Yan Renying

Yan Renying was born on November 26, 1913, in the prestigious Yan Hanlin Hutong at the northwest corner of Tianjin city. Her ancestral home is Fèishì Village, Cixi County, Ningbo, Zhejiang. Her grandfather, Yan Xiu, was a renowned educator known as the "Founder of Nankai School" and had supported Zhou Enlai to study abroad. When Yan Renying was six years old, her father passed away. Her grandfather Yan Xiu was meticulous in her education, adopting an integrated teaching approach of Chinese and Western methods, which benefited her for life. In 1932, Yan Renying was admitted to the Department of Biology at Tsinghua University and took preparatory courses at the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC). In 1935, she entered PUMC with excellent grades, studying under the renowned obstetrician and gynecologist Lin Qiaozhi. In 1940, she earned her medical doctorate and stayed on at the college for work.

After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, PUMC was closed by the Japanese army, and Yan Renying assisted at her husband Wang Guangchao’s private clinic. After the war, she moved with Lin Qiaozhi to Peking University Hospital. In 1948, she was sent to Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in the United States for further study. After returning to China in 1949, she actively participated in closing Beijing’s prostitution houses and examining the health of women who were sheltered.

In the 1950s, Yan Renying carried out women’s health surveys in Beijing and rural areas, focusing on the prevention of gynecological diseases and gradually recognizing the importance of preventive medicine. In 1964, in response to Mao Zedong’s directive that “medical and health work should focus on rural areas,” she went to Miyun County to promote gynecological treatment and health education. However, the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution embroiled her and her husband Wang Guangchao in political upheaval. During this period, she quietly paid attention to the harm caused by illegal abortions to women.

After the Cultural Revolution ended in 1979, Yan Renying was elected unanimously as the director of Peking University Hospital. She shifted her focus from clinical work to health care, establishing the Women and Children’s Health Center, investigating causes of maternal mortality, and promoting research on perinatal health. In 1983, she collaborated with American scientists at the Sino-American Perinatal Testing Seminar, initiating a project to prevent neural tube defects between China and the U.S., which achieved significant results.

Yan Renying and her husband Wang Guangchao were honored as the “Twin Talents of the Medical World.” Wang Guangchao passed away in 2003, after which she continued her dedication to women's health. As a pioneer in China’s perinatal health care, she founded the Chinese Society of Perinatal Medicine, authored several important medical texts, and received numerous honors, including the Cai Yuanpei Award. Her research achievements were promoted worldwide; for example, the widespread adoption of folic acid supplementation to prevent neural tube defects greatly reduced the incidence in China. With her elegant demeanor and professional accomplishments, Yan Renying became the “Image Ambassador” for Chinese women. She passed away in Beijing on April 16, 2017, at the age of 104. Throughout her life, she devoted herself to obstetrics, gynecology, and perinatal health care, making outstanding contributions to women’s health in China and globally, and is honored as the “Mother of China’s Perinatal Care.”