Hong Kong Plague Medal, 1894

Posted: November 23rd, 2023 | No Comments »

The 1894 Hong Kong plague, part of the third plague pandemic, was a major outbreak of the bubonic plague in Hong Kong. 80,000 died in Guangzhou! To fight the plague soldiers and saailors were mobilised as well as inspection and disinfection teams, known as the “Whitewash Brigades”, and the establishment of temporary hospitals. despiute these efforts over 20,000 died.

So it seems that those involved with fighting the plague were awarded medals by ‘the Hong Kong Community’. It’s quite a dramatic medal in terms of the front. This shows the efforts obviously but also perhaps foreigners helping a Chinese. The Chinese in Hong Kong suffered dispopropotionately – Kennedy Town and Taipingshan particularly – and there was some distrust of western medicine and British soldiers so perhaps the medal’s image is meant to address this? There’s a lot more on all that here.

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