Wu Lien-teh (; Goh Lean Tuck and Ng Leen Tuck in
Minnan and
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
transliteration
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
respectively; 10 March 1879 – 21 January 1960) was a
Malayan physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
renowned for his work in
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
, particularly the
Manchurian plague
The Manchurian plague was a pneumonic plague that occurred mainly in Manchuria in 1910–1911. It killed 60,000 people, stimulating a multinational medical response and the wearing of the first personal protective equipment (PPE).
__TOC__
Histor ...
of 1910–11. He is the inventor of the Wu mask, which is the forerunner of today's
N95 respirator
An N95 filtering facepiece respirator, commonly abbreviated N95 respirator, is a particulate-filtering facepiece respirator that meets the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) N95 classification of air filtratio ...
.
Wu was the first medical student of
Chinese descent
Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Terminology
() or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, ref ...
to study at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
.
He was also the first Malayan nominated for the
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
in
Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Pr ...
, in 1935.
Life and education
Wu was born in
Penang
Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...
, one of the three towns of the
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...
(the others being
Malacca
Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...
and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
), currently as one of the states of
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. The Straits Settlements formed part of the colonies of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. His father was a recent immigrant from
Taishan __NOTOC__
Taishan may refer to:
*Mount Tai or Taishan (), Shandong, China
*Taishan District, Tai'an (), named after the Mount Tai, a district in Tai'an, Shandong, China
*Taishan, Guangdong (), a county-level city of Jiangmen, Guangdong, China
**Gre ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and worked as a
goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...
.
Wu's mother's was of
Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
heritage and was a second-generation
Peranakan
The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, th ...
born in Malaya.
Wu had four brothers and six sisters. His early education was at the
Penang Free School
, motto_translation = Strong and Faithful
, streetaddress = Green Lane,
, city = George Town
, state = Penang
, postcode = 11600
, country = Malaysi ...
, a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
school.
Wu was admitted to
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...
in 1896, after winning the
Queen's Scholarship.
The women in his family made him a version of his college’s lion crest in
Perakanan beadwork as a leaving gift. He had a successful career at university, winning virtually all the available prizes and scholarships. His undergraduate clinical years were spent at
St Mary's Hospital, London
St Mary's Hospital is an NHS hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, wh ...
and he then continued his studies at the
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is a higher education institution with degree awarding powers and registered charity located in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Established in 1898, it was the first institution in the world dedicated ...
(under
Sir Ronald Ross
Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the f ...
), the
Pasteur Institute
The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines f ...
,
Halle University
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...
, and the Selangor Institute.
Wu returned to the Straits Settlements in 1903. Some time after that, he married Ruth Shu-chiung Huang, whose sister was married to
Lim Boon Keng
Lim Boon Keng (; 18 October 1869 – 1 January 1957) was a Peranakan physician who advocated social and educational reforms in Singapore in the early 20th-century. He also served as the president of Xiamen University in China between 1921 and ...
, a physician who promoted social and educational reforms in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
.
The sisters were daughters of
Wong Nai Siong
Wong Nai Siong (; Bàng-uâ-cê: Uòng Nāi-siòng) (1849—1924) as a Chinese revolutionary leader and educator from Minqing county in Fuzhou, Fujian province, China. He served in The Methodist Episcopal Church for many years and participa ...
, a Chinese revolutionary leader and educator who had moved to the area from 1901 to 1906.
Wu and his family moved to China in 1907.
During his time in China, Wu's wife and two of their three sons died.
While Ms Huang lived in Peking, Wu started a second family in Shanghai with Marie Lee Sukcheng, whom he had met in Manchuria.
Wu had four children with Lee.
During the
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
The Empire of Japan's Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden Incident. At the war's end in February 1932, the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo. Their occupation lasted until the ...
, in November 1931, Wu was detained and interrogated by the Japanese authorities under suspicion of being a Chinese spy.
In 1937, during the
Japanese occupation of much of China and the retreat of the Nationalists, Wu was forced to flee, returning to the Settlements to live in
Ipoh
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak
, pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth
, pushpin_mapsize = 275px
, pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia
, coordinates ...
. His home and all his ancient Chinese medical books were burnt.
In 1943 Wu was captured by Malayan left-wing resistance fighters and held for ransom. Then he nearly was prosecuted by the Japanese for supporting the resistance movement by paying the ransom, but was protected by having treated a Japanese officer.
Career
In September 1903, Wu joined the Institute for Medical Research in Kuala Lumpur as the first research student. However, there was no specialist post for him because, at that time, a two-tier medical system in the British colonies provided that only British nationals could hold the highest positions of fully qualified medical officers or specialists. Wu spent his early medical career researching
beri-beri
Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The two main types in adults are wet beriberi and dry beriberi. Wet beriberi affects the cardiovascular system, r ...
and roundworms (
Ascarididae
The Ascarididae are a family of the large intestinal roundworms. Members of the family are intestinal parasites, infecting all classes of vertebrates. It includes a number of genera,Anderson RC (2000)''Nematode Parasites of Vertebrates. Their Dev ...
) before entering private practice toward the end of 1904 in
Chulia Street, George Town, Penang.
Opium
Wu was a vocal commentator on the social issues of the time. In the early 1900s, he became friends with Lim Boon Keng and
Song Ong Siang
Sir Song Ong Siang () was a lawyer and active citizen of the British Crown Colony of the Straits Settlements. He was an ethnic Hokkien as well as a third generation Hokkien Peranakan Baba (Peranakan term for ''man'') Chinese with ancestry from ...
, a lawyer who was active in developing Singapore's civil society. He joined them in editing ''The Straits Chinese Magazine''.
With his friends, Wu founded the Anti-Opium Association in Penang. He organised a nationwide
anti-opium conference in the spring of 1906 that was attended by approximately 3000 people.
[Cooray, Francis; Nasution Khoo Salma. ''Redoutable Reformer: The Life and Times of Cheah Cheang Lim''. Areca Books, 2015. ] This attracted the attention of the powerful forces involved in the lucrative trade of
opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
and, in 1907, this led to a search and subsequent discovery of one ounce of tincture of opium in Wu's dispensary, for which he was convicted and fined.
In 1908, Dr Wu accepted the then Grand Councillor
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...
's offer to become the Vice Director of the Imperial Army Medical College, now known as the
Army Medical College
Army Medical College ( ur, , also known as ''AM College'') is a military institute which was established in 1977 as a residential institution for imparting undergraduate medical education to selected cadets. The college also allows the civili ...
, based in
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
, in 1908. This was established to train doctors for the Chinese Army.
Pneumonic plague
In the winter of 1910, Wu was given instructions from the Foreign Office of the Imperial Qing court in Peking, to travel to
Harbin
Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...
to investigate an unknown disease that killed 99.9% of its victims.
This was the beginning of the large
pneumonic plague
Pneumonic plague is a severe lung infection caused by the bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. Symptoms include fever, headache, shortness of breath, chest pain, and coughing. They typically start about three to seven days after exposure. It is one o ...
epidemic of Manchuria and Mongolia, which ultimately claimed 60,000 lives.
Wu was able to conduct a
postmortem
An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...
(usually not accepted in China at the time) on a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
woman who had died of the plague.
Having ascertained via the autopsy that the plague was
spreading by air, Wu developed
surgical mask
A surgical mask, also known by other names such as a medical face mask or procedure mask, is a personal protective equipment used by healthcare professionals that serves as a mechanical barrier that interferes with direct airflow in and out of re ...
s into more substantial masks with layers of
gauze
Gauze is a thin, translucent fabric with a loose open weave. In technical terms "gauze" is a weave structure in which the weft yarns are arranged in pairs and are crossed before and after each warp yarn keeping the weft firmly in place. ...
and cotton to filter the air.
Gérald Mesny, a prominent French doctor who had come to replace Wu, refused to wear a mask and died days later of the plague.
The mask was widely produced, with Wu overseeing the production and distribution of 60,000 masks in a later epidemic, and it featured in many press images.
It is believed that the
N95 mask
An N95 filtering facepiece respirator, commonly abbreviated N95 respirator, is a particulate-filtering facepiece respirator that meets the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) N95 classification of air filtratio ...
is the descendant of Wu's design.
Wu initiated a quarantine, arranged for buildings to be disinfected, and the old plague hospital to be burned down and replaced.
The measure that Wu is best remembered for was in asking for imperial sanction to cremate plague victims.
It was impossible to bury the dead because the ground was frozen, and the bodies could only be disposed of by soaking them in
paraffin Paraffin may refer to:
Substances
* Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications
* Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes
* Alkane ...
and burning them on pyres.
Cremation of these infected victims turned out to be the turning point of the epidemic; days after cremations began, plague began to decline and within months it had been eradicated.
Wu chaired the International Plague Conference in Mukden (
Shenyang
Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...
) in April 1911, a historic event attended by scientists from the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, the Netherlands, Russia, Mexico, and China.
The conference took place over three weeks and featured demonstrations and experiments.
Wu later presented a plague research paper at the International Congress of Medicine, London in August 1911 which was published in ''
The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'' in the same month.
At the plague conference,
epidemiologists
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
Danylo Zabolotny
Danylo Kyrylovych Zabolotny ( uk, Дани́ло Кири́лович Заболо́тний; 1866 in Chobotarka, Podolia Governorate – 1929) was a Ukrainian epidemiologist and the founder of the world's first research department of epidemi ...
and
Anna Tchourilina announced that they had traced the initial cause of the outbreak to
Tarbagan marmot
The tarbagan marmot (''Marmota sibirica'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in China (Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang), northern and western Mongolia, and Russia (southwest Siberia, Tuva, Transbaikalia). In the Mongoli ...
hunters who had contracted the disease from the animals. A tarabagan became the conference mascot.
However, Wu raised the question of why traditional marmot hunters had not experienced deadly epidemics before. He later published a work arguing that the traditional
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
and
Buryat hunters had established practices that kept their communities safe and he blamed more recent
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
immigrants to the area (''
Chuang Guandong
''Chuang Guandong'' (; IPA: ; literally "Crashing into Guandong" with ''Guandong'' being an older name for Manchuria) is descriptive of the rush of Han people into Manchuria, mainly from the Shandong Peninsula and Zhili, during the hundred-year per ...
'') for using hunting methods that captured more sick animals and increased risk of exposure.
Later career
![COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Groepsfoto_van_de_heren_Jan_van_L](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Groepsfoto_van_de_heren_Jan_van_L._dr._Wu_Lien_Teh_en_professor_De_Langen_Tandjong_Priok_Batavia._TMnr_60010953.jpg)
In 1912, Wu became the first director of the Manchurian Plague Service. He was a founder member and first president of the
Chinese Medical Association
In China, the practice of medicine is a mixture of government, charitable, and private institutions, while many people rely on traditional medicine. Until reforms in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, physicians were quasi-governm ...
(1916–1920).
[Courtney, Chris (2018)]
"The Nature of Disaster in China: The 1931 Central China Flood"
Cambridge University Press []
Wu led the efforts to combat the 1899–1923 cholera pandemic, 1920-21 cholera pandemic in the north-east of China.
In 1929, he was appointed a trustee of the 'Nanyang Club' in
Penang
Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...
by
Cheah Cheang Lim
Cheah Cheang Lim (; 6 December 1875 – 15 November 1948) was born in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia. Brought up by his father, Cheah Boon Hean, who was in the trading business, he grew up to become a businessman and miner. He was introduced to the tin ...
, along with
Wu Lai Hsi
Wu may refer to:
States and regions on modern China's territory
*Wu (state) (; och, *, italic=yes, links=no), a kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period 771–476 BCE
** Suzhou or Wu (), its eponymous capital
** Wu County (), a former county i ...
,
Robert Lim Kho Seng, and
Lim Chong Eang
Lim or LIM may refer to:
Name
* Lim (Korean surname), a common Korean surname
* Lim (Chinese surname), Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew and Hainanese spelling of the Chinese family name "Lin"
* Liza Lim (born 1966), Australian classical composer
Abbrevi ...
. The 'Nanyang Club', an old house in
Peiping, China, provided convenient accommodation to
overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Terminology
() or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...
friends.
In the 1930s he became the first director of the National Quarantine Service.
Around 1939, Wu moved back to Malaya and continued to work as a general practitioner in
Ipoh
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak
, pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth
, pushpin_mapsize = 275px
, pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia
, coordinates ...
.
Wu collected donations to start the Perak Library (Now the Tun Razak Library) in Ipoh, a free-lending public library, and donated to
Shanghai City Library and the
University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
.
Wu was a
mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
of the second rank and sat on advisory committees for the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
. He was given awards by the Czar of Russia and the President of France, and was awarded honorary degrees by
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
,
Peking University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
,
University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
, and
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
.
Death and commemoration
Wu practised medicine until his death at the age of 80. He had bought a new house in Penang for his retirement and had just completed his 667-page autobiography, ''Plague Fighter, the Autobiography of a Modern Chinese Physician''.
On 21 January 1960, he died of a stroke while in his home in Penang.
A road named after Wu can be found in Ipoh Garden South, a middle-class residential area in Ipoh. In Penang, a residential area named Taman Wu Lien Teh is located near the
Penang Free School
, motto_translation = Strong and Faithful
, streetaddress = Green Lane,
, city = George Town
, state = Penang
, postcode = 11600
, country = Malaysi ...
. In that school, his alma mater, a house has been named after him. There is a Dr. Wu Lien-teh Society, Penang.
The Wu Lien-teh Collection, which comprises 20,000 books, was given by Wu to the
Nanyang University
Nanyang University (, also known as Nantah (), was a university in Singapore between 1956 and 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only private university in the Chinese language. In 1980, Nanyang University was merged with the Univer ...
, which later became part of the
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...
.
The
Art Museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. A ...
of the
University of Malaya
The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...
has a collection of Wu's paintings.
In 1995, Wu's daughter, Dr. Yu-lin Wu, published a book about her father, ''Memories of Dr. Wu Lien-teh, Plague Fighter.''
In 2015, the Wu Lien-Teh Institute opened at
Harbin Medical University
Harbin Medical University (HMU) () is a public university located in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
HMU is appointed as a national education and training base for biomedical scientists and teaching talents by the National Bureau of Advanced Healt ...
.
In 2019, ''The Lancet'' launched an annual Wakley-Wu Lien Teh Prize in honour of Wu and the publication's founding editor,
Thomas Wakley
Thomas Wakley (11 July 179516 May 1862) was an English surgeon. He gained fame as a social reformer who campaigned against incompetence, privilege and nepotism. He was the founding editor of ''The Lancet'', a radical Member of Parliament (MP) a ...
.
Dr. Wu Lien-teh is regarded as the first person to modernise China's medical services and medical education. In
Harbin Medical University
Harbin Medical University (HMU) () is a public university located in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
HMU is appointed as a national education and training base for biomedical scientists and teaching talents by the National Bureau of Advanced Healt ...
, bronze statues of him commemorate his contributions to public health, preventive medicine, and medical education.
Places named after Wu Lien-Teh
* Dr Wu Lien-Teh Centre for Research on Communicable Diseases,
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (abbreviated as UTAR; ) is a non-profit private research university in Malaysia. It is ranked top 100 in the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2018 and top 1200 in the Times Higher Education Wor ...
* Wu Lien-Teh Institute,
Harbin Medical University
Harbin Medical University (HMU) () is a public university located in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
HMU is appointed as a national education and training base for biomedical scientists and teaching talents by the National Bureau of Advanced Healt ...
Commemoration during the COVID-19 pandemic
Wu's work in the field of
epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
has contemporary relevance during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
In May 2020, Dr.
Yvonne Ho
Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupatio ...
united the 22 known "medical and scientific descendants" of Dr. Wu Lien-Teh for a video conference meeting spanning 14 cities around the world. In July 2020, some of these medical and scientific descendants collaborated to publish an article to memorialize Dr. Wu's lifetime work in public health. In August 2020, a second group of Wu's medical and scientific descendants collaborated on a similar piece.
In March 2021, Wu was honoured with a
Google Doodle
A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...
, depicting Wu assembling surgical masks and distributing them to reduce the risk of disease transmission.
References
Further reading
* Wu Lien-Teh, 1959. ''Plague Fighter: The Autobiography of a Modern Chinese Physician''. Cambridge. (Reprint: Areca Books. 2014)
* Yang, S. 1988. "Dr. Wu Lien-teh and the national maritime quarantine service of China in 1930s". Zhonghua Yi Shi Za Zhi 18:29–32.
* Wu Yu-Lin. 1995. ''Memories of Dr. Wu Lien-Teh: Plague Fighter''. World Scientific Pub Co Inc.
* Flohr, Carsten. 1996. "The plague fighter: Wu Lien-teh and the beginning of the Chinese public health system". ''Annals of Science'' 53:361–80
* Gamsa, Mark. 2006. "The Epidemic of Pneumonic Plague in Manchuria 1910–1911". ''Past & Present'' 190:147–183
* Lewis H. Mates, ‘Lien-Teh, Wu’, in Douglas Davies with Lewis H. Mates (eds), ''Encyclopedia of Cremation'' (Ashgate, 2005): 300–301
Lien-Teh, Wu* Penang Free School archiv
PFS Online
External links
History of the Manchurian Plague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Lien-Teh
1879 births
1960 deaths
Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Chinese infectious disease physicians
Qing dynasty politicians
League of Nations people
Malaysian people of Cantonese descent
People from Penang
Malaysian people of Hakka descent
People from Singapore
Malaysian people of Chinese descent
Queen's Scholars (British Malaya and Singapore)
Peranakan people in Malaysia
Physicians of St Mary's Hospital, London
Malaysian public health doctors
20th-century Chinese physicians