Jean-Augustin Bussiere: A French Doctor and the “Hump Route by Bike”

Profile

Jean-Augustin Bussiere was a French doctor who came to China in 1913. He worked at the French Embassy in Beijing, the St. Michel Hospital, and the North Church Hospital. During the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he helped CPC members, patriotic young students, and international friends go to the revolutionary base areas regardless of personal safety. He risked his life to open up a “hump route by bike” to transport valuable medical supplies to the Eighth Route Army’s base areas, contributing to the just cause of the Chinese people.

China, the Second Home

Jean-Augustin Bussiere was born in a mountain villa in France. His father was an elementary school teacher. Bussiere was an energetic child and loved adventures. At the age of 20, he was admitted to the Bordeaux Military Medical University and became a Doctor of Medicine. As a military doctor, he went to India, Vietnam, Persia, and French colonies in Asia and Africa. In 1913, 41-year-old Bussiere arrived in Tianjin and began his 41-year life in China.

Bussiere specialized in general medicine and surgery. In April 1914, he arrived in Beijing. Soon afterward, he performed surgery on an official of the Beiyang warlord government dying of gangrene on his waist. The patient recovered in less than two months. Bussiere thus made his name known as a doctor of Western medicine, and the elites in the capital often sought his service. Yuan Shikai, the self-proclaimed emperor, hired Bussiere as a medical consultant. Bussiere continued to work in that capacity at the presidential residence, treating Li Yuanhong, Feng Guozhang, Xu Shichang, and Cao Kun. But he did not just serve the privileged; he also provided services for ordinary citizens. Bussiere had always hoped to expand the St. Michel Hospital to provide medical services not only to foreigners working and living in Beijing but also to Chinese people.

Bussiere was a hospitable person. After settling down in Beijing, he bought a courtyard house at No. 16 Datianshuijing Hutong in Wangfujing, not far from the French Embassy. Every Wednesday, he would hold a salon at home to entertain Chinese and French friends. Then French ambassador to China was deeply impressed by Bussiere’s salon: When dusk came, the embassy area gradually quieted down, but socializing was just about to begin. Several figures were walking towards the residence of Dr. Bussiere in the depths of the embassy’s garden. Bussiere had lived here for many years and was a well-known personage in the French circle in Beijing. He received a group of friends every week. These people were not necessarily recognized Sinologists, but they all had a strong interest in China and, more generally, in Asia.

Bussiere brought the French salon culture to China. Many famous French personalities, including diplomats, Sinologists, archaeologists, poets, and social activists, participated in gatherings organized by the doctor. He also received many well-known Chinese people, especially those who had visited or worked in France. In a way, these salons promoted Sino-French cultural exchanges. Bussiere participated in the founding of the Sino-French University in Beijing and, with educators Cai Yuanpei and Li Shizeng, jointly promoted the work-study program to fund Chinese students in France.

Bussiere regarded China as his second home. After spending decades of his life in Beijing, he was inseparable from the city. He even bought a place in a cemetery in the Western Hills with an old friend, intending to spend the rest of his life here. All this shows that he had always had a keen interest in Chinese culture and strong compassion for the Chinese people.

Saving Lives at the Bussiere Garden

In 1923, Bussiere built a mansion compound in the Western Hills of Beijing, featuring a Chinese courtyard and a Western garden. The locals called it “Family B.’s Garden”. This garden became a silent witness of Sino-French friendship and to the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

From April to August 1926, the Chinese National Army and two warlord cliques fought for four months to defend Nankou, north of Beijing. Because of the war, more than 4,000 refugees from northwest Beijing who had fled their homes gathered in the newly built Shangyi Normal School at the foot of Baiwang Mountain. Due to the small space and poor sanitation, many refugees fell ill. On the way back to his garden from the city on weekends, Bussiere always spent a few hours in the school to treat the refugees and would not leave until he had tended to all patients. Wenquan School, a school near his garden, hired him as a school doctor to treat teachers and students in case of an emergency.

The garden was not only his residence at the time but also a free clinic. Villagers in the neighborhood who sought medical treatment at the time often came here, and the doctor would not charge a fee. The watchtower on the garden’s hillside was initially designed for defense, but Bussiere converted it into a village clinic. The first floor was the waiting room, the second floor was the diagnosis and treatment room, and the third floor was the storage area for medicine. At that time, a newspaper reported on his story: “He has been providing free medical treatment and medicine for the local people. ... He built his home in this poor rural area. It reminded him of his hometown, and more importantly, the farmers reminded him of the people in his hometown.” To this day, there are still many older people in the villages near the garden who have a deep impression of and respect for Dr. Bussiere. On the lintel of the iron gate of the watchtower in the garden, there is a white marble plaque inlaid on the wall, inscribed with the words “benevolent doctor who saves lives”. Near the Bussiere Garden, there is the Dr. Bussiere Bridge named by the local villagers in memory of his great deeds, which reflects the locals’ gratitude and respect for him.

“Hump Route by Bike”

In 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out. Bussiere, who had lived in China for more than 20 years, saw people fleeing Beijing, the city’s bullet-riddled walls, and burning buildings under the gunfire of the Japanese imperialists. All this deeply hurt him.

Bussiere entered Wanping City together with the military attaché of the French Embassy in China and became one of the first doctors to treat the wounded in the Lugou Bridge Incident. He witnessed Japan’s invasion of China and made up his mind to help China resist Japan. He once wrote to the Chinese Red Cross on behalf of foreign medical officers stationed in Beijing, expressing the wish to serve the Red Cross and their firm support for the Chinese people’s anti-Fascist war.

In Beijing, the anti-Japanese base area led by the CPC had expanded to the Western Hills. Due to the blockade imposed by the Japanese army, the base areas were in urgent need of supplies, especially medicines, and many wounded soldiers were dying. The Japanese army strictly controlled the sale of medicine, especially western medicine, which was strictly forbidden to be brought to the base areas. It was also difficult to buy western medicine on the market. The Japanese army set up a garrison in Wenquan Town and set up numerous checkpoints on the roads to Beijing. The Beijing underground CPC organization secretly collected medicines and medical supplies for the base area through various channels and tried hard to find a secure channel to transport them to the base area. In the autumn of 1937, Huang Hao, an intelligence officer of the underground CPC organization, asked Bussiere to use his identity as a foreign doctor to deliver medicine for the Eighth Route Army after careful observation. Bussiere knew well that he would be killed by the Japanese if exposed, but he did not hesitate for a second.

[Key Word]The Hump Route

In 1942, the Japanese army occupied Myanmar and sealed off the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway, China’s most important international land transportation line, cutting off the main channel for China to obtain aid from its allies. This caused great difficulties for China to continue the war of resistance. To defeat their common enemy, China and the United States quickly opened up an air transport route from Assam in India to China’s Yunnan and Sichuan via the southern section of the Himalayas, making important contributions to combating Japanese invasion. Because the peaks along the route undulate like a hump and are extremely dangerous to navigate, the route is called the Hump Route.

For several years, batches of medicine were transferred to the guerrillas through Bussiere and then to the Pingxi Anti-Japanese Base Area and the battlefield hospitals in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Area. When Dr. Bethune inspected the battlefield hospitals, he learned that much of the valuable medicine and medical equipment produced by the Bayer Company of Germany was obtained from enemy-occupied areas at great risk. He was very surprised and deeply impressed.

In the beginning, Bussiere used cars to transport medical supplies. Later, the Japanese army imposed quotas on gasoline, and the cars became unusable. To keep the lifeline to the base area going, Bussiere began to transport medicine by bicycle. At that time, he was already in his 70s, and the journey from downtown Beijing to his garden was more than 40 kilometers. The older man rode a bicycle and carried heavy boxes of medicine, making many difficult journeys on the bumpy dirt roads leading into the mountains.

The Bussiere Garden became an underground liaison station of the CPC organization in Beijing. Bussiere risked his life to help groups of underground CPC members, patriotic youths, and international friends transfer to the anti-Japanese base areas. He is known as a “Bethune-style doctor who selflessly aided the Chinese people”.

The Chinese people will never forget Jean-Augustin Bussiere’s character, humanitarian spirit, and devotion to the people. His contribution to China’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression will always be remembered in the hearts of the Chinese people. In March 2014, during his visit to France, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the gathering celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France. He specifically mentioned the French doctor who risked his life to open up a “hump route by bike” to carry medicine to the anti-Japanese base areas. In September 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping once again mentioned Bussiere’s heroic deeds in his speech at the symposium commemorating the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

 Sourse

Shan Wei, Shared Ideals: The Communist Party Of China Its Cherished Friends From Around the World , FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESS,2021.6