NAME, DESIGNATION:
LIN QIAOZHI
DOB: 21st December, 1901 in Kó͘-lōng-sū (Gulangyu Island), Amoy (Xiamen), Fujian Province
DOD: 22nd April, 1983
CHINESE/PINYIN NAME:
林巧稚 / Lín Qiǎozhì
POJ (PE̍H-ŌE-JĪ ) NAME:
Lim Kah T'I
ANCESTRY: Minnan Hokkien from Xiamen
COUNTRY: Kó͘-lōng-sū (Gulangyu), Amoy (Xiamen), Fujian Province, China
CATEGORY: Medical - Gynaeocologists and Obstetricians
DESCRIPTIONS & ACHIEVEMENTS:
• Commonly known as
China’s "Doctor of Mercy"
• Dr. Lin Qiaozhi:
“Guardian Angel of Mothers, Babies”
•
Dr. Lin Qiaozhi was called “A Living Buddha" by a large number of women patients who received her care and treatment, many of whom named their babies after her
• The famous women of Chinese equivalent to the “FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE; also known as the 'Lady with the Lamp'” (Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale); or JOAN OF ARC (nick-named "The Maid of Orléans") or MOTHER THERESA (The Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. - Leader of Missionaries of Charity, Calcutta).
•
Dr. Lin Qiaozhi was called “A Living Buddha" by a large number of women patients who received her care and treatment, many of whom named their babies after her
• As an obstetrician, Dr. Lin Qiaozhi delivered over 50,000 babies in her 60 year career
•
Dr. Lin Qiaozhi (1901-1983): Pioneer in Modern China's Outstanding Gynaeocologists and Obstetricians.
• In 1929, she became the first female resident physician in Union Hospital's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
•
China’s Premier Li Peng, wrote an inscription for her that reads, "Forever cherish the memory of outstanding medical scientist, Lin Qiaozhi."
• In 2001, at the 100th anniversary celebration, officials unveiled a copper statue of the doctor, and announced “
The New Lin Qiaozhi Gynecological And Obstetrics Institute” at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (which made her a posthumous member in 1995).
• In 2001, many famous doctors, as well as prominent health officials and government leaders, gathered in Beijing to celebrate the 100th birthday of Ms. Lin Qiaozhi, a native of our own Gulangyu Islet (Amoy/Xiamen), and a great pioneer in modern China's gynecology and obstetrics.
• She had never married, but devoted her life to thousands of mothers and babies at the Beijing Union Medical College Hospital and, indirectly, to millions of women and children throughout China.
• To better appreciate this amazing lady's contributions to modern China, visit Kó͘-lōng-sū (Gulangyu Islet)'s “
Lin Qiaozhi Memorial Hall” (at Yu Garden, on Zhangzhou Road, beside Bright Moon Garden). This beautifully laid out little garden was built the year after Dr. Lin passed away, in 1984, and has a white marble statue of Dr. Lin in the garden. The Exhibition Room tells her life story. (Ref:
http://www.amoymagic.com/linqiaozhi.htm)
Lin Qiaozhi came from an educated Christian family in the cosmopolitan treaty port city of
Gulangyu in Fujian. Never married, she focused her education and career on saving the lives of mothers in childbirth, based at China's premier medical school and hospital -- Peking Union Medical School in Beijing.
Lin became the first woman hired as a resident physician in the PUMC hospital. In 1932, after she had served as a general resident physician for a year, PUMC sent her to Manchester Medical College and London Medical College's Gynecologic and Obstetric Hospital as a visiting scholar, and the following year to Vienna. In 1939, Lin went to Chicago University Medical School to continue her research. (She used the name Lim Kah T'I for research publications.) After she finished her study in 1940, she was granted honorary membership in several U.S. scientific associations, but she turned down offers to remain in the United States.
Upon return to PUMC,
Lin Qiaozhi became the first woman in China to be appointed director of a hospital department of obstetrics and gynecology. Other "firsts" for women were to follow in the 1950s, when she was appointed
vice-chairwoman of the Chinese Medical Association,
director of the new Beijing Maternity Hospital, and a deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.
She also was elected a representative to the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
In the 1970s, Lin served as a consultant to the
World Health Organization and vice- chairwoman of the
National Women's Federation.
Dr. Lin Qiaozhi is well-known & loved by Chinese people, from
China’s Premier Zhou Enlai and his wife down to the poorest commoners, from the 1940s through several years of illness before her death in 1983.
In fact, she was called a "
Living Buddha" by a large number of women patients who received her care and treatment, many of whom named their babies for her. While Lin Qiaozhi's devotion to her patients and brilliant medical skills were apparent to all, her lifelong Christian faith was largely unknown to most people, given the political situation of her time.
VIDEO CLIPS REF:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZzkSU3iXzk
SOURCE/REFERENCE:
http://www.bdcconline.net/en/stories/l/lin-qiaozhi.php
http://www.amoymagic.com/linqiaozhi.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_Qiaozhi
http://www.cpcchina.org/people/2011-08/ ... 064948.htm
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=XOG ... HI&f=false