Dr. Norman Bethune

Dr Norman Bethune (1890 - 1939), or 白求恩 as he was popularly known by the Chinese, a Canadian doctor who saved many lives of soldiers injured during the Sino-Japaneses war. A great Friend of the people of China indeed.

In January 1938 Bethune travelled to Yan'an, a county of Shaanxi province in China. There he joined the Chinese Communists to organise medical services for the region. In China, Dr Bethune performed emergency operations on war casualties and established training for doctors, nurses and orderlies. He was stationed with the Eight Route Army in the midst of the war to operate on injured soldiers. It was reported he cut his finger while operating on a soldier. As a result, he contracted septicaemia (blood poisoning) and died of his wounds on November 12, 1939. It was sad for such a great man to die in the course of saving other people's lives.

Statue of Dr Bethune in Beijing

Dr Bethune 1922

 I have in my collection a clay figurine of Dr Bethune, made during the Cultural Revolution Era, probably in the 1960s. I collected this figurine as a way to remember a great man who unselfishly saved so many lives and gave up his own in the course of his calling. There were many souvenirs, figurines, stamps and paintings produced in China over the years to honour this man.

Dr Norman Bethune

For more information on Dr Norman Bethune: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Bethune
For more information on the Sino-Japanese war: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sino-Japanese_War