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Qate^softhe Far East
CharlesR.Erdman
LIBRARY OF PI
/W -4 2006
THEOLOGICAL:
DS 508 .E7 c.2
Erdman, Charles Rosenbury,
1866-1960. Within the gateways of the Far East
Within the Gateways of the Far East
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010 with funding from
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
http://www.archive.org/details/withingatewaysofOOerdm
THE FAMOUS TORII, OR GATEWAY, AT MIYAJIMA "We saw its shrines float on the surface of the flood tide."
Within the Gateways Of the Far East
A Record of Recent Travel
By CHARLES R. ERDMAN
Professor of Practical Theology Princeton Theological Seminary
Author of "The Gospel of John, an Exposition," "The
Gospel of Matthew," " The Gospel of Mark," " The
General Epistles," "The Acts," "The Gospel
of Luke," "Coming to the Communion,"
"The Return of Christ," etc.
-»!W
ILLUSTRATED
|
L |
;;;'CETON |
|
APR -4 2006 |
M<Y |
New York Chicago
Fleming H. Revell Company
London and Edinburgh
Copyright, 1922, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh : 75 Princes Street
To
MY WIFE
who
encourages me
in
every worthy effort
and even
forgives me
for writing books
Foreword
MY next thrilling narrative will prob- ably be dedicated to that rapidly diminishing number of persons who have distinguished themselves by never visiting the Orient. These pages were prepared more particularly for the perusal of personal friends and they may be regarded as an apology for an extended absence from home. They do not form an absolutely complete compendium of routes, distances, areas, populations, rainfalls, products, languages, customs, vital statistics of Lama priests, and similar informing items which fill more important and conventional books of travel. The omission of any such details is due to the cruel limitations of space imposed by the high cost of printing. Compensation is offered in the original and profound observations made by the author, whose ignorance of geography, history, science, and religion enables him to write with such abandon and assurance as characterize all who have spent a few days in the Far East. The value of the volume will ever remain a matter of personal opinion, to which those who 7
8 FOEEWORD
read it through will be fully entitled. The reading must be prompt, because the Orient is changing so rapidly that the statements of the author soon may be out of date. To this same cause must be attributed any apparent inaccu- racies the book may contain.
C. R. E. Princeton, N. J,
Contents
I. "Westward Ho"
II. China.
III. Korea
IV. Japan .
V. Homeward Bound
13 32 62 92 108
Illustrations
FACING PAGE
The Famous Torii of Miyajima . . . Title
The Daibutsu 26
The Great Wall 32
The Cheng- Yang- Men Gate, Peking . . 56
A Korean Peasant 70
Pyeng-Yang City Wall 86
The Yomei-Mon at Nikko .... 94 Fujiyama . . . . . . .108
XI
"WESTWARD HO"
TO reach the Far East you may sail due west, and you surely will choose that course if you are starting from California for the coast of Cathay.
From San Francisco to Honolulu is a voy- age of five days and fifty-five nights, at least so it seems to my friend who loves to lounge on deck but loathes being shut down below in a hot little box without light or air, or room to move. However, my friend has never been at sea, and he cannot imagine what it is to occupy a cabin flooded with sunshine and swept by breezes, cooled and heated and lighted by elec- tric devices, provided with beds and with ward- robes and couches, with hot and cold water, with adjoining baths and all the appointments of more stationary hotels.
Then too his imagination is clouded by an unfortunate knowledge of history, and he re- members that Thurston and Bingham and their wives and companions, the first missionaries to Hawaii, spent one hundred and fifty days on 13
14 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
their toy ship Tkaddeus en route from Boston, that Mrs. Bingham in her journal uncomplain- ingly compared her stateroom to the " Black Hole of Calcutta," that in those days the menu consisted of hardtack, pickles and pork, that ships were usually boarded by pirates, wrecked by typhoons and their companies devoured by cannibals.
As a matter of fact, a modern Pacific voyage is attended by not the slightest discomfort aside from paying for the ticket ; and the trip is sur- prisingly short. One scarcely has thrown his cabin into disorder with trunks and bags, has sorted out his steamer letters and telegrams, has advised the captain as to his duties, has taken a few turns on deck, and an occasional sleep in his room, has grown accustomed to the roll of the ship and to the snoring of his cabin- mate, in fact has just accommodated himself to his surroundings, when suddenly he has pointed out to him, on a bright morning, the bold headlands of the Hawaiian Islands, " the Paradise of the Pacific."
These islands were known to the Spaniards and visited by Juan Gaetano in 1555 ; but they were " discovered " by Captain Cook in 1778, and by him " placed upon the map," and named the " Sandwich Islands " in honour of the Lord of the British Admiralty. For these
" WESTWAED HO » 15
and other indiscretions, the famous, or notori- ous, captain was killed by the natives who for a time had worshipped him as a god ; they re- moved his flesh from his bones, decked the skeleton in red feathers and then paid it the same divine honours as when it had been more decently clothed. A monument to the memory of the rash captain has been reared by his ad- miring countrymen, where he is supposed to have fallen, on Hawaii, the southernmost of the islands, which island has given to the group their present name.
These Islands of the Blest, some eight in number, stretch from southeast to northwest over a distance of about two hundred miles, in the northern tropics, and some two thousand miles west of the Calif ornian coast. The third in size, but the most important, is Oahu, on which the city of Honolulu is situated, and it is this island which appears first, raising its grey- green mountain summits out of the emerald sea.
However, to the south, some fifty miles in the distance, one traces the faint outlines of Molokai, " the leper island " ; but these out- lines are less vague and indistinct than the myths which are usually associated, in popular fancy, with the false phrase " leper island " and the famous name of Father Damien.
It is true that at Kalaupapa the government
16 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
has long been conducting a colony for lepers, but only a fraction of the island is devoted to this purpose.
It is also true that here Father Damien un- selfishly performed the rites of his church and ministered to the " faithful," that he con- tracted the loathsome disease of leprosy and died worthy of all the praise bestowed upon him, even by Stevenson ; but in doing him full justice it is not necessary to forget the Protes- tant workers who laboured at his side, but whose lives were preserved by more careful personal habits and by a wiser observance of sanitary laws. Most of all is it right to re- member the modern heroes who are labouring to-day so devotedly for the relief of the pitiful sufferers on Molokai, and the scientists in other places, who by their discoveries and their in- vestigations even hold out hopes of effecting permanent cures, even of stamping out leprosy from the earth.
It is, however, the island of Oahu which we are approaching. We round the great prom- ontory of Koka Head, follow with the eye the white line of foaming surf, pass Diamond Head and the famous Waikiki Beach and are soon alongside the great wharf in the harbour of Honolulu.
A resident of New York cruelly remarked
"WESTWAKD HO" 17
that he spent a week one afternoon in Philadel- phia. For quite contrary reasons, a day and a night passed in Honolulu are so crowded with incidents and impressions and delights that they linger in memory quite disassociated from any particular measurements of time.
In order that the stay may be most enjoyable one should provide in advance to be met at the wharf by relatives, particularly by a cousin, who bears the name of " the beloved disciple." First of all you will pay a visit of respect to the Palace, the last royal occupant of which was Queen Liliuokalani, whose lovely song "Aloha Oe " bids fair to make her fame out- live that of the reckless Captain Cook, or of the intrepid warrior Kamehameha I. It was by the leadership of the latter that the islands were brought under the sway of a single ruler, more than a century ago ; and just across from the royal palace you may see standing his im- posing gold-wrought statue.
The " Mission Memorial," with its offices and commodious auditorium, was erected by the worthy descendants of the Christian heroes to whose lives and services the present civiliza- tion and prosperity of the islands are traced, and it forms the radiating centre from which are going forth similar transforming influences into all parts of the islands to-day.
A drive up a steep narrowing valley brings
18 GATEWAYS OF THE FAK EAST
one suddenly to the Pali, the brink of a preci- pice, from which one looks down a sheer thou- sand feet upon a panorama whose loveliness is probably unsurpassed. From the foot of the cliff the verdant fields stretch away to the white surf and the many-shaded expanse of the green sea, while the picture is framed in the rugged steeps of the mountains and the bending blue of the sky. It is indeed a scene of loveliness; but an inscription on the rock, behind the visi- tor, reminds him that it was once a scene of horrid tragedy, for here the defenders of the island took their last stand, and from this rock the king and the remnant of his army were hurled headlong, as Kamehameha the Great completed his conquest of the islands.
Then you visit Waikiki, with its white sands, its curling waves, its surf-boards, its canoes and its joyous bathers. After a glimpse at the aquarium, at the polo field and the coun- try club, you make a round of the schools and educational institutions which are the glory of the islands, and you realize on what broad lines the early missionaries built, and how wisely their descendants are following their policies to-day.
Seven years after the landing of the Pil- grims from the Thaddeus, a boarding-school for boys was established; and, ever since, Christian education has been a chief concern of
" WESTWARD HO » 19
those who have led in the life and development of the Islands. Among other results may be mentioned Maunaolu Seminary, Kohala Girls' School, Mid-Pacific Institute, the Christian Worker's Institute, the Theological Seminary, and the admirable system of Sunday Schools established in the centres of population on each of the Islands.
Of all the myths connected with these ro- mantic scenes, none is more familiar than the one which suggests that the missionaries " ex- ploited the natives " and that their children " have grown rich " because of the land they inherited. Nothing could be farther from the facts. It is true, however, that the great prin- ciples taught by those early pioneers, and the institutions they founded, did establish on the Islands a Christian civilization, and that the descendants of the missionaries have been the leaders in every community, because of their ability, their worth, and their strength of char- acter.
The need of real " missionary effort," how- ever, has not passed; in fact a new situation has arisen which offers a serious challenge to the Church. This was impressed on the mind by a visit to the Buddhist temple. Here one seemed to be in a Protestant church. There were the pews, the pulpit, the pipe organ, but there, most conspicuous of all, the great golden
20 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST
shrine with its Buddha. Here are being sung such adaptations of Christian hymns as these:
" O, for a thousand tongues to sing My Holy Buddha's praise." . . .
" Joy to the World ! The Buddha's come, Let Earth receive the truth." . . .
" Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin, The law of Buddha teaches peace within." . . .
Yet this suggests no approach to Chris- tianity, nor sympathy for its teachings, for in this temple Christianity is being most bit- terly assailed. Now, on these islands, nearly every second person, actually over one hun- dred thousand of the population, are Japanese; and for them Buddhism has become a rallying centre. Can these thousands be brought to ac- cept the Gospel of Christ ?
After a night of perfect rest at a country home on the northern shore of the island, guarded by sentinels of royal palms, breathing the fragrance of flowers and lulled to sleep by the murmur of the surf, we drove to the city, in the early morning, through great plantations of sugar-cane, of bananas and of pineapples. The cost of missionary operations on these
" WESTWAED HO " 21
islands, during the full century, is estimated at one and a half million dollars. The annual exports now amount to more than one hundred million. Some eighty million is in sugar, but an increasing amount of the remainder is in pineapples, more than six million cases of which are shipped in a single year.
The great naval station at Pearl Harbor, and the thousands of soldiers at the Schofield Barracks remind the traveller of the strong fortification of this far-American outpost, and also of the fact that while he is five thousand miles from home, he is still in his native land and under the United States flag.
This was further impressed as one em- barked to continue his voyage, for, as the vessel moved from its moorings, the Hawaiian National Hymn and " Aloha Oe " were pre- ceded by the " Star Spangled Banner." Then the serpentine streamers of paper began to break, the flower-bedecked and garlanded pas- sengers waved farewells to their friends on the shore, and the islands of romance, of beauty, of sentiment and of song, began to fade in the distance. Yet as those scenes were beginning to grow dim, the marvel of one great romance became only more vivid, the romance of those messengers of Christ, who, summoned by the appeal of a Hawaiian boy, sailed from their homeland in 1819 on that little brig Thaddcus.
22 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
In that very year, and in the same month, a providential preparation was being made for their coming. The islanders, ignorant of the approaching messengers, weary of their idol- atry and of the irksome requirements of their cruel taboos, destroyed their idols, burned their temples and abolished their priesthood. The messengers of the Cross found a people without a religion, but without spiritual truths or moral restraints. No wonder that their messages were received and that in 1837-1838, under the leadership of Titus Coan and Lorenzo Lyons and their companions, nearly twenty thousand new members were added to the church. Do not such facts outline the real romance of these Islands? Such at least were the thoughts which filled the mind as the jagged outlines of the volcanic mountains sank beneath the hori- zon of the sapphire sea.
By the time one was under way from Hono- lulu to Yokohama, he had become fairly well acquainted with his fellow-passengers and had found them to form a more varied and less conventional company than usually sail on an Atlantic liner. It was also remarked that the average intelligence of Pacific voyagers is rapidly rising, as was evident from the fewer number of inane criticisms passed upon mis- sionaries and the smaller amount of liquor
"WESTWAKD HO" 23
consumed than might have been expected from popular reports.
There was marked informality and good fellowship. The hours were passed in such social amusements as are usual in places where the surroundings are delightful and time is not at a premium.
On the first evening the most interesting pastime consisted in searching for the Southern Cross. Those who depend for their information upon poets and the authors of guide-books, have little conception of the diffi- culty inexperienced travellers have in discov- ering this elusive constellation. For two nights the search was continued ; every author- ity on board was consulted from the captain to the cabin-boy. Three different " crosses " were definitely pointed out, and when there remained little doubt that we were gazing on " the Cross " it proved to be a kite, for the poor little quadrangle of stars has no connec- tion between its four twinkling points, and it may have been more than local and provincial prejudice which declared that there is far greater impressiveness in the majestic " Cross " which glorifies the northern sky.
The days passed so rapidly that apparently it was not thought worth while to count them all ; for we retired on Monday night at eleven, slept eight hours, and awoke on Wednesday
24 GATEWAYS OF THE FAK EAST
morning. The captain explained that we had " crossed the meridian " and so " lost a day." Another explanation was that the captain in- tentionally dropped a day to shorten the voy- age for the benefit of those who are so con- structed that they cannot enjoy the sea. Whatever the explanation of the fact, this ex- perience of losing a day out of one's life, espe- cially when he knows he is moving toward the " sunset," has solemn implications from the view-point of science, of philosophy or of religion. In a word, it reminds one that a day of reckoning is sure to come; and that when one continues to borrow, as we had in turning our watches back a half hour every day of our voyage, whether one borrows time or strength or money, some day he may have to pay, and the experience may occasion some surprise. However, there is a brighter view of this " loss of a day " at the one-hundred- and-eightieth meridian: some "lost days" of life may never be regained, but this full day at least awaits one, and can be recovered just where it was lost, if one will but change his course and steer courageously toward the sun- rise.
Another equally practical suggestion came to mind. It was in reference to my friend who is a Seventh Day Adventist. He wor- ships on Saturday and regrets that we hold
1 « WEST W AED HO ' ' 25
Sunday as the day of sacred rest. Why not have this friend take a voyage toward the west and bring all his sect with him? Let them carefully observe as sacred every seventh day, let them continue their journey around the world, and when they reach home they will be worshipping on the same day with all their fellow-Christians. Thus simple is the process of converting an Adventist into a Presbyterian. Thus slight are some of the barriers which prevent the union of churches.
Then with deeper distress came the thought of the Adventist who had preceded us across the sea with the sole purpose of distressing converted heathen by telling them they must observe as the seventh day, a day the number of which has not changed since the creation of the world. He declares it a sin to change the day of sacred rest; yet he knows that when he crossed the Pacific he dropped a day from his week and began to worship on Friday, or, if he refused, he arrived in the East worshipping on Sunday with all his fellow-Christians. Thus in crossing the one-hundred-and-eightieth degree, the Seventh Day Adventist seems to be in danger of losing his religion, — or his mind. Thus serious is the matter of journeying west- ward toward the East ; for the Adventist is not the only man who has lost his religion by a voyage across the sea.
26 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
While thus meditating about the Seventh Day, on the eighth day from Honolulu, about noon, there appeared in the western sky what seemed at first to be a fleecy cloud, but later proved to be the desire of our hearts, a distant view of the snow-capped summit of Fujiyama, " the sacred." This sight was the signal for packing bags, paying fees, and leaving the ship for a glimpse of romantic, picturesque Japan.
The first sight which usually amuses tourists in the Orient is that of their fellow-passengers looking supremely uncomfortable and self-con- scious as they sit perched on those glorified baby-carriages, the " jinrikishas " or " pull- man-cars," and as they roll silently along the wharf, toward the Yokohama hotels, drawn by little brown-clad Japanese coolies.
Some of us, however, wished to attempt the perilous experiment of " hustling the East " ; we were anxious to save time ; so we mounted a motor-car and rushed off to pay our respects to the "Daibutsu" or "Great Buddha" of Kamakura.
The drive was indeed one of deadly peril, not however to the occupants of the car, but to the pedestrians and more particularly to the children who scurried out from under the wheels as we dashed through streets and alleys .and lanes so narrow that the mud-guards
THE DAIBUTSU
" The colossal image of brass towered before us some fifty feet into
the evening sky."
* WESTWARD HO " 2T
seemed to scrape along the piles of goods dis- played in the little open-fronted shops that lined both sides of the way through the city. No one in the party commanded enough Japa- nese to consult with the driver on the delicate topic of speed ; so we resigned ourselves to the probable slaughter of innocents, and as we be- gan to reach stretches of open country we settled down to enjoy the scenes through which we were passing. There were wooded hills and vistas of the sea, and crowded villages and fields green with growing grain ; but there were two features of the landscape, for which we had been prepared properly by the guide- books and encyclopaedias, which impressed us almost with the force of discoveries ; these were the cherry blossoms and the children.
They appeared in about equal numbers, both in the state of nature, but many of the latter were clothed in kimonos of various colours, the younger children bound to the backs of their mothers, or contentedly clinging to the shoul- ders of sisters or brothers little larger than themselves. Both the abundant blossoms and the superabundant babes seemed symbolic, the one of the beauty, the other of the growth and hope of Japan.
In about half an hour we found ourselves standing on the sloping " approach " and gaz- ing in wonder at the colossal image of brass
28 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
which towered before us some fifty feet into the evening sky. We lingered there in the twi- light, in the starlight, in the moonlight, ever more deeply impressed by the majesty and the vast proportions of the statue. As a symbol of Buddhism it may well be vast in propor- tions, for before that image, one-third of the human race or more than four hundred million human souls are virtually bowing in worship, seeking that conquest of all desire, that calm of perfect resignation, which the face of this statue so perfectly represents. The ideal is not that of holiness, of achievement, of service, it is the " Light of Asia " not the " Light of the World."
Leaving Yokohama next day, we travelled the eighteen miles to Tokyo by a truly modern electric train, and glimpses of the Imperial Palace, of the Imperial University and of the unique new Imperial Hotel, impressed upon our minds the fact that we were in the capital of the Island Empire; then, further extended motor excursions, in various directions, with friends residing in the city, made us realize that Tokyo is one of the four or five largest cities in the world. Most of the buildings are insignificant in height; they seem in too much terror of earthquakes to raise themselves far above the ground.
Whatever is beautiful in the way of gardens
"WESTWAKD HO" 29
or residences is carefully screened by walls from the profane gaze of the tourist. Broad, dusty avenues have been cut through mazes of narrow winding streets which for miles stretch in every direction. A careful search discovers Christian churches and schools and hospitals, but it cannot be said that religion has placed any very marked impression on the great metropolis.
We were conducted to the shops on the Ginza and on the crowded cross-streets. We were entertained in a restaurant sitting on the floor in stocking feet and struggling with chop- sticks. We drove to Ueno Park, not simply to see the cherry blossoms, but to visit the na- tional Exhibition where were displayed all the industrial and artistic products of the Empire. The jostling crowds were evidently from the country districts, for, as foreigners, we seemed to attract as much attention as other " exhib- its," a fact which suggested the truth that Western influence and Christianity itself have reached only a fractional part of Japan.
A night on a Japanese sleeper may leave something to be desired in the way of luxury, but it brought us to the ancient, Western cap- ital, charming Kyoto. It was a picture of love- liness as we looked down upon it from the hotel; it seemed to be a bouquet of cherry- blossoms, enveloped by hills of green.
30 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
It is, however, a city " wholly given to idolatry." Of course one will enjoy a visit to the grounds and buildings of the Mikado's Palace; he will struggle against the tempta- tion to bankrupt himself in the shops which are the most attractive in the land, but his real concern in Kyoto will be its countless temples.
We rambled through acres of these struc- tures, carefully depositing our shoes outside in the rain, and walking in cloth slippers over vast expanses of polished floors, passing before uncounted idols and becoming more and more depressed by realizing the familiar fact that a proud modern empire, one of the five great powers of the world, is in the deadening grasp of false religions and degrading cults.
It was a relief to drive out to Lake Biwa, although the superb view there was obtained from the platform of a heathen temple. How- ever, it was an unalloyed pleasure, one sunny spring morning, as the guest of friends from Princeton, to make the excursion to the rapids of Katsura-gawa. We motored out through the fields and villages, along the busy roads, to Hozu and then boarded a crude little craft, but were comfortably seated in chairs, as we shot the rapids to Arashi-yama, some thirteen miles below. The river rushed through a rocky gorge, but the boatmen were skillful, and the scene was charming, as the green hills which
1 * WESTWARD HO" 31
rose precipitously from the banks of the wind- ing stream were densely covered with foliage and were adorned by great masses of bright blossoms.
Such a scene was a perfect preparation for our sail, next day, through the famous beauties of the Inland Sea. At sunset we passed the narrow straits at Shimonoseki; all of Good Friday we ploughed the Yellow Sea, which, however, was blue in the morning and green in the afternoon, but sufficiently muddy to be regarded as yellow as, toward evening, we dropped anchor at the mouth of the Yangtse. The next morning we landed at Shanghai, the place of all places to end a westward voyage to the Far East, for here, as in no other place, the East and the West are found to meet.
II
CHINA
SHANGHAI is rightly regarded as the " Gateway of China," and in China a gateway is never a thing to be despised ; for this is a land of walls. The Great Wall, stretching fourteen hundred miles across the northern border, is not merely a monument of the past, it is a symbol for the present of all Chinese life, whether domestic, social, re- ligious or political; all is surrounded by bar- riers, and those who find no special way of entrance pass by in ignorance of the meaning and mystery which lie within.
Shanghai is not to be despised, although some travellers affect such contempt. Of course when one has travelled ten thousand miles in search of the Far East, he is a little surprised to find a great commercial city with so many great buildings and broad boulevards, and the beautiful homes and the crowded street cars and noisy motors and similar reminders of the conventional and commonplace West.
However, when one has been jostled for a
few days by the hurrying crowd of natives,
when he sees that only one in seventy-five, of
the million and a half of the residents, is a
32
THE GREAT WALL
Once 1700 miles in length; it is 35 feet high and 23 feet thick;
the greatest defensive work in the world.
CHINA 33
foreigner, when he turns from the Interna- tional and French settlements and plunges into the wild welter of the " native city," he will encounter sufficient foul odours, piles of pro- visions and coffins, squalid hovels, clinging beggars, mangy dogs and other sickening sights to satisfy the most romantic lover of the allur- ing mysteries of the Orient.
In Shanghai one can catch a glimpse of the Far East, and he can even use this city as a Gateway to the realm of Christian missions. Evidently most tourists need such an entrance ; for most of them travel through these Eastern lands and never catch a glimpse of the fascinat- ing fields of enterprise and endeavour which often lie hidden behind the walls of Western indifference and ignorance and prejudice.
Many persons imagine that they have seen Shanghai when they can tell you of the busi- ness houses on the Bund, of the Bubbling Well mansions, of the shops on Nanking Road, of the events of the Race Course or the " dinner- dances " at the " Astor House Hotel." They would be surprised and delighted if given even a glimpse of the charming campus of St. John's University, the beautiful new buildings of the Baptist University, of the ornate old palace occupied by the McTeyre School for Girls, or the great educational work being done by the Presbyterians behind the walls of their com-
34 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST
pound, but hardly beyond the odours of the streets and canals, at the South Gate of the Chinese City.
However, to those who were fortunate enough to gain an entrance, Shanghai offered in May, 1922, a true gateway for an investi- gation of the missionary occupation of China. At a great National Christian Conference there were gathered twelve hundred delegates representing all the forces now engaged in the evangelizing of this land. It was a natural place for such a gathering, for here are the headquarters of practically all the societies and organizations whose influences radiate throughout the eighteen provinces and pene- trate into Mongolia and Manchuria and Thibet.
It was not the first Christian Conference, of a national character, to be held in this city; but the others have been mainly gatherings of mis- sionaries and of persons representing mission- ary agencies, as for instance the notable Cen- tenary Conference of 1907 which celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the begin- ning of missionary effort in China and re- called the arrival of Robert Morrison in Can- ton.
The distinguishing feature, however, of the Conference held in Shanghai, May 2-11, 1922, was the fact that it was composed not only of
CHINA 35
foreigners, but of an equal number of Chinese ; or to be more exact, subtracting the forty-five representatives of Western Boards and Agencies, there were but four hundred and eighty-eight foreign delegates and five hundred and sixty-five Chinese. Of these latter, sixty- three were women.
The Conference marked the new epoch which is opening in the development of Chi- nese Christianity. For a hundred and fifteen years Christianity has been regarded as a for- eign religion. Its leaders and most of its financial support have come from Western lands and churches. It is felt, however, that the time has now come for the Chinese Chris- tians to assume an ever increasing share in the control and the extension of the Christian forces and agencies in their own land. Ulti- mately China must be evangelized by Chinese, and one great purpose of the Conference was to aid Chinese Christians in recognizing their unity and their responsibility.
It must be remembered that at present Christian believers in China are divided into a very large number of denominations which derive their names and characteristics from the separated churches of the West. Such a condi- tion has often been ridiculed ; it is unfortunate, but for a time it was inevitable. No one Western church was strong enough to under-
36 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
take, unaided, the evangelization of so vast a country; and as the Christian societies in all the home lands were divided, it was natural that their missionary representatives should, at first, train their converts along the exact lines of faith and order which they themselves held.
More recently, however, there have been ef- forts toward closer union, particularly within the groups of the same denomination. Thus the Episcopal Churches have one national or- ganization of Chinese Christians; and just be- fore the National Christian Conference con- vened there was held in Shanghai the first regular session of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of China. To further such movements toward union, in fact to fos- ter the project of one national church for all Chinese Christians, was one of the prime pur- poses of the National Christian Conference. The further and more definite aim was to es- tablish an organization which would coordinate the work of the various missions with that of the existing churches, or with that of such a national church, should the latter come into being. The great theme of the Conference, therefore, was the " Chinese Church." To prepare for the work of the Conference, five commissions were appointed to deal with the following subjects:
(1) The Present State of Christianity in
CHINA 87
China; (2) The Future Work of the Church; (3) The Message of the Church; (4) The De- velopment of Leadership for the Work of the Church; (5) Coordination and Cooperation in the Work of the Church.
The chairmen of two of these committees were Chinese, as were the majority of the members of the committees. In preparing their reports, hundreds of the most experienced Christian workers, both Chinese and foreign, were consulted, so that the findings and recom- mendations of these committees represent the mature thought of a very large number of spe- cialists in the subjects under consideration. In framing their reports these committees also had the aid of two documents, both of an ex- traordinary character.
The first was the report of the " China Edu- cational Committee of 1921 and 1922." This committee, composed of leading educational- ists from America, England and China, had spent four months in making a survey of the whole field of missionary education in China. Their report, now published under the title of "Christian 'Education in China'' together with the reports of the National Christian Confer- ence, offers to China an outline of the most perfectly graded and coordinated system of Christian education existing in any modern nation.
38 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
The other document was the "General Sur- vey "of the numerical strength and the geo- graphical distribution of the Christian forces in China, made by a special committee under the leadership of the Rev. Milton T. Stauffer. It comprises some six hundred quarto pages, and is probably the most elaborate and careful survey ever made of a great missionary field.
Thus aided, the Committees were able to present, to the members of the National Con- ference, reports which, together with the two volumes already mentioned, will be indispen- sable to any one who wishes to form a fair esti- mate of the present state of Christianity in China, of the most approved methods of mis- sionary work, and of some of the chief prob- lems which now confront the universal Church of Christ.
These reports show that the present numer- ical strength of the Protestant Church in China is approximately 375,000, which is more than a fourfold increase since the Boxer uprising of the year 1900; and to this statement as to church numbers must be added the long list of native leaders and of the large Christian insti- tutions and a generous estimate of the wide influence of the Christian community.
It is obvious, however, that the work of evangelizing China has only been begun ; 375,- 000 out of 400,000,000 is less than one in one
CHINA 39
thousand, less than one-half of one per cent. There are vast areas as yet unreached, scores of great walled cities unentered, countless multi- tudes who have never heard the Gospel mes- sage.
The first result of this Conference, there- fore, was a fresh realization of the gigantic task of the Christian Church.
A second result was a deepened sense of unity among the many denominations of Chi- nese Christians. As the Conference pro- gressed it became evident to all that the time had not yet come for any movement toward the organization of a National Chinese Church; yet the Chinese delegates revealed the surpris- ing strength of the native Christian leaders, and plainly expressed their desire for increased ecclesiastical independence, and their self-con- sciousness as an indigenous church. While no visible organization was proposed, this sense of unity and of responsibility was so great that the chairman of the Conference, a Chinese leader of poise and discretion, could exclaim with fervour, " This meeting is the birthplace of the Chinese Church."
However, no one felt that this infant, inor- ganic, potential church was ready to assume responsibility for the evangelizing of China, without further aid from the West. The bur- den must be assumed gradually. Eventually
40 GATEWAYS OF THE FAK EAST
Chinese Christians must be relieved from the stigma of being adherents of a foreign religion, they must be free from the denominational divisions which have been imported from Western Christianity, and must be independent of foreign support. However, let no one dream that this day has come or that the work of the Western churches is now complete. Vast sums of money and great reinforcements of devoted men and women must be sent to China if the work now begun is to be continued successfully. The ideal toward which all mis- sionaries are working is to make their own ef- forts superfluous by the establishing of a self- supporting and self-governing indigenous church, which can evangelize its own land. That ideal has not been attained in China. As it is more and more perfectly realized, delicate questions will arise involving the relations be- tween the missions and the churches. A strong desire was expressed by the Chinese delegates to the Conference that during this period of transition, there should be no separa- tion between these forces, but that sympathetic and whole-hearted cooperation should be main- tained.
An effort to provide for such true unity among the Christian forces in China was the most definite and concrete result of the Con- ference. There was formed a National Chris-
CHINA 41
tian Council, composed of one hundred mem- bers, seventy-five of whom were nominated by the denominational groups represented in the Conference, and twenty-five additional mem- bers proposed by these nominees. The Council is to meet annually and is to continue in exist- ence until it convenes another national Con- ference, sometime within the next ten years. The Council is to elect its own officers and to appoint an executive committee of not more than twenty-one members, a majority of whom, as in the case of the Council, shall be Chinese. The great purpose of this new organization is to express and to promote unity and harmony among all the societies and churches, both for- eign and Chinese, which are engaged in the evangelization of the land.
For the formation of such a national coun- cil there was a remarkably unanimous desire. There are differences of theological views among the Christian workers in China; some may be regarded as serious and radical. They are the same which exist in America and in England. A journey across the Pacific does not necessarily change religious convictions. These differences undoubtedly threaten to dis- turb the peace and to retard the growth of the Chinese Church. However, the action of the Conference in establishing this National Chris- tian Council expressed the deep yearning for
42 GATEWAYS OF THE EAR EAST
harmonious action and united effort which ani- mates even those who are most solicitous as to the future of Christian work in the Orient. It is in the reports of such a great Conference as this which met in Shanghai, that one who de- sires a glimpse at missionary enterprise in China can find a gateway into a field of re- markable interest and importance. He will learn that six thousand men and women, from distant homes, are now labouring as Christian missionaries in this one land of the Far East, and that, despite their denominational differ- ences, they are consciously one in their purpose, their efforts and their hopes.
Another gateway through which one can catch a glimpse of the forces that are trans- forming China can be found by visiting the great plant of the Commercial Press at Shang- hai. This is the largest printing establishment in Asia and one of the largest and most effi- cient in the world. It employs thousands of workers, its buildings cover acres of ground, its machinery is most modern and its equip- ment includes even a department for producing moving-picture films. From its presses issues a vast variety of publications, of school books, of advertisements, of Bibles, printed both in the Chinese characters and in the modern, pop- ular " phonetic " type. Its influences extend
CHINA 43
to every part of the land and aid immeasur- ably in producing the New China.
This great Press, however, is a direct prod- uct of Protestant missions. It was founded and developed by two Christian men who were educated in mission schools and were prepared for their great work by being employed for years in the Presbyterian Press, which is the oldest printing establishment in China and one of the chief glories of the Presbyterian Mis- sion.
In this connection, too, should be mentioned the influence of evangelical literature and of such periodicals as the Chinese Christian Intel- ligencer, by means of which the Gospel is be- ing sent forth from Shanghai to all the prov- inces of China.
A gateway which leads into a limited but sig- nificant realm of life is found in the Foreign Protestant Churches in Shanghai. It is com- monly supposed that the lives of foreign resi- dents in the Far East are so lax morally, and so utterly irreligious, as to constitute a great obstacle to Christian missions and a disgrace to Christian nations. It is probably true that a large city like Shanghai is a refuge for moral derelicts and is filled with temptations to vari- ous forms of vice and is lacking in the religious restraints found in most Western communities.
44 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST
On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that it contains groups of devoted Christians such as were found in these Protestant churches. Besides the Episcopal Cathedral, might be mentioned the Union Church, the Community Church, and the Free Christian Church. In all of these, week after week, large and eager audiences were faced; nor could one find more genuine fervour than in the seven Sunday services conducted in the last named of these churches, the membership of which was composed mostly of missionary workers. The Community Church is largely a product of American business men; it is planning to erect a building in the newly de- veloped foreign residence section of the " French Concession." These churches are doing much toward impressing Christian ideals upon the social and commercial life of the city.
One of the most valuable instruments for opening non-Christian lands to the reception of the Christian message has been found in the work of medical missions. Shanghai again furnishes a gateway through which one can catch a glimpse of that fascinating form of work. Saint Luke's and the Margaret Wil- liamson Hospitals should surely be visited ; but not the least remarkable, possibly the most im- pressively interesting of all, is the Bethel Hos-
CHINA 45
pital and Nurses' Training School, conducted, near the West Gate of the native city, by Dr. Mary Stone and her Chinese and foreign asso- ciates. Dr. Stone received her thorough med- ical and surgical training in America ; for some years she practised in an inland city of China, but more recently established her work in Shanghai, near the great cotton factories and directly across Arsenal Road from the barracks of thousands of Chinese soldiers.
Just here is a bit of humour and romance. A dog carried from the hospital into the bar- racks a Bible, which he had partly destroyed. The soldiers read the stories and were so inter- ested that they came over to the hospital to secure a complete copy of the Book, and this interest opened up the way for Dr. Stone, not only to treat the wives and families of these men, but to bring to them the Gospel message. The hospital is now self-supporting and, with the school and its new Gospel Tabernacle, is a most definite and successful evangelizing agency. The work of Dr. Stone gives a glimpse of what the Gospel of Christ is doing for the women of China and of what women, both Chinese and foreign, are doing toward spreading the Gospel in China.
China is a land of funerals and graves. As one journeys through the country in any direc-
46 GATEWAYS OF THE FAB EAST
tion he is surprised by the sight of the innu- merable mounds which mark the sleeping places of the dead; and even when jostling through the crowds of the city streets he is impressed not, for instance, with the truly interesting wedding pageants, but rather with the funeral processions which form the most spectacular feature of Chinese life. The central object in one of these processions is, of course, the great catafalque in which the coffin is borne. This rests on a huge framework of poles supported on the shoulders of coolies who number thirty- two or sixty- four, or even as many as one hun- dred and twenty-eight. Modern brass bands playing gay and festive tunes, or mournful and weird wind-instruments, mingle their notes with the wailing of the mourners. Great numbers of standard-bearers carry flags and streamers; but the most interesting feature in the processions consists in the articles made of paper which are burned and so, passing into the unseen, provide for the dead man all possible necessities in the world of spirits. These ar- ticles include not only large quantities of paper money but houses and horses and, at present, full-sized automobiles.
Of course all these customs are sadly con- nected with the ignorance and superstition and false religious conceptions of the people.
Possibly a Chinese funeral, as no other spec-
CHINA 47
tacle, suggests how truly this nation is in need of Christ. When on his way from the north, an esteemed friend, one of the most charming delegates to the Shanghai Conference, re- marked to his wife, " I do wish these Chinese Christians who are with us could see a Chris- tian funeral while in the city, because, as we discourage ancestor worship, the Chinese com- monly think that we do not honour our dead and because they do not know how at such times we express our Christian hope."
By a strange providence he was stricken with heart disease during the days of the Confer- ence; everything was done to give him relief, but all to no avail ; and smiling he fell asleep, saying in a farewell word that he was privi- leged above others in that he was so soon to see his Lord.
Then those Chinese did see a Christian fu- neral, though they saw it through their tears. As they walked along that paved avenue of lime trees where the birds were singing, as they entered that crowded vine-clad chapel and heard the hymns and messages of triumph, they realized that their " beloved physician " was already with his Lord ; and as they saw his body lowered into the grave, in the beautiful Bubbling Well Cemetery, they were reminded of Him who is indeed " the Resurrection and the Life."
48 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
To the traveller who uses Shanghai as a gateway to China, the two cities most accessible and of chief interest are Hangchow and Soo- chow. There is a Chinese proverb which says that " Heaven is away in the sky, but Soochow and Hangchow are here below." There are many possible ways of interpreting such a proverb, but the obvious one is that these cities are attractive and easy of access.
Hangchow has been the terminus of the Grand Canal for over six centuries. For the past ten years it has been the terminus of a rail- road. The journey from Shanghai formerly occupied six days by boat; it is now a ride of four or five hours by train. The route lies through a rich farming country which, in the springtime, is glorious with its fields of green and gold and fascinating with its canals and shrines and grey-walled cities.
Hangchow has a situation of rare beauty. Three sides are surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills. To the west stretch the quiet waters of the great artificial lake, the shores of which are dotted with monasteries and pagodas and other monuments of the past. Marco Polo re- garded Hangchow as the noblest and best city in the world, and while much of its ancient splendour has faded, it still claims the title of " Heaven below." This phrase must be ac- cepted with some limitations, especially when
CHINA 49
one wanders through the narrow, dirty streets of certain sections of the city. So, too, while one admires the picturesque monasteries of the West Lake and its environs, it is rather de- pressing to be reminded by them of the degrad- ing heathenism by which the great masses of the Chinese people are still bound. In these very monasteries are between five and six hun- dred priests, most of whom are leading lives so lazy and dissolute that the popular proverb says " If you would find a man of black heart, look among the monks."
Christian missions and Western education are doing much to transform and renew the life of this historic city. Perhaps the most in- teresting feature of the religious work is the unity existing among all the representatives of the various churches and expressed in the organization of the Union Evangelistic Com- mittee which coordinates all the various activi- ties of the six missions that are working to- gether with such marked success.
It was a privilege to visit the new building of the Young Men's Christian Association, the ground for which was given by the Govern- ment, and to address an audience of alert and ambitious men and boys.
It was also an inspiration to confer with the missionaries and see the different " com- pounds," the hospital and the churches, and to
60 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
meet in one of the mission schools the daugh- ter of the famous patriot Yuan.
It will be remembered that he was governor of the Province at the time of the Boxer up- rising. An edict had been issued ordering the death of all foreigners. Yuan changed the word " kill " to " protect," and then published the edict. The Empress regarded this act as treason. The foreigners in the Province were indeed saved; but he was sawn asunder, the halves of his bleeding body thrown into a rough box and buried. However, when public opinion changed, he was given a state funeral by command of the Emperor, and his name was inscribed in the Hall of Fame.
The point of greatest interest, possibly, was the Hangchow Christian College. Not the least impressive feature is the site of its cam- pus. Where is there another like it? Pos- sibly that of Robert College, Constantinople, may be its equal. Like the latter it is outside the city, in fact some four miles beyond the great walls. It lies on the slopes of a high hill, above the broad Chien Tang River, command- ing a superb view of mountain and plain and water and sky. What is more important is the fact that this college is situated in the midst of the seventeen million people of Chekiang Province, the only institution of its kind. Surely it is worthy of more liberal support
CHINA 51
from the American Presbyterians by whom it has been established.
Hangchow lies to the southwest, but Soo- chow some three hours by rail to the north of Shanghai. Why it is regarded as near or like to heaven it is difficult to imagine; but one must remember that it once had a glory which is departed, and that few facts in the Far East seem to support popular theories of evolution.
Soochow is more commonly called the Ven- ice or Amsterdam of China; however, it looks as though it would require a century of con- tinuous washing and fumigating to make it compare with even the less cleanly of these European cities. However, if one can be happy when not inhaling perfume, and can set his eyes strictly for the picturesque, he will re- gard a day in Soochow as one of the most memorable in his life.
Hangchow boasts an artificial lake ; Soochow is an artificial city ; that is, it was built to order for old King Wu. He selected a group of is- lands among a score of lakes, he connected them by bridges, surrounded them by a great rectangular wall, intersected them with canals, beautified them with parks and palaces and li- braries and comfortable homes, and then emp- tied three large cities to supply inhabitants for his beautiful new capital
52 GATEWAYS OF THE FAK EAST
However that was a great many years ago; the splendour has faded, but the city is still famous for its silks, its suicides, its pagodas and its canals. Silks form the glory of Soo- chow; they are its staple product and chief source of wealth; but how these delicate fab- rics, with their artistic designs and perfect workmanship, can come out of those dark, damp, dirty, earthen-floored huts is a mystery to all beholders.
As to the canals, spanned by their beautiful bridges and fragrant with the accumulated odours of ages, they are oi continual service, not only as furnishing means of transporta- tion, but as receptacles for all kinds of refuse, while in them all clothing is washed, all food is cleansed, fish are hatched, and from them drinking water is supplied.
The pagodas of Soochow are among the most impressive of the land. At Lin Yin Mon- astery, near Hangchow, is an inscription de- claring that those who enter are only " one foot from heaven." If this is equally true of any place in Soochow, it must be on the top of the Great Pagoda, the highest in China and so in the world. It is octagonal in shape, contains nine stories and rises some two hundred and fifty feet in height. It commands a superb view; the narrow streets and canals of the city, the great lake to the west, the picturesque
CHINA 53
pagodas, the ranges of hills, the many villages, towns and cities, and best of all, within the city and beyond its walls, like oases in the desert, the " compounds " of the University, of the hospitals, and of the schools and the churches, established by Christian missionaries. Their work seems to be the only hope of the land. The view from the Great Pagoda brings five million people within the range of vision; in the great new temple near the Presbyterian compound the people are worshippers of five hundred gods ; how long will it be before these worshippers come to know the transforming power of Christ?
Nanking, or " The Southern Capital," was given this honorary title by the Ming Em- peror Yung when he removed the seat of gov- ernment to the "Northern Capital," Peking. For centuries it had been the most important city in China, and even to the present time it is one of the most interesting of the provincial capitals.
It is situated on the Yangtse some two hun- dred miles north of Shanghai. Its great walls, thirty to fifty feet in height, are over thirty miles in circumference and enclose a vast area, large portions of which are not covered with buildings but consist of green hills and culti- vated fields.
64 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
The most conspicuous objects in the city are the buildings belonging to the various educa- tional institutions. Travellers who confess or boast that they see nothing of Christian mis- sions can never have in mind their visit to Nan- king. Here instruction is being given to boys and girls and men and women in every grade from the kindergarten to the College, Univer- sity and Theological Seminary. Some of the most interesting audiences faced in China were those of the Chinese Christian Church, of the Woman's Bible Institute and of the Union Theological Seminary; and one of the most surprising exhibitions of the character of New China was given by the speeches delivered in English by the members of the University de- bating team, which had just returned victorious from a contest in Shanghai.
These worthy institutions deserve further development; but it appears that the specific work of evangelism, both within and without the city, should be more generously supported and more widely extended. In any event, few places afford better opportunities than Nanking to study the present problems and progress of Christian Education in China.
Peking is the most impressive city in China and one of the most romantic cities of the world; its impressiveness, however, is that of
CHINA 55
faded splendour, its romance is that of de- parted power. The city is a veritable monu- ment and symbol of past empire.
Its grandeur dates from the days of Kublai Khan who in 1264 made it his magnificent capital, and from this centre ruled all China. For some seven centuries successive dynasties of Mongols, Mings and Manchus maintained this city as the seat of the Dragon Throne, and since the establishment of the Republic in 1910 it has continued to be the centre of that rather elusive and theoretical entity known as the " Chinese Government."
Experts in political economy can speak more wisely; but to an inexperienced traveller in 1922 the nation seemed to be sadly lacking in political unity. Not only were the people di- vided in sympathy between the " North " and the " South," but the various provinces were controlled by military " governors," while the civil "governors," like the President of the Republic, were mere official puppets. Each governor maintained his position by forces of soldiers, and when out of power he and his followers played the polite role of bandits. These civil "wars" between the contending chieftains were comic enough in the eyes of the world, but sufficiently tragic in the minds of the poor peasants who were plundered and pillaged and compelled to support insolent
56 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST
marauders masquerading one day as "ban- dits " and the next day as " government forces."
Two of these military governors, in the early summer, were striving for the mastery of China. These were Wu Pei Fu and Chang Tso Lin. The descent of the latter from his capital in Mukden, for a time blocked the road from Shanghai to Peking; but after a really serious and decisive battle had been fought south of the city, it proved possible to find a way through the trains of soldiers and muni- tions and to reach the famous capital.
Peking is really four cities in one. Its heart is the " Forbidden City," shut in by its walls of reddish-pink. Around this lies the " Im- perial City " guarded by walls twenty feet in height. Outside this lies " the Tartar City " surrounded by its famous walls which are forty feet high and some fourteen miles in circum- ference. This inclusive Tartar City, which by most persons is regarded as " Peking," is called however the " Inner City," for through its southern gates one enters the great " Chinese City," surrounded by walls of its own. This " Outer City " covers a vast area. Part of it is crowded with shops ; but its chief glory is the great Temple of Heaven.
Perhaps no place of worship in the world so stirs the emotions as does the central " altar "
THE CHENG- YAXG-MEN GATE, PEKING
Connecting the Inner or "Tartar City" with the Outer or
" Chinese City "
CHINA 57
of this temple. The walls of the temple are three miles in circuit; so that one feels that the city, with its throngs and its tumult, has been left far behind when he enters the solitude of this place of prayer. When at last he ap- proaches the " altar," he finds no shrine, no temple, no roofed structure, but a simple " triple circular marble terrace," the upper sur- face of which is paved with marble blocks, the central one being in the form of a perfect cir- cle. Here, with no image, under the wide and boundless sky, century after century the em- perors of China knelt to worship the one su- preme God of Heaven.
The further one goes back in history the purer is the conception of God which he finds. Christianity has not developed out of the world religions. The latter are a corruption of a primitive belief. How far this corruption has progressed was intimated by a visit to the Lama Temple, near the north wall of the " Inner City," a temple which is known as " the official residence of a living Buddha." The tile-roofed buildings are picturesque, the great wooden and gilded Buddhas are gro- tesque but imposing; however, it is pathetic to listen to the senseless mummery of the shaven priests and to see the incense offered by the ignorant worshippers, and to remember how many millions accept as their religion this
58 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
corrupt and degrading form of original Bud- dhism.
Another striking contrast was found by visiting the stately " Confucian Temple." Here again were neither altars nor images nor idols. The great sage is worthy of such a memorial. His teachings embody a truer morality than can be found in any system out- side the Hebrew Scriptures; he always re- garded character as the real goal of education ; yet he never dreamed that to-day millions of men would be worshipping him as a God ; how- ever he was never able to point men to the saving power of the true God who later re- vealed Himself in Jesus Christ.
The failure of Confucianism is written large upon the face of modern China. It was therefore a great privilege, as a favoured guest of Mr. Gleysteen, the President of Truth Hall, the historic Presbyterian Boys' Academy, to be given some insight into the Christian edu- cational institutions which have been estab- lished in Peking, and which are making this city the educational centre for China.
In various parts of the city, work is being done, much of it in Union enterprises, by Con- gregationalists, Methodists, Anglicans, Presby- terians and by the Princeton University Centre of the Young Men's Christian Association.
The superb plant of the Peking Union
CHINA 59
Medical College (Rockefeller Foundation) is the most imposing monument of the sympa- thetic interest felt by America for the people of China.
However, after a brief survey of the field, one felt, as in Nanking, that a new effort should be made to place the purely evangelistic work of the Christian missions on the same high plane of efficiency, and to man it as strongly, as the superb work which is being done in the sphere of Christian education.
Of course the great need in China is that of trained Christian leaders. Yet she must have leaders in all walks of life; many of these must be found outside of Christian schools and institutions of higher learning. Among the most famous of such leaders is the great " Christian General," Feng Yu Hsiang. As a young soldier he witnessed in the Boxer upris- ing the death of Doctor and Mrs. Hodge, of Mr. and Mrs. Simcox and of Doctor Taylor. He was deeply impressed by the demeanour of these martyrs. Later on he was led to con- sider the unselfish work of the missionary physicians and finally in an evangelistic meet- ing in Peking he determined to begin a Chris- tian life, and joined a class for the study of the Bible.
Coming from a very humble origin he has risen to be one of the most conspicuous men
60 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
of modern China. He is a true soldier. The discipline of his troops is perfect; they are allowed neither to smoke nor to gamble nor to swear. They all observe " grace before meals." Nine-tenths of them are Christians.
These are the men upon whom General Wu relied to defeat Chang Tso Lin. Nothing could withstand their attack; and when the defeated forces of Chang tried to take a stand to the north of the city, Chang saw the sol- diers of General Feng again pressing upon his right flank and he turned in flight, withdrawing all his forces beyond the Great Wall.
As the way to this great " wonder of the world " was opened, a day was spent in clam- bering over its vast ramparts. The Great Wall was found twisting and turning and climbing and creeping over mountains and valleys as far in either direction as the eye could reach. Again one realized that China is a land of walls. Once it was closed to the Gospel but now the doors are opened wide and those who will may enter.
Returning to Peking and taking a last view of the city, seeing its temples and palaces and imperial mansions with their yellow tiles gleaming among the groves of trees with which the city abounds, one was again impressed with the fact that Peking is indeed an imperial city, it is the capital of this mighty nation, it is yet
CHINA 61
to determine the destiny of four hundred mil- lion people. Is that destiny to be shaped by the influence of Confucius or by the power of Christ?
Ill
KOREA
IT was impossible to reach Korea by the usual route through Mukden, for the con- tending Chinese armies had more im- portant uses for the railroad than the trans- portation of American travellers. However, even an elementary knowledge of geography gave the comforting assurance that the " Land of the Morning Calm " might be approached by sea in spite of the conflicts among the sons of Han.
Some of our American countrymen have trouble in locating Korea; their difficulty is much like that of the man who told his pastor that he had trouble with the Book of Daniel. " Why, what is your trouble ? " he was asked. " My difficulty," he replied, " is to find it in the Bible."
So a Missouri postmaster was given a parcel- post package directed to " Korea." He searched his lists in vain, to find the rate, and then asked politely, " In what part of Kansas is Korea, anyway ? "
Some of us remember that Korea is a little peninsula about six hundred miles in length, appended to the east coast of Asia, and related 62
KOEEA 63
to it somewhat as Florida is to the United States. We recall that politically as well as geographically it has hung as a tempting mor- sel between China, Russia and Japan, and that these nations ever have been ready to devour each other to secure it, until finally it has been swallowed up by the " Island Empire " which is now proposing to assimilate it into her body politic.
What has further tended to conceal its lo- cation has been the revival of the old name " Chosen," by which name it is now desig- nated as a Province of Japan. Some Ameri- cans are feverishly fearful of offending Japan by still using the name of " Korea," but they need not be so timid. The Japanese governor of one of the Provinces, in sending me a gift, accompanied the gift by his card on which he had written his address in " Korea."
The elementary knowledge which suggested the plan of reaching Korea by sea proved to be shared by many other travellers, so that when through gracious friends in Tientsin an effort was made to secure a passage to Dairen or Antung or Chemulpo it was learned that all the little steamers were filled and many names were on the waiting lists; but eventually a berth was secured on a Japanese boat bound for Moji, in Japan, from whence Korea could be reached by way of Shimonoseki and Fusan.
64 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST
For two days we steamed across the gulf of Pechili along the north coast of Shantung; a fact which reflects no more upon the size of the Shantung peninsula than upon the slow- ness of the boat. On the second afternoon the coast of China, far to the westward, appeared to sink into the sea. The skies were blue, the sunlight was dancing over the waves and the scene was one of peculiar peace and loveliness. Suddenly at five o'clock the ship changed her course, cut a complete semicircle and put back toward the west. It was soon whispered about that a passenger was missing from the first- class cabin, a Japanese woman, the mother of two little children who were accompanying her home. She had been seen on deck at three o'clock; now she was nowhere to be found, and as the rails were high it was concluded that she could not have fallen but must have leaped into the sea. Men were stationed at the bow, and three high up on the mast, but as one realized how much time must have elapsed since the tragedy occurred, and as one gazed out upon that vast unbroken expanse of sea and sky, the search for one little human body was seemingly hopeless.
For exactly two hours the course was held westward, and then the ship again put about and turned her bow toward the east. After only a few minutes had passed the engine bells
KOEEA 65
sounded, the ship came to a complete stop, and there, as we peered over the starboard rail, only a hundred yards away, could be seen plainly a dark kimono and a mass of black hair rising and falling with the waves. To have so exactly retraced the course, to have succeeded in such a search, was a feat of navigation worthy of all praise. There was a long delay in lowering the life-boat ; the sun had sunk in splendour behind the barren hills of Shantung when the poor little dripping body was drawn on board. The sailors acted with marked ten- derness and reverence in the presence of the dead. For hours the surgeon and his assist- ants were reported to be endeavouring to fan back some spark of life, but such efforts were of course futile.
Before midnight just before the door of the little room in which the body lay, there was placed a small stand and upon it lighted can- dles and burning incense, and a glass of water and a lotus flower, and a bowl of rice, pro- visions for the spirit which was supposed to be hovering near. Through the night a stew- ard kept constant vigil, and in the morning a small coffin was built and in it was placed the body, carefully prepared for the burial which was to take place when the ship reached the Japanese port.
A suicide at sea is not a rare occurrence but
66 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST
it is always an incident of deep pathos and tragedy, particularly when it involves a young mother whose children are weeping at their failure to find her, while her husband is hastening to the harbour to welcome her return home.
These tragedies are all too common among the Japanese; but what drove this woman to her desperate deed, what fear or remorse or heart-break ? This was only one more mystery of the sea; yet it reminds us that there are distresses too painful to be endured by those who know nothing of the comfort and power of Christ.
Previous impressions of Korea had been gained from books, and they were deepened by the first glimpse of the bleak cliffs and rocky, barren islands of the southwestern coast. The picture in mind was a land of lonely, desolate mountains inhabited by rude, ignorant peasants, writhing under the iron heel of Japan. Two months of continuous travel quite altered the opinion. Even as we glided into the superb harbour of Fusan, on a lovely morning in May, the abundant verdure on the round hills reminded us of former approaches to the Emerald Isle.
We journeyed from southeast to northwest, and from southwest to northeast, some three
KOKEA 67
thousand miles by rail and nearly another thousand by Ford cars. We spent a week at a time in quaint cities like Taiku and Seoul and Kwongju and Andong, each one of which is encircled by an amphitheatre of green hills and of towering mountains.
We rode for days through beautiful valleys which were radiant with the gold of ripe bar- ley and wheat, and great patches of deep green hemp, and we looked on the flooded rice fields which mirrored the blue and the white of the sky and the drifting clouds. We made a four days' excursion to the peaks and passes and gorges of the Diamond Mountains, once re- garded as the wonder of Eastern Asia, now re- garded as one of the wonders of the world. We stayed for a week at Wonsan, with its superb harbour and encircling hills and island- guarded coast, looking eastward over the Japan Sea ; and then went to Sorai Beach on the west coast, with its silver sands, and its rocky, wind- swept bluff rising high above the blue tides of the Yellow Sea. Then the impression deep- ened that Korea is a land which has features of rarest charm.
Of course your friend who always looks on the darker side tells you that an unfair ad- vantage was taken by visiting Korea in May and June and July, and that one could judge better by looking on the brown hills, and sun-
68 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
burned fields in the early fall, or upon the dreary scenes of winter; but shall not every country be allowed some change of dress? Does even Southern California always wear her gay garments? Moreover, wise men tell us that no one really knows the Diamond Mountains or the Northern Highlands of Korea unless he has seen them in the glory of their autumn garb.
Tourists will not much longer be content with the conventional dining-car " Korean Tour," from Fusan to the Yalu, as they rush from Japan to China; they will soon insist upon lingering to see something of one of the most beautiful and interesting countries of the world.
The Korean people are physically strong and stalwart, they are gentle, genial, affable and courteous in their demeanour, poetic in their forms of thought and expression, usually poor, ignorant and superstitious, but intelligent, thoughtful and capable of the most surprising and rapid mental and social and spiritual de- velopments.
In the past, Korea possessed a far more advanced and complex civilization than now, and gave to Japan many of her most valued arts, as for example the manufacture of the beautiful Satsuma ware and the other grades
KOEEA 69
of porcelain, and also the culture and manu- facture of silks.
At present, however, the Koreans are a race of farmers; the latest statistics show that nearly fifteen out of their seventeen millions are supported by agriculture, while less than one million are engaged in trade and transpor- tation.
The methods of farming are extremely prim- itive. It is true it requires no little skill and ingenuity to irrigate the rice fields and keep them at an exact water level and to prevent them from being washed away by storms ; how- ever, the Korean uses the same kind of plow, threshes his grain with the same light flail on the hard rock " floor," and grinds his produce in the same crude mills as did his ancestors three thousand years ago.
Most Koreans live in mere huts. These are built with mud walls and thatched with rice straw, and when grouped together look like clusters of brown mushrooms.
All Koreans dress in white. This is not say- ing that the dress remains white. However, the miracle is that those immaculate flowing robes emerge from such squalid mud huts and that they retain their spotlessness so long and under such adverse conditions. All wear white, and at all times, rich and poor, young and old, scholars at their books and plough-
70 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
men in their fields, old men with their top- knots and their black horsehair hats, and young women at work with their babes on their backs. Of course one must except the countless children who scramble through the dirty streets; they are clothed only in the rich brown of the Korean skin.
It is true that the top-knot, and the black horsehair "fly-trap" hat which surrounds it, are disappearing from the cities and towns, but they are found everywhere in the county, and there too one can still see, in the fields, the famous tent-like straw hats of the farmers. These are so large that when a peasant went out to cultivate his six rice fields, after finish- ing five he could not find the sixth until, as he looked around, he saw his hat on the ground, and lifting it he found his lost field — so they say, — but you know Korean rice fields are small.
Since her occupation of Korea, Japan has wrought many changes; she has introduced railroads and telegraphs and telephones; she has improved the methods of education, of agriculture, of arboriculture, of irrigation and of sanitation. She has brought real and abid- ing benefits to the Korean people. Whether these compensate them for the loss of their independence is a question as to which no one
A KOREAN PEASANT
" The Koreans are a race of farmers; fifteen out of their seventeen
millions are supported by agriculture "
KOKEA 71
would feel like denying the Korean a right to his opinion.
Surely the political situation in the country has vastly improved within even the last few months. It will be remembered that the un- armed "Independence Movement" of 1919 was met by Japan with a ruthless cruelty which for a time lost for her the sympathy of all civilized nations; but apparently a different regime has been inaugurated. The prisons are still well filled with political offenders who are serving long sentences for the hideous offense of having cried " Mansei," or for having been prominent as religious leaders. It is still proper, when meeting a distinguished Korean, to ask him, not as to his family or his health, but as to how long he has been in jail ? Even now, justice is not being done to the Koreans who have migrated to Manchuria, and even yet minor police officials, both Japanese and Korean, are occasionally guilty of acts which are unjust, irritating or intimidating; but these, when reported to the higher officials, are re- buked. To say the least, a reign of terror no longer exists, and the Christian Church no longer is openly opposed.
Baron Saito, the present Governor General, is regarded as an enlightened, just and benevo- lent ruler. Such were the popular reports, and, as the guest of honour at a dinner gra-
72 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
ciously given by him in his official residence, an opportunity was given of meeting him per- sonally, and of conversing with him and with certain of his official staff. The Baron is a genial and affable gentleman, kindly and demo- cratic in his demeanour. He understands English among other languages. During the administration of President Cleveland he spent considerable time in Washington. His pur- poses are to extend, in Korea, as rapidly as possible, the educational system and the ma- terial improvements which already have been far advanced. Such officials are the hope of brighter days in the Far East.
The Koreans still cherish the dream of political independence, but there are no more serious " demonstrations," no more public shoutings of " Mansei " or other pernicious phrases. The supposed right of " self-determi- nation " is finding other no less objectionable forms of expression. There are even indica- tions that some Koreans are making the mis- take, common among other peoples, of con- fusing liberty with license, and freedom with anarchy. This is suggested by the present epidemic of " strikes." They are sufficiently foolish and frequent to satisfy the soul of a radical American labour agitator. Every one strikes in the Orient, and Korea is quite abreast of the times.
KOREA 73
Schoolboys strike if they wish a better building or a more popular teacher, or if they suspect that they are not in absolute control of the school.
The Pyengyang papers reported that a strike had been declared by the Guild of Dancing Girls, a society of young ladies whose morals are not "above suspicion"; they had struck because some pure-minded citizen had over- thrown a monument they had erected in a public place to the memory of a former man- ager. They made the dire threat to remain off duty until the offender should be apprehended and punished.
The lepers went on strike, at the Taiku leprosarium, and threatened to " leave " unless they were allowed a sum of money, daily, for tobacco. Now, no matter how much the most tender-hearted sympathizer might wish to give these poor outcasts any weed which would afford them consolation, the pathetic humour of the situation consists in the fact that they are being supported by the gifts and sacrifices of persons who are at their wit's ends to pro- vide food for them, and if any one of these lepers were to " leave " he would have no place to go, and fifty others would be fighting for the privilege of being admitted to fill the vacancy. They decided to remain.
It is obvious that very many Koreans need to
74 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST
learn the lesson that true freedom is liberty safeguarded by law.
The present consuming passion of the Koreans, however, is for education. It is al- most unbelievable to see the facility with which they absorb and assimilate Western learning and customs, and the eagerness with which they crowd into government and mission schools of all characters and grades.
The provision for education is pitifully in- adequate; not one boy or girl in fifty can be given the opportunity that is craved. The most painful self-denial will be practiced by families to provide education for a son. A hundred applicants will pay for the privilege of trying a competitive examination for en- trance to a school even when they know that only one vacancy is to be filled.
The intellectual ability of the Korean is astounding. Out of little mud huts emerge boys and girls who not only master the prac- tical arts but become proficient in science, in music, in history and philosophy, and, as young men, many graduate in theology, fully equipped to serve as pastors in Christian churches.
Korean student life is a fascinating study. It has, in the higher academies, all the out- ward expressions of student life in America, baseball teams, glee clubs, bands, debating so-
KOEEA 75
cieties, special uniforms, and various social organizations.
It is in the sphere of education that the chief disagreement seems to exist between the Japanese government and the Christian mis- sions in Korea.
The Japanese constitution guarantees relig- ious liberty to all citizens of the Empire ; and in accordance with this provision, recently there has been extended to private schools in Korea the right to teach religion. However, the schools which accept this right to teach religion are discriminated against, under the present law, and the schools which do not teach relig- ion are given a " recognition " and privileges which they otherwise could not enjoy.
That is, the graduates of any mission school which teaches Christianity cannot enter any government institution of the next higher grade without a special government examina- tion, nor is the diploma of such a school recognized. Nor can a graduate of such a school enter even the Chosen Christian College without a government examination, even though fully accredited by the Christian school from which he comes.
In order to avoid these disabilities and to enjoy the advantages of being recognized by the Japanese government, some mission schools have given up the teaching of the Bible
76 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
or religion. They do such teaching " out of school hours " and " not as schools " ; they do what they receive special privileges for not doing. They believe that the government will continue to " wink at the irregularity," but they are aware that an officer could at any time close such schools for actual illegal conduct.
Such an evasion of law constitutes a form of apparent immorality which only the most skill- ful casuist can reconcile with the teachings of Christ.
There exist, therefore, several classes of schools in Korea, and their status and relation can be understood best by a glance at the system of education previously existing in Japan but this year extended to Korea.
I. Primary School Period (from six years of age), covering six years.
II. Middle School Period, covering five years.
III. Higher School Period (preparatory to the University), covering three years.
IV. University, period of four years.
V. Post-Graduate (special study). These periods are approximate; the second
is in some instances shortened, and the third lengthened.
This is the regular government system, which exists also in other parts of the Japanese Empire. There are in Korea at present no
KOEEA 77
institutions of as high a grade as the Uni- versity (IV, V) ; but in addition to the gov- ernment institutions, schools of the three lower grades have been established by Christian mis- sionary societies. To distinguish them from government schools they are classed as " private schools." Those which claim to teach no religion and to "have no religious exercises of any kind in connection with their work," if on a grade with the government schools, are " recognized " by the government, and their graduates are placed on the same status, and have the same opportunities for securing desirable positions, as have the gradu- ates of government schools.
Whether " recognized " as teaching no re- ligion, or not " recognized " because teaching religion, all these schools must be " registered " with the government. To be so registered they each must submit a petition giving a state- ment as to resources, constituency, buildings, qualifications of teachers, and courses of study. According to the new law, of April, 1922, every primary school must have an endowment of $15,000; every middle school must have an endowment of $200,000 or an income of $14,- 000; every higher school (preparatory to the University) an endowment of $300,000, every University an endowment of $500,000.
At present, the majority of Mission schools
78 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
are registered under previously existing ordi- nances; they cannot be " recognized," nor re- registered, unless they meet these new regula- tions of the Japanese government.
The government recently agreed to allow the Chosen Christian College, a missionary institu- tion of the Higher School grade, (" University preparatory") to teach religion and still be " recognized," but the graduates are not al- lowed to enter a University, nor can the graduates of a school, which teaches the Bible as a part of its course, enter this " college " without a special examination given by the government. The grade of this Institution (Higher School) is above that of an American High School and includes many " college " courses; however, should the institution ad- vance to the grade of a University, it would be required to forfeit its right to teach religion. The government now lists it merely as a " special school."
This penalizing of institutions on the ground that they teach Christianity is obviously con- trary to the liberties guaranteed by the Japanese Constitution, and certain high officials, while making no promises, express hope that relief may soon be given. This probably may be found along the line of an arrangement which has long existed in Japan proper. Here there are a number of " registered " private schools,
KOEEA 79
" approved " by the government as of equal grade with the government schools, as for ex- ample the Meji Gakuin in Tokyo, the Kwansei Gakuin in Kobe, the Doshisha in Kyoto.
The missions in Korea are advised to con- tinue their efforts to bring their schools to the level of the regular government schools, in their equipment and teaching force, with the hope that in Korea such a class of " approved " schools may be recognized by the government.
At least from the view-point of the Korean, there are two vital defects in the system of education imposed by Japan. First the course of study of every school is selected and rigidly enforced by the government. No persons are allowed to establish and conduct, even at their own expense, schools in which any courses whatever are taught, however admirable, in case these courses are not those prescribed by the government, and this, too, in communities where the government has made no provision for education.
Secondly the Koreans are distressed by the requirement that all instruction in the schools of Korea must be given in the Japanese lan- guage. They declare that this places a need- less barrier in the way of educating their chil- dren, that it opens before these children only the literature of Japan, while giving them no real Korean culture, and that it is the expres-
80 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
sion of a hopeless endeavour to obliterate all distinction between Koreans and Japanese. It would seem that some radical modification of so exasperating a regulation would make for the peace and prosperity of the land.
Korea is a land without a religion. This statement has been contradicted by far wiser men; but they wrote yesterday; this book is written for to-day; its words may not be true to-morrow; but why borrow trouble? The fact then is this, the Koreans, as a people, have nothing that corresponds to any of the great religions of the world. They once were Buddhists; they received this religion from India, and gave it to Japan, but they have kept none of it for themselves. Now Japan is try- ing to repay the debt. At great expense she is trying to restore Buddhism to Korea. The new shrines are decorative ; the fresh paint on the old buildings is sometimes an improvement ; but the reestablishment of the religion is hope- less. Buddhism in Korea has been discredited too thoroughly ; it too long has been dead.
Mrs. Bishop, and even later writers, en- couraged us to believe that if we went far enough into the mountains we would find mon- asteries and temples filled with Buddhist priests and nuns. We went into the wild mountain fastnesses of the southwest and northeast. We
KOEEA 81
here and there found a beautiful old shrine, and usually a sleepy priest who would solemnly unlock the dusty prison of his gilded god; but worshippers there were none.
We made a memorable visit to the Diamond Mountains, where the best Buddhist relics re- main. At Choanji we lived in a building of one of the most famous of these monasteries which dates from the days of Mohammed. The building had been converted into a most comfortable little Japanese inn. The mon- astery was situated far up in a narrow valley, down which a noble mountain torrent was roar- ing. On three sides were steep slopes covered with spruce and pine. We were conducted through the silent buildings by a monk, shaven-headed, mild-mannered, clad in a dirty, padded robe which was patched like a " crazy- quilt."
That night we slept soundly; we had come ninety miles in a Ford car ; but at four we were awakened by the patched priest who was knock- ing on a hollow piece of wood and intoning sleepily a " call to prayer." Then he pounded with considerable vigour on a brass bell. It was all quite interesting; but none of the other five priests preferred prayer to slumber; neither did we, at the time; and soon all was silent save the music of the stream. However, at the same hour the next night, the performance was
82 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
repeated ; then it seemed to be an interruption. The third night the same thing occurred; then it seemed to be an insult. We decided to re- nounce Buddhism for ever ; — so has Korea.
Then there is Confucianism. Well, at its best, that was never intended to be a religion. Confucius never dreamed that any one would worship him; — no one should. His name is known and honoured among all Koreans, but as a philosopher, and as the author of rules of conduct. He has given to Korea its forms and ceremonies for social life, but not a re- ligion.
The nearest approach to religion is in the practice of " ancestor worship." Some Ko- reans still observe its forms. One man visited the grave of his father every day for twenty- six years. He bowed his head to the same spot, until his hands and forehead had worn hollows in the solid rock. However, when we visited the scene, the weeds and undergrowth were covering the place and his piety was becoming a tradition. So is ancestor worship, in Korea. You can find shrines in most of the door-yards of the wealthy, but as far as real religious sentiments are concerned, they are about on a level with those which stir the noble breasts of the members of the Society of the Cincinnati or of the Daughters of the Revolution.
Of course the dread of spirits remains; but
KOEEA 83
" animism " is fast becoming only an interest- ing study for the antiquarian. We had read much about the " devil posts " which stood " at the entrance to every village " and " on top of every high hill " ; but for two months we hunted for a " devil post " ; we travelled thou- sands of miles, but all in vain. We always found some one who had seen one; we could buy some imitations for souvenirs; but we could find no posts.
" Spirit trees " were about as rare. We did see one with its paper prayers pinned to the branches and its heap of stones near the trunk : but as for any external signs of worship or of religion in Korea, they are now extremely hard to find.
" Every house has its spirit-jar," so we were told and such may be true; but the old men smile as you ask about them, and the young men laugh, and the wise observer says that " probably no man under forty-five years of age believes in spirits to-day."
Soothsayers and sorceresses are still to be found, but the latter are sought, rather for their aid in times of sickness, not to lead in worship. Their medicinal prescriptions are still valued ; but their influence is fast waning before the advance of Western science.
It is just this lack of real religion in Korea that constitutes the call and the opportunity of
84 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
the Christian Church. Intemperance and im- morality are everywhere on the increase. Strange new modern cults are being pushed.
The absorbing interests of a new material civilization are crowding upon the awakened minds of the people. They need the stabi- lizing and saving influence of the Christian Gospel. It is the one hope for the land.
The history of Christian missions contains no romance of greater interest than that which has been written by the annals of the Korean Church. Since an entrance was found, by the coming of a Christian physician to the Korean court in 1884, the progress of Christianity has been continuous and surprising, and the figures given last year, 1921, by the Federal Council of Protestant Churches in Korea, are as fol- lows:
Churches and Groups, Church Buildings, Communicants, Catechumens, Baptized Children, Total Adherents,
3,338
2,996
91,818
35,225
19,679
241,328
In some parts of the country the intelligent acceptance of the Christian faith has been so eager that the prophecy has frequently been ventured that Korea will be the first land of the Orient to become converted to Christ. It
KOEEA 85
was a great pleasure to visit the city of Syenchun, far in the north, to face one of the audiences which regularly gather in its great churches, and to learn that this is probably the " most Christian city of the world," as, on any Sunday, more than three thousand of its six thousand residents can be found in churches.
It was also a thrilling experience to address the vast audiences in Pyengyang and to go out into the surrounding country and be given an insight into the work of the churches which are grouped around each evangelizing centre. The picture of these Korean audiences can never be effaced from memory. On one side of each church the men and on the other the women, all clothed in spotless white, all seated on the floor and crowded into spaces incredibly small for the number of auditors; in front of the women the girls, and in front of the men the boys, clustered around the feet of the speaker. The church buildings are spacious, but utterly lacking in artistic beauty; however, the best adornment for any such structure are the eager congregations which throng them to the doors, three or more times on a single day.
No one reason can account for the unique success of mission work in this " Land of the Morning Calm " ; but among the factors may be mentioned the simple and wise methods which have been employed, and the emphasis
86 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
which has continually been placed upon self- support, Bible study, and personal evangelism. In China, it is commonly said, the converts to Christianity give less to the church than they previously gave to idolatry ; but, in Korea, more is given relatively for Christian work than in America. The Koreans have their own mis- sionaries working in Ouelparte Island, and in China, and a large region has been allotted in Shantung for their special occupation. Yet the Korean Christians are pitifully poor. It is well said that they are true " rice Christians "; for at times they take the rice they need for food and sell it in order to advance Christian work.
They are eager students of the Bible. It is interesting to ask an ordinary audience to an- swer questions about Bible topics and to notice the accuracy and promptness of their replies. Down at the leper colony at Kwangju before the address in the crowded chapel, a series of such questions was proposed, and it is far within the truth to assert that no university gathering in America could have made such accurate and confident and joyful replies. At many Christian centres, " Bible Institutes " are held annually, at one season for men, at an- other for women, and, in order to be present, these Korean peasants will walk for miles over mountains and valleys, carrying with them
KOEEA 87
their bags of rice, for food, and then remain for periods of four or six weeks, sleeping in incredibly cramped quarters, and cooking their own food, in order to receive instruction in the Bible.
While at the Institute at Taiku, a young Korean woman was heard reciting upon the structure and furniture of the Tabernacle, with a fluency and an assurance which would have startled an American student of theology, as it did an American professor.
Sunday School methods also have been wisely adopted and adapted. In all the large centres, like Seoul or Pyengyang, in fact quite universally through the land, the churches are filled successively, on Sunday morning, by crowds of children, then of women, then of men, all engaged in studying the Bible.
An admirable system has been adopted at Kwangju. Here the churches are united in a Sunday School Association and, in the im- mediate vicinity of the city, twenty-two schools, with twenty-five hundred scholars enrolled, are in session every Sunday morning. These schools rapidly develop into churches. One such " heathen Sunday School " was visited. It had been established three miles from the city, by a faithful worker, who had found a native village with no " Believers," no knowl- edge of God or of morality; and there, after a
83 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
few weeks of her effort, we saw two houses crowded, one with women and children, one with men; and there Christian hymns were being sung and the Christian Scriptures were being taught. The whole life of the village had been changed already and there, before long, will be established a Christian church.
The evangelistic zeal of the Koreans has been equally characteristic. Men and women will pledge in advance so many " days " a year and will then employ these days in house to house visitation in the towns in which they reside, speaking with others about the Christian faith.
It must not be supposed, however, that these Korean believers are faultless, or that they make any claims of sinless perfection. In fact it was almost a relief to discover how really human they are, and how even the church life is not quite free from occasional dissensions. However, taken all in all, the body of Christian believers in Korea is not only the largest in proportion to the population, but the most alert, independent and energetic of that to be found on any mission field in the world.
The growth of the Church has been continu- ous during all the nearly forty years of its ex- istence; but this growth has not been uniform. It was checked by the Japanese occupation of the country, by the persecution of 1910, and by
KOEEA 89
the Independence Movement in 1919. How- ever, the government interference has always reacted favourably. The Korean people re- spect the Japanese and live with them in perfect friendliness ; but they have no love for the gov- ernment, and the suspicion that the government was opposed to the Church made the Church immensely popular.
At present it is generally understood that the government is maintaining religious liberty, ex- cept in the matter of education, and its attitude is increasingly a negative factor in actual church life; nor is there in Korea any such popular antagonism to Christianity as is mani- fested in certain other parts of the Far East. Of course occasionally a man, or more com- monly a woman, is made to suffer severe persecution by members of the family because in becoming a " Believer " it is necessary to break away from certain customs and practices associated with ancient heathen belief.
The Koreans, now, are peculiarly open to the gospel message and ready to listen to the messenger. During many weeks it was a great privilege to be the constant companion of an own brother who has resided in Korea for sixteen years and speaks the language with re- markable fluency. He served as guide and in- terpreter and instructor. In village after vil- lage as we stopped by the way, as curious
90 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST
crowds gathered around us, they were always most respectful as they listened to anything said to them, ready to accept tracts and leaflets and prompt to answer any questions relating to religion or their beliefs in spirits or their cus- toms or superstitions.
It was also possible for us to gain a fair impression of Korean character. Instead of finding the people unrestrained and quarrel- some, as some have reported, they appeared in various street scenes and under certain se- vere provocations, to possess great self-control and kindliness of spirit. When deeply affected, however, their fondness for speech was mani- fested, and the torrent of words which flowed forth was amusing and astounding.
In view of such favouring conditions, and in face of the opportunities which are fleeting, it was distressing to find an appalling lack of workers. Practically every mission station was undermanned and its workers were over- burdened. This was not because of any un- wise ambition on the part of the evangelistic force which led them to undertake excessive tasks, but because of the recent depletion in the force. Men have been taken from the field to do necessary work in educational institutions which even with this help are not fully sup- plied with teachers. In addition, there are the cases of death, of sickness and of resignation,
KOEEA 91
so that the evangelistic force at present is less efficient than it was twelve years ago. A large number of new men are not needed, nor will large numbers be needed in years to come. If rightly directed now the Church of Korea would soon be able to evangelize the land. However, there is imperative and critical need of some twenty new workers at once. In Korea is the place where the battle line of heathenism has begun to break. If the Christians of America were really aware of the actual situation, it seems certain they would immediately throw in such reinforcements as to ensure a speedy victory, which would bring influences of light and life to all the peoples of the Far East.
IV
JAPAN
THIS was my third visit to Japan, a fact which is of not the slightest in- terest to the American public, but is published for the benefit of friends who travel as a profession and who love to list and post the number of their Pacific voyages. I had crossed the Pacific but once ; however, I caught a glimpse of Japan before sailing for China, and another after my return from China, and another before crossing to Korea, and another after my two months' stay in Korea, and an- other before my departure for home. This form of statement is designed to impress my readers and to prepare them for the claim that the word Japan had ceased to connote a mere confused blur of kimonos and rice fields, and cherry-blossoms, and jinrikishas, and Bud- dhas, and pine trees, and moonlit lakes.
I had come to distinguish, with some degree of assurance, between obi and torii, between daimyos and dynamos, between ohaio ("good morning") and oyu ("hot water"), between yen and sen, between Hideyoshi and Ieyasu, 92
JAPAN 93
and even to detect a difference between police- men and reporters, between shopkeepers and swindlers. This dent in my vast ignorance of things Japanese was due in large measure to delightful zigzag journeys with my brother and his wife. She was born in Japan, and her knowledge of the language and their faithful but rather futile efforts to make me understand what I heard and saw, raised me nearly to the intellectual level of a guide-book graduate.
We journeyed from Shimonoseki to Sendai, from Kyushu to Karuizawa. We saw the summer sun sink behind the purple islands of the Inland Sea. We spent a Sunday at Miya- jima, and saw its shrines float on the surface of the flood tide, and watched the people wor- shipping the Shinto goddesses and feeding oats to the sacred horse. At Kyoto we visited the temples and walked over acres of polished floors, and reviewed regiments of dusty, gilded gods, of which there were " thirty-three thou- sand " under a single roof; and, at night, in the glare of electric lights, among crowds of ex- cited, and intoxicated, and shouting worship- pers, we saw hundreds of men, nearly naked, staggering under the " floats," which carried the sacred furniture, and other objects of ado- ration from the temples, as they were borne in the great procession, on the occasion of the annual Shinto festival in July. We went to
94 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
Nara to visit the temple parks, with their countless stone lanterns and sacred deer, and to pound its bell, and to gape at its colossal Bud- dha. At Hakone we saw Fuji, the worshipped mountain, arrayed by the " rosy-fingered dawn " in purple and scarlet and white, and mirrored on the surface of the silent lake. We passed through the dust and the shops and the crowded streets, and under the shadow of tow- ering modern structures and among the miles of miniature houses and great parks of Tokyo, the largest, but one of the least impressive cities of Asia. We learned how to use the word " magnificent " at Nikko, and cautiously walked around its sacred red bridge, and crossed its rushing stream, and photographed the moveless monkeys and the sacred cat, and marvelled at the beauty and splendour of the shrines, and toiled up the endless steps of stone, under the shade of the towering cryptomerias, to pay a tribute of respect at the tombs of the great Shoguns. We joined the stream of pil- grims and toiled up the sacred steeps, past the beautiful waterfalls, to see the sacred mountain reflected on the surface of charming Lake Chuzenji. We penetrated the twenty-six tun- nels and scaled the high passes to reach Karu- izawa, a place nearer heaven (by twelve hun- dred feet) than any we had visited, and here ad- dressed large audiences of patient missionaries,
THE YOMEI-MON AT NIKKO An exquisite gateway leading to the mausoleum of Ieyasu
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each day, during two happy weeks. We even pursued auditors who had fled to the new sum- mer resort, across the mountains at Nojiri; and later visited those who were seeking rest at Takagama Beach in the famous region of Mat- sushima. There we plunged into the cool surf of the Pacific; and then, after meeting the notable Bible Class of my friend, Professor Kajiwara, at Sendai, left for Yokohama and for home.
Such journeyings, under such tuition, to- gether with extensive research, profound inves- tigations, acute questioning, mature reflection, and other strenuous mental processes, con- vinced one of the truthfulness and accuracy of all the conflicting and irreconcilable reports which have reached the Western world rela- tive to " mysterious Japan." At least, one could agree with those who admire the courtesy, the cleverness, and the unfailing self-confidence of the Japanese. One could see that these people are devoted lovers of beauty, and that their land is one of exquis- ite charm, the truest paradise in the world for tourists, and for men who wish to write books. Nor could one help wondering at the incredible rapidity with which the nation has adopted and adapted all the arts and inventions of modern civilization ; this would be particularly apparent to one who stops at the " Imperial Hotel," who
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travels " first-class " on the " sleeping " and " dining cars," and glides over the mountain passes in a " Hudson super-six " ; a slightly altered impression has been registered by some who have carried packs along the dusty roads and stopped among the peasants of the inland districts.
No one could fail to rejoice that the spirit of militarism in Japan is being restrained, that there is a definitely improved international outlook, and that the papers print fewer pro- posals for the conquest of the world. No one could fail to observe, even among a people so recently awakened by Western thought and so mentally alert, a present renaissance of intel- lectual life, a rising passion for education, and a sincere desire to reach ultimate truth.
However, no one who is a true friend of Japan, no one who, at the same time, has read the government statistics and has listened to the story of those who have the welfare of Japan most on their hearts, can fail to be ap- palled at the sight of a land so near to spiritual and moral bankruptcy. Japan has long loved beauty, she has begun to seek for truth ; when will she learn to love purity and virtue, and holiness and God? The great masses of the people of Japan are still under the dominance of degrading forms of heathenism. Forty-six, out of fifty-six millions, are officially classed as
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Buddhists. None of the fourteen sects in Ja- pan teaches the true tenets of Buddhism, but all unite in filling the minds of the common people with absurd superstitions, and in requir- ing the rites of an ignorant idolatry. One will see more outward manifestations of heathen- ism on a journey of a single day in Japan than by a residence of two months in Korea.
However, Buddhism is fast losing its hold. It is a dishonest religion, in which the priests teach the people beliefs the very opposite from those which they themselves hold. It cannot stand the light of investigation. Nor can it meet the tests of modern science and civiliza- tion. Buddhism is making a frantic effort at revival; it is adopting Christian methods and Christian forms ; but all in vain. It is unsound at the heart. It is being deserted by the men and women of education, and derided by many of the " intellectuals." Its ultimate failure is certain. However, one should not underrate its present influence upon the millions in Japan who are still under its insidious spell.
The state religion of Japan is Shintoism. Official reports classify only fourteen million Japanese as Shintoists; however, its influence is absolutely universal. It constitutes at the same time the very strength and the weakness of the Empire. The worship of ancestors,
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reaching its climax in the worship of the Em- peror, or more exactly in the worship of the spirit of the emperors, does give a unity to the nation, and a loyalty to the Imperial House, which are almost without a parallel in history. However, emperor worship, in any form, is degrading, and as intelligence increases, be- comes the occasion of reaction and revolution. Real enlightenment and emperor worship are absolutely incompatible.
The present problem before the government of Japan is along this very line. The Consti- tution vouchsafes to all citizens religious lib- erty; how then can the government require its officials, and even the children in its schools, to bow before the picture of the Emperor and to worship at Shinto shrines? The solution at- tempted is clever but ineffectual; the govern- ment declares that " all ceremonial observances which are officially obligatory shall not be re- garded as religious but as patriotic."
The government does not deny, as is often asserted, that Shintoism is a religion. It re- gards it as the real religion of the nation ; but it declares that such forms of Shinto worship as the government requires shall not be consid- ered to be religious acts. This, however, is but an abstraction and a fiction. A ceremony which at one time and for one person is an act of worship, cannot be, in reality, a mere civil
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ceremony at another time or for another person, and as a matter of fact, the great mass of the Japanese people do accept emperor worship as a religious ceremony, and the very essence and crown of all their religious system.
The great peril to the nation, from both Buddhism and Shintoism, lies in the fact that neither one gives any true basis or adequate sanction for morality. If Buddhism does not directly foster immorality, it at least sanctions officially the worst forms of social impurity.
Intemperance and immorality are at present sapping the vitality of the Japanese people. While these, rather than the religions of Japan, form the real barrier to the progress of Chris- tianity, they likewise constitute the great ap- peal to the Christian church. All who love Japan should yearn to see her social and indus- trial life cleansed and purified and permeated by the power of the living Christ.
It is true that Christianity has obtained a firm foothold among the Japanese people. It has been the chief factor in introducing most that is best in the life of modern Japan. How- ever, the obstacles to its progress have been very great, the growth of the Church has been slow, and the task of evangelizing the country has only been begun.
Work was undertaken as soon as the land was opened to Western nations. Among the
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first great leaders should be mentioned such men as Liggins and Williams of the Episcopal Church, Hepburn of the Presbyterian Church, Verbeck, Brown aod Simmons of the Dutch Reformed Church, who reached the field in 1859. The detestation with which Christian- ity was then regarded is suggested by the edicts which are commonly reported to present visi- tors in Japan, one of which, for example, ran as follows: "So long as the sun warms the earth, let no Christian be so bold as to come to Japan, and let all know that if the King of Spain, or the Christians' God, or the great God of all, violate this command, he shall pay for it with his head."
The work of evangelization, however, was pressed with vigour. Other societies became interested; large numbers of reinforcements were sent out, until to-day there are nearly thirteen hundred foreign missionaries on the field.
Opposition gradually decreased until at pres- ent the barrier to Christian progress is found less in hostility to the Gospel than in an almost universal indifference to Christianity. The educated classes are largely infidel or agnostic, and the masses of the people feel little concern in real religion. Still, in spite of all obstacles, vigorous and independent churches have come into being, and there are now in Japan some
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one hundred and twenty-seven thousand Prot- estant communicants, organized into one thou- sand, four hundred and ten churches, three hundred of which are self-supporting.
However, the influence of Christianity is quite inadequately represented by such figures. Many Japanese who are actual adherents to the faith are connected with no organized church, thousands of others are carefully read- ing and studying the Bible. Christian phrases, and customs, and ideals are rapidly pervading every sphere of thought and life, whether so- cial, industrial, educational, literary or political. There has been, during the past eight years, an increase of seventeen per cent, in the num- ber of Protestant ministers and eighty-five per cent, in the Protestant Church enrollment. The Roman Catholic Church reports seventy- six thousand, and the Greek Catholic thirty-six thousand adherents.
Nevertheless, it must be remembered that less than one-half of one per cent, of the popu- lation of Japan is included within the Christian community. Furthermore, if we accept the modern basis of calculation, namely, that a mission field is not " occupied " unless there is at least one missionary to every fifty thousand of the population, then Japan, from the view- point of modern Christian missions, is still one of the great unoccupied fields of the world.
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The missionary methods employed in Japan are similar to those found in other mission fields. However, most travellers find that the evidences of missionary effort are less con- spicuous than in some lands ; but when one is guided by resident workers, and is shown the real facts, he is certain to be surprised at the vigour and the extent of the Christian enter- prise.
One misses the medical missionary work, and the Christian hospitals, that elsewhere form so prominent a feature of missionary service. On the other hand, it is interesting to note certain new forms of work, such as the enterprise of " Newspaper Evangelism," which has attained marked success.
A day was spent with the leader in this form of activity, Dr. Albertus Pieters, at Fukuoka, on the southern island of Kyushu, and we were deeply impressed with the results which are be- ing secured by Christian messages printed in secular papers. An insertion at advertising rates is expensive; but tens of thousands of readers, who are indifferent to Christianity, and who would never attend a place of preach- ing, read the Gospel story ; and every insertion results in a number of inquiries which are care- fully preserved and used as means of securing personal correspondence and interviews. This method has been given the endorsement of the
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Federated Missions of Japan and is being adopted in other parts of the Empire.
Then, too, as we sailed through the Inland Sea, and later as we rode along its shores, we were reminded of the romantic story of the "Fukuin Maru" ("The Gospel Ship"), which moves about among those picturesque islands and has accomplished a work of such surprising proportions. Something of that ro- mance was learned from my friend, F. W. Steadman, who for a time conducted the work, and from another personal interview with the present gallant young commander of the ship, the Reverend James F. Laughton; more of it still is written in the life of " Captain Bickel of the Inland Sea."
It is of great importance to note the superb work of Christian education which is being done in Japan. One feature of the work is the prominent place in the curriculum given to the Bible and to religious teaching in many of the institutions. Another feature is the large number of Japanese leaders who have shown themselves able and qualified to assume great responsibilities in the conduct and extension of this work.
Then, too, as Japan ultimately must be evan- gelized by Japanese, it was a great delight to learn of the wide influence being exerted by
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such evangelists as Paul Kanamori and S. Ki- mura, who are bringing the Gospel message to tens of thousands of their fellow-countrymen. It has been a great privilege to become person- ally and intimately acquainted with these workers, and to learn from them that at no pre- vious time has it been so easy for them to gain a hearing or to secure decisions for Christ. Of great importance, too, is the Bible-teaching work of such leaders as C. Kajiwara, of Sen- dai, and K. Uchimura, of Tokyo.
At present one of the most interesting prob- lems in the evangelization of Japan concerns the relations between the denominational churches, and the relations of these churches to the various foreign missions.
Union and cooperation have already pro- gressed much further in Japan than in China. The country is not so vast, the numbers of Christians and missionaries are not so great. A much stronger native leadership, especially in educational lines, has been developed. How- ever, the next step proposed to secure more effective cooperation is along the line recently taken in China, namely, the formation of a National Christian Council.
For many years there has existed in Japan a Federation of Churches, and also a Federation of Missions, like the Federal Council of
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Churches and the Federal Council of Missions in Korea; but there has been no organization uniting the churches and the missions. The Federation of Churches does not seem to have been very active, but the Federation of Mis- sions has been most efficient. The annual Conference of this Federation, held at Karu- izawa in August, was an occasion of instruc- tion and inspiration to all who attended its sessions, and it revealed how much this organi- zation has been accomplishing for the unifica- tion and strengthening of the missionary cause in Japan.
However, the work of the missionaries must be brought into closer harmony and coopera- tion with the work of the indigenous Japanese Church. With this end in view, a National Christian Conference was held at Tokyo, May 18-24, 1922. A very large proportion of the churches and missions were represented. A committee was appointed to formulate a plan for a National Christian Council. This plan was acted upon favourably by the Federation of Churches, and when presented to the Feder- ation of Christian Missions at Karuizawa, in August, was referred for favourable action to the individual constituent missions.
A few extracts from the proposed constitu- tion of this National Council will give some indication of its nature and purpose:
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Article I. The name of this organization shall be The National Christian Council of Japan.
Article II. The Council shall consist of the recognized evangelical bodies.
Article III. The purpose of the Council shall be:
i. To express and foster the spirit of fellow- ship and unity of the Christian Church in Japan and to develop a deeper realization of its oneness with the Church throughout the world.
2. To be a medium through which the Church may speak in a representative capacity on matters affecting the entire Christian movement in Japan, such as general social, moral and religious ques- tions.
3. To represent the Christian Church in Ja- pan in communicating effectively with bodies similar to this Council in other countries and to express its voice and make its contribution in the International Missionary Council and in other international relations.
4. To take counsel, make surveys, plan for co- operative work and to take suitable steps for carrying on such work, and to act in behalf of the cooperating bodies in all matters of common interest when the Council is satisfied that the ac- tion taken will be in accordance with the wishes of the cooperating bodies.
5. To provide for the holding of Christian Conferences at suitable times on matters of vital importance to the Christian movement in Japan.
6. In all the above-mentioned functions, the Council is understood as having no authority to deal with questions of doctrine or ecclesiastical
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polity, neither shall its functions be interpreted as being in any way legislative or mandatory.
«
It is further proposed that this Council shall be composed of one hundred members. Of this number eighty-five (fifty-one Japanese and thirty- four missionaries) shall be chosen by the cooperating Christian bodies, and the remain- ing fifteen members shall be coopted by the eighty-five elected members.
It is therefore evident that, as in the new National Christian Council of China, the ma- jority of members are to be representatives of the native churches. However, it is also evi- dent that this Council is to be a more truly rep- resentative and authoritative body than that of China, as its members are to be elected by the various missions and other organizations to which these members belong. It would seem that such a Council would make for the unity and efficiency of the whole Christian movement in Japan and thus aid greatly in supplying to the nation its supreme needs, namely, the pre- cepts and the power of the living Christ.
HOMEWARD BOUND
AS weeks and months drifted by, the yearning for home, and the sense of distant separation, became too intense and insistent to be dispelled long, even by the pressure of duties or the attractions of new audiences or the fellowship of fascinating friends; and when, for the fourth and last time, Tokyo had been reached, even the touch- ing tributes of generous Japanese and the real delight of their farewell " Princeton dinner," were less thrilling than the sight of the great American ship chafing at her moorings by the Yokohama pier. However, when farewells had been said, when one stood alone on deck and looked down at the upturned faces of loved ones who had made the Orient precious, when the engines started and our paper serpentines snapped, and the space of separating water widened, there was something in the eyes that blurred the scene, and something in the heart that in other circumstances would have been called regret. Then, as we steamed down the bay and started for the open sea, we looked westward, and there, above the summer haze, apparently floating on the clouds, was the pur- 108
FUJIYAMA
More correctly called Fuji-San or Fuji-no-Yama, is an extinct
volcano 12,365 feet in height, and is the pride of Japan
HOMEWARD BOUND 109
pie cone of Fujiyama. The shore line soon disappeared, but the slopes of the sacred moun- tain stood out clear in the sunset, and as the eye followed the diverging lines of that moun- tain-top downward into the mists they seemed to expand until they enclosed the island, the nation, the Orient. Tnat mountain was all we could see of Japan, but for us it was at the time all of Japan, all of the Far East; and then it sank into the darkening sky. By the next morning we were far on our delightful voyage across the Pacific, surprised to find so many ac- quaintances on board, and glad of the oppor- tunity to form new friendships. We were homeward bound and our faces were toward the future.
As the voyagers exchanged confidences one of the first questions asked was as to what each one was hringing from the Orient.
The Wise Men from the East are pictured as bearing gifts; and most men to-day come from the East wiser, and poorer, for the gifts they bear. These gifts somewhat differ, according to the taste, the character and the former finan- cial condition of the bearer, according also to the sensitiveness of his conscience and his fear of customs officials, according also to the num- ber of women in his party or the influence of the charming advisers he has met on the way.
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Yet, after all, there is a striking similarity in these souvenirs, as gifts from the Far East are easily classified and their origins located; and while many are exquisitely beautiful there seems to be " no new thing under the sun."
Practically every place in the Orient has its specialty, its meibutsu, and this must be pur- chased by each tourist as a gift for some one at home or as a proof that he has travelled abroad. However, according to popular re- port, most of these Oriental purchases are made by wives and daughters, while the hus- bands and fathers decry the conspiracy of East- ern nations in the matter of currency, for their " dollars " and " yen " are worth only half a dollar each; and consequently, according to these men, every American woman imagines that she has an opportunity of buying goods at half price; the consequence in the amount of the purchases can best be stated by those most concerned.
Among these purchases which can be listed according to places, if not prices, are the carved ivory and jade from Canton, the silks from Shanghai, the furs and beads and cloisonne and red lacquer, and gorgeous "mandarin coats " from Peking, the brocaded silks from Nanking, and from Hangchow the umbrellas and the fans. One should pause to remark that in the Far East a fan is an article of real
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importance ; there, a fan is carried by every one from the Japanese " red-cap " who wrestles with your luggage, to the imposing Korean gentleman who, in flowing white robes, sits as- tride his donkey, under the shadow of his spreading umbrella. In the Orient it is almost as necessary to carry a fan as it is to " save your face."
The " specialty " of Korea is its brass. Re- cently more tin and less copper is being used in its composition than in former days, so that the older pieces, less yellow in colour and, when sounded, clearer in tone, are more highly prized.
Then, too, there are the Korean chests, not to be carried away in hand-bags, but to be shipped homeward, resplendent with their cor- ners, and their countless hinges, of brass. Some of these chests are valuable heirlooms, from the homes of the former gentry and nobles, and are of great value as antiques ; but most are of modern manufacture.
Korean fans, of bright colours, are made in many parts of the country and are prized by purchasers, but it seems that those of most clever workmanship and of greatest value are produced only in Chun-ju, in the southwest.
As to Japan, if its scenery is the delight of tourists, so, too, are its souvenirs. While, in all the great shopping centres, articles from
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almost any part of the land can be purchased, nevertheless there are " specialties " associated with many separate places, the meibutsu of a particular locality being confined often to a very limited area.
Nagasaki, on the southwestern Island of Kyushu, is famous for its beautiful articles made of tortoise-shell.
One who crosses to the sacred island, beauti- ful Miyajima, will be attracted by the ingeni- ous articles made of wood. In Nara, memo- rable for its temples, its parks and its sacred deer, the shops, not unnaturally, are filled with little souvenirs made of deer-horn, but they also offer for sale beautiful articles of lacquer.
Kyoto is a perfect delight and bewilderment to all persons who love to make purchases of Japanese goods, as its shops are probably the most attractive in the Empire. Antiques and modern products can be found in endless pro- fusion. Some of the establishments are quite imposing, but many of the most popular are insignificant in appearance, and located on nar- row and obscure streets. Some of the articles most commonly sought, and which can be seen in the process of manufacture in the various places where they are purchased, are of " damascene," of cloisonne and of various kinds of pottery; then, too, there are the em- broidered silks, particularly, exquisite kimonos,
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some of which are of ancient and rare work- manship, while many are of modern design and made specially for " foreign trade."
In the beautiful Hakone district, mosaic woodwork is the " specialty " which fills a prominent place in the shops ; but the real spe- cialty of Hakone is the view of the peerless Fujiyama, of its majestic summit and its re- flection in the still water of the lake. This cannot be purchased, but its faint reproduc- tions can be found in a very large portion of Japanese pictures and other works of art, and the memory will be one of the most satisfying souvenirs of an Oriental tour.
The articles sold at Nikko are tempting, par- ticularly the coloured photographs and the pro- ductions of various kinds of wood ; so, too, at Sendai, farther north, souvenirs can be secured made of curious coal-black wood, and excellent samples of red lacquer.
Many other " specialties " might be men- tioned, such as articles made of crystal, of cut- velvet, of bamboo, of paper and of bronze ; but enough has been said to suggest the wild pro- fusion of purchases paraded in the conversa- tion of homeward bound tourists; but vastly more varied, more diverse, more confusing, are the impressions, the memories, the opinions, the reactions, which are bundled together in the brains of these travellers, and are certain to be
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presented, with oracular impressiveness and wearisome iteration, to innocent and indulgent relatives and friends and even to the patient American public.
These mental " specialties " inevitably differ according to the previous prejudices, igno- rance, occupation, and antipathies of the indi- vidual traveller. Some of them are antiques, but not of great value; others are new and original, but of less value still. Some are fab- rics of the imagination; others are based on the infallible information gained in a chance con- versation with an illiterate coolie. Some will be kept for private consumption ; some will be paraded before admiring friends on state occa- sions ; some will be preserved as curios by their honoured recipients; some will form even ma- terial for books.
A few of these personal impressions are here recorded for the enlightenment of the reader, who may classify them according to his own best judgment.
First of all, the writer brought back with him a confirmed conviction that many persons who remain at home are better informed as to the Orient than are some who have caught casual glimpses of the Far East; and the further conviction that one need not travel to become a great philosopher ; in fact, Immanuel
HOMEWAKD BOUND 115
Kant is said to have never journeyed forty miles from Konigsberg; it was even disheart- ening to read, in China, the words of Laotse: " The further one travels, the less one may know." However, as to Laotse, the writer has no sympathy with Taoism ; and as to Kant, he may not have travelled, but he often seemed to arrive at conclusions far enough from the truth; and as to the friends at home, it is a satisfaction to believe that by an Oriental tour you may have approached a little nearer to their level of intelligence, and, in spite of stu- pidity and a poor memory, may have stored away in the subconscious mind some ideas which may emerge in future hours of need.
Moreover, since all life in the Far East lies hidden behind almost impenetrable walls, if one is fortunate enough to find here or there a gateway through which he gains a glimpse of the mysteries which lie beyond, it may be his duty to tell others what he has seen, however imperfect his vision, however partial his views.
A second conviction brought from the Orient was this: the better one is informed, the less likely he will be to make sweeping statements, and the more will he appreciate the peril of passing comprehensive judgments upon any race or nation or group of i: dividuals. A cer- tain traveller, after a prolonged residence of
116 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
fifteen minutes in Asia, arguing from the ina- bility of a Japanese " rickshaw " coolie to un- derstand " cockney " English, characterized all Orientals as " brainless imbeciles." Even a short journey enables one to appreciate the re- mark: "All generalizations are false, including this one."
However, even with this in mind, one gen- eral statement must be allowed, and it is this: One brings back from his journey the memory that wherever he went he met with unfailing courtesy and consideration, and was over- whelmed with kindness. These were shown by all persons, without a single exception, from the cabin boys on the steamers and the em- ployees on the railroads, to the government of- ficials, and to the personal friends whose gen- erosity and graciousness made every day an unbroken delight. " Showing tenderness to strangers from far countries " was one of nine cardinal directions enjoined upon rulers by Confucius. It was a joy to find how far, in this particular, at least, Confucius rules the East.
In the fourth place, one brings back home a heightened respect for the Oriental races, and a truer appreciation of their many admirable qualities. He realizes that " comparisons are
HOMEWAED BOUND 117
odious," and that they are needless and are commonly unfair. He has reinforced his con- viction that it is not necessary to hate Japan in order to sympathize with Korea or to appreci- ate China, and that, on the other hand, his general conclusions as to the situation in the Far East will not be clarified by attempting to imagine that all Japanese are charming fairies or thinly disguised angels.
Then again, one returns with a larger con- ception of the latent power of the nations of the East. He does not feel called upon to pro- claim a " yellow peril " ; but he has at least a faint vision of populations and resources which promise to become prime factors in the for- tunes of the world. This is most notably true of China; not to speak of her potential wealth, the multitudes of her people are beyond com- prehension. Some one who delights in mathe- matical calculations has affirmed that if the population of China should pass a given point, in single file, the procession would never cease, for before the present generation has passed, other generations would have been born to take its place ; so we can conclude that " there is no end to the Chinese."
Further, one returns with a haunting mem- ory of the poverty, and ignorance, and pain
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which enslave these millions of the East. This is peculiarly evident in China, where multi- tudes ever live under the shadow of impending death from flood or famine. Even in Japan, the majority of the people are hovering near the border-line of want. The houses in which Orientals live are mere huts compared with the common homes of America. Ninety-nine men out of every hundred in the East could carry on their backs, excepting their huts and house- holds, all that they possess on earth. The building of Western manufacturing plants has introduced new problems, and hundreds of thousands of men and women and little boys and girls are living in practical and bitter slavery.
The prevalence of disease is such that it is difficult to believe the statements of reputable physicians as to actual existing conditions. Ignorance of the simplest laws of hygiene leaves the masses a prey to continual pestilence. Every thirty-seven seconds of every minute, and hour and day and year, at least one man in China dies of tuberculosis. In Korea the in- fant mortality reaches the pitiful ratio of fifty per cent.
There are more lepers in China, at this pres- ent hour, than there are Christians in all the eighteen provinces. In fact, in all the Orient, lepers are everywhere to be seen, jostling in the
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crowds, riding on the cars, lying in loathsome helplessness by the roads. The Christian mis- sionaries have begun a work for these outcasts, and under their influence governments are do- ing something; but the provision is absolutely inadequate. Possibly the most agonizing sight of the Oriental tour was that of the despairing lepers outside the admirable but overcrowded asylum at Kwangju (Korea). They had crawled for miles on bleeding and festering feet and hands, hoping to be admitted to the " heaven on earth," only to be refused admis- sion, because every inch of space was occupied. There by the roadside they lay, with no pro- tection from the heat and dust of summer and no shelter from the coming storms and snows of winter, matchless pictures of human misery, left by their fellow-men to die in anguish, with none to pity or relieve.
However, the moral leprosy of the Far East is incomparably more terrible than any physical disease. Impurity, intemperance, dishonesty, cruelty, gross materialism, selfishness and sen- suality, like foul ulcers, are eating out the strength and vitality of these mighty nations. Their pitiful moral impotence is an unanswer- able indictment of their moribund religions. They are familiar with the noble ethics of Confucius, but what power can make these helpless masses either desire or do the right?
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They " see the better and approve," but they " follow the worse." Christ is the only hope for the Orient, and of all the precious memo- ries which one brings from the Far East, none will compare with those of the lives and char- acters and labours and achievements of the messengers of the Christian Church.
Now, as to these missionaries, so much has been said, so well said, and so poorly said, that even the self-assurance born of a limited stay in the Orient hardly emboldens one to add an- other word.
However, it must be remembered that all previous estimates of Christian missionaries must now be revised or reaffirmed. All are out of date. They were made yesterday, or last year, or a decade ago. The missionaries of to-day form a new company, and must be judged on their own merits. In fact, no more vivid impression is brought back from the Far East than that of the extreme youth of the missionary body. To patriarchs who have passed the " dead line " of fifty, these workers seem like boys and girls. Of course there are among them veterans, who belong to an older generation; but one who is fond of statistics declared, recently, that of the six thousand mis- sionaries in China, less than twenty per cent had been on the field ten years.
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Whatever any one has ever affirmed to the contrary, it can be confidently maintained that the older missionaries and the generations which preceded them laid the foundations wisely and well, and no higher compliment can be paid to the present staff of workers than to say that they are worthy successors to those whom they follow.
Taken all in all, the eight thousand mission- aries of the Far East form the most intelligent, the most cheerful, the most industrious, the most useful group of similar size that can be found in any quarter of the earth.
Their hospitality is unbounded, and prover- bial; but not infrequently abused. It forms the basis for the antiquated criticism- of the " luxury and extravagance " in which mission- aries live. One popular American writer, stricken with fever, was rescued from death by a missionary family who nursed him back to health and, at great sacrifice, provided certain nourishing delicacies prescribed by the physi- cian. On his recovery, the ingrate returned home and regaled the American public with published accounts of the self-indulgent luxury of missionary homes.
These missionaries form a brave and inde- pendent and self-respecting group of workers. They deprecate being called heroic, and hate being regarded with pity. Their joys and rec-
122 GATEWAYS OF THE FAK EAST
ompenses are many, but their sacrifices and sor- rows are real and bitter. A single Mission, this very year, mourned the loss of three little children from three different households within almost as many weeks. Yet these crises are met with Christian courage. It would be im- possible to forget the impression produced by the services held in one of these sorrowing homes. It was a June day of rare beauty. Great clouds were drifting across the blue heaven ; the air was quivering with the song of birds, and the breeze which stole gently through the poplars was sweet with the fra- grance of flowers. Yet, in spite of the dark shadow which so plainly rested upon that com- pany of sympathizing friends, the simple sol- emn service seemed to be in harmony with the summer scene about us with its brightness and its beauty. The Scripture message was one of cheer and hope and comfort, as it spoke of re- union in the presence and at the appearing of Christ, and the hymns contained notes of tri- umph. The sense of bereavement and of lone- liness did make the homeland, with its relatives and friends beyond the seas, seem very far away, but the real Homeland, with its glories and its joys, seemed strangely near, and the company of Christian workers, met to express their sympathy and love, appeared to form one closely united family of faith.
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These missionaries do show their courage, not only in bearing such bereavements as this, but in enduring continual separations from loved ones, particularly those caused by the necessity of sending children to America or Europe to be educated. Happily this cause of distress is being lessened. Schools for the children of missionaries and of other foreign residents are being established in many centres of the Far East. An educator who has de- voted his life to the development of one of the largest of these schools declares that he was impelled to the task by seeing the grief of a certain missionary who was parting with his children for a period of seven years. Long after, as he met the same worker, he asked whether the separation had been so long: " Yes," was the reply, " it proved to be four- teen years before I saw my family again ; they were grown to be men and women. I really never again saw my children."
To avoid such experiences, missionaries are supporting some of these schools out of their own meagre salaries. The Church at home could make no wiser investment of funds than by fostering, at its expense, all these necessary institutions, not merely out of sympathy for the missionaries, but because a longer residence upon the field, on the part of the children of missionaries, has resulted in a larger propor-
124 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST
tion of these children returning, after their col- lege courses in America, to devote their lives to missionary service; and, other things being equal, those who in early years have become familiar with the language and customs of Ori- ental peoples, make the most efficient workers in these various fields.
However, one returns from the East with an impression that missionaries are no more se- verely tested by separation and solitude than by enforced society and compulsory companion- ship. Not only are persons of contrasting tastes and temperaments, who previously were total strangers, compelled to live together for years in the narrow limits of a contracted " compound," but families of very different antecedents and customs must live for long periods under the same low roof. It is not strange that at rare intervals frictions arise; the remarkable thing is to note the harmony and affection which more commonly prevail. One of the obvious needs, in most stations, is that of more and better homes for the workers ; and one of the evident requirements of mis- sionary candidates is that they should be rea- sonably free from egoism, eccentricities and fads.
Another impression brought back from the East is that of the extreme difficulty of acquir-
HOMEWAED BOUND 125
ing the use of Oriental languages. This diffi- culty is not only an almost insuperable barrier to the usefulness of many missionaries, but the continual endeavour to attain proficiency forms a severe, if often unrecognized, strain upon their nerves and a menace to their health. " Language schools " have been established, most wisely; but their curricula should be en- larged ; and, furthermore, candidates who have no ear for distinguishing sounds, and no apti- tude for linguistic study, should seriously question whether their life-work should lie in either China, Korea or Japan.
Again, one could not fail to note the frail or broken health of large numbers of missionary workers. The unfavourable conditions of life, the tax of overwork, the continual drain upon their sympathies, make the maintenance of physical vigour a matter of unusual difficulty. Most mission boards and agencies are giving increasing consideration to this matter, and very wisely are providing for shorter terms of service and for more frequent furloughs. However, it would be a matter of wise econ- omy if heed were taken to the urgent request of the missionary body and a proper sanita- rium, or series of sanataria, could be provided for the Far East. There appears to be abso- lutely no place in the Orient where a worker, suffering from over-strain, or temporary ail-
126 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST
ment, can retire for rest and recuperation. Here is the opportunity for some benevolent person to make an invaluable contribution to the missionary cause.
However, taken as a whole, the missionaries are vigorous, efficient, devoted, optimistic, and their influence forms the most hopeful feature of all the situations and developments in the Far East.
Nothing could be farther from the truth than to imagine that missionaries, and large re- inforcements of missionaries, are no longer needed in the Orient. It is true that churches have been established in China and Korea and Japan, but in no one of these lands are the churches so united, or so strong, as adequately to meet the problem of evangelizing their own peoples. In Eastern lands not one person out of a hundred, in China scarcely one in a thou- sand, is a Christian. Only a small fraction of the population have heard of Christ. The work of the missionaries has only been begun; but it has been begun well, and it merits an immeasurably increased appreciation and sup- port.
After some months of continual association with missionaries, one could not fail to return from the field with the belief that the time has come for more definite and aggressive and per-
HOMEWAED BOUND 127
sonal evangelistic effort. Particularly was this evident in China and Japan. Other forms of service are admirable and essential, whether medical, or industrial, or educational, or social ; and all of these may be used toward the one supreme end of bringing individual souls into vital relationship to Christ; but there is some- times a danger of mistaking the means for the end. The reports at the Shanghai National Conference laid great stress upon this point; and the Conference of Federated Missions, at Karuizawa, took " Evangelism " as its theme, and made ringing declarations along this line. The feeling seemed to be unanimous that the definite presentation of the Gospel message to individuals must be made and kept more pre- eminent in all the forms of missionary activity which are being prosecuted so admirably and with such notable success.
Finally, the supreme conviction which one brings back from the Orient is that of the unity of the human race and the sufficiency of the Gospel of Christ. The differences between the peoples of China and Korea and Japan and America are obvious and interesting, but their similarities and their essential oneness are far more real and important. All have the same sorrows and joys, and hopes and fears, and temptations and sins, and glorious possibilities
128 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST
and spiritual needs ; and, for all, there is hope and relief and light and triumph and liberty and peace in the presence and the transforming power of the living Christ. For making Him known, the Orient has never offered more abundant opportunities, nor have the obstacles ever been more obvious or more real ; and these obstacles and opportunities constitute the most significant walls and gateways of the Far East.
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