Li Ruifang: Atheism Education and the Transformation of Medical and Health Concepts in Revolutionary Base Areas During the Anti-Japanese War
During the early period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, most revolutionary base areas were located at the junctions of several provinces. These areas were remote, suffered from poor transportation and backward economies and cultures, and lacked medicine and doctors. The populace held deep-seated superstitions, lived in ignorance, and maintained unhygienic habits, leading to frequent outbreaks of disease that affected the war effort, production, and daily life. Using Marxist theory as a weapon, the Communist Party of China (CPC) launched a silent revolutionary storm within the medical circles of the Border Regions, "turning right-side up" a distorted worldview and allowing scientific concepts of medicine and hygiene to quietly take root. In recent years, the academic community has conducted considerable research on medical and health issues in the base areas. However, there remains space to investigate how the CPC specifically carried out atheist education, how the masses abandoned stale, ignorant, and superstitious concepts in favor of believing in science, and how the transformation of medical and health concepts occurred. This article attempts a preliminary exploration of these issues.
I. A Survey of Medical Care, Doctors, and the Living Conditions of the People in the Base Areas
Lenin once proposed: "The Social-Democratic Party's [1] propaganda of atheism must be subordinate to its basic task: the development of the class struggle of the exploited masses against the exploiters." Mobilizing all forces to win the war was the Party's primary revolutionary task during the War of Resistance; all other work, including medical and health work in the cultural sphere, had to be subordinate to and serve this task. Thus, Mao Zedong pointed out, "Our work is first: the war; second: production; third: culture."
However, prior to the War of Resistance, the rural economy was depressed, the ecological environment for the peasants' survival was harsh, and life was extremely difficult. For example, in Ding County, Hebei, there were 400,000 people with an average annual income of about 50 yuan, yet the funds available for medicine and hygiene were only about 0.3 yuan per person. Corresponding to this material hardship, the cultural level of the masses in the base areas was low, and illiteracy was widespread. Often, not a single literate person could be found in an entire village; the illiteracy rate in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region was as high as 99%. Sanitary conditions were poor: "Houses were cramped, with humans and livestock living together; the waste water from kitchens and the stench of manure pits were suffocating. Added to this was a lack of hygiene knowledge; some went a whole year without bathing, or an entire month without combing their hair."
Disease and poverty often went hand in hand. Whenever disasters struck, climates became abnormal, or male and female workers and urban students fell ill and fled back to their home villages—and most importantly, due to unhygienic habits—epidemics would break out in the Border Regions. In the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, there were three types of severe infectious diseases: plague, cholera, and smallpox. Common infectious diseases included typhus, relapsing fever, and dysentery, while common and endemic diseases included influenza, malaria, "willow-crutch" disease [2], "spitting yellow water" [3], venereal disease, and goiter. The annual mortality rate in the Border Region was as high as 60%, with children and women accounting for the majority of deaths. In the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region, maternal and infant diseases and deaths were also very serious problems. Between 1943 and 1945, a total of 36 babies were born in Pengtou Village of the 11th Sub-district, 21 of whom died, representing a mortality rate of 58.2%. In Guanzhuang, 31 out of 40 women were ill. In Dongshandi, Wutai, 63 out of 96 women were ill.
Ignorance is the mother of superstition. In terms of medicine and hygiene, this was most clearly manifested in a shortage of doctors and medicine, rampant superstition, and the flourishing of shamans and sorcerers. At that time, there were only 4,000 to 5,000 Western-style doctors in the entire country, meaning an average of only one Western-style doctor for every 80,000 to 100,000 people. Due to economic and cultural backwardness, there were no Western-style doctors in the vast rural areas of the Border Regions. In remote villages, one could not find a single doctor within a hundred-li radius [4]; traditional Chinese medicine shops were only occasionally found in important market towns. In the early 1930s, in Qingyang, "there was only one public hospital in Xifeng for the whole county, with 11 medical staff. Private pharmacies were mostly distributed in towns, mainly selling medicine." Lacking basic knowledge of medicine and hygiene, the masses often sought help from gods and Buddhas and believed in ghosts and spirits when they fell ill. Shamans and sorcerers took advantage of the people’s reliance on them to extort money and cause deaths. Their "magical arts" for treating diseases "would surely turn a healthy person into a sick one, a minor illness into a major one, and a major illness into a fatal one."
The severe shortage of medical resources, the widespread influence of shamans, and the poverty, illness, weakness, and ignorance of the masses seriously weakened the forces of resistance against Japan. Therefore, promoting atheist education, opposing superstition, popularizing medical and health knowledge, and achieving a modern transformation of medical and health concepts were undoubtedly of great significance for persisting in a long-term war and improving the people's well-being.
II. The Power Struggle and Maneuvering between Doctors and Shamans
Doctors in traditional Chinese society were divided into those who stayed in clinics to treat patients, called dafu (physicians), and those who traveled the streets and alleys, called langzhong (itinerant healers). There were also shamans and sorcerers who specialized in swindling money under the guise of treating illness. Historically, medicine and shamanism were once intertwined, but because of their different essences, the struggle between them never ceased. "Shamans primarily serve as intermediaries between humans and ghosts; it is a primitive religion, a theology," and it is necessarily in sharp opposition to medicine, which is a science. "Only by thoroughly breaking free from the shackles of shamanism could medicine truly establish itself."
In The British Rule in India, Marx stated that the village communities, which formed the foundation of Oriental Despotism, "restrained the human mind within the smallest possible compass, making it the unresisting tool of superstition, enslaving it beneath traditional rules." Lenin also pointed out that the roots of religion are primarily social. It can be seen that the decadent social system was the breeding ground for superstition and religion, and was also the root cause of the people's poverty, backwardness, and the scarcity of medicine. Only by overthrowing the old system could the people obtain health and happiness. While destroying the old world in the Border Regions, the CPC gradually established New Democratic politics and economics, implementing the "elected governments and the 'three-thirds system' [5], cooperatives and labor-exchange teams [6], factories and workshops, etc.," which improved the people's material lives and raised their political status. However, at this time, the number of shamans was still nearly double that of traditional doctors, and the sphere of influence of shamanism was larger than that of medicine. The existence of the "shamanic profession" was incompatible with the people's demand for "prosperity in wealth and family members" [7]. Carrying out the struggle against shamans thus entered the field of vision of the Chinese Communists.
Engels pointed out: "The workers' party... patiently organizes and educates the proletariat, so that religion gradually withers away, rather than adventurously declaring war on religion politically." Shamanism has a long history in China and a deep-seated following among the common people. To transform shamans from "objects of worship" to "objects of criticism" in the minds of the masses, it was clear that the method of simply striking them down could not be used. First, seizing on typical examples to educate and move the masses through both positive and negative experiences was a common form of struggle against shamans led by the CPC in the Border Regions. In 1944–1945, the Liberation Daily [8] published numerous such examples, such as "Yang Hanzhu, a Shaman in Baijiaping of this City, Sentenced to Prison for Homicide; Chang Zhisheng's Superstitious Belief in Shamans Resulted in Family Ruin and Deaths," "Zhuang Fazhong, a Shaman in Hezhuang District of Yan County, Returns to the Correct Path," and "The Shaman Tian of Dingbian County Harms People and Swindles Money; the Masses Demand Punishment." The masses were often strongly shaken by the "bloody tragedies" of others, thus psychologically breaking with the "objects of worship." After the tragedy of Chang Zhisheng's superstitious belief in shamans in Baijiaping, Yan’an City, occurred, all the people in the southern district of Yan’an cursed the shamans, saying: "Whoever believes in ghosts and gods again will end up with their family ruined and members dead like the Chang family." Second, allowing the subjects of reform to voluntarily confess their crimes achieved twice the result with half the effort. In July 1944, 59 shamans from Yan’an County jointly wrote a letter to their fellow villagers, publicly admitting the facts of their pretending to be spirits and swindling money. "Seeing that shamans could make money by trickery, we used the names of gods and ghosts to make a living. Originally there were no gods or ghosts; our tricks were all fake..." One can imagine the surprise and anger of the masses upon learning the truth. "Revealing the transcendental world of ideas through the creators of shamanic arts undoubtedly has the educational significance of subverting traditional concepts." Third, placing shamans under the criticism and supervision of the masses caused an inversion of discourse power in the rural world. The aforementioned 59 shamans, in order to repent and start anew, signed an anti-shamanist convention and asked their fellow villagers to supervise them. Shamans, who were once "helpers" sought by the masses for medical treatment and the exorcism of demons, suddenly became "outliers" among the people—backward elements to be criticized and supervised. As the status and prestige of shamans among the masses fell, the discourse power in the rural world underwent a reversal.
The historical materialist view holds that the people are the driving force in creating history, and health undertakings must serve the people who create history. Being "of the people" is the essential characteristic of health undertakings in a New Democratic society; this qualitative prescription became the cornerstone for the CPC to formulate strategies and tactics for health development. After the shaman community was reformed, to fill the medical vacuum in the Border Regions, especially in the vast rural society, it was necessary to assemble a new type of medical force and medicinal science that served the people's health. In response to the shortage of doctors and medicine in the Border Regions, Mao Zedong creatively proposed the policy of combining Chinese and Western medicine and combining Chinese and Western pharmaceuticals, pointing the way for creating a modern medical force with national characteristics. He pointed out: "New medicine is certainly superior to old medicine, but if new medicine does not care about the suffering of the people, does not train doctors for the people, and does not unite with the more than one thousand old medicine doctors and old-style veterinarians in the Border Region and help them progress, it is actually helping the shamans." He added, "In the way of medicine, both Chinese and Western styles have their strengths." Under the guidance of these ideas, the Border Region used organizations such as medical associations and their subordinate Research Society for National Medicine, the Research Society for Chinese and Western Medicine, and the Yan'an Branch of the Chinese Nurses Association as platforms to carry out activities such as ideological transformation, technical exchange, strengthening cooperation, running schools, and forging talent. The reorganization of medical and health forces in the Border Regions contributed to treating the wounded and sick, enhancing the combat effectiveness of the troops, and strengthening the relationship between the military and the people, thereby helping to win the war.
III. The Policy of "Prevention First" and the Extensive Development of Mass Health Movements
Starting from the essence of "the people's health," Mao Zedong proposed a development strategy of "prevention first" and the combination of prevention and cure. As early as the period of the Land Revolutionary War [9], he pointed out: "Disease is a major 'enemy' of the Soviet areas... we must destroy this enemy by preventing disease." During the War of Resistance, he further clarified the strategic policy of "prevention first." "We should actively prevent and treat the people's diseases and promote the people's medical and health undertakings." Placing "prevention" before "treatment" highlighted the importance of prevention over cure. The health concept of "prevention first" was the application and development of modern preventive medicine in practice by the Chinese Communists represented by Mao Zedong. "Preventive medicine starts from the perspective of prevention, studies the relationship between human health/disease and the natural/social environment, and adopts measures such as public health, social health, and self-care, fully utilizing beneficial factors in the environment and controlling or eliminating harmful factors, to achieve the goals of preventing disease, promoting health, prolonging life, and improving labor efficiency; it is an important part of medical science." Unlike clinical medicine, the most significant feature of preventive medicine is that it is oriented toward the population. Based on this, Mao Zedong always advocated for mass health movements as an important way to prevent disease and improve the people's health level. To ensure the health of the military and the people and strive for victory in the war, various base areas generally launched health movements based on the basic principle of "contextual guidance," with the theme of "promoting medicine and opposing ignorance," and persisting in scientific treatment. These movements educated the masses and mobilized them to "fight against their own illiteracy, superstition, and unhygienic habits."
(1) Contextual Guidance: The Basic Principle of Mass Medical and Health Movements
"Contextual guidance" (shìtài shūdǎo) refers to the idea that medical and health propaganda and education work must be linked to and adapted to the ideological dynamics and objective reality of the recipients. "Shū means to dredge or clear; that is, to open up channels for speech, pool wisdom, let the recipients speak their minds, express various opinions and heartfelt words, and concentrate everyone's wisdom. 'Dǎo' means to lead systematically, persuade and educate, and use various forms and methods to guide different thoughts and remarks onto positive, correct, and healthy tracks." Cultural education in the Border Regions was extremely backward, the people's thinking was conservative, fatalism was widespread, and unhygienic habits were long-standing. Only by going deep among the masses, understanding them, combining work with their actual needs, taking into account the cognitive level and economic conditions of the peasants, and using methods that the people enjoyed while patiently persuading and educating them, could recognition be gained. Otherwise, preaching empty theories, subjectivism, formalism, or using coercive orders would only encounter resentment from the masses. When Liu Jiacheng, a winter school teacher [10] in Zhenyuan County, Gansu, first arrived in the village and did not yet understand the situation, he said when promoting maternal and infant hygiene: "Pregnant women should bathe often, see a doctor for frequent check-ups, and prepare ten diapers..."
"The teacher brought us several wagonloads of silver?!" Su Zhengyi’s sister mocked. "How can country folk afford to talk about hygiene?" This indicates that starting solely from subjective desires while detached from the practical reality of the masses [11] will produce the opposite of the intended effect. To stimulate the initiative of the masses, various circles in the Border Region—in addition to employing blackboard newspapers, literacy groups, yangge [12] dances, theater, folk songs, books, newspapers, pamphlets, temple fairs, and exhibitions for health education—also adopted forms with higher levels of mass participation, such as "challenge matches" and hygiene competitions. For instance, through hygiene competitions, "model hygiene individuals," "model hygiene families," and "model hygiene villages" continuously emerged. People saw tangible benefits in the new customs of loving cleanliness, practicing hygiene, and trusting in medicine. In Guodelin, Xinzheng County, the practice of hygiene resulted in the entire family remaining free of illness for four years. In Doujiawan Village, Xinning County, every household practiced hygiene, and no major illnesses occurred in the village for three years. Yangjiawan in the North District of Yan’an transformed from filthy to clean; having abolished superstition and placed faith in medicine, the entire atmosphere of the village was refreshed. Such living examples gradually changed the poor unhygienic habits of the broad peasant masses.
(II) Promoting Medicine and Opposing Ignorance: The Themes of the Mass Medical and Health Movement
Practicing hygiene, promoting medicine, opposing ignorance, and breaking down superstition were the primary contents of the mass medical and health movement. The superstition, ignorance, and unhygienic habits inherited from the old society posed a threat of disease and death to the people of the Border Region. Removing the old and establishing the new [13], popularizing hygiene knowledge, establishing sanitary systems, and fostering good hygiene habits were the essential strategies for preventing disease and curing ailments. Important newspapers and periodicals such as New China News (Xin Zhonghua Bao), Resistance War Daily (Kangzhan Ribao), Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Daily (Jin-Cha-Ji Ribao), and Liberation Daily (Jiefang Ribao) published numerous articles promoting medical and health knowledge. "Keep hygiene in mind: avoid cold or raw food and water; scald bowls and chopsticks with boiling water before eating; cover them with cloth after meals. Bathe often and change clothes frequently; keep quilts and mattresses clean. Sweep inside and outside the cave-dwelling regularly; eliminate mosquitoes and flies." This song titled "Practicing Hygiene," published in the Liberation Daily, provides a glimpse into these efforts.
In 1944, Gao Wenliang, the township chief of the North District of Yan’an, proposed "Ten Major Slogans" during a hygiene competition. These covered the basic content of health propaganda and education at the time and later became the judging criteria for selecting "Model Hygiene Villages" in Yan’an: "1. All villagers shall conduct hygiene work under the leadership of the hygiene group leader. 2. Every household shall dig a latrine. 3. Do not drink unboiled water or eat rotten fruit. 4. Conduct a major cleaning three times a month; keep the inside and outside of the cave-dwelling clean at all times. 5. Wash clothes twice a month. 6. Strip and wash quilts twice a year. 7. Wash face and hands every day. 8. Every household shall make a flyswatter to kill flies. 9. All livestock must be penned. 10. Consult a doctor when ill; do not invite sorcerers."
In China's demographic structure, women and children accounted for more than two-thirds of the total population. Maternal and child healthcare was related not only to the improvement of the nation's population quality but also to the development of the revolutionary cause. However, health conditions for women and infants in the old society were abysmal, characterized by high rates of disease and the sentiment that "it is hard for a newborn to survive." In response, the CPC and the Border Region government proposed that the promotion of maternal and child health common sense should be the central link of the mass hygiene movement. Medical personnel and women’s work cadres used various forms to repeatedly explain menstrual hygiene and pregnancy hygiene to women, as well as preparations for childbirth, modern midwifery methods, childcare, and the necessity of seeking a doctor—rather than burning incense, praying to Buddha, or believing in sorcerers—when a child falls ill. The field of maternal and infant care, previously a disaster zone of superstition and ignorance, began to receive widespread attention and was revitalized under the influence of scientific knowledge.
(III) Scientific Treatment: Traditional Pseudo-Medical Practices Gradually Recede
Prevention and treatment are the two basic means by which humanity overcomes disease and ensures health; they are also the summary of experiences formed through long-term struggles against pain. Whether the relationship between prevention and treatment is handled correctly directly impacts the effectiveness of the mass hygiene movement. The CPC and the Border Region government consistently integrated and advanced hygiene propaganda alongside the strengthening of medical treatment. "Medical work is the backbone of the hygiene movement and a powerful promoter for popularizing hygiene and opposing superstition." The Health Department of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region stipulated that every morning be dedicated to outpatient services for the masses. Within half a year, more than 20,000 free treatments were provided. In the first half of 1944, Peace Hospital (Heping Yiyuan) treated 1,096 people from the masses. Between April and June 1944, the Central Health Department spent 700,000 yuan on medical expenses for the masses. From 1943 to 1944, the Longdong Sub-district Hospital waived 440,000 yuan in medical fees. During the eight years of the War of Resistance, health departments in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region provided medical treatment for injuries and illnesses to more than 18.79 million person-times.
In the rural hygiene movement, effective treatment often transformed sickness into health and danger into safety for the masses. Gao Manxiang of Yangjiawan, North District of Yan’an, suffered from "blue-leg scurvy" (gingtui yagan) and unbearable abdominal pain. Neighbors worried, saying, "This is a fatal disease." After spending 10,000 yuan to hire a sorcerer for "treatment," the condition only worsened. Upon hearing the news, Doctor Li Jianping rushed over, administered an injection to stabilize the condition, and then transferred him to the Central Hospital for inpatient treatment. Upon returning to the village fully recovered, Gao told everyone he met: "The public hospital is truly good... they really do things for us common folk." Furthermore, whenever anyone in the village fell ill, he actively persuaded them to seek a public doctor. Similar examples are too numerous to count. By letting the patients speak and the facts testify, a "peer effect" [14] was produced, leading to a better propaganda and educational outcome. Faith in sorcerers was severely shaken, and traditional pseudo-medical practices gradually receded.
IV. The Transformation of Medical and Health Concepts in the Base Areas
In societies based on private ownership, cultural education and medical health are endeavors that serve the minority; the broad masses of the people have no right to enjoy these benefits, and superstition, ignorance, and disease long plague their lives. The CPC took the eradication of all unequal social systems as its duty and thereby established a people’s health enterprise. To ensure the victory of the War of Resistance and the health of the people, the Base Areas relied on the struggle against sorcerers and mass hygiene movements to reorganize medical forces, strengthen the development of physicians and medicine, popularize health knowledge, and provide extensive medical relief. Major transformations occurred in the Base Areas regarding management concepts, service concepts, treatment-seeking concepts, and maternal and child concepts in the medical field. The qualification of medical and nursing staff was subjected to standardized management, the reach of medical services expanded unprecedentedly, scientific prevention and treatment gradually won people’s hearts, maternal and child healthcare entered the public vision, and medical and health concepts achieved a modern transformation.
(I) Standardization of Medical and Nursing Qualification Management
For thousands of years, Chinese folk medicine relied primarily on scattered individual practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), maintained by a mix of medicine and sorcery and ambiguous common sense. "Because TCM was not built on a foundation of rigorous logic and accurate physical and chemical experimental data, it remained unable to draw a clear line between itself and sorcerous principles." To prevent "loafer doctors" (erliuzi yisheng) and quacks from harming lives, and to strengthen the scientific transformation of TCM, the 1942 Regulations for the Management of Physicians in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region stipulated: "All those qualified as physicians shall be granted a physician’s certificate after review by the Health Department of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region; otherwise, they may not practice medicine... Any physician wishing to open a practice in a certain location must present their certificate to the local governing body to request registration." In March 1943, the Draft Regulations for Rewards and Punishments of National Medicine and National Pharmacy of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region proposed: "To suppress sorcerers and loafer doctors and to encourage the spirit of research in National Medicine, specific regulations for National Medicine examinations are hereby established."
Nursing is a crucial component of modern medical work. Initially, nurses in Border Region hospitals were mostly "little devils" [15]—youths who were quite young and had low literacy levels—which led to frequent problems. After the establishment of the Yan’an Branch of the Chinese Nurses Association in 1941, it screened and audited member qualifications and assisted various medical and health leadership organs in evaluating incumbent nurses. In May 1943, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region promulgated the Regulations on Establishing a Nursing System, stating: "Improve the performance of nursing work and intensify technical education. Any current nursing personnel under the age of 16, or those with violent temperaments, weak bodies, or who are unsuitable for training, should be reassigned at once to other work... Whenever possible, comrades who are formal graduates of domestic nursing schools or who have many years of nursing experience should be appointed as head nurses to take specific responsibility for improving nursing work. The qualifications of a head nurse should be based on sufficient nursing skill rather than military management." These restrictive regulations on the qualifications of doctors, nurses, and head nurses marked the entry of medical personnel management onto a self-institutionalized track, compressed the living space for sorcerers who defrauded people of money under the guise of treating illness, and promoted the improvement of the overall quality of the medical and nursing ranks.
(II) Popularization of Medical Service Concepts
In the past, due to the scarcity of doctors, there was a folk saying: "Inviting a doctor is like petitioning a Prime Minister." Being a doctor meant "one could earn money and hold status. Whoever came to invite the master to see a patient would either ride a mule, take a large cart, or even a sedan chair; it was all very grand and prestigious, and everyone showed respect... Being a doctor was about looking for a 'match' (a profitable patient). If a rich person called, they went immediately; if a poor person called, they would make excuses, or say they had no time. In pharmacies, if a rich person came, they got good medicine; if a poor person came, they got inferior medicine. The main goal was earning money, not treating illness or saving people." Evidently, under old customs, medical recipients were primarily the wealthy classes who could afford medical fees. The poor masses, who needed medicine most, could only consult sorcerers or leave things to fate.
Facing the masses and serving the people are the essential requirements of a people’s health enterprise. "All military and institutional practitioners of both Chinese and Western medicine must be mobilized to serve the masses in addition to serving their own units, doing their utmost to treat the common people or provide hospitalization, and frequently organizing mobile medical teams to go to the countryside. All TCM practitioners and pharmacies must be mobilized and assisted to serve the masses." After the Rectification Movement, doctors in the Border Region generally underwent a baptism of revolutionary ideology, and their service concepts were reversed. "The era when a revolutionary doctor sat at home waiting for a patient to knock on the door has passed; doctors should go to the patients, and the sooner the better."
(III) The "De-deification" of Disease Prevention and Treatment Concepts
For a long time, the people of the Border Region did not understand the relationship between hygiene and disease, or disease and medicine. They believed "If the Old Man in Heaven [16] wants you sick, practicing hygiene is useless," placing their faith in ghosts and gods and resigning themselves to fate. The popularization of medical and health common sense not only taught the masses the principle that "more hygiene means less illness," but also led to "a further understanding of and faith in medical science." In terms of disease prevention, they began to pay attention to hygiene—washing hands and faces, cleaning quilts, sweeping streets and courtyards, building latrines, clearing manure piles and filth, and exterminating flies and rats. "The folks in Yanjiata have already developed the habit of drinking boiled water; gargling and taking off shoes before getting on the kang [17] have become common sights." To prevent epidemics, they received vaccinations and, during outbreaks, practiced home isolation and stayed away from busy markets. The affiliated hospital of the Field Health Department of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region alone vaccinated 7,436 local children against smallpox in 1943. Regarding treatment, with the establishment of various medical institutions at all levels (such as hospitals, clinics, health pharmacies, and health cooperatives), the masses’ sense of gain in seeking medical treatment significantly increased. "When the folks get sick, they immediately go to the outpatient department to ask a doctor to see them. They say: 'The doctors at the Eighth Route Army outpatient department are perfectly fine.' The phenomenon of seeking sorcerers and believing in ghosts is gradually decreasing."
(IV) Modernization of Maternal and Child Healthcare Concepts
The field of maternal and child health was once a major disaster area for superstition, disease, and death in the Border Region. Women lacked basic hygiene knowledge regarding menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. Gynecological diseases were considered scandalous and unmentionable matters; women were too ashamed to seek treatment, which often resulted in severe illness. Giving birth was called "crossing the gate of ghosts," and tetanus caused by unhygienic umbilical cord cutting was the greatest threat to infant survival. Given this, the Health Department of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region made maternal and child health the primary battlefield of health work. Establishing midwifery or delivery training classes, training personnel, and advocating for "new-method midwifery" (modern sterile delivery) were prioritized as major tasks. The contrast between new and old delivery methods, combined with the yearning for a healthy life, led women in the Border Region to gradually abandon the backward customs of old-method delivery. In the two years following the Conference on Culture and Education, 64 midwifery classes were opened across the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, training or transforming 826 traditional midwives. This achieved the goal of having one midwife for every two to three administrative villages, and 73% of the regions adopted New-Method Midwifery. Simultaneously, through propaganda and education, women gained a certain understanding of hygiene common sense for their "special periods." According to the Liberation Daily on June 16, 1946, pregnant women in Baijiaping Village, Yan’an, proactively requested fetal position checks, and over ten women requested health examinations. Infant feeding also became more scientific: scheduled breastfeeding, avoiding unboiled water, rational diets, frequent bathing, sun exposure, preventing colds, and universal smallpox vaccination. The health status of women and children in the Border Region improved significantly.
V. Summary
Marx pointed out: "Before the 18th century, science did not exist at all; the knowledge of nature possessed its own scientific form only in the 18th century, and in certain branches perhaps some years earlier."...
Since the 18th century, humanity has embarked on an arduous march from tradition toward modernity, marked by the triumph of science over superstition; this has been particularly true in the transformation of the medical and healthcare fields. Upholding dialectical materialism and historical materialism, and adhering to the standpoint of the people, the Communist Party of China has followed the laws of ideological education to push forward a modern transformation of the conceptual world within the medical and healthcare sectors. However, "the enemies in the minds of the masses" [18] possess a tenacious vitality. Lagging medical infrastructure and insufficient health education remain two significant factors giving rise to both "old" and "new" superstitions among the masses. Therefore, it is necessary to take the needs of the masses as the orientation, strengthening infrastructure construction, promoting the balanced supply of medical resources, streamlining institutional mechanisms, and improving service quality so as to objectively eliminate the soil in which superstition breeds. More importantly, we must fully utilize the power of science. Taking "appropriate guidance and mediation" [19] as a basic principle, we must conduct regularized popular education in medical and health knowledge for "those who possess the power of practical application," [20] thereby subjectively and continuously compressing the space for superstitious activities within the conceptual world of the subjects of practice.
(Author: Researcher at the Henan Provincial Center for the Study of the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, Henan Polytechnic University) Web Editor: Cai Hong Source: Science and Atheism (Kexue yu wushenlun)