The Debate about the Origin of Venereal Disease and VD Control in Modern China : Focusing on Shanghai and Beijing in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

This paper examines venereal disease(VD) control in Shanghai and Beijing in the first half of the twentieth century. It focuses on the debate about the origin of VD in which western doctors stressed the importance of prostitution rather than VD itself. While missionary western doctors approached VD and prostitution from a moral perspective, Chinese western doctors adopted a public health approach. Because Chinese western doctors favored the medium of popular magazines and newspapers to publicize VD and enlighten the public, it is difficult to find their writings on VD in the medical journals such as The National Medical Journal of China(NMJ). Therefore, Chinese western doctors had not been indifferent to VD as previously thought. Common people preferred the black market to the open clinic, and abused salvarsan to cure VD in secret. This suggests the sensitive nature of VD as a disease that degrades personal honor. VD control varied depending on the perspective of the origin of VD and the prostitution, and measures taken. While moralists in the debate upheld a position to abolish licensed prostitution, public health enthusiasts propped up licensed prostitution. VD control in Shanghai and Beijing displays a striking contrast. In Shanghai, the power to control VD and prostitutes were separated. The Shanghai Municipal Council(SMC), French Municipal Council(FMC), and Shanghai Municipality(SM) did not cooperate in the control of VD and prostitutes. When SMC devoted its energies to abolish licensed prostitution, FMC and SM enjoyed prostitute's taxes. The Beiping Municipality(1928-1937) practiced multiple forms of control patterns and targets of VD. They adopted a bifurcated policy regarding VD. The targets of diagnosis were divided into prostitute, pregnant women, and normal citizen. The range of the reach of the health administration in Beiping Municipality was gradually magnified.