[The Medical Journal for Women: the earliest specialised journal of traditional Chinese medicine in modern China].

Abstract

The Medical Journal for Women, chiefly edited by Wang Shenxuan as a specialised journal on women's health , was founded by the Suzhou Women's Medical Association in the winter of 1927. The original intention of the journal was to 'help change women's condition and improve academic communication'. It was initially planned to be published quarterly in February, May, August and November each year. However, it was not released on schedule because of Wang Shenxuan's busy clinic. The journal was closed partly because the Suzhou Women's Medical Association no longer specialised in the medicine for women, with the enlargement of its enrollment size, and partly because it changed its name to the Suzhou National Medical Society. The journal released a total of 12 issues. It took root in traditional Chinese medicine theories in the content and focused on exploring practice clinically and academically with reference of western medicine. As the journal of the Suzhou Women's Medical Association, it also undertook the mission of liaising with internal and external members of the association and teaching and training people for the purpose of public health. The journal showed the development of women's medicine in the Republic of China as key historical material for the research of the interaction and communication of journals in the period of the Republic of China and the transformation of women's status in modern times. However, as a medical journal issued for the public, the journal showed its limitation of academic openness since it simply had the papers published, written by the teachers and students of the Suzhou Women's Medical Association.