Abstract
In this article, I traced each epidemic outbreak of Ming Dynasty’s Beijing, including the symptoms, the urban sanitary conditions, and the government’s responses. There were 15-recorded outbreaks in Beijing throughout the Ming Dynasty. Except for two, all occurred after 1540 and mainly during the reigns of Jiajing (1522-1567), Wanli (1573-1620) and late Chongzhen (1628-1644). The worst case was the pandemic of 1643. According to the records, these epidemics included smallpox, “big head plague,” “sheep’s wool plague,” “pimple plague” and “vomit blood plague.” The 1643 “pimple plague” and “vomit blood plague,” judging by the symptoms, were possibly bubonic plague and pneumonic plague. During each outbreak, the empire’s public health system, led by the Imperial Medical Department, played a major role in fighting the disease. It actually functioned in the reigns of Jiajing and Wanli, but failed miserably during the 1643 pandemic. Since the outbreak went uncontrolled, it claimed 200,000 lives in Beijing that year, and therefore severely compromised Beijing’s defense against Li Zicheng’s siege in the next year. The 1643 pandemic indirectly caused Beijing’s fall and the demise of the Ming Empire.
Keywords
Beijing, epidemic, bubonic plague, public health, medical system
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