American missionary doctor Edward Lydston Bliss rides a mule on his way to see patients in Shaowu, Fujian province, in the 1890s.[Photo provided to China Daily]
American missionary doctor Edward Lydston Bliss landed in China in 1892, and spent the next 40 years in Shaowu, a remote mountainous area in Fujian province, treating the sick and helping build a hospital.
On June 28 last year, President Xi Jinping, in a congratulatory message to the "Bond with Kuliang: 2023 China-US People-to-People Friendship Forum", noted the fact that the last words of Bliss before death were "I love the Chinese".
One year later, on June 28, 2024, an exhibition dedicated to Bliss officially opened to the public in Shaowu.
Bliss's granddaughter Anne Bliss Mascolino was unable to attend the event due to personal reasons, but she thanked everyone for honoring her grandfather.
"What an honor! And so beautifully done!" she wrote in a message to another American guest who was present at the brand new exhibition hall.
Edward Bliss was born in Newburyport on the northern coast of Massachusetts in 1865. In the 1890s, the young Bliss earned his doctorate from Yale School of Medicine.
But instead of practicing medicine in the United States, he chose to travel to faraway China and serve the people as a doctor, because he believed that in the not too distant future, China will regain its rightful place on the global stage and spread its influence worldwide.
In the winter of 1892, Bliss sailed through the Pacific Ocean to reach Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province.
After a short rest, he traveled by ship up the Minjiang River in Fujian and arrived at Shaowu three weeks later in January 1893.
Bliss gave himself the Chinese name Fu Yihua — Fu means "happiness", and Yihua "be helpful to China".
Edward Bliss and his wife May Bortz in their advanced age.[Photo provided to China Daily]
He realized that learning the Chinese language was necessary to work in China, and hired a Chinese teacher as soon as he arrived in Shaowu. He learned not only standard Chinese but the Shaowu dialect as well.
Soon he was able to greet patients in broken Shaowu dialect and enquire about their ailment.
Back in the 1890s, people in the mountainous area of northern Fujian, in most regions of China for that matter, had little knowledge about Western medicine. To convince people that it is a modern form of medical treatment, Bliss had to patiently explain a lot of things to them. He had to use his special skills and persuasive power to convince the locals of the effectiveness of Western medicine, in order to save people's lives.
Two months after Bliss arrived in Shaowu, a woman fell seriously ill following a difficult labor. Bliss had to perform a surgery to save the woman's life. When he walked out of the house after packing up his medical instruments and medicines, he found some local people bowing to thank him.
A few days later, Bliss rode a mule up a mountain for several hours to help a pregnant woman with a difficult labor. The woman's father, an old man in his seventies, was deeply moved, and gifted a big fat duck to Bliss three weeks later.
"In the villages of Shaowu, it (the big fat duck) was a very valuable asset and a sincere present," said Cai Youqun, former deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Shaowu Municipal People's Congress and an expert in Shaowu's history.
"Dr Bliss was not just an expert in delivering babies. He had his own methodology in treating people suffering from diseases such as malaria," Cai told the Fujian Daily. In this way, he built his career and reputation, and convinced the local residents of the effectiveness of Western medicine.
As a result, many people from the neighboring counties and villages traveled on foot to Shaowu to avail of Bliss's services, with some coming from as far as Lichuan in the adjacent Jiangxi province after crossing several mountains on the way.
Foreign and Chinese families enjoy afternoon tea together in Shaowu.[Photo provided to China Daily]
Preach and teach is the motto
Bliss's clinic received on average 70 patients a day, sometimes twice that number a day. Aside from treating malaria and rashes, he also performed cataract and dental surgeries.
In order to improve the conditions of the clinic, Bliss used his own earnings and collected funds to build the first Western medicine hospital in Shaowu in 1898. The hospital is now called the Shaowu General Hospital, the best hospital in the area.
Chen Zewen, deputy secretary of the hospital's Party committee, said "the history of this hospital starts with Dr Bliss". Bliss had a profound impact on the development of medical care in Shaowu. He taught as many Chinese people as possible medical skills. He took on a group of students and taught them pharmacology and anatomy, in addition to training them in basic nursing.
Feng Yizhong, an 83-year-old Shaowu resident, said his grandfather, Feng Jinqi, had a painful ulcer on his ankle that had spread close to the bone after suffering an injury. The ulcer was fully cured thanks to Bliss's careful treatment. Since Feng Jinqi could not afford to pay for his treatment, he began working for Bliss as a gardener, while also doing some other chores.
Bliss observed Feng Jinqi closely, and was impressed by his intelligence, diligence and kindness. He took him in as an apprentice.
Feng Jinqi completed his studies and, with help from Bliss, built Shaowu's first Western medicine hospital, which was run by the local people, in 1924.
"My grandmother told me that Dr Bliss never forgot to comfort the patients he treated, telling them not to worry because everything would be alright," Feng Yizhong said, adding that "Bliss even treated patients for free".
Young Edward Bliss.[Photo provided to China Daily]
Pioneer of dairy farming
During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the infant mortality was high in Shaowu due mainly to malnutrition and unhygienic feeding habits. Bliss prescribed infants cow milk, but milk was not easily available in Shaowu.
So he began rearing cattle in 1913. The cattle barn, complete with the wooden structure, has been well maintained till now. "This is where Dr Bliss kept the cattle. The breeds were introduced from abroad," said Feng Yixin, another grandson of Bliss's apprentice Feng Jinqi.
Bliss hired a local man called Ao Xila to help him herd the cows. Ao Xila's son Ao Guohe, 84, who grew up drinking cow milk, said Bliss trusted his father and taught him how to take care of cattle and differentiate between breeds.
Narrating the story of Bliss and his father, Ao Guohe said that when a massive flood hit Shaowu one summer, sweeping away a large number of animals and people's belongings, his father jumped into the gushing stream of water to save about a dozen cows.
Later, with the joint efforts of Bliss and the local people, the dairy business gradually started making profits. By 1920, the number of local households with cows had increased from three to seven, with the number of cows increasing significantly.
"Because of the remarkable health-enhancing effects of milk, the dairy industry flourished in Shaowu," said Cai Youqun, the local history expert.
One of the toughest challenges in raising cows is the fight against rinderpest, and Bliss tried every possible means to prevent a rinderpest outbreak.
He traveled to big cities such as Shanghai and Nanjing, consulting with and seeking the advice of dairy farmers, veterinarians and professors on how to tackle rinderpest. He even used goat serum and rabbit serum to tackle rinderpest.
After a slew of experiments, he developed his own prescription for immunization against rinderpest.
"While reading about Shaowu, I came across many articles on him. His dedication, high ethical standards and outstanding medical techniques won him the respect and trust of the people," Cai said.
"The local people paid tributes and expressed their gratitude to Bliss. Even after growing old, they kept retelling Bliss's stories to their grandchildren," he said.
The former residence of Edward Bliss and May Bortz on the Shaowu No 4 Middle School campus.[Photo provided to China Daily]
Strong bond with Kuliang
Kuliang, a summer retreat on the outskirts of Fuzhou, has been a popular tourist destination for both locals and foreigners for over a century.
The town, which turns emerald green in summer, had a special place in Bliss's life, even though he spent most of his time in Shaowu, because it is in Kuliang that he met the love of his life and spent some wonderful time with his family.
In the summer of 1901, while on a vacation in Kuliang, Bliss met a young American woman. Her name was May Bortz.
To win May's heart, Bliss persuaded his close associates to fund the construction of a tennis court in Kuliang. Then he invited May to play tennis with him. Perhaps their love blossomed on the tennis court, and became one of the most romantic tales of Kuliang.
The two got married on Sept 22, 1902, following which May accompanied Bliss to Shaowu, where she worked as a teacher at a girls' high school and taught English at a boys' school.
In 1932, as times changed, Bliss left Shaowu and returned to the US. Although he could not return to China, he continued to love the country and its people till the end.
May too returned to the US, and in their later years, the couple lived in Boston, where Bliss's family gave them a room facing the west on the second floor. Bliss spent the rest of his life feeling happy, thinking the west-facing room brought him closer to China across the Pacific.
Members of a China-US exchange group visit an exhibition hall, dedicated to Edward Bliss, in Shaowu, Fujian province, on June 28.[Photo by Wang Xiaoyun/For China Daily]
Bliss passed away peacefully in his sleep on Jan 22, 1960. But his story has been passed down from generation to generation in Shaowu and Kuliang.
Bliss's youngest son, Edward Bliss Jr., has compiled his father's letters and conversations into a book titled Beyond The Stone Arches.
"China was my father's life," Edward Jr.wrote in the book's preface. The Chinese translation of the book was published by the Central Compilation and Translation Press in 2015.
But before that, in 2001, nearly 70 years after Bliss departed from China, his grandchildren traveled from the US to Shaowu to visit the places their grandfather had lived and worked in during his 40 years in China.
Shaowu residents still refer to Bliss as "Mr Fu" with respect and awe, and many edifices in Shaowu and Kuliang remind people of Bliss. For instance, when you enter the Shaowu No 4 Middle School, the first thing you see is the former residence of Bliss and May — a beautiful Western-style building the couple built in 1906.
The two large banyan trees in front of this building appear vibrant with lush green leaves. "My grandfather and grandmother devoted almost their entire life to building a profound friendship with the Chinese people," said Anne, Bliss's granddaughter.
"More than a century has passed, and the world has undergone radical changes. What hasn't changed is that people can still have true friendship… with each other," Anne told the local media in Fujian earlier this year. Indeed, she spoke the truth, just like her granddad.
