Study on female doctors in Xin'an District in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Abstract

The Xin'an female doctors in the Ming and Qing Dynasties could be divided into 4 categories: viz., those who provide general medical services for women patients; those who provide supplementary services for delivery women; those who serve as an assistant of their practicing husband; and those who continued to practice medicine after their husband's death. Although the latter two types could be respected by their families and praised by the society, these female medical practitioners were undervalued and overlooked generally in the society where males were the main body of the medical circle and, moreover, they were not well educated, as well as the influence of Confucianist thoughts of "honorable men and humble women" , hence, their deeds were rarely seen in historical records. However, the emergence of female doctors had certain social causes, and their contributions to local health care should not be ignored.