Union Hospital is a well-known presence in Beijing and even the whole country. "The transfer of the courtyard only turns to the crematorium", "The king of Yan wants you to go three times, and Xiehe keeps you to the fifth change", "Either wear shoes or go into the box" These are all descriptions of Xiehe's status in the rivers and lakes. So every time I pass through Union Hospital, the feeling of worship will arise.
In fact, in addition to medical achievements and status, the history can be traced back to Xiehe 160 years ago, which itself reflects the rise and fall of modern China. If you know that the "Old Xiehe" was built on the "Prince Yu's Mansion" in the Qing Dynasty, did you feel the strong historical atmosphere?
With the desire to trace the history of Concord, I got off the bus at Captain's Alley and saw a complex of buildings across the road, which is the former site of the old Concord, located on the west side of the current Union Hospital and Union Medical College. This building is a combination of Chinese and Western, mostly three- to five-story buildings, the walls are gray bricks, the roof is green tiles, the building is tall and calm, quite a bit of the style of Qing Dynasty court architecture. Follow the courtyard wall to the south, then to the east, and you will reach the main entrance of the former site of Concorde.
At the east exit of Shuaifuyuan Hutong, you can see the original appearance of the old Xiehe
The piece that walked through should be the Prince of Yu's mansion back then. Prince Yu Aisin Kyoro Dordo (1614-1649) was the fifteenth son of Nurhachi. He was the founding general of the Qing Dynasty and the younger brother of the powerful regent Dolgon. Because of its merits and status, Doduo's palace was one of the largest palaces in the Qing Dynasty. However, after hundreds of years of changes, the Yu Royal Mansion is now gone, except for the two stone lions lying at the main gate, which are said to be the original of the royal palace.
The main entrance of the old Xiehe is also the main entrance of the original Prince Yu's mansion
This stone lion is said to be the original of Prince Yu's mansion
The current Union Medical University is on the east side of the old Concord
The current Union Hospital is on Dongdan North Street
The history of Union Hospital dates back to 1862, after the First Opium War. At that time, the British Christian missionary Luo Weilin founded Beijing's first western hospital, Beijing Shi Hospital. In 1906, several churches in Britain and the United States united to create the Peking Union Medical Hall, and the source of the word "Xiehe" is the English word "Union" for "union". Empress Dowager Cixi and the eunuch Li Lianying are said to have been the first donors to the hospital. It can be inferred that Western medicine had begun to be accepted by some Chinese people at that time.
After that, the Rockefeller Foundation in the United States purchased Peking Union Medical College and Yuwangfu, and invested 7.5 million US dollars to establish Union Medical College Hospital. With the support of the American consortium, the then Concord was born at its peak, equipped with the most advanced medical equipment and facilities in the world at that time. Xiehe has not lived up to its high starting point, and more than 100 years later, it is still one of the most authoritative general hospitals in China.
Founded by Western missionaries, it was built on the site of the Qing Dynasty's royal palace, flourished in Western investment and medical ideas, and then rooted in China to serve the people here. Concord is a standard combination of East and West, and it took root, germinated, prospered and developed on the land behind the now bustling Wangfujing Oriental Plaza.