Cynthia Borgman, Amoy Missionary 1923-1925 Gulangyu Grave

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Ahoy from Amoy! (historic Xiamen, China).

Today, I received an email from a man asking about his wife's great aunt, Amoy Missionary Cynthia Borgman (Born June 6, 1895, served in Amoy from 1923 to June 30, 1925). I have almost nothing about her (except she had 12 sisters and 1 brother). though I do have an old photo of her grave taken by Hope Hospital nurse Jean Nienhuis. If you have any information (text, photos, etc.) on Cynthia Borgman, could you please share it? And for more photos and documents about Cynthia, visit Cynthia's page [scroll to bottom for link] on the genealogy site Familysearch (which I discovered was Mormon, and that I had Mormon relatives who had baptized me into the Mormon church whether I wanted it or not. No problem. I drink coffee and eat chocolate in spite of it).

That Cynthia died after only 2 years in Amoy is not that surprising. The average life expectancy of a China missionary was only 7 years. Their dedication, in spite of their hardships, was amazing.

That Chinese language study led, indirectly, to Cynthia's demise is also not too surprising. Cynthia had a nervous breakdown after six months of Chinese study. (See my article "Mad About Mandarin", taken from my "Discover Xiamen" Amazon eBook). She was recovering well but on June 24th got Amoebic dysentery and died 6 days later. She was buried at sunset the day she died, as bodies could not be left long in Xiamen's tropical climate.

The Sioux Center News reported,
"The services had included two hymns sung in the Chinese language, the one “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and the other “There is a land that is fairer than day." Her name in Chinese, to her friends there was “Bo-ko-mu.” And may we add to this that Cynthia was a girl who from childhood on knew the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation. We write these words that you and I may be more and better inspired for the great work of Missions. Shall we not make our sacrifices willingly and gladly?"

Insane Language Cynthia did indeed make sacrifices to learn Chinese. Anne MacKenzie-Grieves, a British resident of Gulangyu in the 1920s, wrote in her delightful book, "A Race of Green Ginger,"

"People say you get peculiar if you study Chinese too long.', Mrs. Jones of Customs addressed her remark to Mrs. Theobald quite kindly. I concluded she believed the sanity of missionaries to be somehow immune.

"Mrs. Weeks, the doctor's wife, said: 'I knew a man who put snakes in his wife's bed; he was terribly good at Chinese.'
 
"…I should have to risk the snakes.  Cyril [her husband] had to learn the language [Amoy Dialect] —that was why we were in Kulangsu. Apart from all cultural and social considerations, I, being borne in a sedan chair about the island, unable to make any sound which conveyed the least shred of meaning to the bearers, was even prepared to risk mental derangement."
    Mackenzie-Grieves

The Sweetest Language on Earth?  But Edkins (1875) wrote that the sacrifices to learn Chinese were worth it because Chinese was the Sweetest Language on the planet. After 30 years of learning Chinese myself, I'm not sure if it is the sweetest, but it's certainly in the top 2 or 3! Edkins wrote:

"The Chinese is the only living language in which through the phonetic element in the writing, joined with the poetry of all ages, written during 4000 years, and preserving rhymes for our examination, we have open to our investigation 4000 years of continuous linguistic development.

“The latter [Webb, 1678] says that ‘if ever our Europeans shall become thoroughly studied in the Chinese tongue,’ it will be found that the Chinese have very many words ‘whereby they express themselves in such elegancies as neither by Hebrew or Greek, or any other language how elegant so ever can be expressed.  Besides, whereas the Hebrew is harsh and rugged, the Chinese appears the most sweet and smooth language of all others throughout the whole world at this day known.’  P. Premare, who was missionary and sinologist and had a right to speak with authority, becomes quite enthusiastic on the sub-ject of this language.  Chinese Grammar, he says, is for the most part free from the thorns which ours presents, but still it has its rules, and there is not in the world a richer language, nor one which has reigned so long."

Click This Link to see more photos of Cynthia Borgman, her Gulangyu grave, death certificate, letters, etc. And if you have any photos or material about members of the Amoy Mission, whether Chinese or foreign (including their descendants), please share it with us.

By the way, I just saw that Cynthia's sister, Alida Borgman Vermeer, born March 15, 1893 in Sioux City, died 71 years later--still in Sioux City. She had married Ed Vermeer, a farmer, on Feb. 16, 1917. I wonder if the Vermeer's were any relation to the Vandermeers, who for 3 generations served in the Amoy Mission?

Enjoy Amoy!

Dr. Bill 
P.S. If you have my Amazon eBook, Discover Xiamen (600+ pages about Xiamen and Southern Fujian), it would really help if you could leave even a 2 or 3 line review! Thanks).

School of Management, Xiamen University
Amazon eBook "Discover Xiamen"

www.amoymagic.com

Bill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com