After she believed in Christianity at the age of 27, she first applied to join the mainland club, but the other party refused because of her lack of formal education resume. -The Mainland Society was founded in 1865 for British doctor Dai Desheng (1832-1905), and it was the largest organization of its kind at that time. Later, she attended a theological training class, but she was eliminated because she was too old and her grades were not satisfactory. So she continued to be a maid. Save money while living. In early 1930, she approached the Methodist Church again. At a party, she heard that Jeannie Lawson, an old missionary in China, was 73 years old and wanted to retire, but no one would take her place. Ai Weide immediately wrote to her, hoping to take her place. A few months later, Jenny wrote back to welcome her and told her that as soon as she arrived in Tianjin, China, someone would pick her up at her place in Yangcheng.
After simple preparation, Ai Weide bought a boat ticket from London to Holland from his savings from working. The day of departure was October 18th. She took two boxes (one with a Bible and clothes, the other with an alcohol stove for food and cooking) and all the savings she earned as a maid-2 pounds and 9 pence. Seeing her off were her parents and sister Violet, who took her from the port to The Hague, the Netherlands. Then she said goodbye to her relatives and took the train to Russia alone. When Europeans went to China, the best route at that time was to take a boat to Tianjin, but the cost was twice as expensive as that by land. In order to save money, Ai Weide chose the railway. Her travel route is: eastbound along the railway, crossing Eastern Europe, passing through Siberia, entering China, then turning to the Middle East Railway and going south, and taking a boat from Dalian to Tianjin. As a result, the journey was not smooth. Originally, she planned to go straight to the northeast of China, but it backfired. After the train was forced to divert to Moscow, she traveled on the vast Siberian wasteland. One night, the train suddenly stopped. It turns out that this third-class train only carries prisoners to the local area. If you want to go east, you must bring your own luggage and walk over the mountains to the next stop, a place called Chita. This is a desolate town in the Siberian wilderness. Ai Weide spread out across the desert covered with snow and ice. When he arrived at Chita, he found that the station was full of soldiers armed with guns and could hear sparse gunshots. After the local officials checked her passport, she was not allowed to get on the bus. She didn’t know Russian and could only gesture.The other party replied in blunt language: Passengers to the northeast of China can’t go forward and go wherever they come. -Later, she learned that the Soviet Union confronted the Japanese army, and the Manchuria Railway in China was under Japanese control, so the Soviet train could not go directly. She was forced to stay in the local hotel. In the hotel, a woman who knows English, after reading her passport carefully, solved the mystery for her. Pointing to the work column of her passport, she said, That’s the problem. The original "missionary" was wrongly written as "machinist". Because the Soviet Union was in great need of mechanics at that time, local officials violently detained her. Ai Weide suddenly realized. The woman warned her to run away or she would be forced to stay in Siberia. Ai Weide’s hands spread out, and her face was reluctant. She said that she couldn’t even speak a word of Russian. How could she leave this cold Siberia? The woman said that someone would help her, saying, "Someone will knock on your door tonight, so just follow him and take the train to Vladivostok. Someone will arrange it." In the face of this mysterious woman, Ai Weide can’t judge the truth, but only with a grain of salt. Before, she met an incident in which a local official suddenly wanted to rape her when she was negotiating for her. Therefore, the Soviet Union left a bad impression on her. That night, if a man came to pick her up, she followed him and got on the train. After a long drive, the train arrived at Vladivostok, the easternmost tip of the Soviet Union, a beautiful small town. It was night after getting off the bus, and there was little travel money left. She met a woman near the station,Begging her to find someone to take her to the dock by night. The other side helped her. She finally boarded a Japanese merchant ship moored in the harbor. The captain was moved by her spirit and promised to take her to Kobe, Japan for free. A few days later, she arrived in Tianjin, China by boat.
After Ai Weide abandoned the ship and set foot on Chinese mainland, he was penniless. A rickshaw puller insisted that she get on the bus in order to attract business. She was going to pay off her dirty and old scarf. When the rickshaw was parked in front of a gate, she saw an English sign with the words "Tianjin Mission Center" on it. She was very surprised and could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. It’s more than 10,000 kilometers from London to China. What a hard trip. She finally finished. Ai Weide stayed in Tianjin for a few months. In the meantime, she became familiar with the situation of Yangcheng, knowing that it is 1700 miles from Tianjin to there, at least, and climbing the lofty Taihang Mountains. In the spring of 1931, a Christian businessman surnamed Lu wanted to go to Jincheng, Shanxi, and promised to take Ai Weide there. So, they first crossed the North China Plain by train, then transferred to a long-distance bus to reach Jiaozuo, a major town in northwest Henan, and then began to go north to Taihang Mountain. After bumping for hours on the rugged and narrow mountain path, the car finally crossed the Taihang natural barrier and marched in the ravine. After Ai Weide arrived in Jincheng, she temporarily stayed in the mainland missionary station, which was equivalent to finding an organization for her. At the missionary station, she was received by an old and kind woman missionary, who was Mrs. Smede. Mrs. Smythe’s husband used to be a famous missionary in the world. When he was young, he was known as one of the "seven sons of Cambridge". Later, he preached in Ze and Lu in southeastern Shanxi for a long time and was good at business. Among the seven sons of Cambridge, three are in Shanxi. She has repeatedly applied to the General Church of England to send someone to Yangcheng to replace Jenny, and now she finally got her wish.Ai Weide, who came from afar, was very welcome. She introduced Shanxi and local conditions to her and pointed out matters needing attention. She warned her that western-style costumes were no longer suitable here, so she helped her prepare a high-necked China cheongsam and luggage. After a few days’ rest, Ai Weide, under the guidance of his fellow travelers, took a mule cart and sedan chair, and walked on the mountain road for two days, and finally arrived at Yangcheng, the sacred place arranged by fate. -70 years later, it takes only half an hour for Zezhou to get to Yangcheng.
Yangcheng is a small town in the mountains. The conditions of the church are worse than Ai Weide expected. Jenny lives in a big courtyard in the south of the church, which faces east and west, covering an area of more than 100 square meters, and there is also a local cook, Lao Yang. To her surprise, the house is not small, there are piles of dirt in it, the workers are cleaning and building it, and only one room is tidy. Jenny, 73, has lived in China for 50 years, from her prime to her twilight years. However, her accent still has a strong Scottish flavor, and sometimes mixed with China dialect, people feel the mark of her long residence in China. Being alone for a long time, she has some quirks. But when I saw her, her eyes shone with excitement. She took the couple and said that this is a newly rented house. The locals said that it was "haunted" and no one dared to live there, so the rent was particularly low, only 1 pound per year. In the face of such a place to stay, Ai Weide felt a little distant, but after a long journey, he also felt relaxed. As a maid, cleaning is an housekeeping skill. She immediately plunged into the labor of building her home, and a few days later, all the rooms were spotless. In Yangcheng, she did two things with Jenny. One is to cooperate with Jenny to open an inn to accommodate muleteers coming and going, called "Bafu Inn", which can not only preach the gospel to local people, but also raise funds for missionary work. . Second, in 1936, Ai Weide became a China citizen. This is the first person among western missionaries. After the inn was set up, they found no one to stay and their business was bleak.-They analyzed that there is still a huge cultural gap between China and the West, and the local people don’t understand or even hate them as outsiders. This gap cannot be solved in a day or two. What should we do? Jenny thought of a way: let young Ai Weide stand at the door, see the passing mule team, and try to pull them in. Ai Weide is reluctant to do it, but he is not confident that he can be competent for her. At first, she was full of good words, and because of her language barrier, she was so tired that she was thirsty, but it had little effect. The muleteers laughed at her by the roadside, spat foul language, and dashed off with whips. This is quite embarrassing for her. Gradually, once in a while, muleteers got off the bus to see it. When they saw that the inn was clean, delicious and cheap, they were tempted. When someone occasionally stays, they treat them wholeheartedly, and old Jenny goes in and out, busy; Ai Weide, on the other hand, took care of both inside and outside, trying to learn local dialects from them. One way they came up with was to tell the tourists Bible stories at night. Mule drivers don’t care about the details, just regard it as a happy and interesting fairy tale. In this way, with the passage of time, the popularity of the inn is getting more and more prosperous and the business is getting better and better. After a while, the inn is often full, and even the mule shed is full of mules. After a while, these Shan Ye muleteers changed. They stopped smoking cigarettes, talking loudly, swearing and humming yellow tunes, but learned to sing western hymns. The atmosphere of civilization permeates this small mountain town. One day in November 1932, more than a year after Ai Weide came to Yangcheng, an unfortunate thing happened.Is the death of Jenny Lawson. In this way, 29-year-old Ai Weide became the new head of Bafu Inn. Because of her diligence and popularity, Ai Weide’s influence is increasing. One day, even the county magistrate visited Bafu Inn-what’s the name of this county magistrate? I don’t know, but I know that he intends to carry out the "Foot-binding Movement" (freeing women’s feet) in the local area, and he is going to entrust her to do one thing-go door-to-door publicity and inspection on behalf of the government to correct the atmosphere. After consideration, Ai Weide promised to work for the government. Then, as an official, she traveled around villages and towns to help women let go and take the opportunity to spread western culture. The county magistrate also paid her a salary, provided mules for traveling and sent two guards to protect her. With this publicity, a short English woman was known in Yangcheng area. Later, even the nearby warden came to see her. It turned out that there was a sudden riot in the prison. The situation was extremely tense and the two sides were deadlocked. The prison authorities came up with a plan to ask her as a spiritual leader to calm the confrontation. Ai Weide invited the riot leader in a "humanitarian capacity", asked him to hand over his weapons and promised not to commit any more crimes. In this way, the prison riots subsided. Ai Weide is also happy to adopt orphans and engage in charity. The first time, when she was walking in Yangcheng street, she saw a woman on the side of the road, who wanted to betray a sick little girl and priced it at two silver dollars. After some bargaining, Ai Weide gave the woman her only ninety cents, and then led the thin girl back to Bafu Inn. Since then, the little girl has been called "Jiumao" and the scientific name is "Meien"-you can buy a girl for 90 cents, which you can’t imagine today.What a huge human disaster is hidden in this! Mein gradually became Ai Weide’s assistant. At the suggestion of Mein, Ai Weide took in another 8-year-old boy, named "Shaoshao". Then, she adopted a third orphan and named it "Bao Bao". The fourth adopted girl is 8-year-old "spearmint". Then, she took in more and more children and refugees. Later, she planned to build a shelter for the hungry.
In the spring of 1938, a few months after the Sino-Japanese War broke out, the war also spread from the North China Plain to Yangcheng, a remote mountain area. One afternoon, two Japanese planes bombed the county seat, dropping 24 bombs, one of which actually hit the Bafu Inn on the edge of the city. Ai Weide, who was praying for peace in the room, was crushed under the rubble and suddenly lost consciousness. Fortunately, when she was rescued, she was only slightly injured and the others were safe and sound. -If this Japanese plane had a guided bomb, it probably wouldn’t easily bomb the mission station of the British Empire, would it? Then there was news that the Japanese army would soon occupy Yangcheng. Facing the Japanese army’s pressing, in order to avoid the war, Ai Weide moved to Beichaizhuang in the mountainous area with several orphans and Christians. She set up a temporary "hospital" by using a cave and only a few first-aid medicines to treat the wounded in the military and civilians continuously. When the Japanese army left, she and the refugees returned to the small town. Ai Weide’s spirit of western aid deeply infected the local officials and people, and even the county magistrate hosted a banquet for the 35-year-old British lady. He asked her to sit in the first place and announced an amazing decision in front of the people sitting at the same table: "Confucian teaching exists in my mind;" But I see that Christ lives in Alfred’s heart. I want to be a Christian. " In February 1939, Ai Weide heard that the main force of the Japanese army had temporarily withdrawn from Zezhou and returned to the big city for the winter. She made a special trip to Zezhou to visit the colleagues of the Mainland Association. At this point, Mrs. Schmidt has passed away, David & Jean Davis.The couple are responsible for the work of the mission station. During the war, they were able to meet each other and were very happy with each other. But an unexpected event cast a shadow over her. One night, several drunken left-behind Japanese soldiers broke into the mission station, where they shouted and screamed. When Ai Weide went to negotiate, he didn’t want to be hit hard in the head with a rifle butt by a Japanese soldier, and he fainted on the spot. I woke up half a day later. -this is the second time that the Japanese army has hurt her. Soon, Davis sent two elderly missionaries away, and they were going back to England by boat from Yantai, so that Ai Weide would temporarily guard the mission station. A few days later, General Wei Lihuang’s national army entered the city hoping to stay, but Ai Weide refused on the grounds of "neutrality". At that time, the church’s policy was strict neutrality. Visiting is an intelligence officer named Lin Nan. The colonel spoke politely and left a good impression on Ai Weide. They talked about good and evil together. Linnan pointed out that the Japanese army was a symbol of evil, while China’s resistance was a "righteous war", and advised her to help the good and reject the evil. Ai Weide was also touched and talked with him with great interest. The two also talked about it many times in the streets of Zezhou City. There is another person who made her change her neutral position, and that is General Ley, a European. This legendary figure is a Belgian named Lei Mingyuan Vincent Lebbe (1877～1940). He came to China in 1901 and founded Yishi Daily. In 1928, Lei Mingyuan joined China. In 1933, the Great Wall War broke out in Jehol, and he led his followers to rescue the wounded soldiers.Lei Mingyuan strongly advocated anti-Japanese, led more than 600 parishioners, organized field service corps and rescue teams to rescue wounded soldiers, relieve refugees and educate out-of-school children in Taihang Mountain and Zhongtiaoshan Mountain. General Lei’s experience touched her-he can do this, why can’t I? In Zezhou, Ai Weide took in more than 200 orphans and more than 1,000 refugees. At the beginning of 1940, for safety reasons, more than 100 orphans were moved to Xi ‘an, and the remaining nearly 100 orphans, Ai Weide suggested moving them to Yangcheng Mountain. Ived had planned to stay in Zezhou and continue to take care of the refugees at the mission station, but a bad news made her change her mind. The Japanese army, which is carrying out the spring "mopping up", is approaching Zezhou again, only one day away. She was shocked by a notice held by the intelligence agent, which read in Chinese and English: a reward of $100 was offered for the capture of "Little Woman Ai Weide". Ai Weide knew that she and the mission station were in the focus of the Japanese attack, and she could not help but feel a little nervous. After weighing the pros and cons, Ai Weide fled to Yangcheng with 100 orphans that day. On the way, she was shot at by the Japanese plane at low altitude. She felt that she was punched on the shoulder and fell off her horse. Later, she found that she was shot. She made a simple dressing and fled back to Yangcheng. She and her subordinates simply analyzed the enemy’s situation and felt that the situation was extremely serious. Faced with the cruel reality of Japanese persecution, Ai Weide deeply felt that she could not stand in the southeast of Shanxi, so she had to go far away to Guanzhong, Shaanxi, where they had their base.
It takes about 480 kilometers to walk from Yangcheng to Xi ‘an. She said goodbye to the county magistrate before leaving. When the county magistrate saw that it could not be stopped, he was concerned that there should be enough rations on the road. I’ll send a few people to carry a few bags of millet and give you a ride; But you can only reach the Yellow River, and the rest of the road is supported by you alone. Ai Weide expressed his gratitude. When leaving, the county magistrate said, "In the future, I have to pray for you." Ai Weide said, "I pray for you, too." Soon, this special team marched in Zhongtiao Mountain. The team was arranged in this way-before and after, bring up the rear, an adult, and the children helped each other. The youngest child was carried by several adults with a laundry list, while Ai Weide, 38, inspected before and after, and kept carrying the tired child on his way. Several people appointed by the county magistrate are carrying several bags of millet, and the goal is to send them to the Yellow River. In order to avoid the Japanese army, they dare not take the main road, but can only walk around the mountains under the leadership of the locals. When you are tired, you will rest collectively. When you are hungry, you will take some millet from the mule to cook porridge and camp on the spot at night. Only once, they met a national army guerrilla with dozens of people, and they left some food for the children, which made them happy for a long time. Along the way, they didn’t meet the pursuers, but they felt that the Japanese army was everywhere, so they didn’t dare to slack off. Often even the fatigue is forgotten. After they climbed a high mountain with difficulty, the children in front began to cheer and shout again and again: "Yellow River! Yellow River! " Ai Weide rushed over and saw that it was the Yellow River. It takes five days for mules to walk from Yangcheng to the bank of the Yellow River.And leading these children to walk for 12 days is finally blessed by God. After a rest, they walked down the hill excitedly. It was a long time before they got close to the famous river. At this point, after seeing several people off, they left a mule pulling food and went back. By the river, Ai Weide assembled a team and encouraged that if he crossed the Yellow River, he would be able to reach Xi ‘an by train and be safe soon. The children were so excited that they cheered at the thought of going by train. They have lived in the mountains for a long time, not to mention that no one has been on the train, but they have never seen it. However, there is no ferry across the wide Yellow River. How can we get through it? Ai Weide was so anxious that he could only keep praying. After waiting for three days, the children are eager to see, and the food is close to the news. On the fourth day, a wooden boat was rowed from the south bank of the river, and then several national soldiers came down-they had observed these people for several days, and only came to help after they found no danger. After the contact, a second lieutenant took out a big mirror from his bag and flashed it to the other side in the sunshine. The opposite side also responded in the same way. Soon, there will be a larger wooden shell ferry coming. At this moment, the children began to shout and cheer, and Ai Weide even lost the strength to cheer at this moment. With the help of this big wooden-shell ship, the hundred people crossed the Yellow River several hundred meters wide in three times. When Ai Weide landed the last batch, she was relieved. She knew that this was the defense zone of the first war zone of the National Army, and now it was out of danger. With the help of local soldiers, the children boarded the freight train in western Henan.You can reach Xi’ an in the rear area directly from Longhai Line. Because it was the first time to take the train, the children were so excited that they forgot their fatigue and fear. At the edge of a small village near Zhongtiao Mountain Range, they were in trouble-because the bridge was blown up, the train could not go any further. The only way west to Xi ‘an is on foot. What bothers Ai Weide is that the road in front of him needs to climb the mountain path to reach Tongguan, and this mountain path is not clear to anyone in the team. I asked the local people and even the local villagers didn’t walk. In desperation, she can only rely on confidence and choose to move forward. However, not long after walking, the children have lost confidence in looking at the endless mountains. After half a month’s March, their physical strength has reached its limit, and many children are too tired to sit on the ground crying. Looking at the limp children, Ai Weide was exhausted. She couldn’t help crying, and the children also cried. So, she cried loudly, and after crying, she had to struggle to move forward. The bottom line she insists on is: "No one can fall behind!" In the most difficult time, her only hope is to rely on the power of faith. In the predicament, the mountain in front of us gradually brightened up. Finally, I found a large area of dense housing construction in front, and someone exclaimed: Tongguan! Ai Weide checked the map and confirmed it. He said, We are saved! Tongguan is the east gate of Shaanxi, just at the corner of the Yellow River, at least 135 kilometers away from Xi ‘an. Arriving here marks that they have crossed the danger of Lushan Mountain on foot. There, they boarded the train carrying coal. In the middle, I transferred to several buses and finally arrived in Xi’ an.
In an orphanage founded in Song Meiling, Ai Weide gathered the children to call the roll, but when he finally found that there were not a few of the 100 children, he suddenly fainted. When she woke up and found herself lying in the hospital of Xi ‘an Baptist Church, the doctor told her that you had a brain injury, pneumonia, typhoid fever and a bullet in your shoulder. With a high fever and malnutrition, you are very ill. She murmured, "Where are my children? ….. I have a hundred children. " It was not until she heard comfort that she was relieved. Ai Weide was treated in the hospital for a year before leaving the hospital, and the 100 children have gone to Fufeng, Shaanxi, which is the final destination. Then, Ai Weide helped the poor and lepers in Lanzhou and Chengdu. Until the winter of 1948, Ai Weide’s body was exhausted again, and Dr. Si Taowei advised her to go back to England to recuperate. In the spring of 1949, 47-year-old Ai Weide finally returned to England after 18 years’ absence. Surprisingly, her parents and brothers and sisters are still alive. At home, she enjoyed the family reunion. But when she thinks of China in the civil war, she often feels sad for her new country. At this time, she can’t live without this difficult eastern country from the depths of her soul. At this time, London journalist Hugh Redwood wrote an exclusive interview for Ai Weide after hearing the news, and Ai Weide was discovered by the international community. Alan Burgess, a reporter from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), visited her after reading it and wrote a book called The Little Women.After the book was published, it sold well, and the radio station adapted it into a radio play. In 1957, 20th Century Fox signed a contract with her to make her experience in Yangcheng into a movie "Liufu Inn", in which ingrid bergman, the great star, performed brilliantly, making this little woman a household hero among the people in Europe and America.
After a period of cultivation in Britain, Ai Weide always wanted to return to China-China became her motherland, but Britain made her feel lost. However, due to complicated political reasons, foreign missionaries were not allowed to enter China in New China. In 1957, 55-year-old Ai Weide had no hope of entering China’s southern coast, so she had to enter Hong Kong. In her view, entering British-controlled Hong Kong meant setting foot on China land. In 1957, Ai Weide went to Taiwan Province. When she left Hongkong by boat, she looked at the mainland and couldn’t help but burst into tears. After going to Taiwan, she set up the "Ai Weide Orphanage". In 1959, American Vision invited her to travel to the United States to preach. The American audience was surprised to find that she was not the beautiful actress in the movie, but a small old woman. Then she was invited to preach in Australia and New Zealand, and then returned to England. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) TV program reported her again, and the Archbishop of Canterbury received her. Queen Elizabeth also invited her to visit the Platinum Khan Palace and raise money to help orphans in Taiwan Province. On New Year’s Day in 1970, Ai Wei caught a cold, but still attended the women’s prayer meeting. After returning to the orphanage, he could not afford to get sick. The doctor diagnosed the flu as pneumonia. Two days later, Ai Weide died. Her death caused great repercussions in the international community, but it was unknown to the mainland. But this does not affect her becoming a historical figure worthy of deep memory in the 20th century.
Today, her tomb is in the campus of "Christ’s College" in Danshui Town, Taipei County. The inscription has Chiang Kai-shek’s calligraphy "Love of Hongdao". According to her last wish, her head turned to the mainland, expressing the British attachment to that land.