In 1977, George L. Engel introduced the biopsychosocial model in his article "The Need for a New Medical Model: A Challenge for Biomedicine" published in Science. He critiqued the shortcomings of the biomedical model and underscored the necessity of integrating a patient's biological, psychological, and social aspects for a more holistic approach to healthcare.
This theory rapidly gained traction in China during the 1980s-1990s. Chinese scholars broadly embraced Engel's perspectives and engaged in debates about the various medical models that had emerged throughout history. These discussions gave rise to the proposal of several medical models, such as the spiritualistic, natural philosophical, mechanistic, social ecological, and biomedical models. Ultimately, the majority of Chinese scholars consensused on a classification comprising four or five models: the spiritualistic, natural philosophical, biomedical, and biopsychosocial model (with the possibility of including or excluding the mechanistic model), which has since been incorporated into national textbooks. Initially, the narrative suggested that the diverse historical medical models would eventually converge into the biopsychosocial model. However, as the discourse evolved, a growing number of scholars advocated for the coexistence of multiple medical models.
The categorization of medical models holds several merits, providing a framework for interpreting the history of medicine and highlighting the importance of interaction and coexistence among diverse medical cultures. Nonetheless, this categorization is not without controversy, with scholars questioning the existence of a universal medical model and the continued relevance of the biopsychosocial model. These considerations prompt us to engage in cross-cultural reflection and dialogue.

The paper explores the transformation in the appeal of opium and analyzes the gestation of opium stigmatization, resulting in a discussion of anti-opium shame culture in China during the Qing Dynasty. Opium experienced a tremendous transformation of social and political status during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Evolving from a leisure activity into an ethnic disgrace, opium underwent significantly different phases accompanied by various symbols and values that were constructed and assigned to it simultaneously. This facilitated the establishment of a widespread social consensus that opium was negatively stigmatized and subsequently criminalized. While many historical studies have predominantly highlighted the adverse role and debilitating effects of opium, this paper aims to explore an alternative characteristic of opium from cultural and political perspectives. Through analyzing opium consumption and the process of opium stigmatization shaped an anti-opium shame culture, this paper illustrated political redefining and alternative interpretations of opium with characteristics akin to a pharmakon in various contexts. Furthermore, it scrutinizes the mechanisms of physical control within this discourse of shame culture and demonstrates how perceptions like national salvation and ethnic survival became significance political factors. It concluded that the primary force behind the changing definition of opium is regime power, which emphasized national salvation and ethnic survival as part of contemporary state-building efforts. Opium shame culture employed by Qing and Republican authorities as a derogatory stereotype, associated with disloyalty to both the state and the nation, and ultimately utilized as a tool of state control.

This paper aims to illuminate the significant role played by Chinese pictorials in shaping medical perceptions during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The introduction of Western medicine to China was accompanied by a complex process of psychological and behavioral adjustment, as Chinese society grappled with the impact of Western medical and cultural influences. While considerable studies have investigated the process and underlying factors influencing the reception of medical innovation in modern China, visual sources have only been superficially analysed. The medical images in late Qing pictorials offer depictions of disease, healing process, and the doctor-patients relationship, claiming an “on-site authenticity” that both shocked viewers and challenged their original cognition frameworks. Additionally, the advent of new printing technologies, such as lithography, facilitated the reproduction and widespread distribution of numerous images that were previously confined to private collections. This paper endeavours to provide alternative insights into the role of visual culture in shaping historical perspectives on medicine and healthcare. It specifically explores how medical practices were visually represented, articulating the perception of Western medicine within the context of trans-cultural knowledge transfer. Through the meticulous analysis of both textual and visual elements in the pictorials, this study scrutinizes their impact on viewers. Furthermore, the paper attempt to explore the intersection of gender discourse, ethical discourse, and cultural values in the visual representation of Western medicine in these pictorials, shedding light on the intricate ways in which medical practices are embedded within larger socio-cultural contexts.

This 15-minute lecture will take an in-depth look at the development of medicine in China from its demonological roots from its earliest beginnings in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The Shang oracle bones (OBI), cracks in the turtle plastrons and ox scapula, as well as the Zhou literature from bronze vessels, bamboo and silk texts will provide evidence on a fascinating world in which demons were considered as one of the main agents to cause disease. The talk will further focus on the etymological analysis and definitions of the term gui (ghost) from ancient dictionaries as its centrepiece in order to demonstrate the paradigm of the Chinese in terms of illness and the succeeding treatment of such.