19세기 兩湖지역 콜레라의 유입과 토착화 

◎ 저자명: 김현선(HK연구교수)

◎ 학술지: 명청사연구 제55집

◎ 발행처: 명청사학회

◎ 간행일: 2021.04.30 

The COVID-19 began in 2019 in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. COVID-19 spread all over the world and threatened many people. Many scientists expect the virus that causes COVID-19 to become endemic and causes continuous epidemics, which is giving people fear and huge stress. At the same time, racism and hatred are occurring all over the world towards Asian people as a result of such a fear. However, in the nineteenth century the exact opposite happened, when Cholera first spread from India to other parts of the globe in 1817 and reaching Hubei and Hunan Provinces in 1820. In this regard, the aim of this study was to investigate the influx of Cholera in the Hubei and Hunan Provinces during the nineteenth century. Furthermore, this article tried to examine the course of cholera becoming endemic in the Hubei and Hunan Provinces.

Cholera widely spread into the China in the years of 1820s. At that time, an epidemic broke out in the Mountainous areas of Hunan Province, which according to the baojingxian(保靖縣) gazetteers was called "mazuwen(麻足瘟)", its name which indicates symptoms known with Cholera infection, such as

muscle cramps due to rapid dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. At that time, Guangdong(廣東) Province was an important area for the spread of Cholera. The Cholera imported into China in 1820s, widely spread into Hunan province through the trade routes with the Guangdong Province, which increased the chances of contact and the routes of transmission of the disease.

In 1832, an epidemic occurred in the Hubei and Hunan Provinces, which based on its link to the trade routes, its high death rate, and its waterborne nature, it is highly probable to have been the Cholera. The frequent floods have provided a favorable environment for Cholera to spread. Since then, Cholera became more prevalent in the Hubei and Hunan Provinces and remained. The prelude to a new epidemic era had opened.

Studying the Cholera inflows will improve the understanding of Chinese cholera history. By examining the history of infectious diseases, we gain a better understanding of not only today's Corona crisis but also any future pandemic that might arise. At the same time, the understanding that the Hubei and Hunan Provinces were themselves once victims of infectious diseases inflows would allow for a more unbiased perspective towards the current outbreak, which could hopefully help reducing a racism and hatred that has been triggered and spreading ever since.