On the other side of the ocean thousands of miles away from China, there is a Canadian family that should be remembered forever - the Kilborn family. The family's love affair with China began in 1891. In the 72 years from this year to 1963, three generations of the family have made outstanding contributions to the development of health care and education in China and Hong Kong. Today, the fourth and fifth generations of the Kilburn family have taken over the baton of Sino-Canadian friendship and continued their family's love affair with China.
In the process of writing this article, Mr. Wang Shusheng gave me a lot of support and help, and I would like to thank Mr. Wang here!
A love affair that spans three centuries
——Remember a Canadian family's century-old love in China
Xiang Suzhen
In May 1892, grass warblers fly, thousands of trees are hairy, and thousands of trees are spitting green, which is the most beautiful season in Chengdu. On Yusha Road at the east gate of Chengdu, several blond foreigners appeared, who were sent by the Canadian Methodist Church to open up the diocese of West China in Chengdu, including 2 pastors and 2 medical doctors. When they first arrived in Chengdu, they found a private house on Yusha Road and settled down. They will start their new lives in this strange land—the cause of "practicing medicine" and "preaching the gospel." Omar L. Kilborn, MD, and his new wife, Jennie Fowler, were among them. Here he gave himself a resounding Chinese name - Qild. Since then, the fate of the Qilde family has been closely linked to China and Sichuan.
Make your home in Chengdu
Omar L. Kilborn as Jenny. Jennie Fowler
Born on November 20, 1867, in Frankville, Southern Ontario, Canada, to a family of blacksmiths, he was the fifth of five brothers, but only he and his older brother survived. His father was strong, hardworking, rigorous and meticulous. His mother was gentle, kind, and very good at running the family, and was loved by everyone. Therefore, this not rich family is very warm and harmonious. Inheriting the virtues of his parents, Zelder was determined, tenacious, hardworking, tenacious, but at the same time peaceful and amiable, and all who met him felt that he had a natural affinity. Unfortunately, both parents died when he was 14 years old. With the support of his brother Roland Kilborn, who was a physician, he himself used his holidays to work as a railroad night telegrapher, and even worked as a sailor across the Atlantic to escort cattle from Canada to England to earn tuition to complete his education. In the process, he traveled to many major cities in Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe, gaining both social experience and broadening his horizons. As a medical student, he was keenly aware that doctors in these places had exceeded the actual needs, and the profession of doctor was not scarce here.
In 1883, Keld entered Queen's University in Kingston, Canada, where he received a Master of Arts and a Master of Chemistry and a gold medal, and then began to study medicine. In the spring of 1889, at the age of 22, Caird received a master's degree in surgery and a doctorate in medicine, and then went on to further his studies at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and the University of Edinburgh in England.
In the late 19th century, as the Western powers expanded economically and culturally around the world, there was a missionary movement to the so-called barbarian lands in Canada and the West as a whole. Under the influence of this trend, Qiuld became one of the first medical students at Queen's University to respond to the volunteers' earnest appeal. While at university, Kidd joined Queen's University student volunteer organizations with his friends James Hall and George Hartwell, learning that there are still many places in the world that are poor, backward, and lack of medical care; Knowing that there is a country in the far East, China, where the population is large, the medicine is backward, the people are ignorant and have no faith, which strengthened his determination to help the less fortunate after graduation in areas where medical care and enlightenment are more needed. He believed that Western modern medical technology would make a difference in the far East, and he was going there to show his skills. Although he graduated with a teaching position at Queen's University, he worked for Rev. Sutherland, Secretary General of the Canadian Methodist Mission Department. Sutherland wrote an offer letter expressing his desire to go to poor and backward China as a volunteer advance team member to practice medicine and preach. On November 18, 1890, Sutherland was ordered by the Methodist Church to respond to Chelder's request to allow him and his non-medical classmate George Hartwell to go to China as a missionary and carry out medical work. Prior to Kaild, the only overseas mission of the Canadian Methodist Church was in Japan, and no medical work was considered there.
Left: Queen's University, Qiulde's alma mater Right: Qiuld (right) with classmate George Hartwell
On October 4, 1891, V.C. Hefeichu, the pioneer and host of the former Central China Diocese of the American-Israeli American Society, was the pioneer. The first advance delegation of Canadian Methodist missionaries to West China, led by Mr. and Mrs. Hart, Mr. and Mrs. Chelder, D.W. Stevenson, and George Hartwell, left Vancouver by ship, crossed the Pacific Ocean, and finally arrived in Shanghai, China, on November 3 after a month of sea turbulence.
The first group of advance members of the Canadian Volunteer Corps to go to China are photographed before they leave Vancouver. Front row, from left to right: Dr. Hefaciu (Rev. V. C. Hart), Mrs. Hephaycher. Hart), Dr. Stevenson D.W. Stevenson）； Back row, from left to right: Mr. and Mrs. He Zhongyi (Rev. and Mrs. G.E. Hartwell and Mrs. Hartwell, Dr.O.L. Kilborn), Jeannie Fowler, Zaird's first wife (October 4, 1891)
On August 12, 1891, at the age of 24, Caird married his classmate Jennie Fowler, less than two months before they left for China. Jenny Fowler was born in Canada in 1867 with a Master of Arts degree, graduated from the Department of Literature at Queen's University, where her father was a professor of natural sciences.
The long and arduous journey became their honeymoon. After staying in Shanghai for more than three months and receiving simple Chinese training, they boarded a steamer, changed wooden boats in Yichang, went up the Yangtze River, crossed the Three Gorges, stayed in a houseboat, crossed rapids, and arrived at Chengdu, the first stop of their missionary work in western China, on May 21, 1892.
In early summer, Chengdu is sunny, the trees on the roadside grow new leaves tender green and green, birds chirp, everywhere is full of vitality, and the smell of spring is pleasant. Before coming to China, the Keld couple had a lot of preparation to do, and they had no time to take care of their small family, let alone enjoy the sweet romance of their new marriage. Now that they have reached their destination, they have settled in a typical western Sichuan courtyard on Yusha Road where they originally settled, and can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Jenny is a beautiful, elegant, kind and gentle intellectual woman who carefully arranges her love nest with Kaild: famous paintings brought from her hometown are hung on the walls, curtains brought from Canada are hung, white curtains gently stirred with the breeze, and wildflowers picked from outside are inserted in glass bottles on the table... Everything is so beautiful. Facing the new life that is about to begin, Jenny is very satisfied, this is the first space that truly belongs to them since she and Keld were married, and she longs to spend romantic and sweet warm nights here with her lover and savor the beauty of the world. Gentle is humorous and versatile, loves music and literature, likes to sing, and is good at violin. Two young people looking forward to a bright future with hope...
However, an unexpected disaster suddenly swooped down on them. In July 1892, the weather was particularly hot, and a serious cholera epidemic spread in Chengdu, according to Keld's memoirs, due to the lack of scientific preventive measures, this cholera eventually claimed tens of thousands of lives, and Jenny was unfortunately infected. Although he was a very good doctor, he was unable to return to heaven despite his best efforts in the face of sudden disaster, and on a hot afternoon, Jenny left the world she loved so much after 18 hours of contracting the disease. Poor Jenny was not yet 25 years old when she died, and it was only 2 months after she arrived. Because the disaster came too suddenly, Jenny did not have time to taste the good life, and did not even have time to leave a photo with her dear husband who had been married for less than a year...
The loss of his beloved wife caused Keld to be devastated, and Clard was immersed in painful thoughts about Jenny for a long time, and even his best friend could not free him. Jenny's carefully arranged love nest is still so warm and elegant, and the wildflowers in the glass bottle on the table still emit a faint fragrance, but the hostess is gone. Unable to accept this harsh reality, Zelder frantically threw himself into work to ease the blow of losing his beloved wife.
On November 3, 1892, to commemorate the first anniversary of their landing in Shanghai, Keld and Dr. Stevenson, MD. D.W. Stevenson opened the first Western medicine clinic at No. 12 North Street of the Four Sacred Shrines in Chengdu using rented private houses. A total of 18 patients were admitted on this day, and the number of patients continued to increase, reaching a maximum of 50 to 60 patients per day. The conditions of the clinic were no longer sufficient for medical work, and they vacated two small rooms in the courtyard where they lived, divided into male and female wards, and soon each ward would accommodate four or five patients. They have also performed several successful surgeries, including major surgeries. This small clinic has opened a new dawn for modern medicine in western China.
The first Western medicine clinic in western China, since then, Western medicine has entered the homes of ordinary people. The picture shows a patient waiting in the clinic
Evangelical Church Poor Clinic
Initially, they planned to see a doctor three days a week and learn Chinese three days. But with the increasing number of inpatients and outpatients, coupled with the continuous requests for home visits, surgeries, dressing, etc., their time to learn the language has been completely squeezed out. In the end, the program lasted only a short time, and they had to stop their medical work and concentrate on learning the language.
In early 1893, they purchased a medium-sized compound on Four Shrine Street, near Dongjia, which had been renovated to accommodate three families. In early 1894, two adjacent small courtyards were added, and the first Western medicine hospital in Chengdu established by foreigners was completed (since Zeld was not in Chengdu at this time, the hospital was built by Stevenson).
The first Western medicine hospital in western China
Dr. Stevenson with leprosy
Harmonious Chengdu Courtyard - Advance members of the Canadian Volunteer Corps living on Sisheng Ancestral Street in Chengdu in 1893
Text on the back of the photo
Another companion in life - Rita
( Straight line G.kilborn )
Perhaps to appease Celde, who had lost his beloved wife, God sent him another angel.
In October 1893, Zerd was sent by the Methodist Church to Shanghai to pick up the second group of missionaries who had arrived in West China and escorted them all the way to Chengdu, and one of them, a female medical doctor named Retta Alfretta Gifford, entered Cheld's life. Rita was the first trained female doctor sent by the Methodist Society of Women Missionaries to work in West China.
Rita was born on May 11, 1864, on a farm three miles from Meaford, Ontario, to a Puritan father and a gentlemanly farmer. Rita was the eldest of eight children, and as the eldest daughter, she was usually asked to help with household chores and farm work until she was 18 years old. She decided to study medicine, at a time when few girls were allowed to study medicine, but she achieved her goal with tenacity. After graduating from high school, Rita was admitted to Toronto Women's Medical College (which was later merged into Trinity University), graduating in 1891 with a doctorate in medicine and a master's degree in surgery. After graduating, Rita opened a private practice in Owen Sand, 20 miles from her birthplace. A year later, the Canadian Methodist Association of Ladies invited her to join the church's medical advance team to Sichuan, which she accepted and sailed to China in 1893.
Rita (back row, 2nd from right) with her parents and younger siblings in 1889
Left: Rita for Girls' Generation Right: Rita who has just arrived in China
The long journey from Shanghai to Chengdu gave Keld and Rita enough time to meet, get to know each other, and fall in love. The same belief and common ideal pursuit have brought two young hearts together. In February 1894, they arrived in Chengdu. On May 24, 1894, the two married in Chengdu. After marriage, Rita took her husband's surname and also gave a Chinese name - Qi Xixian. At this moment, the story of the Qild family in China also officially kicked off.
On May 24, 1894, Qild and Qi Xixian were married in Chengdu
The Kelds with their Chinese teacher
According to the Women's Missionary Association, women missionaries lose their missionary credentials once they marry and will no longer be paid wages by the Church. Because Kai Xixian was the first specially trained female medical doctor sent by the Women Missionary Society to work in West China, and was tasked with establishing a women's and children's hospital, the church made an exception to retain her missionary status for five years, but her salary was reduced from $600 to $300 per month, and the payment stopped completely after five years (in 1899). Kai Hee-hyun has no complaints about this and is committed to future work without hesitation. In the days that followed, the virtuous Qi Xixian, as a virtuous inner helper, together with Qierde, created an immortal feat for medical education in western China.
On the third day of their marriage, Qild and Qi Xixian were sent to Jiading (Leshan) to start a second diocese after Chengdu. They rented a private house on Baita Street in Leshan, used a large room as a missionary site, and then began their regular weekly worship activities. Soon they rented an adjoining yard and renovated it slightly before starting medical work as a clinic. Kai Hee-hyun is responsible for the treatment of female patients, and Qild is responsible for the treatment of male patients. They see doctors four days a week, two days for men and two days for women, as well as inpatients and necessary surgeries. Every day, they see 50 to 80 patients. This clinic was the second Western medicine clinic established by Qaird in western China and the predecessor of today's Leshan People's Hospital on Baita Street.
The second Western medicine hospital in western China, Jiading (Leshan) Hospital
On April 7, 1895, the eldest son of the Qild couple, Leslie G. Kilborn, was born in Jiading (Leshan), and they gave their son the Chinese name - Qi Zhen Dao.
Mr. and Mrs. Cherd with their newborn son of 2 months
In 1895, the council decided that Dr. Hefeiqiu and his wife, Miss Hefeiqiu, Mr. and Mrs. Wen Huanzhang, and Dr. Hare would go to Jiading to work, and Mr. and Mrs. Qild would be transferred back to Chengdu. In late May, the couple returned to Chengdu with their son, who had just reached the end of the moon, when they encountered a riot against missionaries.
The defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 led to the national humiliation of cession of reparations, aroused anti-foreigners, especially anti-missionaries. At that time, Chengdu was rife with rumors against missionaries: missionaries were considered the lowest and worst people, expelled from their own country, and came to China to defeat the final justice; Terrible foreigners will catch Chinese children "put in a pot and boil oil", take children's liver, boil eyeballs to make Western medicine, and so on.
May 28, 1895, the traditional Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. In the afternoon, people gather at the East Competition Field, near the Four Holy Shrine Street, to celebrate the festival in the traditional way of "hitting plums", in which one person takes a bag of plums and fights against each other, presenting a spectacular scene of thousands of people fighting on the east gate city wall. However, amid the laughter and joy, someone suddenly said that foreigners had been seen abducting Chinese children into church. The rumors that spread around instantly ignited people's fear of foreign countries and hatred of foreign countries. The bones of dead people were gouged from cemeteries in the ghetto and taken to the streets to be used as evidence of horrific experiments carried out by foreigners, claiming to be the bones of people killed by these foreigners. A jar of wine-soaked cherries was searched from the missionaries' storeroom for public display, saying they had gouged out the baby's eyes to make a potion. By evening, an indignant crowd had come to the Four Shrines Street to surround the church, the evangelical hospital, and the residence of missionaries such as Keld, demanding that they hand over their abducted children. In a hurry, Zeld pulled out a pistol and fired it at the sky, trying to disperse the crowd surrounding them, and a catastrophe would result.
The next day, the Four Holy Shrines hospital and chapel, the church and missionaries' homes on Shaanxi Street, and all church property were destroyed. The turmoil affected more than ten states and counties, and a total of more than 70 churches were destroyed. This is the "Chengdu Lesson Plan" that shocked the world. The Kelds, with their infant son, took refuge in the Yamen for several days with the help of sympathetic officials, and finally boarded a boat on a dark night and fled to Shanghai via Chongqing. Mrs. Stevenson endured a series of ordeals and frightening during the riots, which led to a nervous breakdown, and the couple returned to Canada and never returned to China.
In the 1895 Chengdu Lesson Case, the first Western medicine hospital in western China was destroyed
Return to Chengdu and create another great career
In 1896, the family of three, who were about to return to Chengdu, posed for a photo in Shanghai with a child of a Chinese Christian whom they had treated, but the boy's name is unknown today
At the beginning of 1896, the turmoil of the teaching plan gradually subsided, and the Qierd couple returned to Chengdu with their children, using the indemnity given by the Qing government and the supplementary funds provided by the church, and began to rebuild the hospital on the ruins of the original site. They first repaired houses and restored churches, and in early autumn began cleaning and repairing the hospital. Soon, a larger hospital was built on the same site as the clinic, and the new hospital had 25 beds and was capable of receiving inpatients. In November of the same year, Qi Xixian used the rented renovated and remodeled house to start medical work for women and children, and then officially established the earliest women's and children's hospital in western China in Xinxiang, and Qi Xixian also became the first female doctor of Western medicine to openly practice in Sichuan's history. The hospital has replaced the old method of unhygienic birth delivery that has lasted for thousands of years and caused many maternal and infant deaths with scientific nursing and new birth delivery methods, so that the survival rate of mothers and babies has been significantly improved, and more and more families have begun to choose to give birth in the hospital. According to statistics, the number of midwifery business offices in Chengdu has been reduced from hundreds to 36 by the end of the Qing Dynasty, and the concept of Western medicine and obstetrics and gynecology hygiene has been popularized rapidly.
Women's hospital in Chengdu in 1896
The Chengdu Men's Hospital was restored in 1896 on the ruins of the hospital destroyed in the "Chengdu Teaching Project"
After everything was put to rest, the Kelds began to receive patients again. Although the people of Chengdu still harbored doubts and fears about foreigners at this time, due to the couple's superb medical skills and unreserved selfless dedication to the Chinese, coupled with their rapid improvement of Chinese, they have been able to communicate smoothly with patients in Sichuanese, won the trust and favor of many patients, and more and more people ask them for treatment. Because Kai Hee-hyun successfully cured a lady's evil disease, he also received a very beautiful plaque from the patient, which praised them as "Hua Tuo and Bian Que Reborn". According to a June 1898 report, after 14 months of operation, the hospital treated 10,686 patients, 125 anesthesia surgeries and 25 minor surgeries. In his working notes, 62 of the 2,848 new patients in the hospital came from 47 of the province's 112 counties, which means that Western medicine is beginning to be accepted by more people outside Chengdu.
Every busy and fulfilling day gives them the joy of success. By this time, they had fallen deeply in love with the land and the people who lived on it.
"Two pioneer medical missionaries, Dr. Omar Gilborn and Dr. Rita Gilborne, often worked together in the operating room." Omar wields a scalpel while Rita anesthetizes the patient
In early 1897, sent by the church, W.E. Smith, a medical doctor, arrived in Chengdu, and the following year the church was supplemented with R.B. Ewan, a medical doctor. Their participation further promoted the development of medical work in Chengdu and gave the Qild couple a respite.
Their second child, Constance Kilborn Walmsley, was born in Chengdu in May 1898. In July 1898, during the first vacation with their children, their third child, Cora Kilborn, was born in Canada in 1899 and named Chinese Kai Zhiming. In April 1900, they returned to Chengdu after a vacation. A few months later, the Boxer Rebellion in northern China quickly spread across the country, forcing the Keld couple to leave Chengdu again with their children for refuge in Shanghai. When they returned to Chengdu in 1901, they were pleasantly surprised to find their house and hospital intact, just as they had left, and that they had been destroyed again because an official had sealed all their rooms. In December 1901, their youngest son, Kenneth Kilborn, was born in Chengdu.
Mr. and Mrs. Qilde with their four children in the courtyard of their home on the Four Sacred Shrines in Chengdu (photographed in 1903)
Qiuld's home in Chengdu (photographed in 1905)
After the Boxer Rebellion subsided, in 1905, Qild obtained some donations from the Christian Church of Canada, and received more than 1,500 taels of gold from the Sichuan government to build a new hospital. In 1906, the Christian Church sent Dr. Ivan Ewan was responsible for the establishment of this large new hospital. In 1913, a four-story Western medicine building with 120 beds, one of the best hospitals in China at that time, with general wards, special wards and private wards for Chinese with better economic conditions and willing to pay the corresponding fees, was officially opened, named "Sichuan Red Cross Gospel Hospital", later named "Renji Hospital", because only male patients were admitted, also known as "Renji Nan Hospital". The new hospital is equipped with a consultation room, waiting room, consultation room, pharmacy room, changing room, operating room, anesthesia room, disinfection room, etc., and has specialized departments such as internal medicine, surgery, and flower willow department.
In 1914, Qild opened a male nursing school in Renji Hospital, enrolling more than 30 Chinese students. He managed the hospital as a physician, pharmacist, head nurse, missionary and teacher.
Left: Inji Nan Hospital under construction Right: Inji Nan Hospital building after completion
In 1913, the Sichuan Red Cross Gospel Hospital was officially opened
In 1912, the Women's and Children's Hospital established by Kai Xixian moved into a newly built building on Xizigong South Street and named it "Renji Women's Hospital". In 1915, the hospital was attached to a school for female nursing. By the early days of the Republic of China, the hospital had 52 beds, and carried out new methods of delivery and diagnosis and treatment of general gynecology, obstetrics and pediatric diseases. In 1940, the "Renji Women's Hospital" was destroyed by fire and later merged into the "Renji Men Hospital". Both hospitals operate on a profit-for-loss basis, charging high fees to the rich and reducing the cost of medicine for the poor. At the same time, the hospital also undertakes the clinical teaching function of West China medical students. The small clinic opened on November 3, 1892 on Si Sheng Ancestral Street also became the origin of today's West China Hospital.
Renji Women's Hospital
Spread civilization and eradicate bad habits
When Qild and Qixian first arrived in Chengdu, they were shocked by the lack of medical care and the cruelty of the Chengdu people: the locals were industrious but poor; They are creative but uncultured, full of superstition and ignorance; They lack basic knowledge of health care and the importance of personal and family hygiene, which is closely related to the development of diseases; They know about infectious diseases, but they don't know how to isolate them. There is nothing to do about the horrific and catastrophic consequences of infectious diseases such as smallpox, cholera, leprosy, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, typhoid fever, etc. There are also opium smoke houses all over the streets and the extremely cruel and ignorant habit of foot binding... No one knows what the mortality rate of Chinese is. As life-saving medical missionaries, the Cairds deeply felt the great mission and responsibility they shouldered. In his book Heal the Sick, he spends much of his time on the dangers of opium and foot binding. Childe witnessed the disgusting misery of drug addiction and the tragedy of opium bringing to ordinary families and even the destruction of ordinary families. Faced with the addicts who were languishing, pale and haggard, their hands shaking, tears, dirty, sloppy, and ghostly, Keld was both saddened and angry. He and the medical missionaries vigorously promoted the anti-opium campaign and opened smoking cessation courses in hospitals, admitting smokers who wished to quit opium to the hospital to help them build confidence and return to normal life. At the same time, missionaries were educated to work against opium, not only to teach students to opium opium, but also to refuse admission to any opium smoker.
One day in 1902, on behalf of the Church in Chengdu, Mr. Qiuld and Mr. Grainger visited Cen Chunxuan, the governor of Sichuan, to urge the governor to pay attention to legislation banning opium and foot binding. The Governor endorsed and promised to undertake some work to ban opium smoking. In September 1906, the Qing government ordered a ban on smoking. In 1908, the then governor Zhao Ersun issued a notice ordering smoking bans, adopting a combination of persuasion, punishment, placation and compensation, and banning opium for two years, and the opium smoke shops in Sichuan were finally closed in 1909 and the cultivation of opium poppy was banned.
Left: Poppies growing in fields Right: Smokers in an opium house
Foot binding is one of the most painful and tragic pages in Chinese women's history. As a bad habit to satisfy the aesthetics of men in feudal society, it has existed in China for a long time. In 1895, Mrs. Archibald Little and several female missionaries initiated the establishment of the "Tianzu Society" in Shanghai to oppose foot binding, published the "Tianfa Club Newspaper", established the Tianfa Club Girls' School and enrolled Tianzu girls. They used the Guangxi Society to publish a large number of pamphlets and leaflets to promote the concept of natural foot. Subsequently, various provincial cities established "Tianzu Branches".
While practicing medicine in Chengdu, Kai Xixian discovered that many women's diseases were related to early foot binding. She could not understand and hated this extremely inhumane and dehumanizing foot binding practice, rose up to advocate for the anti-foot binding movement, actively participated in the anti-foot binding movement in Chengdu, carried out propaganda activities everywhere, educated and advised her patients not to let girls be tied feet, advocated the establishment of the Chengdu Tianji Association, and called for the abolition of this inhuman vice as soon as possible. In his book "Heal the Sick", Qild made a profound analysis of the causes and harms of foot binding, denouncing that foot binding is a criminal act, the painful process of foot binding is unimaginable, and the endless trauma caused to girls is irreparable, making Chinese women crippled. He urged that this practice must be abolished.
Little feet devastated by cruel bad habits
Under the active advocacy and organization of the missionaries of the Canadian Women Evangelistic Society, the Chengdu Anti-Footbinding Tianfa Association was established, and the president was Dr. Maude Killam served and held the first annual meeting of the Tianfa Association in Leshan. In 1902, the Qing government issued an edict prohibiting women's foot binding. The Chengdu Tianzu Association has held several meetings to help people understand the dangers of foot binding and urge people to give up foot binding or release the feet of their daughters who have already tied their feet. Subsequently, Cen Chunxuan, then the governor of Sichuan, issued a statement opposing foot binding, which was printed and distributed in 50,000 copies throughout the province. On February 9, 1904, on behalf of the missionaries in Sichuan, he made a special trip to the governor's palace to meet with the then governor Xiliang, and with the support of the governor, he agreed to reissue the "Words of the Official Not to Bind Feet" issued by the former governor Cen Chunxuan, and at the same time issued the "Anti-smoking Prohibition Foot Binding Order" to urge people to abandon this bad custom. With the support of the governor, many Tianfa clubs organized by Chinese have emerged in all counties in Sichuan.
The girl who finally has to be liberated and begins to let go
A change in China - the crusade against foot binding. Women from Chengdu's upper class attend the first annual meeting of the Anti-Foot Binding Association in Jiading (Leshan) and listen to Mrs. Lide (last row, 1st from left) on the anti-foot binding, with Kai Xixian (last row, 2nd from right) as the interpreter
Under the impetus of the Tianfa Association, in early 1909, the governor of Sichuan, Zhao Ersun, issued a notice advising the Sichuan people to abandon the vice of foot binding. Later, district governors instituted stricter provisions requiring all foot-bound women in their jurisdictions to be allowed to do so, and even set deadlines.
In the 10s of the 20th century, especially after entering the Republic of China, with the joint efforts of Chinese and foreign people, the anti-foot binding movement spread to ordinary people's homes. In 1912, Sun Yat-sen, the provisional president of the Republic of China, issued the "Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Advise All Provinces to Discourage Foot Binding". After entering the 20s of the 20th century, the bad habit of foot binding, which had harmed Chinese women physically and mentally for more than a thousand years, was finally abolished.
As the children grew up, in 1907, Qi Xixian took the children back to Canada for formal education, and Qild stayed in Chengdu to work alone. On May 13, 1909, Cherd left Chengdu and returned to Canada to join his family. This is his second return to China for leave since arriving in China.
This is a letter written by Qild from Chengdu to Qi Xixian in April 1909. The letter gave a detailed account of what happened and the work of the Chengdu mission, and also expressed his urgent desire to return to Kai Xixian and the children as soon as possible. In one of the letters above, he humorously wrote: "If the Empress (the name of the ship) goes too slowly, I go out and push the ship away." From these letters, we can deeply feel the other side of a great and strong man who is responsible, responsible, warm, and flesh-and-blood as a husband and father.
Left: After two years of separation, the family is finally reunited in Canada Right: A transcript on the back of the photo
Qaird used this vacation to summarize his nearly 18 years of medical experience in Sichuan and wrote the book "Treating Diseases and Saving People". In 1910, the book was published in Canada. In the book, Qild recounts his real experience and challenges in practicing medicine and preaching in Chengdu for many years, and details the way of life of Chengdu people in the late Qing Dynasty, social customs in Chengdu, common diseases, Chinese medicine, and how he used Western medicine to treat Chengdu people. He also called for in the book: "Medical work in mission has become a very appropriate way to 'show love by action.'" It is the highest form of love that can be expressed in practical actions. ...... The church hospital is a complement to the church. Rev. T. T. E. E. Shore, then secretary general of overseas missions, wrote in the preface: "At that time, the lay missionary movement and the youth missionary movement in Canada began to rise, and there was an urgent need for a spirit of cooperation among missionaries. In addition, Chinese are increasingly curious about Western technology and religious beliefs. At this time, the publication of Keld's book seemed very timely. None of the missionaries I knew were up to the task of Kirdh's medical mission. His books are invaluable to those who aspire to be missionaries and to all those who are friends of missionaries. ”
In 1910, in Canada , "Healing and Saving People", in order to thank the then governor Xiliang for his support of the work of the church, Keld specially placed a picture of Xiliang on the cover of the book, and praised him as an "outstanding governor" under the photo on the inside page.
Qierd was also one of the organizers of the Chinese Red Cross Society in Sichuan, and during the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, he was involved in treating the sick and wounded. James M. Yard, a pastor of the Israeli-American Society, described Cherd this way: "Dr. Keld was greatly touched by the suffering of the soldiers, who often received no first aid. Through the newly established Red Cross Society of China, Dr. Qiuld spent months with soldiers. At that time, food was scarce and it was the rainy season, and he often walked barefoot and straw shoes on the muddy battlefield. People know his story. This great doctor gave up his comfortable and well-equipped hospital to serve ordinary soldiers (soldiers were disrespected in China at that time). Chinese said he was a saint, and they had never seen anyone with such a loving heart. ”
Left: During the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, Qaird founded the Chinese Red Cross Society in Sichuan. As a member of the Red Cross, he often appeared on the battlefield. The picture shows Qild (back 1st from right) and members of the Sichuan Red Cross in 1912. Right: Qiuld heals wounded during the Xinhai Revolution in 1912
Committed to training doctors who Chinese themselves
On March 11, 1910, West China Union University, jointly founded by five missions of the Christian churches of the United States, Britain and Canada, was officially opened in Chengdu, creating a precedent for church organizations to establish universities in western China. This is a pivotal university in Sichuan Province. As one of the founders of the university, Childe served as the first president of the University Board of Trustees, and Bi Qi, the president of the American-Israeli American Society, served as the first president.
As hospitals grew and the number of patients grew, Keld realized that a few medical missionaries alone could not solve the problems of the Chinese public. In 1907, in a report to the Canadian Methodist Church, he said: "I did my best, but found how hopeless it is to run a large and busy hospital on my own." He strongly recommended the establishment of a medical school that collaborates with the hospital to train doctors Chinese their own. In 1914, the School of Medicine of West China Union University, which was advocated and co-founded by Qaird, was opened, with a duration of 6 years. The Cairds became the first teachers of medical school. Until his death in 1920, he taught chemistry, physiology, internal medicine, dermatology and ophthalmology. The medical staff of the Yanji Hospital he founded also served as a medical teacher. Kai Hee-hyun teaches medical courses such as pediatrics and therapeutics in medical school. Professor William Reginald Morse, the second dean of West China Union University and a Canadian medical missionary, said of Caird in his book "West China in the Purple Clouds" (translated p.120 by Luo Xi and Deng Xianzhao): "The first announcement of our school was written by Caird, who is the most qualified person to clarify the ideals of the school, because no one knows the purpose of the school better than him. Cherd, who came to China as a medical missionary, was a passionate, ambitious, intelligent, and wholehearted man who earned people's respect and respect. In the process of establishing the school, he deserves to be revered as a pioneer. "At the beginning of the establishment of the medical school, due to war, teachers, language and many other reasons, only 7 students were admitted in the first year (no students were enrolled in 1916, 1917, and 1918), and by 1919, there were only 9 Chinese students.
After a hundred years of long journey, the School of Medicine of West China Union University (now West China Medical Center of Sichuan University) is now a national medical center integrating higher medical education, medical scientific research and technological innovation, and difficult and critical care diagnosis and treatment centers. From this campus that combines Chinese and Western, a large number of outstanding experts and scholars have emerged, including Ms. Le Yicheng, MD, China's first obstetrician and gynaecology specialist, Mr. Huang Tianqi, China's first dental doctor, Mr. Du Shunde, the earliest discoverer of black fever in China and fava bean disease in China, as well as many giants in the field of ophthalmology and otolaryngology.
The Cairds pose with the first two classes of medical students, of which only four graduated from the first graduating class (Class of 1920) (photo taken in 1919)
He was also a linguist and educator. In the course of practicing medicine, Caird understood too much the importance of language communication. He believed that it was necessary for medical missionaries to have a complete grasp of the language of the missionary country. He is particularly fond of the Sichuan dialect, believing that compared with Mandarin and other local languages, the spoken language of Huaxi is rich in tone, pleasant to the ear, and gives people a strong sense of music. To this end, Qild'er specially edited a Sichuan dialect textbook for missionaries who had just arrived in Sichuan to learn the language. The book was published by West China Union University in 1917 and reprinted in 1921.
The book uses old-fashioned romanization to mark the pronunciation of Chinese characters, and after the pinyin of each character, it is also marked with "1, 2, 3, 4" to indicate the four-tone reading of the character in Chinese, and to explain the meaning of the word in English. This is the only officially published Sichuanese (English) textbook in the world, which uses many of the now-disappeared authentic Sichuan dialects to record various details of life, such as housework, travel, shopping, socializing, and the conflict between foreigners and local habits.
This textbook provides an important historical basis for us to study the Sichuan dialect today
In 1919, the family returned to Canada for vacation, the third time in the 28 years since he left Canada in 1891 for China. In April 1920, the University of Victoria conferred the honorary title of Doctor of Stomatology on Cyprud. Perhaps jealous of talent, more than a month later, he died of pneumonia caused by the post-war influenza virus of 1914-1918 at the age of 53. From arriving in China at the age of 24 to his death at the age of 53, Cherd dedicated his life to China without reservation.
In 1919, Zaird returned to Canada for a vacation for the last photo with his family
Left: The last photo of Qild with Kai Hee-hyun during his lifetime
Right: The last photograph of Keld left on earth, his great life frozen in this moment
(April 26, 1920)
After the bad news of Qierde's death reached Sichuan, both Chinese and foreigners were grieving. In a traditional ceremony of the highest standard in China, a grand memorial meeting was held for Qild at the site of the Ming Dynasty Huifu (historically an ancestral hall dedicated to loyal martyrs) on the west street of today's Chengdu Martyrs' Shrine, and monks dressed in white mourning clothes chanted scriptures and prayed for him. The shrine is hung with a large statue of Qild and countless memorial services, and all walks of life mourn with deep sorrow the founder of the history of Western medicine in Sichuan, the founder of the Sichuan Red Cross Movement, and the founder of the first nursing college and university in the modern sense in western China.
THE WEST CHINA MISSIONARY NEWS SHOWS A SPEECH BY GEORGE HARTWELL, A MISSIONARY WHO ARRIVED IN SICHUAN AT THE SAME TIME AS KELD ON JUNE 2, 1920, AT A SERD MEMORIAL SERVICE. In his speech, he reviewed his life and spoke highly of his great life
After her husband's death, the grieving Qi Xixian returned to Chengdu to redevote herself to teaching and practicing medicine in western China, becoming a leading expert in the diagnosis and treatment of gynecology and pediatric patients at that time. At this point, the church restored her missionary status and restored her salary after a 22-year hiatus. In other words, in the 22 years from 1898 to 1920, Kai Xixian's practice and teaching in China was a selfless dedication without any remuneration. Kai Xixian and her husband made important contributions to the establishment of the Department of Medicine (later renamed the School of Medicine) of West China Union Medical College University. Now, as she did when she was younger, she urged school leaders to recruit female students. On September 7, 1924, eight Chinese female students entered the administrative building of West China Union University and became official students. BGI also became the first coeducational university in western China.
After Qilde's death, Qi Xixian left this group photo with his children and returned to Chengdu alone to continue working until retirement. From left to right, mother Kai Hee-hyun, eldest son Kai Zhen Dao, eldest daughter Constance Kilborn Walmsley, second daughter Cora Kilborn, and youngest son Kenneth Kilborn
In 1933, at the age of 69, Qi Xixian ended her nearly 40-year teaching and medical career in China and retired to Canada. She died in Toronto on December 1, 1942, at the age of 78.
The son inherits his father's business and continues to serve China
The eldest son, Leslie Kilborn, and the eldest daughter-in-law, Leslie Kilborn, and his eldest daughter-in-law, Leslie Kilborn
（Janet McClure Kilborn）
Born in 1895 in Leshan, Sichuan, Qizhen Dao has experienced various social turmoil and wars with his parents since birth, and it can be said that his childhood was spent in troubled times. In 1905, at the age of 10, Kai Zhen Dao was sent to the Canadian School (CS School) in Chongqing. While his parents were preparing to establish West China Union University, he returned to Canada for a high school education. In 1913, he passed the university entrance examination, won the Edward Black Science and Modern Languages Scholarship, entered Victoria College of the University of Toronto, majored in physiology and biochemistry, and graduated with honors in 1917 and received the Victoria Silver Prize in Science. He then went on to pursue graduate studies in physiology and received a master's degree in physiology and a bachelor of arts degree (M· a) degree, followed by a doctorate in medicine and philosophy. In 1921, a year after the death of his father Cyril, Kaijin graduated from the University of Toronto with a doctorate in medicine. In the fall of the same year, Kai Zhen Dao married his classmate Janet McClure (Chinese name Qi Jingqing). In order to inherit his father's business, he returned to Chengdu. Because Qi Zhendao was born and raised in Sichuan, Qi Jingqing had studied Chinese from an early age and had a very solid foundation in Chinese, and after returning to Chengdu, instead of attending language training courses at the Chinese College of West China Union University, like most Protestants, they were sent directly to work in Peng County (now Pengzhou City), a city 30 miles north of Chengdu that was in dire need of medical assistance at the time. After 18 months in Pengxian and then transferred back to Chengdu, the couple taught physiology, pharmacology, biochemistry and medical English at the Department of Medicine and Dentistry at West China Union University, all taught in Chinese.
In 1921, Huang Sili, Yun Conglong, Qi Zhendao and other 66 young people sailed to China with their wives. The front row right 3 is Qi Jingqing, and the back row right 3 is Qi Zhen Dao; Front row, 2nd from left, is Constance Kilborn, the eldest daughter of Zaird, and 2nd from left in the back row is Lewis Walmsley, the eldest son-in-law of Zaird.
In July 1923, Robert Kilborn, the couple's first child, was born in Mount Emei, Sichuan; Between 1921 and 1927, local warlords in Sichuan Province fought for years. In 1925, shortly after the birth of their second child, Mary Eleanor, the Kai Zhen family was wounded by a gunshot on their way back from a vacation in Mount Emei. It was a dum-dum bullet that almost cost him his life several times. For 4 months, the condition was severe and the recovery was very slow. The gunshot wound left Kai Zhen Dao permanently disabled in his left shoulder, but he continued to teach at the university during the recovery from the wound, translated Hastelloy physiology into Chinese, compiled a "Physiology Experiment Manual", and established the best "metabolic research laboratory" in western China, making a significant contribution to the development of West China's physiology.
Handbook of Physiological Experiments by Kaizhen Dao
Qi Zhendao (second from right) instructs students in an anatomy class at the Physiology Laboratory of West China Union University
In 1927, during the Chinese Revolution, the Kai Zhen family returned to Canada for the first time on vacation, and their second daughter, Frances Margaret, was born on a ship from Chongqing to Shanghai. After returning to Canada after much difficulty, Kai Zhen Dao used his time off to continue his graduate studies at the University of Toronto and obtained a doctorate in physiology. His next goal is to study the different physiological characteristics of the indigenous peoples of West China from a physiological point of view. In the spring of 1928, before returning to Chengdu with their three children, he made a special trip to work at the Carnegie Nutrition Laboratory in Boston for a period of time and brought back a basic metabolic meter to prepare for further research at UW. Their youngest daughter, Jean Alfretta, was born in Chengdu in 1930.
In 1936, Qi Zhendao became the president of West China Medical College, and in 1939, he was promoted to the general director of the School of Medical Dentistry and concurrently served as the head of the Department of Physiology.
During this period, China was being ravaged by war. The Japanese invading army's invasion of China has devastated the lives of the great land of China. At a critical moment when the vast North China could no longer fit a desk, universities from other places were shifting to the three southwestern provinces. Yenching University, Central University School of Medicine, Qilu University, Jinling University, and Jinling Women's College of Arts and Sciences have moved to Huaxiba, and West China Union University has entered the famous "Five Universities" joint education period. As the dean of the medical school, Qi Zhendao, together with his wife Qi Jingqing and other teachers and students in West China, worked day and night to help and settle the faculty, staff and students of various universities who came to Sichuan. At this time, famous scholars gathered on the Huaxi Dam, humanities gathered, and the number of students doubled. As a result, the influence of West China Union University has also been greatly enhanced.
In addition to his heavy teaching tasks and administrative duties, Kai Zhen Dao also investigates and studies the epidemiological situation of the Miao, Yi and other ethnic minority areas in the western border region, and is the first scholar to conduct research on the epidemiology of "chronic fluorosis" in the southwest region. He was also a strong supporter of the West China Frontier Studies Association, serving as editor and editor-in-chief of its magazine from 1925 to 1934 and 1936 to 1942. From 1941 to 1942 he served as president of the association.
School of Medical Dentistry of West China Union University in the 40s of the 20th century
West China Medical Center in the 40s of the 20th century
In the career and life of Qi Zhen Dao, his wife Qi Jingqing is his most effective assistant and companion. Qi Jingqing was born on October 6, 1894 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1921 with a doctorate in medicine. Her father, William McClure, also a medical doctor, came to Henan, China, in 1888 to preach as a member of the Presbyterian Pioneer of Canada, and in 1917, he became a professor of medicine at Qilu University, where he also made outstanding contributions to Chinese medicine and education.
Qi Jingqing's life was full of challenges. In addition to taking care of her family, she also spends a considerable part of her time managing the eye clinic and teaching paediatrics and medical English to students in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. The busy and intense work has cost her health.
In 1925, when Kai Zhen Dao suffered a gunshot wound, Qi Jingqing's blood pressure began to rise. In the next 14 years of political turmoil and changes in the times, especially when the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out of the Sino-Japanese War, a large number of teachers and students who fled to schools in West China were received every day. Excessive busyness and fatigue caused her high blood pressure to continue to worsen. In the fall of 1943, the family returned to Canada for a vacation. They flew over the hump's 20,000-foot-high vacant oxygen zone from south to west. After a one-month delay in Calcutta, they were urgently advised to transfer to a US military transport ship departing from Mumbai. With his three daughters and two teenage daughters of Huaxi Catholics, the two had to travel from Kolkata to Mumbai in two parts. Qi Jingqing is in charge of one line, and Qi Zhendao is in charge of another. During their week in Mumbai, Qi Jingqing and Kai Zhen Dao carefully cared for several girls infected with dengue fever. They boarded transport ships and traversed the Indian Ocean several twists and turns to Sydney and from Australia to Francisco. It was only at the end of November that they transferred to a train and returned to Toronto.
The bumps and tosses along the way made Qi Jingqing's condition even worse. In 1944, she suffered from coronary artery obstruction. Considering Qi Jingqing's illness, they planned to let Qi Jingqing and her 3 daughters stay in Toronto, and Qi Zhendao returned to China to work alone. However, before the departure of Qizhen Road, Qi Jingqing died on May 10, 1945 due to severe coronary artery obstruction.
After dealing with his wife's affairs and solving the problem of continuing education for his children, in September 1945, Kaizhendao again braved the flames of war and embarked on a ship to India, flew over the Himalayas, and returned to Chengdu alone at the end of 1945.
The second wife of the Kaijin Dao---- Jean. Miller
(Jean E.Millar.Kilborn )
Gene Miller is a friend of Kai Zhen Dao and his family, and has worked with Qi Jingqing. Jean was born in 1906 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of a hardware merchant. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a M.D. and is a practicing anesthesiologist. In 1932, the United Church of Canada Women sent her to West China to replace the retiring Dr. Kai Xi-hyun.
When Jean arrived in Chengdu, the street fighting had just come to an end. She climbed through countless bunkers and struggled through streets to find the Women's and Children's Hospital. At this time, injured women and children were constantly admitted to the hospital, and Kai Hee-hyun was busy treating patients. As soon as Jean arrived in the operating room, he was assigned to anesthetize the patient on the operating table. Later, Jean also shared a large number of teaching tasks for Kai Hee-hyun, responsible for teaching pediatrics to medical students. From 1941 to 1943, the Canadian school was forced to move from Chengdu to Renshou due to the bombing of Chengdu by Japanese planes, during which time Jean served as the school's school doctor. All 4 children of Kai Shin Dao attend this school.
In 1947, Kai Zhen Dao and Jean returned to Chengdu after their wedding at St. John's Cathedral in Hong Kong and continued to work at West China Union University.
In 1949, Kaizhendao and Jean returned to Canada for a short vacation, and returned to Chengdu again at the end of the year.
In March 1952, Mr. and Mrs. Kai Zhen left Chengdu and were appointed as the head of the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, and officially took up their posts in September of the same year. From 1954 to 1957 he was Head of the Department of Physiology and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. By the time he retired from the University of Hong Kong in 1960, the Department of Physiology had grown into three departments: physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology.
In memory of his late wife, Kai Zhen Dao set up a Janet McClure Kilborn Prizes in the name of Kai Jingqing. Part of this award was donated to West China Union University in China to establish the "Kai Jingqing Medical Library", and part of it was transferred to the University of Hong Kong as a scholarship, and the Department of Biochemistry and the Department of Physiology awarded the first and second female students in the examination respectively based on their performance.
The photograph framed by the blue dot is the path of enlightenment
Photo in the showroom of the University of Hong Kong
While working in Hong Kong, Kai Chun Dao continues to compile a forthcoming pharmacology textbook for Chinese medical students. After writing the manuscript, he mailed the last few chapters back to Chengdu. Unfortunately, these manuscripts eventually fell into the sea, and we do not have the opportunity to encounter this book today.
After retiring from the University of Hong Kong, Kai Shin Road was appointed as the Associate Dean of Chung Chi College in Hong Kong, a church college that provides pre-liberal arts education. He presided over the development of academic standards for 3 independent colleges (New Asia College, Union College and Chung Chi College), and soon after he was appointed to the College's Board of Trustees, he was soon promoted to Chairman of the Board. He was also actively involved in the establishment of Hong Kong's second university, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which merged in 1963 to form today's Chinese University of Hong Kong.
To commemorate the contribution of the Cherd family, Chung Chi College named the Board of Trustees' office the "Cherd Room", which was decorated according to a scheme provided by friends and admirers of the Keld family. In addition, the foundation stone of Chung Chi College chapel reads, "In memory of all the Canadian missionaries who devoted their lives to God and our friends in China." ”
On February 15, 1963, Qi Zhen Dao gave a farewell speech entitled "Consciousness" at Chung Chi College. In his speech, he emphasized the importance of consciousness and the actions it produces in three aspects: material, social and spiritual. He admonished students to improve their sensitivity and awareness to observe and analyze their surroundings, and that all scientific results are based on accurate observations. The reason why Newton became "Newton" is that he had a cognition beyond ordinary people, that is, consciousness, observed and analyzed the reason why the apple landed, and thus discovered the law of universal gravitation.
Shortly after the speech, the couple left Hong Kong to return to Canada. In April 1965, his alma mater, the Victoria University of Toronto, awarded him a doctorate in religious literature (D.Lit.S).
The speech "Consciousness" was published in Hong Kong in 1963
After returning to Canada, Dr. Kai Zhen Dao immediately set out on another of his goals: to write a book on the history of West China Union University, but unfortunately, on June 23, 1967, he died of a sudden illness in Toronto at the age of 72. His unfinished business was finally completed by his brother-in-law Lewis Walmsley and officially published in 1974.
On December 15, 1967, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post carried a headline entitled "The Last Wish of a Former Hong Kong Resident", reporting the news of Kai Chen's death and his wish to scatter his ashes in the Pacific Ocean after his death, as well as his life. "The last wish of Leslie Kilborn, former dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, who died in Toronto in June, will be fulfilled when his ashes are sprinkled to the Pacific Ocean... In his last wish, he said that his lifelong wish was to build a bridge of mutual understanding between East and West. The ashes scattered to the Pacific Ocean in accordance with his will are the symbol of the bridge. The report also said that the ashes of Kai Zhen Dao will be scattered to the Pacific Ocean by Dr. Robert McClure, the younger brother of her ex-wife Kai Jingqing, on the C.E. Dant ship from India to Vancouver on "tomorrow" (should be December 16, 1967).
Qi Jingqing's younger brother, Robert Baird McClure
Robert Baird McClure, MD, a graduate of the University of Toronto and a member of the Royal Society of Surgeons of the University of Edinburgh, came to Henan, China in 1924 as a medical missionary, while training practitioners in the basic medical sciences of traditional Chinese medicine. During the Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, he became almost a legend as the first commander-in-chief of the Gongfang Ambulance Corps, which is famous throughout China. When Kai Zhen Dao died, he worked at the Canadian Church Hospital in India, and entrusted him with the task of spilling the ashes of Kai Zhen Dao into the Pacific Ocean.
Kai Zhen Dao left in 1952 Chinese mainland died in 1967, and due to his busy schedule and special historical reasons, he did not have the opportunity to return to China. Before he died, he told his family that when he died, he would scatter his ashes on the Pacific International Date Line, which is the dividing line between China in Asia and Canada in the West, so that he could follow the ocean current back to his beloved China.
Eldest daughter Constance Kilborn Walmsley
and son-in-law Lewis Walmsley
Born in Chengdu in 1898, Kelde's eldest daughter, Constance, did not study medicine but devoted her life to education. As a child, there were no suitable schools for her in Chengdu, and she had to receive non-formal education from her parents and other missionaries. In 1905, he was sent to the Canadian School in Chongqing with his brother Qizhen Dao, and returned to Canada with his mother in 1907 for formal education. In 1910, when Cherd and Kai Hee-hyun returned to China from their vacation, Constance and her sister were admitted to the Ontario School for Girls in Whitby, graduating magna laude in May 1914. A year later, she enrolled in the University of Victoria to study English, literature and modern history, and in 1919 received a bachelor's degree in English and history from Victoria College in Toronto. After obtaining her Teacher Certificate from the Faculty of Education at the University of Toronto, she taught at Alma College for a year.
Lewis.C. Walmsley was born in 1897 to a family of farmers on a farm near Picton, Lake Ontario, Canada. His father wanted him to work in agriculture like his two older brothers. But Huang has his own dreams and plans, he hopes to study and pursue academic research. In 1919 , he graduated from Victoria College of the University of Toronto with a double major in mathematics and physics.
At that time, the missionary movement to the East inspired Canadian youth, and Huang Sili also longed to go to the far East to realize his values and ambitions. His ideal is to go to Japan. However, while studying at the University of Toronto, he fell in love with Conetance.Kilbom, a gentle and beautiful female classmate who loves theater performance. Constance wanted Huang to go to China with her. After graduating from college, the two got married. In 1921, they boarded the steamer Empress of Russia from Vancouver and went to China together with Constance's brothers, Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Kilborn and Mrs. Earl Willmott. After arriving in China, he gave himself a Chinese name - Huang Sili. Constance also took her husband's surname and took the name Huang Sufang. Since then, he and his family have forged an indissoluble bond with China.
In 1923, after two years of Chinese study in Chengdu, Huang Sili was appointed principal of the Canadian School (CS). It is a full-time school to solve the problem of education for children of expatriates. This arrangement surprised Huang Sili a little. He never imagined that he would come to China with ambition to become a "child king". However, he accepted and quickly adapted to the role, working for 25 years. With his unswerving efforts, talent and charisma, Wong Si Li has become a well-loved and well-deserved educator among parents and children.
In addition to being the principal of West China Canadian School, Huang also teaches mathematics, chemistry, physics, natural science and physical education. In teaching, Huang Sili turned the classroom into a happy paradise for children, saying: "I know what children need from my own upbringing, I want to make the classroom full of happiness and laughter; The classroom is a temple where children acquire knowledge and should be a place where they play. ”
Huang Sufang teaches literature, history and drama at the school, and directs students in choreographing stage plays. "Gypsy Girl", as well as Shakespeare's plays, Gilbert and Sullivan's musicals, etc., were all put on the stage by her. She personally designs and produces theatrical costumes, directs plays, and enhances the cultural and social life of the entire community. She is a teacher who is a role model and a gentle and virtuous wife and mother. In addition to her extracurricular activities and teaching classes, she takes care of her four children and keeps her home in order. She is also a poet and has written many poems about her life in China, which were donated by her daughter to the West China Canadian School Gallery.
Drama performance is part of the literature curriculum, allowing Western literature to get out of the classroom and help students understand the history of the work, the author and the characters in the play by playing the role of the play. Huang Sufang is the main figure in the implementation of this educational method and the general director of all theatrical performances. The students' love for Huang Sufang continues to this day.
In 1938, Mr. and Mrs. Huang Sili and their 4 children were born in Chengdu
In the summer of 1957, Huang Sili was invited to visit China, where he traveled nearly 6,000 miles. During his stay in Chengdu, he traveled to all corners of the university campus where he had worked and lived, and visited the former West China Union University, which has become Sichuan Medical College. There, he made many new Chinese friends and observed changes at university. After returning to Canada, he carefully sorted out what he saw, heard and collected during the trip to China, took the unfulfilled wish of his wife's brother Qizhen Dao, and wrote the book "West China Union University". The book describes the process of land acquisition, fundraising, school construction, enrollment and development of West China Union University, and has become a rare and precious historical material for studying the history of West China Union University. The book was officially published in 1974, translated by He Qihao and Qin Heping, professors of Southwest University for Nationalities, in 1999 Chinese published in China.
Huang Sili was obsessed with Chinese culture, especially the Tang dynasty poet Wang Wei. In 1958, he cooperated with Zhang Yinglan to translate and publish "Wang Wei's Poetry Collection", and wrote and published the book "Pastoral Poet - Wang Wei"
West China Canadian School is adjacent to West China Union University and began to accept only the children of Catholics. Under Huang's leadership and Huang's assistance, the school began to enroll a wider range of students, including Chinese children. The couple has maintained the school's high academic standards,
Throughout their long career as principals, Mr. and Mrs. Wong have devoted themselves to the nurturing and education of their children. He pays attention to the combination of classroom and practice, introduces the broad and profound Chinese culture into teaching, organizes children to learn Chinese calligraphy and painting, appreciate poetry, collect Spring Festival coupons, visit historical sites, enter temples, make kites, taste Sichuan cuisine and so on. Adhering to the school-running philosophy of "making education truly the highest goal of shaping personality" in the early days of the school, he has formed a set of unique education models and concepts, and cultivated a group of students with distinctive and unique personalities, rich imagination and creativity, hard-working and selfless dedication, high humanistic quality and noble character.
Affected by the war, the school was closed in 1943. In 1945, Huang Sili and his family returned to Canada, and he entered the University of Toronto to study education, and two years later received a doctorate in education, and the topic of his graduation thesis was "On Traditional Education in China". In 1947, he was about to stay at the school and suddenly received an invitation from the church, asking him to return to Chengdu to continue as the principal of a Canadian school. Huang did not hesitate to accept the invitation to return to China.
In 1947, Huang Sili returned to Chengdu with his wife and children. In September of the same year, Canadian schools reopened
At the end of 1948, Huang Sili was invited to return to the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto in Canada as a professor, where he taught history and Chinese culture. He has been invited several times to serve as a consultant to the Royal Ontario Museum, where he has identified and organized a large collection of Chinese collections.
Huang Si Li introduces students to Chinese culture at the Royal Ontario Museum
After returning to Canada, Mr. and Mrs. Huang Sili and their children born in Chengdu. The experience of living, working and growing up in China will always be a common topic for their family
In 1983, at the age of 86, Huang Sili took his family to visit Chengdu again. The picture shows Huang Sili (middle) with his two sons (2nd left and 2nd right) and two daughters (3rd left, 5th left) born in Chengdu on the ladder of the Canadian School in West China
From 1923 to 1948, Mr. and Mrs. Wong dedicated the most dynamic 20 years of their lives to the Canadian School of West China. The school's talent and fruitfulness are the best reward for their hard work.
In 1989, Huang Sili died in Toronto, Canada at the age of 92. His wife died in 1961 after an accidental staphylococcal infection after surgery.
Second daughter Kei Ji-ming (Cora.Alfretta.Kilborn)
Qi Zhiming, the second daughter of Qild and the second sister of Qi Zhendao. Born in 1899 while his parents were returning to Canada from China for vacation, Kai Zhiming came to Chengdu with his parents and grew up there. In 1920, he graduated from Victoria College, University of Toronto, with a bachelor's degree with honors in modern languages (B· A), followed by the completion of the Teaching and Management course. After graduation, he further his studies in public health nursing at the University of Toronto and trained at the Toronto Hospital School of Nursing. In 1926, she returned to West China with the Women's Volunteer Corps of the United Church of Canada and taught medicine and nursing with her mother at the Chengdu Women's and Children's Hospital (Renji Women's Hospital) founded by her mother, Qi Xixian. After his mother retired to Canada in 1932, Kai Zhiming continued to work and teach in Chengdu. Later, he returned to Canada due to his mother's serious illness. After his mother died in 1942, Kai Zhiming returned to Chengdu to continue his nursing education. At this time, the Women's and Children's Hospital had been destroyed by the war, but the new development of medicine in West China was quietly underway and reached its climax after the war. West China Union University has unified management of all teaching hospitals and opened nursing professional courses. Kai Chi-ming was appointed Head of the School's new Department of Nursing. The department is located in a newly built hospital building on the university campus. In 1950, at the age of 51 and still single, Kai Zhiming returned to Canada after dedicating most of his life to nursing education in China. Upon her return, she worked in churches and church hospitals in Canada, marrying Mr. Benjamin Carnell in 1962. On February 27, 1985, Kai Zhiming died in Toronto.
Mary Eleanor Kilborn
Mary Eleanor, the eldest granddaughter of Qild, the eldest daughter of Qizhendao, was born in Chengdu in 1925. Her primary school and most of her secondary school years were completed at CS schools in Chengdu and Renshou. Due to the war, she returned to Canada with her family at the end of 1943, completed secondary education in Toronto and was admitted to McMaster University in Hamilton. She later transferred to the University of Toronto School of Medicine to study nursing, and after graduation completed a postgraduate course in nursing in Montreal as a registered nurse. In October 1949, Mary returned to Chengdu with her father and stepmother, Dr. Jean, to become the third generation of the Qild family's medical volunteers in China. Living in a Chinese environment since childhood, Mary speaks Sichuanese, and as soon as she arrived in Chengdu, she devoted herself to the nursing department of West China Union University Hospital. She aspires to continue the career of her family and her grandmother Kai Hee Xian and aunt Kai Zhiming, and dedicate her life to the medical and nursing industry in western China. In 1951, Mary, who had worked on the land where she grew up for less than two years, left Chengdu and returned to Canada to pursue her lifelong work as a nursing profession she loved.
From 1891, when Qild arrived in China, to 1952, when Qi Zhendao left Chengdu, the Qi family's dedication to education and medicine here came to an end in Chinese mainland 61 years.
The following photograph of Huaxiba, Chengdu, taken in 1932, bears witness to the love between the Qi family and Huaxi. With the exception of Qiuld (who died in 1920) and his youngest son (Roland Kenneth Kilborn (1901-1959), who was not in Chengdu at the time, there were 14 people in the same frame in three generations.
The Qild family in Huaxiba, Chengdu (1932)
Back row (left to right):
Dr. Qi Jingqing Janet McClure Kilborn, wife of the Path of Truth);
Dr. Kilborn; Leslie g . Kilborn, son of Kilborn);
Miss Cora Kilborn (daughter of Kid);
Dr. Kai Hee-hyun Retta Gifford Kilborn）;
Huang Sufang (daughter of Qiulde, Mrs. Huang Sili, Constance E. Kilborn);
黄思礼（Dr. Lewis C. Walmsley）。
Front row (left to right):
Frances M. Kilborn (granddaughter of Keld and second daughter of Kaijingdao);
Dr. Robert Robert R . M . Kilborn, grandson of Keld and son of Kaijindao);
Jean A. Kilborn (granddaughter of Keld and youngest daughter of Kaijindao);
Enid E. Walmsley (Keld's granddaughter and Huang's eldest daughter);
Marion Walker A. Walmsley (Keld's granddaughter, youngest daughter of Huang Sili, infant)
J. Omar Walmsley (grandson of Cypress and second son of Huang Sili);
Glenn K. Walmsley (grandson of Cypress and eldest son of Huang Sili);
Mary E. Kilborn (eldest daughter of the Path of Truth)
Kenneth Kilborn, the Kelds' youngest son, did not pursue medical or educational careers like his older siblings, but became an electrical engineer. Kenneth died in 1959.
4 children of Qierd, from left to right: Kenneth Kilborn, Qi Zhendao, Huang Sufang, Qi Zhiming (1943, Chengdu)
Cutting the incessant love of China
Many previous sources have shown that the contribution of the Qild family to Chinese medicine and education in three generations for 72 years (including 61 years in mainland China and 11 years in Hong Kong) came to an end with the retirement of Qi Zhen Dao in 1963. However, many information disclosed in recent years confirms that the Kai family's love affair with China is far from over. Today, the third and fourth generations of this family are continuing and inheriting their family's love affair with China in different ways.
In October 1936, when Leslie Kilborn, Lewis.C. Walmsley, and Earl Willmott, who worked at West China Union University, returned to Canada for vacation, they initiated a party in Toronto, called the "Huaxi Club", where missionaries returning to Canada from China would meet in a Chinese restaurant every fall. In the early '50s, these Canadians returned to their home country and insisted on annual gatherings. As they grew older, the gathering was passed down by their descendants as today's annual "CS Gathering" (CS stands for "Canadian School", and the descendants of missionaries who attended the school called themselves "CS Children"). This gathering, which has lasted for 86 years, has been passed down for 4 generations. Every autumn Saturday in mid-October, CS children and their descendants from all over Canada gather at a Chinese restaurant in Toronto, Canada. This is the "home of China" for their souls and an important platform for them to continue their love with China. Each year's gathering has a different theme, but there is only one big theme, and that is their family's love affair with China. This CS Gathering Committee, a voluntary form of CS children and their descendants, organizes annual gatherings and other events. The descendants of Keld became important members of this organization.
Robert Kilborn, Fellow of the Royal College of Canada
Robert was born on July 4, 1923 in Emeishan, Sichuan, and completed junior high school at the Canadian School (CS School) in Chengdu before returning to Canada in 1941 to continue his studies. When I graduated from high school, it was World War II. From 1943 to 1945, he trained as a "radio technician" for aircraft communications services at the Royal Canadian Air Force before being assigned to a pilot training station. After World War II, he attended the University of Toronto School of Medicine to study anesthesiology, pain and medical management, and received his M.D. as a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Medicine.
In 1990, when Robert returned to Chengdu to visit the then West China Medical University (now West China Medical Center of Sichuan University), he had the determination to inherit the career of his grandfather and father and make contributions to the cause of West China medicine, and to commemorate the medical missionaries who contributed their lives to West China Union Medical University. After retiring in 1992, he continued to be active in many ways. In 1998, in partnership with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, he formally established the Kilborn Memorial Visiting Professorship Endowment Fund, which was funded by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons from special endowments. The project aims to send medical experts to West China Medical Center to give lectures and supervise the medical or public health research of the medical school teachers affiliated to the medical center. In 1999, the fund sponsored the first Canadian visiting professor to give a lecture at West China Hospital. In 2013, the Caird Memorial Fund was transferred to Western University (formerly the University of Western Ontario) and renamed the Kilborn Family Visiting Scholar Fund. So far, the foundation has fully funded more than ten first-class Canadian medical scientists or clinical experts to give lectures or clinical exchanges in West China Hospital through the above two channels.
As a CS child born and raised in China, the experience of studying at the Canadian School in West China was an important period in Robert's life. After his retirement, Robert actively participated in the CS Gatherings Committee, chairing the Committee for many years, and in addition to organizing the annual gatherings and other events, he revived and edited the CS newsletter in 1998 every spring and fall.
As a carrier for CS children to express their feelings about life, these newsletters are filled with stories of their childhood, record their growth in China, and express their leisurely Chinese feelings.
Robert died in Toronto on February 6, 2018, at the age of 95.
Glenn Kilborn Walmsley
Left: Glenn Kilborn Walmsley Right: Glenn daughter Gaill Walmsley
Glenn Kilburn Wormsley, grandson of Cherd and eldest son of Huang Sili, was born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province in 1923 and studied at the Canadian School in West China as a child. After graduating from secondary school and returning to Canada, he was admitted to the University of Toronto. At the outbreak of World War II, Glenn joined the Canadian Air Force as a test pilot. After retiring, he joined the CS Meetup Committee, organized the annual CS Meetup with his cousin Robert and co-founded the CS Newsletter. Glenn died in 2010.
Glenn's daughter, Gaill Walmsley, joined the party committee after her father's death, and due to the coronavirus ravage, the annual gathering can only take place online. Starting from 2020, Gaill Walmsley and Marion Endicott, member of the gathering committee and granddaughter of Wen Youzhang, have made unremitting efforts to organize and connect CS children around the world to hold online gatherings for three consecutive years, continuing the 86-year-old gathering of heart-to-heart dialogue with China from Toronto to the world. In 2021, Perry Rogers, grandson of Beech, the first president of West China Union University, and Christopher Hoogendyk, the first director of the West China Union University Museum, archaeologist and grandson of David Crockett Graham, who made important contributions to the emergence of Sanxingdui civilization, also participated in the online gathering.
The 2022 gathering took place on October 22.
James Omar Walmsley
James Omar Wormsley, grandson of Qiuld and second son of Huang Sili, was born on November 12, 1925 in Chengdu, Sichuan, and studied CS School as a child, returning to Canada after graduating from high school in Chengdu in 1943. In 1944, James entered Victoria College of the University of Toronto to study fine arts. After graduating in 1948, he entered Emmanuel College at Cambridge, graduating in 1953. In 1950, as a student representative of the Christian Movement (SCM), James was invited to visit China with 42 young people from 32 countries, attended the first anniversary celebrations of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and was received by Mao Zedong and all the new Chinese leaders including Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, and Deng Xiaoping. He was deeply impressed by the procession and enthusiastic scene in front of Tiananmen Square on October 1.
James was a keen believer in the peace movement and music, and spent most of his life in music education. In 1982, at the invitation of the Department of Foreign Languages of Sichuan University, James was a visiting scholar to Sichuan University to give a lecture for one year, teaching English writing courses. During the winter break in February 1983, James was invited to the Chongqing Academy of Fine Arts to teach the similarities and differences between Eastern and Western art. James died on August 7, 2012.
In February 1983, Mr. and Mrs. James (middle) took a group photo with teachers at the Chongqing Academy of Fine Arts
David Omar Walmsley
David Omar, great-grandson of Childe, grandson of Huang Sili, son of James, was born in April 1957 in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada, and has his own company engaged in the screen printing industry. In 2011, he joined the CS Gathering Committee and was responsible for the audiovisual effects management of the annual "CS Gathering". In 2010, David attended the opening ceremony of "Traces of Time - Chengdu Old Film Festival from Canada" held in Xinchang Town, Dayi County, Chengdu; In 2016, he was invited to attend the opening ceremony of the "West China Canadian School Exhibition Hall". He currently lives in Pickering, Ontario, Canada.
On May 1, 2010, David donated the camera used by his grandfather Huang Sili to the Xinchang Museum, and many of the old photographs on display were taken by this camera
Enid Elizabeth Walmsley Sills
Enid was born in 1930 in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, the granddaughter of Qierde, the eldest daughter of Huang Sili, who spent her childhood in Chengdu and was a student at CS School.
Enid received her bachelor's degree in physical education and health education from the University of Toronto in 1952 and worked as a school teacher and then as an administrative assistant to the Presbyterian church. In 2008, he joined the CS Gathering Committee as a member convener. Enid visited China in 2010 to attend the opening ceremony of "Traces of Time – Old Film Festival from Chengdu, Canada" in Xinchang Town, Dayi County, Chengdu. Enid died in Toronto on May 25, 2020.
Marion Alfretta Walmsley Walker
Born in April 1932 in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, Mary Huang, the granddaughter of Qierd and the youngest daughter of Huang Sili, became a registered nurse in 1954, received a bachelor's degree in nursing in 1969, and was the director of Nursing at Baycrest Centre for 13 years. Mary Wong joined the CS Meetup Committee in 2007 as Program Director and now lives in Toronto. In 2008, Mary Huang was invited to participate in the opening ceremony of "Chinese Feelings on the Other Side of the Ocean - Century Exhibition of Rare Photos from Canadian Collections" held at the Lu Xun Museum in Beijing; In 2012, he was invited to participate in the opening ceremony of the old photo exhibition held in Kuanzhai Alley in Chengdu and the book distribution ceremony of "Chengdu, My Home"; In 2013, he was invited to participate in the opening ceremony of the "Centennial Historical Image Museum" in Xinchang Town, Dayi County; In 2016, he was invited to participate in the opening ceremony of the "West China Canadian School Exhibition Hall".
Mary Huang has been working for China-Canada friendship for many years. 2022 is the 130th anniversary of the establishment of West China Hospital, and the 90-year-old Mary Huang is currently taking her daughter to find a partner in Canada to cooperate with the celebration activities of West China Hospital, preparing to hold a branch event in Canada during the hospital celebration to celebrate the birthday of the great cause that has benefited the people so far.
Deborah Jean Kirton
Kelde's great-granddaughter, Huang Sili's granddaughter, and Huang Mary's eldest daughter. Born in Toronto, Canada in 1956, he graduated from the University of Toronto
In 2006, as the second generation of CS children, Deborah joined the CS Gathering Committee during her uncle Glenn Walmsley's illness, replacing her uncle and coordinating the membership and correspondence of the Gathering Committee. From 2017 to 2021, he served as the chairman of the CS Gathering Committee. In 2008, Deborah was invited to visit China to participate in the opening ceremony of "Chinese Feelings on the Other Side of the Ocean - Photographs from Canadian Collections" held at the Lu Xun Museum in Beijing. In 2016, he was invited to participate in the opening ceremony of the "West China Canadian School Exhibition Hall".
Today, the descendants of Qild are perfecting and strengthening the "bridge of mutual understanding between East and West" in the dream of the Path of Kaizen, and they are walking on this bridge today.
Today, on the site of the first Western medicine clinic in western China, stands a modern hospital, the Second People's Hospital of Chengdu. A group of sculptures and bronze statues at the entrance of the hospital vividly present the important historical moments of Western medicine entering the Sichuan, in which the images of Qild and Qi Xixian treating and saving people are vivid, and continue to tell the world a legend of a hundred years ago. As long as the descendants of Qild have the opportunity to come to Chengdu, they must go here to pay respects to their ancestors and leave a group photo across time and space.
On July 19, 2013, Ruth Walmsley, the great-granddaughter of Qiulde, made a special trip to Chengdu to take a photo with her great-grandparents in front of the sculpture in front of the entrance of the Second Hospital of Chengdu
In November 2016, Zaird's granddaughter Marion Walmsley Walker and her eldest daughter, Deborah Jean Kirton, as well as Caird's great-grandson David Omar Walmsley and his son Graham Walmsley pose for photos in front of a group sculpture at the Second Hospital
This is a unique photograph edited by the descendants of Keld. The five generations in the photograph span more than 100 years, with Kai Hee-hyun's sculpture in the Second Hospital as the background, and her descendants surround her. From left to right: Marion Walmsley Walker, Mary Wong's mother, and Keld's daughter Conetance. Kilborn. Ellen), Mary's eldest daughter (Deborah Jean Kirton), and Deborah Jean Kirton's daughter Stephanie
Written in the last words
As a native of Chengdu, I know that there is a well-known Huaxi Hospital in Huaxiba, but I know very little about its history. In October 2007, I went to Toronto, Canada for the first time to attend a CS party, and I only hoped to bring back some old photos about Sichuan, but I did not expect to bring back a thick history, let alone get involved with this history, and I still can't let go. I remember that one of the themes of the gathering that year was when Caird's granddaughter, Marion Walmsley Walker, told her family's history. I was deeply moved by her talk titled "Two Missionary Families: Gilborne and Wormsley in Western China," and I was moved by her family's story, especially when she said to me sadly. She said: "Bethune worked in China for 18 months, a household name in China, our family has dedicated 72 years to China for three generations, but it seems to have been forgotten by Chinese, it can only remain in our hearts forever, I don't care what Canadians think of my family, but I care what Chinese think of my family. I told her: Don't worry, next year we will hold an exhibition in China, so that more Chinese will know the story of your family and other Canadian missionaries, and you will be invited to China for the opening ceremony. At the end of March 2008, the "Chinese Feelings on the Other Side of the Ocean: A Century Exhibition of Rare Photos from Canada" sponsored by the Old Photos Project Group opened at the Lu Xun Museum in Beijing, and 8 CS children and their descendants were invited to attend the opening ceremony and return to Huaxiba, Chengdu, their dream "home", including Mary Huang and her eldest daughter. Since then, Mary Huang and her relatives have actively participated in friendly exchanges between China and Canada, and she and I have also become friends for the rest of the year.
October 2007 at Mary's house in Canada
In early April 2008, he was with Mary Huang in Huaxiba
At the end of March 2008 with Mary Huang and her eldest daughter in Beijing
In the course of interacting with the descendants of Kelder, I learned a regrettable thing: there is a "Medical Hall of Fame" in Canada, which enshrines medical scientists who have made important contributions to the field of medicine, but Chelde was unable to enter, because Kelder's contributions are in China and not Canada, and despite repeated applications and active efforts by his descendants, they have not been able to achieve their wishes. It's hard for me to let go of this, does medicine still have borders? However, I think that although the great medical scientists and Mrs. Qiuld have not been admitted to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, their contribution to Chinese medicine should be an eternal monument in our Chinese hearts!
In recent years, Sino-Canadian relations have entered a low point, and Mary Huang is very worried about this, because in her heart, China and Canada are her home, and she does not want her family to be hostile to each other. Although she is 90 years old, she has been working hard for China-Canada friendship.
In her letter to me in 201, she said she would work harder to increase friendship and understanding between China and Canada
From the time the Qild couple arrived in China at the end of the 19th century, traveled through the 20th century, and now into the 21st century, this family's uninterrupted love that spanned three centuries has been passed down to the fifth generation, and I believe that this baton will be passed down from generation to generation forever...
Xiang Suzhen
Written on October 10, 2022
Key references:
1.The Kilborn Family (by Bertha Hensman, provided by Descendants of Keld
2. "Two Missionary Families: Gilborne and Wormsley in Western China" (speech by Keld's granddaughter Marion Walmsley Walker at the 2007 CS gathering)
3. Biography of Mr. and Mrs. Cherd (written by Ken Walker, Wong Si Li's son-in-law)
4. "Healing and Saving People", by Qierde, translated by Qi Yanan Qi Le, Tiandi Publishing House.
5. "Huaxi in the Purple Clouds", by Morse, translated by Luo Xi and Deng Xianzhao, Tiandi Publishing House
6. "Bamboo Stone" by Karen Minden, translated by Lan Tingjian, Zhou Hua and Tang Yuhong, Chinese Culture Publishing House
7. "Chengdu, My Home", edited by the Canadian Old Photo Project Team, Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House
8. "There is a Canadian School in West China", edited by the Canadian Old Photo Project Group, Tiandi Publishing House
9.《THE WEST CHINA MISSIONARY NEWS》（1920年）
10. Relevant materials and pictures provided by the descendants of Cyprus
About the author
Xiang Suzhen, a retired cadre of the Sichuan Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, graduated from the Chinese Department of Sichuan University. By chance, I met the descendants of Canadian missionaries who came to Huaxing to study medicine more than 100 years ago, and have been associated with this history ever since. Touched by the selfless dedication of these missionaries to western China, they formed an old photo project team with a group of like-minded volunteers. Over the past ten years, with the support of relevant departments and entrepreneurs, the project team has held 7 old photo exhibitions and 1 "China-Canada Friendship Century Love Calligraphy Pen Meeting" in Beijing and Chengdu. Since October 2016, old photos of "Canadians in China" have been touring Toronto and other places. In cooperation with Dayi County and West China School of Public Health, the "Century-old Historical Image Museum" and the "West China Canadian School Exhibition Hall" were established respectively. He has edited and published a large atlas of "Chengdu, My Home", and two more books will be published soon. Assisted four TV stations in the large-scale historical documentary "One Hundred Years of Encounter". In recognition of the project team's contribution to China-Canada friendship, in 2013, the Governor General of Canada awarded the project team the Governor General's Medal.
Source: Sichuan Provincial Office of Local History
Author: Xiang Suzhen