Book ID: CBB965965584

Mao's Bestiary: Medicinal Animals and Modern China (2021)

unapi

Chee, Liz P. Y. (Author)


Duke University Press


Publication Date: 2021
Edition Details: Book Series: Experimental futures
Physical Details: 288
Language: English

Controversy over the medicinal uses of wild animals in China has erupted around the ethics and efficacy of animal-based drugs, the devastating effect of animal farming on wildlife conservation, and the propensity of these practices to foster zoonotic diseases. In Mao's Bestiary, Liz P. Y. Chee traces the history of the use of medicinal animals in modern China. While animal parts and tissue have been used in Chinese medicine for centuries, Chee demonstrates that the early Communist state expanded and systematized their production and use to compensate for drug shortages, generate foreign investment in high-end animal medicines, and facilitate an ideological shift toward legitimating folk medicines. Among other topics, Chee investigates the craze for chicken blood therapy during the Cultural Revolution, the origins of deer antler farming under Mao and bear bile farming under Deng, and the crucial influence of the Soviet Union and North Korea on Chinese zootherapies. In the process, Chee shows Chinese medicine to be a realm of change rather than a timeless tradition, a hopeful conclusion given current efforts to reform its use of animals.

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Reviewed By

Review Stephan Kloos (2022) Review of "Mao's Bestiary: Medicinal Animals and Modern China". East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal (pp. 560-563). unapi

Review Hilary A. Smith (2022) Review of "Mao's Bestiary: Medicinal Animals and Modern China". Bulletin of the History of Medicine (pp. 278-279). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB965965584/

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Authors & Contributors
Hu, Danian
Luk, Crystal Tsing-Tsing
Emily Ng
Nancy Y. Liu
Nicholas Anthony Autiello
Xu, Sanchun
Concepts
Medicine, Chinese traditional
Science and State
Environmental history
International relations
Medicine and ethics
Conservation of natural resources
Time Periods
20th century
Modern
21st century
19th century
Early modern
Medieval
Places
China
United States
Europe
Shaanxi Province
North America
Japan
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