[Examining doctor-patient interaction in the late Qing and early Republican periods: centering on Zhong Guo Gu Jin Yi An Hui Bian in gynecology and pediatrics].

The nature of medical practice involves both technical dimension of pathology and treatment and the socio-cultural dimension in terms of doctor-patient interaction, as a core components of the human health protection system. The gynecological and pediatric treatment narratives in the Class Compilation of Ancient and Modern Medical Cases of China (Zhong Guo Gu Jin Yi An Hui Bian) in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China is believed to provide a typical sample for exploring multidimensional interactions in the traditional medical field at that time. With the increasing popularization of medical professional knowledge in this period, patients might use their own medical knowledge to self-diagnose and implicitly made contrast with the professional diagnosis and treatment of doctors, indicating the conflict of knowledge and power in the traditional medical field. Additionally, patients and their families might question the diagnosis and treatment plan due to the various standards of Chinese medical groups and the frequent occurrence of misdiagnosis. However, they might choose to trust doctors at the critical treatment stage, showing the contradictory characteristics of doctor-patient interaction. Confronting the infiltration of Western medical knowledge, the traditional Chinese medicine community strengthened the humanistic care and emotional interaction in the consultation process as an adaptive strategy for traditional medicine to cope with the challenges of modernity while maintaining its professional authority and consolidating the trust of the patients.