In 2010, archeologists came across the grisly sight of over 100 skeletons stuffed into small rooms in a Neolithic ruin in Inner Mongolia.Experts have since theorized that these were victims of some prehistoric plague, who were hastily isolated and buried in order to stop the chain of infection.

According to a folk saying, ancient China saw “a major epidemic every 10 years, and a minor outbreak every three years.”Imperiling emperors and commoners alike, these disease outbreaks devastated the population, and changed the course of wars and dynasties.

Today, as the world battles Covid-19, we look back at the lessons learned from several pivotal pandemics in Chinese history. From Qing dynasty outbreaks of smallpox, cholera, and plague that heralded the development of public sanitation, to the construction of emergency hospitals during SARS, diseases have always been around us—and have continually reshaped the way our societies live.

从明末清初的天花、清朝末年的霍乱、20世纪初的东北肺鼠疫，到2003年的SARS，流行病在中国的历史上时隐时现。中国人与细菌、病毒战斗的抗疫史也是中国公共卫生体系的建设史。