As we all know, China was the first region to use masks. The masks born with mask processing equipment soon encountered the test of infectious diseases.

On October 25, 1910, pneumonic plague was introduced into Manzhouli, China from Lake Baikal in Russia via the Middle East Railway. On November 8, this malignant infectious disease spread to Harbin. The pneumonic plague spread from the northeast to Hebei and Shandong, and the situation may deteriorate further.

In December, Wu Liande, deputy supervisor of Tianjin Beiyang Army Medical College, was appointed as plenipotentiary chief medical officer when he was in danger. He transferred medical staff from Beiyang Military Medical School, Beiyang Medical School, Union Medical College, Zhili, Shandong and other places to the epidemic area. As a doctor of medicine from the University of Cambridge, Wu Liande came to the local area to investigate the transmission route of pneumonic plague. He discovered that droplets were the culprit responsible for the rapid spread of pneumonic plague.

Wu Liande immediately implemented strict epidemic control measures in Harbin. He invented a new type of mask with mask processing equipment. This kind of mask, which only costs two and a half cents of the national currency, is continuously supplied to the citizens under the promotion of Wu Liande.

The picture below shows Wu Liande's picture:

China quickly realized the importance of masks and the whole world. In the spring of 1918, the two-year Spanish flu swept the world. After three rounds of transmission, a total of 1 billion people have unfortunately been infected worldwide, and the death toll is conservatively estimated to exceed 25 million. The madness of the Spanish flu caused severe damage and indirectly prompted the early end of World War I. At that time, governments of various countries forced people to wear masks and use mask processing equipment to produce masks, which curbed the further spread of Spanish flu. The epidemic caused by "SARS" and the new coronavirus has made masks once again favored, and many areas were once out of stock.

With the help of masks, the spread of pneumonic plague was curbed. The pneumonic plague that swept 5 provinces and 6 cities completely ended after 60,000 deaths in four months. In this century disaster, the contribution of masks is indispensable. In order to appreciate Wu Liande's achievements, the mask he invented with the mask processing equipment is called the "Wu's mask", which has been used today. In 1935, Wu Liande was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Thinker Liang Qichao commented on him: "Science has been imported for 50 years, and the middle school can meet the world as a scholar, Dr. Wu Xinglian (Wu Liande) is just one person."

The role of wearing masks in protecting personal health has been recognized by the mainstream of society. According to statistics from the China Textile Business Association, the demand for various types of masks in China reached 4 billion in 2018.

Nowadays, the new type of coronavirus is coming fiercely. In accordance with the requirements of infectious disease prevention and control, everyone must wear N95 masks or medical surgical masks. Masks return to the original intention of blocking droplets and continue to fulfill the mission of protecting health.