Content vs. Context: Practicing Christian and Medicine in 19th Century China

Abstract

In this article, I distinguish between knowledge as mental production—as ideas, beliefs and opinions—and knowledge in practice, as well as to analyze how these two aspects of knowledge work when relocated to another cultural system. I found my discussion on a historical example: how medical missionaries practiced both Christianity and Western medicine in 19th century China. I first examine how medicine and Christianity were practiced in missionary hospitals, followed by how medical missions were viewed by the missionaries and patients. I argue that when combining Christianity and medicine, missionaries accidentally practiced a type of medicine the resembled medical practices pre-existing in China. That made them familiar to the Chinese and made their medical practice successful. However, they were not successful in the task of converting. Not because the patients did not listen to the messages or the messages were of foreign origin, but because ideationally, the concepts were hard to understand. Practically, many of the behavioral requirements of being a Christian contradicted core traditional Chinese values. In conclusion I draw upon cognitive sociology to explain how pre-existing cultural values and practices influence the acceptance of new ideas.