EACS-2016. Book of Abstracts

Section 20 21st Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies 223 China is, however, not only a recent phenomenon. Kongqi wuran 空氣污染 as a generic term for air pol- lution has been in current use in China from the 1970s, with a terminological history back into the 1920s. Popular awareness of negative health effects of poor quality air has an even longer history in China. In order to fully conceptualize and comprehend the current debates and concerns related to air pollution in China we need to better understand the conceptual backdrop of these terms. From a starting point in traditional concepts of health and various forms of health inflicting qi 氣 the paper investigates fields of concern in the public debate on the relationship between air quality and health. The conceptual landscape of air pol- lutants in China will be described with a historical time frame of about 120 years by analysing translations of foreign literature on air and health, and by scrutinizing the public debate in Chinese media during this time. Particular attention will be paid to conceptual changes related to key terms in air pollution in China during this period. These conceptual changes will be linked to the social history of air pollution in China by employing the theoretical framework of conceptual history, Sattelzeit and Geschichliche Grundbegriffe as developed by Reinhart Koselleck and others.

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