Source: Intellectuals
Yan Fuqing, source: Shanghai Medical Alumni Association
Written by丨Sun Yifei
In 1956, when Chairman Mao met with Xiangya alumni, Yan Fuqing, the first president of Xiangya Medical College, sat in the guest of honor next to Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao said that he had known Yan Fuqing more than 30 years ago - when he was young in Changsha, the Marxist-Leninist research group that Chairman Mao participated in was in the house next to Yan Fuqing's office, and Yan Fuqing was already a famous medical educator at home and abroad.
If the development of modern medicine in China is compared to a journey, Mr. Yan Fuqing can definitely be called a guide, and his life is a legend one after another.
Yan Fuqing when he was young, source: Wikipedia
The first Asian to earn an M.D. from Yale University
Yan Fuqing (1882.7.28-1970.11.29), whose ancestral home is Xiamen, is a famous medical educator and public health scientist in modern China. Yan Fuqing was born in the Yan family and is said to be a descendant of Yan Hui, a disciple of Confucius. In the first half of the 20th century, the Yan family produced many talents: Yan Fuqing's elder brother Yan Huiqing was a famous diplomat who participated in a series of major diplomatic events such as the Paris Peace Conference, the return of Geng funds, the Washington Conference, and the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Soviet Union; his younger brother Yan Deqing was a famous railway expert who assisted Zhan Tianyou in the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway; and Yan Fuqing was an important medical educator and public health expert in modern Chinese history.
Yan Fuqing graduated from St. John's University School of Medicine in Shanghai in 1904, received his M.D. from Yale University in 1909, and received his degree in tropical medicine from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom in the same year. At that time, there were very few Chinese doctors with a modern medical education and recognition in the West, and Yan Fuqing was the first Asian to receive an M.D. from Yale University.
After graduating, Yan Fuqing returned to his home country and worked as a doctor at Yali Hospital in Changsha. During his tenure as a doctor at Yale-China Hospital, Yan Fuqing took on a lot of work, treated countless patients, and became the star doctor in Changsha, which was in turmoil and had frequent changes in military and political officials, but whoever was in charge of Changsha would choose Yan Fuqing as his doctor.
During this period, a small incident happened when a young man brought his sick wife to the doctor, and was carefully treated by Yan Fuqing. For the busy Yan Fuqing, of course, he can't remember each of his patients, and this matter is also left behind by him. It wasn't until 1956 that the young man met Yan Fuqing again and mentioned the incident. By the way, the female patient back then was called Yang Kaihui.
From Xiangya to the Chinese Medical Association
As a doctor, you can cure diseases and save people, but your energy is limited after all, and only by cultivating more excellent doctors can you truly change the situation of lack of medical treatment and medicine in China. Under these circumstances, Yan Fuqing decided to actively devote himself to medical education and open a high-level medical school!
In 1914, Yan Fuqing founded Xiangya Medical College and served as its first principal. This school was the first attempt to establish a cooperative school between China and the United States, and because of Yan Fuqing's high standards, the school quickly became quite high in terms of teaching standards. In 1921, the school's first batch of 10 graduates were star-studded, each of whom became a well-known expert in the field of Chinese medicine, such as Zhang Xiaoqian and Tang Feifan.
Zhang Xiaoqian's graduation certificate in Xiangya in 1921
While serving as president, Yan Fuqing did not stop thinking about the future of Chinese medicine, he also looked at the whole of China. At the time of the introduction of modern medicine to China, foreign doctors occupied a position of authority, and it was difficult for Chinese doctors to join the academic organizations established by foreign doctors.
In view of this, Yan Fuqing believed that Chinese doctors should establish their own academic organizations, and Wu Liande, who had successfully prevented and controlled the plague in Northeast China and was a peerless national soldier, agreed with Yan Fuqing's idea. After that, they united with their colleagues in the medical field, overcame many difficulties, and finally announced the establishment of the Chinese Medical Association on February 5, 1915.
In fact, Yan founded a number of institutions and organizations, many of which continue to this day, and in addition to teaching, he has made great achievements in the fields of public health and ophthalmology.
Raised funds from Zhang Xueliang, Song Ailing and other bigwigs of the Republic of China to prepare for the establishment of Shanghai Medical College
In the early 20th century, Xiangya, founded by Yan Fuqing, was as famous as Beijing Concord, known as "North Concord, South Xiangya". Interestingly, in 1926, Yan Fuqing of Xiangya went to Peking Union Medical College and served as vice president. In this way, Yan Fuqing successively managed two of the most famous medical schools in the north and south of the country. But for Yan Fuqing's legendary life, greater achievements in the field of medical education are yet to come.
In 1927, Yan Fuqing founded the Fourth Sun Yat-sen University School of Medicine (renamed the National Shanghai Medical College in 1932, hereinafter referred to as Shanghai Medical College) and served as the first president. Since then, he has also founded several hospitals, including Shanghai Zhongshan Hospital. When these medical education institutions were established, the disciples trained by Yan Fuqing in Xiangya came to serve as teachers one after another, solving the urgent need for Yan Fuqing to lack teachers.
However, if you want to establish a medical school, it is not enough to have teachers, and you need a lot of money. In the twenties of the last century, Chinese medicine was almost entirely controlled and controlled by foreign churches and conglomerates, and Yan Fuqing hoped to establish a medical school of his own Chinese, relying on his personality and family influence to raise funds extensively, and finally made this dream come true, and in the process, what he did is legendary.
There was a shortage of land for the medical school, and a Shanghai boy donated his garden. This Ye Gongzi is Ye Yiquan, he is the fourth son of Ye Chengcheng, a wealthy man in Shanghai, the Ye family once spent a huge amount of silver 200,000 taels in Shanghai to build a private garden covering an area of 120 acres, not to mention the luxury here, but also a gathering place for celebrities in the Shanghai military, political and business circles, which can be called Shanghai's social holy place. Ye Gongzi was a student of Yan Fuqing, and when he learned that his teacher was going to build a medical school and an affiliated hospital, he generously donated the garden for the hospital land.
At the time of the establishment of the Shanghai Medical College, the three eastern provinces were under the rule of Zhang's father and son, and Zhang Xueliang, as a warlord in the northeast, was of course difficult to be interested in medical education in Shanghai. However, Yan Fuqing took advantage of the opportunity of the mayor of Shanghai to go to the three eastern provinces, and actually entrusted the mayor to raise 10,000 oceans from Zhang Xueliang for the construction of the school.
What's even more unbelievable is that when Ni Guizhen, the mother of the three Song sisters, died, all walks of life sent a rich funeral, Yan Fuqing persuaded Song Ailing that the money should be used to establish Shanghai Medical College, and the Song sisters actually agreed.
It can be said that in order to establish Shanghai Medical College, Yan Fuqing used various methods to complete various impossible tasks. The reason why he spared no effort to raise funds was precisely because the construction of a medical school was really a matter of money, and even after raising so much money from celebrities from all walks of life, Yan Fuqing's running of the school was still struggling. You must know that China in 1927 was not peaceful, with domestic warlords fighting each other, and there were external worries and internal troubles.
Under such extremely difficult circumstances, Mr. Yan Fuqing still worked hard to use the funds raised to build Shanghai Medical College, which was the first modern medical school established by Chinese by raising funds and recruiting talents. In the past century, this institution has become the medical school of Fudan University today, and it is still cultivating outstanding medical talents in this hot land of China.
It is worth mentioning that although due to the limited conditions, Shanghai Medical College only had a medical specialty in the first year of its establishment, but as a public health expert, Yan Fuqing has never forgotten that the development of public health is of great significance to the national economy and people's livelihood. Therefore, in 1928, the second year of the university's founding, Mr. Yan Fuqing established the Department of Public Health at Shanghai Medical College, and personally served as the head of the department and professor of public health. And such a tradition played a huge role after the establishment of New China.
The aftermath echoed
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yan Fuqing still played a huge role in the field of medical education. In the 50s, Yan Fuqing led the teachers and students of the school to treat schistosomiasis and other diseases for the PLA in Shanghai and the surrounding areas, and led his students to contribute their own strength to the PLA with professional knowledge in the field of public health; during the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, Yan Fuqing even participated in the leadership of the Shanghai Volunteer Medical Operation Team to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
In the winter of 1970, Yan Fuqing died at the age of 88. Throughout his life, at every stage of his life, this descendant of the Yan family witnessed the most touching melodies of that era as a medical scientist and medical educator.
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