這篇文字是一九九七年六月我在中央研究院歷史語言研究所主辦的「醫療、 社會 與文化學術研討會」上的專題演講。首先我說明歷史語言研究所「疾病、醫療與文化」討論 小組形成的過程以及這個小組關心的課題－以生命為主軸而探討一個社會對生命的解釋和維 護生命的方法。我們所研究的醫療史與傳統的醫學史不同，是以「社會」和「文化」做為重 心，這在中國近代歷史學的發展上也可以找到一些前例，如陳寅恪和周作人。我進一步說明 把醫療史的問題放在社會的脈絡來看，我們更能落實歷史的研究－以人群的生命歷程為核心 ，了解每個社會如何處理凡做為人都不可避免的生老病死的問題。我們不只研究外來醫療文 化的影響，也藉著醫療史探討社會深層的心態。

　　　　　This paper was produced in June 1997 for the "Conference on Medicine, Society, and Culture" sponsored by the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica. First, I will explain the process and method of the research group in our institute, as well as the issues with which we are concerned. The central topic around which the discussion turned is the collective attitudes of Chinese society toward the explanation and protection of life. Our research on the subject, in comparison to conventional research on medical histories, carries several distinctive features. The foci of our efforts include "society" and "culture," not only medicine. This perspective is quite new, but not unprecedented (Examples include works by Chen Yingke and Zhou Zuoren). I would go one step further. By placing medical history in a social context, we are more adequately equipped to research this topic. By placing the lives of the people at the core of our argument, we are more able to understand how societies and their constituents dealt with the unavoidable issues of life, aging, sickness, and death. We have put certain emphasis of foreign cultural influence, hoping to use the study of medical history as a medium through which to view the penetralia of past societies.