The imperial physicians were the family doctors responsible for providing medical services to members of the imperial family. They were also in charge of epidemic prevention work in the whole country. During the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor, for example, there were branches of medicine: internal medicine, paediatrics, typhoid fever, gynaecology, dermatology, acupuncture and moxibustion, ophthalmology, dentistry and stomatology, osteology, etc.

The imperial physicians were paid low wages compared to other officials, but their jobs came with high risks. So, some civilian physicians were reluctant to serve at the court. Chinese writer Zheng Yimei recorded such an anecdote: During the period in which Empress Dowager Cixi was in power, the civilian physician Ma Peizhi was recommended to the court. After he successfully cured the empress dowager’s illness, he was bombarded by princes and ministers looking to be treated. To escape from his situation, Ma went as far as pretending to faint in public and was finally allowed to return to Yangzhou. After returning to his hometown, Ma recorded his experiences in Beijing in A Record of Being Marked by Grace (Ji en lu).

Many missionaries came to China during the Qing dynasty and brought Western medicines with them, including cinchona bark. In 1693, the missionaries Jean de Fontaney (1643-1710) and Claude de Visdelou (1653-1737) presented cinchona cream to the Kangxi Emperor, curing his malaria. Cinchona bark contains quinine, which is a medicine used to treat malaria. They were then ordered to make Western medicine for the emperor. During the southern expedition of 1705, the emperor bestowed his ministers with cinchona cream made in the palace as a reward. The Complete Records of the Emperor Kangxi’s Five Visits to Jiangnan (Shengzu wuxing jiangnan quanlu) notes, “This cinchona [medicine] is made by imperial order and is very good for the body when taken. Here are ten taels, bestowed to the provincial military commander.”

Several epidemics broke out during the Qing dynasty, such as smallpox, the plague, and cholera. Once an epidemic was discovered, the governments at all levels would immediately issue public notices to inform the population. Sometimes, stone tablets inscribed with precautions and simple prescriptions would be erected at street corners.

During the Qianlong period, the wells in the city would be sealed off whenever there was a plague outbreak. To prevent further spread of the plague, the Qing government would quarantine infected individuals and people who came in contact with them in a designated location where no one was allowed to enter or leave. The Qing court made it mandatory for those with smallpox to leave and live outside the city. “Civilians who contracted smallpox were moved a distance of forty miles away to prevent the spread of the disease. Officials did not effectively carry out their duties. [The infected] wandered around homeless, and many of the young and feeble died of hunger on the roadsides.”