Tsai A-hsin
Taiwan's First Female Physician
Japanese Colonial
1899–1990
Tsai A-hsin was born in 1899 in Taipei and lost her father young, growing up in hardship that only sharpened her determination. Defying the expectations placed on women of her day, she travelled to Japan and graduated from the Tokyo Women's Medical College, then returned to Taiwan around 1921 to become the island's first female physician. She opened the Qingxin Hospital in Taichung, which grew into a substantial practice, and — keenly aware that most Taiwanese women still gave birth without trained help — she founded a school to train midwives, spreading modern maternal care across central Taiwan. Her life was marked by upheaval, including a difficult marriage and the turbulence of war and its aftermath. In later years she emigrated to Canada, where she continued to support Taiwanese causes from afar and endowed a foundation for widows. Her remarkable story later inspired a celebrated Taiwanese novel. Tsai A-hsin died in Canada in 1990, remembered as a pioneer who opened the medical profession to the women of Taiwan.
Became Taiwan's first female physician (c. 1921)
Founded a midwife-training school in Taichung
Taiwan's First Female Physician
Tsai A-hsin
Era
Japanese Colonial
Lifespan
1899–1990
Tsai A-hsin was born in 1899 in Taipei and lost her father young, growing up in hardship that only sharpened her determination. Defying the expectations placed on women of her day, she travelled to Japan and graduated from the Tokyo Women's Medical College, then returned to Taiwan around 1921 to become the island's first female physician. She opened the Qingxin Hospital in Taichung, which grew into a substantial practice, and — keenly aware that most Taiwanese women still gave birth without trained help — she founded a school to train midwives, spreading modern maternal care across central Taiwan. Her life was marked by upheaval, including a difficult marriage and the turbulence of war and its aftermath. In later years she emigrated to Canada, where she continued to support Taiwanese causes from afar and endowed a foundation for widows. Her remarkable story later inspired a celebrated Taiwanese novel. Tsai A-hsin died in Canada in 1990, remembered as a pioneer who opened the medical profession to the women of Taiwan.
Became Taiwan's first female physician (c. 1921)
Founded a midwife-training school in Taichung