[SydPhil] HPS Presentation - Natalie Koehle - "Feasting on Donkey Skin"

[Debbie Castle]

[https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/QX7qClxwB5CY6NyJcGEihD?domain=gallery.mailchimp.com]

SCHOOL OF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
PRESENTATION

Natalie Köhle
[https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/zwQjCmOxDQtQkNZwsOZzdF?domain=gallery.mailchimp.com]


Research Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Hong Kong Baptist University.


Feasting on Donkey Skin

Donkey hide gelatine (ejiao 阿膠) has been part of the Chinese apothecary for over one thousand years. According to traditional Chinese pharmacology, the gelatine produced from the hide is a powerful tonic that restores the vigour of the sick and enhances the vitality of those in health. It was once a regionally specific drug, the potency of which was thought to depend on the use of skins from a particular breed of donkey, and water from a particular spring. Historically, the quantity of donkey hide gelatine was therefore limited; a luxury accessible only to the gilded few. But in China’s recent age of prosperity, donkeys of many kinds from all over the world have entered supply chains and the medicine has experienced an exponential growth in demand and production. This has led to a severe, worldwide shortage of donkeys and threatens to lead to the global extinction of the donkey as a species. My talk will present work in progress on the historical roots of ejiao, the technological factors that lead to its transformation from a regional specialty to a mass commodity, and the appeal of the medicine to present-day Chinese consumers in light of historical medical discourses. It will also outline the problematic issues and implications of the global skin trade and present first hand impressions from current developments in donkey farming, gathered during fieldwork in the PRC undertaken in 2018 and 2019.



WHEN: THURSDAY 23RD JANUARY 5PM
WHERE: LEVEL 5 FUNCTION ROOM
F23 ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
CAMPERDOWN CAMPUS.
All Welcome | No Booking Required | Free

sydney.edu.au/science/hps/
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Unit for History and Philosophy of Science · University of Sydney · Sydney, NSW 2006 · Australia

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