In the history of Chinese medicine, there is such a great woman: she is the founder and pioneer of obstetrics and gynecology in China, who delivered and treated more than 50,000 babies well in her lifetime, but she never married; in 1930, the great academician Yuan Longping was delivered by her and came to this world to fall to the ground;
She is revered by the Chinese medical community as "The Virgin of the Orient", "Mother of All Babies", "Angel of Life"
In 2019, she was named the "Most Beautiful Strivers", and thousands of awards were added to her. This great female doctor is the first Chinese director of obstetrics and gynecology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital and the only female member of the first Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academician Lin Qiaozhi.
Photo: Lin Qiaozhi's old age photo
From a young age, he applied for Peking Union Medical College and vowed to "never marry"
On December 23, 1901, Lin Qiaozhi was born in a relatively privileged family in Gulangyu, Xiamen, and her father, Lin Liangying, studied at the University of Singapore and worked mainly in education and translation after returning to China. Because he studied abroad, his thinking is very clear, and he has regarded Lin Qiaozhi as a "pearl in the palm" since he was a child, believing that women should also receive a good education, and he will become a pillar of the country one day.
Lin Qiaozhi lived in a childhood, it was the dark years when the government of the late Qing Dynasty was ravaged and oppressed by the imperialist powers, on the southeast coast, the appearance of foreigners on their toes made her very unwilling, this stubborn emotion spurred her to study well, and she was an excellent student of the Enlightenment Academy from an early age. Due to her father's words and deeds, her English grades were particularly good, and in July 1919, she graduated from Xiamen Women's Normal College with excellent results.
Pictured: Lin Qiaozhi's old photo when he was young
On the day of graduation, the family prepared a table of hearty dishes for Lin Qiaozhi, and at the table, his father kindly asked Lin Qiaozhi: "Amy (Lin Qiaozhi's nickname), what do you plan to do after graduation?" ”
Lin Qiaozhi hesitated, but still said his idea of applying for Peking Union Medical College.
"Concorde? How many years do you have to study there? "My father unexpectedly had something to do with the school system.
"It's going to be about 8 years." Although Lin Qiaozhi knew that she would definitely be opposed by her family when she said it, she still deliberately said it very easily.
"Huh? 8 years, how much tuition does that have to be! Lin Qiaozhi's stepmother asked in surprise.
Pictured: Lin Qiaozhi as a young man
"About four or five hundred Yuan Datou (silver dollars)." Lin Qiaozhi lowered his head and muttered to himself.
Four or five hundred silver dollars, even for a family like Lin Qiaozhi, is an extremely high tuition fee! At that time, Lin Qiaozhi's family had many children, his father Lin Liangying was weak and sickly, his work was intermittent, and even the smartest second brother during his schooling years had to go to the sea to run a boat after graduation, and he never continued to study...
Then her stepmother angrily criticized her: "A girl's family, why read so many books?" Girls should have found a good family to marry early! You're in your early 20s now, and you're in school for another 8 years, and who wants you? The stepmother said.
Hearing this, Lin Qiaozhi stubbornly raised her head and said for the first time the promise she would keep for the rest of her life:
"If that's the case, then I won't marry, and I won't marry anyone for the rest of my life!"
Pictured: Lin Qiaozhi in his youth is conducting medical experiments
Fortunately, things in the family were ultimately decided by his father, and under his father's enlightened attitude and understanding, Lin Qiaozhi finally went to Shanghai in 1921 to apply for Peking Union Medical College. But when she was taking the English test, a female test taker suddenly fainted, and Lin Qiaozhi resolutely put down the pen in her hand to rescue the candidate. But when she returned to her seat, her best English was not finished because of lack of time, and she had to shake her head and leave the examination room silently.
When it came time to issue the admission list, Lin Qiaozhi, who originally did not have much hope, unexpectedly had her name on the gold list! It turned out that it was her selfless act of saving people in the examination room that touched the examiner and discovered her valuable qualities:
First, she speaks fluent English; second, she has shown remarkable calmness in dealing with emergencies; third, her grades in other subjects are not low.
The examiner was touched by her spirit of self-denial and eventually admitted her.
Dedicate everything to the cause of obstetrics and gynecology in China
At that time, the history of obstetrics and gynecology in New China was only a short time. Until the beginning of the 20th century, there were no specialized obstetrics and gynecology departments in China, and there were no female practicing doctors, and obstetrics and gynecology surgeries were generally performed by surgeons. Because the outdated and backward medical concepts at that time were deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, Chinese women were reluctant to do gynecological examinations no matter how serious the gynecological diseases were.
Pictured: Lin Qiaozhi (middle of the second row) with medical staff at Union Hospital
At that time, the Union Medical College also had very strict requirements for newly admitted students: a score of 75 points in the exam was considered a pass, and at the beginning of the school, the teacher told the new students that those who could not keep up with the study here were best to go to other schools to avoid wasting time. If you fail one main course, you will have to repeat the grade, and if you fail two main courses, you will leave the school to find another way.
At the beginning, when Lin Qiaozhi went to school in Xiamen, the school did not open two courses in physics and chemistry, in order to be able to master the new curriculum as soon as possible, Lin Qiaozhi made up his mind to study hard. Every night, she figured out the law of school power outages, and got up at twelve o'clock at night to study hard, day after day. By the time of the final exams, the results were announced, and she was at the top of the class, and even the biology test was the first place.
With her intelligence and hard work, Lin Qiaozhi survived an 8-year study career, and in 1929, she had just graduated from school and was hired by The Union Hospital as an obstetrician and gynecologist. On the day of admission, she made a solemn vow in her heart:
"I will do my best to abide by the principle of serving the interests of the sick, and wherever I am placed, whether the patient is male or female, whether I am respected or humbled, my only purpose is to seek happiness for the sick family and to check my body at all times."
Pictured: Lin Qiaozhi is out for treatment
Later, Lin Qiaozhi was ordered to study abroad, and in London, England, she visited cambridge university, Newham university and also studied at the famous maryland medical school for two months. Here, she broadened her horizons, improved her medical skills, and published her medical research results in London at the British Obstetrics and Gynecology Medical Exchange Conference, which was widely praised.
In 1940, Lin Qiaozhi finally relied on her solid medical knowledge and practical experience to become the director of obstetrics and gynecology, and also became the first director of obstetrics and gynecology at Union Hospital, according to her student Yan Renying later recalled: "Among women, the only person who can become a professor and director is a teacher, but if she gets married, she will not have this opportunity." ”
It can be seen that Lin Qiaozhi has never been married in her life, and it is not the path she chose herself, but the requirements of her career.
Photo: Dr. Yuan Longping's birth certificate
Perhaps to make up for his regret that he could not have children, Lin Qiaozhi put all his feelings on every child he delivered, in addition to the birth of dr. Yuan Longping in 1930, the writer Bingxin's three children were also born in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and the birth certificates of these children were all written with Lin Qiaozhi's English name. After the outbreak of the All-Out War of Resistance Against Japan, Bing Xin once described her in the article "About Women":
"An obstetrician and gynecologist named Ms. L, a native of Minnan, her sharp hands have personally delivered thousands of Chinese children..."
The first female member of the Faculty of New China
On December 8, 1941, due to the outbreak of the Pacific War, Peking Union Hospital could no longer become a "safe haven", and the Japanese army suddenly entered the Union Hospital and stopped the outpatient work of the hospital. In order to find a way out, all the employees of Union Hospital could only make a living for themselves, while Lin Qiaozhi chose to stay in Beiping and open a clinic alone to practice medicine.
In a simple courtyard at No. 10 Dongtangzi Hutong in Beiping at that time, Lin Qiaozhi's gynecological clinic was opened, and in the past few years of practicing medicine, she came into contact with a large number of middle- and lower-class women from downtown Beijing. In her daily work, she found that countless complex and stubborn gynecological diseases plagued Chinese women, and these pains made some of the remaining happiness in their lives disappear, and many of these situations were caused by their failure to master the correct health knowledge.
Pictured: Lin Qiaozhi examines the health of the poor people
For the poor people to see a doctor, Lin Qiaozhi always put himself in the shoes of their family situation:
Those who can be treated will be treated in time, those who can take medicine will never be injected, and those who can be injected will never be infused.
Gradually, her skillful benevolence became known both inside and outside Beiping City, and in the few years from 1941 to 1948 when she returned to Union Hospital, more than 8,000 patient records were stored in her office.
In 1946, Mr. Li Zongen, a famous Chinese medical educator, specially planned the reconstruction of Union Hospital in Beiping, and repeatedly invited Lin Qiaozhi to return to Union Hospital. Although he had a deep affection for the clinic and patients he had been running for several years, Lin Qiaozhi thought about it and decided to close his clinic in 1948 and return to Xiehe Hospital again.
Pictured: On August 27, 1950, teachers and students of Guiyang Medical College took a group photo in Beijing, and Li Zongen was the fifth from the left in the front row
In 1948, at the moment when the Kuomintang and the Communist Party launched a great armageddon, Lin Qiaozhi, who was simple in heart, did not care about politics and knew nothing about politics, and her heart only had a serious attitude of responsibility for hospital patients.
In 1949, when the People's Liberation Army surrounded Peiping, Fu Zuoyi, then commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang's Beiping City Defense, specially sent his wife to hand over a ticket signed by him to Lin Qiaozhi, which could take any flight to any city. But Lin Qiaozhi was still unmoved.
On the eve of the peaceful liberation of Peiping in 1949 and the founding ceremony, Lin Qiaozhi received an invitation letter from the people's government for the founding ceremony, but Lin Qiaozhi did not go, she thought in her heart:
"I'm just an ordinary doctor, what is it to do to attend such an important ceremony?"
In her mind, it is important to participate in the founding ceremony, but more importantly, it is her own obstetrics and gynecology work, and she volunteers to be the "lifelong doctor on duty" here.
Pictured: Lin Qiaozhi and foreign experts taking a group photo under the Tiananmen Gate
But in the subsequent contact with the Communist comrades, she began to get to know the real Communists. Shortly after the founding of New China, one day, a female comrade dressed in gray Lenin costume came to the hospital to hang up her number and ask her to see a doctor, during the consultation, Lin Qiaozhi learned that this patient had given birth to a child in 1927, but in order to avoid the arrest of the Kuomintang reactionaries, she had no way to get treatment and help in the big hospital, which eventually led to the early death of the child. Since then, she has been unable to have children again, and suffered from many diseases during the Long March... All this made Lin Qiaozhi very moved, and he did not expect that a female comrade could pay so much for the revolution. Later, she learned that the female comrade who came to the hospital to see a doctor was Comrade Deng Yingchao, zhou Enlai's wife.
Gradually, she became good friends with the wives of Zhou Enlai and Peng Zhen, and these personal contacts gradually gave her a new understanding and perspective on the new government.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Union Hospital was taken over by the people's government, and some of the old rules and regulations of Union Hospital that did not conform to the regulations of the times were abolished, including the marriage restrictions on female medical staff. Premier Zhou Enlai's wife, Deng Yingchao, was very concerned about Lin Qiaozhi's personal problems and had introduced her to her many times, but Lin Qiaozhi, who was already in his 50s, humorously rejected her proposal:
"If only I had been liberated in the early years, who would have let you liberate me so late?"
Pictured: Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao in their youth
With the rapid development of socialist construction, the environment for Lin Qiaozhi's medical research career has also become more stable. In 1955, when the first five-year plan of New China was underway, Lin Qiaozhi's research on obstetrics and gynecology in New China also reached a new stage. In the old society in the past, due to the low status of women, the research on gynecological diseases is also in a backward and ignorant state, in the actual work, she found that there were originally many gynecological diseases that can be prevented and treated, so she very much agreed with the basic policy of "prevention first" in China's basic medical system, she believes that hospital treatment is only the second line of defense, and mass prevention is the first solid line of defense.
So in the late 1950s, Lin Qiaozhi organized medical staff from Union Hospital to carry out a census of 50,000 people in a community in Beijing.
Such a large-scale gynecological examination campaign did not feel very understanding to the masses whose ideological concepts were not completely open at that time. However, Lin Qiaozhi and his colleagues did ideological work for the masses one by one with unimaginable patience, and collected a large number of first-hand medical records from them, which provided valuable information for the future study of cervical cancer, which has the highest incidence of female genital cancer.
Pictured: Liu Shaoqi is talking to Lin Qiaozhi
In view of Lin Qiaozhi's decades of hard work in gynecology, in 1956, China's first obstetrics and gynecology specialty hospital was established in Beijing, with Lin Qiaozhi as its president;
In 1959, she was elected as the only female member of the first Chinese Academy of Sciences.
At the same time, he was appointed vice president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.
Tireless and strict requirements for future generations
Lin Qiaozhi's medical skills are not only very superb, she has also trained many outstanding students in her decades of medical practice, and her students have later become the mainstay of China's obstetrics and gynecology cause, and have made great contributions to the cause of obstetrics and gynecology in New China.
Pictured: Lin Qiaozhi and Dr. Wang Shuzhen, a famous Obstetrics and Gynecology Expert in China, are in Beijing
After returning to Union Hospital, Lin Qiaozhi was mainly responsible for the reconstruction of the obstetrics and gynecology department, and she brought back her own students Ge Qinsheng, Ye Huifang and other students, all of whom were excellent doctors who could stand alone. At the same time, Concordia Medical College also reinstated the admissions system.
At the admissions committee, some people suggested that Concordia should reduce the number of hours and academic systems, but Lin Qiaozhi insisted on the consistent purpose of Concordia Medical College, that is, "strict selection and training of elites".
She put her point directly on the admissions committee: "Don't think that reading a few more years is a waste of time, these students will benefit a lot in their future clinical practice, and only by doing so can they lay a good foundation." ”
For the students who entered the Union Medical College with perseverance, Lin Qiaozhi did not have superb lecturing eloquence, but all the students who listened to her lectures praised her, because her lecture methods have a strong persuasiveness and appeal, especially in clinical practice, Lin Qiaozhi's teaching methods are even more impressive.
Pictured: Lin Qiaozhi with children
In the Union Hospital, there is still a small story about Lin Qiaozhi asking students to pay attention to details: once, Lin Qiaozhi asked students to complete 10 observation reports of the whole process of pregnancy by themselves to assess whether their clinical ability was qualified. However, in the end of the results, only one observation report was rated as "excellent" among these reports. While all the other reports were rated as failing, Lin Qiaozhi said to the students solemnly: "Although your observation report is very serious, it misses a very important part of the details. Later, the students compared the observation report that was rated as "excellent" and found that its observation content was not obviously different from that of other students, but there was an additional detailed description: "There are beads of sweat on the top of the mother's head..."
Some students felt that it was no big deal, but Lin Qiaozhi said to them in such a serious tone: "You must not think that this kind of detail is irrelevant, only if you can observe these details, can you know how to care for pregnant women, and can you find all kinds of abnormal situations in the normal delivery process." ”
Pictured: Lin Qiaozhi at Union Hospital in 1979
Although Lin Qiaozhi's teaching method requires students in details, she firmly believes that all the examinations and treatments of patients by doctors are only forms and methods, and the most important thing is how to care and care for patients. In obstetrics and gynecology, there are often patients who groan and cry out in pain because of the pain before giving birth, and once a student scolded the mother like this: "What is it called?" Don't get married if you're afraid of pain! If you want to call, go to the side and call! ”
After learning of this situation, Lin Qiaozhi severely criticized the student on the spot: "In English, Obstetric represents midwife, which basically means a woman standing very close.
The mother gave herself and the baby's life to the midwife, you were the only one who could help her at that time, how could you scold the mother like this? At this critical time, you don't even have the right to say you're hungry, thirsty, or sleepy.
”
Pictured: Memorial statue of Lin Qiaozhi
After the reform and opening up, Lin Qiaozhi, an academician who has made great contributions to China's obstetrics and gynecology, is not as good as a day, but in the last days of her life, she rarely rests at home alone, and she summarizes her lifelong knowledge into a book "Gynecological Tumor", which is the essence of her lifelong medical practice. On her deathbed on April 22, 1983, she left three wills:
"All 30,000 yuan saved in his life was donated to the hospital nursery; the remains were donated to the hospital for medical dissection; and his ashes were scattered on the sea surface of gulangyu Island in his hometown."
We believe that her life has been without regrets.