstrates that disease introduction transcends lexical substitution, acting as a battlefield for different medical discourses in China's medical modernization.

中国的疟疾:一个话语历史的视角。
在晚清和民国时期,疟疾的翻译、传播和重新概念化体现了对一种古老疾病的认识是如何通过语言和文化调解而重塑的。本文分析了不同的医学文献来源,即19世纪30 - 20世纪的英汉词典和白话文报刊,追溯和观察了“ague”和“malaria”作为“nueji”(/)和“zhangqi”(/)进入汉语领域的词汇历程。概念迁移的三个阶段被确定:首先,早期的传教士词典(1822-1860年代)优先考虑基于症状的翻译(例如,faleng /, chill);二是在19世纪70年代至20世纪20年代,出现了诺依与章齐术语的竞争,反映了中国传统病因学与西方病因学理论的冲突;第三,到20世纪30 - 40年代,通过制度标准化,新型医学成为主导地位,而西方的寄生虫学框架被选择性地同化,如“疟原虫”被词汇化为“nueyuananchong”(/),但“免疫”的机制在中国医学话语中仍未得到解释。这个过程是由医学内部的争论形成的:当西方训练的医生用显微镜来验证疟原虫是一种病原体时,传统的治疗师通过当地的宇宙学来重新定义它。报纸和期刊是有争议的认知空间,像“为冲”(/)和“为冲”(/)这样的术语反映了公众在调和西方知识与本土信仰方面的斗争。本文论证了在中国医学现代化进程中,疾病介绍超越了词汇替代,成为不同医学话语的战场。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Frontiers in Medicine
Frontiers in Medicine Medicine-General Medicine
CiteScore
5.10
自引率
5.10%
发文量
3710
审稿时长
12 weeks
期刊介绍: Frontiers in Medicine publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research linking basic research to clinical practice and patient care, as well as translating scientific advances into new therapies and diagnostic tools. Led by an outstanding Editorial Board of international experts, this multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians and the public worldwide. In addition to papers that provide a link between basic research and clinical practice, a particular emphasis is given to studies that are directly relevant to patient care. In this spirit, the journal publishes the latest research results and medical knowledge that facilitate the translation of scientific advances into new therapies or diagnostic tools. The full listing of the Specialty Sections represented by Frontiers in Medicine is as listed below. As well as the established medical disciplines, Frontiers in Medicine is launching new sections that together will facilitate - the use of patient-reported outcomes under real world conditions - the exploitation of big data and the use of novel information and communication tools in the assessment of new medicines - the scientific bases for guidelines and decisions from regulatory authorities - access to medicinal products and medical devices worldwide - addressing the grand health challenges around the world
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