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SELLING A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE IN LATE QING TIANJIN: COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENTS FOR WEISHENG PRODUCTS IN THE DAGONG BAO, 1902–1911

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2012

Juanjuan Peng
Juanjuan Peng
Affiliation:
Georgia Southern University E-mail jpeng@georgiasouthern.edu
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Abstract

Based on the advertisements in the Dagong bao 大公報, this article first attempts to understand the concept of weisheng 衛生 as promoted by advertisers, arguing that during the first decade of the twentieth century, when social reformers had already used this old Chinese term to translate the Western concept of hygiene and associated it with public health programs and a stronger state, the general public as consumers in Tianjin continued to understand the concept according to its traditional meaning of “guarding life.” However, new ideas, such as disease-causing germs, cleanliness, and odor, were grafted on to this old weisheng concept as a result of strong Western influence. Still, Chinese “weisheng” differed from Western “hygiene” even in the context of private health, as foreign ideas were often transformed drastically to fit into the Chinese medical tradition. The second part of this article further explores the consumption activities involving products that were associated with the weisheng concept and discusses three questions: What did weisheng products include? Who were the consumers of weisheng products? And what kind of role did gender play in weisheng consumption?

Keywords

guarding lifeweisheng productspersonal hygieneadvertisementDagong baoconsumer culture
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , July 2012 , pp. 211 - 230
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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