TALK-2024.10.08 1-3 p.m 《 Counting Herbal Toxicity for Nationhood: Controversies over the ‘Jaundice Herb’ in Singapore and Taiwan after World War II 》
" Counting Herbal Toxicity for Nationhood: Controversies over the ‘Jaundice Herb’ in Singapore and Taiwan after World War II “
▲Date: 2024.10.08,1-3 pm
Venue: R802, Teaching & Research Building, Shuang Ho Campus, TMU.
▲Speaker: Dr. Po-Hsun Chen
PhD Candidate, Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, the University of Manchester, UK.
Biographical note
Po-Hsun Chen is a PhD candidate at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, the University of Manchester, UK. He obtained a Visiting Student Research Collaborator in the History of Science program at Princeton University from February 2024 to May 2024. He is also a physician trained in biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine in Taiwan. His research interests lie mainly in the history of herbs, particularly the interaction between materials, actors, and regulations in modern society.
Abstract
This article probes the controversies of huanglian (Rhizoma Coptidis) in the 1970s and the 1980s. It showcases how epidemiology and clinical trials were tools for constructing the diverse knowledge of toxic herbs in different nation-building agendas between Singapore and Taiwan during the Cold War period. Wong Hock-Boon (1923-2008), the Father of Paediatrics in Singapore, surveyed neonatal health in the family planning project in Singapore. His epidemiological research indicated that the bitter herb huanglian could induce severe jaundice in infants, which was attributed to the ban on huanglian in 1978 for the sake of the quality of the next generation. In contrast, Taiwanese medical scholars were supported by the KMT government in conducting clinical trials to validate the safety of this herb and reject the medical studies in Singapore in the cultural propaganda of the Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement (1966-1991).
▲Registration ─ Please contact me on Facebook Messenger.
