【Address】No. 33, Heping Street, West Central District, Tainan City.
【Brief Introduction】
At the end of December, 1868, Doctor James Laidlaw Maxwell returned to Tainan and worked at the 'old building' of Tingzaijiao. In 1903, the Taipingjing Maxwell Memorial Church was established. On May 27, 1917, the church set up the birthplace of the holy church at Kansi Street. In 1939, this branch was officially established and was called the Yongle Church. In 1951, a church, resembling the white-domed St. Paul’s Cathedral in Britain, started construction. Fully constructed in 1955, the Yongle Church commemorates the origins of Christian missionary work in Taiwan, thus, naming it the Kansi Street Church. (Source: Taiwan Presbyterian Church in Tainan, 9th issue of the ''Gracious Empire''.)
【History】
On May 28, 1865, Doctor James Laidlaw Maxwell, the missionary from the Presbyter-ian Church of Britain, arrived in Tainan from Kaohsiung (Dagou). He started working as a missionary as well as a western medical doctor at Five Harbor, Kansi Street (orig-inally, No. 43 Renai Street). Unfortunately, he faced local opposition conservative forc-es. As crowds surrounded the church, Dr. Maxwell fled to Kaohsiung to continue prac-tising medicine.
The efforts and accomplishments of Doctor Maxwell can be seen to this today and still influences the life of the local Tainan people, the most prominent example being the Sinlou Hospital. When Doctor Maxwell returned to Tainan to practise medicine, he settled at Tingzaijiao Street (modern-day Cingnian Road, the Chenghuang Temple ar-ea). As the number of patients grew, there was a lack of space in the hospital, thus, a new wing was added to accommodate the needs of the hospital. After Doctor Maxwell returned to the U.K., his son took over his role and served his whole life in the Sinlou Hospital.
【Features】
Kansi Street, which was given the name as the port faces west, is one of the main streets of Five Harbor. The name literally means ''facing west'' and carries the senti-ment that it beckoned Doctor Maxwell, a missionary from the west, to establish Chris-tian belief and western medicine in Tainan. Therefore, this symbolises the contribu-tions this missionary doctor made in Tainan, making Kansi Street a powerful symbol of commemoration.