"Neither Donkey Nor Horse "tells the story of how Chinese medicine was transformed from the antithesis of modernity in the early twentieth century into a potent symbol and vehicle for China s struggle with it half a century later. Instead of viewing this transition as derivative of the political history of modern China, Sean Hsiang-lin Lei argues that China s medical history had a life of its own and at times directly influenced the ideological struggle over the meaning of China s modernity and the Chinese state. Far from being a remnant of China s pre-modern past, Chinese medicine in the twentieth century co-evolved with Western medicine and the Nationalist state, undergoing a profound transformationinstitutionally, epistemologically, and materiallythat justifies our recognizing it as modern Chinese medicine. This new medicine was derided as neither donkey nor horse, because it attempted to integrate modern Western medicine into what its opponents considered the pre-modern and un-scientific practices of Chinese medicine. Its historic rise is of crucial importance for the general history of modernity in China, fundamentally challenging the conception of modernity that rejected the possibility of productive crossbreeding between the modern and the traditional. By exploring the co-production of modern Chinese medicine and China s modernity, Lei offers both a political history of medicine and a medical history of the Chinese state. "Neither Donkey Nor Horse "synthesizes into a single historical narrative what was previously separated into three independent histories: the history of Western medicine in China, the history of Chinese medicine, and the political history of the state. "

Neither Donkey nor Horse tells the story of how Chinese medicine was transformed from the antithesis of modernity in the early twentieth century into a potent symbol of and vehicle for China’s exploration of its own modernity half a century later. Instead of viewing this transition as derivative of the political history of modern China, Sean Hsiang-lin Lei argues that China’s medical history had a life of its own, one that at times directly influenced the ideological struggle over the meaning of China’s modernity and the Chinese state. Far from being a remnant of China’s premodern past, Chinese medicine in the twentieth century coevolved with Western medicine and the Nationalist state, undergoing a profound transformation—institutionally, epistemologically, and materially—that resulted in the creation of a modern Chinese medicine. This new medicine was derided as “neither donkey nor horse” because it necessarily betrayed both of the parental traditions and therefore was doomed to fail. Yet this hybrid medicine survived, through self-innovation and negotiation, thus challenging the conception of modernity that rejected the possibility of productive crossbreeding between the modern and the traditional. By exploring the production of modern Chinese medicine and China’s modernity in tandem, Lei offers both a political history of medicine and a medical history of the Chinese state.

Medical care in nineteenth-century China was spectacularly pluralistic: herbalists, shamans, bone-setters, midwives, priests, and a few medical missionaries from the West all competed for patients. This book examines the dichotomy between "Western" and "Chinese" medicine, showing how it has been greatly exaggerated. As missionaries went to lengths to make their medicine more acceptable to Chinese patients, modernizers of Chinese medicine worked to become more "scientific" by eradicating superstition and creating modern institutions. Andrews challenges the supposed superiority of Western medicine in China while showing how "traditional" Chinese medicine was deliberately created in the image of a modern scientific practice.

In this landmark Companion, expert contributors from around the world map out the field of the critical medical humanities. This is the first volume to introduce comprehensively the ways in which interdisciplinary thinking across the humanities and social sciences might contribute to, critique and develop medical understanding of the human individually and collectively. The thirty-six newly commissioned chapters range widely within and across disciplinary fields, always alert to the intersections between medicine, as broadly defined, and critical thinking. Each chapter offers suggestions for further reading on the issues raised, and each section concludes with an Afterword, written by a leading critic, outlining future possibilities for cutting-edge work in this area. Topics covered in this volume include: the affective body, biomedicine, blindness, breath, disability, early modern medical practice, fatness, the genome, language, madness, narrative, race, systems biology, performance, the postcolonial, public health, touch, twins, voice and wonder. Together the chapters generate a body of new knowledge and make a decisive intervention into how health, medicine and clinical care might address questions of individual, subjective and embodied experience.

This book traces and analyzes the transformation of the public discourse of science and technology in Mao-era China. Based on extensive primary sources such as science dissemination materials and technical handbooks, as well as mass media products of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution periods, this book delineates the emergence of a pragmatic approach to knowledge in society. To achieve the goal of fast modernization with limited financial, human, and material resources, the party-state accommodated Western and local, "modern" and "traditional" knowledges in the fields of agricultural mechanization, steel production and Chinese veterinary medicine. The case studies demonstrate that scientific knowledge production in the Mao-era included various social groups and was entangled with political and cultural issues. This reveals and explains the continuity of scientific thinking across the historical divides of 1949 and 1978, which has hitherto been underestimated.

The transformational possibilities of everyday hygiene and care practices In order to mitigate the worst forecasts of climate change, many of us need to make drastic adjustments to how we live and what we consume. For Kelly Dombroski, these changes must also happen in the home: in rethinking routines of care and hygiene that still rely on disposable and plastic products. Caring for Life examines the remarkable evolution in Asia-Pacific hygiene practices and amplifies the creative work of ordinary people guarding human and more-than-human life in their everyday practices of care. Dombroski develops the concept of “guarding life,” a viewpoint that counters homogenous cultural practices and imposed sanitation standards and instead embraces diverse hygiene practices that are networked across varying wisdoms and bodies. She traces how the Chinese diaper-free infant toilet training practice of baniao has traveled to Australia and New Zealand, and she explores the practice of elimination communication, in which babies learn to communicate to their caregivers when they need to eliminate, thus removing the need for diapers. A mother herself, Dombroski conducted ethnographic research while mothering to examine how collectives of mothers draw on Chinese knowledge and their own embodied practices of childcare to create new hybrid forms of infant care. Caring for Life is a call to action, a theory of change, and a fascinating account of the transformational possibilities of care practices. It shows how experiments in personal care can lead to collective, widespread change, ultimately providing a practical and hopeful vision for environmental action. Retail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly with images accompanied by short alt text and/or extended descriptions.

International animal welfare charity The Donkey Sanctuary is launching The Clinical Companion of the Donkey, the revised version of The Professional Handbook of the Donkey, which has been the definitive text for clinicians and professionals working in donkey medicine or surgery for over twenty years. Now in an easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate format over its 360 pages, this updated paperback includes current and extra information in a bid to improve the health and welfare of donkeys worldwide by sharing knowledge and providing further education. Without covering the same ground as other excellent textbooks, The Clinical Companion of the Donkey concentrates on those differences in the equine species that are specific to the donkey. A new chapter on donkey behaviour has been included, as this is fundamental to understanding this unique animal and the presentation of clinical signs and requirements for handling, nursing and treatment. Technical colour illustrations have been included using images from the extensive libraries at The Donkey Sanctuary, as well as those private collections that belong to contributors. This book will also be available as translated versions over the following months. Created with heart and keen intelligence, The Clinical Companion of the Donkey has all the attributes of the animal it aims to aid, and will surely be the textbook of professionals involved with donkeys for years to come.