Gladys May Aylward was a Christian missionary to China whose story was made into a Hollywood film, ‘The Inn of the Sixth Happiness’, starring Ingrid Bergman but more on that later.
Aylward was born on February 24 1902 into a working-class family in Edmonton, London. As was typical in those days, she became a domestic worker at an early age but always had an ambition to go overseas as a missionary.
Unfortunately she was turned down by the China Inland Mission because her academic background was inadequate, however such was her determination to become a missionary, she spent her life savings on a passage to Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, China in 1930.
On her arrival in Yungcheng, Aylward worked with an older missionary, Jeannie Lawson, to found ‘The Inn of the Eight Happinesses’. She also served with much success as an assistant to the Chinese government as a “foot inspector” by touring the countryside to enforce the new law against footbinding young Chinese girls, a field that had produced much resistance in the past.
Aylward became a revered figure among the people, taking in orphans and adopting several herself and in 1938, when the region was invaded by Japanese forces, Aylward led 94 orphans to safety over the mountains, despite being wounded herself.
She returned to England in the 1940s and after 10 years sought to return to China, but was denied re-entry by the Communist government.
She therefore settled instead in Taiwan where she founded the Gladys Aylward orphanage which she continued to run until her death in January 1970, just short of her 68th birthday. She is buried in a small cemetery on the campus of Christ’s College in Guandu, New Taipet, Taiwan.
Numerous books, short stories and movies have been created about the life and work of Gladys Aylward, the most well-known one being ‘The Inn of the Sixth Happiness’ which we will discuss in more detail in our next post.