Wf)c l^ealing ^rt in Cijina Bi/ BISHOP J. W. BASHFORD BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHINA CENTENNIAL COMMISSION 150 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK Printed in February, 1907 THE HEALING ART IN CHINA I^Iedical work in China is a providential method of opening new regions and fields for the gospel. The medical missionary follows the example of the Master, who went everywhere teach- ing and healing the sick. The work combines the best features THE LAME. THE HALT. AND THE BLIND AT MARTYRS’ MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. CHANGLI. NORTH CHINA of practical Christianity and Christian humanitarianism, for it relieves suffering in a land where the suffering of the people con- tinually fills one with compassion. IMedical work has proved the most effective means of disarming prejudice, conquering hostility, 4 THE HEALING ART IN CHINA money. A certain city of forty thousand inhabitants in the Anhwei Province was exceedingly hostile THREE PATIENTS AT THE CHUNGKING HOSPITAL and opening doors. Chi- nese Christians have been able to point hostile per- sons to man after man. woman after woman, .child after child, whose life has been saved by our mission- ary physicians when the Chinese had abandoned the patient to death ; and no Confucianist or Bud- dhist in China will speak against such humanitarian service. In the city of Taian, Shantung Province, the presiding elder went to one of the leading officials and said : “I have failed to get HOSPITAL CHAPLAIN AT NANKING certain money from the United States. As the patients in our hospitals are your own people, perhaps you will help us.’’ The official took the subscription paper, and answered : “I am not a Christian, but leave your paper here and I'll raise the money for vou. e all believe in vour medical work.” And he raised the THE HEALING ART IN CHINA 5 to Christianity, and no missionary had been able to enter it. A woman from this place went to our hospital in Wuhu, and was cured of a terrible malady. She went back, proclaiming what had been done for her body and for her soul, and now there is a flourishing work in that city. Thus the medical missionary is the ‘■John Baptist” of this enterprise. UNBINDING A BOUND FOOT AT HINGHUA i\Iedical work not only prepares the way for the gospel ; it is directly evangelistic. In connection with every dispensary there is a chapel, where the patients, while waiting to be treated, are told why the missionary has come to China, and thus they learn of Jesus Christ, of his love for men, and of the salvation which he brings. Ten to twenty thousand persons are treated annually at the dispensaries of each of our hospitals, and these are reached with the gospel. Religious meetings are held for the in-patients 6 THE HEALING ART IN CHINA THE HOPKINS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. PEKING THE HOSPITAL AT CHENTU. WEST CHINA r. THE HEALING ART IN CHINA 1 THE HOSPITAL AT YENPING. SOUTHERN CHINA WARD SCENE. PHILANDER SMITH HOSPITAL AT NANKING 8 THE HEALING ART IN CHINA and the aim of the hospital physicians in visiting, and in country work, is to dispel the terrible malady from w h i c h the soul suffers through sin, as well as to heal the body. At the ^lethodist Hospi- tal at Kucheng, Fukien Province, a blind man one day appeared, one of the leading and well-known gamblers of the city. He had lost his eyesight through his gambling hab- its and late hours. He was successfully treated and his eyesight was restored. He then was led to repent of his sins, and ever since has been a devoted Christian. He has gone from place to IN THE OPERATING ROOM place telling the story of his past life and of his present salvation ; and although he has been a Christian only six or seven years, thousands have already heard the gospel from his lips, and many have been saved through his consecrated efforts. Thus does the hospital work continually win souls for the Master. But our twenty hospitals do even more than relieve 150,000 to 200,000 sick people each year, and open the way for the gospel to lead hundreds to Christ. They are introducing Western medical science among over 400,000,000 people. While the pre- vailing medical practice in China, after age-long experiment, has stumbled upon a few simple remedies, nevertheless it rests upon the grossest spiritualism. Diseases are attributed to evil spirits which have entered into and are tormenting the body; and the THE HEALING ART IN CHINA 9 NURSES AT SINGIU. SOUTHERN CHINA Chinese practitioner attempts to drive out these diseases by mak- ing a horrible din in the sick room, by giving nauseating drugs, by sticking needles into the body of the patient, and by cutting or burning it. Such superstitions disappear before the Christian DR. GEORGE A. STUART AND MEDICAL GRADUATES AT NANKING 10 THE HEALING ART IN CHINA physician, as darkness disappears before the sun. Christian hospitals are the pioneers of Western humanitarian science, and they are rapidly transforming medical practice among 400,000,- 000 human beings. The medical work is established at our chief stations. Gen- erally a hospital is built which accommodates in-patients, and at which there is a daily dispensary. Occasional visits are made to city patients by the physicians, and, where possible, medical evangelistic trips are made into tbe country, where the sick are treated in their own villages. Medical missionary work affords a unique opportunity at the present time for reaching all classes of society ; it also links Christianity with the best that Western science has to offer and thus gives it prestige among the Chinese. So thoroughly are the higher class Chinese coming to recognize the value of medical work that at some cities, such as Antau and Xanchang, they are offering to build hospitals for our church if we will supply the physicians. Here is a splendid opportunity to do the Master’s work in China today. The present lack of Chinese hospitals equip- ped for modern medical practice makes our op- portunity one that can be grasped by a smaller outlay of money than will be possible a few years hence. Because of the advance which med- ical science has made in Japan it is now impossi- ble to establish a hospi- tal there that will com- mand respect unless twenty or twenty-five thousand dollars be ex- pended at the begin- HOSPITAL STAFF AT YENPING ning. In China no%v THE HEALING ART IN CHINA one can be planted for five thousand dollars. What a vast oppor- tunity ! For such a moderate sum pagan practice can be over- thrown among millions of people and the gates of the kingdom of God pushed open for the entrance of the Great Physician. The cost of maintaining a bed in a hospital in China varies according to the location of the hospital and also with respect to the differing conditions of patients. Sick Chinese who do not require special diet, prefer to provide their food while in the hospital, but when a special diet is necessary, the cost of main- taining the patient is greatly increased, because many articles, such as proper milk and other foodstuffs, which the physician must prescribe, can be obtained only by importing them. Beds can be supported in the hospitals at Yenping, Kucheng, Nanking, Wuhu, Peking, Changli, Chungking, and Chentu, at from $25 to $150 each a year. Write to Dr. F. D. Gamewell, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York city, for any special information desired concerning medical mis- sion work in China.