In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Mary was ambivalent about returning to China. She confessed to her father-in-law: “I rather dread some of the restrictions of life in China today, but as long as Jim feels this is his field of opportunity, I shall try to adjust myself to it.” Her eight-month absence from the country had, of course, undermined her efforts to learn Chinese; when she returned in the fall of 1928, the two years for language study paid for by the Mission had elapsed. She knew the phrase for “foreign prostitute,” however, and it was an epithet she often heard when out for a walk with Jim. Although there was less civil unrest than when she had left China, warlords were still fighting for territory, especially around the city of Chungking, the city in which Jim had been assigned to do pastoral work. Looking back, she recalled both the joy of reunion and the pain of adjustments: By the time we reached Japan I was worn out with the care of two lively children who kept waking by Canadian time. When we docked at Kobe they were waking at two A.M. Vancouver time. No word was ever more welcome than the cable from Jim stating he would meet me on the Shanghai docks. When the great day came I went to the deck with my heart pounding. Sure enough, on a big red truck, appeared that dazzling ear-to-ear smile. Norman at two years and a half was full of excitement but could see nothing till a tall man put him on his shoulder and he saw the daddy he had heard about but forgotten. The reunion made the separation almost worthwhile. On the river steamer Jim surprised me with the news that he had learned to dance. Two American girls staying at the Business Agency had convinced both Jim and Gordon Jones they were missing one of the joys of life and agreed to teach them both to dance before their wives got back from Chatham. To prove they had succeeded, Jim whistled or sang tunes from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Gondoliers as we danced on the deck in the moonlight . Someone had lent the records to him during his convalescence from 9 Back to Chungking: Four Months in Purgatory 83 typhus and he had practically memorized the complete score. I had always been fond of dancing but Jim was opposed to it on principle, a relic of Methodism. I had thought my dancing days were over so I was delighted to find he danced “so lightly and surely it is like dancing with the wind” as I wrote home to one of my girlfriends. As we steamed into Chungking I was astonished at the affectionate reaction I felt towards the “Dirty old town” perched on its rocky citadel, rickety shacks along the shore, ragged coolies shouting hoarsely, and all the things that formerly had made me shrink. It was my home now and I was excited at the prospect of settling down at last. Our house was on a street cut into the rock near the top of a high cliff. Jim had been to Chungchow and brought all our goods and chattels back by junk, [assisted by our house-coolie Lao Lew].… One evening we celebrated the end of our second honeymoon by dancing in the flickering light of the fire and candles, which threw weird shadows round the walls of the long room. The dark royal blue of the chesterfield set and the matching curtains on the French doors were set off by the gold cushions and the oil paintings. All this was reflected in the long mirror in which we two—in our improvised filmy costumes—created the illusion of a fairy-tale ball. (“Life with Jim”) Her letters home at the time stressed the positive things. Jim began to play the violin a little every day. Norman made strange at first with the servants , but within a few weeks he warmed up to Lao Lew and played ball with him in their courtyard. Several times they had Chinese couples from the church in for supper: “We really had a very nice time, in spite of Jim having to do most of our side of the conversation. I find I can say a few little things to the women, but haven’t enough for general conversation.” Looking back she felt free to recall the difficulties of living in the city of Chungking: In the...

Share