The Middle Kingdom's Western Medical Disciples By Stanley Crawford

The Middle Kingdom's Western Medical
Disciples

Volume I: The life of Dr. Virgil Hart / with stories about Dr. Edgerton Hart &
Caroline Maddock Hart
Volume II: The life of Dr. Mary Stone, Jenny Hughes, Dr. Ida Kahn & Mariam
Wong
Volume III: The History Of Kuling & Historic Lushan

Chinese version
Preface
I want to thank all those who have been a big part of helping me in creating this book with special mentions
going to my Aunt Cathy Green, Aunt Carol and Uncle Ken Eikelmann and my older brother Steve & his
wife Terri Crawford, who tolerated my rants to help contribute/edit the Hart work. To the KAS members
(Kuling American School), Peter Burt and his wife Adrienne for their editing efforts on the Dr. Mary Stone
and Dr. Ida Kahn portions too. To the Jiujiang To-Win Translation Co., who are responsible for the
Chinese version page and the Jiujiang Public Library for all its work in page layout and publication help.
With a special thanks going to the verbal translation services of Samuel Shui, Nick He Guang, Huang Xiao
Kui, and others that without their assistance, much of my information gathered would have been more of a
challenge than it was. The years of stories I was told by my grandmother, my great aunts Helen and Rose
and what snippets of memories I have of my great grandmother whom we visited every Sunday afternoon
until her death.

I also want to thank the authors of the books which provided much of the information I
used in writing my own. Thanks also go to my Hart relatives who kept such rich and
detailed writings of the things they observed while providing medical care and
educational training to the Chinese people.

This future book and present site is to provide the reader with a pictorial glimpse into the
past through the eye of an American family that committed itself through three
generations of building and providing western medical care and education to the Chinese
people from 1866-1924, with my own photos of the same places today. The book tells of
the lives of two remarkable Chinese women: Dr. Mary Stone and Dr. Ida Kahn, the first
western educated female Chinese doctors to hail from what is the city now known as
Jiujiang, one of many pearls along the ever flowing and sometimes over-flowing Yangtze
River. Included are now three more additional generations of people, one my
grandmother and her sisters and brothers, who lived a part of their early lives in Wuhu,
traveling to Kiukiang and Kuling for holidays spent with many other mission families
gathered for festive occasions. I was introduced to Mariam Wong by a newspaper
reporter who did the article on the Hwa Feng Chiao Bridge at the end of the page. The

brief things she described after I gave her pictures of Wuhu and Dr. Stone, pictures that
she had lost in a house fire, brought many tears of joy once again to recall stories of her
life to and share with her family, I expect to add in the future.

These never ending stories as a child would weave my imagination into mystic lands of
exotic people and wonderful things to behold. Now living in China as a teacher of
English at Jiujiang University has allowed me to seek out these places my family once
trod, and to meet people who know about my former relatives. Their memories and
interpretations have provided me the information to re-tell the stories to a new generation
of family and Chinese people who are interested to know who personally represented the
Methodist's Missions and others which had so much impetus to facilitate what are the
medical and teaching colleges of some of the cities within China today.

Half of the revenues generated from sales of this book are going to the Caroline Maddock
Hart, Dr. Mary Stone and Dr. Ida Kahn Nurses Scholarship Funds at Jiujiang University.
If revenue warrants additional scholarships will be created in the name of Dr.Virgil Hart
and Dr. Edgerton Hart at both Jiujiang and Wuhu medical colleges. There is a U.S.
donation account that will manage and forward these monies to the students awarded.
Scholarship selections will be based on their submitting a life story of their future
intentions and of their need, based on their family's annual income. A similar account
will be available to accept Chinese donations and be awarded to the chosen recipients
too. If interested, your donation is greatly appreciated and will serve a needed student's
desire to continue the cause begun many years ago. It currently costs just under 10,000
RMB or $1,250 for tuition, books and dorm expenses per year: a good bargain compared
to many western institutions. Jiujiang University also accepts applicants from western
students and currently hosts medical students from: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India,
Malawi, Niger and Pakistan, with foreign teachers from: Australia, Bangladesh, Canada,
England, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Nepal and the U.S.A..

Website: Jiujiang University E-mail:fao@jju.edu.cn

Another 10% of revenue will go to the Jiujiang Public Library for children's programs
(local & rural) and books needed to fill their shelves. Dr. Virgil Hart saw the need to
begin the education of children at an early age to provide future students to attend the
medical schools and teachers colleges that were created out of the mission stations. The
goal was to help China with her desire to develop and become a brother of nations all the
world should be striving towards. Your contributions and sharing of this book will
broaden the development of these opportunities for children who desperately want to
improve the quality of their lives.

I want to acknowledge that I borrowed heavily, re-writing from Virgil Hart Missionary
Statesman, Notable Women of Modern China, The History of Kuling and Historical
Lushan. Many mission news references and stories told by my grandmother and great
aunts are all combined together with my own personal observations and experiences.
This is not an accurate historical record, merely a work of entertainment with added
actual historical events and circumstances observed by myself. Photos displayed are a
combination of the Hart Family collection, digitized copies from old mission news notes
and family books that are available also on-line with links below, and my own. These
photos are not to be used for personal monetary gain by unauthorized individuals.

Virgil Hart Missionary Statesman by E. I. Hart Our Western
Mission by Dr. Virgil Hart

Notable Women of Modern China by Margret Burton Western China
by Dr. Virgil Hart

Historic Lushan by Albert Hendrix Stone The Temple and
the Sage by Dr. Virgil Hart

The History of Kuling by Edward Little The Chinese
Government: A Manual For Chinese Titles

by William Fredrick
Mayers

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Table Of Contents

Volume I

Dr Virgil Hart: Man On a Mission

I & II "The Call" "Fellow Farers True" XVII "The Re-Established
Mission"

III & IV "Outward bound" "The first field" XVIII "One Step From
Heaven"

V & VI "Central China" " On Furlough" XXIV "Appeal unto
Caesar"

VII "By River & Lake" XX "The First Contingent"

VIII "A Movement Forward" XXI "Beginnings"

IX "Ichi san / Pheasant Hill" XXII "The Work
Expanding"

X "The Porcelain city" XXIII "Bolt From the Blue"

XI "Change but No Rest" XXIV "The Work Resumed"

XIII "Turned Back" XXV "Visit To An
Outstation"

XIV "For Canada" XXVI "Two Eventful Years"

XV "The Chinese Tartarus" XXVII "Worn Out"

XVI "The Seductive Viper"

Dr. Edgerton Hart: In His Fathers Footsteps

Caroline Maddock Hart:

Note: The Chinese words for cities or titles are from Dr. Virgil Hart's writings and used
throughout the book. The names used today can be ascertained by replacing the K's with
a J, Example Kiukiang / Jiujiang. The exception is with the name Kuling, Edward Little
chopped the English word cool, created a modified Chinese twist to it Kul and added ing
to finish it off.

_______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________

_

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________

Dr. Virgil Hart: Man On A Mission by Stanley Crawford

Seated: Dr Virgil Hart, daughter: Estella Hart (Hare), 2nd son: Edgerton Haskell,

wife: Adeline Gilliland Hart; Standing: 4th son: Virgil Ross, 1st son: Evanston

Ives, 3rd son: Maynard Manson

I "The Call" II "Fellow-Farers True"

My great-great-grandfather Dr. Virgil C. Hart felt a calling to serve his fellow human as a
young man in upstate New York, U.S.A., in 1854. After graduation from Garrett Biblical
Institute in 1865, he accepted an appointment from the Methodist Episcopal Church to
serve as a missionary in Foochow, China. He proposed to his sweetheart of only a few
months named Adeline Gilliland, who had been told by a fortune teller that she would
travel to far away places and have five children, four of them boys, a prophecy later
fulfilled. Virgil told her to only consider his proposal if she was willing to spend her life
in China.

III "Outward Bound" IV "The First Field"

After spending a harrowing six month trip aboard a schooner, Mr. and Mrs. Hart spent a
year in Fuzhou, Fujin learning the Chinese language. Then they were told their first
place of residence would be Kiukiang, Kiangsi, which had become a treaty port in 1860.
Upon arrival, there were only 30 Americans and English nationals mainly involved in the
customs and Consular office affairs who were occupying a concession of land by the
river facing the western walls of the city. Kiukiang was where the Methodist Missions of
Central China built the first western hospital in the province that is today the #1 People's
Hospital.

V "Central China" VI "On Furlough"

There was a Scottish preacher who spent more time consoling a liquor bottle on Saturday
night, than amongst his lowei flock and the Chinese people that came to St Paul’s Church
on Sunday. Virgil Hart was asked to relieve this tormented soul and thus he began to
eagerly discharge the sermons there for the next 20 years.

The anti-foreigner sentiment was strong but there were three Chinese families that aided
Virgil Hart greatly. A day school was quickly organized and begun with 3 students that
swelled to 14 after a few days of the word getting out about its existence. This was
contested by evil men who gossiped that the foreigner would whip the children and cut
their eyes out, to be used as telescope lenses, so that to continue a native teacher was
hired to educate the children.

Soon after arriving in Kiukiang, Mr. Hart was sought by a Chinese man who had heard
about his being there and requested he make a journey inland to meet other men anxious
to see him. After a day's travel south, they came upon a temple where many had gathered
to hear the “Mu Si” or great foreign teacher. Virgil Hart made five journeys similar to
this his first year in Kiukiang. These journeys into the countryside were by no means
easily undertaken for the Chinese road system was unlike today. Boats were the easiest
when water was available or where the road on land was broad and fairly level, a sedan

chair was the main mode of transportation offered. As the pathway narrowed a wheel
barrow became an alternative means, and when the gradient became steep, a horse was
the most efficient mode of moving forward, if available.

Enclosed Sedan Chair (NWMC) Photo Chinese
Wheelbarrow (NG) photo

Accompanying him were one or two coolies to carry the food, bedding and supply of
books on forays. Sleep would be found in a temple or accommodating home for the
“Foreign Devil”. Passing though hamlets was not an easy task as agitators who held a

grudge against a lowei (foreigner), could entice stone throwing or physical harassing of
the coolies, to bring on injury. One such instance occurred when they were ambushed
while trying to cross a long bridge. After getting away from the mob they required a
convalescence stay in a temple for several days before Virgil Hart could return from the
journey.

Not being easily intimidated Virgil Hart would return to the very spot upon where the
altercation had taken place just to prove he could not be driven from the field, and
through humor and reason gained the respect of the Chinese natives.

The first western medical dispensary in Kiukiang

VII "By River & Lake"

In order to fulfill his duties of building missions along the Yangtze River, it was
necessary for Virgil Hart to travel by boat, but using local transportation was both tedious
and unsafe. So when the opportunity unveiled itself in the mid 1870’s, he took it. He had
heard of an unfortunate sportsman who had lost a sailing ship in a card game to a friend
of his who had no interest in the craft. The man knew Virgil Hart was looking for such a
boat. Formerly named “The Mad Cap”, Virgil had it rechristened the Stella, after the
name of his youngest child and only daughter. It was 13 m long and had a beam of 3m
and could accommodate six passengers easily. Many a long and interesting trip was
made on it along the Yangtze River, around Boyang Lake and its tributaries.

In 1877, it was decided the whole family would attend the mission conference held in
Shanghai by sailing the Stella the 700 klms there. Sailing down the rushing Yangtze
River and back again would require many weeks and all were excited to take the risk.
After everything was tucked away, the boat cast off from Kiukiang port and for two days
the sailing was smooth, but the morning of the third day brought ominous signs of
headwinds and dark clouds.

Seeking shelter in a small creek to wait out the time for more welcome quarter one can be
deceived at anchor as to how strong the wind is actually blowing. It was no sooner they
were on their way when they wished they were back again. They were in the center of
the river and tacking towards the north bank, when horror struck by the mast snapping at
its base, crashing towards the stern, bringing the saturated sail down into the river with
the rain coming down in torrents. The boat was turned onto its side, spilling all the
contents and people into the water. What was to be done with no other boats on the river,
in a fast treacherous current with winds approaching a gale force? The crew, stricken
with fear, lay prone-like on the deck moaning and clinging to what they could. The
children were in the cabin with wife Adeline by the tiller, while Virgil Hart leaped upon
the cabin roof and ordered the sail be cut from the mast and make it secure. This action
helped to right the boat, but as the storm increased directing the boat by rudder was futile,
being driven by the mercy of the wind and waves. Imagine to their delight when spying
down river the trimmed cut sails of a foreign schooner! It appeared at first to not see the
distressed sailboat flying the stars and stripes, but after passing came about and lowered
her sails. After a tow rope was secured they were pulled to a creek and let off to ascertain
the damage to put the little sailing ship back into condition once again. Luckily a cargo
of camphor logs was found nearby with a carpenter hired for two days to resume their
stalled journey down the river.

Many great cities were passed, all important stopping places for supplies and shelter,
making late the arrival of the Hart family to the conference. A house was rented and
coolies hired to bring water by shoulder pole from the “Bubbling Spring” well a mile
away to be poured into large jars or tanks in the back of the house. These coolies were
not honest men and on hot days would not trek to the well. Instead they drew water
directly from Sochow Creek in which flowed the drainage of hundreds of houses, filthy
streets and miles of shipping waste, with just the thought of it making one weak. The
result was Virgil Hart and two members of the family were smitten with malaria, which
for weeks kept them alternatively convulsing with burning fever and shaking chills.
Thought to be cured of this disease, it was to return upon Virgil Hart in his later years and
a more virulent form sapped his vitality and shortened his life.

Later it was decided by the mission headquarters to have a steam boat built to carry out
work by its force. Money was collected to commission an English shipbuilder to make
the craft and it was transported on the deck of an ocean liner to Shanghai. However,
Chinese officials notified the American counsul they would not allow the “Glad Tidings”
to ply the inland waters as planned. The reason advanced was if the missions were
allowed to operate their own steamers, then soon foreign merchants and local ones would
demand the right also, thus increasing the smuggling and cheating the customs and duty
fees already denied the government. For four years the “Glad Tidings” lay in dry dock
till Virgil Hart suggested it be sold before its depreciating value made it worthless. After
it was sold, three sailboats similar in design to the Stella were ordered with the name

“Glad Tidings” with the city of the home port they hailed from included. For a score of
years these sailboats plied the inland waterways of central China to deliver mission
medical supplies and gospel where needed.

VIII "A Forward Movement"

In an article written in 1874, Virgil Hart wrote, “I frequently climb the hills for
inspiration and to get a wide sweep of the broad, rich fields given us to cultivate. I return
to the dirty, noisy streets refreshed and encouraged to plod along and continue the work
of assisting the local people. When shall railroads and carriage ways wind through these
broad valleys carrying the the riches of the this great State to and from its metropolis?
Will it be in my day? My judgment says no, but my faith pierces to a higher flight as my
heart beats quicker for the coming of China".

Before many a year had past, Virgil Hart was able to see his deep longing dream of
medical missions materialize. It was through countless hours of meeting with mission
superintendents and repeat letters of petitions to mission Secretaries to encourage the
recruitment of teachers, medical missionaries, physicians, and nurses; and for building
dispensaries, hospitals, schools and colleges. In one letter he exclaims, “Experience has
taught us some valuable lessons in that to open new stations in China and prosecute
vigorous work there is no influence so powerful as that of the art of healing”. “If ones'
spiritual work is to be effective, what more effectual means than to heal the sick, and
alleviate the pain of suffering, for the doctor and teacher are welcome where the preacher
is scarcely tolerated....To allay prejudice, to inspire confidence and to produce gratitude,
there is nothing to compare with the healing art”.

In what seemed excruciating long time there came the reply from the mission rooms in
New York that large appropriations for Central China had been approved and
reinforcements would soon be on the way so the long desired plan could be put into
action. The first place to be occupied was Chinkiang a city of four hundred thousand
souls at the junction of the Yangtze River and the Grand Imperial Canal, giving it direct
communication with most of the principle cities and provinces in central China. A few
hours sail north was the city of Yangchow with a population of a half a million.

The story of the founding of the Chunkiang mission would not be complete if no
reference was made to the important contributions Superintendent Virgil Hart made in

establishing the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society. The purchasing of property from
the Chinese was always a difficult matter especially in those days, but particularly it was
so if the negotiations were to be carried out by the foreign women which were contrary to
normal Chinese etiquette. Virgil Hart was called upon by the Woman’s Missionary
Society to render help by protecting them against extortion or fraud for land and the
contracts for buildings. In Chunkiang today sits the splendid site of the Girls' Boarding
School and Woman’s Hospital, an eloquent testament to his foresight and good judgment.

Chunkiang is 170 klms. upriver from Shanghai and all up-river ferries made ports stop
there. It once used to be the most heavily fortified city in central China, but a few hours
of shelling by the British gun-boats leveled its forts in 1842 and the Chinese were slow to
forget the damage inflicted upon its ego. This retarded the progress of successful mission
work in the area. Soon after the British bombardment, the city suffered severely from the
Taiping Rebellion with its population being reduced to 25,000. Yet Chunkiang was
phoenix-like rising from its ashes to become a important commercial center.

A treaty port with about 200 foreign residents and the Gold & Silver Islands, the city was
covered with ancient temples and monasteries. One of the most interesting is the Iron
Pagoda cast and erected over 2,000 years ago. It was believed that by placing a stick or
twig at the base of the pagoda a person would be immune from back pain. When Virgil
Hart arrived in Chunkiang in 1880, there was a dedicated Dr. White and his wife who
built a dispensary and small school, but after five years were ready to migrate to Europe.

IX "Ichi san/Pheasant Hill"

Three hundred miles upriver from Shanghai where the Yangtze River makes a broad
sweeping curve westwards, nestling in a fertile valley is the city of Wuhu, one of the
chief rice exporting centers of China. Its massive walls surrounding it and the weather
worn pagoda facing the anchorage were built some fifteen centuries before. From this
“Peaceful” city came the notorious Koo Sou Whai whose crimes plunged more than one
foreign persons home into mourning. There were few places in China where the anti-
foreign sentiment was as pronounced or bitter as found in Wuhu. So hostile were its
citizens to foreigners residing there they could not obtain life insurance policies as their
risks were too great a gamble.

Though Wuhu was made a treaty port in 1877, it was not until 1881 that Virgil Hart and
the Rev. M.L. Taft arrived to rent a house on a main thorough-fare with the intent for the
Rev. James Jackson and his wife to occupy it. Virgil Hart wrote he was like a “steam
engine”, wishing the mission had more men like him. Two years later a choice location a
mile from the center of town, just upstream from the port was secured. It was a wooded
hill lot that was surrounded on two sides by the meandering Yangtze River named Ichi
san or Pheasant hill.

The area around was known as a sportsman’s paradise with foreigners gathering from
different parts of the river to explore the hills and streams for wild bore, deer, and fowl.
Virgil Hart said if he had a gun in the boat he could have shot and retrieved them off the
river. "Pure breezes cool its heights and porpoises frolic in waves along its rocky shores"
is a poetic description once given. After contracts were signed it was realized the British
counsul had its eyes on it for a long time, working through Chinese officials to secure it
as a future British consulate, but were too late. The alert actions of Virgil Hart cut
through the red-tape of officialism.

The hospital was built at the crest of the hill and at its base were the Girl’s Boarding
School and residences for the mission staff. Travelers after learning the hill was
occupied by missionaries were known to exclaim they live like royalty. Though it is
doubtful one of these globe-trotting travelers would be willing to trade their life for a day
with those faithful servants, some who spent twenty years or more upon a solidarity piece
of real-estate on the banks of the Middle Kingdom's greatest river.

The names of three physicians admired by the people of Wuhu should be remembered
with the hospital at Ichi san, that is still the largest hospital complex in all of Anhui. One
is Dr. Stuart, the original mission doctor when the hospital began, who was also the first
president of the University of Nanking. Another is Dr. Chung a native who declined an
offer of the Chinese Imperial government for a salary five times what he received from
the mission, being forever thankful to be delivered from his paganism. The last person to
note is Edgerton Haskell Hart who was the second son of the great Superintendent of the
Methodist Mission in China, Dr. Virgil Hart.

X "The Porcelain City"

It was said that Kiangsi was completely independent from the rest of China, supplying it
with five times more rice than it consumed. It had the largest lumber mart in the country,
exported more tea than any other province, and was the original place and one of the few
places in the world to manufacture porcelain. For more than 2,000 years the city of
Chintekching (Jingdezhen) has produced porcelain of such magnificence it was the only
material to touch the emperors lips besides gold, silver or precious stones. The capital
city of Nanchang, across Boyang Lake is where the staging of porcelain began its trade
route distribution points to places outside of China.

It is therefore obvious why Virgil Hart steered the Stella in its direction, though on one
occasion the local people spanned the width of the river with a cable to hinder his
progress, and threw stones while shouting “Kill the Foreign Devil!” Finally they gave up
on expecting to sway Virgil Hart from his intentions and a telegram was sent to the New
York mission offices declaring a house had been rented in Nanchang Foo. "We have
reached the center from which we can go in every direction throughout the province". In
1882 as the plans were being drawn up, Mr. Hart requested several hearty men to be sent
there. Little did anyone know that this call would go unheeded for some twenty years
and it would not be a man doctor, but a native Chinese woman named Dr. Ida Kahn that
answered the call to become the dominating mission personality for this great city.

Nanchang City Arch, one of many surrounding it.

XI "Change But No Rest"

It was unfortunate that Virgil Hart did not go back to Nanchang many years later, to see
the fruit of the seeds he planted that became one of the marvels of mission history in
China. The one little rented home became a Woman’s and Children’s hospital directed

by the great Dr. Ida Kahn, a girl’s boarding school and the embryonic beginnings of what
was to become the University of Nanchang.

In 1881 after frequent bouts with malaria, Virgil Hart decided he needed a year of
furlough and left for the United States via Europe. While in London he had estimates
solicited for the “Glad Tidings” steamship mentioned earlier and one month later he was
in upstate New York with his family.

XII "The Pride of the Yangtze"

"Here Virgil, you should establish a hospital," exclaimed Adeline to her husband in 1881,
as they were standing on the deck of a steamer at Nanking. This was the inspiration for
what became a future Hospital, girl’s boarding school, the University of Nanking with its
famous medical and theological colleges and other important institutions. The Nanking
mission became the crowning ambition of his Superintendency for central China. It was
strange that so important a city had been neglected by the great missionary bodies of
China. Chinese officials had employed several foreigners in the manufacture of weapons
and ammunition there, but of the missionary societies possessed no arsenal of members
or a battle plan devised when it came to send out the doctrines to win the hearts and
minds of Nanking residents.

Nanking is halfway between Kiukiang and Shanghai, with easy access by both ship and
carriage, and for eight generations was the capitol of China. It was one of the largest and
most cultural of Chinese cities with its art and literature, and thriving satin and silk
business, produced by one hundred thousand weavers on twenty thousand looms. Mr.
Hart imagined that Nanking might once again become by its geographical location the
capitol city of a rejuvenated people and modern China. It was the site of numerous
magnificent temples with its shining star being the Porcelain Pagoda, the pride of the
Yangtze, glory of the nation with its nine shining stories, casting a shadow of over four
hundred feet and costing more than three point five million taels of silver to erect the
world’s first skyscraper. This important city should not be left to grope in pagan
darkness.

While he was home on a much needed furlough he attended the Methodist Mission
annual conference in New York where he addressed the committee with a proposal for
ten thousand dollars to build and equip a hospital. Dr. Fowler wrote to Virgil Hart by
letter to meet in San Francisco with a Mr. Blackstone who was willing to furnish the
required funds requested. The Superintendent had his prayers answered with a great
burden lifted from his heart.

En-route he stopped in Salt Lake City where he had an experience he would never
forget. The police chief had been shot by a black man who was lynched within less than
ten minutes of the murder. His dead body was dragged around the streets being kicked
and pounded by the angry mob, resulting in swift and retributive dispensation of western
justice. About Mormonism, which was dominant in the city, he commented, “No
transient visitor can measure the effects of an evil upon the lives of a people”. It required
some sort of redeeming quality towards its institutions or it would be like a rose with no
water, "shrivel up and die in the desert sun”. He found it strange women were content to
live under such conditions that Mormons required at the time. He sat through a sermon
which he said was full of bombast, making little sense with the preacher stopping in mid
sermon to eat and drink.

On the morning of September, 6th, Virgil Hart embarked in San Francisco upon the “City
of Peking” steamer with over six hundred China men being crammed like sheep into
steerage with the berths so taxed that over 100 of them could not find any sleeping
quarters the entire voyage. Every man had to show his poll-tax ticket. Although the
people of California were anxious to get rid of the Chinese in those days, wishing him to

return to his native land, they still taxed him for going-an inconsistency that was hard to
explain. When the day comes that Joe China-man can retaliate and get his revenge for
indignities heaped upon him by the political and commercial representatives of our much-
vaunted western civilizations. "What a hue and a cry will be raised throughout North
America when our citizens will be subjugated to the same humiliations we throw upon
the incoming and resident Chinese".

While the ship was being tossed about the ocean several amusing occurrences happened
after two missionaries (husband & wife), who took sodium bromide for their sea-
sickness. Their appearance throughout the voyage of matted hair, swollen lips and
nodding off on a moments notice was most entertaining. One day the good doctor
staggered up to Virgil and said “bromide is good for sea-sickness; I haven’t been home-
sick yet”. Virgil Hart closes his bromide encounter with,” I’d rather be sea-sick for a
month, than act like an idiot for a week" and be recalled as an one for a lifetime. After
visiting Japan for several days, Virgil took a steamer to Shanghai and then on to Kiukiang
where the annual mission meeting was going on. Not only did he get a warm welcome
from his fellow mission brothers, but especially his old friend and tutor Tai Sien Sen,
whom he had not seen for ages. He held a feast in Virgil Hart’s honor and after the fifty
plus course meal that took several hours to consume, all felt like anacondas that had just
eaten water buffaloes.

The months that followed were busy ones for the superintendent making his home on the
Stella and then on the “Glad Tidings” sister city sailboats, going up and down the
Yangtze River searching for more land for hospitals, signing contracts and supervising
the construction of the buildings, this being the most fruitful and meaningful time of his
life in central China. Now that Virgil Hart had the money to build the mission hospital at
Nanking the only thing missing from the grand plan was property on which to build it,
which proved to be a real challenge.

"What could nations and its citizens learn from others that were born just yesterday in
comparison? Is it a curse amongst the impudent and unsettling foreigner? No they must
not be allowed to get a foothold in the city! Any citizen that will part with their property
for personal gain to the 'Foreign Devil' will be treated as a criminal and traitor." This was
the attitude of the little world the Nanking official and literati when Virgil Hart was in
search of a piece of property within the sacred precincts of the city. He knew that treaty
rights gave him legitimate reasons to purchase property within the confines of the city
and he was determined to stand fast even if it meant the rest of his natural life. He
suggested to his tutor that he act as the go-between him and the deed holder of property
parcels near the south gate. Tai was terrified at the thought of this endeavor as he knew it
placed a bounty on his head for whatever it was worth.

Nanking Methodist Hospital

Soon two native men came to inform Virgil Hart there were two properties matching his
needs and a couple of nights later, with the shadows concealing true intent, he went to
inspect their boundaries and set fire under Tai’s feet to begin negotiations with its
owners. Four months later Virgil Hart had the deeds in his hands on small yet valuable
properties between the Arsenal and Powder Mills road intersection. When Tai’s skills
were no longer needed he hurriedly left the city and returned to the safety of Kiukiang.
Several months later another valuable parcel was acquired near the North Gate. But the
battle had just begun as the deeds required registration and official stamps of the Viceroy
and be presented by the proper official, which took months to figure out just who this
person might be. Some thought it was the Tao Tai of Chunking while others claimed it
was the Tao Tai of Nanking who had the authority and after this matter cleared up there
was a wait of several more months to get him to act.

There were meetings scheduled with no-shows, arrests, intimidation and incarceration of
the poor men who sold the property and even officials feigning illness to avoid the
continuance of the matter. Every time the Superintendent was shafted or insulted, he
demanded an apology from the Viceroy's office until it sunk into the cranial depths of
these officials that this lowei was not to be deceived by their stalling tricks or turned
aside from his purpose. At last they capitulated and met the “Foreign Devil” to meet at a
sight more agreeable to the Superintendent to get down to business. A letter Virgil Hart
wrote to Mr. Blackstone who the hospital would be named after relates the magistrates
met to hammer out the land bounties and all matters concerned therewith amicably
settled. Whereby the mission received more than twice the amount of land as described
on the original deeds, resting less than a quarter mile from the Confucian Temple which
is the finest structure of its kind in all of China.

With negotiations settled Virgil Hart turned his attention to contracting the materials and
workers needed to complete the hospital by the end of the year. By personally managing
the process of construction, he was able to save thousands of dollars that otherwise would
have gone into the pockets of a Chinese contractor and his middlemen. With a command
of the Chinese language there could be no misunderstanding between boss and laborer.
Old Nanking, the “Devil’s” stronghold, shall yield!

Just when Virgil Hart thought his most pressing problems were over new ones cropped
up. There was the issue of half the workmen coming form another province causing
dissension amongst the Nanking artisans who strenuously objected to workers employed

alongside them. One day a fight broke out between the opposing groups and for a couple
of hours bedlam was unleashed with the pulling of braided hair and bloody disfigurement
of faces. A missionary attempted to intervene, yet he too suffered the wrath and was
pulled badly beaten from the chaos. Soldiers finally came to quell the riot. Virgil Hart
was unfortunately away on pressing issues in Chunkiang and quickly returned and began
an investigation, demanding the ringleaders be punished and compensation for damages
done to both the building and missionary injured. A day later when Virgil Hart came to
see if retribution was carried out he was assured by his foreman those who were guilty
each faced two hundred lashes with a cat-of-9-tails before being fired for
insubordination. The men did not leave on their own accordance, but where hauled out
by stretcher as the pain of punishment set in. When Virgil Hart arrived later and offered
to mend the men’s wounds, all feigned to be in too excruciating a pain, but after he
removed the girdle from one and seeing not so much as a scratch on the mans flesh,
realized the master trickery and charade being a bunch of humbug.

Virgil Hart’s troubles did not end with the workmen; those higher up the chain of
command gave trouble and demanded a share for their efforts. "Even his trusted tutor Tai
had to be dismissed after it was learned he was squeezing everyone from the hod carrier,
gate-man, carpenter, mason and even the tattered beggar asking for alms out front had to
pay for the privilege to this Chinese Shylock....The Tammany Braves of New York in
their halcyon days are but just children in comparison with the Nanking grafters”.

The red letter day arrived on May, 28 1886, when the hospital opened its doors to receive
its first patients. Thirteen high Chinese mandarins graced the occasion with their
presence along with the Honorable Commander Charles Denby, the United States
Minister to China, Mr. E.S. Smithers who was the Consular General of the U.S. in
Shanghai, along with the officers and sailors of the USS Marion, as its brass band
provided the musical accompaniment. As everyone sat for the feast it was the mandarin
delegation that provided the entertainment with their unfamiliarity in the use of western
tableware or manners. It was a shocking surprise to have women not only at the table,
but seated next to them with their own wives and daughters denied this simple western
etiquette. Two days after the banquet, Dr Beebe was called upon to the home of one of
the mandarins where two of his wives attempted to commit suicide by swallowing
opium. Without the missionary’s care the two women would have certainly died, proving
the wealth of relief the new mission hospital did provide the native Chinese.

XIII "Turned Back"

In the spring of 1887, after four years' absence from his wife and family, Virgil Hart
boarded a steamer to return to the United States for only a second time in the twenty one
years of being away. As he was walked the ships gangplank he received a telegram from
Bishop C.H. Fowler which informed him of his new role as superintendent of the West
China Methodist Missions, and requested him to return to Chunking at once to re-
establish the mission there which was so tragically brought to a close by the anti-
foreigner riots. Torn between the a well deserved furlough and the pressing plea from his
associate, he prayed for a few minutes, then had his baggage withdrawn to shore, his
ticket canceled and preparations made for the long, tedious and perilous journey to
Chunking. Virgil Hart was accompanied by three other men whose steadfastness of
mission work took precedent over matters personal. At Hankow they spent several days
with fellow mission members before continuing on their trip. The ship was the
antiquated “Kaiting” which was at a disadvantage with the rapids of the upper Yangtze,
for every time it blew its whistle the boat would cease its forward momentum.

The boat was a considerable amount of amusement or irritation depending upon the mood
of the passengers. The distance between Hankow and Ichang where steamers are halted
is three times longer by river than air, and the captain declared it would take between five
to ten days depending on the fogs, with no mention about the possible delays on account
of the worn-out tub they were aboard. People walking alongside the road near the
river, would gain forward ground at a quicker pace than the wheezing, coughing and
sputtering steam engine. The head engineer came on deck pleased to see how she was
tacking at about four knots per hour. The year previous when the boat was full during
high water season he commented on how the boat was falling astern from the load it was
hauling. Just after saying those words a pyrotechnic explosion was heard from the engine
room as the engineer raced frantically back to the aft parts of the ship to find out its
cause. Virgil Hart threw his hands into the air in disgust to return to his cabin and
attempted to sleep off the frustration. Another story about the cruise was when the
“Kaiting” was hugging the shore due to high water and as the boat began falling astern,
all hands were called on deck as people jumped ashore with lines thrown to them, pulling
the boat forward to round a bend in the river.

The scenery above Hankow is dotted with the occasional hill, its fertile plains annually
deposited with silt from the previous years flooding spread on them. As one approaches
Ichang, the hills close in upon the river, constricting its channel by walls of limestone and
granite. Fleets of Chinese junks sauntered in motion or at anchor gave the appearance of
resource-thrift management rarely seen anywhere else on the river. The men observed
oxcarts with loads of timber weighing down heavily on their rough hewn beds, as wheels
big as a man slowly turn with the rotating joints crying out in pain through the spikes and
rims made of iron as wooden dowels fasten the spindles together. Ascending narrow,
steep water rutted pathways to hug the fog-blanketed cliffs till recesses within its walls
were reached and a turn of several rocking agitations brought the team to reverse the

process till the summit was attained. Not another large valley or plain was seen for over
several hundred miles until reaching the Chengtu plains. They saw nothing but
mountains or every type of configuration one can imagine. Nestled between karst rock
formations were the temples, dagobas and pagodas protruding from their recesses. The
ear splitting drum and cymbals pounded, mouth organs and bamboo flutes squelched out
uneven staccatos of rhythm with chimes tuning in when their delicate notes were required
like a songbird.

Yangtze river Chinese sailors

Virgil Hart arrived in Ichang on an evening of festivities with red lanterns studded for
miles, suspended from any resource capable of their support to resist the pull of gravity.
Loud-reporting strands of fire-crackers were a constant agitation to the ear. Ichang had
been an open port since 1877 with a population of one hundred thousand natives and 50
foreigners of which a dozen are of mission stock representing three or four different
societies. Several days were passed as a nerve-wracked Virgil Hart searched for a river
worthy flat bottomed boat suitable to take them past the remaining rapids and up to
Chunking. It was about seventy feet long, eleven wide with a draft of four feet, low and
flat at the bow with a grotesquely carved stern. It had two aft cabins, one for the
“louban” (Captain & family), the other for the foreign guests. The thirty crew-mates,
cargo and any other native passengers aboard rode out on the open deck. It had a
bamboo awning which could be spread out at night under the safety of anchor, but it was
ill advised to keep it so during the day to impede the suns rays, in case quick rope
handling was needed to assure the boat didn’t capsize.

The bow held a huge coil of rope to pull the boat through the rapids and a long oar to
facilitate direction. Along its sides were two yiu lo (oars), that required the strength of
several men to manipulate and at the stern a rudder of several timbers lashed and spiked
together that protruded several feet below the keel. The strange craft would be home for
the missionaries for a month after the captain walked every inch inspecting it to assure its
readiness. A chicken was killed as an offering to the river gods, its blood and feathers
smeared along the bow, incense was lighted, gongs beaten and sails hoisted. The little
launch eased away from port to face the eighty five rapids above them.

The glories of the upper Yangtze are its gorges; its torments are the rapids. Its awe-
inspiring walls sculpted by water and wind climb some three thousand feet from the
depths of their foundations of where the Yangtze breeches them, with foliage clinging to
their sides for miles at a stretch. The upper end of Bellows Gorge had evidence of
offensive and defensive military maneuvers done over a thousand years before. Huge
iron cables were strung across the gorge supported by equally massive posts, to impede
any boat that dared to challenge it. Men Lang the Hupeh military commander ordered the
drilling of holes into the perpendicular cliff of seven hundred feet so beams could be
fitted into them and thus made a zigzag ladder his men could climb up the precipice and
surprise the enemy. Thus Wolfe at Quebec was preceded and surpassed many centuries
before his time. Those holes of six inches square and fourteen deep remained visible
until the recent creation of the Yangtze River reservoir.

The ascent of the rapids was a life entrusting experience that could never be forgotten.
The boat pitched to and fro while bobbing up and down as in a pot of boiling water. A
man on deck beat a gong as if his very life depended on it while another set off fire-
crackers to scare away the river demons. Another two men were at the bow working its
oar and shouting commands between the shore and tiller operators. A team of men called
trackers, whose only clothing was a loin-cloth, pulled like mules on the tow rope a
thousand feet in length. They jumped from rock to rock with the agility of squirrels,
creeping along the cliff-sides hundreds of feet above the river like mountain goats. A
man called the whipper with a split cane of bamboo raced along the line of trackers and
beat the rope at appropriate times, though seldom striking any man. He would rush ahead
of the team and kowtows to them; then jump to his feet and frantically yell from the top
of his lungs flying past them, beating his stick about and acting like howling Dervisher in
heat. You would enjoy a repeat of this performance over and again till gaining the
heights these menacing obstacles of rock confronted. A tracker's reward for their
services was $2.00 each trip, a bowl of rice per meal and a boat ride on down river traffic
to once again flex their muscles. Western coaches and those who are bodybuilders could
take a bit of advice from these “appreciative” occupations of labor. Rudyard Kipling was
correct in saying, “the yellow clay the China-man is made from has much iron in it”.

A wreck on the Yangtze was an everyday occurrence as accidents between slow
ascending ships and quick descending ones on a confined space of water. Hundreds of
lives were lost at a time as trackers with strained muscles and set faces tugged with every
ounce of strength they possessed. Suddenly an eddy would tack the boat uncontrollably
or rip a seam open, pulling all involved into the depths of the raging torrent, never to be
seen or heard from again. It is no wonder as to the superstitions and odd customs the
river-men acquired, such as beating instruments of music, employing gun-powder and
even bribing these river demons with cash as they tossed it overboard, along with the
occasional piece of fruit to satiate their hunger.

The Chinese government had at strategic points along the river a coast guard to provide
things like clothing, food, bedding and coffins at their stations. Only once in the many
assents Virgil Hart made of the gorges was the boat he was prone to any real danger. The
skipper made a terrible blunder at the height of one rapid that caused the boat to turn on
its side, nearly capsizing it. The cargo shifted, bottles smashed, tables overturned and
wood splintered with food, red-hot stove ash and personal possessions were all mixed
together.

Every three to four miles the skyline was breeched by white pagodas that were built more
than five hundred years before Christ. These were smoke tower beacons in times of war
to warn of advancing enemy. These towers are still religiously kept in repair and
strangely served as lines of communication with the then modern telegraph wire strung
between them, its operator and courier residing next to the Buddha. It could be jokingly
said that the messages were divine transmissions delivered at lightning speed.

There were days to wait out in ascending the rapids and forays to see the botany and
geological formations of the surrounding hills as a way to kill time. One day after spying
a small home high up on the hill, the three missionaries decided to make a call and found
an old man and young boy scratching at the soil trying to encourage the meager
vegetables to grow. How surprised with fear to have white men come falling out of the
sky to startle and harass them! Their fears were allayed after a few words of Chinese
were spoken, but not understanding the local dialect, Virgil Hart could only make himself
partially understood. They were intrigued by the silver watch and chain and were
convinced it allowed one to see over one thousand li. Attempts were made to explain, but
the natives assured each other they were not to be fooled so easily. When Virgil held the
watch up to the man’s ear, the efforts to summit the hill were worth it to see the facial
expressions the man and boy shared after listening to it. They were directed to a spring
where the Chinese were entertained by the means at which the lowei drank. The young
boy ran to a tree and picked its leaves to fashion them into a cup. Virgil Hart attempted
to duplicate the boys’ efforts in vain and how content the boy was after he saw he could
do something the foreigner with the living clock could not.

XIV "The Chinese Tartarus"

After the perilous rapids were passed, the river widened and a broad valley was found
with the city of Fengtu at its shores. A well worn footpath that had been in use for over a

thousand years connected the temples that dot its hillsides. Virgil Hart observed in one
temple nine coiled serpents whose bodies were draped over the roof beams with heads
dangling above the worshipers below. The serpents were objects of homage and
veneration, with eyes wide and mouths flared. The chief object of pilgrimage to
Fengtu was to see Yen Lo Wang, the king of infernal regions who holds the life and
destiny of every mortal in his hands. Before his image were many species and types of
varied offerings including eyes, paws, hands and other parts as thankful tributes for
miraculous cures.

Another unique feature was the incarnation of Yen Lo Wang’s wife who is said to have
been a beautiful maiden who came to pay homage and lost one earring exquisitely
wrought and inlaid from precious metals and stones, emblematic of her purity. She
searched in vain with the aid of a priest and after she left the priest returned and found it
in the hand of Yen Lo Wang. He also received a revelation that the maiden's fate was tied
to the sacred Yen. After returning home she told her parents how she was to become the
spiritual bride of the god. The time of her death announced and she was made ready as if
it was a wedding. As she became weaker towards the appointed time a violent storm
frightened her parents out of the home and when they returned, she was gone.
Remembering her words they ran to the temple to see their daughter’s body in possession
by the priests who recognized it by the earring and now was spiritualized flesh which
must be enshrined in the temple as Yen’s wife. She was presented with fine robes of
satin and gilded her face to preserve it from contamination. Every year thereafter
descendants of the Chen family made a pilgrimage to the shrine to replace the robes with
new and remove the old ones.

Also inside this temple were two Taoist genii who flourished two thousand years ago,
sitting playing chess with a young boy by their side watching the game. The story goes
he was a wood cutter that climbed the hill one day and found the genii at their game, and
became caught up in their play. It was said he watched the game for over two hundred
years and when he descended the hill found time had not stood still in his village. When
he opened the door of his home he did not recognize anyone, his clothes were in tatters
and he had the appearance of an old man instead of a boy. This is an eastern version of
the Rip-Van-Winkle legend.

Many superstitious Chinese over the centuries have believed that Fengtu is where the
gates of Purgatory reside. A legend relates that a fifteenth century magistrate came into
port and saw an identical boat flying his colors next to his. "How can this be?" Cried out
the magistrate, "Have I been replaced?" He sent a card demanding an interview and yes
he was the other magistrate, but of Tartarus, the city below. A time was arranged for the
city above magistrate to visit the one below and the gates unsealed. While descending
with his bearers a great tempest swarmed them, forcing his bearers to flee. The
magistrate continued alone till reaching a room and requested to sit and sequestered.

He met the underworld magistrate face to face; The underworld magistrate was to
switch places, informing the new magistrate he would forward all chains as the present
ones were old and rusty.

XV "The Seductive Viper"

On every hand are waving fields of poppy-white, pink and dark purple flowers. A
beautiful sight! But so sad to reflect that every head will help to kill some poor China-
man!" Letter to Mrs. Hart

Traveling from Ichang to Fengtu one was enthralled by the beauty of nature. The fields
were ripe with produce even the humblest can grow, yet the people displayed a morbid
shallow completion. Laborers by the score shared this death-like pallor while
languishing in the terraced fields stepping up in increments till soil no longer can
penetrate the rock on which it lays. Virgil Hart had entered what he thought was a field
of wheat with its stalks raising from the well manicured soil. Upon closer inspection he
saw it was not pods of grains at their ends, but the brown decayed head of a flower that
lost its petals a month previous, with slice marks to extract the black poison they emitted.
“Oh seductive viper, the curse of millions: who shall dare to stand up and present these
degenerating people with an alternative", life giving force. How the ravages of opium
were evident on the lower reaches of the Yangtze, yet he saw nothing equal to that of the
province of Szechwan.

The most fertile of fields that could feed a population four times the province's
inhabitants was dedicated exclusively to the growing of the gorgeous, but poisonous
poppy. So devoted to its cultivation were the local Chinese that the price of foodstuffs
had reached a cost prohibitive stage. Rumor was that one third of the opium produced in
China before the 1906 edict restricted its growth was grown in Szechwan. More than half
the men and a third of the women were addicted to the pipe. It provided a cheap escape
from the dull weariness of life the average Chinese person pursued due to limited
finances and resources.

A description tells an account of coolies who for eight days walked twelve hours per day
in torrential rain, on muddied paths and forded swollen rivers under the weight of 50-60
pounds. They came utterly exhausted to a comfortless inn with no fire, or change of
clothing; no beds save a brick kang with a ragged mat to sleep on or blanket to cover

them. For sustenance they consumed rice, bean curd or gruel and was no wonder they
curled up around the kerosene light, rolling a black bead and sucking on thick white
smoke till they passed out from the combination of inebriation and weariness.

There is no historical record that the poppy was cultivated in China, except for medicinal
purposes, until the Portuguese and then British began trade relations with the Middle
Kingdom. Ignoring the protest of the Chinese government, the British East India
Company smuggled its Bengal grown opium into various ports of China. In 1840 the
Emperor was so alarmed by the opium scourge he ordered an Imperial Commissioner Lin
to put an end to the nefarious traffic. Lin’s actions brought him into collision with the
British traders with his confiscation of 20,000 chests of opium resulting in the First
Opium War. British gunboats went along China’s rivers and coasts terrorizing its citizens
till the Chinese government capitulated and ceded all concessions the victorious British
demanded.

Prior to this the Chinese government did not tolerate the cultivation of the poppy for drug
consuming purposes, but after the Second Opium War ended the Chinese government
was forced by the treaty of Tien tsin to legalize the traffic and guarantee protection of the
cursed foreign trafficker. The Chinese government did not want a product it could grow
itself draining the nation’s treasury of silver, so that by the start of the 20th century, six
sevenths of the drug consumed by the Chinese was native grown with the quantity of
consumption increasing to seventy times more than what was smoked one hundred years
earlier.

England developed an enviable reputation of being a fair and honorable trading partner,
yet the opium trade stands out as a hideous exception. Being a deep, dark, damnable plot
upon her name where the good of the weak was exploited deliberately and cruelly
sacrificed to the commercial interests of the strong. There is now some satisfaction to
know as China freed herself of this struggle the slavery opium spawned, she was assured
of sympathetic co-operation and support England later provided to correct its greatest
wrong against China. China fought a brave and desperate battle in its quest to rid the
country of this scourge. By 1917 it was estimated the growth, sale and consumption this
evil caused was to be no more, though much blood was shed and property destroyed
along the way. So loyal and thorough some Viceroys were at the time, that hardly a
poppy plant remained in their provinces making the victory complete and permanent.

Opium smokers in a den.

XVI "The Re-established Mission"

The Chunking Mission was begun in 1882, by L.M.Wheeler D.D., financed through
donations by J.F. Goucher D.D., of Baltimore, Maryland U.S.A. Chunking was chosen
for its proximity to many navigable rivers, and major roads to Szechwan cities its large
population of seven hundred thousand, and the sixty million people who passed through
it to the outside world. Many months of property searching finally paid off in renovating
Chinese buildings to provide a chapel, school and residences for the staff.

In 1886, they added another parcel three miles from the ports on the Chengtu
road. Construction of buildings was already in progress when the military cadets
arrived for their triennial examinations and many of them holding an
anti-foreign sentiment launched all types of preposterous innuendo
and fear mongering rumors over the newly acquired property. “The
homes are really forts with cannon to rain down shot to destroy the

city”. Another claimed to have procured a book showing a dragon
around the city with its head immersed in one river and its tail a few
miles away in another river. The mission station was above the neck
crushing the dragon, and if building was not ceased, then all kinds of
drought, famine and pestilence would befall upon the city’s
inhabitants. The rioting that resulted from these inflammatory
remarks lasted for several days of looting and destruction all the
mission stations, and all the foreign missionaries were driven out.
Bishop Fowler assigned the task to Virgil Hart to re-establish the
missions proper.

When Virgil Hart and his two associates entered Chunking again in 1887 they hoped to
do it quietly, but unfortunately they were spotted and a small mob formed, trying to get a
better look at the foreigners. Soon the whole city knew who they were and why they
were there and questioned their rationale. “Foreigners are queer beings --- we taunted
them, destroyed their property and drove them out, and yet more new faces replace the
former". The crowd was parted by the elbowing of the secretaries of the Tao Tai of the
city demanding their passports and inquiring of their intentions and future movements.
They were accompanied by a native preacher who had given the missionaries little
trouble, though feathered his nest during and after the riots by salvaging, then selling
mission property that had escaped destruction. He meagerly sought an interview, having
rehearsed a long and detailed story about how he had stood up to the marauding bands,
and was later persecuted by local and official alike for his protecting the unfortunate
“Foreign Devils”. On cue he rocked into almost uncontrollable spasms of weeping as
Virgil Hart quickly ended the skit and dismissed the charlatan to compose himself.

The city was scoured by the Superintendent’s native tutor for several days to find suitable
dwelling to resume the mission's work. After a partially destroyed home was found near
the mission grounds, Virgil Hart immediately went to inspect it. Wanting to avoid any
stalling schemes by the officials, Mr. Hart dutifully notified them about the agreement for
the dark, decaying and moldy old mansion the degenerate scion of the Loh family had
rented them for three hundred dollars per year including heavy furniture. A proclamation
was made to inform the city residents the missionaries were once again among them and
pasted up by the front gate reading as follows: “This Edict is published to make you
acquainted with Virgil Hart of America and others who were sojourning in Chunking.
Wherever they may have their dwelling, it is reasonable and just they should be
respected. Having issued this Edict to expect that all soldiers and civilians-all classes-
will make its acquaintance. If after its issue there are any loafers about the place, sitting
or lying around, using uproarious language, or should there be idlers and drunkards
making trouble, they should be punished severely and not be pardoned. Let each one
tremblingly obey and by no means you rebel against this special Edict. Thirteenth year of
Kwang Su, Fourth Moon, Sixth Day. Be certain to paste this upon the dwelling of the
American teachers that all may be notified”. Considering the proclamation came from
the hand of the very one or two officials who inspired the looting and rioting done by the

populace a few months before the anti-foreigner disturbances, Hart exclaimed, “such was
the irony of fate”.

Two weeks after arriving in Chunking, Mr. Faber hired a boat to take him to Kaiting on
the Min River, a tributary of the Yangtze three hundred miles distant, to test the reception
a foreigner would receive. Then he proceeded to the refreshing slops of Mt. Omei for a
few weeks of rest and recuperation. A month later Virgil Hart and Dr. Mortley traveled
by sedan chair to Chengtu and later rendezvoused at the mountain. The Tao tai insisted
they have an escort of soldiers to protect the group of two missionaries, their band of
coolies and provisions from any hooligans who might happen to think the foreigners a
tempting target.

The imposing little procession with its lead man, banner in hand and swaggering with his
new found sense of mission, cleared the way for the parade of followers to easily advance
along the busy wide, paved road lined with orange and mulberry groves and interspersed
by fields of cereal grains. They passed through market towns at intervals of ten miles and
saw Chinese with wide eyes of disbelief taking notice of the lowei (foreigner). Spanning
the roads at conspicuous points were massive stone arches in memory of some past
virtuous woman honored and loved by family and neighbors alike.

Leaving the main road at Lungchang the party made its way to visit the brine wells at
Tzeliutsing, a two days journey along marginally safe roads, so additional reinforcements
swelled its ranks. Noxious orders emitted from crossed stream-beds indicated the
proximity of the Tzeliutsing, a city built around more hills than Rome. Its busy steep
streets were a challenge to advance with merchants and wares competing with shoppers
for room. Salt was the primary commodity as well as bamboo for scaffolding and pipe to
tap the gases and conduct its flow.

Virgil Hart sent his teacher ahead to secure lodgings for the night but the hotels refused to
board the foreigners, complaining business would be hampered by all those wanting to
gawk. When their party halted in the square to debate their options; a spontaneous
excited crowd emerged. Their Honan teacher received the bright idea of marching the
jaded coolies a half a mile up a steep hill to occupy the branch magistrate’s office.
Announcing their arrival with cards and after waiting the proper time delay with no
response, the teacher and escort threw open the doors of the guest house and conducted
themselves in with grand ceremony, bolting the doors behind to leave the mob outside.
The menials about the Yamen were no less surprised than the clamoring crowd outside by
this flanking maneuver. They were told the official was out of town when in reality he

was less than twenty paces with a wall of separation between them. Underlings rushed
about with instructions from the absent official to offer courtesy with tea as they leisurely
sat under the cool awnings of the guest-hall.

The teacher insisted on converting the hall into a bed and dining room for the
distinguished guests, with the secretary saying it was impossible, being jealous of the
protection prerogative bestowed on the party. As Virgil Hart expected, a hotel was
finally reserved with the best rooms at their disposal. A parade of soldiers led them
through a bewildered crowd to their awaiting rooms. The proprietor in his re-adjusted
state of mind met them to extend blandish courtesies while directing them to their rooms,
thus ending the first day of the Tzeliutsing adventure. The following day found the
missionaries touring the nearly two thousand year old salt wells, some of which were
operated by twenty generations of one family. Several wells were three to five thousand
feet in depth. It was baffling to the more scientific Westerners to know how clumsy
bamboo drills could bore to such depths.

It was such a sight to watch the water buffaloes, some half a dozen each, pull the long
bamboo tubes or buckets up from the depths of the well. They pulled and strained as their
momentum increased into a trot with the driver shouting commands, while the long rope
wound around a huge cylinder located a few yards from the derrick. After the brine
solution filled a vat and the draft animals uncoupled, the tube was released to descend as
fast as the rope unwound from the cylinder and the frothy brine extraction process was
repeated. Alongside these brine wells are what the natives called “Fire Wells” reaching
similar depths which supplied the various factories with heat and light by means of very
crude appliances.

A journey of four days over lofty mountains brought the parade to the fertile valley which
skirted the Min River and the Szechwan Provincial capitol city of Chengtu, the greatest
of all western cities in China. Marco Polo found this city to be “very great and
exceedingly rich” during his stay in the thirteenth century. Cheng-tu had few commercial
or educational rivals, and possesses many ancient, beautiful temples and monasteries. It
is the burial place of one of the emperors and birthplace to one of China’s greatest
philosophical writers Lao tzu, founder of Taoism. Within the walled city were two more
being the Imperial city and Manchu one. Outside its gates are still hundreds of miles or
irrigation canals used for over two thousand years alleviating the plain of drought and
assuring annual harvests of grains.

Virgil Hart’s first impression were dismal likely induced by the stifling heat and carried
down a malodorous street to an equally malodorous inn, requesting lime for the floor and
mud plaster to fill the rat holed walls. This may have been the very inn where Mr. Hosie,
British vice consular stayed when he found these words written on the wall. Within this
room you will find the rats-at least a goodly score: Three catties each they are bound to
weigh Or-e-en a little more. At night you will find a myriad of bugs-that smell and crawl
and bite; If doubtful of the truth of this-get up and strike a light. Thinking this
description erred on kindness of a Szechwan inn added: Within without vile odors dense;
assail the weary nose. Behind the grunt-er, squeaks and squeals; which baffles all
repose. Add clouds of tiny buzzing things, Mosquitoes if you please. Why bless me,
they're actually fleas!

(VHMS) photo

XVII "One Step From Heaven"

What Jerusalem is for Christians, or Mecca is to Islam, Mt. Omei is to the Buddhist, who
make pilgrimages from all parts of China, especially Thibet. “To the devout Buddhist its
seventy monasteries, hundreds of temples and shrines, its numerous marvels and sacred
relics, its cloud-enveloped summit towering more than eleven thousand feet and from
which may be seen the “Glory of Buddha, make it the most precious spot on earth. To
use the words of the Buddhist, it is but, “one step from heaven”. Virgil Hart who
was steeped in Chinese religious lore, was anxious to walk the paths of this holy
mountain which has figured so greatly in fable and story. As prearranged back in
Chunking after the visit to Kaiting the coveted opportunity was afforded to satisfy the
quest. Striking off at twilight on the 15th of July, with coolies, baggage men and
Mr.Morley in tow, the party reached Omei Hsien late in the afternoon, which afforded a
serene image upon the entrance to the village at the base of the mountain.

The inns were swelling with pilgrims but accommodations were secured after much
persuasion to allow the spreading of their mats on the floor of an inn. Stories abounded
of the distances pilgrims had covered with one foot-sore monk hailing from Peking while
another claimed to have prostrated himself every seventh step for one thousand miles
with his earthly possessions suspended in two bundles from a bamboo pole. Tsai, Virgil
Hart’s tutor noticed everyone had a bag of yellow incense to burn at the temples and
shrines along the way, but the faithful were just as incensed to discover his was for a less
holy purpose of containing the contents of pipe and tobacco.

At the crack of dawn the following day Virgil Hart, along with Dr. Morley and throngs of
pilgrims, began the long arduous accent of Mt. Omei. All ages and classes of society,
especially women made up the contingents of staff carrying souls, each with a whittled
dragon or tiger to be brightly painted on the top of the stave after returning from the trek
to be preserved as a sacred souvenir. Beggars of all ages this muggy morning were at
pre-defended territories willing to spin tales of their misfortunes to the gullible that
stopped to listen. As they rose off the plain, the scenery around them became more
enchanting with narrow arching bridges allowing only one to cross at a time. They were
shaded by willows as a clear flowing stream cascaded over fog shrouded cliffs. Some
bridges were ornamented with dragons whose heads faced upstream while the tails
projected from the other side of the bridge. They were to ward off evil spirits. The
dragon and tiger symbolize power, dominate features along the mountain. Shrines with
half protruded tigers with fierce images to seem as if ready to pounce on the unsuspecting

worshiper. One still ascends the mountain by hewn steps carved into solid rock with
flights of them being counted in the thousands.

Gigantic Banyan trees with their branches draped over the steep craggy paths provided
shade and solace for the coolies, who with nerves of iron, possessed wondrous prolonged
endurance and strength hauling their human cargo toiling hither and yonder on the
innumerable steps like foraging ants. There was a story of an American traveler being
carried up this way. Suddenly the coolie stopped along the edge of a precipice and while
at rest stooped down, so that the American hung over the abyss. His forced sigh of relief
after the coolie stood back up, caused the carrier to remark, “Relax, I was just removing
a pebble from between my toes”. The American looked down to see he was standing on
one leg!

Ten miles of journey brought the travelers to a dense ravine cutting through limestone till
cliffs through which torrents of water rushed with sprays of mist as the suns rays pierced
them to reflect colors of the rainbow. Not far from the head of this gorge, enveloped by
overgrown thicket alive with bird and monkey alike, they approached the three hundred
hacked stone steps of the “Shen Wan Mansz-Holy Monastery of the Myriad Years”. Mr.
Faber, who they had not seen for six weeks, was there to greet his fellow missionaries
with cups of hot tea supplied by the monks. Later, the exhausted lot was shown to their
rooms for their stay on the mountain. They were awakened long before sunrise by the
gong and sonorous bells calling the monks to morning prayers. They arose to make a
circuit of the venerable pile made sacred by eights centuries of worship and famous by
homage of emperors, princes and sages leaving pious and costly gifts. The harmonious
beauty of the place left an indelible impression in Virgil Hart's mind. The towering
spires back-dropped against waves of cliffs, ledges and sloping spurs shrouded by mist
released from crystal streams as songsters chirped and monkeys howled, while the long
lines of ascending pilgrims resembling ants in the distance still bewilder the
imagination. How accurate a description Virgil Hart had heard in his own land, thinking
it can’t be true till his own eyes gazed upon its enchanted scenes.

Many objects attract the visitor to Mt. Omei with one in particular having been a fifteen
tiered pagoda of bronze with forty seven hundred intricately designed Buddha’s of
varying dimensions and attitudes, all exquisitely wrought. The pagoda is quite aged and
considered to be one of the finest monuments in all of China. A twenty thousand pound
bronze ball with finely engraved characters recounting many historical incidents was
suspended over an archway nearby.

Placed in a tray before a scarred image in the monastery, a red rag still hides one of the
most venerated relics in the world---a tooth of the Buddha, being over fourteen inches
long, eleven wide and three inches thick. Brought from India over one thousand years
before, the yellow ivory elephant's tooth is stained and worn smooth by the ceaseless
touching of pilgrims who are too gullible to ask any questions. Mr. Hart remarked to a
priest nearby that Buddha must have possessed an enormous mouth, and he replied, “Yes,
it is a matter I don’t fully comprehend”.

The most interesting feature at the monastery to catch Virgil Hart’s eye was a nine foot
tall pure bronze elephant being ridden by a bronze image of the god, Pu hsien, who as a
sage came to Mt. Omei three centuries before Christ, riding on a white elephant. The
bronze figures were housed in a square brick building, symbolizing earth, with a
revolving dome roof, symbolizing heaven. All its walls have seven shelves representing
the seven stories of Buddhist heaven, filled with thousands of little bronze idols. Lying
upon a couch in close proximity to the elephant, under two cotton spreads is Wofuh
(Sleeping Buddha), asleep for ten centuries, as the reverent pilgrim gazes upon what they
believe is the actual body of their unconscious deity.

Calling to them eight thousand feet above was the summit of Mt. Omei, for when
conditions are favorable one can see the “Glory of Buddha”. This is a feature no pilgrim
with the strength to climb or nerve to ride omits from their stay on the mountain. On a
cloudless morning in late July found Morley and Hart starting their dizzying ascent.
Every two to three miles were rest stations with lodging and meals for the tired traveler.
After a weary climb of ten miles a thick fog halted their advance by the Si Siang temple.
Describing their views Virgil Hart boasted not a spot on earth has as lush vegetation or
scenes more picturesque. There were multiple varieties of foliage, colors of every hue,
while insect, butterfly and bird pleased the eye and ear. A pool nearby was said to be
where Pu hsien was to have bathed his elephant during his sojourn on the mountain.

As evening light faded and the cool air was keenly felt, a charcoal fire was lit for the
guests. Fortified by hot coffee the next morning the travelers struck out for the final
stage of the climb. While they rested on a narrow ridge one could see the mighty Min
River some forty miles distant, and to the south were majestic snow covered mountains
of the Thibet frontier. Observing the lowei in rapt gaze, a priest exclaimed the lofty
peaks were thirty days journey by foot. After several hours of further climbing they
reached a tunnel with words inscribed above, “One Step from Heaven”. Excited
ascending travelers hurried along while descending ones' faces showed the mark of
contentment. They reached the summit temple at the close of the second day, tired
though exultant by their efforts.

Little rest was afforded by excited guests loudly conversing or immersed in opium
smoking, eager for the coming day. While exploring the summit the next day it was
noted their accommodations were just footsteps away from a cliff with an uninterrupted
fall of one mile. The weather was most unpredictable with a cloudless sky, rays of
scorching sun one moment, and then enveloped by a dense mist that rose from the gulfs
below as lightning bolts were discharging beneath them rather than from above. From a
head-rock by the precipice the pilgrims were rewarded with the “Glory of Buddha”. Into
the depths come daily the parading clouds from north to south with not a peak exposed as
the gauze shrouded mists rise until the cliffs are mirrored within the bright white walls.
As the observer is standing by the rock edge with the sun shining on them, a shadow will
appear away on the clouds with an exceedingly bright halo cast around it. Changing in
size and illumination as the clouds dance about. Stretch forth your hands and the
shadowed image does likewise as the mists thicken and rise further, and the “Glory”
disappears. While caught in this trance pilgrims intentionally or not throw themselves
over the abyss. Many are fixated on the image unconcerned with their surroundings,
causing many to perish prematurely. The giddiness one feels to observe such a natural
aureola phenomenon causes one to inadvertently advance, unaware of the seriousness of
these repercussions. Adam’s Peak in Ceylon and the Spectre of the Brocken in the Hartz
Mountains share a similar occurrence. The devout Buddhist holds the manifestation of
the Buddha’s spiritual presence to be an object of veneration and worship.

The two missionaries spent ten days on the summit slopes of Mt. Omei and one day the
spirit of adventure had them following a lumberman’s trail zigzagging down the south
slope of the crag. Having scarcely a foothold on the rocks they at times stepped onto
half-decayed sticks mixed with earth banked up against the eroded rock surface, with
below only yawning chasms. They arrived at a ledge where a ladder’s other end was yet
another ledge that sloped downwards for several hundred feet. Serious personal
reflection was debated as to the commitment required to continue as the path grew worse
with every step. Finally two logs were spiked together with notches hacked out for foot-
holds, and Hart felt ashamed when encountering two lumberman yoked with three planks
each, fourteen feet long, one foot wide and two inches thick. The return trip had them
pulling along where those men sauntered around the obstacles with ease. Upon arrival at
the lumberman’s forest they enjoyed an hour of unalloyed bliss, with three of the
botanical specimens found to be first discoveries.

Virgil Hart’s room at the summit temple opened out into a courtyard where gods were
enthroned. One morning as he emerged two pilgrims who were prostrating themselves
before the idols, observed the lowei. Never had they seen an image as such before in
their lives. Turning quickly from their idols they fell to their knees knocking their heads
on the floor saying "O-mi-to-fu, O-mi-to-fu; A-mi-ta Buddha-A-mi-ta Buddha!” Such

“benighted souls!” How the missionary’s heart went out to the devout vainly groping
after peace and comfort. As one Omei monk said “I feel for the door, but can’t find it”.

Dr. Virgil Hart & Wei Ching-Abbot of Mt. Omei

XVIII "For Canada"

In mid August, 1887, they left Mt. Omei and a few days by boat returned them to their
point of origin, Chunking, where Mr. Caddy was winning over the hearts and minds of
the people and officials of this city. Virgil Hart’s nemesis malaria reappeared in a most

virulent form and he decided the stalled trip back stateside was long overdue. The down-
river trip was exceedingly difficult and dangerous due to an already swollen river having
generous additions of rain. Many a wreck floated by with a kind of provenance assuring
grief would not strike their own. Passing through Wind-Box Gorge the current caught
the craft and sent it spinning like a top towards sharp rising rocks they barely grazed. “I
cannot think of anything more exciting recalls Virgil Hart....one ascent and descent is
enough thrills for a lifetime”.

While on shore in the same gorge Mr. Morley almost lost his life while handing out
literature. A ruffian dressed only in a loin-cloth snatched it away and when Mr. Morley
attempted to retrieve it was grabbed about the neck and pulled into some deep swift
flowing current. A struggle ensued with the lowei receiving the brunt of it while
underwater: resorting to every trick he could think of to shake off his assailant, but the
man was equally versed in the art of submersion too. When nearly exhausted he finally
had the man relinquish his hold, reaching shore more dead than alive. The ruffian was
quickly apprehended, arrested by the officials and severely punished. A large supply of
fowl and vegetables were offered as consolations to Mr. Morley and did much to mollify
his feelings of the circumstance.

Virgil Hart made it to Kiukiang in time for the annual Central China Mission meeting and
in December, 1887, sailed from Shanghai to San Francisco. Five weeks later he reunited
with his family in Canada, who were staying with relatives of Adeline. His first few
months on furlough were spent preparing his first book for publication, Western China, A
Journey to the Great Buddhist Centre of Mount Omei. While engaged in mission work
he was busy taking copious notes of all he had seen and might be of interest to those in
the west. A reviewer from the New York Tribune wrote,” It was graphic, picturesque and
extremely interesting; a fresh, bright, and really interesting book of travels”. A little later
his second book debuted of a popular treatment of salient features of Confucianism
called, "The Temple and the Sage”. In 1888, Virgil Hart was made a member of the
Royal Asiatic Society for his literary work and Chinese scholarship work whose
distinction rewarded him greatly. Also in that year his former Alma-Mater conferred the
title Doctor of Divinity.

The complications of severe strain coupled with the responsibilities assumed and
requested took a toll on his constitution, making evident the normal furlough of one year
would not suffice to restore him back to health. In 1889, under the advice of his
physician, Virgil Hart resigned as superintendent of the central and west China missions,
much to the regret of his many friends and colleagues. He spent part of a year relocating
his family from Canada to upstate New York and undertook the position of Mission
Secretary of the Christian Alliance, but this work was too demanding and distracting

from his goal of returning to China. The Methodist Missions of Canada had but one
station in Asia located in Japan, and was aching to put up more, yet the location was
elusive; the West Indies, Palestine or even China was considered. Several men who were
soon to finish medical school had volunteered their services upon graduation, but there
was no administrator yet coming forward to assume the position. In 1890, a resolution
was drawn up to have a mission station ready by 1891 and donations came pouring in.

Similar resolutions were also made by the Woman’s Missionary society with a call for
volunteers. With these measures past came the decision of where to locate it. The Rev.
Wakefield had many conversations about it with Dr. Hart and early on he suggested
without reservation Szechwan, with its teeming masses that was almost an empire to
itself and presently only two protestant stations were there and in Chunking. In February
of 1891, Dr. Hart's recommendation of the capital city of Chengtu was accepted. During
the same meeting it was proposed by a member that Dr.Virgil Hart with his decades of
experience and thorough knowledge of its customs and language would be the ideal
candidate to head this contingency. After several days of consideration he accepted on
condition it was approved by the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States.

XIX "The First Contingent"

Dr. Hart looked at this appointment as a tremendous opportunity, as he first went to
China as a mission representative for the United States, now he was returning to
represent Canada, in a vital part of the country that was devoid of such important work.
He did not realize at the time how valuable his short yet full experience in Szechwan to
re-establish the Chunking mission would be to pave the way for his return. Dr. Hart was
urged to return to his former post, but resigned for health reasons while doing work for
the cause at home. “Now I am to lead forth a contingent to the very place where I left off
my previous work... Who knows what the future will behold?

The band of missionaries the Canadian Society put together for West China was one of
long veteran service committed to the advancement of the cause, including Dr. and Mrs.
Hart and their daughter Estella. Several months time elapsed from the time the board had
made their final decisions and when the missionaries would leave providing ample time
to solicit donations for the mission’s hospital, girl’s boarding school and residences from
the many Christian conferences being held along the eastern seaboard that summer.
When ready to make sail, Dr. Hart was content to know the funds to build, staff and
supply the station were in his pocket. A farewell service at the Elm Street Church in
Toronto was held on September, 1 1891; with all missionaries reading words to be

remembered by after the sermon was read. A issue of God-speed was harked by the
congregation prior to the dismissal of the crowd. As the party moved towards port more
donations were collected at the train stops as word of their coming preceded their arrival.
In London large congregations filled Queen Avenue Church to listen to the Rev. David
Hill of the Hankow mission describe life in China.

Besides the money raised for the cause, “the spirit of the occasion manifested by the
people of the city”, was reason for his personal celebration. During three days in Victoria
he addressed a large gathering of Chinese who vied with one another to manifest their
good will and generosity. They gave a reception in honor of the missionaries followed by
a sumptuous repast. A good many of them came to bid the group adieu with a fresh
round of new donations to be added to the swelling pile already amassed.

“The Empress of China” lifted anchor and the mooring ropes stored for the trip to Japan.
They stopped in Hakodate to re-bunk the coal beds and later, made a two day port call at
the base of a living volcano in Yokohama. The missionaries did sight-seeing, were
entertained and gave speeches about their of intended purpose. Three years later Dr. Hart
received a letter from one former speech attendee who desired to serve the mission in
Chengtu. The group was in Kioto enjoying breakfast when the building began to sway
uncontrollably and if quick thinking had not prevailed in seeking escape to safety out in
the open, all would have been crushed by the collapsing chimney that splintered the table,
shattered the tableware and left the contents of breakfast scattered and mixed with the
brick, mortar, plaster and wood brought down in its wake. An aftershock was released
during a service a short time later with five hundred students leaping upon the benches
and rushing the doors. Order was quickly restored and continued where they had left off.

Coal bunking a ship Mt. Fuji from Hakone
Lake

Walking through the streets afterwards, Dr. Hart saw the demolished homes rendering its
occupants homeless and railroad bridges yanked from their foundations, with gaps and

open crevices some miles in length. This was a trifle compared to the city they left just
two days before feeling the brunt of the great shake, with ten thousand people dead
and another near twenty thousand injured, terming the city “Wiped out”. Earthquakes
and eruptions have contributed much to Japans wondrous beauty.

After two very eventful weeks spent in Japan the missionaries landed in Shanghai on the
3rd of November. They had heard nasty rumors about the unraveling state of central
China with the destruction of several missions and killing of foreign and native workers.
The rumors were confirmed upon arrival. A tidal wave of anti-foreigner sentiments
originating from the interiors of Hunan broke with full force along the lower reaches of
the Yangtze. Shanghai was found to be a city of refugees, with missionaries hailing from
all parts of the Middle Kingdom waiting for the violence to subside before returning to
their respective fields. The three months spent in Shanghai were were beneficial for the
newcomers who began learning the tonal language from Chinese teachers, and gleaning
words of wisdom from missionaries with years of experience underneath their belts. A
romantic spark became a marriage between two young hearts with Dr. Hart officiating,
with the Woman’s Society coming to the aid in matters matrimonial, a precedent that
would soon be needed more as the years progressed.

The Canadian missionaries packed into the steamer on the 16th of February 1892, minus
Adeline and Stella Hart, with one not having recovered from a serious fall. As the
steamer chugged past the cities where Dr. Hart had a major hand in their contributions of
development, he reflected how each one like a child was conceived, born and raised to
have turned into productive members of the communities they resided in. Memories
flooded his mind of times past, most good, some bad, with the outcome always favorable
to his agenda. As the vessel made landings to ports along the way, an old familiar face
would cross the plank to shake his hand and recall a tale or two with the weather worn,
time tested sage.

The steamer made a leisure tack up the Yangtze as Dr. Hart arrived in Ichang ahead of it
to contract the boats required to continue their course unabated. The officers of the ship
were hardly ever seen except on schedule like clockwork to inspect the operation of the
craft. If it were not for the faithful Chinese crew the ship would have spiraled to a state
of utter discombobulation, with the passengers left to fend for themselves. With
surprising little trouble Dr. Hart was able to arrange two stout craft, but the test of wills
was the delayed arrival of the missionaries who were held up a week by getting beached
on a sandbar, thus a normal trip of two days ended up taking eleven. When the junks at
Ichang finally hoisted their sails, it was the 16th of March, leaving behind the easily
accessible means of communication and transportation to the western world.

Each day brought its share of thrills. A tale to share is when a Chinese boat captain
defied the long line of upstream boats waiting their turns, and taking advantage of a
breeze that allowed him to steer into the eddy of a downstream boat to tack past the
others. Taunts and screams of anger were shot like cannon balls at the offending craft.
They began to flail long bamboo poles down on the slower boats that required their poles
to remain fast or lose the slow advance made going up the river. The excitement reached
a crescendo when a man with axe in hand leaped onto the passing boat and proceeded to
cleave a man in two from the base of his back. Those on shore whose yelling was for
which party was questionable, was soon made apparent when their missiles of stones
began hitting the targeted, offending boat. When the situation looked hopeless for the
crew and craft, Dr. Hart appeared and all activity ceased. He managed to parley the
captain into returning to the back of the line in order to restore the peace.

Eight days out of Ichang a memorable incident etched a dark shadow on every-one's
soul. A man, dying from addiction to opium, was stretched out over a ledge not far
above the waterline so nature could take its course. On deck the remaining crew burned
incense, beat gongs and cymbals as fire-crackers exploded, in marked staccato similar to
a soldier receiving a twenty-one gun salute, to ward off the demons and evil spirits rising
out of the water to snatch the life and drag it down into the depths. When the
missionaries learned too late the fate of the afflicted, they comforted the man as long as
the captain stalled the boat’s progress.

Afterward, ignoring the man's cause of death, the crew again was huddled on a mat
wrapped around their oil lamp, inhaling from a bamboo pipe the viper’s curse that slowly
engulfs the soul of those too weak to resist its temptation. The next day at port, Dr. Hart
went to the Yamen to buy a small plot of land and paid a China-man handsomely to inter
the body. Would it still be there or already washed away? Would the official and laborer
follow through on their commitment, knowing perfectly well there is no way of
verification if said acts were carried out? These are questions which only the cosmos can
answer.

The Canadians were most relieved when they reached Chunking after nearly a month
aboard the two narrow ships. The Canadians' experiences were flights of fancy turned
into personal reality; none ever dreamed he would be the lead celebrity in their own
action picture film. Thus was reached the mid-point between Ichang and Chunking and
though the river Min flowed in the opposite direction, the rest was going to be much
smoother sailing than when they plied the Yangtze Gorges.

In the stretch of the river where it connected with the Yangtze just below Kaiting, many
fishermen still use bamboo skiffs and employ cormorants, tied at the neck so as not to
swallow their haul, which dive into the depths to catch the fish. They are rewarded with
a piece or two of the prey they snatched. Facing their beaks to the sky as they hurl these
chunks down their throats once freed of the tie. The birds seem to enjoy the
companionship of their handlers and the limited dry space afforded them on the deck.
"Lounging on their long necks, wings outstretched, they slowly rise to shake off the
beads of water accumulated on their bodies". The grooming of their feathers by man is
similar to what a dog receives when being brushed. To watch a skiff being walked by its
native owner from one pond to the next, supported by his shoulders underneath, with the
length of pole occupied above by a row of birds is most interesting.

The clumsy cormorant appears rather daft on land, yet when wing meets water, its grace
underneath is a skill not to be equaled. "As I stood gazing upon the birds a crowd of boys
were inspecting me and dumbfounded when I spoke to them in their native tongue. Next
came volleys of the queerest inquiries; given the once-over by a middle-aged man he
confidently said I was a century old. Imagine my ego after told, to be "a centurion being
'straight and fat, can walk over thirty miles a day, jump and hop for as long as the
youngest of children at the mission', to be assumed for a man almost twice my age. How
surprised he felt when finding out he was five years my senior, gasping for a response
that came out 'Well, your beard is white'. The gullible would believe me if I told them I
was two hundred, with two perplexed souls convinced I was the Buddha incarnate
himself back on Mt. Omei. Another with more gaps than teeth set in a big mouth with
dark skin and short braid wound tightly about his head asked, 'How far is it and how do
you get there?' When I told him the distance from Szechwan to Shanghai which is as
foreign to them as the U.S., he scoffed at such a number. Informing him he would need
to add myriads of li more to reach the western shores of North America assured him I
knew nothing of what I was talking about. The lack of knowledge never ceases to amaze
or the indifference to it. What decisions are made about China’s coast or plain, will not
reach the province of Szechwan. They are concerned only about staple and bowl,

The Middle Kingdom's Western Medical Disciples By Stanley Crawford

The Middle Kingdom's Western Medical Disciples By Stanley Crawford

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