"Able to do things which they have never dreamed": Shi Meiyu's vision of nursing in early twentieth century China

Abstract

This essay explores the writings of Shi Meiyu, a Chinese woman medical missionary, concerning the nursing school she ran in Jiujiang, China from 1896 to 1920. During this period, in both the writings of Western missionaries and Chinese reformers, images of sick Chinese women were frequently used to condemn many aspects of Chinese society. My essay looks at the ways that Shi Meiyu, in her discussions of the health of Chinese women, shifted the focus to a vision of Chinese women as skilled healers. I also explore Shi's search for the funding to adapt her nursing school to the increasing emphasis on <<scientific>> medicine.