The Evolution Of Epidemic Prevention Legislation In Late Qing Dynasty And Early Republic Of China

From a certain point of view,the history of human civilization is also a history of the fight against diseases.This paper focuses on the turbulent era of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,the turbulent and rapid social changes.Facing the reality of frequent plague and the introduction of western medical and health administrative systems,China’s epidemic prevention legal system began to change from the old to the new and from the ancient to the modern.The transition and maturity of health administrative agencies and specialized epidemic prevention agencies marks the start of China’s government-led health and epidemic prevention undertakings.Since then,the modern medical and epidemic prevention means based on early warning report—— cleaning and disinfection —— isolation and blocking —— strict treatment of bodies have been formally established in the legal level;the important health and epidemic prevention matters such as infectious disease prevention,public health,military epidemic prevention,harbor quarantine,planned immunization,and national sovereignty,are included by the law.During this period,the epidemic prevention legislation changed from ignorance to science,changed the disadvantages of the feudal traditional legal system,with the purpose of safeguarding civil rights,and the legislative technology tended to be standardized,which greatly promoted the modern transformation of the construction of the epidemic prevention legal system,gradually enhanced the government’s ability to prevent and control the epidemic,and comprehensively promoted the vigorous development of modern health and epidemic prevention.Although the legal system of modern health and epidemic prevention is becoming perfect day by day,the name of epidemic prevention legislation in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China is changeable and frequent,which is divorced from China’s actual national conditions,and the regional differences in the legislative effect are significant.From the perspective of the contemporary law theory,the system of the evolution of epidemic prevention legislation,the background of the transition,summarizes the experience and lessons of legislation,in order to back history,improve the importance of the public health legal construction,and for the research and practice of the contemporary epidemic prevention legislation to provide some useful historical reference and enlightenment.