The Modernization of Traditional Medicine in Taiwan

In East Asia, traditional medicines serve as essential medical resources beyond biomedicine. In early Japanese-ruled Taiwan (1895-onwards), traditional medicine, or Han medicine (Hanyi), modernized as bubonic plague spread. In this paper, I argue that Taiwan Han medicine doctors constantly sought modernity, and that their actions influenced the colonists' governing agenda. When plague broke out in 1896, Taiwanese Han medicine doctors treated the disease in quarantine hospitals, which local gentry had raised funds for and built. Han medicine doctor Huang Yu-jie (1850-1918) was one of the most renowned due to his successful therapeutic treatments as well as his publication of a plague monograph-Gedawen Zhifa Xinbian (New Edition on Plague Treatment). Also, Taiwanese Han medicine doctors initiated research associations both to learn Western medical knowledge and to share traditional medical knowledge. From these lessons, they were, for example, able to peer into microscopes and discover parasites with their own eyes. Moreover, in addition to Huang, some doctors published essays on plague theories to explore possible Han medicine treatments. After 1901, many Han medicine doctors were granted certification and joined professional societies, thereby being managed by the government. In official documents, Han medicine doctors were called "isho," where sho means student, while Western medicine doctors were called "ishi," with "shi" meaning teacher. This different titling of Han and Western medicine doctors created a dual-track system, an early prototype of the medical system in modern-day Taiwan.