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Western Medicine for Chinese
Western Medicine for Chinese How the Hong Kong College of Medicine Achieved a Breakthrough
Faith C. S. Ho
A grant to the author from the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust of Hong Kong towards research for this book is gratefully acknowledged.
A grant from the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong towards the publication costs of this book is gratefully acknowledged.
Hong Kong University Press The University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Road Hong Kong www.hkupress.org © 2017 Hong Kong University Press ISBN 978-988-8390-94-6 (Hardback) All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover photo: Dr. James Cantlie and students of the College of Medicine, Hong Kong, 1893. Courtesy of Wellcome Library, London.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed and bound by Hang Tai Printing Co. Ltd., Hong Kong, China
Contents
Forewordvi Preface and Acknowledgements
viii
Common Abbreviations Used
xii
Chapter 1
Introduction to the College
1
Chapter 2
People and Institutions
24
Chapter 3
Career Prospects
39
Chapter 4
The Early Pioneers (1892–1899)
50
Chapter 5
Decade of Change (1900–1909)
69
Chapter 6
Two Events That Shaped the Final Years
96
Chapter 7
Culmination of Efforts (1910–1918)
120
Chapter 8
Other Contributions to Society
132
Chapter 9
Some Unusual and Some Outstanding Personalities
142
Chapter 10 Conclusions
171
Appendix 1 The Dean’s Inaugural Address at the Opening of the College of Medicine for Chinese, Hong Kong
189
Appendix 2 List of Graduates in Order of Year of Graduation, Hong Kong College of Medicine
200
Appendix 3 List of Interviewees
202
Selected Bibliography
204
Biographical Index
216
Index221
Foreword
「落其實者思其樹,飲其流者懷其源。」 庾信,《郊廟歌辭 • 徵調曲》 Remember well the tree whence fruits fall, and the stream whence water springs. Yu Xin (513–581; North-South dynasties)
As the University of Hong Kong’s Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine celebrates 130 years since its establishment as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (‘the college’) in 1887, it is only right that we trace and remember our roots. This anniversary immediately follows the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sun Yat-sen, our first graduate, in 2016. By revisiting the evolving identity of the school, and as this book emphasizes throughout, the trials and tribulations of our early students, we uncover new lessons and revise received wisdom that will stand us in good stead as we continue making history in the next 130 years. Faith Ho, former head and professor of pathology at the faculty, takes after Rudolf Virchow, the ‘father of modern pathology’ and ‘pope of medicine’, and shows her catholic command of letters in this revelatory volume on the life and times of the college. Her scholarly and meticulous cataloguing of how the often-haphazard interventions accrued from yesteryear had become rationalized ex post facto, then institutionalized as today’s policies is eye-opening. The understanding she has brought us of these legacies may well inspire not a few brave souls to summon Alexandrian wisdom in untying the Gordian