Description

Book Synopsis
Placing meanings of health and disease at the center of modern Chinese consciousness, this title reveals how hygiene became a crucial element in the formulation of Chinese modernity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Trade Review
"By exploring both the transformations that took place in the understanding of weisheng [protecting life/vitality] and the changing nature of the lives of the people of Tianjin, Rogaski offers a nuanced picture of Chinese society during a century of tremendous upheaval. Hygienic Modernity is an important and fascinating book. It should be read by all scholars interested in the histories of modern China and Japan and by those investigating the development of public health in East Asia." * Social History of Medicine *
“Rogaski has written a splendid book, multilayered, harmonious in its narrative voice, both lucid and theoretically sophisticated, able to hold the attention of specialist and generalist alike. . . . In Rogaski’s hands ‘hygienic modernity’ turns out to be a brilliant thematic vehicle for talking about the transformation of a city in the twentieth century, able to link state projects, material culture, and everyday ways of living. Moreover, the clear prose and adroit examples make the book extremely readable, while the author’s sensitivity to alternative theoretical and interpretive possibilities sustains an intellectually complex framework.” * Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *

Table of Contents
List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Prologue: Sun the Perfected One's Song of Guarding Life Introduction 1. "Conquering the One Hundred Diseases": Weisheng before the Twentieth Century 2. Health and Disease in Heaven's Ford 3. Medical Encounters and Divergences 4. Translating Weisheng in Treaty-Port China 5. Transforming Eisei in Meiji Japan 6. Deficiency and Sovereignty: Hygienic Modernity in the Occupation of Tianjin, 1900--1902 7. Seen and Unseen: The Urban Landscape and Boundaries of Weisheng 8. Weisheng and the Desire for Modernity 9. Japanese Management of Germs in Tianjin 10. Germ Warfare and Patriotic Weisheng Conclusion Glossary Notes Bibliography Index

Hygienic Modernity

    Product form

    £28.50

    Includes FREE delivery

    RRP £30.00 – you save £1.50 (5%)

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Mon 3 Aug 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Ruth Rogaski

      Trusted by thousands of customers. See 2,385+ Customer Reviews

      View other formats and editions of Hygienic Modernity by Ruth Rogaski

      Publisher: University of California Press
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 29/05/2014
      ISBN13: 9780520283824, 978-0520283824
      ISBN10: 0520283821

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Placing meanings of health and disease at the center of modern Chinese consciousness, this title reveals how hygiene became a crucial element in the formulation of Chinese modernity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

      Trade Review
      "By exploring both the transformations that took place in the understanding of weisheng [protecting life/vitality] and the changing nature of the lives of the people of Tianjin, Rogaski offers a nuanced picture of Chinese society during a century of tremendous upheaval. Hygienic Modernity is an important and fascinating book. It should be read by all scholars interested in the histories of modern China and Japan and by those investigating the development of public health in East Asia." * Social History of Medicine *
      “Rogaski has written a splendid book, multilayered, harmonious in its narrative voice, both lucid and theoretically sophisticated, able to hold the attention of specialist and generalist alike. . . . In Rogaski’s hands ‘hygienic modernity’ turns out to be a brilliant thematic vehicle for talking about the transformation of a city in the twentieth century, able to link state projects, material culture, and everyday ways of living. Moreover, the clear prose and adroit examples make the book extremely readable, while the author’s sensitivity to alternative theoretical and interpretive possibilities sustains an intellectually complex framework.” * Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *

      Table of Contents
      List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Prologue: Sun the Perfected One's Song of Guarding Life Introduction 1. "Conquering the One Hundred Diseases": Weisheng before the Twentieth Century 2. Health and Disease in Heaven's Ford 3. Medical Encounters and Divergences 4. Translating Weisheng in Treaty-Port China 5. Transforming Eisei in Meiji Japan 6. Deficiency and Sovereignty: Hygienic Modernity in the Occupation of Tianjin, 1900--1902 7. Seen and Unseen: The Urban Landscape and Boundaries of Weisheng 8. Weisheng and the Desire for Modernity 9. Japanese Management of Germs in Tianjin 10. Germ Warfare and Patriotic Weisheng Conclusion Glossary Notes Bibliography Index

      Recently viewed products

      © 2026 Book Curl

        • American Express
        • Apple Pay
        • Diners Club
        • Discover
        • Google Pay
        • Maestro
        • Mastercard
        • PayPal
        • Shop Pay
        • Union Pay
        • Visa

        Login

        Forgot your password?

        Don't have an account yet?
        Create account