Biography of Yamei Kin MD (1864-1934), (Also Known as Jin Yunmei)

307 Pages·2016·12.68 MB·English

BIOGRAPHY OF YAMEI KIN M.D. 1
BIOGRAPHY OF YAMEI KIN M.D. (1864-1934),
(ALSO KNOWN AS JIN YUNMEI),

THE FIRST CHINESE WOMAN TO TAKE
A MEDICAL DEGREE IN THE UNITED STATES
(1864-2016):
EXTENSIVELY ANNOTATED BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY, 2nd ed.
With McCartee Family Genealogy and Knight Family Genealogy
Compiled
by
William Shurtleff & Akiko Aoyagi

2016
Copyright © 2016 by Soyinfo Center
BIOGRAPHY OF YAMEI KIN M.D. 2
Copyright (c) 2016 by William Shurtleff & Akiko Aoyagi
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic,
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information and retrieval systems - except for use in reviews,
without written permission from the publisher.
Published by: Soyinfo Center
P.O. Box 234
Lafayette, CA 94549-0234 USA
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]
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ISBN 9781928914853 (Yamei Kin 2nd ed without hyphens)
ISBN 978-1-928914-85-3 (Yamei Kin 2nd ed with hyphens)
Printed 25 March 2016
Price: Available on the Web free of charge
Search engine keywords:
Biography of Yamei Kin Genealogy of Yamei Kin
Biography of Kin Yamei Genealogy of Divie Bethune McCartee
Biography of Jin Yunmei Genealogy of Rev. Robert McCartee (1790-1865)
Bibliography of Yamei Kin Genealogy of Juana Matilda Knight
Bibliography of Jin Yunmei Genealogy of Franklin Knight
Chronology of Yamei Kin McCartee Family Genealogy
Chronology of Jin Yunmei Knight Family Genealogy
Timeline of Yamei Kin Reevs Family Genealogy
Timeline of Jin Yunmei Gibson Family Genealogy
Yamei Kin and Tofu
Yamei Kin and the USDA
Yamei Kin and the U.S. Depatment of Agriculture
Yamei Kin and the United States Government
Biography of Alexander Kin
Biography of Alexander A. Kin
Biography of Alexander Amador Kin
Alexander Amadoor Kin
Biography of Alexander Amadoor Kin
Biography of Alexander Eca Da Silva
Biography of Alexander A. Eca Da Silva
Biography of Alexander Amador Eca Da Silva
Alexander Amadoor Eca Dal Silva
Biography of Alexander Amadoor Eca Da Silva
Copyright © 2016 by Soyinfo Center
BIOGRAPHY OF YAMEI KIN M.D. 3
Contents
Page
Dedication and Acknowledgments.................................................................................................................................. 4
Introduction and Brief Chronology, by William Shurtleff .......................................................................................... 5
About This Book ........................................................................................................................................................... 18
Abbreviations Used in This Book ................................................................................................................................ 19
How to Make the Best Use of This Digital Book - Search It! .................................................................................... 20
Full-Page Graphics .................................................................................................................................................. 22-26
Biography of Yamei Kin, 2nd Edition: 450 References in Chronological Order .................................................... 27
Contains 86 + 39 = 125 Photographs and Illustrations
Subject/Geographical Index by Record Numbers ................................................................................................... 239
Last Page of Yamei Kin Index .................................................................................................................................... 250
McCartee Family Genealogy and Knight Family Genealogy: 141 References in Chronological Order .............. 251
Last Page of Genealogy Index by Record Numbers ................................................................................................ 307
Copyright © 2016 by Soyinfo Center
BIOGRAPHY OF YAMEI KIN M.D. 4
DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Japanese translation and maps: Akiko Aoyagi Shurtleff.
This book is dedicated to Yamei Kin and to Dr. and
Loma Linda University, Del E. Webb Memorial Library
Mrs. Divie Bethune McCartee. Mrs. McCartee’s
(Seventh-day Adventist): Janice Little, Trish Chapman.
maiden name was Juana Knight.
We would also like to thank our co-workers and friends at
Soyinfo Center who, since 1984, have played a major role in
Part of the enjoyment of writing a book lies in meeting collecting the documents, building the library, and producing
people from around the world who share a common interest, the SoyaScan database from which this book is printed:
and in learning from them what is often the knowledge
or skills acquired during a lifetime of devoted research or Irene Yen, Tony Jenkins, Sarah Chang, Laurie Wilmore,
practice. We wish to give deepest thanks... Alice Whealey, Simon Beaven, Elinor McCoy, Patricia
McKelvey, Claire Wickens, Ron Perry, Walter Lin, Dana
Scott, Jeremy Longinotti, John Edelen, Alex Lerman, Lydia
Of the many libraries and librarians who have been of great Lam, Gretchen Muller, Joyce Mao, Luna Oxenberg, Joelle
help to our research over the years, several stand out: Bouchard, Justine Lam, Joey Shurtleff, Justin Hildebrandt,
Michelle Chun, Olga Kochan, Loren Clive, Marina Li,
University of California at Berkeley: John Creaser, Lois Rowyn McDonald, Casey Brodsky, Hannah Woodman,
Farrell, Norma Kobzina, Ingrid Radkey. Elizabeth Hawkins, Molly Howland, Jacqueline Tao, Lynn
Hsu, Brooke Vittimberga, Tanya Kochan.
Northern Regional Library Facility (NRLF), Richmond,
California: Martha Lucero, Jutta Wiemhoff, Scott Miller, Special thanks to: Tom and Linda Wolfe of Berwyn Park,
Virginia Moon, Kay Loughman. Maryland; Lorenz K. Schaller of Ojai, California; Wayne
Dawson (genealogist) of Tucson, Arizona.
Stanford University: Molly Molloy, who has been of special
help on Slavic-language documents.  For outstanding help on this biography of Dr. Yamei Kin,
we especially thank Matthew Roth, PhD (see next page).
National Agricultural Library: Susan Chapman, Kay Derr, Kathleen Chylinski, Elaine Coppola, Al Cormier, Wayne
Carol Ditzler, John Forbes, Winnifred Gelenter, Henry Dawson, Heather Henricksen-Georghiou, Rev. Glenn
Gilbert, Kim Hicks, Ellen Knollman, Patricia Krug, Henricksen, Sr., Katie Hoffnagle, Frances Lyons-Bristol,
Sarah Lee, Veronica Lefebvre, Julie Mangin, Ellen Mann, Caitlin McGaw, Kenneth Milano, Shizuka Narita, Kate
Josephine McDowell, Wayne Olson, Mike Thompson, D. Pitsley, Nancy Schiffhauer, Nancy Taylor, and Yang
Tanner Wray. Chenglin.
Library of Congress: Ronald Jackson, Ronald Roache.  Finally our deepest thanks to Tony Cooper of San Ramon,
California, who has kept our computers up and running since
Lane Medical Library at Stanford University. Sept. 1983. Without Tony, this series of books on the Web
would not have been possible.
Contra Costa County Central Library and Lafayette Library:
Carole Barksdale, Kristen Wick, Barbara Furgason, Sherry This book, no doubt and alas, has its share of errors. These,
Cartmill, Linda Barbero. of course, are solely the responsibility of William Shurtleff.
Harvard University’s Five Botanical Libraries (especially  This bibliography and sourcebook was written with the
Arnold Arboretum Library): Jill Gelmers Thomas. hope that someone will write a detailed and well-documented
biography of Yamei Kin, and of the McCartee and Knight
French translation: Martine Liguori of Lafayette, California, families..
for ongoing, generous, and outstanding help since the early
1980s.
Copyright © 2016 by Soyinfo Center
BIOGRAPHY OF YAMEI KIN M.D. 5
INTRODUCTION
Introduction and Brief Chronology/Timeline Note: In 1913, in a formal interrogation, she gives her
birthplace as Nam Hoy, Che King Province, China.
The idea for this book originated when Matthew Roth Her father, “a Chinaman of prominence, became a
kindly sent Soyinfo Center a copy (in digital PDF format) [devout] Christian, and established at Nin-po [sic] a church
of his excellent PhD thesis, Magic Bean: The Quests That which was unique then because it was self-supporting” (New
Brought Soy into American Farming, Diet and Culture. In York Times, 1904 Oct. 16, p. 9).
this thesis is a wealth of new biographical information about Her parents “dared think their own thoughts in China a
and references to Yamei Kin, a remarkable but little-known half century ago. Her father was one of the early converts to
woman who was important in helping to bring soyfoods to Christianity [in China], though Yamei Kin herself has gone
the United States. back to the teachings of Confucius. Her mother, a little-foot
At the time the thesis arrived, our Center was in the woman, had the unusual advantage of a seminary education,
middle of compiling a history of the soybean and soyfoods and fl ew in the face of Chinese tradition by choosing her
in China. We stopped, and decided to do a book on Dr. own husband. They went to the same mission church, these
Yamei Kin fi rst, in part because her story was part of the two, – a church where boys and girls were divided by the
history of how soyfoods came from China to the USA. centre aisle, Quaker fashion.” They were attracted to one
Matthew then kindly sent us a PDF of every one of another and before long they married. “Such were Yamei
the documents he cited that mention Dr. Yamei Kin or her Kin’s parents, people of the mandarin class, the division of
son (Alexander) or her husband (Mr. Eca Da Silva). Of brain-workers, which constitutes the aristocracy of China”
the 176 references in the 1st edition of this book about Dr. (MacGregor 1905, p. 242-43).
Kin, Matthew Roth’s research contributed 108, or about
61%. Our deepest thanks to Matt Roth for making this book 1866 – “At the age of two the child was left an orphan. An
possible. epidemic of fever swept over Ning-po, her birthplace, and
she was bereft in a few short weeks of parents, relatives,
Preface to the Second Edition friends” (MacGregor 1905, p. 243). Her father, Rev. Kying
The fi rst edition of this book was published in May 2014. Ling-yiu (a Christian convert and pastor of the church at Yü-
Then on June 3, Yang Chenglin of Jiujiang, southeast China yiao, beloved by all who knew him) died on 5 Aug. 1866;
began to send Shurtleff lots of new and very interesting her mother had died a few days before her father (Home and
information about Yamei Kin. His surname is Yang. Foreign Record of the Presbyterian Church in the United
Fortunately he speaks excellent English, so that we were States of America (Jan. 1867, p. 12).
easily able to carry on a correspondence by e-mail. Like “The little Yamei and her brother were adopted by
a professional researcher, he began making one important American missionaries, the late Dr. D.B. McCartee and his
discovery after another, some of them in archives located in wife, who had aided her parents in their marriage, and who
the United States, some in Chinese archives. He translated afterward served a long term in the diplomatic service of this
these Chinese documents for this book. In fact, during the country in Japan. Her foster parents took the greatest care
next year his research was responsible for adding at least with the child’s education, and were wise not to Americanize
113 records (most very important) about Yamei Kin. This her too much” (MacGregor 1905, p. 243-244).
2nd edition would never have appeared but for his ongoing The inspiring story of the life of Divie Bethune McCartee
research and interest in this remarkable Chinese woman. and his wife, Juana, a very loving, selfl ess, and generous
Shurtleff invited Mr. Yang to be listed as a co-author of Protestant medical missionary couple that adopted May King,
this book, but he declined. is told from the viewpoint of three men who knew them plus
the man as he regarded himself, by Robert E. Speer (1922, p.
Genealogy: A basic genealogy of each of the main 23, 210).
characters in this story will be found in the latter half of this Dr. McCartee (p. 210) had great sympathy, “especially
book. toward fatherless children. Dr. McCartee took their children,
a boy of seven and a girl of two [Yamei Kin], and brought
Brief chronology/timeline of Dr. Yamei Kin. them up as his own children.”
Note 1. From the above we learn that Yamei Kin’s
1864 – Yamei Kin is born at Ningpo, a treaty port, in surname can also be romanized as “Kying.” This may explain
Chekiang Province, China – about 100 miles south of why, as a young lady, she often used the name “Y. May
Shanghai (Speer 1920, p. 210. Wong and Wu. 1936. History King.”
of Chinese Medicine, p. 488). Note 2. We know almost nothing of what happened to the
Copyright © 2016 by Soyinfo Center
BIOGRAPHY OF YAMEI KIN M.D. 6
little girl’s elder brother, or even what his full name was. in Tokyo. Dr. McCartee is working for the Ministry of
The young girl learned English in China from the family Education (Speer 1922, p. 158). Yamei Kin is probably with
of Dr. McCartee [especially from Mrs. McCartee]. She them for about 5 years at this time.
also took a fancy to the study of medicine [and science in “‘I did not exactly choose my profession,’ says Dr. Kin.
general] and Dr. McCartee taught her well (New York Times, ‘It was the result of my study of natural sciences, in which
1904 Oct. 16, p. 9). I became interested through my foster father’s researches’”
(MacGregor 1905, p. 244).
1869 March 2 – Yamei Kin leaves China en route to the
United States with Dr. and Mrs. McCartee. Their ship goes 1876 Nov. 25 – You Mei King [Yamei Kin] fi rst appears in
from Japan through the Panama Canal then lands in New Clara’s Diary. Clara and You Mei are close friends. You Mei
York harbor in May. The three stay for about 18 months then liked to dress in the Chinese style, with long loose trousers
return to China on 1 Nov. 1870 (“Record of Furloughs since and a blouse (that descends to below her knees) over the top,
Appointment” in “Biographical .Record” fi lled out in pen by fastened at each shoulder by buttons. Clara found You Mei
Dr. D.B. McCartee, 19 April 1892). to be very independent; she said she intended to become a
teacher and to go to Europe to fi nish her education so she
1869 Oct. 29 – We fi rst hear of Yamei Kin by name: could take care of herself by age 18.
Mrs. D.B. McCartee (now in Yonkers, New York), in a
handwritten letter to Henry William Rankin (her nephew) 1877 Jan. 31 – Clara and her friends (You Mei and fi ve
states: “Little Yüô-me [a nickname variant of Yamei in the other American girls, including Emma Verbeck) form the
Ningpo dialect] has come with me. Ah-be [probably her elder Asiatic Society. They decide to meet once every two weeks
brother] thought he would rather see the ‘Airs’ [?] (McCartee at the home of one of the girls. At the fi rst meeting they
Family Papers, Record Group 177. Roll 1, Folder 9). Note: enjoy games, laughter and fun. At the next week they read
Letters mentioned from now on refer to letters from this compositions they have written. You Mei’s was “Whispers
collection. from the Bamboo.”
The McCartees “treated Dr. Kin as their own child,
giving her every opportunity and instruction in their power. 1877 May 1 was You Mei’s farewell party. When Clara had
At the age of fi ve years they brought her with them to the to leave, she impulsively kissed You Mei good-bye. “I am
United States on one of their furloughs, and during that visit so sorry to have her go away,” wrote Clara (Clara’s Diary.
of a year she learned to speak English, which, when she 1979, p. 128).
returned to China, Mrs. McCartee kept up regularly, teaching
her every day. Not long after returning from the furlough, 1880 May – Yamei Kin returns by ship to the United States
Dr. McCartee resigned from the Presbyterian Mission, and at age 16 with Dr. and Mrs. McCartee. They probably land in
after an interval in Shanghai, where he was in the American New York Harbor. She is allowed to enter the United States
Consulate, went to Japan, where his great knowledge of without a passport as the McCartees’ adopted daughter. She
written Chinese secured for him the profound respect of the is sent by them for one year to Rye Seminary, Rye, New
Japanese, who were then just beginning learn Western ways. York (McCartee letters folder 9; New York Chinese Exclusion
Five years in this early stage of Japanese awakening ever Index for Yamei Kin and Alexander Eca Da Silva, 1913).
remains a vivid picture in Dr. Kin’s mind” (Oriental Review.
1913. Feb. p. 239). 1880 Dec. – “Yüôme [Yamei] expects to make profession of
“Dr. McCartee, besides his literary and diplomatic her faith in Christ, next Sunday at Rye – Your aunt & I will
learning, was also an ardent scientist, and as he prepared probably go & spend the Sabbath there…” All are living at
his lectures on Comparative Anatomy, Physiology, Botany, No. 282, 20th St. New York City (Letter of 29 Nov. 1880). By
Zoology, etc., or took his pupils on excursions through the 30 Nov. 1882 all were living at No. 230 Second Ave., New
parks, he also taught Dr. Kin; so that with Mrs. McCartee’s York City.
careful instruction in general literature, the free run of Dr.
McCartee’s large library, and, though but a child, being in 1882? – After a year at the Rye Seminary, Yamei Kin goes
the society of that large faculty which the Japanese gathered with the McCartees to the Sandwich Islands [Hawaiian
– they had a full French, German, and English faculty at one Islands]. They probably landed on 14 June 1882 (see
time – together with the other social life of the Capital, Dr. Hawaiian Gazette). After they return to the USA, she enters
Kin came to have an extremely wide and varied knowledge Woman’s Medical College on 8th Street and Third Avenue in
and experience which it would be hard to duplicate (Oriental New York City for a three-year course (New York Chinese
Review. 1913. Feb. p. 239). Exclusion Index for Yamei Kin and Alexander Eca Da Silva,
1913).
1872-1880 – The McCartees are living in Japan, probably
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BIOGRAPHY OF YAMEI KIN M.D. 7
1885 May – “Miss May King (Kin Yamei) graduated at the
Woman’s Medical College of New York Infi rmary Friday. 1887 July 2 – Dr. Y. May King Kin has become an expert
She is the fi rst Chinese woman ever granted a degree of on photo-micrography, She publishes an article titled “The
M.D. in this country” (Sumner Gazette, June 11, p. 1). The Photo-Micography of Histological Subjects” in the New
distinguished guests included the Chinese Consul (Edinburgh York Medical Journal (47:7-11. July 2). Not bad for a young
Evening News. 1885 June 12, p. 4). She graduated in May woman of age 23.
at the head of her class “and has since pursued special post-
graduate courses in Philadelphia, Washington and New York, 1887 July – “Miss Y. May King, M.D., sailed last month for
and has served as resident physician for some months in N.Y. China as medical missionary at Amoy under appointment of
Infi rmary, and in the Children’s Asylum at Mt. Vernon near the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in
New York” (Sei-i-Kwai Medical Journal, Aug. 1887, p. 167- America.” She is age 23 (Gospel in All Lands, July, p. 332).
68; reproduced from the China Mail).
In New York “under Dr. Robert Abbe, Dr. J. West 1887 Aug. 20 – Miss Y. May King, M.D., is in Shirakawa,
Roosevelt, and Dr. Janeway she studied at the old Woman’s Japan, assisting in photographing an eclipse (Todd 1887,
Medical College at Second Avenue and Eighth Street, and Sept. 22, p. 229-30).
won her title of doctor in 1888 [sic, 1885]. After graduate
studies in Philadelphia and Washington she went back to 1887 Aug. –“We learn that a passenger by the steamer
China (New York Times, 1904 Oct. 16, p. 9). Abyssinia, due next week, is a Chinese lady, Miss. Y. May
She wrote her thesis on “Medical Science among the King. M.D.,…” (Sei-i-Kwai Medical Journal, Aug. 1887,
Chinese” (Letter of 20 Jan. 1885). p. 167-68; reproduced from the China Mail). Note: She is
“After a three years’ course, she graduated with honors probably due to arrive in China next week.
– barely of legal age to take a diploma, and had two years
of post-graduate work before returning to China to practice 1887 Oct. 13 – The Iowa State Reporter writes on its front
medicine” (Oriental Review. 1913. Feb. p. 239). page: “Among the recent graduates of the Woman’s Medical
During much of the time she was studying for her College in New York city, is Kin Yamei, a Chinese girl,
medical degree, she was living at the home of Dr. & Mrs. who had taken the highest position in the class. She is an
McCartee. The McCartee Family Papers contain many accomplished scholar, able to converse and write accurately
details of this period. In letters to their nephew, Henry W. in fi ve languages.”
Rankin (in Northfi eld, Massachusetts) they usually refer to
her by her nickname, Yüô-me, but sometimes they call her 1888 July 16 – Dr. Y. May King at Amoy, China, is reported
“May.” to have a serious illness; cholera is present in the area
However, during part of this time she lived in a cheap (Mission Field, Oct. p. 21-22).
boarding house, sharing rooms with an impoverished girl Also: “In 1888 she went to Amoy under the auspices
from India who was forbidden to eat meat by her religion. of the Women’s Board of the Dutch Reformed Church and
Eventually the poor girl “actually starved herself to death for stayed there until 1889 when – contracting malaria – she
the sake of her faith” (Prusek 1902. p. 182). took residence in Japan and worked in connection with the
Southern Methodists at Kobe” (Wong and Wu. 1936. History
1885 Oct. – Starting in early October, shortly after of Chinese Medicine, p. 488).
graduation, she became junior resident physician in the New In Amoy they found “a very strong anti-Chinese feeling
York Infant Asylum at Mt. Vernon, Westchester Co., New on the part of several of the Amoy Missions,… [and the]
York. She kept this position until about Christmas, 1885 Medical missionary who was the med. adviser and attended
(Letter of 4 Nov. 1885). By 5 Oct. 1885 the family is living the mission did not approve of ‘women doctors.’” The
at 1007 13th St. N.W., Washington, DC. mission “would not offer Y.M. [Yamei] a house in any
of their houses or give her the least aid or support in her
1886 spring – May takes a 3-months post-graduate course in hospital.” Bitter medicine for her. By March 1889 she is back
Philadelphia. She studies German with a German professor in Japan (Letter of 16 March 1889).
so that she can read German medical works (Letter of 29 Jan.
1886). She later says: “I was in the United States and Hawaii 1888 Nov. – “It is with great regret that the Board announces
until 1887” (New York Chinese Exclusion Index for Yamei that Miss Y. May King, M.D., has resigned her position
Kin, 1913). at Amoy, and severed her connection with the mission”
(Mission Field, Nov. p. 19).
1887 April 1 – The family leaves their home at 1007 13th St. Another version: After graduate studies in the United
N.W. in Washington, D.C. travels via the Canadian Pacifi c States, she returned to China. “Surgeon in China ten years:
Railway to Vancouver, then by steamer to Yokohama. For ten years she practiced surgery in South China, Japan,
Copyright © 2016 by Soyinfo Center
BIOGRAPHY OF YAMEI KIN M.D. 8
and Hawaii, and had so much to do that her health broke early background. His parents during his early years were
down. Then she came to Southern California” (New York presumed to be reasonably well off, since there were servants
Times, 1904 Oct. 16, p. 9). in the home. As a young man, he went to Milan, Italy for
Another version: In late 1889, after contracting malaria, musical training. His own records state that he studied under
“she went to Japan and worked in connection with the J.M. Pinetti. Eça da Silva was an accomplished musician on
Southern Methodists (Chinese Medical Journal. April 1934, the piano and violin. Before coming to the United States, he
p. 414). had been an accompanist for an Italian tenor on a world tour;
and, as he told, the director of the Emperor’s band in Japan.
1889 Jan. – “But Yamei Kin never forgot her motherland and He taught the bandsmen ‘western musical notation.’ What
felt it her duty to help improve China’s backward medical brought him to California in 1894 is not known” (McGaw
technology and conditions. This vocation compelled Kin 1977).
to give up her well-paid, prestigious work and comfortable Also: “In 1894 she married the Spanish-Portuguese
living conditions in the US and return at the end of 1888 to musician and linguist da Silva, a son being born to her in
China. She fi rst of all worked with the churches of Xiamen 1896” (Wong and Wu. 1936. History of Chinese Medicine, p.
practicing medicine, but a year after arriving fell ill with 488).
malaria. As she was alone and in the worst possible climate, Also: Hipolite Eca da Silva, a Portuguese from Macao,
Kin left for Japan where she could receive better treatment. had lived in China (Ngai 2010, p. 81).
When she recovered, Kin worked and practiced medicine at Note: We have been unable to determine how Yamei
the Christian missionary [college?] in Kobe, Japan. Kin met Mr. Eca da Silva and on what exact date they were
“In January 1889, Yamei Kin was invited to take charge married in Japan.
of medical treatment of women and children in the Kobe
area. She arrived in Kobe on 4 Dec. 1889. To this end she 1895 Feb. 15 – Yamei Kin, M.D. has recently arrived in
fi rst set up a women and children’s clinic in a Japanese Hawaii. She has applied to the Board of Health for a license
barracks and later at her home in Kobe. Running the clinic to practice medicine, and has presented her diploma for
was demanding work as she had to take on the roles of inspection. She would like “to be registered under the name
doctor, nurse and clerical assistant at a time when epidemics of Yamei Kin Eca da Silva.” She also presents a fi ne letter
were rife in Kobe. Kin treated patients and did much to of recommendation to the president of the Board, from Rev.
curb the spread of diseases. She also gave lectures to local Frank W. Damon, which states (in part) that she is “a lady of
doctors, helped midwives in the village where she lived build true Christian character, of unusual culture and refi nement
classrooms and taught them more modern medical skills. All and superior attainments in her profession. Her foster-
her efforts helped local hospitals to progress. During the fi ve parents, Dr. and Mrs. McCartee, are also esteemed friends of
years Kin practiced medicine in Kobe, she won high esteem ours.” (Hawaiian Gazette, p. 7, col. 1).
and honor from the public” (All-China Women’s Federation. The Medical Record (24 Aug. 1895, p. 271) reports
2010. www.womenofchina.cn. “First woman overseas that Dr. Y. May King had “been in practice in Kobe, Japan.
student of modern China and legend in her own time”; Recently Dr. King married Mr. H. Eça da Silva, and went
Letters of 30 March 1890 and of 13 June 1893). with her husband to Honolulu, where she now resides. ”
Dr. Kin’s work on behalf of women in the Kobe area of
Japan lasted from 1890 to 1894, “when she resigned to be 1895 – Alexander Amador Eca da Silver is born in Honolulu,
married, leaving Japan immediately” (Bonnell 1917). Hawaii, the fi rst (and only) child of Dr. Yamei Kin and Mr.
H.L. Eca da Silva (New York Chinese Exclusion Index).
1894 – Yamei Kin, M.D. and Hippolytus Laesola Amador Note: We have been unable to determine the exact date of
Eca da Silva are married in Yokohama, Japan (San Francisco his birth in 1895 (it was probably in about November), or to
Call, 1904 Aug. 13. p. 14). fi nd a birth certifi cate – although Alexander’s mother says in
In Yokohama, they are married in the English Consulate, 1913 she has one.
by the English Consul. Dr. Kin has a marriage certifi cate.
From there they go directly to Hololulu, Hawaii, where 1896 May 9 – Mrs. Eca Da Silva [Yamei Kin] and her
they stay for a little less than two years (New York Chinese child depart from Hawaii for San Francisco on the Oceanic
Exclusion Index for Alexander Eca Da Silva, 1913). Steamship Australia (Hawaiian Gazette, May 12, p. 8, col.
Some background from an Eca da Silva family 2). Her husband departs for San Francisco on July 7, alone –
genealogy: “Hippolyttus Laesola Amador Eça da Silva. about 2 months after his wife and child. Dr. Kin and her son
Born in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, Aug. 13, soon move to the Los Angeles area.
1870. Father was Portuguese, mother, Emma, of Spanish
extraction. Married: (1) Ya Mae Kim [sic, Kin], M.D.” “Only 1896 Oct. 18 – “Dr. Kin Eca da Silva, a Chinese medical
hear-say information is available on H.A. Eça da Silva’s missionary,” gives her earliest known public lecture. It is
Copyright © 2016 by Soyinfo Center
BIOGRAPHY OF YAMEI KIN M.D. 9
in Tustin, Orange County, California, at the Presbyterian His faithful wife, who with him to the last, takes the
Church, on Sunday evening (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 15, p. body of her husband (presumably by train) across the
11). United States and has it buried in the family burying plot in
Newburgh, New York (The Christian Intelligencer. 1900.
1897 April 4 – “Mrs. Kin Eca da Silva, M.D, a graduate with Aug. 29, p. 560). He is buried on 31 July 1900 in the family
highest honors of the Woman’s Medical College of the New plot (Lot NW 226) at St. George’s Cemetery, at St. George’s
York Infi rmary, will speak in the Presbyterian Church on Episcopal Church, in Newburgh, New York. His father (after
Sunday evening concerning missionary work in China and reburial on 23 May 1903) and mother (1921) were later
Japan” (Los Angeles Times, April 4 (Sunday), p. 22). buried in the same plot (Heather Georghiou. 2016, Jan 12,
pers. comm.; St. George’s Burial Book 1. 1900. July 31).
Background: In the 1640s Manchu Tribes, from in and
around Manchuria, invaded, conquered and occupied China. 1902 Feb. – Yamei Kin writes her earliest known article,
In 1644 they established the Manchu/Qing dynasty, which “The Pride of His House: A Story of Honolulu’s Chinatown,”
ruled with an oppressive hand. Then came the European which is published in the Overland Monthly (Vol. 39, p.
colonial powers which wanted to “open” China to trade with 655-659). A woman has been married for many years to a
the West. The British exported so much tea from China that man named Ah Sing, who is the last of his branch of the
its cost threatened to bankrupt England. So the British started clan; but they have no children. She fi nds a “handmaid” for
to grow opium in India and sell it (illegally) in China at high her husband who can bear him a child to carry on the family
prices to pay for their tea. The Chinese tried valiantly to keep name and duties to the ancestors. The story ends: “She
out the opium, but the British insisted on their right to sell looked down with such maternal pride and tenderness at
it. This led to the fi rst (1839-1842) and second (1856-60) the little one, who had at last gone to sleep in her arms! Her
Opium Wars in China; the British won both and demanded child – truly the child of love and sacrifi ce, who should care
huge indemnities (payments of money). The Taiping for and honor her old age, who redeemed her husband, Ah
Rebellion (1851-1864) and the Boxer Rebellion (1898-1900) Sing, from being the mock and reproach of his family – Ah
made matters worse, so that by the 1900, with the Dowager Sing, who had been so good and kind to her all these years,
Empress on her Dragon Throne, the Manchu dynasty was and of whom she was so fond and proud.”
bankrupt, in turmoil, and in its death throes. Chinese patriots An illustration (on the last page) shows Ah Sing walking
(such as Sun Yat-sen), hoping to take back their country, hand-in-hand with his young son.
began to organize rebellions. Note that Dr. Kin has stopped using the surname “Eca da
Silva.” Accompanying this article is the fi rst photograph we
1897 July 14 – “Dr. Kin Eca da Silva stirred the hearts of have of Dr. Kin – a very attractive one.
all his [sic, her] hearers by his story of the degradation of Note: This article may have signaled her transition from
oriental women, so often told by missionaries, and always of Christianity to Confucianism – although (she believes) the
such painful interest to the happy and respected women of latter is not a religion, but “a system of ethics or philosophy.”
the western world.
“The great diffi culty in reaching the hearts of the oriental 1902 March 28 – Dr. Yamei Kin leaves San Francisco on
women lies in the fact that they are sunk in stolidity and the steamer America Maru on a trip to chaperone three
sensuality, the abject slaves of their lords and masters… fashionable San Francisco young ladies on a six-month
It was an old story to most of the women who heard it, trip to Japan via Hawaii. The three fashionables are Miss
for it touched the hearts of the diffi culties encountered by Yattie Dubois, Miss Laura Voorman and Miss Kate Atkinson
missionaries in oriental countries, but the interest with which (Pacifi c Commercial Advertiser {Honolulu}, 1902. March
they listened was as keen as though the problem had never 28; San Francisco Chronicle. 1902. Sept. 3, p. 9).
before been considered, and the approval was unqualifi ed Weary of her husband, she leaves their eight-year-old boy
for the speaker’s earnest plea for the prayers of all Christian in charge of persons in Berkeley, California (San Francisco
women for the emancipation of their sisters in bondage” (Los Call. 1904 Aug. 13. p. 14, col. 4).
Angeles Times, July 14, p. 6). Dr. Kin left her young son, Alexander, with Walter
Afong’s family in Berkeley (San Francisco Chronicle. 1904.
1899 mid-Nov. – Dr. McCartee is feeling sick and Aug. 13, p. 10).
overloaded in Japan; he leaves for San Francisco.
1902 Sept. 1 – Dr. Yamei Kin [called “Dr. Yamai Kim” in the
1900 July 17 – Dr. Divie Bethune McCartee, foster-father of article] returns to San Francisco alone after her trip to Japan
Yamei Kin, dies in San Francisco, California, at age 81, after on the steamer Hongkong Maru. She has trouble landing
56 “years of faithful service to the Far East” (Speer 1922, p. because [she has no passport and] on the passenger list her
22). name appears as “Miss Dr. Yamai Kim,” whereas she is still
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BIOGRAPHY OF YAMEI KIN M.D. 10
married to Mr. Eca da Silva, although divorce proceedings China, and I am sure I am thoroughly American in many
are now in progress (San Francisco Chronicle. 1902. Sept. 3, things, although I am proud of the fact that I am a pure bred
p. 9). A large photo shows Dr. Kin wearing a Chinese robe. Chinese woman – a member of the literary class’” She says:
At About this time, her son, Alexander, starts to attend “I have never passed fi ve consecutive years in a single place,
school – a public school in San Francisco (New York Chinese or lived three years in a single house,…” (Chicago Tribune,
Exclusion Index for Alexander Eca Da Silva, 1913). Yet p. 47).
if he lived in Berkeley, how did he get to school and back In November 1903, she is still lecturing – to large
each day, unless he boarded at the school? Or is “in San audiences in and around Chicago.
Francisco” shorthand for “in the San Francisco Bay Area”?
1904 Jan. – Dr. Kin is now in Boston, lecturing to women’s
1903 Jan. 10 – The Ebell Club (a woman’s club in Los clubs. She has begun to move among the highest levels of
Angeles) announces a series of Four Lectures of Things American society. The Boston Sunday Globe writes (Jan. 10,
Oriental by the noted Chinese woman Dr. Yamei Kin. The p. 37): “She is so many-sided and yet so simple, so serious
cost of the four lectures is $1.00. (Los Angeles Times, p. 1). and yet so full of vivacity when she speaks to one, that it is
These lectures must be an important source of income for no wonder that those who meet her are charmed with Dr.
Dr. Kin and her son, Alexander. It is unclear whether or not Yamei Kin.” She “has succeeded so admirably in impressing
her son, born in 1895, accompanied her on this lecture tour. Boston club women with the piquancy and cleverness of the
women of her race, that were her visit here to be long enough
1903 March 6 – Dr. Yamei Kin gives a talk to the Los extended, she would become quite the fad of the hour among
Angeles Medical Association about the practice of medicine them.”
in China and the vigor and vitality of most Chinese. The “How did it happen that Dr Yamei Kin came to Boston?
Los Angeles Times (March 7, p. 12) comments: “It was a “She came at the bidding of a rich and popular woman
remarkable thing to see Dr. Yamei Kin stand before the who delights in surprising the public with new things.
Los Angeles County Medical Association last night,… Her “At her Fenway palace, about a month ago, Mrs. John
language is of the purest Anglo Saxon, rich and beautiful L. Gardner fi rst introduced this young Celestial woman to
in modulation, and her rhetoric is near perfection. She Boston society.”
possesses a keen sense of humor, and never permits an “Her home is in Ning Po, where she was born. She
opportunity to escape unimproved. Her face lights up with had received an English education before coming to this
pleasure and often develops into a broad laugh. country, so that she was fully equipped to take the entrance
“Her audience laughed many times and applauded her examinations required by her alma mater. After receiving her
sallies, which were always delivered with faultless taste and degree, she returned to China, where she practiced medicine.
refi nement. The face and dress of the speaker were the only She has recently arrived in America from Japan, where she
evidence of her nationality.” has resided seven years.
“She said she had been very kindly received in her “On her return to China she intends to instruct her people
medical practice in Peking, and told of her successful by means of lectures in the ways and manners of American
treatment of the wife of the Governor. She said: life.”
“‘So pleased was the Governor that he sent me home
in his offi cial Sedan chair, accompanied by his full retinue 1904 March 24 – She is in Washington, DC, where she
of offi cials, conferring on me the honor of being the only “delivered a lecture at the residence of Senator Kean before
woman ever known to ride in the offi cial conveyance of an audience representative of all that is best in Washington
China. As some of the people expressed it – he took me society... She is now making a tour of the United States
home just like a man.’” trying to create a wider interest and sympathy between the
women of these distant lands” (Washington Post, March 25,
1903 May 3 – Dr. Yamei Kin gives her fi rst lectures east of p. 7).
the Mississippi River – in Chicago – and her fi rst lectures
to women’s clubs. A photo shows her dressed “in Royal 1904 April 10 – Dr. Kin fi rst mentions soyfoods or soybeans.
manchu costume.” She “is almost literally a woman with two In an article titled “Chinese Food Products: Beans a Leading
native countries – two countries to which she owes tender Article of Food in China” the New-York Tribune reports that
allegiance and that lie close to her heart.” she discussed soy sauce and bean cake [tofu].
“‘I love both America and China dearly,’ says the little,
slender woman, sweet voiced and charming, who has earned 1904 April 23 – After returning to lecture in Boston (to
unusual distinction in two lands and in two fi elds of learned glowing praise in the Boston Evening Transcript), she headed
and studious endeavor.” west to visit St. Louis, Missouri, and the Louisiana Purchase
“‘I have spent almost as much time in America as in Exposition [“1904 World’s Fair”] and lecture to a women’s
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