• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.77-86
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• 2014

The paper describes the practice and purpose of the medical missionaries research on the traditional Chinese drugs(中藥). Searches were made using the journal of the China Medical Missionary Association. The China Medical Missionary Association established the committee of the Chinese Materia Medica in 1890. This committee aimed to research on the traditional Chinese drugs. Then why did the medical missionaries study traditional Chinese drugs? This is because the western drugs(西洋藥）was not easy to acquire, especially in land areas. Also, some western drugs have poor quality and expensive. Therefore they need to understand that Chinese drugs will help in the production of the western drugs. But from around 1920, the main purpose of the research was changed. The scientific and systematic investigation on the Chinese medicine itself became more important. And this change partly influenced that medical missionaries' views on traditional Chinese drugs.