[00:00.00]Dr.Norman Bethune’s stature
[00:02.95]became even greater in death.
[00:06.13]The affection of the
[00:07.98]Chinese people for him swelled.
[00:10.17]Emotions ran high upon
[00:12.36]the news of his death.
[00:14.44]His capacity to move people,
[00:16.85]and his insight into humanity
[00:19.36]was never so evident
[00:21.66]as during this period.
[00:23.74]The Chinese people were extremely
[00:26.26]grateful that such a man
[00:28.55]had crossed their paths.
[00:30.30]During this solemn time,
[00:34.13]tributes to Bethune came from
[00:36.53]many parts of the world.
[00:38.62]He was described as an activist,
[00:41.35]a writer,a teacher,
[00:44.52]an administrator, and above all,
[00:46.93]a great doctor. Mao said of him,
[00:50.21]“ ...We must all learn the spirit
[00:53.27]of absolute selflessness from him. ”
[00:56.45]After a very simple funeral,
[01:00.28]as he, had requested,
[01:02.13]Dr. Norman Bethune was buried
[01:04.54]in the Mausoleum of the Martyrs
[01:07.61]in Shih Chia Chuang,
[01:10.45]southeast of Beijing.
[01:12.75]The Chinese named a medical school
[01:15.92]and a hospital in his memory.
[01:18.44]Many other memorials have been
[01:21.06]erected in his memory over the years.
[01:24.67]One ironic tragedy of all
[01:28.61]of this was that,
[01:30.69]up until 1973, Dr. Bethune
[01:33.76]had never received much recognition
[01:36.82]from his native country of Canada.
[01:39.55]Furthermore, he was not even
[01:42.51]acknowledged for his accomplishments,
[01:44.70]presumably because of
[01:46.12]his communist connections.
[01:48.08]In 1973, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau,
[01:54.98]another Canadian who had spent
[01:57.71]a good deal of time
[01:59.13]in China in his earlier years,
[02:00.88]convinced his Government to
[02:02.74]purchase the Bethune house in Gravenhurst,
[02:05.59]Ontario, and dedicated it
[02:07.78]as“Bethune Memorial House”. |