Evening star., 1909-08-29
CARPENTER DESCRIBES THE GREAT AWAKENING OF CHINA
MIGHTY NOW GOING ON IN TENTSNl

we were crowded TO the wall by the
carts and jinrikishas as We made our
way in. Entering "A low door, we came
into a compound filled with many one
story buildings of Chinese architecture.
The roofs were the shape of a bow. and
they overhung brick walls. in which
were lattice-work windows, backed with
white paper. They seemed old, and, upon
inquiry, | found that they had been
used for more than one hundred and six
ty years as Chinese orphan asylum.
The asylum was founded by an en-
peror who reigned more than thirty years
before our Declaration of Independence
was signed. and the institution has been
kept up with money furnished by the
Chinese government from then until now.
DIR. Kin tells me that there are still
one hundred and eighty girls in ii, and
that it admits about one hundred orphans
per year.
During our stay DR.. Kin took us over
the institution, saying that the orphan
asylum had been moved to buildings on
the opposite side of the river, and that
these buildings were to he devoted from
now on to her school. There are enough
of them to accommodate hundreds OF
pupils, although, so far, only twenty-five
have been admitted. Said DR.. Yamei
Kin:
Women doctors are greatly needed IN
China. Our customs are such that IL is
not proper to call In men TO attend
women. and in most of our cities there
are neither female doctors nor trained
nurses The few Chinese women who
have received medical education abroad
have all and more than they can do.
Those trained in the mission schools are
largely employed in the mission hospitals,
and it is almost impossible for us to
get Chinese women teachers for this in
stitution. AS it is now, we do not claim
to be a college. We are, rather, a med
ical academy, and we give such an ed
ucation as is common in England and
A f0~ IfSfrt tat
institution is supported by the govern
ment and the tuition is entirely free.
Our students will enter the government
service as soon as they graduate, and
they will work for the government for
a fixed number of years. For this they
will receive salaries. and afterward, if
they wish TO practice as physicians. they
will always have moro than they cah do."
10
/ asked DR.. Kin from what classes of
society her students came. She replied:
From every grade OF Chinese society.
We have the daughters Of merchants,
and also Of some high officials. One OF
our students is slave girl. We have
many widows, and I look for medicine
to become a favorite profession with
such women In the future. The condition
of the Chinese widow is not as bad as
that of the widow of India, but it is often
unhappy. she must live with her par
ents-in-law, and II they are not kind
she may be a drudge or slave. Some
of our widows are very young, and some
have families at home. With a medical
education they can earn their own liv-
ing"
AS we visited the classrooms I saw q
Chinese professor teaching the anatomy
of the brain, with a human skull on his
table, and was shown a white skeleton
in a case at the back Of the rocun- I
happened to glance at the feet OF fhs
students, and remarked that they were
unbound. The doctor replied:
None of our girls is allowed to COM
press her feet. They take their ban
dages off when they are admitted. and
are rejoiced at their freedom. Many OF
the more advanced of them have never
bound up their feet, and / believe that
this will be the case with all Chinese
girls in the not far distant future
FRANK G. CARPENTER.