patients straggling in, I saw one of them brought on a stretcher.
It was a pretty little girl who had been badly burned by the
upsetting of a foot stove under her wadded garments. As they came
up an old woman who carried one corner of the bamboo bed called
out, 'Doctor, have you opened your accounts yet?' meaning have you
begun work yet. I answered, 'Why, our accounts have never been
closed, so we did not need to reopen them!' 'Yes,' she said, 'I
know, and I wish you many congratulations for the New Year, and may
you have much custom during the year.' Think of what that implies!
Then she went on volubly describing what a time they had in getting
people to carry the bed, for no money could induce them to come,
and finally she and a few boy cousins had to bring her. A few days
ago her people came and fired lots of crackers, as well as hung up
long strips of red cloth outside our gate, in order to show people
that we have accomplished a cure for them and they wish to express
their gratitude in public."
A few months later the Elizabeth Skelton Danforth Memorial Hospital was
completed; but just as they were about to occupy the new building the Boxer
uprising assumed such serious proportions that all work had to be dropped,
and the women were forced to leave the city. The doctors accompanied the
other missionaries to Japan, and remained there for a few months; then came
back to China and spent a few weeks in Shanghai, until the country had
quieted down sufficiently to make it safe to return to the interior. The
weeks in Shanghai were not idle ones, for they found plenty of patients to
treat during their stay there.
There were many missionaries from various parts of China gathered in
Shanghai at this time, and the women improved the opportunity thus afforded
by the presence of so many workers for a conference on the various phases
of women's work. Dr. Kahn was asked to give an address on Girl Slavery at
this conference, and made a great impression by her powerful plea for the
abolition of this wicked practice. Her appeal had added force because she
was a Chinese woman herself, and this evil custom had come close to her
life. "She was my best friend in school," she said of one victim, "and her
mind was as beautiful as her person. We were baptized together and she
confessed to me that she would like to devote her life to Christian work,
adding so sadly that she must try first to help her opium-smoking father.
Where were gone her longings and aspirations when she was sold by him to be
the concubine of a man sixty years of age! Surely on this eve of China's
regeneration, we, the more favoured ones, must plead with all our might
that all these unnatural customs shall be swept away with the last relics
of our country's barbarism."
[Illustration: A Nurse in Dr. Kahn's Hospital]
The doctors were soon able to recommence work in Kiukiang, and with their
fine new hospital they worked under far more favourable conditions than
heretofore. A letter from Dr. Kahn tells of their enjoyment of the new
building: "It is now a pleasure to see the little crowds of women and
children sitting comfortably in the easy seats of the dispensary waiting
room, and to notice how they enjoy the talks of the Bible woman. In former
years they were always huddled together in a dark room, or else were
scattered here and there in our front yard, and the Bible woman had great
difficulty to get them to listen quietly. The new drug room is a
constant delight. The operating room, too, is our pride, because it is so
light. The confidence which people had in our work before last year's
troubles broke out, appears to revive again."
The following summer, Miss Robinson, of Chinkiang, visited the doctors in
their new quarters. A letter written from their home reads: "We find them
as skilful in housekeeping as in hospital-keeping, and excelling in the
happy art of making their guests at home. Such all-round women are a
priceless boon to their native sisters. I want to have our graduates attend
the coming annual meeting in Kiukiang, improving this opportunity of
bringing them in contact with the doctors, who have long since become the
ideals of our school girls.... Referring to the fear some native Christians
have shown of sending their girls to a school having manual labour in its
curriculum, Dr. Ida exclaimed hotly, 'This fear of work is the bane of
China.' Here are two doctors of exalted privileges, educated abroad,
honoured alike by native and foreigner, and yet putting their hand to
cooking and housework of every kind, as the need may be, without a thought
of being degraded thereby; a glorious object-lesson to accompany the
teachings of the mission schools."
IV
PIONEER WORK IN NANCHANG
In the first year of the young physicians' practice in China, a launch had
been sent to Kiukiang by one of the high officials of Nanchang, the capital
of Kiangsi province, with the request that one of the physicians should
return to Nanchang in it and treat his wife, who was very ill. Dr. Kahn
went, and brought the woman back to Kiukiang with her. After a few weeks
under the doctors' care she returned to Nanchang completely recovered, and
gave such glowing accounts of the benefit she had received that many of the
wealthy ladies of the city followed her example and went to the Kiukiang
hospital for treatment.
At that time no American missionary work was being done in Nanchang; but
the successful treatment of the wife of the official is said to have
"opened the gates to Protestant missionaries." The Methodist Mission soon
established a station there, and the work grew rapidly in spite of the fact
that Nanchang was not an altogether easy place in which to work. As it
was in the interior and off the highway of travel, little was known of
foreigners. Moreover, there was a rowdyish element of the population which
was very hostile to them and everything connected with them, as Dr. Kahn
had good cause to know. Soon after the work in Nanchang had been begun by
their mission, she and Miss Stanton made a trip there, the latter to do
evangelistic work, Dr. Kahn for medical work. Dr. Kahn shall tell the story
of their experiences:
[Illustration: A Village Crowd]
[Illustration: One of Dr. Kahn's Guests]
"One afternoon, Miss Stanton and myself went to call on some ladies
of the Plymouth Brethren Mission, the only other Christian mission
besides our own in the city. The day being warm Miss Stanton had
the rain cover of her sedan chair removed. Unfortunately it was a
hired chair and there were no side curtains, neither was there an
upper curtain in front. When we had gotten fairly started boys
began to follow us, and by the time we had reached our destination
quite a crowd was with us, and rushed into the compound ahead of
us. Once in, we planned to cover the chair; and also waited till
dark for our return, hoping that by that time the crowd would have
dispersed."
"However, when we got ready to start, there was a large crowd still
clustered around the court and door. They allowed Miss Stanton to
get into her chair first and start off, but when I followed, then
the fun began. The coolies would take a step or two, then the
chair would be pulled almost down. Yelling at them was of no avail.
Finally a stone was thrown and one of the windows broken, so I
thought it was time to walk. The crowd called out, 'A foreigner! a
foreigner!' I was almost ready to cry with vexation, and could not
help telling the people that they were cowards and barbarians. One
or two of the bystanders now began to take my part, and
administered a blow or two to those who seemed to be too
obstreperous, telling me at the same time not to be afraid. I
started to enter the largest residence near me, but the gatekeeper
slammed the door in my face so I went on ahead. One of my volunteer
helpers said, 'There is the residence of the official Yang, where
you can find shelter.' So he led me into a house where a couple of
women were sitting in the great room. Rather abruptly I told them
that I was pursued by a crowd, and asked if I could find shelter
there until I could send word to my people. My guides also
explained that the people took me to be a foreigner. To my surprise
the ladies welcomed me cordially, and ordered the doors to be shut
on the crowd. Now all my friends will be ashamed to know that I
could not repress my tears, but after a good cry I felt relieved.
The people in the house urged me not to be afraid. I told them I
was not afraid; I was disgusted that my people could be so mean. My
hostess related several instances where ladies coming home alone in
their chairs had been pulled about, and deplored the fact that
there were so many rowdies everywhere."
"Very soon the church members heard of my trouble and came to
escort me home. As we wended our way homeward fresh members joined
us till we formed quite a procession with lights flashing
everywhere. Indignation was felt by all, so some of the party went
back to demand the arrest of the ringleaders. How thankful I was to
get back safely to our mission compound. Miss Stanton's chair
coolies had assured her that I was following behind, and she
thought everything was secure. The church members were at prayer
meeting and did not notice my non-arrival. The delay I think must
have been providential, for had the members rushed there and found
a crowd, I fear more trouble must have resulted."
"Very soon the husband of a wealthy patient came and offered many
apologies for the bad conduct of the people. How do you suppose he
found out about the matter? He was returning home from a feast, and
seeing so many Methodist lanterns (please do not smile, for the
lanterns have 'Methodist Church' written on one side, and 'Gospel
Hall' on the other) asked what it meant, and learned of the
trouble.... Certainly the devious ways of my own countrymen never
struck me so forcibly before. How much we do need the truth to
shine in upon us and change us completely."
Yet it was to this city that the Christian physician's heart went out in
such compassion that, for its sake, she was not only willing, but glad to
leave her home in Kiukiang, the prosperous work which she had been doing in
fellowship with her lifelong friend, Dr. Stone, and the beautiful new
hospital to which she had long looked forward with so much eagerness.
"This old city of Nanchang with about three hundred thousand inhabitants,
and surrounded by a thickly settled country, has not a single educated
physician," one of her letters reads. "Do you know what that means? The
people realize their need and asked us to go and live among them. One of
the church members offered to give us, free of charge, a piece of land
situated in a fine part of the city, for either a hospital or a school lot.
The pastor said he could raise $1,000 among the people if we would only
begin medical work there. Do you think we ought to refuse that offer, which
is a wonderful one, because the church has only just been established
there? 'And when they came to Jesus they besought Him instantly, saying
that he was worthy for whom He should do this.'"
The people of Nanchang, both Christian and non-Christian, pleaded so
eagerly for medical work, and promised to do so much toward its support,
that the missionaries agreed with Dr. Kahn in feeling that a door to great
opportunity was open before her, which it would be a serious mistake not to
enter. Accordingly, early in 1903, she responded to what Dr. Stone termed
"the Macedonian call," and began work in Nanchang.
The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society did not feel able to assume any
responsibility for the financial support of the medical work in the new
field, beyond that of the doctor's salary. But Dr. Kahn firmly believed
that missionary work should be just as nearly self-supporting as possible;
and since many of the urgent invitations from Nanchang had come from homes
of wealth, she was very willing to attempt to carry on medical work there
on a self-supporting basis. In an article on the subject of self-supporting
medical missionary work, written for the _China Medical Missionary
Journal_, she gave some of her reasons for believing in self-support, and
her theories as to how it might be carried out.
"To the many of us, no doubt, the thought naturally arises that we
have enough problems to deal with in our work without having to
take up the irksome question of self-support. Yet at the present
time, when every strenuous effort is being made to evangelize the
world in this generation, any plan which can help forward such a
movement at once assumes an aspect of vital importance in our
eyes. Let it not be presumed that self-support is to be recommended
as possible to every medical missionary. On the contrary, I fear,
only by those fortunate enough to be located in large cities could
the effort be attempted with any hope of success. Yet in a measure
the question concerns every one of us, because in its different
phases self-support is sure to be pressed upon all of us with more
or less force. Personally, my work was undertaken in Nanchang
partly from faith in the principle, partly because there were no
funds available to institute medical work on any other basis. My
faith in the principle is founded upon the belief that anything of
value is more appreciated when something has been asked in exchange
for its worth, from those perfectly able to effect the exchange....
The ordinary people who seek help from the missionary will retain a
higher measure of self-respect, and also suspect less the motives
of the benefactor. The rich will appreciate more highly the
services received, besides having the added glow of satisfaction in
helping forward a worthy charity...."
"There should be no ironclad rules, however; each case must be
counted on its own merits. Generally speaking, it might be well for
the physician in charge to state plainly that the very poor are to
be treated free of charge and have medicines, and occasionally food
supplies, gratis. Those a little better off may help a little in
paying for the medicines. The next step above that is to pay
partly for the treatment as well; while the highest grade is to pay
in proportion to the amount of help received. All this means a good
deal of thought on the part of the physician and assistant, but
gradually it will become routine work and so demand less labour."
"Is self-supporting work a missionary work? Assuredly yes; for is
not the money thus gained used in giving relief to the poor?... And
if all money received goes again into the work, to increase its
efficiency, why may it not be counted missionary? Part of it is
given as thank-offering by those who are not Christian, and all is
given for value received from Christian effort. Our Lord healed
diseases without money and without price. If we ask, 'What would
Jesus do?' under our existing circumstances, the suggestion comes
to my mind that it would be something different in form, but not in
principle, from what He did in a different land, under far
different circumstances, nineteen hundred and more years ago.
Someone says we are to follow Jesus, not to copy Him; and the
principal thing, it seems to me, would be always to abide in the
Spirit of the Christ, by whatever method we feel constrained to
render our little service."
Although the new step was taken so bravely, it was not an easy one. Some
idea of the courage it required is shown by the doctor's report of her
first year in Nanchang; "The very thought of making a report causes many
poignant memories to rush upon us. With what hesitancy and timidity did we
begin our work in the new field! Knowing our own limitations, it was not
with a light heart that we began the new year. Yet," she was able to add,
"as we toiled on, we could but acknowledge that we were wonderfully led
along 'The Pathway of Faith.'"
Enough money was contributed by the Nanchang people to enable Dr. Kahn to
rent a house in the centre of the city, in which dispensary work could be
carried on, and in which she lived. They also supplied her with a small
stock of drugs with which to begin work, and she treated something over two
thousand patients during the first eight months. The number seemed small
after the work to which she had been accustomed in Kiukiang; but she was
becoming known in the city, and in addition to her patients several of the
women of the city had called on her in a purely social way, many of them
educated women of the official class. Dr. Kahn says of them:
"As the wives and daughters of expectant officials they are
representative of the better class of the whole country, for they
are assembled from every province. It is pleasing to note that
dignity and modesty are often combined with real accomplishment
among them. It is amongst these that there is a marked eagerness to
learn something better. They talk about their country incessantly,
and deplore with real sincerity her present condition, of which
many of them have a fairly good knowledge. To these we tell over
and over again that the only hope of China's regeneration is in her
becoming a Christian nation, and that only the love of Christ can
bring out the best qualities of any people...."
As to the financial side of the work, Dr. Kahn reported: "The outlook is
most promising. During the eight months I have received over $700 from the
work, and as much more has been subscribed."
During the succeeding two years the work developed steadily. The number of
patients treated at the close of 1905 was almost three times the number
reported in 1903, and Dr. Kahn wrote, "We have tried to check the number of
patients, simply because we did not feel financially able to treat so
many." The rent which she had been obliged to pay for her building in the
city had been a heavy burden financially. Great was her delight therefore
to be able to report, at the end of this year, a new $2,000 building for
dispensary purposes, the money for which had been secured partly from fees,
partly from subscriptions. "With the incubus of a heavy rent off our
shoulders we may be able to relieve more patients, as we would wish," she
wrote.
The dispensary building was not the sole cause for rejoicing that year; for
in addition to it a fine, centrally located piece of land, worth $3,600,
was given for a hospital site. "All the assistance received has been from
the gentry and not the officials, and therefore it really represents the
people and we feel much encouraged by the fact," reads Dr. Kahn's report.
The gentry wanted to make over the deeds of the property to the doctor.
This, however, she would not permit, but insisted that they be made in the
name of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Church,
assuring the donors that the work would then be on a permanent basis, as it
could not be if the deeds were made out in her name.
It would not have been just cause for discouragement had the work dropped
off the next year; for a dispute between some French Catholic priests and
the Nanchang magistrates led to such serious disturbances and bloodshed
that the missionaries were obliged to flee for their lives. Dr. Kahn
refused to leave her work until the last possible moment, and returned just
as soon as it was at all safe to do so. At the end of the year she was able
to report that although it had been necessary to close the dispensary for
three months, fully as many patients had been treated in the nine months as
in the twelve months of the year previous. Another gift had also been
received from the gentry, a piece of land near the hospital site, on which
a home for the physician was already in process of building.
During 1907 the work continued to grow steadily in scope and favour. Dr.
Kahn's annual report for that year shows something of its development: "My
practice has increased steadily among the foreigners and Chinese, until now
we have patients come to us from all the large interior cities, even to the
borders of Fuhkien. You would be surprised to know how many foreigners I
treat in this out-of-the-way place. During the year we have treated over
eight thousand patients. The evangelistic work among them has been better
undertaken than ever before, and I am sure we shall see results in the near
future. Several inquirers have been accepted, and seven women have been
taken in as probationers."
Although the demands of her work in Nanchang are constant and absorbing,
Dr. Kahn has never become provincial in her interest; while working with
whole-hearted devotion in her own corner, she still keeps the needs of the
entire field in mind. At the fifth triennial meeting of the Educational
Association of China, held in Shanghai in the spring of 1905, she gave an
address on "Medical Education," in which she said in part:
"Turn the mind for a moment to the contemplation of China's four
hundred millions, with the view of inaugurating effectual modern
medical practice in their midst. How many physicians are there to
minister to this vast mass of humanity? Barely two hundred! Such a
ratio makes the clientele of each physician about two million. What
would the English-speaking world think if there were only one
physician available for the cities of New York and Brooklyn! Yet
the people of these cities would not be so badly off, because of
the steam and electrical connections at their command."
"We as missionary physicians recognize our own inadequacy and the
imperative demand for native schools. How can we undertake to help
spread medical education in China with the limited means at our
command? Shall we simply take unto ourselves a few students as
assistants, and after training them for a few years turn them out
as doctors? By all means, no! Take us as we are generally situated,
one or two workers in charge of a large hospital or dispensary, is
not the stress of our professional work almost as much as we can
bear? Then there are the people to whom we ought to give the bread
of life as diligently as we minister to their bodily needs. Add to
this the urgent need of keeping up a little study. Where comes the
time and strength to teach the students as they should be taught?
Certainly to the average missionary such work as the turning out of
full-fledged doctors ought to be debarred. It seems to me that what
can and ought to be done is to single out promising students who
possess good Christian characters as well as physical and mental
abilities, and send them to large centres such as Peking, Canton,
Shanghai, and Hankow, where they might take a thorough course in
medicine and surgery. In these large cities the case is altered;
for hospitals and physicians are comparatively numerous, and much
could be done in a union effort. I am glad one or two such schools
have been inaugurated."
"As stiff a course as possible ought to be arranged and if it is
thought best the whole thing might be outlined by the China Medical
Missionary Association. For entrance requirements there should be
presented a solid amount of Chinese and English, with some Latin
and perhaps one other modern language. That may seem a great deal
to ask at present, but our higher schools of learning ought soon to
be able to supply such a demand, as well as the necessary training
in mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc. In other words the student
must be equipped in the very best manner for his lifework."
"During the present generation at least, if not longer, the women
of China will continue to seek medical advice from women
physicians, and to meet the demand we must confront and solve
another problem. Co-education is impracticable just at this
juncture. We must have either an annex to the men's college, or a
separate one entirely. Whichever plan is adopted it matters not,
barring the 'lest we forget' that it is just as important to
establish medical schools for women as for men."
"In the golden future when schools abound we shall have to think of
state examinations; but at that time we shall expect to be ready to
greet the blaze of day in this wonderful country of ours, when she
has wakened from the long sleep we often hear about, and taken her
place among the nations of the world, and God and man shall see
'that it is good.'"