Korean J Med Hist.  2023 Apr;32(1):321-353. 10.13081/kjmh.2023.32.321.

Medical Treatment of Criminals in Premodern China Based on Qing Era Local Archives: Focusing on the Case of Ba County in the late 18th Century

• KIM H

• KMID: 2542263
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.13081/kjmh.2023.32.321

Abstract

This study aimed to confirm what kind of medical treatment was given to criminals by the local governments in Qing China and the role of the government doctors in charge of the criminals’ medical care. Using local administrative and historical materials, I explore the procedures and methods of medical treatment and explain the treatment processes for criminals. The findings demonstrate that, although different from modern ideals, in premodern China under the emperor’s rule, there were provisions for ailing criminals to receive medical treatment. In the Qing era, the execution of actual punishments worked as a keynote of judicial policy, and the number of criminals managed by local government offices was larger than before. The government doctors took charge of the criminals’ medical treatment, but it seems that their position in the Qing era was not popular due to low salaries and psychological resistance to treating guilty criminals. Moreover, the government doctors dispatched to treat criminals were required to play an additional role. They had to testify that there were no other causes of death other than disease, which demonstrates that the government doctor played a role in determining whether the death was a crime. However, their treatment practices for criminals demonstrate the use of traditional medicine from the Tang and Song era onwards. There are two reasons for this. First, unlike the private market, there was no economic incentives for doctors to use new medicines and prescriptions. Second, because of the fear of being reprimanded for the death of the criminal, using classical prescriptions was a way for doctors to defend the adequacy of their medical practice. From an institutional perspective, medical care for criminals through government doctors was guaranteed during the Qing era. However, government doctors were not selected for their medical competence, nor were they provided with adequate incentives to practice good medical care. Even some government doctors devoted themselves to medical care, the quality of care was not systematically guaranteed. This provides evidence of the poor medical environment surrounding criminals in premodern China.

Keyword

medical treatment of criminals; government doctor; Ba County Archives; shanghan disease; jails in the Qing era; medicine in premodern China; actual punishment