Stephen Yang (1911–2007), also known as Stephen C. H. Yang,; Sichuanese romanization: ''Iang Chen-hua''. was a

Sichuanese Sichuanese, Szechuanese or Szechwanese may refer to something of, from, or related to the Chinese province and region of Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jin ...

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

, medical educator, and

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world p ...

Life and career

Stephen Yang was born in 1911 in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

, and raised by parents of the

faith (Religious Society of Friends). In 1922, he lived at the Friends Middle School on the campus of the

West China Union University The West China Union University ( zh, t=華西協合大學), alternatively known as West China University or Huaxi University, was a private Christian university in Chengdu, Sichuan, western China. It was the product of the collective efforts of ...

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

, cofounded by American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, American Methodist Episcopal Mission,

Canadian Methodist Mission The Canadian Methodist Mission (CMM), also known as Missionary Society of the Methodist Church in Canada (MCC; zh, t=美道會, w=Mei3 Tao4 Hui4, p=Měi Dào Huì, l=Beautiful Way Society; former romanization: Mei Dao Hwei or Meh Dao Hwei; also ...

, and Friends' Foreign Mission Association. After graduating from the Union University in 1938 with a medical degree, he became a teacher at its College of Medicine while continuing his medical training. Wedding of Stephen Yang and Ruth Dsang

In 1942, Yang married Ruth Dsang, daughter of Lincoln L. G. Dsang, second president of West China Union University. The wedding took place in Chengdu. Dsang converted to Quakerism from

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

upon marriage. In the late 1940s, the couple traveled to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

for their

residency training Residency or postgraduate training is a stage of graduate medical education. It refers to a qualified physician (one who holds the degree of MD, DO, MBBS/MBChB), veterinarian ( DVM/VMD, BVSc/BVMS), dentist ( DDS or DMD), podiatrist ( DPM), o ...

, where they spent several days at Pendle Hill Quaker Center for Study and Contemplation with

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

and Howard Brinton, who had visited them in Sichuan in 1944. They also toured hospitals in the United States and Canada. Yang spent one year (1970–1971) in prison during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. In the 1980s, after his " rehabilitation", he attended several international meetings and was involved in the

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) is a non-partisan federation of national medical groups in 63 countries, representing doctors, medical students, other health workers, and concerned people who share the goal of ...

. After retiring from the West China Medical University, he had continued working as a mentor to English teachers sent by

British Quakers British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

to teach at the university.

Life and career

See also

Notes

References

Further reading