Abstract:
China suffered rather serious infectious diseases in the West and East Han Dynasties. These diseases occurred extensively, ranging from the prairie region in the north to the Five Ridges in the south, and frequently, mostly in spring and summer. An analysis of historical records of infectious diseases in the West and East Han Dynasties is necessary to recover the general situation of those diseases, reveal the current perception of binding elements to the rise of infectious diseases, mainly including restrictions of climate and phenology in lunar months, environmental disasters and supernatural powers by heaven-man interactions. Meanwhile, a complete coping mechanism to infectious diseases was already established in the periods, including medical treatment and disease-prevention. Therefore, a study of the coping mechanisms to infectious diseases in the West and East Han Dynasties is of great significance to our current practice of coping with infectious diseases.
