Gottlieb Olpp

Olpp became a member of the Rhenish Missionary Society in 1897.[4] In 1898, he travelled to subtropical Dongguan (东莞), China, then called Tungkun, for a specialized training in Tropical and Infectious Disease.[2] The hospital, called Puji Hospital 普济医院, was the first German missionary hospital in China.[13] At the time of his arrival, Olpp was the second medical missionary from the Rhenish Mission in China, working alongside the first medical missionary, Dr. Johannes E. Kühne, and a male nurse who came in 1901, Johannes Baumann. The hospital compound was initially located entirely within the city walls, surrounded by Chinese dwelling, but since 1903–1906, it was relocated the bank of the East River, where cases from afar can be brought by boat directly. It was constructed to accommodate 100 patients.[14] In order to better communicate with the local patients, Olpp spent one and a half year studying Chinese, which subsequently allowed him to perform extensive research on Tropical Diseases and to read and translate Traditional Chinese Medicine directly.[15][2] Along with yearly missionary reports, Olpp wrote many academic papers and reflections on his medical experience in China to Germany via the magazine Deutschen Tropenmedizinischen Zeitschrift and Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift (Munich Medicine Weekly).[7] He translated and introduced parts of TCM literature, mainly from TCM classics during the Ming and Qing dynasties, such as the Ming Yi Lei An (《名医类案[16]》 A Compilation of Healing Methods of Famous Doctors), the Shou Shi Bao Yuan (《寿世保元[17]》 Longevity and Life Preservation), the book on surgery Jin Jian Wai Ke (《金鉴外科》 Golden Mirror of Surgery), Wang Shu He Tu Zhu Nan Jing Mai Jue (《王叔和图注难经脉决》Work of Wang Shuhe about Classics of Difficult Inquiries and Rhyming Book of Pulse), Ben Cao Gang Mu, Xuan Er Chuang Tu (《旋耳疮图》 Picture of Ulcer Behind the Ear), Chen Xiu Yuan Yi Shu Er Shi Yi Zhong (《陈修园医书二十一种》 Twenty-one Kinds of Medicine Books by Chen Xiuyuan), the Zeng Ding Yan Fang Xin Bian (《增订验方新编》 Revised Edition of New Compilation of Empirical Formulas), and the Xu Hui Xi Xian Sheng Shi San Zhong (《徐洄溪先生十三种》 Thirteen Kinds of Books.[2]

Consistent with the negative views of TCM in the West at the time, Olpp did not have a high evaluation of TCM, calling the practice “a tall building of numerous errors and a few golden grains of truth."[2] Portraying TCM as backward, Olpp compared the anatomical and physiological findings of TCM to the work of Galen, whose many theories have been scientifically disproven in Europe at the time.[18] Olpp was also critical of both Chinese people and Chinese doctors, seeing their practices as an unnegligible factor in the development and spread of illnesses in China. In his later monograph On Chinese Medicine from the Perspective of Tropical Pathology, he wrote that Prolapsus uteri is partly caused by "new mothers who stood up too soon and the unskilled handling of ignorant local midwives." On the mass spread of tuberculosis in South China, he attributed a partial cause to the Chinese's lack of awareness about the dangers of infection.[19][20] On the leprosy pandemic, Olpp described the Chinese population as struggling victims and criticized the lack of effective response by the Chinese government.[21][22]

At the time, the negative evaluation of Western physicians about TCM led to a general disregard of Chinese doctors as not "real doctors." Olpp seemed to share a similar opinion. In one of his writings, he remarked that Chinese doctors make empty promises to patients and simply take money. In another description of modern Chinese doctors on the Munich Medicine Weekly, he emphasized their negative work ethics and encouraged youth to "pursue the train to an education in Western medicine." According to sinologist Yuan, the frequent comparison with European medicine demonstrated a clear sense of superiority over Chinese medicine.[19] In particular on internal diseases, Olpp commented on the underdevelopment of Chinese Medicine by recounting many examples of patients who, after unsuccessful treatments with Chinese doctors, recovered thanks to European doctors. On the other hand, the failure of European treatment methods for internal disease was attributed to patients first consulting Chinese doctors.[23] Yuan suggests that Olpp, along with other medical missionaries of the time, did not encounter actual TCM because the majority of their patients belonged to the lower class, who can only afford "quacks and European hospitals and doctors, where cheaper or free treatments are offered," whereas those from the upper social class, by and large, continued to use Traditional Chinese physicians.[19] Regardless, the Western perception and portrayals of TCM as unmedical, Chinese doctors as morally lacking and unskilled and the general Chinese population as helpless and unaware are likely used to give meaning to the "civilized Christian purpose" of medical missions in South China.[24]

In 1907, Olpp returned to Germany.[1]

From 1908 to 1909, Olpp pursued further studies in Hamburg on Ships-and-Tropical Diseases, Work in Labor, Chief Physician in Herford.[7] On 1 May 1909, he left the Rhenish Missionary Society[7] to undertake the position of director of the German Institute for Medical Missionary (Deutsches Instituts für ärztliche Mission) in Tübingen, which he held until 1937. The organization supports worldwide Christian healthcare efforts, particularly for economically poor countries.

Olpp attended the 1910 World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh as a delegate. There, he described "the work that has commenced auspiciously in Germany" and ended his address with reverence to "the great missionary, Livingstone" and "our Lord Jesus Christ."[25] In that same year, he compiled the monograph Beiträge zur Medizin in China mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Tropenpathologie ("On Chinese Medicine from the Perspective of Tropical Pathology"), consisting of his extensive multilingual research, 9-year observations and medical experiences in Dongguan. The monograph also served as his Habilitation post-doctoral thesis on Tropical Medicine in Tübingen, opening doors to professorship.[26]

On 12 September 1912, Olpp departed from Hamburg on the SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria. He came to New York City on the 22 September with a final destination in the US of Washington, DC.[27]

In Summer 1914, he was giving lectures on Tropical Disease and Tropical Hygiene for the Medicine Department in University of Tübingen.[28] In 1916, he was appointed as chief physician for the newly opened Tübinger Tropengenesungsheims (Tuebinger Convalescent Homes), also called Tropical Clinic Paul-Lechler-Hospital. The institute has direct connections with and is supported by Difäm, originally created to take care of those returning home from tropical areas.[29] Olpp held an address about the clinic and its importance in global medical missions at a conference by natural sciences and medicine organization in Tübingen on 14 May 1916[30] and wrote about it at length on the magazine Deutsche Medizinische Zeitschrift in 1936.[31]

On 2 July 1917,[7] he became an associate professor in the University of Tübingen.[12] As of 1926, he was teaching Tropenkrankenheit (Tropical Diseases) as a medical faculty at the Nauklerstrasse 47 building.[32] The building was originally built in 1908–1909 to serve medical missionaries.[33] During his tenure, he oversaw 32 dissertations from his students. On 19 October 1934, he received an honorary degree in theology by the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Due to deteriorating health, Olpp left Difäm, the Paul-Lechler Hospital and Tübingen on 1 October 1937 and moved to Schwarzenbruck-Rummelsberg. There, he continued his medical practice, support for medical missionary and research on submerged intestinal bath.[7]

Olpp died on 24 August 1950 in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. His last work on submerged intestinal bath was published posthumously.[7]