Li Bi Cu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Li Bi Cu (born c. 1881)[1] was a Chinese medical doctor who studied in the United States and established hospitals in China.
Li Bi Cu was born in Putian, China. She had four brothers and one sister. When grown, she married Mr. Li, a Methodist minister. As a young woman, Li Bi Cu was a member of the first Epworth League ever established in China.[2][3][4]
Li began studying English in 1897 when she was sixteen years old.[1] She was sent to a mission school in Hongwa and later attended Folts Mission Institute in Herkimer[5] and then the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, graduating with high honors in 1905.[6]
In 1915, Li was on a train bound west from Chicago when it struck a laborer, injuring him severely. The man was brought aboard, and when an appeal for a doctor was made, Li offered her services. "Then was seen the strange combination of a Chinese Christian woman caring for an injured Slav in an American baggage car," a Kentucky newspaper observed in 1913. In China, Li gave "much of her time to educating district nurses so they can go into the homes of Chinese mothers and help them in the care of sick children," the paper said.[7][4]
In May 1912, Li, who was in Delaware for graduate study, was also the first woman lay delegate ever to attend the U.S. Methodist Episcopal General Conference in Minneapolis, representing Fuzhou. Her father, Reverend Li, accompanied her as representative from the Hungwa Conference.[6] Her speech to the conference was reported as advising:[8]
I did not intend to come here to speak because, you know, I am a woman. (Great laughter and applause.) But I do want to leave a message with you all this morning. I think you know that the womanhood of China has been very low for several thousand years, and, therefore, now that the new republic is going to be formed, we want to have the womanhood of China lifted as high as the womanhood of your nation. (Tremendous applause.)
