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ABSTRACT
This article discusses the history of domestic penicillin production in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, focusing on the work of the National Epidemic Prevention Bureau (NEPB) to identify, isolate, cultivate, and extract the drug. This work took place just as the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China discussed plans to establish an American pilot plant for Chinese penicillin manufacture, which would directly transfer technologies and personnel from the US to China. While American advisers saw the basic conditions of wartime China as actively obstructing the highly technical project of penicillin production, researchers at the NEPB relied crucially upon that same local environment to identify useful molds and find substitutions for key materials in successfully manufacturing penicillin in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in southwest China.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Glossary
| Ao Guohui | = | 敖国辉 |
| Chongqing | = | 重庆 |
| Fan Qingsheng | = | 樊庆笙 |
| Geleshan | = | 歌乐山 |
| Guiyang | = | 贵阳 |
| Guoli zhongyang daxue | = | 国立中央大学 |
| Huang Youwei | = | 黃有为 |
| Huidian yiyuan | = | 惠滇医院 |
| Jin Baoshan (also P.Z. King) | = | 金宝善 |
| kangjunsu | = | 抗菌素 |
| kangshengsu | = | 抗生素 |
| kuangre chongbai | = | 狂热崇拜 |
| Kunhua yiyuan | = | 昆华医院 |
| Kunming | = | 昆明 |
| Lanzhou | = | 兰州 |
| Lin Kesheng | = | 林可胜 |
| Lin Shujin | = | 林淑瑾 |
| Liu Ruiheng (also J. Heng Liu) | = | 刘瑞恒 |
| Lu Jinhan | = | 卢锦汉 |
| Ma Yucheng (also Y.C. Ma) | = | 马誉澂 |
| Tang Feifan | = | 汤飞凡 |
| Tao Xingzhi | = | 陶行知 |
| Tong Cun (also Tung Tsun) | = | 童村 |
| pannixilin | = | 盘尼西林 |
| qingmeisu | = | 青霉素 |
| Wang Gaopeng | = | 王高朋 |
| Weishengshu | = | 卫生署 |
| Wei Xi | = | 魏曦 |
| Xingzheng yuan shanhou jiuji shu | = | 行政院善后救济署 |
| Yao Hanping | = | 姚汉平 |
| Zhu Jiming | = | 朱既明 |
Notes
1 Lin Shujin, “Penicillin in the Treatment of Empyema,” 74. The case study is described as commencing on December 14, 1946, but since the article was published in March/April 1946, the note must be an error and actually refers to 1945. The other cases described all happened in December 1945 and January 1946.
2 Lin Shujin, “Penicillin in the Treatment of Empyema,” 75. An Oxford unit of penicillin referred to a standard unit of potency for the drug, as defined by its ability to prevent the growth of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, and calibrated against samples of penicillin distributed from the Oxford laboratory where the standard had been developed.
3 Lin Shujin, “Penicillin in the Treatment of Empyema,” 84.
4 Yip, “Disease and the Fighting Men,” 174; and Bello, “To Go Where No Han Could Go.”
5 Yip, “Disease and the Fighting Men,” 174.
6 King, “Epidemic Prevention and Control in China,” 51.
7 Preliminary Report of the Central Penicillin Control Committee with Special Reference to the Activities of the Subcommittee for Civilians, January 25, 1945, 1, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
8 Xu Dingding, “Kangri zhanzheng shiqi,” 357.
9 For instance, it does not appear in a timeline of significant events in medical history in Zhen Zhiya, Zhongguo yixue shi, 560–571.
10 Cochran, Chinese Medicine Men; Fang, Barefoot Doctors and Western Medicine; and Gross, Farewell to the God of Plague.
11 Wang Gaopeng, “Qingmeisu zai jindai Zhongguo,” 1; Dikötter et al., Narcotic Culture, 205, 208.
12 Watt, Saving Lives; Soon, “Coming from Afar”; and Barnes, Intimate Communities.
13 Bud, Penicillin, 76.
14 Ibid., 81.
15 Xu Dingding, “Kangri zhanzheng shiqi”; and Niu Yahua, “20 shiji 40 niandai.”
16 For an example, see Zhongguo yiyao baokan xiehui and Zhongguo yiyao gongye yanjiu kaifa cujin hui, Xin Zhongguo yaopin jianguan, 139–141.
17 Bud, Penicillin, 2.
18 Neushul, “Fighting Research.”
19 Rasmussen, “Of ‘Small Men,’ Big Science,” 116–117, and 121–125.
20 Bud, Penicillin, 75–82.
21 Yongue, “Introduction of American Mass Production Technology,” 213.
22 Lee, “Microbial Transformations,” 441–442.
23 Yip, Health and National Reconstruction, 16.
24 Chen, “Public Health in National Reconstruction,” 60–68.
25 Cheng Guangsheng et al., “Recollection;” Wu Anran and Xie Xiaowen, “In Memory of Professor Tang Fei-fan,” 512. Although National Central University was based in Nanjing, its medical school was sited in Shanghai during the 1930s.
26 See also Brazelton, Mass Vaccination.
27 Xu Dingding, “Experimental Production of Penicillin,” 323; Bud, Penicillin, 79–81; Xu Dingding, “Kangri zhanzheng shiqi,” 349; and Abraham et al., “Further Observations on Penicillin.”
28 Xu Dingding, “Kangri zhanzheng shiqi,” 349; for a firsthand account, see Tang Feifan, “Wu guo zi zhi qingmeisu.”
29 Tang Feifan, “Wu guo zi zhi qingmeisu,” as quoted in Xu Dingding, “Kangri zhanzheng shiqi,” 350.
30 Wang Gaopeng, “Qingmeisu zai jindai Zhongguo,” 19, and 39–42. For an overview of the explosion of Chinese medical literature on penicillin at this time, see Zhang Changshao, Qingmei junsu zhiliao xue.
31 Chu et al., “Experimental Production of Penicillin,” 91.
32 Chu et al., “Experimental Production of Penicillin,” 90. The local molds were gathered over fourteen months from May 1944 to July 1945 and included such sources as orange peels, shoes, and cheese.
33 Xu Dingding, “Kangri zhanzheng shiqi,” 350; and Niu Yahua, “20 shiji 40 niandai,” 185.
34 Preliminary Report of the Central Penicillin Control Committee with Special Reference to the Activities of the Subcommittee for Civilians, 2, 4–6, January 25, 1945, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
35 Watt, Saving Lives.
36 Watt, Saving Lives, 123–158; and Soon, “Coming from Afar.”
37 Barnes, Intimate Communities, 128.
38 Soon, “Blood, Soy Milk, and Vitality,” 427.
39 Watt, Saving Lives, 208.
40 Report on the Meeting of the ABMAC Penicillin for China Committee, September 22, 1944, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24. The industrial cooperative movement in China began in 1938 as the work of H. H. Kung, minister of finance, and the New Zealander Rewi Alley. Pruitt, “Six Years of Indusco,” 48.
41 Minutes of Conference on the Production of Penicillin, March 6, 1944, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
42 Speech Given at ABMAC Annual Board of Directors Meeting by Norman Appelzweig, May 16, 1944, 1, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
43 Jin Xinghua, Gongheguo shaoshu minzu kexuejia chuan, 71–72.
44 Report on the Meeting of the ABMAC Penicillin for China Committee, September 22, 1944, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
45 Report on the Penicillin for China Project, Executive Committee Meeting, July 25, 1944, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
46 Speech Given at ABMAC Annual Board of Directors Meeting by Norman Applezweig, May 16, 1944, 1–4, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
47 Conference on Penicillin: ABMAC and Indusco Representatives, Tuesday, June 13, 1944, 6:00 pm,” Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
48 Minutes of the Meeting of the Special Advisory Committee on Penicillin for China Project of ABMAC and Indusco, June 23, 1944, 3, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
49 Chu et al., “Experimental Production of Penicillin,” 92.
50 Minutes of the Meeting of the Special Advisory Committee on Penicillin for China Project of ABMAC and Indusco, June 23, 1944, 3, Archives of the American Bureau for Military Aid to China, box 24.
51 Ibid.
52 Minutes of the Meeting of the Special Advisory Committee on Penicillin for China Project of ABMAC and Indusco, June 23, 1944, 3, Archives of the American Bureau for Military Aid to China, box 24.
53 Memorandum by J. Heng Liu, “Penicillin,” June 22, 1944, 2, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
54 Minutes of the Meeting of the Special Advisory Committee on Penicillin for China Project of ABMAC and Indusco, held at the office of ABMAC, New York City, June 23, 1944, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
55 Minutes of the Meeting of the Special Advisory Committee on Penicillin for China Project of ABMAC and Indusco, held at the office of ABMAC, New York City, June 23, 1944, 2, Archives of the American Bureau of Medical Aid to China, box 24.
56 Report on the Meeting of the ABMAC Penicillin for China Committee, September 22, 1944, 2, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
57 Helen Stevens, New York, to K.K. Chen, Indianapolis, September 19, 1944, 1, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
58 Report on the Penicillin for China Project, Executive Committee Meeting, July 25, 1944, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
59 Minutes of the Meeting of the Special Advisory Committee on Penicillin for China Project of ABMAC and Indusco, July 19, 1944, 4, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
60 Report on the Penicillin for China Project, Executive Committee Meeting, July 25, 1944, 2, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
61 Minutes of the Meeting of the Special Advisory Committee on Penicillin for China Project of ABMAC and Indusco, July 19, 1944, 3–4, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
62 Niu Yahua, “20 shiji 40 niandai,” 186.
63 Chu et al., “Experimental Production of Penicillin,” 92–94.
64 Chu et al., “Experimental Production of Penicillin,” 96–97.
65 Niu Yahua, “20 shiji 40 niandai,” 185.
66 Chu et al., “Experimental Production of Penicillin,” 97.
67 Niu Yahua, “20 shiji 40 niandai,” 186.
68 Chu et al., “Experimental Production of Penicillin,” 97–98.
69 Ibid., 100.
70 C.S. Fan [Fan Qingsheng], “Report on Penicillin Work,” September 4, 1944, 2, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
71 Report on Penicillin Meeting, September 22, 1944, 2. Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
72 Ibid.
73 F. F. Tang, Beijing, to ABMAC offices, New York, January 13, 1947, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 9.
74 Tsun Tung to Helen Stevens, October 1, 1944, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24. I have used the older romanization of Tong Cun’s name here because that is the name by which he was known at ABMAC.
75 Tsun Tung to Helen Stevens, October 30, 1944, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
76 Tsun Tung to Helen Stevens, October 30, 1944, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
77 Tsun Tung, Galveston, Texas, to Frank Meleney, New York, July 7, 1945, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
78 Xu Dingding, “Kangri zhanzheng shiqi,” 357.
79 Tang Feifan, The Present Status of the NEPB Penicillin Laboratory, December 1948, 2, Archives of the American Bureau of Medical Aid to China, box 24.
80 Tang Feifan, Beijing, to Frank Meleney, New York, March 14, 1946, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
81 Bud, Penicillin, 84–86.
82 Ao Guohui, “Qingmeisu dui waike jibing,” 4–12, as discussed and quoted in Wang Gaopeng, “Qingmeisu zai Zhongguo,” 47–52.
83 Zhong et al., “Efficacy of Penicillin”; Niu and Liu, “Penicillin in the Treatment of Putrid Lung Abscess”; Cao Xizhong et al., “Treatment of Thrombophlebitis”; and Lin Zhaoqi, “Preliminary Study.”
84 Song Jie, “Intrathecal Administration of Penicillin.”
85 Guo Xingsun, “A Simple Apparatus for Penicillin Aerosolization,” 504–505.
86 F. F. Tang, Shanghai, to J. Heng Liu, Shanghai, December 20, 1948, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
87 Jin Xinghua, Gongheguo shaoshu minzu kexuejia chuan, 73.
88 Tang Feifan, The Present Status of the NEPB Penicillin Laboratory, December 1948, 1, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
89 J. Heng Liu, Shanghai, to Magnus Gregersen, New York, December 21, 1948, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
90 Tang Feifan, The Present Status of the NEPB Penicillin Laboratory, December 1948, 2, Archives of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, box 24.
91 Tang et al., “Studies on the Etiology of Trachoma.”
92 Xu Jianping, “The Life and Work of Dr. Fan Qingsheng,” 554–556; and Lou Wuji and Zhou Xiangquan, “Fan Qingsheng,” 192.
93 Jin Xinghua, Gongheguo shaoshu minzu kexuejia chuan, 75.
94 Hvistendahl, “China Takes Aim,” 795.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Mary Augusta BRAZELTON
Mary Augusta BRAZELTON is currently a university lecturer in global studies of science, technology, and medicine in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. She is also a research fellow of the Needham Research Institute. She received her PhD from Yale University and has taught previously at Tufts University. Her research primarily focuses on the history of science, technology, and medicine in modern China and East Asia, with allied interests in Manchu studies. Her book, Mass Vaccination: Citizens’ Bodies and State Power in Modern China, will be published by Cornell University Press in October 2019.
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