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| Reactions to Plague in Traditional China： Features and Internal Logic |
| Yu Xinzhong |
| Chinese Social History Research Center， Nankai University， Tianjing 300071 |
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Abstract China has gained enormous historical experiences from its long history of plague prevention. It is meaningful and essential to draw inspiration from these experiences to cope with contemporary problems through a careful examination of both the history and the present. However， bias or misinterpretations would be produced if we fail to reflect on Chinese historical reactions to plague from the perspective of “total history” of China and the globe with a comprehensive understanding of their features and internal logic. This paper summarizes the features and internal logic of the plague control in traditional China from a holistic perspective of view. Traditional China had accumulated rich and significant experiences on plague control without forming systematic knowledge. Although the governments reacted to epidemics with a relatively positive posture， institutional systems remained lacked. Little had been achieved in critical control of the plague or cutting off the transmission. The aim of the epidemic control was more of displaying benevolent governing. Subjected to the limitations of the governing philosophy and historical conditions of their time， these policies showed limited care for the actual effect as well as the individual’s lives and their values.
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Received: 01 June 2020
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2020, Vol. 59 
