In 1854, the English Presbyterian Mission shared the gospel in Zhangpu, Fujian Province. In 1889, it sent doctors here to build Zhangpu Yuanliang Hospital near the Xinluwei Church.
The hospital provided only outpatient service in the early stage and then established an inpatient department. Yuanliang Hospital was provided with medicine and equipment by Zhangzhou Union Hospital and financed by the English Presbyterian Mission. The first president was James M. Howie who was also the chief of the internal medical department. The chief of surgical medical department was Dr. J. Preston Maxwell. They were all doctors from Britain.
In 1900, the hospital started to enrolled trainees of western medicine. Besides treating common diseases, the doctors performed surgeries like appendectomy, hernia repair, amputation and so on. There was a small church in the hospital where pastors prayed for patients and converted them to Christianity.
In 1906, members of Xianquanhui, led by Cai Xi, in Xiantan Village, Zhangpu, attacked and burned down the Xinluwei Church and Yuanliang Hospital for exterminating westerners and their religion and rebuilding a Han Regime to replace the Qing Dynasty ruled by Manchurians.
Thus most of the foreign doctors fled back to Britain while J. Preston Maxwell went back to be the president of Yongchun Hospital in Quanzhou and then left to Beijing to be the chief of obstetrics and gynecology in Peking Union Medical College Hospital and retired in 1936 when he was honored with the title of emeritus professor.
Yuanliang Hospital was rehabilitated one year later and became a branch of Zhangzhou Union Hospital in 1936, and then was nationalized and renamed Zhangpu Hospital in 1952. Now, Zhangpu Hospital is a public comprehensive hospital committed to medical care, education and research of medicine.
According to Zhang Cifu, a member of Puyi Church, Yuanliang Hospital located near the Church, on the right side of which is the Zhangpu Hospital, the successor.
- Translated by Lin Changfeng
