論文紹介::ジェレミー・コスミラ(Mount Royal Undergraduate )著「慈愛と奉仕:カナダ長老教会の朝鮮ミッションにおける二人の医療宣教師の役割(1898–1969)」

<拙訳>


慈愛と奉仕:カナダ長老教会の朝鮮ミッションにおける二人の医療宣教師の役割(1898–1969) ジェレミー・コスミラ マウント・ロイヤル大学 (2021年、Mount Royal Undergraduate Humanities Review 第6巻)

要旨(Abstract)

カナダ長老教会の朝鮮ミッションは、アメリカの成功例に影響を受けた「社会福音(ソーシャル・ゴスペル)モデル」によって、1898年の到着時から病院や施療所の建設を進めた。朝鮮に派遣された医師たちの主要な使命は、医療活動と伝道活動であった。

1901年に到着した ケイト・マクミラン医師は、医療と伝道、さらに聖書研究、都市部の女性活動、他の宣教師との協働、そして朝鮮人助手を医学校に進学できるレベルまで育成するという多くの業務の両立に苦労した。多くの女性宣教師が女子教育や女性活動に専念していたのに対し、マクミランは男女双方を診療していた。その証拠として、ある書簡には「男性患者には女性が扱うべきでない病気があるため、男性医師を派遣してほしい」と記されている。

フローレンス・マレー医師は1921年に朝鮮へ到着し、翌1922年にマクミランが亡くなる直前に合流した。マレーはソウルで朝鮮語を学んでいたが、マクミランの死により急遽咸興の医療活動に投入された。彼女はマクミランの医療技術に疑問を抱き、病院の不衛生な環境に衝撃を受けた。資金不足のため、病院は患者から料金を徴収せざるを得なくなり、患者たちはその責任を新任のマレーに向けた。

ミッション内部の性別役割観は「女性による女性のための働き(women’s work for women)」という方針を生み出した。これは女性宣教師たちに特定の層へ集中して働きかける利点を与えた。社会福音モデルの台頭は、マクミランやマレーのような女性に、より多くの役割と活動の場を提供した


本文

「朝鮮の地は、その絵のように美しい朝の光から「朝の静けさの国(Land of Morning Calm)」 と呼ばれるが、かつてはその孤立主義政策ゆえに 「隠者の国(Hermit Nation)」 として知られていた。」 (原文より)

朝鮮は長らく外国人の入国を拒んでいたが、1876年、日本の影響力によって通商のためにその政策が緩和された。中国・日本・西洋の影響が朝鮮の孤立を弱め、1884年にはアメリカから最初のプロテスタント宣教師が到着した。

朝鮮は1894年に独立を宣言するまで中国への依存が大きかった。宗教面でも中国と日本の影響が強く、祖先崇拝、仏教、巫俗、儒教が広く行われていた。西洋宣教師たちの報告は、これらの宗教実践を非常に否定的に描いている。

「木の柱の上には醜い顔が彫られ、王宮の建物には陶器や青銅の像が飾られている。これらすべての愚かな手段は、悪霊を追い払うためのものだと言われている…」(原文より)


 この宣教師は続けて、「韓国が“愛の神”の存在を知ったとき、何が起こるだろうか」と問いかける。彼らの目には、キリスト教の神は朝鮮の神々よりも「より慈悲深く、より優れた存在」であることに疑いはなかった。

プロテスタントは朝鮮にとって初めてのキリスト教ではなかった。17世紀初頭にカトリックが伝わったが、成功は限定的だった。1784年、北京で改宗した朝鮮人が帰国して布教を試みたが、1866年、外国嫌悪と孤立主義の高まりの中で、10人の司祭と8,000人の信徒が虐殺され、カトリックの基盤は壊滅した。

それでもプロテスタント教会は朝鮮への宣教を諦めなかった。1898年、カナダ長老教会は独自の朝鮮ミッションを開始した。当時、同教会は1,000以上の教会を持つ最大規模のプロテスタント教派であった。

教会の規模は独自の統治制度を必要とし、各地区の「長老会(presbytery)」が代表を選び、年に一度の総会(General Assembly)に参加した。総会は複数の委員会を設置し、その中に 海外宣教委員会(Board of Foreign Missions)国内宣教委員会(Board of Home Missions) があった。これらの委員会の下に 婦人宣教会(Women’s Missionary Society) が置かれた。

婦人宣教会はさらに、

  • 海外婦人宣教会(WFMS)

  • 国内婦人宣教会(WHMS)  

  •                                                                                に分かれ、WFMS は「異教の女性と子どもの改宗」を担当した。

カナダ長老教会の宣教は本来、直接的な伝道を重視していた。しかし、アメリカの成功例に影響され、社会福音(ソーシャル・ゴスペル)モデルが台頭した。 これは「善行によって人々をキリスト教へ導く」という考え方であり、医療・教育・社会事業が宣教の中心となった。

医療宣教は徐々に発展し、1898年に ロバート・グリエルソン医師が城津に到着したことで本格的に始まった。

第3部:Dr. Kate McMillan の章

Dr. ケイト・マクミラン

1901年、WFMS(海外婦人宣教会)の東部部門は、医療宣教師の増員を求めるグリエルソン医師らの要請に応え、ケイト・マクミラン医師を咸興(ハムフン)へ派遣した。本来は男性医師を求めていたが、宣教師たちは「医療以外の働きも行う必要がある」ことを理解しているならば、マクミランを歓迎すると述べていた。

マクミランは1867年、ニューブランズウィック州に生まれた。メリーランドの女子医学校で学び、その後コーネル大学医学部で医学位を取得した。34歳で朝鮮ミッションに参加し、まず元山(ウォンサン)で1年間朝鮮語を学んだ後、咸興の任地へ向かった。


咸興での活動と苦闘

マクミランは、咸興には「やるべきことが山ほどある」と記している。また、改宗者の数は依然として少なく、「異教の闇」に留まる人々が圧倒的多数であると報告した。 彼女は医療活動を「滅びゆく魂に救いをもたらす絶好の機会」と捉えていた。

病院では毎日礼拝が行われ、マクミラン自身が入院患者・外来患者に福音を教えた。

戦争による移動と二重任務の負担

日露戦争の影響で、咸興の北東地域が不安定になり、宣教師たちは元山へ避難した(1904–1905)。その後も咸興と元山を往来しながら医療活動を続け、1908年にようやく咸興に定住したが、元山の宣教師たちは医療も引き続き担当した。

グリエルソン医師の警告どおり、マクミランは医療・女性聖書研究・聖書女性(bible-women)との協働・都市部女性活動・宣教師間の調整など、膨大な業務を同時にこなさなければならなかった。

さらに元山と咸興の両方を担当したため、1910年にはついに「医療が不安定だ」との苦情が出て、男性医師の派遣を求める書簡が本部に送られた。

「男性患者には、女性が扱うべきでない病気がある」 (1910年の書簡より)

つまり、マクミランは男女双方の患者を診療していた。

朝鮮人医療助手の育成

マクミランは朝鮮人の男女を教育し、医学校に進学できるレベルの医学知識を身につけさせた。彼女の助手2名と1人の少年は医学校に進学し、後に全員が咸興に戻ってマクミランを助けた。 この少年は後に 「モ医師(Dr. Mo)」 と呼ばれ、正式な医師となった。


女性宣教師としての制約

女性であるマクミランは按手礼を受けた牧師ではなかったため、説教の中心は男性宣教師が担った。その結果、彼女は男性宣教師よりも医療活動に集中できたが、同時に女性宣教師としての教育・家庭的役割も求められた。

WFMS の1915年報告書は次のように述べている。

「宣教と教育の側面があまりにも多くの要求を突きつけている」


 

終わりに変えて

1922年、女子寄宿舎で腸チフスが流行し、マクミランは7人の少女を治療した後、自身も感染して亡くなった。

彼女の働きは現地の人々と宣教師仲間に深く記憶されている。 過酷な状況の中で、医療と伝道を両立させ、咸興と元山におけるキリスト教の基盤を築いた。


第4部:Dr. Florence Murray の章

Dr. フローレンス・マレー

フローレンス・マレー医師は1921年に朝鮮ミッションへ参加し、翌1922年にマクミラン医師が腸チフスで亡くなる直前に合流した。 彼女はダルハウジー医科大学出身で、咸興に派遣された。


マレーは1969年まで朝鮮に滞在し、第二次世界大戦中のみ一時帰国している(おそらく安全確保のため)。


背景と動機

マレーは長老派牧師の娘であり、父の影響で宣教に関心を持った。 本来は牧師になりたかったが、当時の教会は女性の按手礼を認めていなかった。

彼女は第一次世界大戦中にハリファックスで看護師として働き、 その後スペイン風邪の流行期にはロッケンポートで地域医師として活動した。


咸興到着と衝撃

1921年8月、マレーは咸興に到着した。 そこで目にしたものは、彼女にとって耐え難いほど衝撃的だった。

  • 病院と施療所は不衛生

  • 設備は劣悪

  • 医療水準は西洋の基準から大きく遅れていた

彼女はマクミランの医療技術に疑問を抱き、「マクミランは手術を一切行っていなかった」と記録している。


突然の帰任と病院の立て直し

マレーはソウルで朝鮮語を学んでいたが、 1922年にマクミランが亡くなると、急遽、咸興に戻り病院を引き継いだ。

彼女は病院を西洋の基準に近づけようと努力し、ある手紙には次のように書いている。

「私の小さな仕事は、女性医師が必ずしも気難しくて非効率ではないことを宣教師社会に示すことのようです。」


 

資金不足と有料化の決断

マレーはマクミランと同じく、深刻な資金不足に直面した。 そのため、咸興を含む複数のミッション病院は 患者から料金を徴収する制度 を導入した。

しかし、これまで無料で治療を受けていた咸興の患者たちは強く反発し、 その矛先は新任のマレーに向けられた。

彼女は兄への手紙にこう書いている。

「私は今、あまり好かれていない人間です。」


第5章 「Assessing Female Missionary Physicians(女性医療宣教師の評価)」

女性医療宣教師の評価

当時の女性宣教師たちは、主に朝鮮の女性と子どもを担当していた。 ミッション内部の性別役割観は、女性の働きを「女性による女性のための働き(women’s work for women)」へと限定する傾向があった。

+++++++++++

<原文>

Compassion and Service: The Roles of Two Missionary-Physicians in the Korean Mission of the Presbyterian Church of Canada (1898-1969)

Authors:

Abstract

The Korean mission of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, influenced by the success of the social gospel model, built hospitals and dispensaries in Korea on their arrival in 1898. Medical work and evangelization were the primary missions of the physicians sent to Korea. Arriving in 1901, Dr. Kate McMillan had a hard time balancing evangelical and medical work, as well as work with the bible-work, women’s city work, fellow missionaries, and training Korean aides enough for them to go to medical school. While most of the female missionaries’ focus were on girls’ and women’s activities, McMillan treated both men and women, evidenced by a letter requesting for the mission to send male physicians as “male patients have diseases which a lady should not be asked to treat.” Dr. Florence Murray arrived in Korea in 1921, a year before McMillan’s death in 1922. Murray was pulled into the medical work in Ham Heung rather suddenly, as she was in Seoul learning Korean before McMillan’s death. She doubted McMillan’s expertise and was horrified of how unsanitary the conditions were. Due to funding shortages, the hospital started charging their patients. The patients blamed the new physician for this. Gender dynamics of the mission resulted in the “women’s work for women” approach. This gave them an advantage and focus on a certain demographic instead of spreading themselves thin. The rise of the social gospel model created more roles for women, as was the case for McMillan and Murray.

Cosmilla, “Compassion and Service” 25
Mount Royal Undergraduate Humanities Review, Vol. 6
Compassion and Service: The Roles of Two Female Missionary-Physicians in
the Korean Mission of the Presbyterian Church of Canada (1898-1969)
Jeremy Lloyd O. Cosmilla
Aptly called “The Land of Morning Calm” on the account of its picturesque mornings,
Korea was once known as the “Hermit Nation” due to its isolationist policies. Korea did not
welcome the entry of foreigners until 1876 when Japanese influence loosened these policies for
trade. The influences of China, Japan, and the West decreased Korean isolationism and by 1884,
first of the Protestant missionaries from the United States arrived.1
Korea was largely dependent on China until their independence was proclaimed in 1894.
The influence of both China and Japan was evident on religious practices in Korea, including
ancestor worship, Buddhism, spirit worship, and Confucianism.2 Western missionaries’ accounts
and reports of these practices were unkind, to say the least:
Ugly faces are found carved on the top of wooden posts, or china and bronze figures
ornament the top of royal buildings. All these foolish means are supposed to frighten
away evil spirits. Here and there are to be found Buddhist temples where priests chant
music before horrid images and bells are kept ringing to put the spirits to sleep or waken
them up, while pilgrims often weary and footsore bring offerings of money and goods, all
to bring peace and happiness.3
The author of this passage asks, “What will it mean to Korea when she finds out there is a God
of Love?” There was no doubt in this missionary’s mind that the Christian deity was more
benevolent, more loving, and better than the gods and spirits honoured in Korea.4
Protestant missions were not Korea’s first exposure to Christianity. Roman Catholic
missions in the early 17th century introduced Christianity in Korea with little success. In 1784,
Korean converts from Peking returned to Korea to spread the Christian gospel. Inspired by the
Korean government’s isolationist policies and distrust of anything remotely foreign, ten priests
and eight thousand Christian converts were massacred in 1866. The massacre erased whatever
footing the Catholic church had in Korea.5
Nevertheless, Protestant churches were determined to send missionaries to Korea. By
1898, the Canadian Presbyterian Church launched its own mission. The church was the largest
Protestant denomination of its time, with over a thousand congregations.6 The size of the church
1 Horace G. Underwood, Call of Korea: Political Social Religious (New York: F.H. Revell Co.,
1908) 15-18.
2 Women's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, The Story of Our Missions
(Toronto: Women's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, 1915). 158-159.
3 Women's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, The Story of Our Missions
(Toronto: Women's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, 1915). 160.
4 Ibid, 160.
5 Bruce Cummings, Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History (New York, NY: W.W Norton
& Company, 1997).
6 Before the union of Canada Presbyterian Church with its Canadian congregations in the Church
of Scotland in 1875 to form the Presbyterian Church in Canada (also referred to as the Canadian
Presbyterian Church), the denomination had run successful missions to the New Hebrides. Laura
Cosmilla, “Compassion and Service” 26
Mount Royal Undergraduate Humanities Review, Vol. 6
made it necessary to create their own form of government. The presbytery, a unit spanning a
district of the church, elected ministers and elders to participate in the General Assembly, which
met once a year. The assembly appointed boards (also called committees). The Board of Foreign
Missions and The Board of Home Missions were the committees responsible for the Women’s
Missionary Society.7 The Women’s Missionary Society was further split according to their
assignments: The Women’s Foreign Missionary Society (WFMS) and the Women’s Home
Missionary Society (WHMS). The WFMS assisted the Board of Foreign Missions in the
conversion of “heathen women and children.”8
The Canadian Presbyterian missions were expected to be evangelical in nature. However,
the success of the Americans in Korea brought about the rise of the social gospel model. The
model was created by liberal Protestants with the main tenet being the conversion through good
works, instead of direct indoctrination.9 Medical treatment and facilities, among other services,
were the good works used by missionaries.
The medical aspect of the missions developed gradually, slowed down by the
evangelization and education aspects. Medical work in the mission only started in 1898, when
Dr. Robert Grierson came to Song Chin.10 When he arrived, the hospital was only being built.
Dr. Grierson’s contemporary, Dr. Kate McMillan, as well as her successor, Dr. Florence Murray
were two female physicians who devoted their medical expertise in the Korean mission. Their
careers and roles will be examined in order to glean the how they went about the evangelical part
of their mission as well as how gender dynamics affected their experience and work with Korean
‘heathens’. The fact that these physicians were female contributed to their efficacies, both as
physicians and as evangelicals.
Dr. Kate McMillan
In 1901, the Eastern arm of the WFMS sent out Dr. Kate McMillan to Ham Heung. This
was the church’s response to Dr. Grierson and his colleagues’ request for more medical
missionaries. The request was for a male physician, but the doctors then said that they would be
happy to have McMillan on board given she understood that not only medical works were to be
done.11
McMillan was born in 1867 in New Brunswick. She attended the Women’s Medical
College in Maryland, then Cornell Medical College in New York for her medical degree. At age
34, she joined the Korean mission. She spent a year in Wonsan to learn Korean before moving to
her mission site in Ham Heung.12
McMillan noted that there was much to be done in Ham Heung. She also reported that the
number of converts was low by comparison with the number of people who remained in
“heathen darkness”. McMillan saw medical work as a great opportunity “to bring salvation to
Macdonald, Minister of the Gospel and Doctor of Medicine: The Canadian Presbyterian
Medical Mission to Korea, 1898–1923 (MA Thesis., Queen’s University, 2000). 22.
7 Women's Missionary Society, The Story of Our Missions 5-6.
8 “Heathen” was a term used to refer to non-Christian people. MacDonald, Minister of the Gospel
and Doctor of Medicine, 69.
9 MacDonald, Minister of the Gospel and Doctor of Medicine, 46-49.
10 Women's Missionary Society, The Story of Our Missions, 178-179.
11 Correspondence between the Board of Foreign Missions and the Mission Council of Korea
which included Grierson. MacDonald, Minister of the Gospel and Doctor of Medicine, 76-80.
12 From MacMillan’s journal. Ibid.
Cosmilla, “Compassion and Service” 27
Mount Royal Undergraduate Humanities Review, Vol. 6
perishing souls.”13 Services were held daily in the hospital with McMillan personally teaching
the gospel to the in-patients and out-patients alike.14
The Russo-Japanese War forced the missionaries to move from Ham Heung to Wonsan
due to unrest in the northeastern part of Korea. McMillan and her team stayed in Wonsan for a
year (1904-1905), then went back and forth between Ham Heung and Wonsan to accommodate
both locations. By 1908, they settled in Ham Heung, but she was still in charge of medical care
for the mission team in Wonsan.
The warnings of Dr. Grierson were true: McMillan and her team had to split their time
between medical work, women’s bible study, working with bible-women and fellow
missionaries (on what to teach), and women’s city work. Her work was further split between
Wonsan and Ham Heung so much so that by 1910, a letter to the Board of Foreign Missions was
sent to request for another physician. The Koreans at Wonsan and Ham Heung mission stations
complained of the inconsistency of medical care. The letter specifically asked for a male
physician as “male patients have diseases which a lady should not be asked to treat.”15 McMillan
was working with both male and female physicians treating male and female patients.
McMillan educated Korean men and women to equip them with medical knowledge to
assist her medical team, that is, enough knowledge to prepare them for medical school. Two of
her medical assistants and a Korean boy went to study in a medical school in Korea. All of them,
including the Korean boy now referred to as Dr. Mo, went back to Ham Heung to further assist
Dr. McMillan.
As a woman, she was not an ordained minister. Hence, her male counterparts did most of
the preaching. This allowed her to pursue medical work more than her male colleagues.
Missionary women were in charge of educational endeavours, especially those concerning girls
and women. McMillan was no exception. While the men continued to travel, the women were
expected to create a “domestic” presence in the Korean mission. Even so, Dr. McMillan was still
overwhelmed by the responsibilities given to her. Evangelical and community work proved to be
heavy tasks to be paired with her profession. The WFMS’ 1915 report noted that the
“evangelistic and educational side of the work ha[d] made so many demands.”16
An epidemic of typhoid fever hit the girls’ school dormitory in 1922. Dr. McMillan
treated seven girls before catching the fever herself. She died of the illness in February of that
year.17 Her work was remembered by the locals and her fellow missionaries. Although she
struggled to juggle heavy responsibilities, she successfully expanded the reach of Christianity in
Korea. Her medical expertise proved to be valuable in communicating the message to Koreans in
Ham Heung and Wonsan.
Dr. Florence Murray
Dr. Murray joined the mission in 1921, a year before McMillan’s death from typhoid
fever. A physician from Dalhousie Medical School, she was assigned to Ham Heung with
13 From McMillan’s report in 1900-1901. Ibid.
14 Women's Missionary Society, The Story of Our Missions, 179-182.
15 A letter by Robb and Foote to the Board in 1910. MacDonald, Minister of the Gospel and
Doctor of Medicine, 85-87.
16 Women's Missionary Society, The Story of Our Missions, 179-181.
17 MacDonald, Minister of the Gospel and Doctor of Medicine, 88.
Cosmilla, “Compassion and Service” 28
Mount Royal Undergraduate Humanities Review, Vol. 6
McMillan. She remained in Korea until 1969, interrupted by a return to Canada during the
Second World War, presumably for safe haven.18
Murray was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, who inspired her to join the Korean
mission. Initially, she wanted to be a minister which was not allowed by the church at the time.
She was a nurse in Halifax during the first World War, and then a community physician in
Lockenport during the Spanish influenza outbreak.19
Murray arrived in Ham Heung in August of 1921. What she saw horrified her: the
hospital and dispensary was unsanitary and generally unsatisfactory for her. She doubted Dr.
McMillan’s training and expertise due to this. She even noted that McMillan did not perform any
surgery herself.
After moving to Seoul to learn Korean, Murray returned, rather suddenly, to Ham Heung
due to McMillan’s death the following year. She wanted Hamheung (or Ham Heung) hospital to
be up to the standards she knew of in the West. In one letter she explained that “my little job
seems to be to… demonstrate to the missionary community that women doctors are not
necessarily cantankerous and inefficient.”20
Murray struggled to meet her own standards. She inherited McMillan’s struggles with
funding shortages (which explained the state of the hospital). In response, Hamheung and other
mission hospitals started to charge their patients. This came as a shock to the patients in Ham
Heung, who before Murray, were being treated for free. The patients blamed the new physician
in charge, Murray, for this. “I am not a very much loved person right now,” she wrote to her
brother.21
Assessing Female Missionary Physicians
Female missionaries at the time oversaw the women and children in Korea. Gender
dynamics and expectations ‘reduced’ the roles of women to “women’s work for women”. It can
be argued that this move made female missionaries much more successful as they put their
talents into use to serve and convert the women and children, instead of spreading themselves
thin to convert men in other areas.
The social gospel model of evangelism created more avenues and a greater need for
female missionaries. Schools, physicians, nurses, and more “domestic” roles were taken by
women, while the men were the pastors, administrators, and leaders in their stations. The men
favoured direct evangelization as opposed to social service.22 As F.J. Glover explains, female
missionaries were needed not only because people of the same gender were alike but also
18 Lee, Kang Hyun, Solam Lee, and Sang Baek Koh. Florence J. Murray (
慕禮理
1894–1975), a
Dedicated Female Medical Missionary (Yonsei Medical Journal, 2020).
19 Ruth Compton Brouwer. Home Lessons, Foreign Tests: The Background and First Missionary
Term of Florence Murray, Maritime Doctor in Korea. (Journal of the Canadian Historical
Association, 1995).
20 Direct quote from Murray’s letters. MacDonald, Minister of the Gospel and Doctor of
Medicine, 93-95.
21 Direct quotes from Murray’s letter to her brother Foster. Ibid.
22 MacDonald, Minister of the Gospel and Doctor of Medicine, 46-50.
Cosmilla, “Compassion and Service” 29
Mount Royal Undergraduate Humanities Review, Vol. 6
because of traditional taboos surrounding associations between unrelated men and women. This
perception changed, but “women’s work” was generally assigned to women thereafter.23
Wives of male missionaries were instrumental to the footing of female missionaries. Lena
Grierson, the wife of Dr. Grierson, and other missionary wives oversaw girls’ schools and bible
lessons. Another missionary wife, Bessie Robb published an article in Korea Mission Field.
Robb wrote, “[I]f not better for her husband’s happiness and the work’s sake if she had never
come to the foreign field … To be a success as a missionary’s wife, one must at least regard
oneself as also a missionary.”24 The self-perception of female missionaries as a “missionary’s
wife” may be construed as submissive. However, the statement “at least regard oneself as also a
missionary,” posits the question: did they reduce their self-perception towards their work due to
their husbands? One thing is for sure, that female missionaries had more and more roles as the
social gospel movement was more widely accepted.
According to Jane Hunter, the gentle Victorian mother archetype gave Christian wives
and mothers a responsibility to use love and wisdom to “transform” their husbands, families, and
communities. This was then brought to light by church missions in the context of the world.25
The notion of “women’s work for women” did not mean that work was any less than that of the
missionary men. It can be argued, as in the case of Dr. McMillan, that women were given more
tasks. The schools, hospitals, and dispensaries were not small tasks assigned to female
missionaries. The difficulties that McMillan faced in Wonsan and Ham Heung, which was
further split into medical, evangelical, and even “domestic” tasks, proves this. Other missionaries
have seen this as well, as evidenced by the 1910 letter to the board.
While McMillan’s account of her activities gives the impression of a hard-working,
selfless physician-missionary, Murray’s recollection of her time in Ham Heung discredits this to
a degree. She questioned McMillan’s expertise. Historian Ruth Compton Brouwer sides with
Murray, and suggests that McMillan focused more on evangelization instead of medical work.
The “women’s work for women” ideology, according to Brouwer, was heavily used by
McMillan. McMillan only treated women and children. Murray, on the other hand, did not
subscribe to this ideology.26
Brouwer does not consider the complexity of McMillan’s situation in Ham Heung. The
1910 letter to the board explicitly said that McMillan was treating “male patients… which a lady
should not…treat.” As regards to not working with male physicians, McMillan taught a Korean
boy who became Dr. Mo. Dr. Mo then became assistant physician under Dr. McMillan.27 This
disproves that McMillan strictly adhered to the “women’s work for women” approach as the
situation at the time gave little room for McMillan to be picky of who to treat and who to work
with.
23 Frederick James Glover. Dispatches from the Wilderness: A History of the Canadian
Missionaries and Korean Protestants in Northern Korea and Manchuria, 1893 - 1928 (Calgary,
AB: University of Calgary, 2018).
24 Ibid.
25 Jane Hunter. The Gospel of Gentility: American Women Missionaries in Turn-of-the-Century
China. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1984).
26 Brouwer, Home Lessons, Foreign Tests 103-128.
27 This recollection of Dr. Mo is a pertinent counterargument to Brouwer. MacDonald, Minister
of the Gospel and Doctor of Medicine, 85-87.
Cosmilla, “Compassion and Service” 30
Mount Royal Undergraduate Humanities Review, Vol. 6
Murray’s critique of McMillan’s skill is misplaced as well. While it is true that McMillan
did little to keep her expertise up to date with the medical advances of the day, Murray did not
initially consider the constraints faced by McMillan: scarce funding and daunting roles, among
others. In fact, the conditions faced by McMillan over 20 years was so deplorable to Murray that
she started charging Ham Heung patients for hospital services. Murray was used to the state-of-
the-art tools and techniques at her practice. While there is nothing wrong in demanding for a
higher standard, the deplorable conditions of McMillan’s Hamheung hospital were not due to her
prioritizing evangelization, but due to the lack of resources that Murray also experienced after
McMillan’s death.
Both McMillan and Murray were devoted to their church and their professions. While the
social gospel model opened more opportunities for women to serve in the mission, not just as
missionary wives, it did not save these women from having to prove themselves. Murray’s
statement, “…women doctors are not necessarily cantankerous and inefficient” reveals a
perception, be it self-perception or not, that female physicians can be “cantankerous and
inefficient”. If Murray were only referring to McMillan’s performance in Ham Heung, it could
still be safe to infer that if Murray perceived this, so did the Koreans and the missionaries on the
ground with Dr. McMillan. This negative perception towards female missionary-physicians may
have impeded their success in Korea.
In their efficacy as evangelicals, both McMillan’s and Murray’s social service helped the
Presbyterian mission to reach more Koreans. The ideology of “women’s work for women” also
helped the likes of Murray to effectively reach women and children: whether in school or in the
hospitals. McMillan did not neglect her evangelical duties, as reported by the WFMS, preaching
the gospel to in- and out-patients. Murray sought out to expand the reaches of her social service
by doing off-site check ups. As physicians, McMillan spent her life in service of Korean patients,
both converts and “heathens”. Murray aimed to improve the standards of the medical facility left
by McMillan. Her stay until the 1960s ensured that this was done.
The Presbyterians saw the success of the Korean mission, aided by physicians like
McMillan and Murray, and engaged themselves in the act of social service instead of direct
evangelization. This undoubtedly shifted the approach of missionaries from the simple
introduction and conversion to the religion to service and compassion. By 1920, the social gospel
model was the main model for evangelical missions of the Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Kate McMillan and Dr. Florence Murray were two missionary-physicians assigned to
the mission to Korea. McMillan initially thought that she would be able to focus on medical
work and on her evangelical work. However, this proved to be much more difficult than she
anticipated. The lack of funding and trained staff slowed down McMillan’s progress. Even
though she was afforded the advantage of not having administrative and (major) evangelistic
responsibilities, this did not lighten the load. McMillan was able to perform more medical duties
than of her male counterparts (like Dr. Grierson), but the expectations of her due to her gender
were heavy still. McMillan was moderately successful in establishing a footing in Wonsan and
Ham Heung in a medical sense. The social gospel model was then only beginning to gain
traction in the Presbyterian church.
Dr. Murray was a brief contemporary turned successor of Dr. McMillan. She criticized
McMillan’s handling of Ham Heung and later experienced the same problems as McMillan did.
The difference however is in the advances of medicine and the establishment of the social gospel
model. Murray was able to coincide medical work with evangelization, providing the highest
level of medical care. The establishment of a missionary-physicians’ niche occurred during
Cosmilla, “Compassion and Service” 31
Mount Royal Undergraduate Humanities Review, Vol. 6
Murray’s time, enabling them to concentrate more on using their professional training in
hospitals and dispensaries, instead of spreading themselves too thin in different aspects of the
mission.
Gender played a role in their efficacy as missionary-physicians. Females are perceived as
gentle and loving, gaining the trust of Koreans under the social gospel model. The approach
“women’s work for women”, while it may be perceived as reductive, also contributed to building
trust, as Koreans were able to leave their children to be taught by Canadian missionaries.
Finally, the social gospel model’s rise helped females to become missionaries on their accord,
not just as missionary wives. Service and compassion are the tenets of the model, both of which
were perceived to be strong suits of women.
Cosmilla, “Compassion and Service” 32
Mount Royal Undergraduate Humanities Review, Vol. 6

コメント

このブログの人気の投稿

京日本語翻訳)郷新聞記事ー李大統領とトランプ大統領会談

(日本語翻訳)ハンギョレ新聞が報道する李・トランプ会談

日本経済新聞インタビュー記事「李赫 駐日韓国大使」は読みごたえあり