A Preliminary Study of Medical Books on Health Care for the Elderly and Prolonging Life in the Early 20th Century

The present research of Chinese medical history lack detailed discussions on Chinese medicine philology of the elderly and the various sorting of related literature of physiology and diseases both at home and abroad. Based on previous literature, the article aims to introduce the publishing trend of medical books on health cultivation and prolonging life on since modern times, generally describe its significance, and initially analyze the contents related to health cultivation for the elderly. The article finds out that after the scientific concepts were imported into China in large quantities from the beginning of the 20th century, the past superstitions rose again. The sciences of nutrition, bacteriology, and physiology in such books had all verified that the road to immortality was possible. The concept of longevity at the time emphasized a concept that could be controlled by science. With the advancement of scientific research and health concepts, people believed that they could eventually achieve immortality. It was obvious that people were filled with optimism about science at that time, thus gradually subverting the definition of the elderly.