斐姑娘 (1839–1916)曾是一位美北浸信會單身女傳教士，晚年被譽為作家、社會活動家、科學家和女權的擁護者。她因1873–89年間在華南潮州培訓女傳道的出色工作而為人熟知。在東方擔任傳教教師近 25 年後，斐姑娘於1889年11月辭去傳教職務，並堅持在她回美之前，永久切斷她與美北浸信會差會的一切關係。現有的研究已注意到她與其傳教生涯的最終「分手」問題，但未提供足夠的解釋。本文通過關注斐姑娘在潮州遭遇的文化和社會困境來重新審視她的離職。據斐姑娘的日記、書 信（包括斐與差會和友人的往來信件）、書籍、文章和小冊子，也參考她的同工的書信和差會的其他記錄，本文發現斐唯一公開的離職原因——「心臟病」，只是為了公開的記錄，而其 信仰的改變和對傳教事業的失望，才是促使其辭職的兩大重要因素，其中也牽涉明顯的性別不平等因素。

Adele M. Fielde (1839–1916), at one time an unmarried missionary of the American Baptist Mission Union (ABMU), was known in her old age as a writer, a social activist, a scientist and a champion of women’s rights. She was famous for her work in training “Bible-women” (or female evangelists) between 1873–89 in Chaozhou prefecture in northeast Guangdong, South China. After laboring as a missionary teacher in the Orient for almost twenty-five years, Fielde resigned from missionary service in November 1889, insisting that her connection with the ABMU be ended permanently before her return to America. Current research looking at her final “divorce” from her missionary career offers an inadequate explanation for her actions. This paper seeks to revisit this question by focusing on the cultural and social difficulties Fielde encountered in Chaozhou. An examination of Fielde’s diary, her personal correspondence (letters to and from the ABMU and friends), books, articles and pamphlets, along with her co-workers’ correspondence and the records of the ABMU, reveal that the public reason Fielde gave for her resignation—heart disease—was solely for the public record; whereas in fact it was her changed religious beliefs and disappointment with mission work that were the two decisive factors prompting her resignation, in which there were also some clear gender inequality issues involved as well.