The Establishment of the Concept of Shu Yi and Its Significance in the History of Knowledge

Abstract

Plague is one of the severe infectious diseases which has had a huge impact on human society throughout history. Although there is abundant research on the disease, few studies focus on the concept of plague itself. It is generally believed that Shu Yi was first coined by Chinese doctors in the late 19th century, and it was closely related to the introduction of new medicine. This statement is not accurate, because plague was prevalent in Yunnan and Guangdong provinces in the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, people had already recognized the relationship between the outbreak of plague and the death of rats, and gradually named the epidemic disease as Shu Yi. This name was used by literati and doctors by coincidence. As the epidemic became more and more serious, more related works were widely disseminated, and Shu Yi changed from a folk name to a formal name. Later, with the help of the government’s active introduction of modern health and epidemic prevention mechanisms and the implementation of rodent control measures, Shu Yi became more popular and gradually recognized by all walks of society. The emergence and prevalence of Shu Yi created the history of zoonosis in China, and thus formed a new paradigm of naming human epidemics after related animal names.