1. A century's eyewitness: the history of Takow Port
2. Revisiting 1879: in search of the story of the British Consulate at Takow
3. The Street view in front of the Consulate
4. The negotiations between the British consul Gibson and the Ching authority, Circuit Intendants Sian-De Zeng
5. British medical missionary, Maxwell
6. British consul Swinhoe on a biological survey trip
7. Takow News

British medical missionary, Maxwell

Medical missions were one of the important venues for westerners to evangelize Taiwanese. Arriving in Takow on May 28, 1865, James L. Maxwell was the first British medical missionary, and also the first overseas missionary from the Presbyterian Church of England to be sent to Taiwan. 

Afterwards he was stationed in Tainan and set up a church and a medical practice on Kansi Street, outside the Great East Gate. However, local rumor had it that he would kill Han people to extract brains, causing the locals to panic. The local government decreed that he had to leave. So he went back to Chihou of Takow and built a church and set up the Chihou hospital, which was the first modern westernized hospital in Taiwan. 
According to medical reports at the time, eye diseases and malaria were the most difficult diseases to treat in Southern Taiwan. Maxwell's treatment record showed that eye diseases were of the highest percentage of his treatments. To evangelize the people, this type of treatment was publically demonstrated to patients' families, relatives and observers to show the miracle of God. The families looking on had never seen such western style treatments before; all waited nervously. Some even prayed to their gods while considering whether to worship this western God if they could regain their eye sight.

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