Gladys Aylward: Difference between revisions

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Gladys May Aylward (24 February 1902 – 3 January 1970) was a British-born evangelical Christian missionary to China, whose story was told in the book The Small Woman: The Heroic Story of Gladys Aylward, by Alan Burgess, published in 1957. The book served as the basis for the film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, starring Ingrid Bergman, in 1958. The film was produced by Twentieth Century Fox, and filmed entirely in North Wales and England.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Aylward was born in 1902, one of three children of Thomas John Aylward (a postman) and Rosina Florence, a working-class family from Edmonton, North London.<ref>http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/l/i/Ian-Blight/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0060.html Template:Self-published source Template:Dead link</ref> From her early teens, Gladys worked as a housemaid. Following a calling to go overseas as a Christian missionary, she was accepted by the China Inland Mission to study in a preparatory three-month course for aspiring missionaries. Because of her lack of progress in learning the Chinese language, she was not offered further training.<ref>Latham, pp4-6</ref>

On 15 October 1930, having worked for Sir Francis Younghusband,<ref name=Berith>Template:Cite web</ref> Aylward spent her life savings on a train passage to Yangcheng, Shanxi Province, China. The dangerous trip took her across Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Railway at a time when the Soviet Union and China were in an undeclared war.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She was detained by the Russians, but managed to evade them with local help and a lift from a Japanese ship. She then traveled across Japan with the help of the British Consul, and took another ship to China.

Work in China

Upon arriving in Yangcheng County, Aylward worked with an older missionary, Jeannie Lawson, to help manage The Inn of the Eight Happinesses<ref name=jras>Template:Cite journal</ref> (Template:Zh), a name based on the eight virtues of Love, Virtue, Gentleness, Tolerance, Loyalty, Truth, Beauty and Devotion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There, she and Mrs. Lawson not only provided hospitality for travelers but would also share stories about Jesus, in hopes of spreading nascent Christianity. For a time she served as an assistant to the Government of the Republic of China as a "foot inspector" by touring the countryside to enforce the new law against footbinding of young Chinese girls. She met with much success in a field that had produced much resistance and even violence at times against the inspectors.<ref name=Berith />

Aylward became a national of the Republic of China in 1936 and was a revered figure among the people, taking in orphans and adopting several herself, intervening in a volatile prison riot and advocating prison reform, risking her life many times to help those in need.<ref name="little woman">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1938, the region was invaded by Japanese forces, and Aylward led more than 100 orphans to safety over the mountains, despite being wounded and sick, personally caring for them (and converting many to Christianity).

She did not return to Britain until 1949, when her life in China was thought to be in great danger from the Communists – the army was actively seeking out missionaries. Settling in Basingstoke, she gave many lectures on her work. After her mother died, Aylward sought a return to China. After rejection by the Communist government and a stay in British-administered Hong Kong, she finally settled in Taiwan in 1958. There, she founded the Gladys Aylward Orphanage,<ref> IDEA – Magazine of the Evangelical Alliance Jan/Feb 2018 p.18 with photo</ref> where she worked until her death in 1970.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

A film based on her life, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, was released in 1958. It drew from the biography The Small Woman, by Alan Burgess. Although she found herself a figure of international interest because of the film's popularity and television and media interviews, Aylward was mortified by her depiction in the film and the liberties it took.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> The tall (1.75m/5' 9"), blonde Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman was inconsistent with Aylward's small stature, dark hair, and North London accent. The struggles of Aylward and her family to effect her initial trip to China were disregarded in favor of a movie plot device of an employer 'condescending to write to "his old friend" Jeannie Lawson'. Also, Aylward's dangerous, complicated travels across Russia, China, and Japan were reduced to 'a few rude soldiers', after which 'Hollywood's train delivered her neatly to Tientsin'.<ref name="wellman197">Template:Harvnb</ref> Many characters and names were changed, even when these names had significant meaning, such as those of her adopted children and that of the inn, which was named in fact for the Chinese belief in the number 8 as being auspicious. Her own name was changed; in real life, she was given the Chinese name Aiweide (Template:Zh – a phonetic approximation to Aylward), but in the film, she was given the name Jen-Ai (Template:Zh).<ref>Cast Script. British Film Institute.</ref> Colonel Lin Nan was portrayed as half-European, a change which she found insulting to his real Chinese lineage, and she felt that the Hollywood-embellished love scenes in the film damaged her reputation. Not only had she never kissed a man, but the film's ending portrayed her character leaving the orphans to rejoin the colonel elsewhere,<ref name="wellman198">Template:Harvnb</ref> even though in reality she did not retire from working with orphans until she was 60 years old. She dedicated the rest of her life to the orphans in Taiwan and was buried in Taipei.<ref name=":0" />

Death and legacy

Aylward died on 3 January 1970, about a month and a half short of her 68th birthday, and was buried in a small cemetery on the campus of Christ's College in Guandu (關渡基督書院), New Taipei, Taiwan. She was known to the Chinese as Template:Lang (Template:Lang-zh). Her ministry in Taipei continues to develop and is now called Bethany Children's Home.Template:Efn<ref name="wellman201">Template:Harvnb</ref> The new director, Sharon Chiang (Template:Zh), was called from Seattle to develop Bethany Children's Home further for its new vision and new building.<ref name=":0" />Template:Tone inline

A London secondary school, formerly known as 'Weir Hall and Huxley', was renamed the Gladys Aylward School (now the Aylward Academy) shortly after her death. There is a blue commemorative plaque on the house where Gladys lived near the school at 67 Cheddington Road, London N18.

A "house" was named after Gladys Aylward at Fernwood Comprehensive (formerly Secondary Modern) School, in Wollaton, Nottingham, and likewise at St Nicholas’ primary school in Crosby, Liverpool, which she visited while touring the UK in 1963.

Numerous books, short stories, and films have been developed about the life and work of Gladys Aylward.

Legacy continues: Given that although the number of orphans in Taiwan has been decreasing, the number of broken families and at-risk/abused children and youth continues to rise, Honorary Chairman Professor Peter Zhi-Ping Lin (林治平教授) cast the vision of “Let children come to me,” “Come to me to find rest” from Bible, led to the establishment of 'Lai Lou來樓/Come' building, designed by Joshua Jih Pan (潘冀建築師), <https://www.jjpan.com/en/project/all/bethany-childrens-home>. In 2020, Chairman Simon Hung (洪善群長老) invited Dr. Sharon Chiang (江秀圈博士), who had been residing in Seattle for 30 years, to take up the position of Director of the Betheny Children’s Home. In October 2024, it was renamed the 'Betheny Children and Family Foundation' (財團法人臺北市基督教伯大尼兒少家庭基金會), with Dr. Sharon Chiang continuing to serve as the CEO, leading the entire team in developing cross-age social work to serve cross ages from the young to the elderly. In addition to caring for vulnerable children who have experienced abuse or neglect, the foundation also offers a professional counseling center as well as free online CR (Celebrate Recovery), Step Group to serve Chinese communities worldwide, continuing the work of missionary Gladys Aylward. Related records and information can be found on the Betheny website: <https://www.bethany.org.tw/>

References

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General References

Hero Tales by Dave & Neta Jackson
These Are My People by Mildred T. Howard
The Woman with the Book by M. A. Mijnders-VanWoerden

Notes

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Further sources

Bibliography

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Videography

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) – feature film
Gladys Aylward, the Small Woman with a Great God (2008) – documentary
Torchlighters: The Gladys Aylward Story (2008) – animated DVD for children ages 8–12

External links

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