University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

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ANCIENT LIND OF CHINA ANCIENT LAND OF CHINA Oh ancient land of China, Four thousand years, the same, WVhose glory lay in wisdom, Whose scholars gave them fame 5 Oh China we all love thee, And pray that God may he Thy source of all true knowledge, Andlearning's deepest sea. Oh beautiful for rivers, A Rich plains and mountains vast, Whose voice of inspiration, Has sounded from the pastg Today, God calls thee, China, To stand with those who see, The problems of the future Have also need of thee. Though once thy gifted sages Had seen a light afar, They lost the purer radiance Of Christ, the Christmas starg His love, by faith illumed, His peace, awaiteth thee, To teach thee God, the Father, Whose truth sets all men free. May every gate be open, May every city wall Behold the new world vision, NVith Christ supreme o'er all. Lord God, raise for us leaders, That China strong may be, And thru thy Church triumphant, Attain to unity. -Margaret Dieter Sung to tune Materna

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12 'fTI-IE LINGUIST FOREWO RD. Perhaps only the newcomer would be so bold as to undertake the publication of a book with the avowed purpose of Thr: Linguist this year. The justification of the task must rest with our readers. To state the primary purpose specifically, it is to make articulate the first year's reactions of the resident student body of the Language School, to the conditions in Chinaias we find and understand them. And. in addition to this purpose it is hoped that this volume will furnish reminders of the many happy associations together. At the outset, we are mindful of the general unfairness of first impressions. The newcomer to any country enters, so to speak, by the back gate and is apt to see more, in proportion, of the unsavory conditions than one who is a long resident. It is rarely that the first year's resident comes to know the best features of a country. For this reason it is not the intention of the editorial staff to exaggerate many features of China that have been used in the past perhaps too often to arouse interest in the work for China. It is rather to give our readers glimpses of our visions of the fundamental forces that are at work or must be put to work in this period of renaissance in China. We may have undervalued some and overvalued others. Consequently The Linguist can in no wise compete with the works on China written by residents of long standing. Nor is it the intention that it should. It is only hoped that our first year's impressions will find a corresponding appreciation in the minds of thinking persons in the Home lands and will both arouse interest in and create friends for China at a time of her greatest need for guidance and counsel of true friends. The plan of the book is to make a brief survey ofthe several fields of endeavor in China coupled with a projection of the work to be done. as well as to givea close up of the activities of our first year at Language School. The subjects are listed in the table of contents. NVithout the full and generous cooperation of the entire student body this book would have been impossible, and the Editor wishes to take this opportunity to bespeak his lasting appreciation of the counsel, inspiration and assistance from the staff individually and from the Student body as a whole throughout the work of publishing The Linguist. In response to the call for material much more has come in than could possibly be included within the covers of this volume. And the selection has had to be made on the basis of representative articles as well as to length. For this generous response the Editor is very thankful. W. C. L.

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14 THE LINGUIST CHINESE MEDICINE THE ART OF HEALING IN ANCIENT CHINA. The history of the art of healing in China throws much light on the backward state of medicine. Going back to times of great antiquity, we find the record of Shen-nung1fB. C. 2737-2697j who is known as the father of Chinese medicine. He compiled a book giving the curative and toxic effects of a great number of herbs thus bringing together the first collection of medical knowledge in China of which we have any record. ' In the tenth century B. C. free clinics were established by govern- mental edict? The decree of Han Pinl A. D. made definite pro- visions for isolating cases oi contagious diseases in outhouses where they could be treated, thus anticipating the modern isolation hospital. Charity hospitals were founded at the time of Nan Tsi. Buddhism, after its introduction into China about 65 A. D.,- was very active in organizing Homes for the Sick which were managed by priests and nuns. These Homes continued until 845 A. D. when they were demolished in accordance with imperial decree and the Budd- hists compelled to return to private life. Following 985 A. D., governmental institutions were founded to care for the sick and provisions made in them for training practitioners of medicine. Hwa Teo, who lived at the time of the Three Kingdoms, was celebrated for his skill in surgery. .He meta tragic end at the hands of the ruler of one of the kingdoms because he advised trephin- ing the rulers skull forthe relief of an obstinate headache due ap- parently to ,intracranial disease. This eminent surgeon was credited with the performance of many successful surgical and medical measures. Unfortunately, his records were burned by the wife of his prison attendant and the knowledge that Hwa Teo attempted to hand' down to posterity was lost because of her superstitious fears. FACTORS CAUSING DEGENERATION OF CHINESE MEDICINE From these isolated instances, we see that, almost before Vlfestern medicine had its birth, Chinese medicine had made beginnings in most of the helds of medical endeavor. Yet none' of these movements survived to a healthy growth. Their degeneration was usually a matter of a few decades at the most. That this should have hap- pened was .inevitable when one considered the system under which they developed. A great part of the medical knowledge worked out by men of genius and observation was lost, or distorted due to the fact that such knowledge was handed down from father to son. Inevitably, superstition, magic rites, and folklore sayings crept in and soonf the merits of the original discovery were hidden under a mass of details which destroyed its value. The high ideal of medicine as a science for the good of society as a whole was not manifest in the practice of the native doctor. Naturally the lack of such ideals among the members of the profession precluded the possibility