The Hospital (
Chinese: 白色巨塔;
pinyin: báisè jù tǎ;
lit. 'The Great White Tower') is a 2006
Taiwanese drama starring
Jerry Yan,
Leon Dai,
Janine Chang,
Chang Kuo-chu,
Ng Man Tat and
Tang Zhiping. It was produced by Yang Ming International Production (揚名國際影視) and directed by Cài Yuè Xun (
Chinese: 蔡岳勳). The series comprises thirty-nine[1] 60-minute episodes (including commercial time) and was broadcast on free-to-air
China Television (CTV) (中視) from 15 August 2006 to 6 October 2006, Mondays to Fridays at 20:00.
The story of The Hospital is based on the 2000
Chinese novel of the same title by
Taiwanese author
Hou Wenyong (侯文詠). It depicts the power struggle and prestige in a national
university-affiliated
hospital in Taiwan, as well as the human relations within the community. Due to the resemblances in the title and
story setting, Hou's novel is often compared alongside the
Japanese novel Shiroi Kyotō, written by
Toyoko Yamasaki.[Note 1] Both works have been adapted into television series in
Asia.
Jerry Yan (言承旭) as Su Yihua (蘇怡華),
M.D.,[Note 2] the
maleprotagonist of the story,
professor at the National United University
School of Medicine (NUUSM;
fictional) and
surgeon at its affiliated hospital (聯大醫院, NUUH; fictional), takes no interest in the hospital's internal politics but eventually becomes a tool used by others to bring down his mentor, Tang Guotai
Leon Dai (戴立忍) as Qiu Qingcheng (邱慶成), M.D., professor at the NUUSM and deputy director of the NUUH
Surgery Department, sides with the peremptory Tang Guotai when Tang is in power but then joins Xu Daming to purge Tang's influence in the department after Tang's sudden
stroke attack
Janine Chang (張鈞甯) as Guan Xin (關欣), M.D.,
anesthesiologist at the NUUH and later director of the NUUH
Anesthesia Department, Su Yihua's lover who eventually parts with him as she escapes from the power struggles in the hospital
Chang Kuo-chu (張國柱) as Xu Daming (徐大明), M.D., professor at the NUUSM and director of the NUUH
Department of Internal Medicine, arch rival to Tang Guotai and winner for the appointment of superintendent to the hospital, later
father-in-law of Su Yihua
Ng Man Tat (吳孟達) as Tang Guotai (唐國泰), M.D., professor at the NUUSM and director of the NUUH Surgery Department, teacher and tormentor of Su Yihua who suffers a stroke when he learns his loss in the bid for hospital superintendency to Xu Daming
Tang Zhiping (唐治平) as Chen Kuan (陳寬), M.D., assistant professor at the NUUSM and surgeon at the NUUH, friend of Su Yihua who fails in his bid for associate professorship due to Tang Guotai's persecution and dies of
stomach cancer shortly afterwards
^Although both stories deal extensively with power struggles and various abuses in the public research university hospital system, The Hospital spends more space on the personal relations of the irresolute
protagonist amid various
moral predicaments, whereas Yamasaki's Shiroi Kyotō climaxes with a
lawsuit involving
medication error committed by the ambitious protagonist and reflects more philosophically on the vocation of a medical practitioner against personal success.
^Names of characters, as well as actors/actresses in a leading
role, are shown in
bold text in this list.
^Chang Kuo-chu was nominated for and incorrectly announced as the winner of the 2007 Best Supporting Actor at the 42nd Golden Bell Awards, hence both he and fellow actor are both listed as winners.