BUILDING THE NATION THROUGH WOMEN'S HEALTH: MODERN ...

sent her sons to the mission school in Jiujiang, and “her husband gave money for their dispensary
and two merit boards.” 136 Mr. Tseo and other reformers persuaded Kang to move to Nanchang.
She went on to establish the self-supporting Nanchang Women’s and Children’s Hospital there,
with most of her donations from Chinese gentry and officials. In 1905, the local gentry bought
Kang a piece of land worth $3,000 and built a dispensary with $2,000. Some of these funds
came from a gift of grain from the public granary sold by an official to raise money for the
hospital. 137 Shortly after her arrival in Nanchang, however, some gentry supporters called for
her break with the Methodist church, saying they would support her wholly. They accused
Chinese church members of being lower class money-grubbers. Kang refused to break ties with
her church, even though she received little support from them. 138
From these examples, we can see that local gentry played a significant role in
establishing and maintaining Western hospitals and training programs. What motivated them?
Were these gentry influenced by Christian ideals of benevolence and good Samaritan
undertakings? Were they trying to gain merit for themselves or their ancestors? According to
Leung, Ming and Qing gentry and local leaders usually donated money to medical institutions
during times of pestilence or disease. Wu has shown that Qing gentry gained merit by printing
medical texts. What we see here is quite different: money given to Christian organizations to
establish permanent Western-style hospitals, not temporary ones. Furthermore, as Tsin has
argued, local leaders, merchants, intellectuals, and gentry were influenced by Tan Sitong’s and
Liang Qichao’s discussions of society. Tsin writes that, “seen through the prism of such
discourse, voluntary civic organizations took on a larger significance. They should not, and
136 Shemo, "'An Army of Women,'" 120.
137 Ibid., 244. According to MacGillivray, the dispensary cost $1,600, and the land was valued at $6,000 (p. 466).
138 Ibid., 232.
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