Friendship Spanning Two Centuries Between China and Canada

Xinchang， in Dayi County of Chengdu， Sichuan Province， is a beautiful town with quaint residential houses， winding corridors， verdant trees， stone bridges and rippling streams. In June， it greeted a 26-member delegation of descendants of Canadian friends on a “home coming” visit， the fifth of its kind.

The Chinese and Canadian Governments designated 2013 as the China-Canada Year of Culture to deepen mutual understanding between the two peoples and enhance friendship.

This included “Welcoming Canadian Friends Returning Home” and the opening ceremony of the Museum of Old Historical Photos on June 11 in Xinchang， jointly sponsored by the Si- chuan Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries（SIFA）， the Chengdu Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries （CMPAFFC）， the Dayi County Committee of the CPC， Dayi County Government， the Canadian Embassy in China and the Canadian Consulate General in Chongqing； it was supported by the CPAFFC and the China Society for People’s Friendship Studies （CSPFS）.

The opening ceremony was held in the square in front of the museum. Sarah Taylor， Minister-Counselor of the Canadian Embassy in Beijing， and her party and representatives of the CSPFS and the Beijing Peace World Painting and Calligraphy Academy attended the ceremony.

Fu Yonglin， Vice Mayor of Chengdu， and Chen Lizhang， County Magistrate of Dayi， as well as many Xinchang residents warmly welcomed the Canadian friends. It was a very warm day with bright sunshine， but what warmed people even more was the deep friendship that emerged.

The people of Xinchang performed traditional programs such as Yao-mei （youngest sister） lantern dance， Niuer （calf） lantern dance， lion lantern dance， dragon dance and folk wedding ceremony， and also presented dough figurines， sugar paintings and paper-cuts to visitors.

In 1891， several Canadians set out from Vancouver to cross the ocean on a long journey to Sichuan Province to run hospitals and schools and disseminate modern civilization. Their children and even grandchildren who were born and grew up in Sichuan continued to engage in medical， educational and charitable work and forged profound friendship with the Chinese people.

Among them were Dr. O. L. Kilborn， C.W. Service and Ashley Woodward Lindesay， who set up schools and hospitals， bringing advanced science and technology to China. There were also James Endicott， Earl Willmott and William Small， who went deep among the Chinese people， understood and sympathized with them and supported their War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the cause of liberation.

They were cordially received by Mao Zedong， Zhou Enlai and other Chinese leaders of the older generation， and some， including Endicott and Willmott， received the honorary title of Friendship Ambassador by the CPAFFC. Among the members of this delegation were two granddaughters of Endicott and a granddaughter of Willmott.

A century ago， these Canadians not only lived and worked in Sichuan， but also took a great number of photos that are now precious historical records for studying modern Chinese history. To preserve these memories， and to review the past to understand the present， the Dayi County Government built the Museum of Old Historical Photos. There are over 1，000 photographs on display and even the cameras they used.

The museum consists of an introduction hall and four sections. In the first section are photos showing the life and work of Canadians in Chengdu and how they traveled extensively around Sichuan to spread Western learning， disseminate modern civilization and set up the West China Hospital and the West China Union University.

In the second section are photos about the culture， history， local conditions and customs and natural landscape of old Chengdu， Dujianyan， and the upper reaches of the Minjiang. In the third section are photos of students of the Canadian School， offering education kindergarten to high school， first built to solve the education problems of children of the Canadian volunteers in Sichuan. These photos show how the students studied in this special school， and the contributions to the development of Canada-China relationship made by them. The fourth section highlights how Chinese and Canadian volunteers underwent all kinds of difficulties and spent eight years to collect these old photos and organize the exhibition and “homecoming” activities.

The museum has not only recorded a century of the cultural exchanges between China and Canada， but also become a new tourist attraction in Xinchang.

Chen Lizhang said： “With the passing of time， memories have blurred， but the history is still clearly discernible. Three years ago， more than 500 old photos showing the history of that period found their ‘home’in Xinchang at an exhibition， serving as a new bridge for promoting friendly exchanges between China and Canada and raising the level of our county’s opening up.

“In the past three years， the historic moments fixed in these black and white images and the touching stories behind them moved us deeply， as well as every visitor， and these stories will be told far and wide.”

He went on to say that only two days before， he received an autographed letter from the Mayor of Owen Sound， a city in Southwestern Ontario. The Mayor expressed her wish to establish friendly and cooperative ties with Dayi County. Owen Sound is a city where Dr. Norman Bethune， a legendary doctor who died in the course of treating wounded Red Army soldiers in the 1930s， once studied and lived.

Phyllis Beverley Donaghy， daughter of Dr. Steward Allen， spoke on behalf of the delegation. She said， the members had been born in Chengdu， Chongqing， Zigong or Omei Mountain respectively， and there they had attended school and worked. The homecoming visit made them very excited.

Her parents came to Sichuan in 1929 with the hope of pursuing their dreams together with the Chinese people. They stayed for 22 years and contributed to China’s health care undertaking. Even on his deathbed， her father had said how he missed China and never felt regret for his work and life in Sichuan.

This was the third time she had returned “home”. She had seen for herself that the Chinese people and her Sichuan fellow-townsfolk had not forgotten them， and the friendship was passed on from generation to generation. This would have been a great consolation to her late father.

In her speech at the museum’s opening ceremony， Sarah Taylor extended her sincere thanks to the CPAFFC， SIFA and the CMPAFFC for their support to and organization of the activity， and to the Chinese volunteers for their years of effort and dedication to collecting the old photos and inviting Canadian friends to “return home”. She stressed that friendly contacts between the people were most precious.

When looking at the old photos， Canadian volunteers recalled their happy childhood. Marion Walker， granddaughter of Dr. Kilborn， founder of the West China Hospital—China’s first Western-style hospital—and the West China Union University， drew her daughter Barbara Lyn Anderson to a faded old photo and pointed at a small girl in the photo， saying， “This is me. I was six years old at that time.”

She told Wang Mingfeng， a correspondent of the overseas edition of the People’s Daily standing beside her， that， “I brought my daughter ‘home’， hoping Canada-China friendship will pass on from generation to generation”.

The granddaughter of Earl Willmott donated some old photos that had never been published.

The 97-year-old Isabel Crook， who has settled down in Beijing and who once taught in the Beijing Foreign Studies University， especially asked her sons Carl Crook and Michael Crook to present to the museum two books written by her about rural areas and farmers in northern China.

Marion Walker donated to the museum an oil painting The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River painted by her father， Lewis C Walmsley， the second principal of the Canadian School， in the 1930s.

Beth Leach， daughter of Professor A.F. Lutley， who worked in the West China Union University in the 1930s， donated a piece of well-preserved， exquisite hand-made embroidery of the Qing Dynasty.

David Spooner， son of Roy Spooner， once Dean of the Department of Chemistry of the West China Union University， donated a water color Dinghy on the Water painted by Mrs. Morse. He explained that Dr. and Mrs. William Reginald Morse came to China in 1914 and Dr. Morse had participated in the founding and developing the Medical School of the West China Union University and had worked there.

Later， he served as Dean of the Department of Medicine. Mrs. Morse was a painter and did many oil paintings. According to records， the couple left China in 1937 because of Dr. Morse’s poor health. Mrs. Morse passed away in 1959.

David Spooner also donated to the museum a clay toy figurine of a Chi-nese boy in traditional costume of the 1930s. He said his father Roy Spooner and Mother Kathleen came to Chengdu in 1931 and his father taught chemistry in the West China Union University. He was born in Chengdu in 1933.

He talked about the special meaning of the figurine. “This figurine was made by Dr. Marion Manly. When I was a child， it was already at my home. Dr. Marion Manley was born into a missionary’s family in 1898. Her parents Wilson Manly and Florence Manly came to China in 1893.

“Dr. Marion Manly grew up in Sichuan. After finishing her study in medicine in the United States， she came back to Chengdu as a medical missionary in 1925. When she saw the backward state of obstetrics in Chengdu， she founded the first school of midwifery in Sichuan—Jinyi School of Midwifery in Chengdu in 1931. Due to the war， our family left China in 1945.

“Most of my memories about Dr. Marion Manly came from talks with my parents. My parents described her as a very skilled doctor， and a lady with gentle disposition and full compassion. From the figurine she gave to my parents， it can be seen that she was also an artist. My family， living whether in China or Canada， has always kept this figurine.

“When I thought of China and saw the figurine， I began to do some research on Dr. Marion Manly’s life and found there was a very touching story between her and an old Chinese man named Hu Zhongyi living in Chongqing. Mr. Hu was born in Jinyi School of Midwifery in 1939.

“Not long after this baby left the hospital， he suffered from pneumonia and came back to the hospital for treatment. The baby’s illness grew worse. After the hospital treated him with the steam therapy， his condition began to take a favorable turn.

“But when a nurse was turning on the steam， an accident happened and the baby’s face was burnt and became deformed. Dr. Manly was shocked， and， to facilitate the treatment， she arranged for the baby’s parents to live with her in the hospital. She brought him up as her own son before he was discharged at the age of seven. You can read the book My Memory of Dr. Marion Manly written by Hu Zhongyi. I know that a friend of Mr. Hu has also written a book about Dr. Marion Manly Mother of Myriads of Babies in Chengdu.”

Many Canadian friends said they would continue to collect old photos， books and materials and donate them to the museum to make the museum become a window of cultural exchanges between China and Canada and a memorial hall with international influence.

David Crook said with emotion：“After seeing so many old photos that record that period of history in Xinchang， Dayi， I have learned more about the past and have become more interested in that period. These photos are older than me. ”

“When I look at them， I seem to enter another world. I am happy that these old photos have ‘settled down’in Xinchang and they have made this beautiful town our second home.”

Zhang Biao， chief adviser to the Old Photos Project Team and renowned calligrapher， said at the museum opening ceremony how much he was touched by these old photos that inspired him to spare no effort to support the activity of collecting them.

Xiang Suzhen， a member of the team， gave a briefing about the preparations for the exhibition： “Nine years have passed since Robert Edmonds， who was born in Zigong， proposed to hold an exhibition of the old photos during his visit to Sichuan in 2004. Over the past years， led by the team’s chief adviser Zhang Biao and feeling obliged and moved by the old photos， we have held six exhibitions， among which three were held in Beijing， published a large album Chengdu， My Home and organized four ‘Canadian friends returning home’ activities.”

“As a non-government volunteer team， we feel proud to participate in this great cause of carrying forward China-Canada friendship. We are willing to continue to do our part.”

Fu Yonglin， Vice Mayor of Chengdu， said， “We government officials often mention the importance of people-to-people contacts. To me， the old photo project is an example. The project created by those Canadian and Chinese personages who are devoted to work and full of enthusiasm will exert huge positive impact on the relationship between our two countries.”

Thanks to the unremitting efforts made by volunteers of the two countries， the museum has been founded. It carries over a century of friendship between the Chinese and Canadian people. We sincerely congratulate Dayi County on building the museum and its farsighted pioneering work and hope that more entities of this kind that reflect people-to-people friendship will be set up.