1894年香港鼠疫谣言与政府应对措施

Rumors on 1894 Hong Kong Plague and the Government's Coping Measures

1894年香港鼠疫不仅造成巨大的人口死亡和经济破坏,也令殖民政府陷入空前的管治危机。为解决此次危机,殖民政府以公共卫生的名义采取了强制医院隔离与收治、挨家挨户搜查、受感染屋宇清洁消毒以及鼠疫死者埋葬等一系列激进的防疫措施。不过,这些措施却与华人的生活传统与社会习俗产生了激烈的冲突,华人社会通过各种各样的方式反对和抵制政府的防疫措施。其中一种重要方式便是围绕外国医生和殖民政府邪恶意图的各种谣言的广泛散播,而为平息谣言与缓和华人社会的敌对情绪,殖民政府也积极通过广州当局和华人组织等多种渠道予以压制和澄清。

The 1894 Hong Kong plague not only caused huge population deaths and economic disruptions,but also put the colonial government into an unprecedented crisis of governance. In order to solve this crisis,the colonial government took a series of radical epidemic prevention measures by the name of the public health. These measures included mandatory hospital isolation and treatment, house-to-house searching,cleaning and disinfection of the infected houses, and internment of the plague dead. However, these measures had a fierce conflict with the life traditions and social customs of the Chinese people, and the Chinese community adopted various means to oppose and resist the government's prevention measures. One of the most important ways was to spread the various rumors of foreign doctors and colonial government's evil intentions. In order to quell the rumors and ease the hostility of the Chinese community, the colonial government also responded actively through many channels including the Guangzhou authorities and the Chinese organizations.