A missionary in China: Dr. Jessie McDonald

Abstract

This paper will explore the historical background and importance of the medical career of a missionary in China – Dr. Jessie McDonald. Christianity in China made its first appearance with the Nestorians in the seventh century, but its presence was not made permanent until the sixteenth century. Dr. J. McDonald was part of the China Inland Mission established in 1865 by British evangelist, James Hudson Taylor. Although not the only mission to enter into China this mission extended further inland and was arguably the earliest to fully embrace the Chinese people, their culture and language as part of its mission. Dr. Jessie McDonald was the first and only female surgeon of this mission when she arrived in China at the age of 26. She was charged with the task of establishing a much-needed women’s hospital in Kafeing, Honan. The dream that began in Vancouver as a young girl observing her mother tutor Chinese immigrants in English had come to fruition. Dr. J. McDonald would use her medical training in the treatment of dirt and delay in seeking treatment for eye problems and tumours, opium, suicide, along with Chinese culture and religion. Later in her career she would open a new hospital in Tali, Yunnan and finally a clinic in Paoshan on the Burma highway. Dr. J. McDonald would not leave China permanently until the entire China Inland Mission was pulled out in 1951. Having spent close to 40 years in China, Dr. J. McDonald had experienced the ending of the Manchu dynasty, civil war and revolution, the uprising of local warlords, a new Governor, Japanese invasion and finally a communist China. She was known in her time as an “intrepid medical pioneer” and has been called “the most formidable and effective of the modern missionaries.” In this essay, I will examine the nature and significance of Dr. J. McDonald’s practice utilizing both archival and secondary sources.