A commemorative exhibition, “Healing the World, with a Legacy as Enduring as Mountains and Rivers: 160 Years of Medical Education at Sun Yat-sen University,” opened on November 5 at the Alumni Hall on Sun Yat-sen University’s Guangzhou North Campus.
Featuring over 300 rare photographs, archives, and images of clinical teaching, the exhibition charts the 160-year journey of modern medical education at Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU)—from its pioneering beginnings through the convergence of three sources to its current standing as a world-class medical hub.
A Legacy Intertwined with Modern History
The year 2026 marks both the 160th anniversary of medical education at SYSU and the 160th birthday of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. “The milestone is historically symbolic,” said the director of SYSU Museum, Prof. Wu Chongqing. In 1866, the Canton Medical School was founded, pioneering systematic Western medical education in China. Twenty years later, a young Sun Yat-sen enrolled, beginning his lifelong quest to heal the people and the nation.
The exhibition outlines this rich heritage through a clear historical timeline, tracing how three prominent medical schools—Canton Medical School, Canton Kwong Wah Medical College, and Guangdong Public Medical School—merged in the 1950s, followed by the strategic integration of Sun Yat-sen University and Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences in 2001. It comprises six thematic sections: “Making of Sun Yat-sen Medicine”; Pioneering “Firsts”; Award-Winning Research Achievements; Serving the Nation’s Needs; Medical Aid and Assistance; and “Medicine + X (interdisciplinary Medicine).”
The exhibition team comprised staff from the University History Museum’s Research Department, faculty from the School of Marxism, and doctoral students specializing in university history. The team visited Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, the Medical Museum on the Guangzhou North Campus, and the exhibition venue, as well as consulted archives and collected artifacts and images from the Guangdong Sun Yat-sen Library, Guangdong Provincial Archives, and Guangzhou Municipal Archives. Through intensive collaboration, extensive consultation, and several rounds of revision, the exhibition finally took shape, said Prof. Wu.
Groundbreaking Clinical “Firsts” and Scientific Impact
From a modest dispensary into a comprehensive medical powerhouse with six medical schools and 10 directly affiliated hospitals, the exhibition tells the story of a legacy passed down through generations, said Prof. Wu Zhongdao from SYSU Medical School, a member of the exhibition team.
The exhibition showcases SYSU’s clinical innovations that have shaped medical history in China and beyond:
Pioneering Breakthroughs: Early milestones in cataract couching and modern anesthesia, followed by groundbreaking achievements in limb replantation, living-donor kidney transplantation, and external counterpulsation devices.
Cutting-Edge Frontiers: Recent world-leading innovations, such as world-first “ischemia-free” organ transplantations and remote robotic subretinal surgery.
Research to Application: High-level research recognized at national science conferences, alongside more than 2.15 billion yuan in technology transfer contracts since the 14th Five-Year Plan period, driving real-world healthcare solutions.
Beyond the laboratory and clinic, the exhibition documents SYSU’s longstanding commitment to public service, showing medical teams answering urgent national calls and delivering humanitarian aid across continents.
Advancing Global Health and Future Horizons
As Sun Yat-sen University advances toward its vision of becoming a top-tier global university, its medical division continues to align with major scientific frontiers and global health needs.
Rooted in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, SYSU is expanding high-quality healthcare access while actively participating in global health governance and international partnerships under the Belt and Road Initiative.
“This 160-year history was forged by generations of medical professionals with compassion and clinical mastery,” noted Liu Chenggong, Secretary of the CPC Committee of SYSU. “Standing at the starting point, our priority remains clear: cultivating exceptional medical talent, pioneering original scientific discoveries, and advancing healthcare for all.” “At this new historical juncture, Sun Yat-sen University must thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourses on health and healthcare, the guiding principles of the National Health Conference, and the spirit of his congratulatory letter marking the University’s centenary.
Building on its medical legacy and embracing innovation, the University will make new and greater contributions to advancing the Healthy China Initiative and safeguarding the health and lives of the people.”
Photo: Guangzhou Daily
