Amy Oxley Wilkinson with staff and students at the C.M.S. School for the Blind, Fuzhou

Collection

Carstairs, Jamie

Identifier

JC-s273

Copyright

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Notes

University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China reference number: JC-s273. The Australian Anglican nurse and missionary, Amy Oxley Wilkinson (1868-1949), founded the C.M.S. (Church Missionary Society) Blind Boys School in Fuzhou (Foochow). Wilkinson is standing on the left. Two men, who may be either teachers or staff members, are standing on the right. Four of the boys have button accordions and an older boy is playing the harmonium. The school was at Dongdai (东岱), a village in Lianjiang (连江), near Fuzhou, Fujian and this photograph was probably taken at the school. In 1917, in recognition of her life's work, the Republic of China awarded Wilkinson the very rare Order of the Precious Brilliant Golden Grain. Musical groups from the School for the Blind eventually began touring Fujian province, then to other parts of China, and finally to the UK. The school, which Wilkinson established in 1898 with a single student, is still operating, now moved to the city of Fuzhou. The text on the mat (They shall see his face) is a quotation from Revelations 22:4 (King James Bible): "4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever". Further reading:They Shall See His Face: The Story of Amy Oxley Wilkinson and Her Visionary Blind School in China by Linda and Robert Banks. See JC-s008, JC-s009, JC-s010, JC-s012 and JC-s014.