Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World War of Resistance against Fascism. Any hero of any era is one who, with astonishing loyalty, determination, courage, and skill, completes the important tasks placed before everyone in that era. Norman Bethune was such a hero. He was one of those who helped us gain freedom. His cause and his fame will forever live among us. — Song Qingling
Bethune was a unique Canadian, a unique person, yet he was also shaped by his country and the contemporary world. He was truly a Renaissance figure driven by the urgent need to experience and enrich all of life. Although Bethune initially gained international fame as a thoracic surgeon, he was also, to varying degrees, a painter, poet, soldier, critic, teacher, orator, inventor, medical writer, and theorist. For Bethune, the Chinese people were like family. He loved the Chinese people sincerely and deeply. May his spirit of dedication and self-sacrifice continue to inspire the great Chinese people. —
Half a century ago, Mr. Ba Jin and Ms. Xiao Shan recommended this English biography of Bethune to me. This Canadian friend, in supporting the Chinese people's War of Resistance against Japanese aggression, devoted himself to the cause and died for it. His heroic deeds deeply moved me. This biography records the entire process of Bethune's growth: Bethune's life was one of continuous exploration and pursuit of truth. He grew as he pursued truth and generously sacrificed for it. The Bethune portrayed in this biography is not a legendary hero of steel and iron, nor a perfect human being, but a complete, flesh-and-blood human being. — Wu Ningkun
"The Scalpel is a Weapon," since its publication in Canada and the United States two decades ago, has been widely circulated around the world. It has been published in twenty languages, from Hebrew to Chinese. We can no longer say how many millions of people across the continents have read this book. Dr. Norman Bethune, his life and his cause, have been accepted as part of the heritage of students in North America, workers in Britain, doctors in Germany, intellectuals in Italy, the destitute laboring masses in India, freedom fighters in Africa, and hundreds of millions of people in China. Why has the story of Bethune's life had such a remarkable impact worldwide? The answer can be found in this book. However, let us offer some preliminary thoughts. Bethune was a unique Canadian, a unique person, yet he was also shaped by his country and the contemporary world. He was truly a Renaissance figure driven by the urgent need to experience and enrich all of life. For him, outdated conventions were foolish; love was a strong desire and affirmation of life; internal and external medicine were his art, his work, his commitment; and the growing brutality in our world was a personal wound. In the end, as a surgeon-soldier-guerrilla, he faced death without fear, a natural response to the call of the hungry, the trampled, and the brave who fought for freedom on all battlefields. Bethune was a man who painfully recognized his own weaknesses. But he did not submit to them; instead, he overcame them, thus demonstrating his greatness. He renounced a life of pleasure and debauchery to become a frontline doctor, a guerrilla in straw sandals, and a revolutionary—for him, life meant camaraderie with the people, a handful of rice each day, and the surgical operations he performed in the bloody battles that have now become famous. He found his final, indestructible strength in his grand vision of transforming the world. In the end, his personal life was intertwined with the fate of the people of the world. Today, wherever the cause of the people has won victory, he is revered there; wherever the cause of the people still awaits victory, he is a banner and a call to battle.
A few more words about this book. This new American edition has posed challenges for the author in terms of revisions and updates. Unfortunately, it has proven impossible to conduct this work in depth. We have found that the two decades since the first edition have not only brought many changes in the world but also created disagreements between the two authors on certain issues. We have found that achieving consensus on many aspects of the revision would require more time than the pace of the world has given us. We believe that introducing Bethune's story to a broader new readership is more important than waiting for us to reach consensus on every detail and to revise every evaluation based on hindsight. Readers will make their own judgments, and besides, Bethune's own life and thoughts are his most eloquent testament. Of course, we have included many obvious corrections based on new evidence. The fact that this story of Bethune, like Bethune himself, has been validated by the past twenty years fills us with joy.