[Some paragraph breaks added for ease of reading.]
Peiyang Women's Hospital
Tientsin, China.July 15th, 1935.
Dear Miss Turner:
Your good letter written on your way to Sweden. This is July 15th so you have been away more than a month already. My niece Vung Yuin has arrived at Shanghai. She will stay with her father for two weeks before coming to Tientsin. For long time I have not heard from you and I was little bit worried for fear you might not feel your good self. But your good letter relieved me of this worry. You had a very busy year. It seems to me that everywhere is in upset condition. No one feels certain of anything nowadays. Adjustment is being made often. You are indeed very ambitious to keep on going with your research work. I often say that American women are superior in everyway. [sic] They are more energetic than women of other lands. You would indeed have a very delightful summer of studies and happy companionship with your friends.
I shall try to get this letter to Leningrad. There are few physiologists going to the International Congress from China also. In recent years we are making some progress in scientific work also. The Chinese Medical Journal is to be found in most large libraries of American and European cities. All of our colleges are giving special attention to students in scientific training. In fact more students are taking up scientific courses than other courses. Government is giving subsidy to private institutions for promotion of better scientific training to students. Most large universities are offering fellwoship [sic] for graduate studies along scientific subjects. Indeed China is anxious to put every reorganization on a scientific basis. We are also getting radio minded for everybody is interested in radio. Children are getting air minded for they are taking [sic] about air planes and every boy wants to be a pilot. All this speaks of the recent progress of our country. We have made more progress in last few years than the last two centuries. Yet in comparison to America we are indeed behind times. I often say if we should work day and night without stop for one hundred years we would not be able to catch up with America in her progress. This means that we should work doubly hard all the time.
Japan has threatened us again with her sword recently. China complied to every demand without making a fuss. This means that we are in such a weakened condition that we have not the strength to resist. It looks as if we are cowards but I think we have acted wisely. We must devote all our time to construction and not to destruction[.] For the present we must be humble and do what we can for our country and neglect what we consider humiliation. But soon or late Japan is going to find fault with China again and will probably want to take over all North China. Japan is far advanced in war preparations than China that the former can crush the latter in one week. Today fighting is all air work. When we know it would be defeat for us it would be foolish to try.
China must must [sic] devote her time to solve her problems of ignorance, poverty, better sanitary condition, popular education, better means of communication, improvement of her home products, reorganization of her economical and financial systems etc. China is in suffering for we have been a people without a chance for popular education for some two hundred sixty years under Manchu Government when other nations have made their progress. We have survived times and times and we will survive again if we can have a chance to solve our problems. China's progress seems slow for the mass of people is too large for China. China is actually not producing enough food food [sic] for her people to say nothing of clothing and building material. We need scientific farming. We have made mistakes in the past by sending students abroad to study histoy [sic] literature, phylosophy [sic] etc. From now on we must give attention to science that will help us materially also.
Since May the first I have been chosen by the city mayor to be the director of Tientsin Infants Asylum. The latter place has been under care of men for one hundred fifty years. This is the first time in the history of Tientsin to have a woman in a government position. The mayor of the city wanted a woman to take this work as he said it is a woman's job. There are about one hundred some unwanted girls in this home raging from eighteen to few days old.
You have no idea what a poor sanitary condition the home was in. My first month I had to fight against measels [sic] and diphtheria, my second month was against meningitis. The home had a man doctor who did nothing but took his monthly salary as his side dish. Politics is politics everywhere in the world. The city has spent larg[e] sums of money for these poor children but these children are not in condition as they should be. Money has been wrongly spent and misused. I cannot begin to tell you what sweeping I have done these past two months. I cleared the place of useless men and women who were there good for nothing. I actually fired thirty nine people within these two months.
Infant mortality has been extremely high for these men knew nothing of infant feeding. These men were there becuase [sic] they got in by politics. They have spent money for themselves instead for these children. The result is that these children are in very poor physical condition. It would take me sometimes to put them in good shape and gradually I am doing it. with this added responsibility I am busier than ever. This experience is good for I am able to carry out my experiemnt [sic] in feeding on these children. I have worked out simple Chinese diets which would be in right proportion for different elements and required calories for different age groups.
At the same time a country as poor as China we must not increase household expenditure. I have a graduate nurse who is ehlping [sic] me to form a class for nurse maids. The older girls will be taught to take care of younger children and babies. I am trying to make this institution like a home. My greatest problem is to attack tuberculosis of glandular and skin types. The old building so lacking in sunshine and air has been torn down and a new one story sunny building is in process of building. Every room is facing southern exposure now. This new building will take care of forty children. After a year or so when we have more money we would tear down other old buildings and build better type in their places. Evan [sic] within these two months I ca[n] see improvement with these children un der [sic] my administration. Everybody in the city of Tientsin is happy over the fact that I have been chosen to reorganize this institution.
This letter has been written by gaps so my thoughts are not in connected form. But anyway you would know what I am doing in my work. Hospital is going on as usual. Although we do not receive any help from the city yet this is getting to be the best managed hospital of the city. Soon we shall organize a division for men for they have saked [sic] us to do so. We have srated [sic] clinics for men recently. As time goes on we shall make this hospital a general hospital. The work for wmen [sic] and children is so famaous [sic] that we have patients from every part of Tientsin city and surrounding districts. The work for men is new and we are going ahead to do what we can for them. We have a number of young men doctors who have had exce[l]lent training and who are anxious for experience. When new X ray is installed our hospital will be able to do more extensive work. Our laboratory is getting to be popular for we are doing work for a number of ourside [sic] doctors already.
Mary Jean and Abby have gone to beach. We are having a large household this summer. Their sister Vung Yuin and four older brothers are all at beach. My two girls are getting tall and big. Your namesake is good in everyway except she would not use her hands very much. She hates writing and drawing. It has been a real problem to teach her writing for Chinese characters are rather complicated and it has been her task to learn writing. Her memory so so qucik [sic] and retentive that no other child in her class can beat her. She will enter fourth grade this fall. I am thinking of taking her out of school for a year and she [sic] what she will do with a tutor in writing and drawing. Mary Jean is going to be an all round girl as I see now. She is a young lady and she takes care of herself well. She has been second in her class of twenty this past year. Abby has been the eighth of her class among thirty three children. Two girls are very diffenert [sic] from each other.
I shall read about the International Congress thru our papers. I am sure that you would have a very profitable time at Leningrad. Russia is getting nearer to us for recently Mei Lan Fong there to act. He was in Moscow and Leningard. [sic] I do wish that sometime in the near future that you would arrange to visit China and see for yourself our changes and progress. I want you to see our work which you have a great share. As a teacher you have given me inspiration. As a friend you have given me courage. My success owes much to you and my other professors at Michigan University. After all life would be so diffenert [sic] if I did not have the training. So I always maintain that education is the key to life. For this very reason I have tried in my small way to help as many as possible to get a college education. This article will interest you. [no longer with the letter] The writer of this article went to America with me on the same boat 1914. She is a writer today. Her book on Modern History is being used almost all over China in our high schools. I close this letter to you with much love from all of us.
Yours lovingly,
Me-Iung Ting.