During the Republic of China period, some social groups actively carried out cleaning and sanitation campaigns, of which the Sichuan New Life Games were the most prominent. In 1934, the New Life Games, with the main purpose of advocating a new way of life and improving living customs, were established throughout the country.
The Sichuan New Life Games were established in March 1934, and by November 1936, more than 130 counties had been established in the new games of all cities and counties in Sichuan. During the epidemic period, the main means adopted by the Sichuan New Games are summer sanitation campaigns, including seven health contents, including planting pox, killing flies, fighting mosquitoes, cleaning up toilets and diets, exterminating rats, killing fleas, and chasing dogs.
At that time, Sichuan extensively set up pox planting centers, and in Chengdu alone, union hospital, Baokang hospital, Zhongshan Park Benhui and other places were set up. Driven by the publicity of the New Games, the prevalence of pox in Sichuan Province has increased significantly, and the number of vaccinations has increased unprecedentedly. In Chengdu alone, from April 6 to 20, 1936, the number of people planting pox was as high as 11,363. Among them, Cunren Hospital has 2515 people, Baokang Hospital has 1354 people, Shengxiu Hospital has 843 people, Union Hospital has 867 people, Minsheng Hospital has 1252 people, and Zhongshan Park Association has 4532 people.
In addition, in order to raise the public's awareness of hygiene and epidemic prevention, the New Life Games were also publicized through various forms such as health exhibitions, leaflets, and slogans. For example, some rat extermination leaflets in 1936: rats are the medium of spreading the epidemic, if you want family hygiene, you must first kill rats, if you want personal cleanliness, you must kill rats first, a family without rats and ten tranquility, a hundred rats without rats and a thousand families are sick, rats must be exterminated, to exterminate rats, each family must raise cats, and every family must prepare rat killers to kill rats. In addition, the Sichuan Provincial New Games have also carried out activities such as killing mosquitoes and flies, cleaning public toilets, and tidying up restaurants, making great contributions to the prevention and control of epidemics.
The local New Games in Sichuan Province have also carried out clean and sanitary campaigns. In 1935, the Chongqing New Life Movement Promotion Association advocated the movement of killing flies and rats, pointing out that "flies and rats have the most intense rate of infection." The city is narrow and dense, the rats are easy to do, the weather is getting more and more sunny, the production of flies will be fast, if you do not prevent it early, plug this source of the disease, than the epidemic of the time, the remedy will be no longer available", and specially formulated the main method of killing rats and killing flies. (a) Regarding the rat killer, one cat, two to prepare rat beaters, and three to be bribed by the public security organs to bury the dead rats. (b) Regarding fly exterminators, a mortal stable, toilet, garbage heap, must be sprayed at any time with sodium chloride carbolic acid, lime, etc. every day to kill maggots, two to buy sticky fly paper, or fly shoots, etc., three to ban rotten food
During the epidemic, the Luojiang New Games will print a brochure on exterminating flies and pay a large price to buy dead flies and dead rats. In 1934, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dazu and other cities and counties formed the "New Life Movement Committee" composed of police stations, banks, hospitals, red cross, civil affairs, security and other departments to carry out a "clean and sanitary campaign" among urban organs, schools, and residents.
Therefore, the spread of plague in Sichuan since 1934 has been greatly reduced, which can be said to be quite effective.
Resources
[1] Zhang Jianguang: "Three Thousand Years of Epidemic"