"Thank you for your kind gift. I want you to know that I am moved by your generosity. Though we all come from different traditions and communities, I believe nations and individuals are stronger when they work together. By connecting across borders and cultures and holding firm to the ideals that unite us, we can move toward a future of greater peace and prosperity for all. Thank you again, for your thoughtful gesture. I wish you all the best."
This is the letter signed by Barack Obama, The US President, to the Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine (SAHZU). Zj news published the interview of the president of the hospital and relevant stuff regarding this matter.
After the G20 Hangzhou Summit, Colonel Betty Moore, White House medical officer, visited the hospital, and presented a notebook with the seal of the White House, and signed by Barack Obama. Present Wang Jian'an gave back an engraved copy of "Bowing Photo."
The letter from Obama to the hospital was in response to the "Bowing Photo." On the back of the engraved picture was written "The photograph was taken in the Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine located in Hangzhou China in early 20th century. The scene captures Dr. David Duncan Main, a British Physician and the first Hospital president, greeted a pediatric patient with reciprocal humility and respect. It symbolizes the hospital's core value today: 'The Needs of the Patients and Customers Come First.'"
In this 100-year-old photo, a child wearing a long robe who was around four or five was bowing to a venerable man in front of him. David Duncan Main, who was over 50 years old then, wore a bowler hat and bowed almost 90 degrees.
According to an article called "British Missionary David Duncan Main: Bend himself to the task and exert to the most," David Duncan Main was a British missionary who came to China for medical missionary work. He combined medicine with education. "He dedicated himself to establishing Guangji Hospital: predecessor hospital of the Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine. It became one of the biggest western hospitals back then. He took up the mission with a noble desire and universal love. During the time of unrest, he helped people and dedicated 45 years of his life to medical service in China. "
An article posted on ChinaDaily, Dr. David Main: Dedicated to a Medical Career in the "Heaven Below," introduces the brief history of David Main's service in China. Grew up in Scotland, born at Kirkmichael in 1856, he studied medicine and business at Glasgow and Edinburgh. He joined the evangelistic revival movement in 1873, and set out on the path of medical missionary work after meeting another missionary. In 1881, he and his wife, Florence Nightingale Smith, left for Hangzhou (or Hangchow), the capital city of Zhejiang Province in southeast China, under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society. Hangzhou is usually described as “Heaven Below” in China because of its great beauty and prosperity.
"Because of Duncan Main’s dedication, western medicine was fully implemented and kept abreast of Chinese medicine in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province." the Chinadaily concludes.
Translated by: Grace Hubl
