广告古已有之，清代中期以前，自然经济体制下的市场，只有招牌、幌子等广告形式，是经营者不规范和不规律的个人行为。晚清出现了近代意义上的广告，作为其中的一种，医药广告也开始了近代化的转型，至二十世纪二三十年代进入了黄金发展时期。北京地区的近代医药广告与整个近代广告的发展轨迹相契合。它开始于晚清时期，是商品经济发展的产物，与社会环境的变化、医药业和广告业的发展、传媒技术的更新、消费观念的转变密切相关。晚清时期，广告开始得到北京地区医药商家的较多关注。以传统形式为主，伴有由外商引进的报刊广告等新型形式，医药广告开始迈入近代发展时期。然而虚假宣传现象较多，但管理工作尚未真正启动。民国时期，广告受到北京地区更多医药商家的重视。广告形式日益多样化。由于以小农经济为基础、历经数千年积淀而形成的传统文化和社会心理没有因制度的变革而迅速消失，传统广告也没有因此而消失，而是与发展迅速的报刊广告、新产生的广播广告等新型广告交错、共存于历史舞台。活跃的医药广告市场中，虚假广告和无序竞争现象突出，政府开始了广告管理工作，成立机构、颁布法规、打击不法行为，取得了一定成效，但总体上显得无力。北京医药广告由传统向近代的转型是在整个社会近代转型的大背景下进行的，是“西风东渐”的一个结果，对医药业、商业和市民生活甚至文化等诸多方面产生了重要影响，又以略异于其他地区的特征，在广告发展史上具有重要意义。

As a kind of advertisements which had existed since ancient times, medical advertisements were the product of commodity economy. Before the mid-Qing Dynasty, in the market under the natural economy system, there were only advertisements such as signs, which were resulted from irregular individual behavior, and did not have the full sense of function and role of modern advertisements. Modern medical advertisements in Beijing began in the late Qing period, and closely related to changing of social environment, developing of pharmaceutical industry and advertising, updating of media and consumption concept.In the late Qing Dynasty, medical advertisements of Beijing to be more concerned, began to stride forward to the modern period, which were based on traditional forms, accompanying by new forms introduced by foreign merchants such as newspaper ads. The phenomena of false propaganda were common, however administration did not really started.In the Republic of China, advertisements got more attention and were variegated increasingly. Traditional and new forms such as fast-growing newspaper ads and new-emerging radio ads, staggered and co-existed As the phenomena of disorderly competition were prominent in the active market, the government started to administer the advertising, including establishing institutions, enacting statutes and to cracking malfeasances, and achieved some success.The transformation of traditional to modern about medical advertisements in Beijing took place in the background of transformation of the whole modern society. The modern medical advertisements made great influence upon pharmaceutical industry, commerce, public life and even culture and, took important place in the history of advertising with characteristics slight different from other regions.