The porcelain autopsy table and early post-mortem examinations in Hong Kong

In the same series of meetings, Dr Ho Kai stated that he was unaware that the Chinese avoided the Civil Hospital because of post-mortem examinations.3 Rather, it was practical reasons that prevented their attendance at westernised hospitals, including whether the service was affordable and whether religious ceremonies were permitted following a patient's death. After the plague pandemic subsided, rumours spread that Hong Kong's colonial government had used human organs from living individuals to find remedies; the British relied on the Chinese authorities in Canton to quash these unsettling rumours.4 In reality, only cadavers were used although not to find a cure for plague but for general scientific curiosity. According to Shellshear's observations, the unique visual cortex in Chinese brains presented a far-reaching effect on the formation of the psychological characters of the ‘[Chinese] race'.6 Regarding autopsy regulations in Hong Kong, the most relevant development was the Coroner's Ordinance.