Xiaoping Fang gives the English-reading world a reliable account of the barefoot doctor movement and its tremendous importance in the creation of the Chinese health-care system. Contrary to received opinion, Fang shows how the movement prompted a decline in the popularity of traditional healing methods while promoting biomedicine in the countryside. This study greatly advances our understanding of the history of medicine in modern China.

• IntroductionVillage Healers, Medical Pluralism, and State MedicineRevolutionizing Knowledge Transmission StructuresPharmaceuticals Reach the VillagesHealing Styles and Medical Beliefs: The Consumption of Chinese and Western MedicinesRelocating Illness: The Shift from Home Bedside to Hospital WardGroup Identity, Power Relationships, and Medical LegitimacyConclusionAppendixesThe Organization of the Three-Tiered Medical System in Rural China, 1968-83Common Medicines in Chinese Villages during the 1960s-70s

Xiaoping Fang gives the English-reading world a reliable account of the barefoot doctor movement and its tremendous importance in the creation of the Chinese health-care system. Contrary to received opinion, Fang shows how the movement prompted a decline in the popularity of traditional healing methods while promoting biomedicine in the countryside. This study greatly advances our understanding of the history of medicine in modern China.

• IntroductionVillage Healers, Medical Pluralism, and State MedicineRevolutionizing Knowledge Transmission StructuresPharmaceuticals Reach the VillagesHealing Styles and Medical Beliefs: The Consumption of Chinese and Western MedicinesRelocating Illness: The Shift from Home Bedside to Hospital WardGroup Identity, Power Relationships, and Medical LegitimacyConclusionAppendixesThe Organization of the Three-Tiered Medical System in Rural China, 1968-83Common Medicines in Chinese Villages during the 1960s-70s

Xiaoping Fang gives the English-reading world a reliable account of the barefoot doctor movement and its tremendous importance in the creation of the Chinese health-care system. Contrary to received opinion, Fang shows how the movement prompted a decline in the popularity of traditional healing methods while promoting biomedicine in the countryside. This study greatly advances our understanding of the history of medicine in modern China.

• IntroductionVillage Healers, Medical Pluralism, and State MedicineRevolutionizing Knowledge Transmission StructuresPharmaceuticals Reach the VillagesHealing Styles and Medical Beliefs: The Consumption of Chinese and Western MedicinesRelocating Illness: The Shift from Home Bedside to Hospital WardGroup Identity, Power Relationships, and Medical LegitimacyConclusionAppendixesThe Organization of the Three-Tiered Medical System in Rural China, 1968-83Common Medicines in Chinese Villages during the 1960s-70s