Exploring Health-Care Practices of Chinese Railroad Workers in North America / 试论北美中国铁路工人的医疗实践
Chinese laborers on the North American transcontinental railroads performed dangerous and labor-intensive work, and many died or were seriously injured as a result of explosions, cave-ins, and severe and unpredictable weather. These workers received meager wages and may have faced additional health...
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| Published in: | Historical archaeology Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 134 - 147 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Society for Historical Archaeology
01-01-2015
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| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Chinese laborers on the North American transcontinental railroads performed dangerous and labor-intensive work, and many died or were seriously injured as a result of explosions, cave-ins, and severe and unpredictable weather. These workers received meager wages and may have faced additional health risks from ethnic violence and malnutrition. Little is known about how these individuals treated their injuries and ailments and, to date, not a single document written by a Chinese railroad worker has been discovered. Analysis of medicinal artifacts, dating from 1865 to 1910, recovered from railroad sites in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Texas, and Utah, combined with research on existing documentary and archaeological sources on Chinese medicine in 19th-century North America, provide a better understanding of the healthcare practices employed by Chinese railroad workers. Lacking access to traditional doctors and herbal stores, workers relied on a system of informal "folk" medicine that involved using both European American and Chinese medicines. 北美横贯大陆铁路上的中国劳工从事着危险而高强度的工 作. 他们中有很多人都因爆炸、塌方以及严峻而变幻莫测 的天气条件而死亡或重伤。这些工人的工资很低，同时还 因种族暴力和营养不良而面临额外的健康威胁。这些个体 是如何养伤，如何治疗疾病的？我们对此儿乎一无所知。而如今也尚未找到中国铁路工人在这方面的文献记录。在 加州、内华达、德克萨斯和犹他的铁路考古现场发掘的 1865-1914年期间的医疗文物，连同现存的有关十九世纪 北美地区中国医疗的文献及考古资料的研究，会让我们对 中国铁路工人的医疗实践有更好的理解。在没有传统的医 生以及中草药铺的情况下，工人们依赖于一种非正式的、 “民间的” 且结合欧美与中国传统的医疗体系。 |
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| ISSN: | 0440-9213 |