在中國近代醫療史的研究中,對於中醫的知識生產與實作之研究,成果已相當豐碩,但有關醫者之收入及其職業生涯的實際困境與因應之道的層面,則極少被研究者關注。相對於古代醫者的身分與職業並不為社會所重視,宋代以來儒醫的概念興起後,醫者被賦予仁心仁術之形象,但為謀利而講究開業技術,畢竟不是士人為醫的核心理念。但自近代以來,面對西醫的挑戰,受到醫者人數增加,市場競爭激烈的影響,致使更多上層醫者也開始講究開業的技術。而從這些言論中來看,中醫講究開業不僅只是為了謀利,當時中醫還希望建構一種整體的社會形象,規範且合理的看診模式,以爭取患者信任,才能與西醫爭勝。本文以一本於1930年代出版的《國醫開業術》為核心文本,擴展並補充資料,探討當時中醫開業困境和醫療市場上的種種現象,內文以近代中國商業化競爭最激烈的上海為例,梳理中醫在新式開業與營生技術上的各方面言論,進而檢視中醫在當時社會上的作為,以及醫者形象的具體變化。
Facing intense competition from Western-style medical doctors and within their own growing ranks, , Chinese medical practitioners of the 1930s started to pay closer attention to their business skills. Thus, doctors of traditional Chinese medicine in that era practiced medicine not only for profit, but also with the aim of building an overall social image as well as a standard and reasonable medical service model. In these ways, they aimed to gain the trust of patients and compete against doctors of Western medicine. This paper adopts the 1930s Business Practice Techniques of Traditional Chinese Medicine as its core text, analyzing its discourse and expanding on the information it provides in order to examine the business obstacles to the practice of Chinese medicine in that era and related phenomena of the medical service market. It treats Shanghai, the city facing most intense business competition in China at the time, as an example, and offers a fresh perspective on the new modes of Chinese medicine practice and business techniques. It aims to explore the actions taken by doctors of Chinese medicine at the time and the specific changes in doctors' images.