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本帖最后由 老猫 于 2015-7-28 10:13 编辑
比洛特学院档案馆前不久在其网站上公布了Anne Bassett Kelley（康安备）老师从1919年到1923年从贝满寄给在美国威斯康星亲友信件（共计105封）的影印件。（http://dcms.beloit.edu/cdm/search/collection/kelley）
多数信件都是在薄纸上用打字机打出的。在这些信里Kelley老师谈到她在贝满，乃至北平的生活、经历和感触，内容极为丰富。这里我想介绍她写于1923年1月28日的一封信。信中并未称呼收信人的姓名，只是用了一个一般的称谓“亲爱的”（Dear）。根据Kelley老师其他信件中常用的收信人称谓“亲爱的家乡亲人们”（Dear home folks）来看，这封信也是一封给她在威斯康星的许多亲友们共同分享的家书。
信一开始Kelley老师就谈到在刚刚过去的一年里贝满女中发生的并且正在发生的变化。最重要的变化就是选举了一位中国人管（叶羽）先生为新的校长。Kelley老师简单介绍了管校长之前在华北协和女子大学的教学经验，并称赞他对所有事情都考虑周到，是一个有信仰的绅士。Kelley老师一方面间接谈到管校长与美方人员在一些问题上的分歧，一方面也表达了自己对管校长的理解和支持：“当然，他的办事方法不是我们的方法，他的想法与我们也不尽相同，但学生们的安危冷暖在他心中的份量和在我们心中是一样的，并且，正因为他是中国人，他可以比我们这些永远不能真正掌握中国式方法的人在学校里营造更好的中国氛围。”另外的一个变化是经过教师们的强烈要求，贝满成立了师范部。Kelley 老师还介绍了学生们在假期自己组织的为上不起学的穷孩子办的半日学校。过程并非一帆风顺：聘请学校老师的费用是学生们通过义演筹集的；找到合适的校舍，聘请合适的老师，了解校舍附近贫困儿童的情况，得到警方的许可。。。。。。等等，这些事情都要耗费时间和精力。在大家的努力下，学校终于在一月的一天正式开学了。有大约40个上不起学的孩子参加了开学典礼。
Kelley 老师介绍了贝满的美籍老师们为增进和学生们的交流在每个星期六晚上邀请一组8到15名女生到她们的宿舍联欢、做游戏。她特别提到最后一次来的二年级的那组女生比别的女生更容易相处，不拘束。大家显然都很享受这样的聚会。每次聚会快结束时老师们都请同学们吃一点小点心，并送她们回宿舍以保证她们能按贝满的作息要求在九点半上床。 Kelley老师还介绍了贝满刚开始实施的指导老师制度：全校的学生分六个大组，每个组由一名美籍或中国教师负责。组里的每个学生可以随时向负责这个组的指导老师咨询自己遇到的任何问题。除了这些老师外，每一位老师也都随时注意了解学生的健康、家庭等情况。Kelley老师还介绍了1922年秋季入学的学生状况：总共有155名学生入学，其中有12名是英语或英语+音乐的特招生。在剩下的学生中有不到四分之三是基督徒或者来自基督教家庭。
Kelley老师讲到在贝满的工作中有无数的事情让她感到欢欣鼓舞，也有一些事情让她伤心。其中一件是先后有两名女生因身患肺结核而被迫退学、离校。在当时条件下，回到家里就意味着等死。在贝满，每年都会因这样的原因失去一两个女生。她因此呼吁亲友们做出努力来帮助这些女孩。
随后Kelley老师用了较长的篇幅向亲友们介绍了一位她两年来一直非常关注的小女孩。她第一次见到这位女孩是在1921年的复活节。在主日学校，这位不到五岁的女孩表现出超人的才智，在一大群孩子中第一个背诵出圣经警句。Kelley老师和兰美瑞老师(Miss Lum)不约而同地表示应该帮助这位女孩。在她们身旁的贝满女生听到了她们的谈话后把她们的意思转告了主日学校的一位女士。几天后这位女士向她们介绍了女孩的情况:她和年迈的奶奶相依为命。她们靠奶奶乞讨来的钱住在月租金为40个铜板（约合15美分）的窄小的房间里。她还有一个姐姐，但被她的父亲在去世前卖给了别人。Kelley老师还了解到，在过去的一年里，每当主日学校午休，其它同学都回家吃午饭时，这个女孩却独自一人留在学校。因为家里根本就没有午饭，她和奶奶每天只吃一顿。Kelley老师注意到当自己穿着冬装时女孩还穿着单衣。她为自己未能早日过问这件事而感到惭愧。她为女孩提供了每月1美元的资助。这些钱既可为她提供足够的衣食还可帮奶奶付房租。她还讲到，在中国这样的女孩有很多，希望能发动亲友们来提供更多的帮助。(根据比洛特学院档案馆网站上的介绍，我知道Kelley老师在1925年正式收养了这个女孩。从周荣真老师的来信中我得知这位她称之为“桂芝姐”的女孩在抗战中毕业于转移到大后方的齐鲁大学，后来在南京鼓楼医院社会部工作。从Kelley老师在1941年底被迫回美国后，她与这位养女的通信联系一直保持到她逝世的1972年。从那以后这位养女也一直保持和Kelley亲友的通信联系到2000年。在比洛特学院档案馆以Anne Bassett Kelley命名的收藏中除了Kelley的105封信和随信物品之外，余下主要的收藏品就是这位养女的几百封来信。可惜这部分内容尚未公布到网上。)Kelley老师随后谈到了她在北平与中外上流社会的接触。她提到在上一年的11月与号称“基督将军”的冯玉祥先生的会见；还提到上个星期天在协和医学院聆听王正廷博士的布道演讲（根据百度百科，王正廷在1922年12月11日被黎元洪任命为代理国务总理兼外长。代总理一职至12月底结束，外长一职至1923年1月17日结束。1923年3月任中俄交涉督办﹐讨论中俄建交事宜。Kelley老师提到的他在协和宣道的时间经推算应该是1923年1月21日，想必是他在卸下总理兼外长重任有几天闲暇后之所为吧。）
Kelley老师还提到她几天前参加著名美国探险家、博物学家，后来曾任美国自然历史博物馆馆长的安得斯（Roy Chapman Andrews）介绍他第三次亚洲探险的讲座。讲座还配有立体照片和电影。Kelley老师显然为她能在安得斯把其探险成果带回美国之前就能先睹为快而有些自豪，她对亲友们说：“你们一定会在美国听到他，看到他的电影的。”（根据维基百科，安得斯回国后果然在美国造成轰动，成了时代杂志的封面人物。值得一提的是这位据称是印第安纳 琼斯原形的风云人物当年也在比洛特学院上过学。）
在接近结尾时，Kelley老师提到了当时的中国教会为争取独立的“中国人领导权”而进行的修改教会和学校章程的努力。她讲到：“我们的任务就是想他们所想，并支持他们的领导。” Kelley老师显然是把管校长的上任和此事联系起来看的。（对有关历史背景感兴趣的朋友可去看一下“遥望贝满”于2010年11月8日在心愿论坛上发过的一篇介绍上世纪二十年代“去基督教和收回教育权运动”的文章。 http://www.bm12166.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=929 ）
最后Kelley老师讲到她将于这年的6月29日由上海登船回国开始休假的计划。（从比洛特学院的档案中可知，她在美国停留了一年多，并参加了哥仑比亚大学的研究生课程。回到中国后继续在贝满执教。）
这封信里包含的信息极为丰富。我们不但看到许多有关当年贝满的具体信息，也看到了北平社会的芸芸众生相。在信的子里行间我们也窥视到Kelley的内心：她对学生的热爱，她对管校长的支持，她对中国人民遭受苦难的同情。她是虔诚的基督徒，思想却很开放：她对安得斯为寻找进化论中进化环节的化石证据感兴趣，她也对管叶羽先生当贝满校长和中国人争取教会的领导权表示支持。对我个人来讲，因为周荣真老师的缘故，我对信中讲述的后来成为Kelley老师养女的女孩的信息很感兴趣。无论如何，我很希望通过介绍这封信能让大家对母校在1923年那次历史性转变期间的状况能有更具体的了解，也能为研究母校的历史增添一点有用的信息。
以下是这封信原件的影印件（共三页）。原件的有些部分已不太清晰。为了方便感兴趣的朋友阅读，我把原文誊写于后。（此文中内容主要根据比洛特学院的档案，如有引用请注明出处。）
American Voard Mission, Peking, China
Janurary 28, 1923.
Dear
First I want to tell you of the changes which have taken place and are taking place in Bridgman Academy since I wrote you last year. Perhaps the greatest one has been the election of a Chinese principal. Mr. Kuan, who has had a number of years experience as a teacher of science in the North China Union Women’s College, has taken up the new work with enthusiasm and has set himself to studying conditions and needs with a determination to make good. We find him very thoughtful and considerate in all matters, a truly Christian gentleman. Of course, his ways are not our ways, and our ideas are not always alike, but he has the welfare of our pupils just as much at heart as we have, and just because he is Chinese, he can do more to keep a right Chinese atmosphere in the school than we who never really master Chinese ways. It is too early, of course, to predict results, but so far we are satisfied with this forward step in Chinese leadership.
Another very important happening has been the coming of Miss Estner Nelson to start and to take charge of a normal department in the Academy. We have been begging for a normal department for so long a time, and we are very happy to have such a thoroughly trained teacher. Miss Nelson is in the Language School this year, but is already helping in the Academy work by teaching an English class twice a week, and by taking charge of the monthly meeting of the English Literary Society.
I wrote you last year about the little half-day school for poor children which our girls started in the parish house here and taught themselves in their vacant periods. I think I mentioned also a play they were planning to give to raise funds to finance it. A well-to-do American lady out here heard about it and last fall offered to furnish a suitable place for such a school if our girls would furnish the teacher. The money raised by the play last year was sufficient to pay for a half-time teacher, so our girls accepted the offer. It took some time to find a suitable place with play grounds, to secure the consent of the police, to find out about the poor children of that neighborhood and arrange for the paid teacher. But at last everything was arranged satisfactorily, and the formal opening took place the first week in January. About forty eager children crowed into the rooms. There was a short program planned by the committee of girls in charge. The program includes prayer, Bible reading, hymns sung by ten of our girls, a few remarks about the object of the new school by one of our Chinese teachers, a funny motion songs to amuse the children, and then some cookies and candies for them. The children were not of the extremely poor class, they were dressed neatly and warmly for the most part, but they were all children getting no school education.
We are trying various ways of getting better acquainted with our girls. We “foreigners” have been inviting small groups of eight to fifteen girls into our rooms on Saturday evenings to play games and have a jolly good time. The little group of sophomores who came last time were unusually easy to entertain and less formal than the girls are sometimes. Can you imagine a group of lively girls playing parlor quoits, winkus, and Jenkins up? One girl amused us by remarking that one game trained the hand, one the eye, and one the ear. We are not sure the eye training received from playing winkus would be considered valuable in educational circles! However, the girls loved it, and their peals of laughter were good to hear. We always give them some light refreshment after the games, and send them away in time for them to get to bed at nine-thirty according to school rules.
We are just starting a new advisory system this semester, which we hope will also help us to know our girls better and to be more helpful to them. We have divided the whole student body into six groups, with one lady teacher, either Chinese or American, in charge of each group. Each girl knows that the teacher in charge of her group stands ready and eager to advise and help her in every possible way. And we hold ourselves responsible for finding out all we can about our girls, their health, home conditions, etc.
Last September when school opened we had an enrollment of about 155 pupils. Of those twelve were specials who came for English or for English and music.. A little less than three-fourths of the regular students are Christians or come from Christian homes, the other one-fourth being non-Christians. For some of these, this is their first experience in a Christian school. After the “Eddy” meetings, 103 of our girls signed up as desiring to learn more about Christianity and the Bible. For six weeks following the “Eddy” meetings discussion groups were held all over the city. Our girls here were divided into three groups. Some one was invited in from outside to lead the discussion, and the girls were given opportunities to ask questions. It is impossible to estimate the results of such meetings, but we all know that honest, sincere searching for truth must lead toward God.
There are countless things in our work to encourage us and make our hearts glad, and there are those which make our heart ache from love and pity and our inability to help. I am feeling especially sad just now over the returning home of two of our girls because of their health. One left just before Christmas and the other to-day. They have T.B. They go home because we can’t keep them here in school if they are not be able to study; and they go home to die because there is nothing in their home life to help them fight the disease, and everything to hinder return of health. The one who left at Christmas time could get well if she could have proper food and suitable living conditions, but she can’t get them at home. Every year we lose one or two girls this way, and my heart just aches for them. All over China it is the same. Can’t some of you help us to save these girls? There are hills just a few miles from Peking, a wonderful place for a sanitarium.
I think some of you would like to know about a dear little Chinese girl I am very much interested in. Miss Lum and I discovered her at Easter time nearly two years ago in one of our branch Sunday Schools. She was not five years old then but she was the first one in a large group of children, many much older, to be able to say the golden text that day. She was so bright and winning that Miss Lum and I remarked to each other that she was a child we should like to help. One of our Academy girls overheard the remark and passed it on to the Bible woman there, who appeared a few days later to tell us about the child and see what we wanted to do. Since then we have been helping a little from time to time as there was need. The child has only a grandmother who is a beggar to take care of her. They lived in a mean little place for which the old grandmother has to pay 40 coppers, a month, not more than $.15 in American money. There is a sister living, but before the father died, he sold her into another family. This year, until the Bible woman told me about it, this poor little child staid at school and played when the other children went home to eat in the middle of the day, because there was nothing in her home to eat; she was having only one meal a day. And she was still wearing little single, unpadded trousers late in the fall long after I had put on winter clothing. I was ashamed to think that I had not inquired earlier, though I expected the Bible woman to keep me informed about her. $1.00 a month of American money gives this dear little girl enough more food to keep her well, buys her some clothes, and helps her old grandmother with the rent!
I have another little girl I am interested in down in the country. She was studying hard and doing good work on one meal a day too, until could have plenty to eat. There are so many such little girls, and it takes so little to make each one comfortable, that one just longs to help them all. Wouldn’t some of you like to give a meal a day to one of these little girls?
We have many opportunities here in Peking to see and meet the famous men and the West. In November I heard Feng Yu Hsiang, the Christian general, speak at our monthly Missionary Association meeting. I enclose a copy of his speech translated into English.
Last Sunday I heard Dr. C.T. Wang preach at the Peking Union Medical College. He spoke of the littleness of man, and yet of how much man had accomplished in spite of his littleness. Man’s value to the world, he said, was due to his knowledge and his character. Then he gave a splendid sermon on character which was especially well adapted for college students.
A few days ago I heard Dr. Roy Chapman Andrews give a stereopticon and moving picture lecture on the Third Asiatic Expedition. You will, no doubt, hear him and see his pictures later in America. The lecture was extremely interesting in spite of the fact that the missing link has not yet been discovered.
Before I close I want to mention the fact that our Chinese church here is working hard over the revision of the church manual. There is a strongly growing tendency toward independence. We see it in our schools and in our churches. The Chinese are thinking deeply and asking more and more choices for themselves. “Chinese leadership” is the watchword. Our task is to think with them and to help them lead.
I am looking forward most eagerly to my year at home with opportunities to meet you and to get personally acquainted. I expect to sail from Shanghai on the S.S. China, June 29, and hope to be in Wisconsin again by the end of July.
Mostly cordially yours,
Anne B. Kelley
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发表于 2015-7-28 06:07:01
发表于 2015-7-28 10:10:37
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