[John Glasgow Kerr and the Compilation of Zhong Dou Jie Fa and Niu Dou Qian Shuo].

Abstract

Zhong Dou Jie Fa and Niu Dou Qian Shuo were written by John Glasgow Kerr, a missionary from America, trained local smallpox practitioners in Guangzhou in the second half of the 19^th century. The two books Zhong Dou Jie Fa and Niu Dou Qian Shuo introduced simple and easy ways for practical inoculation. The books suggested that it was not necessary to consider acupoints and seasons for vaccination. They introduced the method of storing vaccine in capillary tubes and made use of microscopes and vaseline, popularly used in Europe at the time, promoting the development of vaccination technology objectively. Different from previous studies on the history of vaccination transmission, this paper focuses on the triple principles "technology-text-practice" by examining the background of the two books, explores the important role of cowpox text in the dissemination of modern cowpox technology, the practitioner training, and the importance of cooperation between official and local institutions in public health.