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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


Ui 


.  1 


REX   CHRISTUS 


•^ 


^h^)C^^>^ 


REX  CHRISTUS 


AN  OUTLINE  STUDY  OF  CHINA 


BY 


ARTHUR  H.  SMITH 


*•**•**.        >J^       3 


'    »«rO»3*^'* 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 


STRATFORD  &  GREEN 

BOOKSELLERS 

642-644  SO.  MAIN  ST. 

LOS    ANGELES 


14 


a  i  i{ 


COPTBIQHT,   1903, 

By  the  MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up,  electrotyped,  and  published  August,  1903.      Reprinted 

February,  1904. 

PUBLISHED   FOR  THE   CENTRAL  COMMITTEE 
ON  THE   UNITED   STUDY  OF  MISSIONS. 


f  I  *       €     ^  t 
1-      •     ( 


•  «  •  r  '  -     .  " 

"    . < .     '-  •  « 


,  '   -  t  t     lit    c 


KortoooB  grtss 

J.  S.  Cnshing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


3V 

1^\^  .   

STATEMENT 
fj"         OF  THE   CENTRAL    COMMITTEE    ON    THE 
^  UNITED   STUDY   OF   MISSIONS 

^  The  plan  of  the  United  Study  of  Missions,  which  was 

•^-  inaugurated  at  the  Ecumenical  Conference  in  1900,  is  no 

C-  longer  an  experiment.     The  remarkable  and  increasing  suc- 

^  cess  of  the  enterprise  encourages  us  in  presenting  this,  the 

third  text-book  of  our  series.     The  sales  of  the  first  of  the 

series,   "Via  Christi,"  by  Louise  Manning  Hodgkins,  have 

amounted  to  forty  thousand  copies,  while  the  second  book, 

"Lux  Christi,  An  Outline  Study  of   India,"  by  Caroline 

Atwater  Mason,  has  met  with  even  greater  success. 

Dr.  Smith  is  too  well  known  as  our  foremost  writer  on 
China  to  need  any  introduction.  He  has  been  ably  assisted 
by  Miss  Frances  J.  Dyer,  who  has  edited  the  book  and 
prepared  the  supplementary  material. 

China  is  in  the  foreground  of  the  political  world  to-day, 
and  the  interests  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  this  vast  empire 
demand  the  thoughtful,  prayerful  study  of  all  Christians. 
May  this  little  volume  help  toward  that  end. 

Mrs.  NORMAN  MATHER  WATERBURY,  Chairmaw, 

Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  Mass. 

Miss  E.  HARRIET  STANWOOD, 

70k  Congi-egational  Eouae,  Boston,  Mass. 

Miss  ELLEN  C.  PARSONS, 

Presbyterian  Building, 
166  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

Mrs.  J.  T.  GRACEY, 

in  Pearl  Street,  Rochester,  K.  Y. 

Mm.  HARRIET  L.  SCUDDER, 

Church  Missions  Souse, 
hth  Avenue  and  33d  Street,  New  Torh  City. 

Miss  CLEMENTINA  BUTLER, 

Secretary  and  Treasurer, 

Newton  Centre,  Mass. 
V 


PREFACE 

The  object  of  this  book  is  by  no  means  to 
tell  a  little  of  everything  that  ought  to  be 
known  about  China,  but  rather  so  to  present 
a  few  selected  topics  as  to  incite  to  a  genuine 
study  of  the  subject,  by  which  alone  it  can  be 
expected  to  make  upon  the  mind  its  due  im- 
pression. Lack  of  experience  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  manuals  of  this  sort,  together  with 
limitations  of  time  and  the  demands  of  a  large 
parish,  must  be  the  inadequate  apology  for  the 
many  sins  of  omission  which  the  discerning 
reader  will  not  fail  to  discover.  Standard 
•authorities,  such  as  Dr.  Williams's  "Middle 
Kingdom "  and  Professor  Giles's  "  Historic 
China  "  have  been  often  cited,  sometimes  with- 
out quotation  marks.  The  reader  should  have 
at  hand  Mr.  Beach's  indispensable  "  Geography 
and  Atlas  of  Missions,"  and  make  excursions 
in  whatever  direction  seems  most  inviting,  for 
which  helps  are  abundant. 

The  vast  bulk  of  the  Chinese  Empire  helps 
to  disguise  the  fact  that  for  some  years  it 
has  been  making  rapid  progress,  even  at  times 
when  to  the  eye  nothing  was  apparent  but  ret- 

vii 


viii  PBEFACE 

rogression.  Adequately  to  treat  of  the  present 
transition  state  of  Ciiina  would  have  required 
much  ampler  space  than  could  be  given  in  the 
closing  chapters. 

There  has  never  been  a  time  when  a  larger 
and  fuller  knowledge  of  what  China  is  to  be 
was  more  necessary  than  to-day.  There  is  no 
reason  why  every  reader  of  this  book  should 
not  contribute  something  toward  the  right 
settlement  of  some  of  the  greatest  and  most 
difficult  questions  confronting  the  Christian 
world  at  the  opening  of  the  twentieth  century. 


A.  H.  S. 


P'ang  Chuang,  Shantung,  China, 
April,  1903. 


CONTENTS 

PAGK 

Statement  of  the  Centkal  Committee   .         .         .         v 
Preface vii 

CHAPTER   I 

A  Self-centred  Empire 

Physical  Features  and  Population  —  Cultivation  of  the 
Soil  —  Waterways  and  Loess  —  Climate  and  Food 
Products  —  Minerals  —  China's  Rulers  —  The  Leg- 
endary Period  —  The  Chou  Dynasty  —  The  Tsin 
Dynasty  —  The   Han  Dynasty  —  A  Dark  Period 

—  The  T'ang  Dynasty —  Tlie  Sung  Dynasty  — The 
Mongol  Dynasty  —  The  Ming  Dynasty — ■  Th'>,  Man- 

chu  Dynasty 1 

The  Provinces  of  China 29 

Significant  Sentences        ......       39 

CHAPTER   II 

The  Religions  of  China 

Teachings  of  Confucius  —  Foundation  Principles  — 
Weak  Spots  in  Confucianism  —  Universality  of 
Temples  —  Comparison  between  Confucianism 
and  Christianity  —  Taoism  —  Modern  Taoism  — 
Root  of  the  Boxer  Madness  —  Chinese  Buddhism 

—  The  Dominant  Religion  —  Temples  to  the  Three 
Religions  —  Mohammedanism  in  China  —  Secret 
Sects 44 

Significant  Sentences 80 

iz 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   III 
The  Pbople  of  China 


PA8E 


Solidarity  of  Cliinese  Society  —  Fixity  of  Residence  — 
Unity  in  Variety  —  Industry  and  Poverty  —  Puz- 
zling   Problems  —  Sentiment    toward    Foreigners 

—  Patriotism  —  Conservatism  —  How  a  Cliinese 
Scholar  views  Christianity  —  Race  Characteristics 

—  Talent  for  Indirection  —  Suspicion  and  Distrust 

—  Untruthfulness  and  Insincerity  —  Saving  One's 
"Face"  —  Christianity  a  Solvent  .        ...      84 

Watmarks  in  the  History  of  Missions  in  China  .     Ill 

Significant  Sentences 116 

CHAPTER   IV 

Christian  Missions.     Part  I.     From  Earliest 

Times  till  near  the  Close  of  the 

Nineteenth  Century 

Nestorian  and  Roman  Catholic  Missions  —  The  Situa- 
tion To-day — Protestant  Missions  —  The  Pioneer 
Society  —  A  True  Yokefellow  —  Strong  Foimda- 
tions  Laid  —  Arrival  of  Americans — Beginning  of 
Medical  Work  — The  Second  Period,  1842  to  1860 

—  Splendid  Reinforcements — Translation  of  the 
Scriptures  —  Treachery  in  Treaties  —  The  Third 
Period,  1860  to  1895 — Evidences  of  a  New  Era 

—  The  China  Inland  Mission  —  Modus  of  Mission 
Work  —  The  Second  Step  —  The  Peripatetic 
Preacher  —  Churches  in  Embryo  —  The  Doctor 

and  the  Dispensary 120 

Significant  Sbntbnces 162 

CHAPTER  V 

CHRigTiAN  Missions.      Part  II.      On  the  Thresh- 
old OF  the   Twentieth  Century 

Woman's  Work  —  The  Educational  Work  —  Day  and 
Boarding  Schools  —  Influence  on  the  Community 


CONTENTS 


PAGF 


—  A  Birthday  Gift  to  the  Empress  Dowager — Kin- 
dergartens—  Bible  Women  and  Other  Workers  — 
Medical  Work  —  The  First  Medical  College  for 
Women  —  General  Summary  of  the  Third  Period 

—  The  Great  Famine  —  Two  Notable  Gatherings 

—  Bible  and  Tract  Societies  —  Literary  Labors  — 
Power  of  the  Printing-Press  —  The  Fourth  Period, 
1895  to  1903  — A  Wonderful  Awakening  — The 
Anti-Foot-binding  Society  —  Other  Reforms — 
China  in  Convulsion  —  The  Great  Boxer  Ris- 
ing —  Effect  on  the  Native  Church  —  The 
Aftermath 167 

Significant  Sentences 216 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Open  Door  of  Opportunity 

A  Modern  Miracle  —  A  United  Church  —  Power  of  Re- 
generated Lives  —  Educational  Reforms  —  Educa- 
tional Needs  —  The  New  China      ....     221 

Significant  Sentences 240 

APPENDIX 

List  of  Leading  Missionary  Periodicals        .        .  245 

Additional  Articles  in  Periodicals       .         .         .  246 

List  of  Twenty  Books       ......  247 

Statistics  of  Protestant  Missions  in  China  .         .  249 

Index 253 


EEX   CHRISTUS 

CHAPTER   I 

A   SELF-CENTRED    EMPIRE 

The  country  which  we  call  China,  but  which 
its  own  people  designate  as  the  Central  Empire, 
is  one  of  the  oldest  and  mightiest  kingdoms  of 
the  earth.  Its  hoary  antiquity  stretches  away 
into  the  mists  of  fable  for  unknown  thousands 
of  years,  but  that  part  of  its  history  which  is 
well  within  the  bounds  of  certainty  takes  it  back 
to  the  early  dawn  of  civilization.  Its  situation, 
on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  great  continent  of 
Asia,  makes  it  a  natural  and  an  inevitable  centre 
of  influence  over  many  adjacent  lands  ;  and  this 
has  been  abundantly  illustrated  in  its  history, 
which  has  been  that  of  superiority  to  all  its 
neighbors.  China  lies  almost  entirely  in  the 
temperate  zone,  and  in  what  the  annals  of  the 
human  race  have  proved  to  be  the  belt  of  power, 
within  which  all  the  peoples  which  have  made 
a  deep  mark  on  the  tablets  of  time  have  had 
their  habitation. 

Physical  Features  and  Population. — China  faces 
the  east.  Her  mountains  rise  in  height  as  one 
goes  west,  and  it  is  from  them  that  the  great 

B  1 


2  BEX  CHRISTUS 

rivers  of  this  part  of  the  globe  take  their  rise, 
the  Yang-tse,  and  the  Yellow  River.  One 
of  them  is  called  China's  Girdle,  and  pours 
an  enormous  stream  of  water  every  second 
into  the  Yellow  Sea,  draining  a  large  portion 
of  the  empire.  The  other  is  well  styled 
China's  Sorrow,  "bringing  from  the  great 
plateaus  of  the  desert  of  Gobi  continents  of 
sand  and  yellow  mud,  which  are  turned  into 
the  sea  to  shoal  its  waters  and  to  make  new 
land,  while  the  floods  burst  their  banks  and 
devastate  the  whole  province."  In  the  north- 
eastern portion  of  China  Proper,  by  which  is 
meant  the  Eighteen  Provinces,  stretches  one  of 
the  great  plains  of  the  earth,  which  occupies  a 
large  part  of  several  provinces,  from  the  moun- 
tains north  and  west  of  Peking  to  the  southern 
side  of  the  Yang-tse. 

Within  an  area  averaging  from  200  to  400 
miles  in  width,  it  is  estimated  that  a  popula- 
tion is  to  be  found  numbering  more  than 
170,000,000,  so  that  parts  of  this  region  are  the 
most  densely  populated  in  the  world.  China's 
millions  are  literally  uncounted,  and  until  some 
distant  day,  when  western  modes  of  adminis- 
tration are  adopted,  are  likely  to  remain  so. 
Without  entering  into  the  somewhat  compli- 
cated question  of  the  probable  population  of 
the  empire,  it  may  be  suggested  that  since  all 
censuses  are  but  "  a  pagoda  of  guesses,"  one 
must  be  governed  by  general  probabilities  in 


A    SELF-CENTRED    EM  I' IRE  3 

lieu  of  relative  certainties.  Perhaps  the  total 
of  400,000,000  may  not  be  too  large,  but  360,- 
000,000  is  perhaps  a  more  reasonable  estimate. 

The  coast  line  of  China  is  2000  miles  in 
length,  well  furnished  with  excellent  harbors. 
The  Chinese  have  never  been  a  maritime  people, 
but  their  country  has  unrivalled  facilities  for 
intercourse  with  all  the  rest  of  mankind.  The 
area  of  China  Proper  is  only  about  one-third 
of  the  whole  empire,  or  about  the  size  of 
that  part  of  the  United  States  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  It  is  seven  times  as  large 
as  France,  fifteen  times  the  size  of  the  United 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain,  and  nearly  half 
as  large  as  the  whole  of  Europe.  Whence 
came  the  stoe\  from  which  the  population  of 
this  land  is  descended  has  not  yet  been  deter- 
mined, but  it  is  known  that  they  first  appeared 
at  the  northwest,  along  the  banks  of  the  Yellow 
River,  to  the  vicinity  of  which  the  earliest  set- 
tlements were  largely  confined.  They  were  a 
pastoral  people,  as  is  evidenced,  among  other 
ways,  in  the  language.  The  word  signifying 
"righteousness,"  "  justice,"  "rectitude,"  is  com- 
posed of  the  ideographs  for  me  (or  my)  and 
sheep,  denoting  that  the  one  who  was  content 
with  his  own  cattle  and  sheep  was  the  standard 
of  virtue. 

Cultivation  of  the  Soil.  —  The  Chinese  people 
are  themselves  a  conglomerate  composed  of  many 
different   strains.     It   was   not  till  the   T'ang 


4  EEX   CHRISTUS 

dynasty  (620-907  a.d.)  that  the  southern  por- 
tions of  what  is  now  China  were  incorporated 
into  the  common  rule,  and  this  was  effected 
but  gradually.  To  this  day  the  southerners 
call  themselves  the  "Men  of  T'ang."  From 
their  first  experiments  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil  the  Chinese  showed  great  skill  in 
adapting  themselves  to  the  peculiarities  of  the 
particular  region  in  which  they  settled.  What- 
ever was  once  gained  as  a  part  of  the  common 
stock  of  experience  was  handed  down  from  age 
to  age,  and  has  become  almost  a  second  nature. 
Perhaps  no  people  have  greater  skill  as  irri- 
gators of  the  soil.  They  know  how  to  level  a 
tract  of  land  in  such  a  way  that  the  water  will 
always  run  in  the  desired  direction  ;  how  to 
divert  streams  where  they  are  needed  ;  how  to 
raise  water  from  lower  levels  by  the  Persian 
wheel,  the  screw  of  Archimedes,  by  the  well- 
sweep,  the  windlass,  and  by  willow  baskets  slung 
on  ropes  held  by  two  men  who,  with  dextrous 
toes,  throw  the  water  from  the  surface  of  the 
river  to  the  cultivated  gardens  above.  Much  of 
the  farming  is  practically  gardening  because  the 
holdings  are  so  small,  and  the  owner  is  quite 
aware  of  the  importance  of  the  rotation  of  crops, 
and  is  incomparably  better  acquainted  than  most 
of  his  Occidental  neighbors  with  wise  ways  of 
fertilization.  But  for  the  incessant  economy 
practised  in  all  parts  of  the  empire  in  the 
preparation    and   use   of    "  poudrette,"    China 


A    SELF-CENTRED    EMPIRE  5 

would  never  have  been  able  to  raise  enough 
food  for  the  support  of  its  uncounted  millions. 
Waterways  and  Loess=  -•  Aside  from  the 
two  great  rivers  already  mentioned,  the  empire 
is  abundantly  supplied  with  large  streams, 
which,  from  ancient  times,  have  been  avenues 
for  a  great  internal  commerce.  The  Chinese 
have  always  shown  the  greatest  skill  in  the 
opening  of  artificial  waterways,  and  all  China 
was  interpenetrated  with  canals  at  a  time  when 
one  such  existed  in  Europe.  In  the  central 
parts  of  the  eighteen  provinces  this  is  espe- 
cially the  case,  the  ramifications  of  these  boat 
roads  being  intricate  and  innumerable.  A 
large  part  of  the  northern  area  of  China  is 
covered  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  with  a 
peculiar  soil  named,  from  an  analogous  phenom- 
enon in  the  valley  of  the  Rhine,  "loess."  It 
is  an  extremely  porous,  brownish-colored  earth, 
readily  pulverized  by  the  fingers,  and  capable  of 
becoming  an  impalpable  dust  of  great  penetrat- 
ing power.  The  regions  where  this  peculiar 
soil  occurs  abound  in  cave  dwellings  cut  out 
of  the  loam,  photographs  of  which  are  to  be 
found  in  many  books  of  travel.  The  appear- 
ance of  an  extensive  loess  formation,  like  that 
to  be  met  with  in  the  mountains  separating 
Shansi  from  Chihli,  with  its  singularly  regular 
terrace  formation,  interspersed  with  many  wide 
and  deep  chasms,  is  one  of  the  remarkable 
sights  of  China.     The  occurrence  of  this  soil, 


6  REX  CHBI8TUS 

which  was  for  a  long  time  a  geological  puzzle, 
has  much  to  do  with  the  great  population  sup- 
ported in  regions  where  it  occurs,  for  it  is 
capable  of  producing  immense  crops  without 
aid  of  fertilization. 

Climate  and  Food  Products.  —  In  a  country 
stretching  through  more  than  twenty-five  de- 
grees of  latitude,  it  may  readily  be  seen  that 
there  is  every  variety  of  climate,  from  the 
dreary  cold  winters  of  Manchuria  to  the  damp 
chill  of  the  southeast  in  winter,  alternating 
with  torrid  heats  in  summer.  The  variations 
of  temperature  in  many  parts  of  the  Great 
Plain  amount  to  a  hundred  degrees  Fahren- 
heit for  the  year,  but  sudden  alternations  of 
heat  and  cold  are  far  less  common  than  in 
the  same  belt  throughout  North  America. 
In  most  parts  of  China  there  is  a  rainy  season 
and  a  dry,  but  the  confines  are  not  as  dis- 
tinctly marked  as  in  India.  The  rains  begin 
at  the  southeast  of  China  in  March  and  ex- 
tend northward,  till  by  July  the  whole  of  the 
Great  Plain  ought  to  have  its  share.  When- 
ever the  supply  is  delayed  or  is  inadequate,  the 
greatest  anxiety  is  everywhere  felt,  for  drought 
is  the  synonym  of  famine. 

The  food  supply  of  the  empire  is  of  the 
most  varied  description,  including  a  wide  range 
of  cereals  and  fruits,  from  those  cultivated 
in  the  extreme  north  to  the  tropical  treasures 
of  the  south.     Rice  has  always  been  a  staple 


A    SELF-CENTRED    EMPIRE  7 

food  of  the  Chinese,  although  in  the  northern 
portions  it  is  a  mere  luxury,,  and,  except 
by  name,  often  altogether  unknown.  Wheat 
is  almost  universal,  and  is  considered  the 
best  food  known  to  man,  while  millet,  va- 
rious kinds  of  sorghum,  barley,  buckwheat,  oats, 
and  maize  are  to  be  found  in  different  regions. 
Sugar-cane  is  raised  in  the  south.  The  magnifi- 
cent grass  which  we  know  as  the  bamboo  is 
one  of  nature's  best  gifts  to  China,  as  to  many 
other  lands,  and  it  is  a  current  proverb  that  no 
one  should  live  where  it  will  not  thrive.  Its 
varieties  are  endless  and  its  uses  innumerable. 
Its  shoots  are  employed  as  food,  and  with  a 
sweet  syrup  as  a  confectionery.  Its  shafts  are 
put  to  countless  service  in  the  construction  of 
dwellings,  and  in  making  nearly  every  article 
needed  for  the  use  of  man  or  woman.  The 
character  for  bamboo  written  over  that  of  a  ruler 
means  "  to  govern,"  showing  the  conception  of 
what  a  magistrate  ought  to  be ;  and  the  verb 
"  to  bamboo  "  may  connote  every  grade  of  pun- 
ishment, from  a  slight  beating  up  to  the  extinc- 
tion of  life  itself.  The  tallow  tree  is  one  of  the 
eccentricities  of  China,  of  which  the  fullest  use 
has  been  made. 

The  wealth  of  the  provision  made  for  man 
in  this  great  empire  is  well  matched  by  the 
almost  unequalled  talent  displayed  by  man 
for  discovering  ways  in  which  the  varied 
needs  of  the  race  may  be  met  by  the  illimitable 


8  REX  CHRISTUS 

resources  placed  at  its  disposal.  The  Chinese 
are  not  keen  sportsmen,  but  they  greatly  excel 
in  fish  culture,  and  they  have  long  been  famous 
for  their  success  in  making  rivers,  streams,  and 
the  great  ocean  tributary  to  their  claims.  It  is 
not  without  reason,  in  view  of  the  lavish  gifts 
bestowed  upon  them,  that  the  Chinese  consider 
themselves  the  most  favored  people  on  the  earth. 
China  is,  in  fact,  an  empire  which  might  be 
practically  independent  of  the  rest  of  the  world, 
as  for  so  many  ages  it  has  been, — a  circumstance 
which  has  done  much  toward  fostering  that  over- 
weening national  conceit  which  has  often  brought 
on  conflicts  with  other  nations. 

Minerals.  —  The  mineral  wealth  of  China  is  to 
a  large  extent  unexplored,  but  enough  is  known 
to  make  it  probable  tliat  it  is  in  excess  of  that 
of  any  other  land,  except,  perhaps,  the  United 
States.  The  coal  deposits  in  particular,  which 
are  found  in  immediate  contiguity  to  illimitable 
■supplies  of  the  best  iron  ore,  are  probably  the 
largest  in  the  world,  and  the  coal-bearing  area 
has  been  estimated  at  not  less  than  419,000 
square  miles,  unequally  distributed  through 
every  one  of  the  eighteen  provinces.  Iron  and 
coal  are  the  basis  of  our  present  civilization, 
and  the  apparently  inexhaustible  supply  in  the 
Chinese  Empire  must  ultimately  affect  in  ways 
not  yet  evident  the  destiny  of  the  human  race. 
It  is  not  the  so-called  useful  minerals  only 
which  are  to  be  found,  but  almost  all  others, 


A     SELF-CENTRED    EMPIRE  9 

with  the  exception  of  platinum.  Gold,  silver, 
copper,  tin,  lead,  quicksilver,  could  be  produced 
in  enormous  quantities  with  the  improved 
methods  used  elsewhere.  But  accompanying 
this  vast  and  immeasurable  potential  wealth 
is  the  blighting  superstition  of  "  Feng-shui  " 
(literally  wind-water),  which  contraindicates 
the  disturbance  of  the  soil  beyond  a  certain 
depth,  lest  the  "  earth-dragon  "  be  offended  and 
nameless  ills  ensue. 

The  province  of  Ssuch'uan  has  salt  wells  of 
great  depth,  from  which,  with  rude  machinery 
and  clumsy  skill,  is  extracted  the  brine  which 
is  afterward  evaporated  into  an  article  of 
commerce.  In  the  province  of  Shansi  there 
is  a  great  lake  of  dry  salt  which  furnishes  a 
supply  for  a  large  region.  Along  the  coast 
salt  is  obtained  from  the  water  of  the  sea, 
and,  its  sale  being  a  government  monopoly, 
is  an  important  source  of  revenue.  Great 
as  are  the  resources  of  the  empire,  it  is  prob- 
able that  but  a  fraction  of  them  has  as  yet 
been  put  to  use.  They  still  await  that  scien- 
tific development  without  which  they  are  largely 
useless  to  their  owners,  and  to  mankind  at 
large. 

Into  this  magnificent  inheritance  the  earliest 
colonists  came,  and  in  possession  of  it  they 
have  ever  since  remained.  The  Chinese  are 
the  only  people  who  have  never  left  their  origi- 
nal seats,  and  who,  having  once  entered  upon 


10  BEX  CHRISTUS 

certain  lines  of  race  activity,  have  never  been 
deflected  from  them. 

China's   Rulers 

A  brief  recapitulation  in  merest  outline  of 
the  history  of  this  remarkable  people  may  fitly 
accompany  a  sketch  of  the  empire  in  miniature. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  uncritical  Chi- 
nese annalists  have  amused  themselves,  and 
flattered  the  national  vanity,  with  a  catalogue 
of  long  ages  of  mythical  monarchs,  who  reigned 
under  impossible  conditions  for  fabulous  periods. 
No  actual  weight  is  attached  even  by  Chinese 
writers  to  these  tales  of  prehistoric  epochs, 
which  simply  serve  to  fill  in  what  would  other- 
wise be  blanks,  in  the  manner  of  the  geogra- 
phers of  whom  Swift  complained  that  they 

"  O'er  uninhabitable  downs 
Place  elephants  foi*  want  of  towns." 

The  Legendary  Period.  —  Every  Chinese  is 
ready  to  talk  of  the  good  old  days  of  Yao, 
and  Shun,  his  successor,  when  the  morals  of 
the  people  were  so  ideal  that  doors  and  win- 
dows were  not  closed  at  night,  and  nothing 
dropped  on  the  road  was  picked  up  by  any 
one  but  the  owner.  According  to  the  notions 
of  Chinese  chronologists,  the  close  of  the 
legendary  period  would  bring  one  to  the 
beginning  of  the  twenty-second  century  B.C., 
when  the  Hsai  dynasty  begins  with  the  great 


A    SELF-CENTRED    EMPIRE  11 

Yu,  who  by  his  engineering  skill  drained  away 
a  terrible  inundation.  The  Emperor  Shun  was 
made  the  head  of  the  state  on  account  of 
his  filial  piety,  "  in  recognition  of  which,  wild 
beasts  used  to  come  voluntarily  and  drag  his 
plough  for  him,  while  birds  of  the  air  would 
guard  his  grain  from  the  depredations  of  in- 
sects." Even  as  far  back  as  this  period  there 
was  a  comparatively  advanced  state  of  civili- 
zation. The  system  of  knotted  cords  as  a 
means  of  notation  of  ideas  had  given  place  to 
notches  on  wood,  and  these  in  turn  to  rude  out- 
lines of  natural  objects.  It  is  from  a  limited 
number  of  such  that  the  ideographs  of  the  Chi- 
nese language  in  use  to-day  have  sprung,  but 
not  without  many  intermediate  processes  of 
alteration.  There  was  in  the  earlier  ages  a 
"  tadpole  "  character  which  is  now  illegible,  and 
survives  in  but  a  few  examples. 

There  was  at  that  time  no  such  thing  as 
paper,  the  only  books  being  bamboo  tablets 
inscribed  with  a  sharp  stylus,  but  none  are 
now  extant.  This  was  followed  by  writing  on 
silk,  but  ink  in  the  modern  shape  (hard  blocks 
rubbed  up  with  water  for  the  use  of  the  soft 
brush  used  in  writing)  was  introduced  much 
later. 

The  Chou  Dynasty.  — The  Chou  dynasty, 
where  we  are  at  last  on  comparatively  firm  his- 
torical ground,  began  in  the  year  1122  B.C., 
and  extended  until  255  B.C.    During  these  nine 


12  REX  CHEISTUS 

centuries  the  history  of  European  nations  was 
in  its  infancy.  The  Trojan  War  had  just  ended, 
and  the  monarchy  of  Israel  had  begun.  The 
whole  brilliant  period  of  Grecian  history  was 
contemporaneous  with  this  dynasty,  and  in  it 
the  Eternal  City  was  founded.  What  the 
Chinese  are  to-day  has  its  roots  in  the  ancient 
period  of  the  Chous.  Their  language,  their 
ideas,  their  administration  of  their  government, 
and  above  all  their  elaborate  ceremonial,  with- 
out which  China  would  not  be  China,  all  take 
their  origin  here.  So,  too,  with  their  national 
literature  and  their  great  sages,  Confucius  and 
Mencius,  the  one  born  551  B.C.,  and  the  other 
372  B.C.,  each  of  them  in  what  is  now  the  prov- 
ince of  Shantung.  Few  individuals  in  the  an- 
nals of  the  human  race  have  more  powerfully 
influenced  so  large  a  number  of  their  fellow-men 
as  these  two  Chinese,  and,  what  is  more  re- 
markable, their  authority  once  established  has 
never  been  disputed. 

In  these  early  days  war  was  carried  on 
with  bowmen  on  the  one  side  and  spearmen 
on  the  other.  "  The  centre  was  occupied  by 
chariots,  each  drawn  by  three  or  four  horses, 
harnessed  abreast.  Swords,  daggers,  shields, 
iron-headed  clubs  some  five  or  six  feet  in 
length  and  weighing  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
pounds,  huge  iron  hooks,  drums,  cymbals, 
gongs,  horns,  banners  and  streamers  innumer- 
able, were  also  among  the  equipment  of  war." 


A    SELF-CENTRED    EMPIRE  13 

From  this  descriptive  snatch,  the  discerning 
reader  is  able  to  recognize  the  root  of  much  of 
the  noisy,  showy,  and  tawdry  display  which 
is  the  accompaniment  of  every  Chinese  public 
function  to-day. 

The  Tsin  Dynasty.  —  The  Chou  dynasty  broke 
down  finally,  though  it  had  lasted  for  almost  a 
millennium.  It  was  followed  by  the  reign  of 
one  of  the  greatest  men  China  has  ever  produced, 
who  arrogated  to  himself  the  title  of  the  First 
Emperoi-  (Ch'in  Shih  Huang),  and  who  raised 
the  state  of  Ch'in,  at  the  head  of  which  he 
had  been  for  twenty-six  years,  to  the  sover- 
eign place  among  the  various  subordinate  king- 
doms, and  then  swept  away  the  entire  feudal 
system,  by  means  of  which  the  Chou  emperors 
had  divested  themselves  of  the  cares  of  govern- 
ment, and  divided  the  empire,  including  vast 
tracts  which  he  had  annexed  on  the  south,  into 
thirty-six  provinces,  "  thus  effecting  a  revolu- 
tion which,  after  a  lapse  of  2000  years,  history 
has  seen  repeated  in  Japan." 

This  restless  Napoleon  of  China  despatched 
an  expedition  to  look  for  some  mysterious 
islands  off  the  coast.  He  was  the  builder  of  the 
Great  Wall,  which  skirts  the  eighteen  provinces 
for  a  distance  of  nearly  1400  miles,  from  Shan 
Hai  Kuan  on  the  present  Gulf  of  Pechili,  to 
the  Great  Desert  at  the  western  terminus  of 
the  empire.  This  gigantic  work,  which  was  the 
continuation  of  other  defences  already  existing 


14  BEX    CHBISTUS 

against  the  outer  barbarians,  was  completed  by- 
means  of  forced  labor  and  incredible  cruelty 
in  the  space  of  ten  years.  It  is  difficult  to 
understand  how  such  a  task  could  have  been 
accomplished  at  all,  and  the  fact  that  it  was  so, 
has  been  rightly  regarded  as  an  incidental  proof 
of  a  large  population.  The  boundless  ambition 
of  the  First  Emperor  was  not  satisfied  with 
these  great  works  of  statesmanship  and  of 
public  utility,  but  he  thirsted  to  have  all  liter- 
ature recreated  with  his  reign.  He  issued  an 
order  for  the  destruction  of  all  books  (with  cer- 
tain exceptions),  but  finding  his  literati  in- 
tractable, he  caused  many  hundreds  of  them  to 
be  buried  in  pits,  and  the  books  were  burned. 
The  prodigious  memories  of  the  Chinese  schol- 
ars who  survived  the  early  fall  of  the  emperor 
enabled  them  to  reproduce  the  greater  part  of 
the  works  destroyed,  but  many  of  them  were  in 
an  incomplete  condition. 

The  name  of  this  monarch  has  been  held  in 
detestation  by  the  scholars  of  China  ever  since, 
and  though  his  consolidation  of  the  empire  re- 
mained,  the  death  of  his  son,  after  a  brief  reign 
of  three  years,  put  an  end  to  the  dynasty. 

The  Han  Dynasty.  —  Under  different  names 
this  lasted  for  a  period  of  about  four  hundred 
years,  nearly  evenly  divided  by  the  opening  of 
the  Christian  era.  Our  Lord  was  born  in  the 
first  year  of  the  Emperor  P'ing  Ti,  "  Prince  of 
Peace,"    a   coincidence   often   remarked   upon. 


A    SELF-CENTRED   EMPIRE  15 

During  this  long  period  the  empire  was  becom- 
ing more  settled,  and  was  advancing  in  civiliza- 
tion. There  was  a  general  revival  of  learning, 
and  the  books  so  precious  to  scholars  were 
rescued  from  the  hiding-places  to  which  they 
had  been  banished  under  the  destructive  First 
Emperor.  Ink  was  invented,  and  it  was  used  to 
compile  voluminous  commentaries  on  the  recov- 
ered classics,  which  were  now  printed  on  paper 
made  from  the  bark  of  trees. 

In  the  latter  portion  of  the  second  centur}' 
B.C.  lived  the  Herodotus  of  China,  Ssu  Ma 
Ch'ien,  who  composed  the  first  connected  and 
comprehensive  survey  of  the  records  of  China, 
beginning  from  the  mythical  period  of  the 
"Yellow  Emperor,"  and  extending  to  about 
a  century  before  the  Christian  era.  A  great 
lexicographical  work  called  the  "  Shuo  Wen " 
also  appeared  within  this  period,  which  shows 
that  the  principle  of  phonetic  formation  of  char- 
acters was  the  same  then  as  at  present.  It  was 
during  the  Han  dynasty  that  the  Buddhist  reli- 
gion was  brought  to  China,  in  response  to  the 
request  of  envoys  sent  in  consequence  of  an 
imperial  dream.  It  is  supposed  that  a  Jewish 
colony  entered  China  at  the  same  time,  but 
neither  then  nor  at  any  subsequent  period  did 
it  attract  serious  attention  from  the  Chinese, 
who  nicknamed  these  singular  people  the 
"sinew-plucking  sect."  It  is  from  the  Han 
period  that  literary  degrees  take  their  rise,  and 


16  REX   CHBISTUS 

perpetual  rank  was  conferred  on  the  descend- 
ants of  Confucius,  whose  teachings  at  this  time 
made  their  way  to  Japan,  where  they  held 
undisputed  sway  until  within  the  past  few 
decades. 

A  Dark  Period.  —  The  Han  was  followed  by 
the  epoch  of  the  Three  Kingdoms,  a  time  of 
bloodshed  and  civil  war,  mainly  of  interest  to 
us  at  this  day  on  account  of  a  celebrated  histori- 
cal novel  from  which  it  takes  its  name,  parts  of 
which  are  repeated  in  tea-shops  and  enacted  in 
plays  all  over  China.  The  characters  in  this 
stirring  drama  are  better  known  by  far  than 
contemporary  statesmen,  of  whom  the  common 
people  never  hear  anything  and  for  whom  if 
they  should  hear  they  would  not  care.  After 
the  Three  Kingdoms  ensued  a  variety  of  minor 
dynasties,  the  enumeration  of  which  would  only 
serve  to  tease  the  I'eader,  the  appearance  and 
the  disappearance  alike  not  affecting  the  gen- 
eral progress  of  events. 

The  T'ang  Dynasty. — The  next  great  period 
is  the  T'ang  dynasty,  from  620  to  907  A.D.,  dur- 
ing which  time,  as  Dr.  Williams  remarks,  "  China 
was  probably  the  most  civilized  country  on  earth; 
the  darkest  days  of  the  West,  when  Europe  was 
wrapped  in  the  ignorance  and  degradation  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  formed  the  brightest  era  of 
the  East.  They  exercised  a  humanizing  effect 
on  all  the  surrounding  countries,  and  led  their 
inhabitants  to  see  the  benefits  and  understand 


A    SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  17 

the  management  of  a  government  where  the 
laws  were  above  the  officers."  The  T'ang  is 
one  of  the  most  brilUant  epochs  in  the  history 
of  the  Flowery  Land,  and  its  second  emperor, 
T'ai  Tsung  "  may  be  regarded  as  the  most 
accomplished  in  the  Chinese  annals,  —  famed 
alike  for  his  wisdom  and  nobleness,  his  con- 
quests and  good  government,  his  temperance, 
cultivated  tastes,  and  patronage  of  literary 
men."  He  established  schools  and  instituted 
a  system  of  literary  examinations.  He  had  the 
Confucian  classics  published  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  most  learned  men  in  the  empire, 
and  took  great  pains  to  prepare  and  preserve 
the  historical  annals  of  the  recent  dynasties. 
His  broad  dominions  extended  to  the  borders  of 
Persia  and  the  Caspian  Sea,  embracing  large 
parts  of  Central  Asia. 

The  reign  of  his  son  (Kao  Tsung)  was  as 
imbecile  as  that  of  his  father  had  been  glorious. 
His  empress  obtained  control  over  him,  and 
after  his  death,  for  twenty-one  years  usurped 
the  throne,  murdering  all  who  opposed  her  will, 
and  assuming  such  titles  as  Queen  of  Heaven, 
Holy  Mother,  and  Divine  Sovereign.  By  a 
palace  conspiracy  her  son  at  length  removed 
her,  and  she  died  in  seclusion  at  the  age  of 
eighty-one  years.  About  the  year  722  a  census 
of  the  fifteen  provinces  is  said  to  have  given  a 
total  of  more  than  52,884,000. 

It  was  in  the   T'ang  period  that  Buddhism 

0 


18  BEX  CHRISTUS 

attained  its  greatest  successes,  the  whole  land 
being  filled  with  its  temples  and  its  worship,  one 
of  the  later  emperors  determining  to  receive  with 
the  highest  honors  a  bone  of  the  founder,  Shakya- 
muna.  Against  this  one  of  his  ablest  ministers 
made  a  famous  protest,  the  text  of  which  is 
familiar  to  all  scholars  even  to-day,  and  is 
regarded  as  a  masterpiece  of  argument  and 
invective.  The  result  was  the  banishment  of 
the  remonstrant  to  the  remote  and  barbarous 
regions  of  the  south,  near  the  present  port  of 
Swatow,  from  which  he  was,  however,  recalled 
later,  and  has  since  been  canonized  under  the 
title  of  Prince  of  Literature. 

Only  six  years  after  the  Hegira  of  the  Prophet, 
the  followers  of  Mohammed  are  supposed  to 
have  entered  China.  In  the  following  century 
a  force  of  Arab  soldiers  was  sent  to  China  to 
assist  in  quelling  an  insurrection,  and  as  a 
reward  they  were  allowed  to  settle  in  the  coun- 
try. During  this  dynasty  the  greatest  Chinese 
poets  flourished,  and  a  complete  collection  of 
the  works  of  the  epoch  are  arranged  in  48,900 
pieces  in  900  books.  The  use  of  paper  money 
dates  from  this  time,  and  it  is  thought  that  the 
originals  of  the  Court  Circular,  or  what  is  now 
called  the  Pekirig  Grazette,  are  here  to  be  found. 
Tradition  has  also  assigned  to  this  dynasty  the 
beginning  of  the  almost  universal  practice  of 
binding  the  feet  of  girls,  but  there  is  no  docu- 
mentary evidence  as  to  its  introduction.    Its  firm 


A   SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  19 

grip  on  the  people  is  one  of  the  most  singular 
facts  in  this  land  of  strange  phenomena. 

The  Sung  Dynasty.  —  The  Sung  dynasty, 
which  after  a  few  decades  of  minor  rulers  suc- 
ceeded the  T'angs,  is  divided  into  the  Northern 
Sung  and  the  Southern  Sung,  having  its  capital 
at  what  is  now  Hangchou  in  Chekiang,  in  order 
to  be  safer  from  the  troublesome  Tartars,  by 
whom  the  dynasty  was  at  length  overthrown, 
after  a  duration  of  167  for  the  former  and  153 
years  for  the  latter,  each  branch  furnishing  nine 
emperors. 

The  period  is  notable  chiefly  for  its  literary 
men,  not  for  its  rulers,  especially  for  Chu  Hsi, 
the  great  commentator  on  the  Chinese  classics, 
whose  interpretations  have  totally  obliterated 
those  of  the  scholars  of  the  Han,  and  have  been 
the  sole  and  only  Confucian  orthodoxy  ever 
since,  a  literary  triumph  which  for  thoroughness 
and  permanence  has  few  parallels  in  history. 
A  historian  named  Ssu  Ma  Kuang  produced  one 
of  those  works  which  for  voluminousness  are 
typically  Chinese,  being  completed  in  294  books. 
Another  historian  called  Ma  Tuan  Lin  wrote 
a  history  in  348  books.  It  is  productions  of  this 
description  which  give  point  to  the  Chinese 
aphorism  that  "In  order  to  know  the  Ancient 
and  the  Modern  it  is  necessary  to  read  five  cart 
loads  of  books." 

Another  noted  name  in  the  Sung  dynasty 
is  that  of  a  socialistic  statesman  who  introduced 


20  BEX  CHRISTUS 

plans  which  were  many  hundred  years  in  advance 
of  his  time.  He  wished  to  have  the  whole  body 
of  the  people  liable  to  military  drill  and  for 
service  in  time  of  need,  and  he  devised  a  system 
of  state  loans  to  farmers,  in  order  to  supply  them 
with  more  capital.  His  schemes  were  disallowed, 
and  have  become  way-marks  in  the  Chinese 
desert  to  show  where  not  to  go.  The  little  Tri- 
metrical  Classic  which  is  the  first  book  put  into 
the  hands  of  schoolboys  on  entering  school,  also 
dates  from  this  time,  as  well  as  the  authorized 
list  of  Chinese  surnames,  now  also  a  part  of  the 
routine  instruction  of  every  pupil. 

The  Mongol  Dynasty.  — ^The  next  dynasty  was 
a  relatively  short  one  of  about  eighty  years,  and 
is  of  interest  because  it  was  the  first  time  that 
the  outer  barbarian  had  gained  the  imperial 
throne.  The  new  incumbents  were  Mongols, 
under  the  noted  Genghis  Khan,  who  occupied 
Peking  in  the  year  1264.  The  great  Kublai 
Khan,  who  held  the  sway  of  the  empire  for 
fifteen  years,  was  an  enlightened  monarch  who 
did  much  to  consolidate  his  rule  by  wise  plans, 
but  the  Mongol  material  upon  which  he  had  to 
work  was  incomparably  inferior  to  the  Chinese, 
and  the  dynasty  came  to  an  end  after  a  few 
inglorious  reigns,  and  was  supplanted  by  the 
Mings.  It  was  in  the  Mongol  or  Yuan  dynasty 
that  Marco  Polo  came  to  China,  and  most  of 
what  we  know  of  the  mediaeval  potentate,  Ku- 
blai Khan,  comes  from  the  marvellously  vivid 


A   SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  21 

narrative  of  the  great  Venetian,  whose  work  had 
so  little  acceptance  during  his  lifetime  that 
when  on  his  dying  bed  he  was  urged  to  repent 
of  all  his  sins,  and  to  confess  the  falsehoods 
which  he  had  told  about  Cathay ;  which,  being 
an  honest  reporter,  he  stoutly  refused  to  do. 
He  visited  large  parts  of  the  empire  and  had 
a  varied  experience  both  as  guest  and  as  an  offi- 
cial. His  patron,  Kublai  Khan,  greatly  extended 
the  work  of  the  dissolute  Yang  Ti  (of  the  Sui 
dynasty,  605  a.d.)  and  united  the  Yang-tse  and 
Yellow  Rivers  by  the  Grand  Canal,  one  of  the 
greatest  and  most  useful  of  China's  internal 
improvements. 

The  Ming  Dynasty.  — It  is  a  striking  fact,  well 
enunciated  by  Dr.  Williams,  that  amid  all  the 
revolutions  in  China  none  have  been  based  upon 
a  principle.  Each  one  has  been  a  mere  change 
of  masters,  with  no  better  appreciation  than 
before  of  the  rights  of  the  subject,  or  of  the 
powers  and  duties  of  the  rulers.  From  the 
standpoint  of  the  Chinese  this  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  original  principles  upon  which  the 
empire  was  founded  were  ideally  perfect,  and  all 
that  remained  was  to  put  them  into  practice. 
Whenever  the  Son  of  Heaven  fails  to  do  this, 
he  has  lost  "  Heaven's  decree,"  and  is  by  a  divine 
right  turned  out  to  make  room  for  another  who 
has  received  it. 

The  founder  of  the  Ming  dynasty  was  a  man 
named  Chu  Muan  Chang,  who  had  experienced 


22  BEX  CHBISTUS 

the  deepest  poverty,  and  had  at  one  time  been 
a  Buddhist  priest.  His  parents  and  elder 
brother  had  died  of  starvation,  and  being  too 
poor  to  put  them  in  coffins,  he  was  forced  to 
bury  them  in  straw.  The  last  emperor  of  the 
Mongols  had  degenerated  into  a  voluptuary 
and  was  in  the  hands  of  his  ministers  a  mere 
puppet.  The  great  abilities  of  Chu  enabled  him 
by  rapid  stages  to  seize  the  sceptre  of  power, 
and  in  the  year  1368  he  mounted  the  Dragon 
Throne,  taking  the  title  of  Hung  Wu,  by  which 
name  he  is  best  known  to  foreigners.  This,  it 
will  be  recollected,  was  a  century  and  a  quarter 
before  "  Columbus  crossed  the  ocean  blue,"  but 
to  the  Chinese  of  to-day,  accustomed  to  measure 
time  by  millenniums,  it  appears  a  period  about 
as  distant  as  "  before  the  war  "  to  an  American. 
The  new  emperor,  in  addition  to  his  military 
genius,  showed  almost  equal  skill  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  empire,  and  also  became  a  liberal 
patron  of  literature  and  education.  He  organ- 
ized the  present  system  of  examinations,  re- 
stored the  dress  of  the  T'ang  dynasty,  published 
a  penal  code,  abolished  punishment  by  mutila- 
tion, regulated  taxation,  put  the  coinage  upon 
a  proper  basis  with  government  notes  and  cash 
as  equal  currencj^.  The  capital  was  fixed  at 
Nanking,  but  the  son  of  Hung  Wu  wrested  the 
power  from  his  nephew  to  whom  it  had  been 
given,  and  removed  the  seat  of  government  to 
the  ancient  Cambaluc  of  the  Mongols,  the  mod- 


A    SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  23 

ern  Peking,  taking  the  title  of  Yung  Lo,  by  far 
the  best  known  of  the  sixteen  Ming  emperors. 
In  his  progress  to  seize  Peking  he  committed 
enormous  excesses,  and  so  devastated  all  the 
regions  through  Avhich  he  passed  that  not  a  man, 
woman  or  child,  not  a  cat  or  dog,  remained  alive. 
This  is  popularly  referred  to  by  every  one  as 
his  "sweeping  the  north."  As  a  result  it  be- 
came necessary  to  bring  compulsory  immigrants 
to  Chihli  and  Sb.antung,  in  order  to  repeople 
the  land,  and  every  family  will  tell  you  that 
they  "  came  from  "  some  remote  place,  such  as 
Hung  Tung  Hsien  in  Shansi,  or  Lai  Chou  Fu 
in  Shantung,  some  nineteen  generations  ago, 
back  of  which,  unfortunately,  their  family 
registers  do  not  go ! 

The  incursions  of  the  Tartars  from  the  north 
were  incessant,  but  Yung  Lo  found  time  amid 
many  activities  to  patronize  literature  on  a  scale 
hitherto  unprecedented.  At  his  behest  a  gigan- 
tic encyclopsedia  was  prepared,  intended  to  col- 
lect in  one  work  the  substance  of  all  the  classical, 
historical,  philosopliical,  and  literary  works 
hitherto  published.  The  task  was  intrusted  to 
a  committee  of  3  presidents,  5  chief  direc- 
tors, 20  sub-directors,  and  2169  subordinates. 
The  work  was  finished  in  the  year  1407,  con- 
taining in  all  22,877  books  besides  the  table  of 
contents,  which  occupied  sixty  books,  the  whole 
being  called  Yung  Lo  Ta  Tien  or  the  Institutes 
of  Yung  Lo-     Only  two  copies  were  ever  made 


24  BEX  CHRISTUS 

One  was  destroyed  in  a  great  fire  in  Nanking, 
and  the  other  was  ruined  or  captured  in  the 
burning  of  the  Han-lin  Yuan  in  Peking,  during 
the  memorable  siege  in  that  city  in  the  summer 
of  1900.  Several  hundred  volumes  only  were 
rescued,  and  are  now  dispersed  all  over  the 
world,  a  melancholy  end  to  one  of  the  greatest 
intellectual  labors  even  of  the  Chinese. 

The  sixteen  emperors  of  the  Ming  period 
ended  their  rule  in  1644,  having  like  all  their 
predecessors  lost  the  "  Decree  of  Heaven."  The 
feuds  with  the  Tartars  were  incessant,  and  dur- 
ing one  of  the  insurrections  the  latter  entered 
Peking  unopposed,  and  their  leader  was  quite 
ready  to  accept  the  invitation  to  ascend  the 
throne,  —  which  he  did.  The  last  Ming  emperor 
stabbed  his  daughter  and  hung  himself  on  a 
pine  tree  on  the  east  side  of  the  "  Coal  Hill"  in 
the  palace  grounds  in  Peking.  During  the 
foreign  occupation  of  that  city  this  tree  was 
pointed  out  to  visitors,  still  flourishing,  but 
blisfhted  on  the  side  where  the  Son  of  Heaven 
ended  his  inglorious  reign.  The  leading  Chinese 
general  assented  to  the  occupation  of  the  throne 
by  the  Manchu  Tartars,  who  called  themselves 
the  Ch'ing,  or  Great  Pure  Dynasty,  on  con- 
dition that  no  Chinese  woman  should  be  taken 
into  the  imperial  seraglio,  and  that  the  first 
place  in  literary  degrees  should  never  be  given 
to  a  Manchu.  It  was  also  agreed  that  while 
women  should  be  allowed  to  retain  their  former 


A    SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  25 

style  of  dress,  the  men  should  adopt  that  of  the 
Manchus,  although  suffered  to  bury  their  dead 
in  the  Ming  costume.  A  part  of  the  stipulation 
as  to  the  dress  of  the  men  was  the  acceptance  of 
the  Manchu  queue,  which  for  a  long  period  in  the 
southeastern  portions  of  the  empire  was  strongly 
resisted.  Even  to  this  day  in  those  regions  a 
turban  is  worn,  the  survival  of  an  effort  to 
conceal  what  was  then  felt  to  be  a  national 
disgrace. 

The  Manchu  Dynasty.  —  It  was  only  a  quarter 
of  a  century  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  on 
Plymouth  Rock  that  the  Manchus  began  their 
long  rule  over  the  magnificent  possession  into 
which  they  had  come  almost  without  effort. 
The  second  emperor,  whose  style  is  K'ang  Hsi, 
came  to  the  throne  when  he  was  but  eight 
years  of  age  and  took  the  government  into  his 
own  hands  at  fourteen,  making  a  striking  and 
instructive  parallel  with  the  history  of  Louis 
XIV  of  France,  their  two  reigns  being  con- 
temporaneous for  more  than  half  a  century. 

K'ang  Hsi  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  com- 
paratively few  really  great  monarchs  who  have 
ruled  the  Celestial  Empire.  He  greatly  ex- 
tended his  frontier  on  the  west,  consolidated  his 
power  everywhere,  and  established  regulations 
which  have  contributed  to  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  China  ever  since.  He  was  indefatiga- 
ble in  his  devotion  to  state  affairs,  liberal  in  his 
expenditure   for  public  ends,   and   anxious   to 


26  BEX  CHRISTUS 

promote  the  welfare  of  his  people.  He  has  been 
termed  the  most  successful  patron  of  literature 
the  world,  has  ever  seen,  causing  to  be  published 
four  great  works  of  continental  scope,  any  one 
of  which  would  have  distinguished  any  ruler, 
aside  from  the  great  lexicon  to  which  he  has 
given  his  name.  He  governed  China  for  the 
almost  unprecedented  period  of  sixty-one  years, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Yung  Cheng,  in 
1722. 

He  in  turn  was  followed  by  his  famous  son, 
Ch'ien  Lung  (or  Kien  Lung),  who,  after  ruling 
sixty  years,  resigned  the  throne  for  the  very 
Chinese  reason  that  it  would  not  be  filial  to 
outdo  his  grandfather !  tie  was  also  a  patron 
of  literature,  and  a  poet  of  great  merit,  his 
productions  reaching  the  astonishing  total  of 
33,950,  many  of  which  however  were  very  short. 
Like  K'ang  Hsi  he  extended  the  boundaries  of 
the  empire,  but  wasted  revenues  on  the  support 
of  large  armies.  He  received  embassies  from 
the  Russians,  the  Dutch,  and  the  English,  which 
tended  to  confirm  the  Chinese  in  their  inefface- 
able conviction  that  China  is  the  real  centre  of 
the  universe,  and  all  under  the  heavens  merely 
tributary,  —  a  theory  which  was  to  bear  bitter 
fruits  in  the  ensuing  century. 

The  next  emperor,  Chia  Ch'ing  (Kia  King), 
was  dissolute  and  superstitious,  and  his  reign  of 
twenty-five  years  was  disturbed  by  rebellions  on 
land  and  pirates  by  sea.     He  was  followed  iu 


A   SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  27 

1820  by  his  son  Tao  Kuang,  during  whose  reign 
China  had  to  face  unprecedented  troubles,  —  a 
rebellion  in  Turkestan,  an  insurrection  in  For- 
mosa, and  a  rising  in  Kuangtung.  But  all  these 
combined  were  trifling  when  compared  with  the 
dark  cloud  rising  on  the  horizon  from  the  pres- 
ence of  the  outer  barbarians,  who  had  been  for 
some  centuries  trading  at  Canton,  but  who  now 
broke  out  into  what  the  Chinese  considered  to 
be  "open  rebellion." 

This  was  the  Opium  War  between  Great 
Britain  and  China,  in  which.  Mobile  there  was 
much  to  regret  on  the  foreign  side  of  the  case, 
there  was  abundant  reason  for  the  conflict  aside 
from  the  special  issues  on  which  it  was  waged. 
It  was  terminated  by  the  Treaty  of  Nanking  in 
1842,  of  which  Dr.  Williams  has  justly  remarked 
that  whether  regarded  from  the  political,  com- 
mercial, moral,  or  intellectual  standpoint,  it  was 
"  one  of  the  turning-points  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  involving  the  welfare  of  all  nations  in 
its  wide-reaching  consequences."  By  it,  in  ad- 
dition to  Canton,  were  opened  the  ports  of  Amoy, 
Foochow,  Ningpo,  and  Shanghai,  —  the  promise 
and  potency  of  the  ultimate  opening  of  all  China 
which  has  not  yet  been  effected. 

Just  as  this  emperor  quitted  the  stage  the 
great  T'ai  P'ing  Rebellion  broke  out,  which  rav- 
aged a  large  part  of  the  empire,  and  shook  the 
dynasty  to  its  foundations,  resulting  in  the  loss 
of  perhaps  twenty  millions  of  lives.     This,  after 


28  BEX  CHBISTUS 

fifteen  years  of  ruin,  was  finally  put  down  by 
the  aid  of  foreigners,  of  whom  General  Charles 
George  Gordon  was  the  chief. 

In  the  inglorious  reign  of  the  Emperor  Hsien 
Feng  another  war  with  foreign  powers  took 
place,  ending  in  the  capture  of  Peking  (October, 
1860)  by  the  allied  British  and  French  forces, 
and  the  flight  of  the  emperor,  who  died  on  a 
hunting  excursion  in  his  ancestral  home  in  Man- 
churia in  August,  1860.  The  next  incumbent 
was  a  mere  child,  the  son  of  an  imperial  concu- 
bine, who  took  the  style  of  T'ung  Chih,  but  he 
had  barely  attained  his  majority  when  he  died 
of  smallpox,  January,  1875.  The  affairs  of 
state  had  been  in  the  hands  of  the  empress 
mother,  and  the  empress  dowager,  together 
with  Prince  Kung,  a  brother  of  the  late 
emperor. 

Anotlier  infant  was  now  set  upon  the  throne 
and  another  regency  began,  the  events  of  which 
are  fresh  in  the  memories  of  those  who  know 
anything  of  China ;  but  for  those  who  do  not, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  summarize  them  in  the 
space  at  our  disposal.  There  was  a  sort  of 
war  with  France  in  1844,  in  which  the  Chinese 
were  not  decisively  beaten.  There  was  another 
far  more  serious  conflict  with  Japan  ten  years 
later  in  which  China  was  humbled  to  the  dust; 
but  her  semi-Bourbon  leaders  learned  nothing 
and  forgot  everything,  and  the  country  drifted 
on.       The  attempted  reforms  of  the  emperor  in 


10 


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105    Longitude  East      /~H  A  I 


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■^/W 


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^..i.':-a*'W-k'"f '  1 


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ilissitmarv  Stations  appear  in  thta  type^  CwIob 


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It 


A   SELF-CENTRED   EMPIRE  29 

1898  ended  in  his  virtual  dethronement  and 
practical  imprisonment.  The  union  of  a  great 
variety  of  causes  brought  about  a  profound  dis- 
content in  the  minds  of  millions  of  his  subjects, 
which  resulted  in  1899-1900  in  the  outbreak  of 
the  most  singular  crusade  in  the  annals  of  man- 
kind, ending  in  the  capture  of  Peking  by  the 
allies,  August  14th,  1900.  The  court  fled  to 
distant  Si  Ngan  Fu,  long  the  capital  of  the 
empire  under  many  dynasties,  but  returned 
nearly  a  year  and  a  half  later,  in  what  was  vir- 
tually a  triumphal  progress,  to  continue  the  difh- 
cult  task  of  confronting  the  twentieth  century 
with  the  ideas  and  the  ideals  which  would  have 
been  wholly  appropriate  to  the  T'ang  and  the 
Sung. 

THE   PROVINCES   OF   CHINA 

It  is  convenient  to  have  a  general  conspectus  of  the 
various  provinces  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  with  a  note 
of  the  (theoretical)  population,  and  the  area.  The  fig- 
ures of  the  former  are  taken  from  the  Statesman's  Year 
Book  for  1902,  and  though  mere  conjectures  in  some 
instances,  and  obviously  erroneous  in  others,  they  answer 
very  well  for  a  rough  approximation  to  truth.  In  con- 
formity to  a  common  practice  the  Chinese  names  have 
been  translated,  with  a  view  to  a  greater  vividness  of 
impression  ;  but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  meaning 
is  altogether  lost  sight  of  in  common  speech,  and  that 
in  the  cases  where  the  province  is  named  from  some  of 
its  chief  cities,  the  title  never  had  any  meaning. 

1.  Chihli.  (Direct  Rule,  because  it  contains  the  capital 
of  the  empire.)     Population  17,937,000 ;  area  58,949  square 


30  BEX  CHRISTUS 

miles.  The  metropolis,  which  is  usually  termed  Peking, 
or  the  Xorthern  Capital,  is  properly  designated  as 
Shun  T'ien  Eu,  "the  most  interesting  and  unique  city 
in  Asia,"  about  twenty-one  miles  in  the  circuit  of  its 
walls.  Since  its  last  occupation  by  the  allies,  it  enjoys 
the  distinction  of  being  the  only  capital  in  the  world 
which  gives  residence  to  a  large  number  of  foreign 
ambassadors  who  live  in  a  separate  quarter,  protected 
by  little  armies  of  their  own,  within  fortified  legations. 
Next  to  Shanghai,  Tientsin  is  the  most  important  point 
in  China,  situated  some  thirty-five  miles  from  the  sea,  at 
the  junction  of  the  Grand  Canal  with  two  other  streams 
which  form  the  "  Sea  River,"  navigable  by  steamers  to 
Tientsin  only.  The  population  of  Peking  and  of  Tientsin 
cannot  be  known  with  any  approximation  to  accuracy, 
but  may  be  three-quarters  of  a  million  for  the  former, 
and  half  a  million  for  the  latter.  Since  the  foreign 
occupation,  the  wall  of  Tientsin  has  been  removed  and 
great  changes  of  many  sorts  have  taken  place.  Tientsin 
is  the  commercial  emporium  of  the  greater  part  of  Chihli 
as  well  as  for  considerable  portions  of  Honan,  Shantung, 
Shansi,  and  Manchuria.  In  the  immediate  future  it  will 
be  an  even  more  imi^ortaut  distributing  centre  than  at 
present.  It  will  also  be  a  railway  terminus  and  junction, 
not  only  for  the  existing  lines  to  Peking,  eighty  miles 
northwest,  and  to  Newchwang  to  the  east,  but  also  of 
the  Anglo-German  line  to  Chinkiang  on  the  Yang-tse. 
It  wiU  likewise  be  a  place  of  educational  and  of  manu- 
facturing importance.  Pao  Ting  Fu,  one  hundred  miles 
south  of  Peking,  is  the  provincial  capital,  though  during 
the  incumbency  of  Li  Hung  Chang  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment was  practically  removed  to  Tientsin,  to  which  place 
it  has  again  reverted.  Most  of  Chihli  is  a  part  of  the 
Great  Plain,  but  the  north  and  west  are  mountainous. 
The  vicinity  of  the  seashore,  as  well  as  large  tracts  inland, 
are  often  covered  with  a  nitrous  efflorescence  fatal  to 
cultivation.    Much  of  the  plain  is  subject  to  inundations, 


A    SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  31 

in  consequence  of  which  the  inhabitants  are  frequently 
reduced  to  great  misery. 

2.  Shantung.  (East  of  the  Mountains.)  Population, 
36,247,000 ;  area,  53,762  (or,  according  to  others,  65,104) 
square  miles.  This  province  has  a  long  and  an  irregular 
coast  line  which  is  half  the  length  of  the  whole  circuit. 
The  larger  part  of  the  land  belongs  to  the  Great  Plain, 
but  mountains  extend  from  Chi  Nan  Fu,  the  capital,  to 
the  Shantung  promontory.  Tlie  true  Grand  Canal  ter- 
minates at  Lin  Ch'ing  Cliou,  the  I'emainder  of  the  route 
to  Tientsin  being  by  a  river  called  (on  the  maps)  the 
Wei.  The  city  of  T'ai  An  Fu  is  seated  at  the  base  of 
T'ai  Shan  (Great  Mountain),  the  oldest  historical  moun- 
tain in  the  world,  still  much  visited  by  pilgrims.  Con- 
fucius and  Mencius  were  natives  of  Shantung,  in  what 
is  now  the  prefecture  of  Yen  Chou  Fu.  The  port  -of 
Chiao  Chou  (Kiao  Chou),  occupied  by  the  Germans  in 
1897,  is  on  the  southeast.  They  have  built  a  railway 
to  Wei  Hsien  and  Ch'ing  Chou  Fu,  which  will  soon  be 
extended  to  the  capital,  and  will  connect  with  the  future 
Tientsin-Chinkiang  trunk  line.  The  principal  port  is 
Chefoo,  north  of  the  promontory.  Wei  Hai  Wei,  not  far 
distant,  was  in  1898  leased  to  the  British  as  a  partial 
counterbalance  to  the  Russian  occupation  of  Port  Artlmr. 

3.  Kiangsu.  (River  Thyme,  from  the  initial  syllables 
of  Kiaug  Ning  Fu,  commonly  called  Nanking,  or  Southern 
Capital,  and  Soochow  or  Su  Chou  Fu,  the  principal  cities.) 
Population,  20,905,000 ;  area,  44,500  square  miles.  This 
province  is  one  of  the  best  watered  in  China,  being  mainly 
plain  and  marsh  with  the  Yang-tse  River  running  through 
it,  and  the  Grand  Canal,  as  well  as  numerous  other 
streams,  several  lakes,  and  endlessly  ramifying  smaller 
canals.  Nanking  was  the  seat  of  government  for  China 
in  the  days  of  the  first  emperor  of  the  Mings.  Soochow, 
before  it  was  ruined  by  the  T'ai  P'ing  Rebellion,  was  a 
splendid  city,  and  was  linked  with  Hangchow  as  in  the 
estimation  of   the  Chinese  the  most  desirable  spot  on 


32  REX  CHEISTUS 

earth,  only  to  be  compared  with  Heaven.  Foreigners 
have  styled  Soocliow  the  Paris  of  China.  Shanghai  is  the 
commercial  metropolis  of  the  empii-e.  Its  foreign  settle- 
ments are  an  epitome  of  the  best  and  the  worst  that 
western  civilization  has  to  confer  on  China,  and  are  grow- 
ing with  rapid  strides.  Chinkiang,  an  important  port 
on  the  Yang-tse,  was  ruined  by  the  T'ai  P'ing  Rebellion, 
but  was  rebuilt,  and  is  again  flourishing. 

4.  Chekiang.  (Tidal-bore  River.)  Population,  11,- 
588,000  ;  area,  39,150  square  miles.  One  of  the  smaller 
of  the  eighteen  provinces,  largely  hilly  or  mountainous, 
with  numerous  rivers,  rich  valleys,  large  cities,  and 
abundant  productions,  of  which  silk  and  tea  are  tlie 
chief.  In  the  principal  river  of  the  province  there  is 
a  famous  tidal  bore,  which  is  one  of  the  sights  of  China. 
Hangchow,  the  capital,  was  also  the  capital  of  China  in 
a  part  of  the  Sung  dynasty,  and  is  the  southern  terminus 
of  the  Grand  Canal.  Ningpo,  at  the  junction  of  three 
rivers,  is  the  most  important  port  of  the  province. 

5.  Fukien.  (Happily  Established.)  Population,  22,- 
190,000  ;  area,  38,500  square  miles.  This  is  another  one 
of  the  smaller  provinces,  especially  since  the  large  island 
of  Formosa  was  wrested  from  China  by  Japan  at  the 
close  of  the  wJir  in  1895.  Although  almost  entirely 
hilly  or  mountainous,  Fukien  is  supposed  to  have  a 
large  population.  The  lofty  hills  are  terraced  to  the 
very  top,  yet  the  area  of  arable  land  is  insufficient  for 
the  support  of  the  inhabitants. 

Foochow,  the  capital,  thirty -four  miles  from  the  sea  on 
the  river  Min,  is  a  large  (and  filthy)  city,  which  was 
made  a  treaty  port  in  1842.  Owing  to  the  strong  com- 
petition of  the  Ceylon  and  India  leaf,  and  the  consequent 
decline  of  the  tea  trade,  the  importance  of  Foochow  as  a 
commercial  centre  has  declined.  Amoy,  another  of  the 
five  ports  opened  by  the  treaty  just  mentioned,  in  the 
southeast  of  the  province,  is  beautifully  situated  on  an 
island,  with  an  excellent  harbor.     It  has  been  the  centre 


A    SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  33 

of  a  foreign  trade  for  nearly  two  hundred  years.  Fiikien 
is  noted  among  the  provinces  of  China  for  the  great 
number  of  its  local  dialects,  and  for  their  mutual  unintel- 
ligibility.  The  people  are  turbulent  in  disposition,  and 
have  been  styled  the  "Irishmen  of  China."  The  literati 
are  peculiarly  proud  and  conceited.  The  Ku  Cli'eng 
massacre  of  1895  exhibited  the  unreasoning  fury  of 
the  ignorant  peasants.  According  to  Professor  Warneck, 
the  number  of  Protestant  Christians  in  Fukien  (25,409) 
was,  in  1001,  larger  than  that  in  any  other  province. 

6.  Kuangtung.  (Broad  East.)  Population,  29,706,000 ; 
area,  79,456  square  miles.  This  is  the  most  southeastern 
province,  and  the  one  longest  known  to  foreigners,  as  well 
as  the  one  from  which  come  nearly  all  Chinese  immigrants 
to  the  United  States.  It  includes  also  the  large  island 
of  Hainan.  The  province  is  watered  by  three  large 
streams,  the  West,  North,  and  East  Rivers,  which  are 
estimated  to  drain  150,000  square  miles  of  territory,  and 
which  combine  to  form  the  Pearl  River  (Chu  Kiang),  on 
which  is  situated  the  city  of  Canton  (Kuang  Chou  Fu), 
distant  about  ninety-five  miles  from  Hongkong.  The 
population  of  Canton  is  supposed  to  be  not  less  than  a 
million  souls,  and  is  increasing.  The  Cantonese  are  very 
enterprising  and  the  best  merchants  in  China,  but  are 
endued  with  an  unlimited  capacity  for  exploding  in  anti- 
foreign  and  anti-dynastic  outbreaks.  The  relation  of 
Canton  to  early  foreign  trade,  and  to  the  beginnings  of 
China  missions,  has  been  mentioned  elsewhere.  The 
settlement  of  Macao,  about  forty  miles  from  Hongkong, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  estuary  of  the  Pearl  River,  has 
long  been  occupied  by  the  Portuguese  and  contains  a 
considerable  population,  but  its  commercial  importance 
was  extinguished  by  the  rise  of  Hongkong.     Swatow,  on 

he  northeast,  was  made  a  port  by  the  treaty  of  1858,  and 
Pakhoi,  in  the  southwest,  by  the  Chefoo  Convention  of 
1876. 

7.  Kuaugsi.     (Broad   West.)      Population,    5,151,000; 


+ 


34  REX   CHBISTUS 

area,  78,250  square  miles.  This  is  probably  the  most 
sparsely  settled  province  in  the  empire,  and  has  been 
pronouncedly  anti-foreign.  Its  principal  commercial 
city,  Wu  Chou  Fu,  has  recently  been  made  accessible 
to  steamboat  trafBc.  The  great  T'ai  P'ing  Rebellion 
had  its  rise  in  Kuangsi.  At  present  (1903)  a  large  part 
of  the  province  is  overrun  by  rebels  wliom  the  impe- 
rial troops  are  unable  to  put  down.  There  are  many 
tribes  not  of  the  Chinese  race  within  the  boundaries  of 
Kuangsi,  who  are  ruled  b}^  the  authorities  only  in  an 
indirect  way. 

8.  Kueichou.  (Noble  Region.)  Population,  7,669,000; 
area,  64,554  square  miles.  The  people  of  this  remote 
province  are  rude,  ignorant,  and  turbulent.  It  is  con- 
sidered to  be  in  all  respects  the  poorest  of  the  empire.  It 
has  considerable  mineral  wealth,  especially  deposits  of 
mercury,  which  have  been  worked  for  centuries,  and  are 
said  to  be  of  unequalled  richness.  The  provincial  capital 
is  the  smallest  in  China,  with  walls  not  more  than  two 
miles  in  circuit. 

9.  Yunnan.  (Cloudy  South.)  Population,  11,721,000. 
(Tliere  is  evidently  a  gross  error  in  this  total,  which  ought 
to  be  reduced  by  more  than  one-half.)  Area,  107,969 
square  miles.  This  is  the  most  extreme  southwestern 
province  of  the  empire,  some  of  its  remoter  cities  accord- 
ing to  Chinese  reckoning  being  more  than  3000  English 
miles  from  Peking.  It  -was  subdued  in  the  T'ang  dy- 
nasty, and  is  therefore  one  of  the  more  recent  additions 
to  the  eighteen  provinces,  not  dating  from  much  more 
than  ten  centuries  ago.  Yunnan  has  an  extensive  central 
plateau,  with  valley-plains  at  an  elevation  of  from  5000  to 
6000  feet.  Like  the  last  mentioned  provinces,  it  is  largely 
occupied  by  tribes  owning  but  nominal  allegiance  to  the 
Chinese  government.  "  The  mineral  wealth  of  Yunnan 
is  greater  and  more  varied  than  that  of  any  other  prov- 
ince, certain  of  its  mines  having  been  worked  ever  since 
the    Sung   dynasty."     The    French    are    energetic    and 


A    SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  35 

untiring  in  their  endeavors  to  exploit  this  part  of  China, 
which  certainly  cannot  long  remain  in  its  present  in- 
accessible and  undeveloped  condition. 

ID.  Ssuch'uan.  (Four  Streams.)  Population,  67,712,- 
000 ;  area,  166,800  square  miles.  This,  the  largest  province 
of  China,  takes  its  name  from  its  principal  rivers,  which 
are  all  tributary  to  the  mighty  Yang-tse.  The  western 
part  is  mountainous,  the  eastern  fertile  and  populous,  and 
for  ages  has  had  a  high  civilization.  The  productions 
are  abundant.  The  seat  of  government  (Ch'eng  Tu  Fu, 
the  Completed  Capital),  in  the  midst  of  a  large  and 
thickly  populated  plain,  is  supposed  to  have  a  million 
inhabitants.  Since  Ch'ung  Ch'ing  (Chungking)  has 
been  made  the  residence  of  foreign  consular  officials, 
and  since  the  upper  Yang-tse  has  been  navigated  by 
steamboats,  the  vast  possibilities  of  this  imperial  do- 
main are  coming  to  be  better  understood,  and  there  is 
keen  competition  between  the  British  and  the  French 
for  railway  and  mining  concessions.  The  salt  wells  of 
the  province  have  long  been  famous.  Lolo  tribes  are 
scattered  through  the  western  portions  of  Ssuch'uan. 

II.  Hunan.  (South  of  the  Lakes.)  Population,  21,- 
002,000 ;  area,  74,320  square  miles.  Like  the  province  last 
mentioned,  Hunan  has  four  principal  rivers,  the  basin 
of  which  is  extremely  populous.  The  capital,  Ch'ang 
Sha  Fu,  is  a  large  and  an  ancient  city,  supposed  to  have 
a  million  inhabitants.  The  people  of  this  province  are 
high-strung  and  imperious.  Some  of  the  most  promi- 
nent statesmen  of  the  past  generation,  notably  the  Tseng 
family,  are  Hunanese.  The  province  has  long  been 
known  as  the  most  obstinately  anti-foreign  in  China. 
It  was  a  boast  that  no  missionaries  could  find  lodgment 
there,  whatever  they  might  be  able  to  do  elsewhere. 
In  the  early  nineties  this  bitter  feeling  exploded  in  the 
anti-Christian  "  Hunaji  Tracts,"  which  showed  unparal- 
leled venom  and  depravity.  During  the  reform  move- 
ments of  1898  Hunan  was  much  stirred,  and  at  length 


36  BEX  CHRISTUS 

greatly  enlightened.  It  may  be  said  to  be  now  really 
open,  and  there  are  at  present  more  than  fifty  mission- 
aries in  its  limits.  The  great  trunk  railway  line  from 
Hankow  to  Canton  will  tai3  the  best  sections  of  Hunan, 
and  cannot  fail  to  be  a  great  benefit  to  it. 

12.  Hupeh.  (North  of  the  Lakes.)  Population,  34,- 
244,000;  area,  70,450  square  miles.  The  capital,  Wu 
Ch'ang  Fu,  with  Hankow,  a  treaty  port,  and  Han  Yang, 
at  tlie  mouth  of  the  important  Han  River,  together  con- 
stitute the  most  important  commercial  and  industrial  gan- 
glion in  the  empire,  and  an  unrivalled  missionai'y  centre. 
Hankow  is  the  southern  terminus  of  the  Lu  Han  rail- 
way from  that  city  to  Peking,  which  is  nearly  half  com- 
pleted. The  wonderful  Yang-tse  gorges  between  I 
Ch'ang  Fu  and  the  Ssuch'uan  border,  with  cliffs  rising 
to  the  height  of  between  1000  and  2000  feet,  are  among 
the  chief  sights  of  China. 

13.  Kiangsi.  (West  of  the  River.)  Population,  24,- 
534,000;  area,  72,176  square  miles.  This  province  is 
drained  by  the  Kang  Chiang,  and  is  largely  hilly  or  moun- 
tainous. Its  treaty  port  is  Kiukiang  on  the  Yang-tse. 
The  great  Sung  dynasty  philosopher,  Chu  Hsi,  lived  at 
Nan  Kang,  west  of  the  Po  Yang  Lake.  Kiangsi  has  long 
been  famous  for  the  porcelain  which  takes  its  name  from 
the  empire,  and  which  is  unrivalled  elsewhere. 

13.  Anhui.  (Peace  and  Excellence,  from  the  names 
of  two  of  its  chief  cities.)  Population,  20,596,000 ;  area, 
48,461  square  mUes.  This  province  lies  on  both  sides  of 
the  Yang-tse.  Although  the  population  is  dense,  it  is  far 
less  than  befoi-e  the  T'ai  P'ing  Rebellion.  Green  tea  is 
largely  exported.  The  late  Li  Hung  Chang  was  a  native 
of  Anhui,  and  many  other  prominent  officials  hail  from 
there.  The  capital  is  An  Ch'ing,  also  written  Ngan- 
king,  and  Ganking,  on  the  Yang-tse. 

15.  Honan.  (South  of  the  Yellow  River.)  Population, 
22,115,000;  area,  66,913  square  miles.  Much  of  this 
province  is  a  part  of  the  Great  Plain,  fertile  and  popu- 


A    SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  37 

lous.  It  is  au  aucient  and  a  historic  section  of  the 
empire,  which  was  first  settled  along  the  banks  of  the 
Yellow  River.  The  capital,  K'ai  Feng  Fu,  was  once  that 
of  the  empire.  The  Yellow  River  has  frequently  changed 
its  course  near  this  point,  sometimes  flowing  north  to  the 
Gulf  of  Pechili,  and  sometimes  southeast  to  the  Yellow 
Sea.  In  1888  it  again  broke  out  toward  the  southeast, 
becoming,  as  it  chronically  does,  "  China's  Sorrow,"  but 
was  later  restored  to  its  former  channel  to  inundate 
Shantung  instead  of  the  two  provinces  to  the  south. 

i6.  Shansi.  (West  of  the  Mountains.)  Population, 
12,211,000;  area,  56,268  square  miles.  This  is  one  of 
the  frontier  provinces,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  "  the 
original  seat  of  the  Chinese  people."  It  is  a  series  of 
elevated  table-lands  bounded  by  mountains.  The  soil 
presents  many  extraordinary  phenomena  in  the  loess 
deposits,  with  their  deep  clefts,  the  terraces  rising  in 
different  levels  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  The  mineral 
wealth  of  Shansi,  especially  in  iron  and  coal,  is  appar- 
ently inexhaustible,  the  former  being  equal  to  any  in  the 
world  and  the  latter  found  in  quantities  estimated  to 
suffice  for  the  whole  world  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years.  The  entire  province,  once  wealthy,  is  cursed  with 
the  opium  habit.  Shansi  men  are  famous  all  over  China 
as  business  factors,  and  especially  as  bankers.  The 
mountain  passes  from  Chihli  are  great  arteries  of  travel, 
and  Dr.  Williams  thinks  that  these  highways  "  when  new, 
probably  equalled  in  engineering  and  construction  any- 
thing of  the  kind  ever  built  by  the  Romans." 

17.  Shensi.  (Western  Passes.)  Population,  8,432,000 ; 
area,  67,400  square  miles.  The  capital  of  this  province 
is  Si  Ngan  Fu  (also  wiitten  Singan  and  Hsi  An  Fu), 
which  has  been  the  capital  also  of  the  empire  for  a  longer 
period  than  any  other  city.  It  was  the  refuge  of  the 
Chinese  court  after  the  occupation  of  Peking  by  the 
allies  in  1900.  The  Nestorian  Tablet  is  in  an  old  temple 
court  beyond  the  west  suburb.     Si  Ngan  Fu,  a  city  with 


145710 


88  REX  CHRISTUS 

lofty  walls  and  of  a  far  more  imposing  appearance  than 
Peking,  is  a  distributing  point  of  the  first  class,  being 
the  principal  back  door  of  China.  The  basin  in  which  it 
is  situated  is  fertile,  but  owing  to  the  disastrous  Moham- 
medan rebellion  in  the  sixties,  still  not  thickly  populated. 
The  same  is  yet  more  the  case  in  other  parts  of  the  prov- 
ince. This  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  parts  of  the 
empire. 

i8.  Kansuh.  (Willing  Reverence,  from  the  names  of 
two  leading  cities.)  Population,  9,285,000;  area,  125,450 
square  miles.  This  vast  stretch  of  territory  was  set  off 
from  Shensi  more  than  a  century  ago,  and  its  western 
part  extends  to  the  terminus  of  the  Great  Wall,  and  be- 
yond to  the  desert  of  Gobi.  This  insures  control  of  the 
important  passages  toward  the  provinces  to  the  eastward. 
Kansuh  was  devasted  by  the  great  Mohammedan  rebellion 
just  mentioned,  and  there  have  been  repeated  outbreaks 
since.  The  eastern  part  yields  productions  similar  to 
those  of  the  Great  Plain.  There  are  mineral  deposits  of 
unknown  value  mainly  undeveloped. 

Besides  these  eighteen  provinces  there  is  a  vast  tract 
to  the  north  of  them,  denoted  by  the  general  term  Man- 
churia, the  original  home  of  the  present  Manchu  dynasty. 
It  is  divided  into  three  provinces,  Shinking  (also  written 
Sheng  Ching),  Kirin  (or  Chi  Lin),  and  Chi  Chi  Har  (or 
Tsitsihar).  Manchuria  has  been  largely  colonized  by 
immigrants  from  Shantung,  and  the  inhabitants  have 
proved  far  more  receptive  of  Christian  truth  (presented 
to  them  by  the  Scotch  and  Irish  Presbyterian  Missions), 
despite  their  initial  bitter  opposition,  than  almost  any 
part  of  the  eighteen  provinces.  Since  the  cession  to 
Russia  of  the  right  to  build  through  these  provinces  the 
Siberian  railway  and  to  guard  it,  the  whole  territory  has 
become  Russianized.  It  was  occupied  by  Japan  after  her 
war  with  China,  but  the  European  Powers  would  not 
allow  her  to  keep  it.  Its  complete  absorption,  euphemis- 
tically styled  "  painless  identification  "  by  Russia,  threat- 


A   SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  39 

ens  China,  Japan,  and  incidentally  the  peace  of  a  large 
part  of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

SIGNIFICANT   SENTENCES 

When  China  is  moved  it  will  change  the  face  of  the 
globe.  —  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena. 

It  is  a  great  step  toward  the  Christianization  of  our 
planet  if  Christianity  gain  an  entrance  into  China. 

—  Neander. 

A  high  minister  of  state  in  China  said  to  me  a  little 
over  a  year  ago  :  "  If  we  could  only  believe  that  foreigners 
were  sincere  in  their  friendship  to  us,  we  would  in  an 
instant  open  up  the  whole  of  our  country  and  let  traders 
as  well  as  missionaries  go  everywhere.  It  is  not  that  we 
are  unwilling  to  advance  ;  we  are  afraid."  The  writer  is 
confident  that  there  are  honorable,  large-minded,  generous 
men  in  all  our  Christian  nations  ready  to  drive  off  such 
fears,  and  to  unitedly  help  in  bringing  about  a  new  and 
happy  era  in  China,  one  of  j^rosperity,  peace,  and  social 
regeneration.  —  Gilbert  Reid,  in  The  National  Review. 


■'O^ 


I  love  American  institutions  and  believe  the  instruction 
of  Chinese  youth  in  America  to  be  the  best  means  of 
translating  American  ideas  into  China,  thus  bringing  to- 
gether the  oldest  empire  of  the  East  and  the  greatest 
republic  of  the  West.  —  Chentung  Liang  Cheng,  Min- 
ister to  U.  S.,  at  Amherst  Commencement,  1903. 

Ancient  Civilization 

When  Moses  led  the  Israelites  through  the  wilderness, 
Chinese  laws  and  literature  and  Chinese  religious  knowl- 
edge excelled  that  of  Egypt.  A  hundred  years  before  the 
north  wind  rippled  over  the  harp  of  David,  Wung  Wang, 
an  emperor  of  China,  composed  classics  which  are  com- 


40  REX  CHRISTUS 

mitted  to  memory  at  this  day  by  every  advanced  scholar 
of  the  empire.  While  Homer  was  composing  and  singing 
the  Iliad,  China's  blind  minstrels  were  celebrating  her 
ancient  heroes,  whose  tombs  had  already  been  with  them 
through  nearly  thirteen  centuries.  Her  literature  was 
fully  developed  before  England  was  invaded  by  the 
Norman  conquerors.  The  Chinese  invented  firearms  as 
early  as  the  reign  of  England's  first  Edward,  and  the  art 
of  printing  five  hundred  years  before  Caxton  was  born. 
They  made  paper  a.d.  150,  and  gunpowder  about  the 
commencement  of  the  Christian  era.  A  thousand  years 
ago  the  forefathers  of  the  present  Chinese  sold  silks  to  the 
Romans,  and  dressed  in  these  fabrics  when  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  British  Isles  wore  coats  of  blue  paint  and 
fished  in  willow  canoes.  Her  great  wall  was  built  two 
hundred  and  twenty  years  before  Christ  was  born  in 
Bethlehem,  and  contains  material  enough  to  build  a  wall 
five  or  six  feet  high  around  the  globe. 

—  Rev.  J.  T.  Gracey,  D.D. 

In  all  my  life  rolled  together  I  had  never  seen  so  many 
water-craft  as  I  saw  at  Shanghai.  They  anchor  in  such 
myriads  that  the  beholder  realizes  for  the  first  time  what 
a  farce  it  is  to  speak  of  the  "  forests  of  masts  "  at  New 
York  or  Liverpool.  They  lie  together  in  all  but  solid 
masses  for  miles  and  miles  on  each  side  of  the  harbor,  and 
the  channel  between  the  lines  is  no  more  clear  of  them 
than  Broadway  or  Charing  Cross  is  free  of  vehicles  at 
noonday.  Thus  we  see  how  large  a  proportion  of  the 
population  is  nautical.  —  Julian  Ralph. 

Asia  is  now  the  field.  The  coming  question  will  be 
Asiatic.  It  belongs  to  the  next  generation.  I  should 
advise  my  younger  friends  to  bend  their  thoughts  in  that 
direction.  It  may  come  with  the  youngest  and  the  oldest 
civilizations  —  the  United  States  and  China  —  face  to  face! 

,  —  Editor  London  Times. 


A    SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  41 

O,  East  is  East  and  West  is  West,  and  never  the  twain 
shall  meet, 

Till  earth  and  sky  stand  presently  at  God's  great  judg- 
ment seat; 

But  there  is  neither  East  nor  West,  border  nor  breed  nor 
birth. 

When  two  strong  men  stand  face  to  face,  though  they 
come  from  the  ends  of  the  earth.  —  Kipling. 

Even  the  discovery  of  this  continent  and  its  islands, 
and  the  organization  of  society  and  government  upon 
them,  grand  and  important  as  these  events  have  been, 
were  but  conditional,  preliminary,  and  ancillary  to  the 
more  sublime  result  now  in  the  act  of  consummation  — 
the  reunion  of  the  two  civilizations  which,  parting  on  the 
plains  of  Asia  four  thousand  years  ago,  and  travelling 
ever  aftei'ward  in  opposite  directions  around  the  world, 
now  meet  again  on  the  coasts  and  islands  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  Certainly  no  mere  human  event  of  equal  dignity 
and  importance  has  ever  occurred  upon  the  earth. 

—  W.  H.  Seward. 

THEMES   FOR   STUDY   OR   DISCUSSION 

I.   China's  Limitless  Resources. 
II.   Floods  and  Famines. 

III.  Life  on  the  Waterways  and  in  House-Boats. 

IV.  China  at  the  Time  of  the  Trojan  War. 
V.   Mongols  and  Manchus. 

VI.   The    Troublesome    Tartars.      (Read   Coleridge's 

"  Kublai  Khan.") 
VII.    Comparison   between   the  Reigns  of   K'ang  Hsi 
and  his  Contemporary,  Louis  XIV  of  France. 
VIII.   The  Great  Wall  and  Other  Public  Works. 
IX.   Reasons  for  Chinese  National  Conceit. 
X.   China  a  Literary  Nation. 
XL   The  "  Arrested  Development"  of  China. 
XII.    Home  and  Child  Life  in  China. 


42  BEX  CHRISTUS 


BOOKS   OF   REFERENCE 

For  general  reference  on  this  and  succeeding  chapters :  — 

Beach's  "  Dawn  on  the  Hills  of  T'ang." 

Beach's  "  Geography  and  Atlas  of  Protestant  Missions." 

Bliss's  "Encyclopaedia  of  Missions." 

Dennis's  "  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress." 

Doolittle's  "  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese." 

Encyclopaedias,  articles  on  "  China." 

Martin's  "  Cycle  of  Cathay  "  and  "  Lore  of  Cathay." 

Smith's  "  Chinese  Characteristics  "  and  "  ViUage  Life  in 

China." 
Williams's  "  The  Middle  Kingdom." 


For  special  reference  on  above  themes :  — 

Ball's  "  Things  Chinese."     IV,  VI,  VII,  VIII. 

Bishop's  "  The  Yangtze  Valley  and  Beyond."    I,  II,  III, 

XI,  XII. 
Bryson's  "  Child  Life  in  Chinese  Homes."    XII. 
Chang  Chih-tung's  "  China's  Only  Hope."     IX,  X,  XI. 
Colquhoun's  "  China  in  Transformation."     I,  V,  XI. 
Colquhoun's  "  Overland  to  China."    V. 
Curzou's  "  Problems  of  the  Far  East."     X. 
De  Quincey's  "  Flight  of  a  Tartar  Tribe."     VI. 
Dukes's  "  Everyday  Life  in  China."     XII. 
Giles's  "  Chinese  Literature."    IV,  VII. 
Gilmour's  "  Among  the  Mongols."     V,  XII. 
Gilmour's  "  More  About  the  Mongols."     V. 
Gracey's  "  China  in  Outline."     I,  X. 
Guinness's  "  In  the  Far  East."     Ill,  XII. 
Henry's  "  Ling-nam,  or  Interior  Views  of  South  China." 

Ill,  XII. 
Headland's  "Chinese  Boy  and  Girl."     XII. 
Holcombe's  "  The  Real  Chinese  Question."    V,  IX,  X. 


A   SELF-CENTRED  EMPIRE  43 

Hue's  "  Travels  in  Tartary,  Thibet,  and  China."     I,  II, 

III,  IV,  V,  VI. 
Lewis's  "  Educational  Conquest  of  the  Far  East."    X. 
Moule's  "  Chinese  Stories  for  Boys  and  Girls."    XII. 
Moule's  "  New  China  and  Old."     X,  XL 
Nevius's  "  China  and  the  Chinese."    I,  II,  III,  Vin,  X. 
Phillips's  "  Peeps  into  China."     Ill,  XII. 
Ross's  "  The  Manchus."    II,  V. 
Yule's  "  Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither."    IV,  V,  VL 


Articles  on  China  in  Periodicals:  — 

Century,  Vol.  23,  "  The  Great  Wall  of  China."     VIH. 
Harper's,  Vol.  91,  "  House-Boating  in  China."     III. 
Lippincotfs,  Vol.  19,  "  The  Tartar  and  His  Home."     VL 
Popular  Science  Monthly,  Vol.  21,  "  The  Chinese  :  Their 
Manners  and  Customs."    XII, 


CHAPTER   II 

The  Religions  of  China 

Confucia7iism 

There  is  no  equivalent  in  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage for  the  word  "  religion,"  its  place  being 
taken  by  a  term  which  signifies  instruction.  It 
is  for  this  reason  peculiarly  important,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  religions  of  China,  to  make  clear  the 
relation  of  Confucius  to  the  people  among  whom 
he  lived  and  died,  and  who  worship  his  memory. 
As  his  personality  is  implicated  with  his  system, 
it  is  desirable  to  say  a  few  words  of  the  external 
facts  of  his  life.  He  was  born,  551  B.C.,  in  what 
is  now  called  the  county  of  Ch'u  Fu,  in  the 
prefecture  of  Yen  Chou,  in  the  province  of 
Shantung.  His  family  name  was  K'ung,  and 
his  designation  Chung  Ni,  but  he  was  called  by 
his  disciples  "  The  Master  K'ung  "  (K'ung  Fu- 
tzu),  a  title  which,  being  Latinized  by  the  Jesuit 
missionaries,  has  passed  into  the  languages  of 
Europe. 

His  parents,  although  poor,  were  respectable. 
He  showed  a  taste  for  books,  and  became  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two  a  teacher,  drawing  about  him 
many  admiring  pupils.       He  was  filled  with  en- 

44 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  45 

thusiasm  by  the  study  of  the  ancients,  and 
mourning  over  the  degeneracy  of  his  own  times 
endeavored  to  set  them  right  by  setting  an  ex- 
ample of  good  government,  as  well  as  by  oral 
instruction  to  his  disciples.  At  the  age  of 
fifty-five  he  was  made  a  high  officer  in  his  native 
state  and  the  improvement  in  public  morals  was 
soon  manifest. 

But  Confucius  was  not  a  courtier,  he  was  a 
reformer ;  and  then,  as  now,  reform  was  not 
popular.  The  prince  of  the  state  of  Lu  was 
corrupted  by  the  present  from  a  rival  prince  of 
a  band  of  beautiful  dancing  girls,  and  abandoned 
the  principles  with  which  he  had  been  inspired 
by  the  sage.  Disappointed  and  disgusted,  Con- 
fucius retired  to  private  life,  spending  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days  in  the  instruction  of  youth 
and  in  the  collection  of  the  wisdom  of  the  past. 
His  disciples  are  said  to  have  numbered  three 
thousand,  among  whom  five  hundred  became 
distinguished,  and  seventy-two  of  them  are  en- 
rolled as  Sages  of  the  Empire.  His  own  esti- 
mate of  himself  is  of  moment  in  an  examination 
of  his  influence.  He  modestly  said :  "  The 
sage  and  the  man  of  perfect  virtue  —  how  dare 
I  rank  myself  with  them?  It  may  simply  be 
said  of  me  that  I  strive  to  become  such  without 
satiety,  and  to  teach  others  without  weariness. 
In  letters,  I  am  perhaps  equal  to  other  men ; 
but  the  character  of  the  Superior  Man,  carrying 
out  in  his  conduct  what  he  professes,  is  what 


46  BEX  CHBISTUS 

I  have  not  attained  to.  The  leaving  virtue 
without  proper  cultivation  ;  the  not  thoroughly- 
discussing  what  is  learned ;  not  being  able  to 
move  toward  righteousness  of  which  knowledge 
is  gained  ;  and  not  being  able  to  change  what  is 
not  good,  —  these  are  the  things  which  occasion 
me  solicitude.  I  am  not  one  who  was  born  in 
possession  of  knowledge ;  I  am  one  who  is  fond 
of  antiquity,  and  earnest  in  seeking  it.  A  trans- 
mitter, and  not  a  maker,  believing  in  and  loving 
the  ancients." 

Teachings  of  Confucius.  —  The  first  of  the 
"  Four  Books  "  which  every  Chinese  lad  studies 
as  soon  as  he  is  able  to  do  so  after  entering 
school,  is  called  in  English  the  "  Analects,"  and 
like  Xenophon's  "  Memorabilia  of  Socrates," 
consists  largely  of  reminiscences  gathered  by 
his  disciples.  Among  these  are  to  be  found 
the  extracts  just  cited,  and  many  others  which 
throw  much  light  on  the  views  of  the  master. 
He  refused  to  discuss  the  future,  dismissing  the 
question  with  the  aj)horism  :  "  Not  knowing 
life,  how  can  we  know  death?"  —  a  sentence 
which  has  had  a  fateful  influence  over  innu- 
merable millions  of  immortals  checked  in  their 
search  for  truth. 

The  saying  most  quoted  in  Christian  lands 
is  the  Golden  Rule  in  a  negative  form :  "  Do 
not  do  unto  others  as  you  would  not  that  others 
should  do  unto  you,"  a  dictum  which  may  be 
regarded  as  the  high-water  mark  of  Confucian 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  CHINA  47 

morality,  as  well  as  of  all  non-Christian  teach- 
ings.      In  another  paragraph  the  positive  side 
of  the  same  rule  is  virtuall}^  implied :  "  When 
one  cultivates  to  the  utmost  the  principles  of 
his  nature,  and  exercises  them  on  the  principle 
of  reciprocity,  he  is  not  far  from  the  path."     In 
the  same    connection    he    disclaims  having   at- 
tained unto  serving  his  father  as  he  would  have 
his  son  serve  him,  to  serving  his  prince  as  he 
would  require  his  minister  to  serve  him,  to  serve 
his  elder  brother  as  he  would  require  a  younger 
brother  to  serve  him,  and  to  behave  to  a  friend 
as  he  would  require  him  to  behave  to  himself. 
These    words   suggest   the   summary  of   duties 
which  constitute  the  essence  of  Confucianism  in 
its  explanation  of  the  social  system,  the  "  Five 
Relations  "  of  prince  and  minister ;  father  and 
son ;  husband  and  wife  ;  of  brother  to  brother ; 
■and  of  friend  to  friend.      To  a  Chinese  these 
categories   exhaust    the    universe.      The    Five 
Constant  Virtues  are   Benevolence,  Righteous- 
ness, Propriety,  Knowledge,  and    Faith.      The 
standard  of  the  first  is  so  high  that  few  of  the 
ancient  worthies  were  held  to  have  attained  to 
it;    and,  as  we  have  just  seen,  Confucius  dis- 
claimed for  himself  that  merit.     Righteousness 
is  what  ought  to  be  done,  as  interpreted  by  con- 
science.     Propriety  is  an  unavoidably  infelici- 
tous rendering  of   a   term   which   denotes  the 
outward    manifestation    of    an    inner    feeling. 
Knowledge  is  a  comprehensive  word,  embracing 


48  BEX  CHRISTUS 

everything  from  mere  cognition  up  to  wisdom. 
It  was  a  pithy  saying  of  Confucius  :  "  To  know 
what  we  know,  and  what  we  do  not  know,  is 
knowledge."  Faith,  or  sincerity,  is  the  last  of 
the  five ;  and  as  we  shall  have  occasion  to  see, 
it  is  in  fact  the  one  of  which  least  is  seen  and 
experienced  in  Chinese,  and  among  thorough- 
going Confucianists.  It  has  been  said  that 
there  are  six  essential  elements  of  Confucianism, 
five  of  which,  so  far  as  we  know,  differentiate  it 
from  any  other  system  of  non-Christian  thought. 
Foundation  Principles.  —  Of  these,  the  first  is 
its  doctrine  of  the  direct  responsibility  of  the 
sovereign  to  Heaven,  Shang  Ti,  or  God.  This, 
which  is  abundantly  illustrated  in  the  classical 
writings,  is  as  really  a  factor  of  the  government 
of  to-day  as  it  was  of  that  of  antiquity.  From 
this  source  originates  the  whole  complex  theory 
of  responsibility,  which  plays  so  large  a  part  in 
the  conduct  of  all  Chinese  affairs,  both  private 
and  public.  The  worship  of  Heaven  is  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  emperor  alone,  and  has  been 
well  compared  by  Dr.  Martin,  so  far  as  its  in- 
fluence on  the  public  mind  is  concerned,  to  a 
ray  of  the  sun  falling  upon  an  iceberg.  In  a 
humble  and  feeble  manner  the  people  imitate 
this  worship  by  the  presentation  of  offerings  on 
the  first  and  fifteenth  of  the  moon  to  -'  Old 
Father  Heaven,"  an  impersonal  personality  often 
associated  with  "  Old  Mother  Earth  "  ;  or,  more 
briefly,  they  worship  "Heaven  and  Earth." 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  49 

A  second  element  of  Confucian  teaching  is  the 
singular  proposition  that  the  people  are  of  more 
importance  than  the  sovereign.  The  latter,  as 
we  have  previously  seen,  rules  by  "  Heaven's 
Decree,"  and  when  it  has  been  lost,  he  is  de  facto 
no  longer  the  rightful  ruler.  There  is  in  China 
a  well-recognized  "  right  of  rebellion,"  and  ab- 
solute monarcliy  is  tempered  with  practical  de- 
mocracy in  a  manner  elsewhere  unexampled,  —  a 
fact  without  a  knowledge  of  which  contempo- 
raneous Chinese  history  cannot  be  understood. 

A  third  element  is  that  delimitation  of  the 
social  relations  just  mentioned,  which,  while 
appearing  to  the  Chinese  all  comprehensive,  in 
reality  takes  no  account  of  such  classes  as  em- 
ployer and  employee,  nor  of  such  entities  as 
capital  and  labor. 

A  fourth  element  is  the  prominence  of  the 
virtues  just  specified,  which  form  a  standard 
never  lost  sight  of,  but  constantly  brought  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  all  Chinese.  The  civil  service 
examinations,  as  we  have  seen,  a  slow  growth 
of  many  ages,  have  unified  the  mind  of  the 
Chinese  as  the  mind  of  no  other  people  was  ever 
unified,  unless  the  Jews  be  an  exception ;  and 
the  Jews,  unlike  Confucianists,  are  divided  into 
old  and  new  schools.  In  China  there  is  no  in- 
tellectual revolt  against  any  part  of  the  teach- 
ings of  Confucianism.  China  and  Confucianism 
are  synonymous  terms.  By  means  of  absolutely 
uniform   classical    text-books,   and   by   written 


50  BEX   CHRISTUS 

mottoes  pasted  on  all  the  door-posts  of  the  em- 
pire and  renewed  every  New  Year,  Confucian 
maxims  are  kept  before  the  eyes  and  in  the 
minds  of  the  people.  It  is  an  integral  part  of 
the  theory  that  only  the  wise  and  the  able  should 
rule.  The  object  of  the  elaborate  civil  service 
examinations  is  to  determine  who  the  wise  and 
able  are. 

The  fifth  element  is  the  presentation  of  an 
ideal  or  Princely  Man  as  a  model  on  which 
every  Confucianist  should  form  his  character. 
The  influence  of  this  ideal  upon  the  unnum- 
bered millions  of  Chinese  Confucianists  must 
have  been  measureless.  The  fact  that  the 
master  disclaimed  having  attained  to  his  own 
ideal,  places  before  his  followers  the  ambition  to 
live  up  to  the  high  level  which  Confucius  had 
not  reached.  Self-examination  is  inculcated  by 
the  precepts  and  by  the  example  of  the  greatest 
rulers  and  wise  men  of  antiquity.  No  nation, 
no  race,  was  ever  better  outfitted  with  admi- 
rable moral  precepts  than  the  Chinese. 

The  remaining  of  the  six  elements  is  filial 
piety.  This  includes  not  only  the  meaning 
naturally  suggested  to  Orientals  by  the  phrase, 
but  a  great  deal  more,  and  in  especial  the  wor- 
ship of  ancestors,  which  is  the  real  religion  of 
the  Chinese  people.  It  is  perhaps  the  most 
potent  among  several  causes  which  have  perpet- 
uated the  Chinese  race  as  a  unit  through  all 
the  millenniums  of  its  national  history.     It  is 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  51 

• 

itself  an  illustration  of  the  saying  of  one  of  the 
greatest  emperors  of  the  T'ang  dynasty,  more 
than  one  thousand  years  ago,  that  Confucian- 
ism is  adapted  to  the  Chinese  people  as  water 
to  the  fish. 

Weak  Spots  in  Confucianism.  —  Such,  in  the 
merest  outline,  is  the  remarkable  system  of 
social  ethics  which  is  called  Confucianism.  If 
human  nature  were  in  an  ideal  condition,  Con- 
fucianism would  be  adapted  to  that  ideal,  and, 
as  Dr.  Legge  remarked,  a  world  ordered  by  it 
would  be  a  beautiful  world,  but  it  would  still 
be  deficient  in  the  chief  of  all  the  "  Relations," 
for  it  has  within  it  no  explanation  of  that  which 
is  highest,  deepest,  and  most  essential  in  man. 
Its  view  of  God  is  defective,  its  view  of  man 
inadequate,  and  it  has  no  explanation  of  the 
relation  between  the  two.  God  and  Heaven 
are  synonymous.  Heaven  and  Earth  constitute 
a  dualism,  "  the  conjunction  of  their  vital  es- 
sences brings  forth  a  third,  the  incandescent 
part  of  which  is  called  a  spirit.  Heaven  unites 
its  essences  with  those  of  the  sun,  moon,  and 
stars,  and  spirits  of  Heaven  result.  In  a  similar 
way  the  spirits  of  mountains,  rivers,  and  seas 
are  produced.  When  any  of  these  spirits  in 
some  special  way  benefit  creation,  the  national 
government  canonizes  them,  and  they  take  their 
place  by  the  side  of  Heaven."  The  preceding 
sentences  are  taken  from  the  elaborate  essay 
presented   at   the    Parliament   of    Religions  by 


52  REX  CHRISTUS 

Mr.  P'eng  Kuang  Yu,  and  may  therefore  be 
regarded  as  authoritative.  They  exhibit  the 
nature  worship  which,  in  combination  with  hero 
worship,  and  the  worship  of  ancestors,  charac- 
terizes the  Confucian  cult. 

The  objects  of  the  state  worship  are  of  the 
most  miscellaneous  and  incongruous  description, 
including  the  heavens,  the  sky,  the  earth,  the 
temples  containing  the  tablets  of  the  deceased 
monarchs  of  the  dynasty,  the  gods  of  the  land 
and  the  grain,  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  spirits  of 
emperors  or  kings  of  previous  dynasties,  Con- 
fucius, the  ancient  patrons  of  agriculture  and 
silk,  the  gods  of  heaven,  earth,  and  the  cyclic 
year.  There  is  also  a  lower  grade  of  sacrifices 
to  the  spirits  of  those  who  in  life  were  distin- 
guislied  in  different  ways,  as  generals,  statesmen, 
philanthropists,  etc.  Temples  of  this  sort  are 
constantly  recommended  to  the  emperor  for  his 
approval,  and  are  authorized  by  imperial  decrees, 
one  of  the  most  recent  being  to  the  spirit  of  the 
late  Li  Hung  Chang.  There  are  also  temples 
to  and  worship  of  clouds,  rain,  wind,  thunder, 
the  five  great  mountains,  the  four  seas  and  four 
rivers,  famous  hills,  great  watercourses,  flags, 
gods  of  cannon,  gates,  the  queen  goddess  of 
earth,  the  north  pole,  and  many  other  things. 
Thus,  as  Dr.  "Williams,  from  whom  the  above 
summary  is  quoted,  remarks,  the  ancient  sim- 
plicity of  the  state  religion  has  been  so  far  cor- 
rupted as  to  combine  in  one  ritual,  gods,  ghosts, 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  53 

flags,  and  cannon.     It  has  become  at  once  es- 
sentially polytheistic  and  pantheistic. 

Universality  of  Temples.  —  Idolatry  is  directly 
connected  with  the  underlying  presuppositions 
of  the  Confucian  faith,  and  the  building  of  tem- 
ples began  shortly  after  the  classical  period,  its 
roots  being  found  in  the  classics.  The  present 
universality  of  temples  all  over  China  does  not, 
however,  reach  back  beyond  the  T'ang  dynasty. 
The  number  of  such  is  past  computation,  espe- 
cially to  heroes  like  the  present  god  of  war,  who 
is  theoretically  worshipped  in  every  city  and  ham- 
let of  the  empire,  although  this  is  not  alwa3'S  the 
case.  The  waste  of  wealth  in  structures  of  this 
description,  often  heavily  endowed  and  accom- 
panied with  an  expensive  service,  is  incomput- 
able. One  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  emperor  is 
the  canonization  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  who 
are  appointed  to  certain  positions  in  the  Pan- 
theon and  from  time  to  time  promoted,  just  as 
living  civil  and  military  officers  are  given  official 
rank,  the  fact  being  in  each  case  notified  in  the 
Peking  Gazette.  Every  magistrate  is  officially 
required  to  perform  a  great  variety  of  idolatrous 
ceremonies  at  the  temples,  and  for  this  reason 
alone  no  Christian  can  hold  office  in  China. 
The  Mohammedans,  many  of  whom  hold  public 
positions,  have  compromised  the  matter  with 
their  somewhat  pliable  consciences,  and  if  asked 
how  they  can  consent  to  do  so,  will  not  improb- 
ably reply  that  although  obliged  externally  to 


54  BEX   CHRIST  us 

conform,  they  do  not  "worship  in  their  hearts," 
in  which  respect  they  probably  do  not  materially 
differ  from  the  average  Conf ucianists. 

There  are  in  the  empire  1560  temples  dedi- 
cated to  Confucius,  where  are  annually  offered 
several  tens  of  thousands  of  animals,  as  well  as 
innumerable  pieces  of  silk.  Officials  worship 
not  only  at  the  required  temples,  but,  in  times  of 
special  emergency,  wherever  else  and  whatever 
else  may  chance  to  commend  itself  to  them  as 
beneficial  to  their  public  or  private  interests. 
Thus  during  the  great  floods  at  Tientsin  during 
the  early  seventies,  Li  Hung  Chang  prostrated 
himself  before  a  snake  which  was  alleged  to  be 
a  "  Tai  Wang,"  or  god  of  the  waters.  Memori- 
als frequently  appear  in  the  Peking  G-azette, 
recommending  to  the  emperor's  favorable  con- 
sideration the  god  of  some  river  which,  during 
the  floods,  did  not  burst  its  banks,  and  in 
response  it  is  ordered  that  a  certain  amount  of 
expensive  Thibetan  incense  should  be  burned 
before  its  shrine  in  recognition  of  its  merit. 

Comparison  between  Confucianism  and  Chris- 
tianity.—  Dr.  Ernst  Faber,  who  has  bestowed 
more  labor  on  the  thorough  examination  of  the 
Chinese  classical  writings  than  any  Chinese 
scholar  since  Dr.  Legge,  compiled  an  instructive 
list  of  the  points  in  which  Confucianism  and 
Christianity  resemble  one  another.  Among  them 
are  the  acknowledgment  of  a  superintending 
Divine  Providence,  which  punishes  the  evil  and 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  CHINA  66 

rewards  the  good ;  the  belief  in  an  invisible 
world  above  and  around  this  material  life  ;  a 
moral  law  positively  set  forth  as  equally  binding 
on  man  and  spirits ;  prayer  believed  to  be  heard 
and  answered  by  the  spiritual  powers ;  sacrifices 
regarded  as  necessary  to  come  into  closer  contact 
with  the  spiritual  world.  ("Even  its  deeper 
meanings  of  self-sacrifice  and  of  a  vicarious  sac- 
rifice are  touched  upon,  which  are  two  important 
steps  toward  an  understanding  of  the  sacrificial 
death  of  Christ.")  Miracles  are  believed  in  as 
the  natural  efficacy  of  spirits.  Moral  duty  is 
taught  in  the  five  relations  already  mentioned. 
Cultivation  of  the  personal  moral  character  is 
regarded  as  the  basis  for  successfully  carrying 
out  the  social  duties,  and  it  is  insisted  that  this 
self-control  should  not  be  abandoned  in  private 
when  no  mortal  being  is  near  to  observe  it. 
Virtue  is  valued  above  riches  and  honor.  In 
case  of  failure  in  political  and  social  life,  moral 
self -culture  is  to  be  even  more  carefully  attended 
to  than  before.  ("This  is  the  great  moral  vic- 
tory which  Confucius  gained,  and  the  same  may 
be  said  of  his  distinguished  followers,  the  great- 
est among  whom  are  Mencius  and  Chu  Fu-tze. 
None  of  these  pillars  of  Confucianism  turned  to 
money-making,  or  sought  vain  glory  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  state  by  sacrificing  their  principles  to 
gain  official  employment,  or  by  a  promise  to  keep 
their  conviction  secret  in  their  bosoms.  They 
gained  greater  ultimate  success  by  their  failure 


56  BEX   CHRISTUS 

in  life.")  Sincerity  and  truth  are  shown  to  be 
the  only  basis  for  self-culture  and  the  reform  of 
the  world.  ("This  gives  to  self-culture  a  high 
moral  tone.  It  is  not  merely  fine  manners  and 
good  works,  but  a  normal  state  of  the  intentions 
of  the  mind,  combined  with  undefiled  feelings 
and  emotions  of  the  heart.")  How  imperfectly 
this  ideal  is  realized  will  elsewhere  appear.  The 
Golden  Rule  is  proclaimed  as  the  principle  of 
moral  conduct  among  our  fellow-men.  Every 
ruler  should  carry  out  a  benevolent  government 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people.  Every  Chinese 
official,  from  the  emperor  down,  is  in  theory 
a  "Father  and  Mother"  to  the  people.  It  is  a 
great  advantage  to  have  this  high  ideal  explic- 
itly stated. 

On  the  other  hand  there  is  a  wide  range  of 
religious  ideas  which  in  Confucianism  find  but 
dim  expression,  or  no  expression  at  all.  The 
Confucian  "Supreme  Ruler"  is  remote,  and  out 
of  all  connection  with  mankind.  He  is  not  i 
Father,  and  as  we  have  seen,  his  subjects  are 
not  allowed  to  worship  him.  Prayer  and  its 
ethical  value  find  no  place  in  the  system  of  Con- 
fucius. So  far  as  there  is  any  such  thing  in 
practice,  it  is  a  ceremony  by  which  evils  are 
avoided  and  blessings  secured.  Some  men  are 
said  to  be  born  with  complete  knowledge  and 
are  called  sages ;  some  can  acquire  thi.^  knowl- 
edge and  are  called  worthies,  wtiiie  others  must 
forever  remain  in  ignorance  and    practical  de- 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  57 

spair,  and  of  this  strange  circumstance  there  is 
no  explanation,  and  for  it  no  remedy. 

There  is  no  comprehension  of  sin  as  a  fact, 
nor  is  any  remedy  for  its  evils  suggested.  On 
the  contrary  the  advice  of  the  master  was  to 
"  Worship  the  gods,  but  to  keep  at  a  distance 
from  them,"  but  he  expressly  says  that  he  who 
sins  against  Heaven  has  no  one  to  whom  to 
pray.  Polytheism,  as  we  have  just  seen,  is  an 
inevitable  accompaniment  of  the  Confucian  cult, 
and  a  tangled  mass  of  superstitions  based  upon 
the  "Book  of  Changes"  has  always  been  believed 
in.  The  influence  of  example  is  inordinately 
exaggerated,  while  the  actual  history  of  China 
under  its  many  great  rulers  remains  unexplained. 
Filial  piety  is  exaggerated  into  a  virtual  if  not 
a  conscious,  deification  of  parents.  The  rewards 
and  punishments  of  Confucius  are  confined  to 
this  world  ;  immortality  is  either  non-existent  or 
at  best  uncertain.  Though  confidence  is  insisted 
upon,  its  presupposition,  truthfulness  in  speak- 
ing, is  never  practically  urged,  but  rather  the 
reverse. 

The  practiciii  eftects  of  this  system  of  thought 
upon  the  Chinese  people  are  of  a  mixed  character. 
Many  of  them  have  been  in  the  highest  degree 
conservative,  while  others  have  tended  toward 
social  disintegration  which  has  yet  in  other  ways 
been  prevented.  Without  undertaking  in  any 
way  to  balance  the  account,  let  us  glance  for 
a.  moment  at  the  disabilities  under  which  the 


58  BEX  CHBISTUS 

ivomen  of  China  have  for  centuries  labored. 
Confucianism  presupposes  and  tolerates  polyg- 
amy, with  its  illimitable  train  of  inevitable  evils. 
The  infanticide  of  female  infants  follows  natu- 
rally from  the  inferior  position  of  woman,  an 
inferiority,  be  it  observed,  which  is  itself  a  part 
of  the  system.  Although  the  latter  does  not 
interdict  the  education  of  woman,  it  is  practi- 
cally unknown.  She  is  placed  in  a  position,  the 
evils  of  which  are  not  infrequently  intolerable, 
but  from  which  escape  is  impossible.  The 
natural  and  the  constant  result  is  suicide, 
against  which  Confucianism  has  no  remon- 
strance, and  to  prevent  which  it  has  no  remedy. 
Its  doctrine  of  the  filial  duty  of  leaving  de- 
scendants, that  the  graves  of  the  family  may  be 
properly  tended,  leads  to  the  propagation  of 
innumerable  human  beings  who  should  never 
have  been  born,  because  under  existing  condi- 
tions there  is  no  means  by  which  they  can  be 
supported.  This  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  universal  poverty  everywhere  witnessed 
in  this  empire,  despite  its  material  resources 
and  the  unmatched  industry  of  the  people. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Confucianism  has 
exerted  a  restraining  force  not  elsewhere  equalled 
in  human  history.  It  has  kept  in  social  order 
the  most  numerous  race  for  the  longest  period 
ever  known.  To  external  influences  it  owes 
absolutely  nothing.  It  is  based  upon  tradition, 
and  its  golden  age  is  in  a  remote  and  semi-mythi- 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  59 

cal  past.  Theoretically,  it  is  now  all  that  it 
ever  was,  but  in  reality  it  is  destitute  of  any 
adaptive  or  developing  force  and  is  unable  to 
effect  anything  further  for  China,  That  the 
present  exaggerated  reverence  for  Confucius  will 
be  materially  modified  is  certain.  The  "  Book  of 
Changes,"  upon  which  he  laid  so  much  stress  and 
which  he  regarded  with  so  much  awe,  on  the 
advent  of  real  science  will  crumble  into  ruins. 
For  ages  Japan  was  bound  by  Confucian  fetters, 
but  her  adoption  of  western  civilization  has 
almost  entirely  emancipated  her.  Sooner  or 
later,  although  more  slowly,  like  causes  must  in 
China  produce  like  results. 

Taoism 

One  of  the  most  comprehensive  characters  in 
the  Chinese  language  is  tao,  which  means  road 
or  path,  the  road  or  path,  to  speak,  words,  reason, 
having  some  analogy  to  the  logos  of  the  Greeks. 
The  name  Tao  Chiao,  or  Doctrine  of  Rationalism, 
is  applied  to  the  teachings  of  a  sect  which  claims 
as  its  founder  Lao-tze,  one  of  China's  most 
famous  teachers,  supposed  to  have  been  born 
604  B.C.,  but  of  whom  little  which  is  authentic 
is  known.  He  was  the  great  prophet  of  his  age, 
and  held  some  government  appointment,  like 
Keeper  of  the  Archives,  under  the  Chou  dynasty, 
the  ruin  of  which  he  foresaw,  and  accordingly 
resigned  his  office,  going  into  retirement  to  cul- 
tivate tao  and  virtue.     There  is  a  tradition  that 


60  BEX  CRBISTUS 

at  the  pass  leading  out  of  the  empire,  the  gov- 
ernor begged  him  to  leave  behind  him  some 
guide  for  erring  humanity,  and  that  he  there- 
upon produced  what  is  now  known  as  the 
"  Canon  of  Reason  and  Virtue,"  —  a  work  con- 
taining only  5320  characters  in  eighty-one  short 
chapters.  This  remarkable  production  has  been 
studied  by  all  the  scholars  of  China,  and  in 
every  age  has  been  commented  on.  It  has  been 
said  of  it  that  probably  no  widely  spread  religion 
was  ever  founded  upon  so  small  a  base.  The 
native  commentators  observe  that  it  is  not  easy 
clearly  to  explain  the  more  profound  passages  — 
all  that  can  be  done  is  to  give  the  general  sense. 
The  early  Jesuit  missionaries  found  in  its  mys- 
tical utterances  a  revelation  of  the  Christian 
Trinity,  and  the  sacred  name  of  Jehovah.  A 
brief  extract  from  one  of  the  numerous  transla- 
tions may  give  an  inadequate  notion  of  its  in- 
herent abstruseness  :  "  Tao  is  impalpable  ;  you 
look  at  it,  and  you  cannot  see  it ;  you  listen  to 
it,  and  you  cannot  hear  it.  You  tiy  to  touch 
it,  and  you  cannot  reach  it.  You  use  it,  and  you 
cannot  exhaust  it.  It  is  not  to  be  expressed  in 
words.  It  is  still  and  void ;  it  stands  alone  and 
changes  not;  it  circulates  everywhere  and  it 
is  endangered.  It  is  ever  inactive,  and  yet 
leaves  nothing  undone.  From  it  phenomena 
appear,  through  it  they  change,  in  it  they  dis- 
appear. Formless,  it  is  the  cause  of  form. 
Nameless,  it  is  the  origin  of  Heaven  and  Earth. 


THE  RELIGIONS    OF  CHINA  61 

With  a  name  it  is  the  mother  of  all  things.  It 
is  the  ethical  nature  of  the  good  man  and  the 
principles  of  his  action." 

It  is  remarkable  that  this  profound  book 
teaches  men  to  return  good  for  evil  and  to  look 
forward  to  a  higher  life.  There  is  a  passage 
(considered  to  be  spurious)  in  the  earliest 
Chinese  historian  previously  mentioned,  relating 
an  interview  between  Lao-tze,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven,  and  Confucius,  who  was  more  than 
fifty  years  younger,  in  which  the  latter  was 
lectured,  and  informed  that  he  must  put  away 
his  proud  air  and  many  desires,  his  insinuating 
habit  and  wild  will ;  and  that  the  reason  why 
for  twenty  years  he  had  not  been  able  to  attain 
unto  tao,  was  because  he  was  incapable  of  giv- 
ing it  an  asylum  in  his  heart ! 

At  the  head  of  the  Taoist  Pantheon  there  is 
a  trinity,  in  imitation  of  that  of  the  Buddhists. 
A  vast  army  of  "superior  and  inferior  divini- 
ties—  gods,  genii,  heroes,  good  men,  and  virtu- 
ous women,  the  spirits  of  stars  and  the  visible 
manifestations  of  nature  and  the  elements,  such 
as  thunder  and  lightning,  as  well  as  dragons 
—  have  all  been  classed  together  as  objects  of 
worship,  v/hile  the  god  of  literature,  and  gods 
and  goddesses  of  disease,  all  receive  their  share 
of  attention."  The  dragon  is  not  regarded  by 
the  Chinese  as  a  fabulous  animal,  but  as  a  real 
existence  and  is  worshipped  as  such.  He  reigns 
over  all  seas,  lakes,  and  rivers.     Celestial  phe- 


62  REX  CHBISTUS 

nomena  are  ascribed  to  his  agency.  The  exalted 
notions  of  the  Chinese  in  regard  to  the  dragon 
have  made  this  a  favorite  word  to  symbolize 
the  dynasty,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  Chinese 
emperor,  who  is  supposed  to  be  seated  on  the 
Dragon  Throne,  while  the  dragon  himself  is 
depicted  on  the  national  flag  and  on  postage 
stamps.  Dr.  Faber  considers  Confucianism  as 
an  efl:"ort  to  check  desj)otism  by  an  appeal  to  the 
example  of  supposed  ancient  rulers,  fixing  eti- 
quette, even  to  details,  while  Taoism  is  an 
attempt  to  accomplish  the  same  end  b}^  an  appeal 
to  the  laws  of  nature.  It  is  essentially  material- 
istic. Even  the  soul  is  considered  as  a  material 
substance,  although  more  refined  than  the  body, 
and  liable  to  dissolution,  but  by  discipline  it 
may  be  trained  to  survive.  The  body,  on  the 
other  hand,  may  attain  to  "  a  deathless  perpetual 
life,"  training  for  which  is  assiduously  pursued 
by  multitudes  who  thirst  for  an  immortality 
"  which  was  not  the  heritage  of  the  many,  but 
might  become  the  prize  of  the  few." 

Modern  Taoism.  —  The  Taoism  of  the  present 
day  has  nothing  to  do  either  with  the  Canon  of 
Reason  and  Virtue  —  of  which  its  priests,  for 
the  most  part,  cannot  even  read  a  word  —  or 
with  its  reputed  master,  Lao-tze.  With  every 
age  the  character  of  Taoism  has  changed.  The 
philosophy  of  its  founder  is  now  only  an  anti- 
quarian curiosity.  Modern  Taoism  is  of  such  a 
motley  ch?vracter  as  almost  to  defy  any  attempt 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  68 

to  educe  a  well-ordered  system  from  its  chaos. 
From  profound  speculation  it  has  passed  into 
the  pursuit  of  the  elixir  of  immortality,  the  con- 
quest of  the  passions,  the  search  for  the  philoso- 
pher's stone,  the  observance  of  fasts,  the  use  of 
rituals  and  charms,  the  indefinite  multiplication 
of  objects  of  worship,  and  especially  a  system  of 
demon  exercises.  It  has  been  largely  mixed 
with  Buddhist  elements  and  ideas,  though  in 
former  ages  these  religions  were  deadly  rivals. 
The  official  head  of  the  sect,  called  by  foreigners 
the  Taoist  Pope,  lives  on  the  Dragon  and  Tiger 
mountain  in  Kiangsi,  where  he  keeps  a  great 
establishment,  and  is  at  times  supposed  to  be 
consulted  by  the  emperor  himself.  It  is  popu- 
larly believed  that  when  it  is  desired  to  have  a 
conference  of  this  sort  with  this  "  Preceptor  of 
Heaven,"  word  is  sent  to  a  representative  of  the 
Pope  living  in  Peking,  who  writes  on  a  slip  of 
paper  a  mysterious  message.  This  is  burned, 
whereupon  the  Preceptor  of  Heaven  makes  a 
journey  to  Peking,  whither  he  travels  like  other 
grandees.  But  his  return  is  by  riding  on  the 
clouds  and  enveloped  in  mist,  which  has  given 
rise  to  a  proverb,  —  "Like  the  shoes  of  the 
Heavenly  Preceptor,  coming  in  the  clouds  and 
disappearing  in  the  mist,"  —  employed  of  what 
is  vague  and  supernatural. 

In  this  connection  it  is  important  to  take  note 
of  the  fact  that  the  Chinese  are  victims  to  in- 
numerable   superstitions    which    may    at    any 


64  REX   CHRISTUS 

moment  become  magazines  of  dynamite,  liable 
to  sudden  ignition  with  terrible  effects.  Total 
ignorance  of  the  laws  of  nature  and  an  unlimited 
faith  in  genii,  fairies,  magic  pills,  powders  and 
charms,  make  a  hotbed  in  which  noxious  results 
are  rapidly  and  irresistibly  brought  to  fruition. 
The  Chinese  queue,  originally  imposed  by  the 
dominant  Manchus  as  a  symbol  of  subjection, 
has  become  the  most  characteristic  and  most 
cherished  mark  of  the  national  costume.  To 
cut  off  the  queue  of  another  is  a  serious  offence. 
During  the  year  1876,  there  prevailed  over  a 
large  part  of  China  a  strange  mania  both  of  queue- 
cutting  and  of  the  fear  of  it.  Men  would  awake 
to  find  their  queues  gone  when  no  one  had  been 
in  the  room,  and  no  human  agency  could  have 
been  employed.  In  other  cases  specific  individ- 
uals were  detected,  or  alleged  to  be  detected,  in 
the  very  act,  and  horrible  punishments  were  meted 
out.  Officials  high  and  low  issued  proclama- 
tions, some  of  them  offering  high  rewards  for 
the  detection  of  offenders,  and  others  recom- 
mending the  use  of  certain  charms.  Talismanic 
characters  were  sold  by  thousands,  which,  being 
braided  into  the  hair,  would  render  knives  or 
scissors  innocuous.  For  months  this  excite- 
ment continued  to  prevail,  and  at  length  died 
away  as  inexplicably  as  it  came. 

Root  of  the  Boxer  Madness.  —  In  the  year 
1897  a  similar  excitement  spread  through  many 
provinces  over  the  reported  abduction  of  chil- 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  6b 

dren.  It  was  generally  believed  that  kidnappers 
could  exert  a  potent  spell  over  their  victims, 
who  at  once  followed  them  and  were  never  seen 
asrain.  What  basis  of  fact  lurked  at  the  bottom 
of  these  tales  it  was  impossible  to  decide,  but  it 
is  certain  that  for  many  weeks  it  was  highly 
dangerous  for  any  one  to  travel,  and  many  per- 
sons were  captured  by  rustics  and  clubbed  to 
death  with  hoes,  or  tied  up  and  sent  to  yamen, 
where,  failing  to  prove  their  identity  and  estab- 
lish their  innocence,  they  were  beaten  and  locked 
up,  or  in  some  extreme  cases  promptly  tortured 
to  death  to  make  them  confess.  On  this  occa- 
sion the  lives  of  many  foreigners  were  endan- 
gered and  native  Christians  had  many  narrow 
escapes.  It  is  the  Taoist  teachings  which  have 
made  these  epidemics  of  madness  possible.  It 
is  this  which  explains  the  persistence  of  the 
often  officially  repeated  libels  against  foreigners 
of  scooping  out  eyes,  of  extracting  hearts,  and 
the  like,  with  a  view  to  "  making  silver,"  —  an  art 
which  it  is  believed  they  must  possess,  for  other- 
wise whence  have  they  so  much  money  ?  The 
subsumptions  of  the  Taoists  lie  at  the  root  of 
the  whole  Boxer  madness,  which  may,  there- 
fore, justly  be  charged  to  that  origin,  although 
there  is  no  valid  evidence  that  either  they  or 
the  Buddhists  had  any  important  part  in  the 
movement.  As  long  as  the  Chinese  are  pro- 
foundly ignorant  of  the  uniformity  of  the  mode 
in  which  the  powers  of  nature  act,  having  lost 


66  BEX  CHBISTUS 

sight  (if  they  ever  had  it)  of  the  intuition  of 
cause  and  effect,  so  long  will  they  believe  scat- 
tered black  beans  may  speedily  develop  into 
an  array  ;  that  paper  images  flung  to  the  winds 
or  burned  will  turn  into  real  warriors ;  that  by 
incantations  swords  may  be  rendered  irresisti- 
ble, that  by  the  overshadowing  influences  of  the 
spirits  of  dead  men,  living  men  may  be  made 
impervious  to  Mauser  bullets,  and  to  all  forms 
of  shells  projected  from  rifled  cannon;  that 
young  girls  can  ride  on  a  cloud,  and  at  will 
bring  down  fire  from  heaven  which  will  destroy 
steel  men-of-war,  with  no  harm  or  even  risk  to 
those  wielding  these  tremendous  powers. 

From  this  point  of  view  the  Taoist  faith  is  one 
of  the  most  deadly  foes  to  the  internal  peace  of 
China,  and  to  the  existence  of  normal  relations 
between  the  Chinese  people  and  those  not  of 
their  race  who  are  dwellers  within  the  Four 
Seas,  and  are  therefore,  according  to  classical 
authority,  their  brethren.  It  is  altogether  pos- 
sible that  the  Chinese  might  in  a  general  way 
accept  the  dicta  of  modern  science,  without  at 
all  abating  their  faith  in  the  wild  infra-natural 
fables  of  the  Taoists,  or  escaping  from  the  bond- 
age of  the  crushing  burdens  thus  imposed,  under 
which  the  Chinese  have  been  unconsciously  op- 
pressed for  two  millenniums.  Complete  eman- 
cipation will  be  attained  by  the  universal  spread 
of  the  principles  of  Christianity,  the  only  source 
from  which  it  could  proceed. 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  67 

Chinese  Buddhism 

This  religion  was  introduced  into  China  by 
the  Emperor  Ming  Ti  in  the  year  66  A.D.,  who, 
in  consequence  of  a  dream  (probably  a  myth  of 
a  later  origin)  sent  to  India  to  inquire  into  its 
character  and  to  secure  books  and  teachers,  for 
it  is  supposed  to  have  been  known  in  India  some 
centuries  previous.  The  essential  doctrines  of 
Buddhism  are  the  vanity  of  all  material  things, 
the  supreme  importance  of  charity,  and  the  cer- 
tainty of  rewards  and  punishments  by  means  of 
the  transmigration  of  souls.  Its  adaptation  to 
Chinese  needs  arose  from  its  supplying  the 
vacancy  due  to  the  cold  and  heartless  morality 
of  Confucianism  and  the  gross  materialism  of 
Taoism.  Its  success  was  immediate  and  remark- 
able. During  the  period  of  the  Three  Kingdoms, 
and  down  to  the  end  of  the  Sui  dynasty,  Bud- 
dhism made  rapid  strides.  "  The  government 
invited  Buddhist  missionaries  from  India  to 
teach  Buddhism,  to  translate  their  sacred  books, 
to  build  beautiful  temples,  to  cast  immense  idols, 
and  to  paint  lovely  pictures  of  Buddha  on  the 
doors  of  the  homes  of  the  people.  The  em- 
perors of  these  dynasties  visited  the  temples  and 
preached  the  law  themselves,  sending  to  India 
for  more  sacred  books,  so  that  in  the  Sui  dynasty 
the  Buddhist  books  were  from  ten  to  a  hun- 
dred times  more  numerous  than  the  Confucian 
books." 


68  BEX  CHRISTU8 

During  the  T'ang  dynasty  Buddhism  was 
patronized  by  all  the  emperors  but  two.  One, 
however,  who  was  fond  of  Taoism,  drove  out 
all  the  Buddhists  from  their  monasteries,  and 
ordered  them  to  be  killed,  refilling  the  monaster- 
ies with  Taoist  monks.  The  succeeding  emperor 
again  expelled  twelve  thousand  Buddhist  monks 
and  nuns,  who  had  probably  crept  back  on  the 
death  of  their  persecutor.  The  Empress  Wu 
allowed  the  Buddhists  to  teach  that  she  was  an 
incarnation  of  one  of  the  Buddhas,  and  immense 
idols  were  set  up  throughout  the  empire  to  rep- 
resent her.  (It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that 
among  her  dependents  in  the  imperial  court,  the 
present  empress  dowager  is  said  to  be  spoken 
of  as  the  "  Old  Buddha.")  Buddhist  monks  are 
often  made  mandarins.  In  the  five  minor  dynas- 
ties following  there  was  a  certain  reaction,  for 
one  of  the  emperors  melted  down  the  brass 
images  to  make  cash.  In  the  Sung  dynasty  the 
emperors  sent  out  clever  speakers  to  point  out 
the  errors  of  Buddhism,  forbade  the  building  of 
any  more  temples,  and  even  the  recital  of  Bud- 
dhist prayers.  But  the  religion  made  rapid 
progress  in  Mongolia,  upon  which  it  has  a  firm 
grasp.  During  the  Mongol  dynasty  there  was 
another  reaction,  and  magnificent  temples  were 
erected.  The  founder  of  the  Mings,  as  already 
mentioned,  had  once  been  a  Buddhist  priest,  and 
in  that  period  the  temples  were  again  built  and 
repaired. 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  69 

The  preceding  paragraphs  are  condensed  from 
a  summary  of  a  Chinese  history  translated  by 
Dr.  Richard,  and  they  exhibit  in  a  clear  light 
the  numerous  metempsychoses  through  which 
this  alien  faith  has  been  obliged  to  pass  in  the 
land  of  its  adoption.  At  first  it  was  a  lusty 
j^oung  giant,  full  of  life  and  vigor,  quite  pre- 
pared to  endure  the  fiery  baptism  of  persecu- 
tion which  was  inevitable,  but,  like  the  human 
soul  itself,  it  has  gone  through  great  trans- 
formations, modifying  the  other  religions  of  the 
land,  and  being  in  turn  to  some  extent  influ- 
enced by  them. 

Chinese  Buddhism  was  of  the  northern  type, 
which  in  its  sacred  books  uses  the  Sanscrit  lan- 
guage, as  the  southern  type  employs  the  Pali. 
The  books  as  rendered  into  Chinese  are  trans- 
literations (not  translations)  of  the  original, 
and  are  therefore  almost  wholly  unintelligible 
to  those  who  learn  to  repeat  them,  and  alto- 
gether so  to  those  who  hear  them.  It  is  the  use 
of  this  ritual  in  the  services  performed  in  honor 
of  the  dead  which  gives  both  the  Buddhist  and 
the  Taoist  priesthood  their  firm  hold  upon  the 
mass  of  the  Chinese  people,  who  do  not  know 
and  who  cannot  conceive  of  any  other  way  of 
suitably  completing  funeral  ceremonies,  than  to 
have  a  full  complement  of  representatives  of 
each  religion  to  chant  their  liturgies,  while  a 
Confucian  scholar  is  invited  to  make  a  dot  on 
the  tablet  to  the  spirit  of  the  dead,  which  alters 


70  BEX  CHRISTUS 

the  character  for  "  King "  into  that  meaning 
"  Lord,"  a  modern  custom  which  seems  to  be 
alike  inexplicable  and  indispensable. 

The  Dominant  Religion.  —  Notwithstanding 
the  powerful  patronage  of  the  emperors,  as 
already  mentioned,  the  teachings  of  Confucius 
and  Mencius  are  too  well  understood  and  too 
deeply  planted  in  the  popular  heart  to  be  up- 
rooted or  overridden.  The  literati  have  always 
refused  to  be  driven  from  their  positions  by 
imperial  orders,  although,  like  others,  they  sum- 
mon the  priests  in  times  of  emergency.  These 
contradictory  tendencies  are  well  illustrated  in 
the  third  emperor  of  the  present  dynasty,  who 
promulgated  an  expansion  of  the  Sixteen  Moral 
Precepts  of  his  father,  the  great  K'ang  Hsi. 
Among  them  is  one  directed  against  Taoist  and 
Buddhist  priests,  whose  idle  mummeries  and  dis- 
solute lives  are  unsparingly  condemned,  exhibit- 
ing a  clear  perception  of  the  real  folly,  vice, 
and  peril  of  Buddhism  in  all  its  aspects.  Yet 
this  emperor  was  himself  a  daily  worshipper  of 
Buddhist  idols  served  by  the  lamas. 

That  renunciation  of  their  families,  which  is 
a  condition  of  entrance  into  the  ranks  of  the 
Buddhist  priesthood,  is  so  totally  opposed  to 
the  tenets  and  the  practices  of  Confucianism, 
that  one  might  have  expected  it  to  be  a  com- 
plete bar  to  the  entrance  of  Buddhism  into 
China.  But  the  recruits  are  taken  from  the 
poorest  families,  who  are  unable  themselves  to 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  71 

support  their  cliildren,  and  are  glad  to  see  them 
provided  for  on  any  terms.  In  some  cases  chil- 
dren are  purchased.  Sometimes,  also,  adults 
who  are  weary  of  the  "  dusty  earth "  seek  a 
refuge  from  its  ills  within  the  walls  of  the 
monastery.  Many  of  these  temples  are  situated 
in  the  most  eligible  and  commanding  positions, 
where  the  delights  of  the  finest  scenery  which 
China  can  boast  may  gratify  the  recluses  who 
have  "seen  the  emptiness  of  the  world."  "Se- 
questered valleys  enclosed  by  mountain  peaks, 
and  elevated  far  above  the  world  which  they 
profess  to  despise,  are  favorite  seats  for  the 
communities  of  Buddhism.  But  it  is  no  yearn- 
ing after  God  that  leads  them  to  court  retire- 
ment ;  nor  is  it  the  adoration  of  nature's  Author 
that  prompts  them  to  place  their  shrines  in  the 
midst  of  his  sublimest  works.  To  them  the  uni- 
verse is  a  vacuum,  and  emptiness  the  highest 
object  of  contemplation.  They  are  a  strange 
paradox,  —  religious  atheists  !  Acknowledging 
no  First  Cause  or  Conscious  Ruling  Power,  they 
hold  that  the  human  soul  revolves  perpetually 
in  the  urn  of  fate,  liable  to  endless  ills,  and 
enjoying  no  real  good.  As  it  cannot  cease  to 
be,  its  only  resource  against  this  state  of  in- 
terminable misery  is  the  extinction  of  con- 
sciousness, a  remedy  which  lies  within  itself, 
and  which  they  endeavor  to  attain  by  ascetic 
exercises ! " 

Dr.  Martin,  from  whose  "Lore  of  Cathay"  the 


72  REX  CHRISTUS 

preceding  paragraphs  are  cited,  discriminates 
between  the  religions  of  China  as  ethical  (Con- 
fucianism), physical  (Taoism),  and  metaphysical 
(Buddhism).  The  mutual  interaction  of  these 
upon  one  another  has  been  alluded  to,  and  a 
discussion  of  this  might  of  itself  fill  an  ex- 
tended essay,  which  would  be  a  study  in  the 
art  of  uniting  what  Sir  William  Hamilton  styled 
"  incompossibilities."  Buddhism  has  adopted 
the  deities  and  spirits  of  other  religions.  Tao- 
ism, as  we  have  seen,  has  imitated  the  trinity 
of  the  Buddhists.  Confucianism  despises,  re- 
jects, and  adopts  them  both  !  Every  Chinese  is 
a  Confucianist,  but  most  of  them  are  likewise 
Buddhists  and  Taoists  as  well.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  common  aphorisms  that  the  "three  religions 
are  after  all  one." 

Temples  to  the  Three  Religions.  —  There  are 
in  China  many  temples  dedicated  to  the  Three 
Religions  in  which  there  are  huge  images  of  Con- 
fucius, Lao-tze,  and  Buddha,  seated  together, 
but  the  place  of  honor  (although  not  invariably) 
is  given  to  the  Indian  divinity.  "  This  arrange- 
ment, however,  gives  great  offence  to  some  of 
the  more  zealous  disciples  of  Confucius ;  and  a 
few  years  ago  a  memorial  was  presented  to  the 
emperor,  praying  him  to  demolish  the  Temple 
of  the  Three  Religions  which  stood  near  the 
tomb  of  their  great  teacher,  who  has  'no  equal 
but  Heaven.'  " 

There  is  nothing  revolting  or  licentious  in 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  73 

Buddhism,  or  indeed  in  any  form  of  worship  in 
China,  —  a  fact  in  itself  as  remarkable  as  is  the 
entire  freedom  of  the  Chinese  classics  from 
everything,  from  this  point  of  view,  objection- 
able. Buddhism  has  taught  the  Chinese  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  compassion  for  animal  life. 
"  The  sparing  of  life  has  become  a  recognized 
virtue,  and  Confucianists  and  Taoists  have  been 
stirred  up  by  Buddhism  to  exhibit  more  benevo- 
lent feeling  toward  the  irrational  creation  than 
they  would  have  shown  without  it."  From  the 
view-point  of  political  economy,  however,  not 
to  speak  of  Christianity,  it  seems  a  somewhat 
misdirected  effort  to  spend  money  to  buy  fish 
out  of  a  net  and  throw  them  back  into  a  river, 
when  there  are  upon  the  bank  starving  men, 
women,  and  children  for  whom  nothing  whatever 
is  attempted.  Yet  from  Chinese  premises  this  is 
not  at  all  an  absurd  proceeding.  The  fish  once 
back  in  their  element  are  on  a  self-supporting 
basis,  and  that  is  a  thing  done,  whereas  to  dole 
out  money  to  refugees  is  simply  to  invite  further 
demands  indefinitely,  with  no  one  to  predict 
what  other  disagreeable  consequences.  There- 
fore, the  man  of  benevolent  instincts  not  im- 
probably patronizes  the  fish,  and  allows  the 
human  beings  to  worry  on  as  they  may. 

The  most  popular  divinity  in  China  is  proba- 
bly the  "goddess  of  mercy,  of  whom  it  is  said 
that  she  declined  to  enter  the  bliss  of  Nirvana, 
and  preferred  to  hover  on  the  confines  of  this 


74  EEX  CHRISTUS 

world  of  suffering,  in  order  that  she  might  hear 
the  prayers  of  men,  and  bring  succour  to  their 
afflictions.  What  wonder  that  this  attribute  of 
divine  compassion  should  win  all  hearts  ?  "  It 
is  a  characteristic  trait  of  Chinese  theology  that 
while  down  to  the  twelfth  century  this  goddess, 
Kuan  Yin,  was  represented  as  a  man,  for  the 
last  six  hundred  years  the  divinity  has  under- 
gone a  metamorphosis,  and  is  now  generally 
regarded  as  a  goddess,  to  which  the  attribute  of 
mercy  is  considered  more  appropriate. 

Buddhist  temples  are  far  more  numerous  in 
China  than  Taoist,  but  myriads  of  them  are 
small  and  by  far  the  larger  number  have  no 
priest  in  attendance.  In  the  northern  part  of 
the  empire  especially,  there  is  much  less  atten- 
tion paid  to  them  than  elsewhere,  and  countless 
temples  and  shrines  are  seen  decaying  because 
the  people  feel  too  poor  to  repair  them,  and 
because  they  supply  no  really  felt  need.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  Buddhist  monks,  recruited 
as  we  have  seen  from  the  poorest  and  the  most 
ignorant  classes,  fully  deserve  the  ill-repute 
which  they  have  gained.  They  withdraw  from 
the  use  of  the  general  community  large  tracts 
of  land,  in  order  to  support  in  idleness,  gam- 
bling, opium-smoking,  and  vice,  social  vampires 
who  add  nothing  to  the  common  weal,  but  suck 
the  life-blood  of  China.  Nunneries  are  fre- 
quent, the  inmates  being  the  children  of  those 
too  poor  to  rear  them.      There  may  be  virtuous 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  75 

women   among   them,    but    the    shrewd   adage 
runs :  — 

"  Ten  Buddhist  nuns,  and  nine  are  bad; 
The  odd  one  left  is  doubtless  mad." 

It  has  always  been  recognized  by  the  Con- 
fucianists  as  a  great  defect  in  Buddhism  that  it 
gives  no  instruction  toward  making  one  a  good 
citizen.  Its  only  remedy  for  the  ills  of  life  is  to 
teach  their  unreality.  Its  precepts  not  to  kill,  not 
to  steal,  not  to  commit  fornication,  not  to  drink 
wine  or  eat  meat,  have  not  been  without  value ; 
but  for  ages  Chinese  Buddhism  has  been  quite 
devoid  of  any  ethical  force.  It  has  bestowed 
upon  China  the  doctrine  of  the  transmigration 
of  souls,  and  it  has  given  her  the  pagoda.  It  is 
impossible  for  a  Christian  m.issionary  in  China 
to  announce  his  message  without  throwing  down 
a  challenge  both  to  Taoism  and  to  Buddhism. 
In  this  he  meets  with  no  opposition  from  the 
popular  feeling.  His  attitude  toward  Confu- 
cianism should,  on  the  other  hand,  be  one  of 
profound  respect,  never  attacking  it,  but  en- 
deavoring to  exhibit  what  Christianity  can  do 
and  does  do  as  a  divine  religion.  The  defects 
of  the  Chinese  are  as  obvious  to  themselves  as 
to  others,  and  are  readily  and  frankh^.  admitted. 
The  only  means  by  which  Christianity  will  ever 
gain  a  foothold  in  China  is  by  convincing  object- 
lessons  of  its  power  to  do  that  in  whicli  all  the 
Three  Religions  have  conspicuously  failed. 


76  REX   CHRISTUS 

Mohammedanism  in   China 

The  followers  of  the  Prophet  came  to  China 
more  than  a  thousand  years  ago,  in  the  T'ang 
dynasty,  both  by  sea  from  ports  on  the  Arabian 
Sea,  and  overland  across  Central  Asia.  The  num- 
ber of  them  in  China  is  indeterminate,  but  they 
are  estimated  at  about  twenty  millions,  the  largest 
Mohammedan  population  being  in  the  provinces 
of  Kansuh,  Hunan,  and  Shensi.  They  form  a 
mechanical,  as  distinguished  from  a  chemical, 
mixture  with  the  Chinese,  but  as  they  speak 
the  language  of  the  regions  which  they  occupy, 
from  a  linguistic  point  of  view  there  is  no  line 
of  demarcation  between  these  widely  different 
races. 

The  cheek-bones  and  the  prominent  noses  of 
the  Mohammedans  readily  differentiate  them 
from  the  Chinese,  and  they  have  a  custom,  un- 
known to  the  Chinese,  of  clipping  the  mustache. 
They  worship  God  under  the  name  of  Chu,  or 
Lord,  but  they  do  not  propagate  their  doctrines ; 
and  in  regions  which  the}'  have  occupied  for 
half  a  millennium  the  Chinese  have  no  clear 
idea  of  what  Mohammedan  tenets  really  are. 
They  do  not  intermarry  with  the  Chinese,  but 
sometimes  adopt  Chinese  children  into  Moham- 
medan families.  Their  religious  services,  while 
patterned  on  those  in  Mohammedan  lands,  are 
mostly  formal,  and  except  at  the  time  of  the 
Ramazan  fast  are  but  sparsely  attended  except 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  77 

by  women.  The  strict  law  forbidding  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Koran  has  prevented  it  from  exert- 
ing any  influence  on  Chinese  thought,  although 
there  is  in  China  a  considerable  body  of  Moham- 
medan literature.  The  Chinese  consider  the 
Mohammedans  to  be  violent  in  temper  and  cruel 
in  disposition.  It  is  certain  that  where  this  is 
practicable  some  of  them  take  readily  to  the  life 
of  a  freebooter.  While  externally  friendly  to 
foreigners  who  teach  a  doctrine  so  allied  to  their 
own,  the  doctrine  of  Christ  is  to  these  people  a 
great  stumbling-block.  The  number  of  con- 
verts from  their  ranks  has  thus  far  been  small, 
but  there  are  signs  that  within  the  next  genera- 
tion it  may  be  much  larger.  One  of  their 
mollalis  recently  made  the  remark  in  regard  to 
a  mission  station  in  his  city,  that  until  it  was 
founded  the  Mohammedans  were  like  a  jar  of 
pure  water,  but  that  on  the  advent  of  the  Jesus 
religion  the  jar  has  been  so  stirred  with  a  stick 
as  to  make  the  water  appear  turbid.  By  this 
he  meant  that  in  comparison  witli  Chinese  reli- 
gions Mohammedanism  made  an  excellent  show- 
ing, but  that  it  could  not  hold  its  own  against 
Christianity. 

Secret  Sects 

China  is  honeycombed  with  secret  societies, 
all  of  which,  as  the  proverb  says,  "  hang  out  the 
sign :  Virtue  practised  here."  Many  of  them 
have    an    object    ultimately    political,    looking 


78  BEX  CHRISTUS 

toward  a  change  of  dynasty,  and  they  are  all 
alike  forbidden  by  the  government.  No  com- 
plete catalogue  of  these  sects  has  ever  been 
made,  or  ever  can  be  made,  since  the  names  vary 
in  different  places  and  in  the  same  places  at  dif- 
ferent times.  New  ones  are  continually  appear- 
ing, some  of  the  old  ones  seem  to  die  out,  and 
after  a  long  interval  the  names  reappear  with 
a  new  significance.  Thus  the  I  Ho  Ch'uan 
(Boxers),  or  Fists  of  Harmony,  of  1890,  adopted 
the  name  of  organizations  much  more  than  a 
hundred  years  old,  formed  with  totally  different 
purposes.  Their  books  are  literally  manuals, 
being  always  copied  by  hand  (as  it  is  dangerous 
to  have  blocks  cut  and  printing  executed),  and 
to  outsiders  they  are  practically  inaccessible. 

The  tenets  held  are  of  the  most  nebulous  and 
composite  description,  being  literally  an  amal- 
gam of  Buddhist,  Taoist,  and  Confucian  notions, 
brewed  in  one  common  kettle.  Some  of  the 
sects  practice  refining  the  pill  of  immortality. 
Some  of  them  spend  their  time  in  sitting  on  the 
k'ang,  or  stove-bed,  fixing  their  minds  on  vacancy, 
with  a  view  to  seeing  worlds  unknown.  Their 
exertions  are  reviewed  by  a  seer,  called  a 
"  Bright-eye,"  who  explains  the  symptoms  of 
their  experience.  Many  of  them  keep  accounts 
with  themselves,  according  to  a  graded  system 
of  merits  for  virtuous  actions  (such  as  relieving 
distress)  and  demerits  for  bad  actions  (such  as 
failing  to  pick  up  paper  having  characters  on 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  79 

it).  The  balance  of  accounts,  wlien  audited  by 
the  "  Bright-eye,"  represents  their  standing  to 
date.  Some  sects  make  use  of  a  kind  of  plan- 
chette  by  which  cliaracters  are  traced  in  millet 
seeds,  or  in  sand,  thus  revealing  the  secrets  of 
fate  as  adumbrated  by  a  "  Great  Fairy."  Some 
sects  simply  worship  Heaven,  having  no  images, 
and  no  ceremonies  but  the  k'otow. 

One  recently  developed  but  now  famous 
society  is  called  the  Ritualists  (Tsai-li),  and 
forbids  the  use  of  wine,  opium,  etc.,  but  appears 
to  have  no  religious  basis  of  any  kind.  Some 
of  those  most  zealous  in  observing  these  rites 
are  often  sincere  seekers  after  truth  and  gladly 
adopt  Christian it}^  as  soon  as  it  is  presented  to 
them.  Others  appear  to  do  so,  but  after  a  longer 
or  shorter  period  go  quite  back  to  their  former 
creed,  "for,"  he  saith,  "the  old  is  better." 
Some  missionaries  regard  the  prevalence  of 
these  sects  as  a  great  assistance  to  the  intro- 
duction of  Christianity,  while  others  have  found 
them  for  the  most  part  an  obstruction.  Many 
of  the  best  Christians  in  the  Chinese  churches 
have  once  been  adherents  of  some  one  of  these 
sects.  But  there  has  never  been  any  general 
movement  among  them  toward  Christianity, 
although  such  an  event  is  not  impossible  and 
perhaps  not  improbable. 


80  BEX  CHRISTUS 


SIGNIFICANT   SENTENCES 

This  mysterious  race  .  .  .  with  the  Anglo-Saxons  and 
the  Russians,  will  divide  the  earth  a  hundred  years  hence. 

—  Sir  Lepel  Griffin. 

The  Chinaman  is  a  religious  triangle.  —  Dr.  Marsh. 

There  are  people  who  read  the  best  of  the  Confucian 
or  Buddhist  books,  and  say  that  the  ideals  are  good ;  but, 
if  such  think  that  the  heathen  do  very  well  as  tliey  are, 
I  should  like  to  take  them  for  one  half  hour  through 
a  Foochow  street  and  let  them  see  what  life  would  be 
without  any  of  the  refinement,  or  health,  or  human  kind- 
ness that  have  come  to  them  through  the  religion  of 
Jesus.  —  Evelyn  Worthley. 


Ancestral  Worship 

The  millions  of  China  are  bound  to  the  worship  of 
ancestors.  From  infancy  to  old  age,  in  every  turn  of 
life,  in  aU  seasons  of  joy  or  mourning,  all  are  in  some 
way  associated  with  this  very  ancient  custom.  The  fol- 
lowers of  Confucius,  the  Buddhist,  the  Taoist,  rich  and 
poor,  emperor  and  people,  alike  are  influenced  by  it. 
This  custom  existed  two  thousand  years  before  Confu- 
cius, but  he  confirmed  its  hold  upon  the  people. 

.  .  .  Once  a  year,  in  April,  a  wonderful  and  touching 
sight  is  to  be  seen  in  China.  It  is  the  spring  festival  for 
the  dead.  Every  one  visits  the  graves  of  his  dead.  It 
is  a  time  that  they  look  forward  to  and  prepare  for,  even 
more  than  we  do  for  Christmas  or  any  great  occasion. 
Groups  of  men,  women  and  children  may  be  seen  in 
brightest,  prettiest  dresses,  the  women  and  girls  with 
flowers  in  their  haii",  and  all  bearing  baskets  or  packages 
of  food,  fruit,  incense,  candles  and  lanterns,  and  great 
bundles  of  paper  clothing.  —  Mrs.  Baldwin. 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  81 

SAYINGS   OF   CONFUCIUS 

To  be  fond  of  learning  is  the  next  thing  to  knowledge. 
To  be  up  and  doing  comes  near  to  perfection.  Know 
what  shame  is,  and  you  will  not  be  far  from  heroism. 

Given  instruction,  there  will  be  no  distinction  of 
class. 

I  do  not  understand  life,  how  can  I  know  death  ? 

Learning,  undigested  by  thought,  is  labor  lost; 
thought,  unassisted  by  learning,  is  perilous. 

Men  of  principle  are  sure  to  be  bold,  but  those  who 
are  bold  may  not  always  be  men  of  principle. 

Have  no  friends  not  equal  to  yourself. 

Those  whose  courses  are  different  cannot  lay  plans  for 
one  another. 

He  who  requires  much  from  himself  and  little  from 
others  will  keep  himself  from  being  the  object  of  resent- 
ment. 

Want  of  forbearance  in  small  matters  confounds  great 
plans. 

He  who  speaks  without  modesty  will  find  it  difficult  to 
make  his  words  good. 


During  all  these  forty-three  centuries,  while  Confucius 
has  done  much  for  good  government  and  has  set  some 
high  moral  standards  for  men,  women  have  reaped  no 
benefit  from  the  teachings  of  the  sage. 

—  Mrs.  Moses  Smith. 

THEMES   FOR   STUDY   OR  DISCUSSION 

I.   Weakness  of  China's  Religions  as  compared  with 

Christianity. 
II.   Popular  Superstitions  in  China. 

III.  Temples,  Towers,  and  Pagodas. 

IV.  Life  of  the  Lamas. 

V.   Chinese  Religious  Education  in  the  Home. 
a 


82  REX  CHBISTUS 

VI.   Evil  Effects  of  Nature  Worship. 
VII.    Secret  Sects  and  their  Influence. 
VIII.    Ancestral  Worship  and  its  Effect  upon  Character. 
IX.   Feng  Shui,  or  the  Science  of  Luck. 
X.    Why  the  Proud  Literati  oppose  Christianity. 
XI.    Compare  the  Confucian  White  Deer  College  with 

Christian  Colleges  in  England  and  America. 
XII.    Peking  the  "  Forbidden  City." 


BOOKS   OF   REFERENCE 
General  references  as  before 

Bainbridge's   "  Around   the   World    Tour    of    Christian 

MissioHS."    II,  V,  VI,  VII,  VIII,  IX. 
Bishop's  "  The  Yangtze  Valley  and  Beyond."     Ill,  V. 
Colquhoun's  "  Overland  to  China."     XII. 
Douglas's  "  Society  in  China."     I,  V,  VIII,  X,  XL 
Du  Bose's  "  The  Dragon,  Tma.ge,  and  Demon."     II,  III, 

VI,  VII,  VIII,  IX. 
Dukes's  "  Everyday  Life  in  China."     Ill,  V,  VIII,  IX. 
Edkins's  "  Religions  in  China."     I,  IT,  III,  IV,  V,  VI,  VIL 
Gibson's  "  Missionary  Problems  and  Methods  in  South 

China."     I,  V,  X. 
Gilmour's  "  Among  the  Mongols."    I,  III,  IV,  XII. 
Gracey's  "  China  in  Outline."     I. 
"  Great  Religions  of  the  World  "  (Harper,  1901).     I. 
Henry's  '■  Ling-nam,  or  Interior  Views  of  South  China." 

II,  III,  IV,  V,  VI,  IX. 
Hue's  "  Travels  in  Tartary,  Thibet,  and  China."     IV, 
Johnston's  "  China  and  Its  Future."     X. 
Legge's  "  Religions  of  China."     I,  II,  VI,  VII,  VIIL 
Mackay's  "  From  Far  Formosa."     V. 
Moule's  "New  China  and  Old."     II,  VII,  VHL 
Muirhead's  "  China  and  the  Gospel."     I. 
Nevius's  "China  and  the  Chinese."     U,  VI,  VII,  VIII, 

IX. 


TBE  RELIGIONS   OF  CHINA  83 

Report  of  Shanghai  Conference,  1877.     I,  II,  VI,  VII, 

VIII. 
Rockhill's  "  Land  of  the  Lamas."     II,  IV,  XII. 
Speer's  "  Missions  and  Politics  in  Asia."    I,  II,  VII,  VIIL 
Wilson's  "  China."     IX,  XIL 
Williamson's  "  Journeys  in  China."    I,  II,  XII. 


Articles  on  China  in  Periodicals :  — 

Atlantic,  Vol.  .52,  "  John  Chinaman,  M.D."     VIIL 
Eclectic,  Vol.  82,  "  Feng  Shui."     IX. 
Living  Age,  Vol.  68,  "  Peking."     XII. 
Review   of  Reviews,    Vol.    28     (from    Nouvelle    Revue), 
"Chinese  Magic."     II,  IX. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  PEOPLE   OF   CHINA 

In  a  series  of  outlines  such  as  are  contained 
in  the  present  book  it  is  out  of  the  question  to 
make  a  comprehensive  study  of  the  peculiar 
people  whom  we  are  considering.  All  that  can 
be  attempted  in  this  chapter  is  to  select  a  few 
salient  points,  with  a  view  especially  to  show 
how  they  are  related  to  the  effort  to  bring  to 
the  Chinese  a  practical  knowledge  of  Christian- 
ity. The  first  impression  which  the  traveller 
receives  on  visiting  China  is  the  vast  numbers 
of  its  people.  The  teeming  millions  appear  like 
a  hive  of  bees,  like  a  nest  of  ants,  like  a  swarm 
of  insects  in  the  air.  We  have  already  referred 
to  the  various  guesses  at  the  possible  population 
of  the  empire,  and  there  is  no  reason  why,  if 
that  figure  is  insisted  upon,  we  may  not  consent 
to  the  estimate  of  four  hundred  millions  as  a 
total.  But  these  words  convey  no  definite  idea 
to  any  mind,  and  are  much  less  efficient  than  a 
computation  of  the  inhabitants  to  a  square  mile, 
which  vary  from  a  relatively  small  number  in 
the  mountainous  and  sparsely  settled  regions, 
up  to  five  hundred,  eight  hundred,  and  in  some 

84 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  85 

exceptional  districts  perhaps  more  than  two 
thousand !  A  part  of  the  Great  Plain  of  China 
is  certainly  one  of  the  most  densely  populated 
sections  of  the  planet,  a  fact  which  has  important 
bearings  on  many  of  the  problems  which  concern 
the  future  of  the  empire.  This  incomputable 
number  of  human  beings  are  related  to  one 
another  in  a  way  elsewhere  unexampled. 

Solidarity  of  Chinese  Society.  —  Through  the 
long  millenniums  of  Chinese  history  the  pro- 
cesses of  unification  have  been  steadily  at  work, 
so  that  there  is  in  Chinese  society  a  solidarity 
which  does  not  and  cannot  elsewhere  exist. 
The  common  study  of  common  text-books  con- 
tinued for  ages,  the  contemplation  of  the  same 
ideals,  and  the  perpetual  effort  to  impress  them 
upon  every  thinking  mind,  have  brought  about 
this  striking  result.  In  western  lands  we  are 
familiar  with  the  thought  of  the  individual  as 
the  social  unit,  and  the  process  of  individualiza- 
tion begins  early,  and  is  soon  completed.  In 
China,  on  the  other  hand,  the  family,  or  the  clan, 
is  the  unit,  and  the  individual  is  but  a  cog  in  a 
long  series  of  wheels,  which  are  all  moved  by 
the  same  common  impulse,  and  inevitably  in  the 
same  direction.  To  continue  the  mechanical 
illustration,  cogs,  wheels,  cylinders,  shafts,  belts, 
upper  and  lower  alike,  are  all  responsive  to  the 
rhythmic  revolutions  of  the  great  turbine  far 
below,  which  for  ages  has  gone  on  its  unchang- 
ing way.      It  is  conceivable  that  each  unit  in 


86  BEX  CHRISTUS 

this  long  series  might  be  persuaded  of  the  theo- 
retical fact  that  its  motion  is  abnormal  and  in 
the  wrong  dire'ction,  and  yet  recognize  its  help- 
lessness and  the  hopelessness  of  any  alteration. 
For  down  under  the  turbine  is  the  great  river, 
and  as  the  river  flows  so  goes  the  shaft,  belt, 
cylinder,  wheel,  and  cog. 

This  exaggerated  simile  is  not  suggested  as 
exhibiting  realities,  for  it  is  happily  far  from 
doing  so,  but  only  to  set  forth  the  impression 
made  on  the  mind  of  one  who  deliberately  sets 
himself  to  the  task  of  altering,  intellectually  and 
morally,  the  complex  phenomena  of  an  empire 
like  China.  In  China  no  person,  man,  woman, 
or  child,  is  a  free  agent.  There  are  not  only  the 
general  social  obligations  proceeding  from  an 
intricate  mass  of  well-settled  principles  and 
precedents,  but  there  is  a  forest  of  "  personal 
equations  "  to  be  reckoned  with.  A  father  has 
power  over  his  children  which  is  not  less  abso- 
lute than  that  of  the  most  imperial  monarch. 
He  may  even  kill  his  offspring,  or  sell  his  adult 
children  into  slavery.  Their  property  is  his 
property,  and  as  long  as  the  father  lives  their 
families  are  under  his  control.  This  tyranny  of 
the  upper  generation  extends  through  a  great 
variety  of  ramilications,  and  is  especially  efficient 
in  subordinating  the  younger  and  the  feminine 
portions  of  the  family.  It  is  not  merely  objec- 
tive authority  which  weaves  a  web  of  entangle- 
ment  about  all  Chinese,  but   the  scarcely  less 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  87 

potent  bonds  of  sentiment,  and  especially  custom, 
which  may  be  said  to  be  the  real  divinity  of  most 
of  the  people  of  China.  What  has  been  done 
may  be  done,  what  has  not  been  done  is  for  that 
reason  outlawed.  The  phrase  which  denotes 
heresy  in  Chinese,  is  literally  "  a  different  doc- 
trine," and  its  antithesis  is  "  true  learning,"  to 
wit,  that  which  is  everywhere  taught  and  which 
ought  to  be  taught.  From  data  like  these  it  is 
easy  to  infer  that  into  this  changeless  race  no 
new  ideas  can  penetrate,  or  penetrating  can  find 
lodgment.  Yet  while  all  that  has  been  said 
represents  but  a  part  of  the  cast-iron  theory  of 
Chinese  environment,  God  has  not  made  the 
soul  of  any  race  impervious  to  spiritual  truth. 
When  Chinese  once  come  to  a  perception  of  the 
existence  of  a  Heavenly  Father,  their  instincts  of 
filial  piety  show  them  the  necessity  of  obedience 
to  him,  and  neglect  of  it  as  a  capital  sin.  The 
solidarity  of  the  family  is  a  two-edged  sword, 
and  it  may  work  for  the  toleration  and  diffusion 
of  a  divine  truth  as  well  as  against  it.  The 
density  of  population,  and  the  intricate  ramifi- 
cations of  family  and  social  life,  afford  so  many 
more  avenues  through  which  new  and  vitalized 
conceptions  of  duty  and  privilege  may  every- 
where find  their  devious  ways. 

Fixity  of  Residence.  —  It  is  a  Buddhist  saying, 
that  "  when  one  individual  attains  to  the  path, 
nine  generations  ascend  to  the  skies."  One  of 
the  most  striking  contrasts  between  the  Occiden- 


88  REX  CffRISTUS 

tals  and  the  Chinese  is  the  instability  of  location 
among  the  former,  and  the  opposite  in  the  latter. 
Most  Chinese  are  born,  live,  and  die  in  the 
same  place  without  having  been  anywhere  or 
seen  anything  worth  mentioning.  But  even 
when  they  "  go  far  and  fly  high,"  it  is  still  true 
that  "  the  world  has  a  million  roosts  but  only 
one  nest."  "  The  old  soil  is  hard  to  leave,"  we 
hear  them  say,  and  so  it  is.  They  are  in  reality 
anchored  in  unconscious  Confucian  bondage  to 
the  graves  of  their  ancestors,  and  it  is  these,  not 
their  adobe  hovels,  which  it  is  hard  to  leave,  for 
the  reason  that  sacrifices  to  ancestors  constitute 
a  large  part  of  the  duty  of  filial  descendants. 
Given,  then,  fixity  of  residence  added  to  social 
and  family  solidarity,  when  persecution  arises 
from  within  a  family  because  one  of  its  members 
has  struck  out  a  new  route  in  accordance  with 
"  another  doctrine,"  we  have  need  of  patience 
and  of  much  faith.  Sometimes  it  is  possible  for 
one  to  avail  himself  of  the  scripture  suggestion 
to  fly  to  another  city,  but  more  frequently,  for  a 
variety  of  reasons,  this  is  impracticable.  In 
such  cases  it  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  by  the  crucial 
test  of  actual  experience  and  observation  that 
the  Lord  is  able,  even  under  these  adverse  con- 
ditions, both  to  keep  and  to  deliver  his  children. 
It  not  infrequently  happens  that  it  is  the  ex- 
emplary behavior  of  those  thus  harassed  which 
wins  the  obdurate  hearts  of  their  persecutors, 
who   are  often  most  literally  their  tormentors. 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  89 

There  is  in  the  epistles  of  the  New  Testament  no 
exhortation  to  steadfastness  which  is  not  equally 
and  peculiarly  applicable  to  Chinese  Christians, 
often  walking  in  a  narrow  and  thorny  path ; 
and  happily  there  is  no  promise  to  those  that 
endure  unto  the  end  which  is  not  likewise  veri- 
fied in  the  history  of  the  Chinese  martyrs,  living 
and  dead. 

Unity  in  Variety.  —  At  first  sight  all  Chinese 
look  alike,  but  upon  a  better  acquaintance  they 
are  seen  to  have  striking  differences  among 
themselves,  not  merely  as  regards  separate  prov- 
inces in  parts  of  the  empire  mutually  distant, 
but  even  in  regions  adjacent  to  one  another. 
Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  every  Chinese  is  himself 
China  in  small.  Their  postulates,  their  ideals, 
their  motives,  and  their  methods  are  so  much 
alike,  that  being  excellent  judges  of  human 
nature  they  have  only  to  look  at  themselves  in 
the  glass  and  they  see  also  everybody  else.  It 
is  in  this  way  that  Christianity  is  able  to  bring 
to  bear  its  most  irrefragable  proofs.  Those  who 
know  human  nature  and  their  own  nature  only 
too  well,  and  then  see  others  with  that  same 
nature  essentially  and  inexplicably  modified  by 
unknown  forces,  are  in  a  mood  to  be  willing  to 
hear  what  it  is  that  is  able  to  achieve  such  re- 
sults. A  confirmed  gambler,  or  still  more  an 
inveterate  and  incurable  opium-smoker,  lost  to 
the  "  Five  Relations,"  and  dead  to  shame,  when 
rescued  and  made  into  a  new  man  is  such  a  wit- 


90  REX  CHRISTUS 

iiess  to  the  power  of  an  endless  life  as  cannot  be 
refuted  or  ignored.  Opium-smoking  and  gam- 
bling are,  indeed,  the  greatest  vices  of  the  Chinese 
race,  but  they  are  only  more  obtrusive  and  not 
less  harmful  than  the  wrath,  bitterness,  and  re- 
viling, which  may  be  said  to  be  invariable  con- 
comitants of  Chinese  social  life,  to  an  extent 
and  to  a  degree  of  which  in  w^estern  lands  it  is 
difficult  to  form  any  adequate  notion.  It  is  in 
these  traits  first  of  all  that  moral  reformation  is 
to  be  sought,  and  if  it  is  found  it  is  a  sign  of 
new  forces  at  work,  as  rudimentary  buds  are  the 
promise  and  prophecy  of  a  coming  spring. 

Unity  in  variety  and  variety  in  unity  is  one 
of  the  most  marked  characteristics  of  the  Chi- 
nese race.  It  is  itself  the  product  of  causes  which 
have  been  operant  during  unknown  millenniums 
upon  incomputable  millions  of  people,  "  dura- 
tion multiplied  by  numbers,"  on  a  scale  never 
elsewhere  even  imagined.  It  is  this  which  gives 
rise  to  the  cohesion  of  Chinese  with  one  another, 
a  quality  so  universal  and  so  remarkable  that  it 
resembles  chemical  attraction.  Their  guilds  and 
secret  societies  hold  together  without  the  aid  of 
law,  often  against  law,  with  a  tenacity  which 
cannot  be  surpassed. 

Industry  and  Poverty.  —  There  are  thus 
elements  in  the  Chinese  character  of  great  sta- 
bility and  strength.  Nothing  is  required  to 
bring  them  fully  out  but  a  great  motive,  and 
this  Christianity  can   supply  and  does  supply. 


1 
THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  91 

When  it  has  been  assimilated  by  the  Chinese 
it  will  not  improbably  take  on  new  types,  as  it 
has  so  often  done  before.  The  experience  of 
the  past  few  years  is  wholly  sufficient  to  make 
it  certain  that  Chinese  Christians  will  be  the 
equal  of  any  Christians,  and  that  some  of  them 
are  so  already.  Yet  Christianity  has  to  overcome 
formidable  obstacles  even  to  get  the  slenderest 
footing  in  China.  There  is,  indeed,  no  system 
of  caste,  but  there  is  a  broad  gulf  between  the 
different  classes  of  society.  The  learned  and 
the  unlearned  live  in  different  worlds,  and  to 
pass  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  seems  hope- 
less and  impossible.  It  is  a  fact  of  importance 
that  in  China  poverty  has  never  been  a  disgrace, 
and  that  some  of  the  most  stimulating  ideals 
placed  before  every  learner  are  stories  of  those 
who,  by  singleness  of  purpose  and  perseverance, 
have  surmounted  incredible  obstacles  and  won 
the  two  favorite  objects  of  Chinese  pursuit, 
name  and  gain.  It  is  one  of  the  melancholy 
phenomena  in  China  that  despite  the  unrivalled 
and  tireless  industry  of  its  inhabitants,  poverty 
is  the  key-note  of  this  great  empire.  Its  causes 
are  many  and  complex.  Its  manifestations  are 
protean  and  universal. 

Puzzling  Problems.  —  The  most  hopeful  phi- 
lanthropist is  overwhelmed  with  the  continental 
scope  of  the  problems  thus  suggested.  The 
most  ardent  evangelist  finds  himself  confronted 
with  preliminary  puzzles  which  must  assuredly 


92  REX  CHRISTUS 

give  him  pause.  Men,  women,  children  are  in 
bondage  to  the  inexorable  necessity  of,  in  some 
way,  securing  the  means  of  subsistence.  They 
who  have  nothing  to  eat  in  the  life  which  now 
is — how  shall  they  command  time  to  be  told, 
in  dimly  comprehended  language,  of  a  life  to 
come  in  which  eating  has  no  place  ?  It  is  in 
China  if  anywhere  that  one  may  fall  back  upon 
the  comfort  embodied  in  the  crowning  proof 
of  the  divinity  of  the  Master's  message  that  "  to 
the  poor  the  gospel  is  preached."  It  is  among 
them  that  some  of  the  most  conspicuous  examples 
of  Christian  fidelity  are  to  be  found,  that  some 
of  the  most  intelligent  recipients  and  most 
earnest  promulgators  of  the  faith  are  to  be 
met.  The  margin  between  the  scanty  subsist- 
ence which  is  only  adequate  to  enable  one  to 
exist,  but  not  to  live,  and  bare  necessities,  is  so 
narrow  that  he  who  undertakes  the  organization 
and  the  administration  of  a  Christian  community 
in  such  an  environment,  at  once  raises  socio- 
logical questions  which  permanently  retain  one 
of  the  leading  peculiarities  of  Banquo's  ghost, 
they  "  will  not  down." 

The  religious  innovator  probably  puts  into  the 
hands  of  his  inquirers  the  gospels  first  of  all, 
and  in  them  the  learner  reads  with  joy  the  pre- 
cept :  "  Give  to  him  that  asketh  thee,  and  from 
him  that  would  borrow  of  thee  turn  not  thou 
awa3^"  Unless  he  receives  what  is  technically 
termed  a  loan,  but  by  which  is  usually  meant  a 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  93 

transfer  of  money  in  cases  of  emergency,  with- 
out interest  and  probably  not  to  be  repaid,  the 
petitioning  adherent  will  be  dragged  to  the 
yamen  and  permanently  imprisoned  for  default 
of  taxes  on  land  (not  improbably  land  which  is 
really  non-existent,  that  is,  land  which,  owing 
to  mismeasurements,  has  been  extinguished  by 
transfers  to  its  neighbors,  nothing  but  the  taxes 
remaining  to  mark  the  site).  Unless  a  widow 
with  six  children,  nearly  all  of  them  small,  and 
all  of  them  "  of  no  use,"  receives  timely  assist- 
ance in  the  month  of  April,  her  crumbling  house 
will  come  down  over  her  head  in  the  rains  of 
July.  Unless  a  sum  of  money,  borrowed  at  the 
ruinous  rate  of  two  per  cent  a  month,  is  at  once 
repaid  (which  can  only  be  accomplished  b}^  help 
from  the  foreign  friend,  the  only  real  one 
known),  the  remaining  half  acre  of  land  must 
be  sold  to  pay  the  debt,  and  the  family  reduced 
to  beggary.  Each  of  these  is  a  bona  fide  and  an 
exigent  case  ;  each  presses  for  immediate  settle- 
ment, and  unhappily  each  is  a  precedent. 

Can  one  interfere  in  an  ancient,  crystallized 
civilization  like  that  of  China  and  not  do  more 
harm  than  good?  How  is  it  possible  in  the 
face  of  woes  like  these  not  to  interfere  ?  With 
dilemmas  of  this  sort  the  "  Foreigner  in  Far 
Cathay  "  is  perpetually  confronted,  and  if  he  is 
able  to  formulate  or  to  discover  any  rule,  or  even 
any  principle  which  is  adequate  to  guide  his  steps, 
his  experience  will  be  exceptional  and  peculiar. 


94  EEX  CHRISTUS 

Sentiment  toward  Foreigners.  —  With  such 
a  vast  background  as  has  been  outlined  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  Chinese 
look  upon  their  own  history  as  that  of  the  human 
race  as  a  whole,  ignoring  as  irrelevant  and  un- 
important what  lies  outside  of  and  beyond  their 
national  experience.  This  places  the  foreign 
religious  reformer  in  the  position  of  an  alien  in- 
truder, against  whom  is  every  presupposition, 
and  in  whose  favor  there  is,  for  the  most  part, 
nothing  at  all.  It  is  on  this  account,  if  on  no 
other,  most  important  that  those  who  wish  effi- 
ciently to  influence  Chinese  thought,  and  to 
awaken  Chinese  religious  emotions,  should,  in 
advance  of  their  overt  efforts,  have  a  reasonably 
clear  conception  of  what  it  is  that  they  are  to 
exert  their  strength  upon,  and  what  things  are  to 
be  left  alone ;  what  things  are  to  be  established, 
and  what  things  are  to  be  taken  for  granted. 
It  is  therefore  most  desirable  to  have  had  an 
intelligent  and  a  sympathetic  study  of  what 
already  exists,  as  a  precedent  qualification  for 
intelligent  exertion  to  that  end. 

The  instinctive  dislike  of  the  foreigner  on 
the  part  of  the  Chinese  is  not  without  a  firm 
historical  warrant.  It  is  also  exactly  paralleled 
by  their  undisguised  contempt  for  their  own 
countrymen  from  other  and  especially  distant 
provinces,  who  are  frequently  referred  to  by 
nicknames  which  express  in  stinging  epithets 
the  innate  disdain  felt  for  them.     They  are  not 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  95 

only  constantly  spoken  of  as  barbarians,  but  are 
treated  as  foreigners,  and  when  away  from  home 
are  placed  under  numerous  and  permanent  disa- 
bilities. This  is  true,  for  example,  of  Cantonese 
merchants  doing  business  not  merely  at  the  far 
north,  but  in  the  adjacent  province  of  Fukien, 
of  the  men  from  Shansi  who  are  all  over  the 
empire,  and  of  those  from  Shantung,  who  are 
dubbed  louts  and  bumpkins.  It  is  a  remarkable 
fact  that  the  Chinese  seldom  or  never  boast  of 
their  great  empire,  and  of  its  persistent  survival 
triumphant  "  o'er  the  wrecks  of  time  "  ;  they 
merely  assume  it  as  a  matter  of  course.  They 
do  not,  like  some  sensitive  peoples,  inquire  what 
you  "  think  of  our  institutions."  They  do  not 
care  what  you  think,  or  what  any  one  thinks, 
and  the  very  idea  of  such  a  thing  is  altogether 
foreign  to  their  intellectual  outfit. 

Patriotism.  —  Their  conspicuous  lack  of  any- 
thing like  what  we  term  patriotism  has  attracted 
much  remark,  especially  in  view  of  the  strikingl}^ 
opposite  qualities  of  the  Japanese.  Patriotism 
in  a  rudimentary  form  does  exist,  and  it  can, 
and  perhaps  will,  be  developed,  but  at  present  it 
is  replaced  by  a  blind  but  powerful  national  feel- 
ing, unorganized,  inchoate,  and  for  the  most  part 
dumb  as  well  as  blind,  but  susceptible  of  being 
mightily  aroused  with  startling  and  unforeseen 
results.  The  extremely  delicate  and  often 
dangerous  position  of  foreigners  environed  by 
conditions  like  this  has  been  made  manifest  to 


96  BEX  CHRISTUS 

the  world,  and  it  is  important  to  understand 
that  these  factors  of  national  life  and  of  inter- 
national relations  are  to  be  permanent.  Like 
friction  in  machinery,  the  depth  of  mineral 
deposits,  or  the  trend  of  a  mountain  range, 
they  must  be  taken  account  of  as  existent  and, 
at  present,  unalterable  facts. 

Conservatism.  —  That  trait  of  the  Chinese 
which  is  included  under  the  general  term  con- 
servatism is  the  instinctive  effort  to  retain  intact 
the  priceless  heritage  of  the  mighty  past.  Con- 
fucius was  that  one  of  the  ancients  who  most 
effectively  determined  the  key-note  of  the 
thought  and  the  life  of  the  Chinese  race,  and 
it  was  done  by  reverence  and  admiration  for  the 
ancients,  and  by  struggling  at  all  costs  to  imi- 
tate their  example.  Thus  the  face  of  the  mas- 
ter was  definitely  and  deliberately  turned  to  the 
past,  and  the  face  of  China  has  been  in  like 
manner  turned  in  the  same  direction  ever  since. 
It  is  this  which  has  tended  to  make  real  progress 
in  China  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  and  this  it 
is  which  gives  rise  to  one  of  the  greatest  puzzles 
in  considering  the  history  of  the  empire,  how  it 
has  contrived  to  be  a  persistent  exception  to  the 
otherwise  universal  law  that  a  nation  and  a  race 
must  either  advance  or  die ;  whereas  the  Chi- 
nese appear  to  have  declined  either  to  advance 
or  to  die,  and  have  gone  on  their  way  moulded  by 
the  ideals  and  clinging  to  the  ideas  of  the  past 
down  to  this  present  time. 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  97 

That  this  process  can  no  longer  be  continued 
has  become  dimly  obvious  even  to  the  most  con- 
servative Manchus  and  Chinese.  But  what  to 
do  about  it  they  cannot  and  will  not  decide. 
They  prefer  to  drift  with  the  current  rather 
tlian  to  attempt  to  steer  in  waters  hitherto  un- 
known, and  under  conditions  which,  for  the 
most  part,  they  but  vaguely  apprehend.  It  thus 
becomes  plain  why  it  is  that  the  Chinese  are  so 
phenomenally  destitute  of  initiative,  and  how  it 
is  that  as  individuals  in  their  experience,  and  as 
a  nation  and  a  race  in  their  history,  they  have 
so  often  illustrated  that  definition  of  the  con- 
servatives as  "  those  who,  when  they  got  into 
hot  water,  stayed  there  lest  they  should  be 
scalded."  The  typical  Confucianist  who  re- 
gards the  beginning  and  the  ending  of  all  wis- 
dom as  comprised  in  the  doctrine  of  reciprocity 
as  taught  by  the  master,  is  inevitably  annoyed 
that  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  add  anything 
to,  or  to  subtract  anything  from,  this  thesis,  espe- 
cially by  foreigners  from  countries  whose  civili- 
zation —  such  as  it  is  —  dates  but  from  a  time 
when  China  was  practically  as  old  as  now,  and 
whose  ancestors,  at  the  time  of  China's  greatest 
splendor,  were  wild  men  in  the  woods. 

How  a  Chinese  Scholar  views  Christianity. 
—  In  the  essay  of  Mr.  P'eng  Kuang  Yu,  at  the 
Parliament  of  Religions  (quoted  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter),  he  takes  pains  to  show  that  what 
is  called  religion  is  of  no  service  to  China  and 


9S  El:X   CHBISTUS 

the  Chinese,  "Granting  that  the  belief  in 
heaven  and  hell  and  the  final  judgment  is  well 
founded,  he  who  has  tasted  the  pleasures  derived 
from  the  fulfilment  of  his  duties  to  society,  has 
already  ascended  into  heaven,  and  he  who  allows 
the  lust  of  the  flesh  to  defile  his  heart  and  per- 
vert the  use  of  his  senses,  has  already  entered 
hell.  What  need  is  there  in  troubling  the 
Great  Lord  of  the  Eastern  Mountain  of  the 
Taoist,  the  Yen  Lo  of  the  Buddhists,  and 
the  Christ  of  the  Christians  to  judge  the  dead 
after  death  and  reward  every  man  according  to 
his  deserts  ?  "  In  the  closing  paragraph  of  an 
essay  by  far  the  longest  at  the  Parliament,  he 
disclaims  his  fitness  to  treat  of  religion  at  all, 
on  the  ground  that  "  the  progress  of  Christianity 
does  not  concern  Confucianists  in  the  least." 
He  endeavors  to  make  it  appear,  by  reiterated 
assertion,  that  while  it  seems  that  missionaries 
(especially  from  the  United  States)  come  from 
a  highly  respectable  class  of  society,  they  meet 
in  China  only  the  very  dregs  of  the  people,  that 
they  are  constantly  and  inevitably  deluded  as 
to  the  character  of  their  converts,  and  that 
"they  make  no  attempt  to  study  the  political 
institutions  and  the  educational  principles  of 
the  Chinese  people,  and  aim  only  to  carry  out 
their  own  notions  of  what  is  right." 

In  another  passage  he  says :  "After  all,  to  do 
reverence  to  spirits  is  to  do  nothing  more  than 
to  refrain  from  giving  them  annoyance,  and  to 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  99 

do  reverence  to  Heaven  is  nothing  more  than  to 
refrain  from  giving  it  annoyance.  On  points 
like  this  the  ritual  code  is  full  and  explicit. 
There  is  consequently  no  demand  for  other  reli- 
gious works."  "What  the  Confucianists  call 
things  spiritual  is  nothing  more  than  the  law  of 
action  and  reaction,  which  operates  upon  matter 
without  suffering  loss,  and  which  causes  the  sea- , 
sons  to  come  round  without  deviation.  What 
priests  of  the  two  sects  (Taoism  and  Buddhism) 
call  things  spiritual,  consist  of  prayers  and 
repentance,  which  they  make  use  of  as  a  means 
of  practising  deception  upon  the  people  by  giv- 
ing out  that  they  can  reveal  the  secrets  of  hap- 
piness and  misery  thereby.  As  a  rule,  they  are 
men  given  to  speculations  on  the  invisible  world 
of  spirits,  and  neglectful  of  the  requirements 
and  duties  of  life.  For  this  reason  they  are 
employed  by  public  functionaries  to  ofhciate  on 
occasions  of  public  worship,  and  at  the  same 
time  they  are  despised  by  the  Confucianists  as 
the  dregs  of  the  people."  "The  right  principles 
of  action  can  only  be  discovered  by  studying  the 
waxing  and  the  waning  of  the  active  and  the 
passive  elements  as  set  forth  in  the  'Book  of 
Changes,'  and  surely  cannot  be  understood  by 
those  who  believe  in  what  the  priests  call  the 
dispensations  of  Providence."  "If  by  living 
according  to  the  dictates  of  nature,  and  by  sup- 
pressing the  desires  of  the  flesh,  one  arrives  at 
a  perfect  agreement  with  nature,  and  obtains  a 


100  REX  CHRISTUS 

complete  mastery  over  desires,  such  a  one  Bud- 
dhists call  a  Buddha,  Taoists  a  Genius,  and 
Christians  a  child  of  God,  .  .  .  All  philosophi- 
cal systems  recognise  some  ideal  state  of  human 
perfection,  though  it  is  known  under  different 
names.  It  seems  rather  unnecessary  for  think- 
ers of  different  schools  to  attack  the  opinions  of 
one  another,  for  owing  to  the  difference  of  nat- 
ural endowments  and  social  surroundings,  all 
men  cannot  possibly  arrive  at  the  same  opinion 
on  any  subject." 

And  once  more  this  learned  Chinese  Celsus, 
after  explaining  how  the  better  class  of  Chinese 
looked  with  indifference  upon  missionaries  until 
"a  diplomatic  officer  of  high  rank  lent  his  power- 
ful testimony  to  the  support  of  the  missionary 
cause,"  adds  that  since  then  "every  self-respect- 
ing man  has  studiously  avoided  the  sight  of 
missionaries,  knowing  that  their  chief  object  is 
to  undermine  by  their  teaching  what  he  holds 
dear.  The  turbulent  element  of  the  population, 
however,  often  finds  it  to  their  interest  to  turn 
Christian."  "Christian  missionaries  in  China 
can  do  neither  good  nor  harm  to  the  power  of 
Confucianism  by  spreading  the  doctrines  they 
espouse,  because  they  associate  only  with  the 
dregs  of  the  people,  or  educated  men  of  loose 
morals!"  "An  increase  in  the  number  of  con- 
verts is  considered  as  a  measure  of  the  success 
of  missionary  labors,  and  may  be  made  the 
subject  of  boast  on  the  part  of  the  missionary 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  101 

concerned,  in  his  reports  to  those  who  sent  him. 
Even  if  there  are  law-abiding  individuals  among 
the  converts,  it  may  be  asserted  with  confidence 
that  there  are  no  intelligent  and  educated  persons 
among  them,  for  the  reason  that  no  intelligent 
and  educated  person  will  embrace  the  religion  of 
another  people." 

Mace  Characteristics 

These  copious  quotations  from  the  first  author- 
ized, and  in  a  manner  semi-official,  exponent  of 
Confucianism  to  the  western  world,  ought  to 
make  it  clear  how  Chinese  conservatism  bars 
the  mind  and  the  soul  to  an  apprehension,  not 
to  say  reception,  of  the  real  meaning  of  Chris- 
tianity and  a  Christ.  Chinese  society  is  compact, 
and  highly  organized  after  an  ancient  pattern. 
There  is  a  mutual  responsibility  which  is  more 
carefully  developed  than  in  any  other  land, 
which,  beginning  with  one's  mundane  existence, 
follows  him  to  its  close,  implicating  even  ances- 
tors and  posterity.  The  complicated  involutions 
of  the  working  of  this  principle  are  to  a  foreigner 
almost  incomprehensible,  and  to  a  Chinese  are 
one  of  the  principal  factors  of  his  environment. 

Under  conditions  like  these,  and  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  unknown  number  of  potentially  influ- 
ential enemies,  it  behooves  every  Chinese  to  walk 
softly,  like  soldiers  who  have  captured  a  fort  in 
which  there  is  danger  that,  by  a  chance  misstep, 
some  unperceived  contact  mine  may  be  exploded, 


102  REX  CHBISTUS 

and  the  unhappy  blunderer  may  be  maimed  or 
annihilated.  Chinese  life  is  full  of  phenomena 
of  which  this  is  an  unhappily  accurate  analogue- 
It  is  therefore  not  unnatural  that  one  of  the 
most  rudimentary  presuppositions  of  all  Chinese 
is,  that  it  is  dangerous  to  give  offence,  for  among- 
Chinese  there  are  practically  no  secrets.  Every 
human  being  is,  to  a  large  extent,  in  the  power 
of  a  great  many  others,  for  whose  use  of  their 
power  there  is  no  guarantee  of  any  sort.  The 
complaint  of  the  scholar  and  official  just  quoted, 
that  missionaries  are  in  the  habit  of  receiving 
among  their  followers  every  variety  of  rascal 
which  China  affords,  and  of  which,  as  he  says, 
the  supply  is  inexhaustible,  is  probably  based 
upon  very  narrow  premises,  and  upon  possible 
facts  looked  at  through  spectacles  strongly  col- 
ored by  prejudice.  Both  Roman  Catholics  and 
Protestants  vigorously  repudiate  it,  and  for  the 
same  reason,  that  in  either  case  it  must  be  fatal 
to  the  objects  which  they  have  in  view.  Never- 
theless, in  the  former  case  there  is  overwhelming 
evidence,  and  never  more  so  than  in  the  years 
since  the  Boxer  failure,  that  there  is  more  than 
mere  rumor  in  these  allegations.  Bad  men 
do  worm  themselves  into  both  branches  of  the 
Christian  church  in  China,  however  vigilant 
the  shepherds  may  be,  and  it  is  mainly  due  to 
the  trait  which  has  just  been  mentioned.  It  is 
a  common  circumstance  in  China  that  every  one 
knows  a  fact,  except  the  person  whom  it  espe- 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  103 

cially  concerns.  No  one  likes  to  tell  what  is 
disagreeable,  and  as  a  rule,  if  there  is  any  fear 
of  unpleasant  consequences  to  the  witness  no 
one  will  tell  it. 

Talent  for  Indirection.  —  It  is  this  which  makes 
it  so  difficult  for  the  most  conscientious  and  dis- 
creet missionary  to  be  quite  sure  that  he  is  in 
possession  of  all  the  needed  data  in  any  given 
case.  The  difficulty  in  getting  at  "  the  bottom 
facts"  frequently  is  that  there  are  no  "facts" 
available,  and,  as  the  pilots  say,  "  no  bottom." 
"Who  told  you  that?"  is  the  first  indignant 
inquiry  of  an  accused  Chinese,  and  unless  the 
accuser  is  phenomenally  sure  of  his  ground  and 
ready  for  all  five  acts  of  a  most  dramatic  drama, 
he  is  quite  as  likely  to  withdraw  the  charge 
upon  a  plea  of  misunderstanding  as  to  sub- 
stantiate it.  If  it  is  insisted  upon,  he  knows 
that  the  other  party  to  the  case  will  "  go  after  " 
him,  a  compound  verb  of  fateful  meaning,  for  in 
China  no  one  desires  to  be  gone  after.  When 
the  Christian  church  has  been  firmly  established 
these  Chinese  traits  become  gold-plated  and 
silver-plated  with  Christian  obligations  and  tra- 
ditions ;  but  let  there  come  a  time  of  special 
strain  and  stress,  and  the  gold  and  silver  plating 
will  in  many  cases  (not,  however,  in  all)  wear 
off,  exposing  the  baser  metal  beneath.  This  is 
that  reversion  to  type  which  all  scientists  take 
account  of,  and  of  which  the  history  of  Chris- 
tianity, even  in  our  own  land  at  the  present  day, 


104  REX  CHRISTUS 

has  always  been  full.  It  is  after  an  extended 
experience  of  this  fact  in  its  larger  meanings  that 
one  apprehends  the  significance  of  the  biblical 
references  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation. 
No  less  time  than  that  is  required  for  the  re- 
generation of  a  race,  so  that  every  fibre  of  the 
moral  and  the  spiritual  nature  may  be  instinc- 
tively responsive  to  the  new  life,  and  a  Christian 
lieredity  may  have  appropriate  time  in  which  to 
do  its  work. 

Suspicion  and  Distrust.  —  Connected  with  the 
last-mentioned  race  characteristic  is  another,  per- 
haps rather  Oriental  than  Chinese,  a  mutual  sus- 
picion which  looks  for  danger  everywhere,  and 
like  a  hunted  animal  is  ever  on  the  alert  for  foes 
concealed.  It  is  literally  impossible  for  those 
reared  in  the  Christian  atmosphere,  in  which  even 
the  most  threatening  of  commercial  and  financial 
tyrannies  is  rightly  called  a  "  trust,"  to  compre- 
hend the  conditions  which  prevail  where  no  one 
wholly  confides  in  any  one,  and  where  this  mutual 
absence  of  confidence  is  on  all  hands  much  more 
than  justified.  Every  one  of  those  "Five  Re- 
lations "  so  much  vaunted  in  China  is,  from  this 
cause,  filled  with  gall  and  bitterness.  The  stranger 
from  abroad  finds  himself  the  object  of  a  pro- 
found distrust,  which  he  is  helpless  to  dispel,  or 
even  to  mitigate.  It  is  this  which  gives  rise 
to  riots  and  to  massacres,  born  from  that  "  evil 
heart  of  unbelief"  v/hich  finds  it  impossible  to 
credit  the  existence  of  a  good  motive  when  a 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  105 

bad  one  can  be  suggested.  Even  this,  however, 
may  be  lived  down,  and  in  the  very  places  where 
they  once  occurred  there  may,  at  last,  be  estab- 
lished the  forms  of  a  reciprocal  good-will  not 
again  readily  interrupted.  But  this  requires 
time,  tact,  and  indefinite  patience.  Yet  it  is  a 
singular  and  instructive  fact  that,  once  past  the 
preliminary  stages,  it  is  easier  to  gain  the  con- 
fidence of  the  average  Chinese  for  the  average 
foreigner,  than  a  like  confidence  of  the  Chinese 
in  one  another,  and  this  whether  the  question 
be  one  of  objective  fact,  or  of  trustworthiness  in 
the  handling  of  money. 

The  bearing  of  all  this  on  the  complicated 
relations  of  everyday  life  must  be  left  to  the 
more  or  less  vivid  imagination  of  the  reader. 
Its  relation  to  the  exigencies  of  the  more  diffi- 
cult cases  of  discipline  in  the  native  church  is 
too  serious  to  be  omitted.  Here  is  the  faith  and 
patience  of  the  saints ;  and  here,  also,  will 
Christianity  establish  itself  as  able  to  do  what 
unaided  human  nature  could  never  by  any  pos- 
sibility compass. 

Untruthfulness  and  Insincerity.  —  Another 
phase  of  the  same  side  of  the  Chinese  character 
is  its  innate  untruthfulness  under  ofiven  condi- 
tions.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  Chinese 
are  a  nation  of  liars,  for  they  are  not.  On  the 
contrary,  there  is  adequate  reason  to  believe 
them  to  be  by  far  the  most  truthful  of  Asiatics. 
But  it  does  signify  that  under  certain  stress  of 


106  BEX  CHRISTUS 

danger  or  fear  every  Chinese  will  either  tell  a 
falsehood  or  he  will  tell  nothing  at  all.  This 
is  done  by  an  innate  as  well  as  by  a  cultivated 
instinct,  like  that  of  the  serpent  that  slides  into 
the  jungle,  or  the  bull-frog  that  dives  into  a 
mud-hole.  There  has  never  been  any  more 
question  in  regard  to  the  legitimacy  of  such  a 
proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  than  on 
that  of  the  snake  or  the  frog.  It  is  both  na- 
ture and  second  nature.  The  Chinese  have 
many  and  conspicuous  virtues,  among  which  are 
their  faithfulness  to  duty,  their  sobriety,  their 
unfailing  industry,  their  unequalled  patience, 
their  inextinguishable  cheerfulness,  manifesting 
itself  in  blooming  flowers,  in  warbling  birds,  and 
smiling  faces,  even  in  the  midst  of  deep  poverty, 
gloomy  prospects,  and  heavy  hearts.  All  these 
are  wonderful  and  admirable  endowments.  And 
here,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  the  chief  fault 
of  all,  their  deep-rooted,  all-pervading  insin- 
cerity both  of  word  and  deed. 

The  last  of  the  "Five  Constant  Virtues," 
sincerity,  appears  to  be  "  constant "  only  in  its 
absence.  This  is  true  in  every  relation  of  life, 
from  the  top  of  the  social  ladder  to  the  very 
base,  and  all  through  and  through,  Christianity 
aside.  Many  true  things  are  said  in  China, 
many  sincere  acts  are  done,  many  heai-ts  do  not 
fail  to  beat  responsive  to  duty  and  to  honor,  but 
one  can  never  be  sure  which  words,  which  acts, 
which  hearts  are  the  ones  to  be  trusted.     The 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  107 

philosophy  of  this  grave  defect  in  the  Chinese 
character,  this  is  not  the  place  to  examine.  Of 
the  fact  itself  there  is  no  doubt.  Every  Protes- 
tant missionary  is  anxious  to  have  his  flock  of 
Christians  such  as  fear  God  and  work  righteous- 
ness, but  in  the  effort  to  compass  this  end  he 
not  infrequently  finds  that  when  endeavoring  to 
investigate  the  "  facts  "  in  any  case  he  is  chasing 
a  school  of  cuttlefish  through  seas  of  ink.  The 
conscience  of  those  who  have  been  born  into 
a  new  life  is  not  suddenly  transformed,  yet  the 
change  does  take  place  and  upon  a  large  scale. 
When  once  it  has  been  accomplished,  a  new  force 
has  been  introduced  into  the  Chinese  Empire, 
a  salt  to  preserve,  a  leaven  to  pervade,  a  seed 
to  bring  forth  after  its  kind  in  perpetually 
augmenting  abundance  and  fertility. 

Saving  One's  ''Face."  —  It  is  an  integral 
part  of  both  Chinese  theory  and  practice  that 
realities  are  of  much  less  importance  than 
appearances.  If  the  latter  can  be  saved,  the 
former  may  be  altogether  surrendered.  This 
is  the  essence  of  that  mysterious  "  face "  of 
which  we  are  never  done  hearing  in  China,  the 
significance  and  relations  of  which  can  never  be 
fully  apprehended  by  any  foreigner.  The  world 
is  conceived  of  as  in  Shakespeare,  under  the 
figure  of  a  theatrical  stage,  "and  all  the  men 
and  women  merely  players."  The  line  of  Pope 
might  be  the  Chinese  national  motto  :  "  Act  well 
your  part,  there  all  the  honor  lies  ; "  not,  be  it 


108  REX  CHRISTUS 

observed,  doing  well  what  is  to  be  done,  but 
consummate  acting,  contriving  to  convey  the 
appearance  of  a  thing  or  a  fact,  whatever  the 
realities  may  be.  This  is  Chinese  high  art; 
this  is  success.  It  is  self-respect,  and  it  in- 
volves and  implies  the  respect  of  others.  It  is, 
in  a  word,  "  face."  The  preservation  of  "  face  " 
frequently  requires  that  one  should  behave  in 
an  arbitrary  and  violent  manner  merely  to  em- 
phasize his  protests  against  the  course  of  current 
events.  He  or  she  must  fly  into  a  violent  rage, 
he  or  she  must  use  reviling  and  perhaps  impre- 
catory language,  else  it  will  not  be  evident  to 
the  spectators  of  the  drama,  in  which  he  is  at  the 
moment  acting,  that  he  is  aware  just  what  ought 
to  be  done  by  a  person  in  his  precise  situation ; 
and  then  he  will  have  "  no  way  to  descend  from 
the  stage,"  or  in  other  words,  he  will  have  lost 
"  face." 

We  have  just  seen,  in  the  citations  from  the 
essay  of  Mr.  P'eng,  that  the  well-bred  Confu- 
cianist  is  not  deceived  by  Taoist  fables  or  by 
Buddhist  myths.  He  is  a  triple-plated  agnostic, 
with  a  short  creed,  and  all  his  duties  in  plain 
sight,  and  capable  of  being  duly  inventoried 
every  morning.  But  in  practice  a  Confucianist 
is,  after  all,  but  a  human  being;  and  while  he 
believes  nothing  which  he  cannot  see,  he  also 
believes  everything  which  others  believe,  more 
especially  at  times  when  he  is  driven  into  a  cor- 
ner.    Thus  the  firm  basis  is  laid  for  that  social 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  109 

dynamite  of  which  we  have  spoken  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapters,  composed  of  angry  human 
passions  mingled  with  varying  proportions  of 
the  supernatural  and  the  infra-natural. 

In  the  language  of  a  former  British  consular 
officer  of  long  experience  and  wide  observation 
(Mr.  T.  T.  Cooper)  :  "  Underneath  their  practi- 
cal and  sensible  exterior  there  lurks  a  sleeping 
demon  of  the  blindest  superstition,  which  re- 
quires only  the  slightest  touch  to  change  them 
into  insensible  madmen,  reckless  of  life,  and 
savage  as  wild  beasts ;  and  this  dreadful  curse  is 
not  only  common  amongst  the  uneducated,  but 
amongst  the  literati  and  governing  classes  also." 
Of  this  phenomenon  extensive  exhibits  have 
recently  been  made  in  sight  of  the  whole  world, 
and  we  need  not  dwell  upon  them  in  this  con- 
nection. It  is  well,  however,  to  mention  that 
there  is  an  analogous  set  of  phenomena  in  ordi- 
nary social  life,  due  to  the  sudden  exigencies  of 
"face."  No  man,  no  woman,  no  child  with 
whom  one  has,  or  can  have,  anything  to  do  but 
is  always  potentially  on  the  verge  of  a  "  strike," 
because  in  some  way,  not  unlikely  quite  un- 
known and  incomprehensible  to  his  foreign 
employer,  the  employee's  "  facial  angle "  has 
been  unduly  deflected.  Cooks,  sewing  women, 
coolies,  office-boys,  shroffs,  compradores,  teachers, 
upon  due  provocation,  all  exhibit  this  trait ;  and 
after  a  due  recognition  of  their  point  of  view, 
one   and    all    may   return    to    their   avocations 


110  BEX  CHBISTUS 

with  a  smile  of  triumph,  as  of  one  who  has  nobly 
done  his  whole  duty ;  or,  their  point  of  view 
not  being  that  of  their  employer,  their  path 
thenceforth  curves  off  into  a  parabola  and  they 
are  seen  no  more. 

Christianity  a  Solvent.  —  The  group  of  traits 
here  mentioned  reaches  down  into  the  deepest 
roots  of  Chinese  character  and  life.  There  is 
abundant  evidence,  external  and  internal,  that 
they  have  always  constituted  a  part  of  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  equipment  of  the  race.  Many 
of  them  are  wholly  incompatible  with  a  thorough- 
going acceptance  of  Christian  ideals,  and  for 
that  reason  alone  there  are  many  who  know  the 
Chinese  well  to  whom  the  vision  of  a  China 
transformed,  in  such  a  way  that  these  peculiarly 
Chinese  peculiarities  shall  be  essentially  modi- 
fied or  abolished,  is  "an  iridescent  dream."  The 
question  ought  to  be  raised,  but  for  readers  of  a 
book  like  this  it  need  not  be  argued.  The  gos- 
pel of  God  is  always  and  everywhere  adequate 
to  the  redemption  of  the  children  of  men,  and  its 
adaptations  to  the  Chinese  have  been  demon- 
strated for  many  hundred  years  and  on  an  ever 
enlarging  scale.  In  the  century  which  has 
now  opened  it  is  certain  that  such  a  number  and 
variety  of  convincing  object-lessons  will  be  added 
that  all  those  not  altogether  incapable  of  per- 
ceiving spiritual  phenomena  will  be  compelled 
to  admit  that  Christianity  has  a  vital  relation  to 
the  welfare  of  China  and  the  Chinese. 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  111 

To  those  immediately  concerned  in  the  intro- 
duction and  the  dissemination  of  this  faith  there 
are  two  capital  problems :  How  so  to  present 
the  gospel  as  to  win  the  non-Christian  Chinese 
to  hear  it;  how  to  bridge  the  permanent  gulf 
between  races ;  how  to  fulfil  the  Master's  last 
great  commission  in  the  Land  of  Sinim.  On 
the  other  hand :  How  to  plant  and  to  train  the 
native  churches  that  they  may  strike  a  deep  tap- 
root into  native  soil,  independent  of  their  origin  ; 
how  to  prepare  the  way  by  which  the  Spirit  of 
God  may  overcome  inborn  inertia,  timidity,  and 
conformity  to  custom,  plant  "  truth  in  the  inward 
parts,"  and  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  that  Spirit 
in  the  life ;  how  so  to  prepare  the  way  that  the 
churches  of  China,  like  those  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, may  be  self-propagating,  so  that  the  word 
of  the  Lord  may  sound  forth  from  them  in  every 
province  and  dependency  of  the  Chinese  Empire. 

WAYMARKS   IN    THE    HISTORY  OF    MISSIONS 

IN   CHINA 

Fhom  1800  TO  1902 

1800.     Attention  turned  to  China  by  discovery  of  Cliinese 

manuscript  in  Britisli  Museum. 
1804.     British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  formed. 
1806.     Kobert  Morrison  of  England  sails  from  New  York  for 

China. 
1814.     New  Testament  translated.     First  Chinese  baptized. 
1818.     Old  Testament  translated.     Anglo-Chinese  College. 

Malacca. 
1821.     Morrison  completes  his  Chinese  Dictionary. 


112  BEX  CHEISTUS 

1830.  Arrival  first  Am.  missionaries  —  Bridgman  and 
Abeel.    Canton.     (Cong.) 

1834.     Dr.  Peter  Parker  opens  hospital  at  Singapore. 

1842.  Treaty  of  Nanking.  Five  ports  opened.  Soon  occu- 
pied by  twelve  missionary  societies. 

1844.  Mission    Press  at  Macao.     Removed  next  year  to 

Ningpo.     1860  to  Shanghai.     (Pres.) 
First  Boarding  School  for  Girls.     Ningpo.     By  Miss 
Aldersey.     (Eng.)     Independent. 

1845.  First   (Am.)  Boarding  School  for  Girls.      Ningpo. 

(Pres.)     Miss  Aldersey 's  united  with  this  in  1857. 
1850.     T'ai  P'ing  Rebellion.    Twenty  million  lives  lost. 
First  Foundling  Asylum.     (Ger.) 
Boarding  School  for  Girls.    Shanghai.    (Cong.,  now 
Pres.) 

1855.  First  Theological  Seminary.     Amoy,     (Eng.) 

1856.  Second  Opium  War. 

1858.  First  (Am.)  Theological  Seminary.  Foochow.  (Cong.) 

1859.  Boarding  School  for  Girls.    Foochow.     (Meth.) 

1860.  Treaty  of  Tientsin.      Many  privileges  granted  for- 

eigners. 
College  at  Tungcho,  Chihli.     (Cong.) 
Boarding  School  for  Girls.     Ningpo.     (Bap.) 
1862.     Hospital  and  two  Dispensaries.     Peking.     (Eng.) 
Mission  Press.     Foochow.     (Meth.) 
Girls'  Boarding  School.    Hongkong.     (Eng.)     Long- 

heu.     (Ger.) 

1864.  Bridgman  School  for  Girls.     Peking.     (Cong.) 

1865.  China  Inland  Mission. 

1866.  Telegraph  from  Peking  to  outside  world. 
College  Tungchow,  Shantung.     (Pres.) 

1867.  Girls'  Boarding  School.     Chefoo.     (Pres.) 

1868.  Mission  Press.     Peking.     (Cong.) 
Hospital  and  Dispensary.     Hankow.     (Eng.) 
Girls'  Boarding  School.     (Pres.) 

1870.     Tientsin  Massacre. 

James  Gilmour  sent  to  Mongolia.     (Eng.) 
Girls'  Boarding  School.     Amoy.     (Dutch  Ref.) 

1872.     Female  Seminary.     Canton.     (Pres.) 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  113 

1872.  First  Opium  Refuge.     Hangchow.     (Eng.) 

1873.  Mauchuria  occupied  by  U.  P.  Church,  Scotland. 
First  woman  physician  appointed  to  China.    (Meth.) 

1874.  First  Anti-Foot-Binding  Association.   Amoy,  (Eng.) 
First    Bible    Women's    Training    School.     Swatow. 

(Bap.) 

1875.  Girls'  Boarding  School.     Kiukiang.     (Meth.) 
Hospital  and  Dispensary.     Ningpo.     (Bap.) 

1876.  Railroad  opened,  Shanghai,  and  four  new  ports. 
Girls'  Boarding  School.     Amoy.     (Eng.) 

1877.  Hospital  and  two  Dispensaries  for  Women  and  Chil- 

dren.    Foochow.     (Meth.) 
Shanghai  Conference.     Educational   Association   of 

China  formed  at  Tientsin. 
Bible  Women's  Training  School.     Peking.      (Meth.) 

1878.  Great  famine. 

Women's     Hospital    and    Dispensary.      Wuchang. 
(Epis.) 

1879.  St.  John's  College.     Shanghai.     (Epis.) 
College  at  Soochow.     (Southern  Meth.) 

1880-1890.     Opium  Refuges  in  thirty-one  different  places. 

Schools  of  various  kinds  for  girls  in  nineteen  different 

places. 
Hospitals  and  Dispensaries  for  women  in   fourteen 

different  places. 

1880.  First  Woman's  Hospital  built  at  Tientsin. 

1881.  Viceroy's  Hospital  built  at  Tientsin. 
Anglo-Chinese  College.     Foochow.     (Meth.) 

1882.  Shansi  Mission  opened. 

1884.  Beginning  of  Industrial  Institutions. 
Famous  "  Cambridge  Band"  organized. 

1885.  Seamen's  Institute.     Hongkong.     (Eng.) 

1886.  Christian  College.     Canton. 

American  Student  Volunteer  Association  formed. 
Medical  Missionary  Association  of  China  formed  at 
Shanghai. 

1887.  First  schools  for  the  blind.      Canton,    Peking,    and 

Hankow. 
Children's  Home.     Amoy.     (Eng.) 
I 


114  REX  CHRISTUS 

1888.     First  school  for  deaf  mutes.     Chefoo.     (Pres.) 
University  at  Nanking.     (Melh.) 
Victoria  Home  and  Orphanage.    Hongkong.     (Eng.) 
1890-1900.     Opium  Refuges  in  seventeen  different  places. 

Schools  of  various  kinds  for  girls  in  thirty -six  differ- 
ent places. 
Hospitals  and  Dispensaries  for  women  in  thirty  dif- 
ferent places. 

1890.  Door  of  Hope  (rescue  work),    Shanghai. 
Second  Shanghai  Conference. 

First  Leper  Asylum.    Pakhoi.     (Eng.) 
North  China  College.     Tungcho.     (Cong.) 
Foundling  Asylum.    Kucheng.   To  rescue  girl  infants 
sentenced  to  death  by  parents.     (Eng.) 

1891.  Peking  University  opened. 

1892.  British  Student  Volunteer  Union. 

Hussey      Orphanage      and      Infirmary.      Nanking. 
(Friends.) 
189.3.     Foochow  College.     (Cong.) 

Anti-Foot-Binding  Society.     Ningpo. 

1894.  First  kindergartens  in  China. 
Empress  presented  with  New  Testament. 
Natural  Foot  leagues.     Chungking  and  Shanghai. 

1895.  China-Japan  Treaty. 

1896.  Ptailroad  opened,  Tientsin. 
Scandinavian  Volunteer  movement. 
Orphanage  at  Hinghua.     (Meth.) 
Presbyterian  College.     Hangchow. 

1898.  Emperor's  Reform  Edicts.     "  Young  China  "  party. 
Anti-Foot-Binding  Society.     Nanking. 

Girls'  College.    Foochow.     (Cong.) 
Anglo-Chinese  College.    Amoy. 

1899.  Rise  of  the  Boxers. 

1900.  The  Great  Persecution. 

1902.     First  Medical  College  for  Women.    Canton.    (Pres.) 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  115 


SIGNIFICANT   SENTENCES 

The  grip  of  the  outer  world  has  tightened  round  China. 
It  will  either  strangle  her  or  galvanize  her  into  fresh  life. 

—  D.  C.  BOULGER. 

Three  empires  fill  the  vision  of  the  future  —  the  United 
States,  Russia,  and  China.  —  William  Speer. 

Topsy-turvy  Ways  in  China 

They  mount  a  horse  on  the  right  side  instead  of  the 
left ;  the  old  men  play  marbles  and  fly  kites,  while  chil- 
dren look  gravely  on  ;  they  shake  hands  with  themselves 
instead  of  with  each  other ;  what  we  call  the  surname  is 
wi-itten  first  and  the  other  name  afterward  ;  they  whiten 
their  shoes  instead  of  blacking  them ;  a  coffin  is  a  very 
acceptable  present  to  a  rich  parent  in  good  health  ;  in 
the  north  they  sail  and  pull  their  wheelbarrows  in  place 
of  merely  pushing  them  ;  and  candlesticks  fit  into  the 
candle  instead  of  the  candle  fitting  into  the  candlestick, 
and  so  on.  .  .  .  China  is  a  country  where  the  roses  have 
no  scent  and  the  women  no  petticoats  ;  where  tlie  laborer 
has  no  Sabbath  day  of  rest  and  the  magistrate  no  sense 
of  honor;  where  the  roads  have  no  carriages  and  the 
ships  have  no  keels ;  where  the  needle  points  to  the  south, 
the  place  of  honor  is  on  the  left  hand,  and  the  seat  of 
intellect  is  supposed  to  lie  in  the  stomach  ;  where  it  is 
rude  to  take  off  your  hat,  and  to  wear  white  clothes  is 
to  go  into  mourning.  Can  one  be  astonished  to  find  a 
literature  without  an  alphabet  and  a  language  without 
a  grammar  ?  —  Temple  Bar. 

The  Opium  Curse 

Assuredly  it  is  not  foreign  intercourse  that  is  ruining 
China,  but  this  dreadful  poison.  .  .  .  Opium  has  spread 
with  frightful  rapidity  and  heart-rending  results  through 


116  BEX  CHRI8TUS 

the  provinces.  Millions  upon  millions  have  been  struck 
down  by  the  plague.  To-day  it  is  running  like  wildfire. 
In  its  swift,  deadly  coiirse  it  is  spreading  devastation 
everywhere,  wrecking  the  minds  and  eating  away  the 
strength  and  wealth  of  its  victims.  The  ruin  of  the 
mind  is  the  most  woful  of  its  many  deleterious  effects. 
The  poison  enfeebles  the  will,  saps  the  strength  of  the 
body,  renders  the  consumer  incapable  of  performing  his 
regular  duties,  and  unfit  for  travel  from  one  place  to 
another.  It  consumes  his  substance  and  reduces  the 
miserable  wretch  to  poverty,  barrenness,  and  senility.  .  .  . 
Many  thoughtful  Chinese  are  apprehensive  that  opium 
will  finally  extirpate  the  race,  and  efforts  are  being  made 
to  mitigate  the  curse. 

—  Chang  Chihtung,  in  "  China's  Only  Hope." 

The  Point  of  View 

A  Chinese  resident  in  America  is  said  to  have  written 
home  to  his  friends  a  letter  from  which  the  following 
extract  is  taken  :  "  ^VTiat  is  queerer  still,  men  will  stroll 
out  in  company  with  their  wives  in  broad  daylight  with- 
out a  blush.  And  will  you  believe  that  men  and  women 
take  hold  of  each  other's  hands  by  way  of  salutation? 
Oh,  I  have  seen  it  myself  more  than  once.  Not  only 
that,  but  they  sit  down  at  table  together ;  and  the  women 
are  served  first,  reversing  the  order  of  nature.  After  all, 
what  can  you  expect  of  folk  who  have  been  brought  up 
in  barbarous  countries  on  the  very  verge  of  the  world? 
They  have  not  been  taught  the  maxims  of  our  sages; 
they  never  heard  of  the  Rites;  how  can  they  know  what 
good  manners  mean  ?  We  often  think  them  rude  and 
insolent  when  I'm  sure  they  don't  mean  it :  they're  igno- 
rant, that's  all." 

Chinese  Curiosity 

It  would  reward  an  Alma-Tadema  to  depict  the  Chinese 
dandies  filling  all  its  many  balconies,  pale  and  silken 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  117 

clad,  craning  their  necks  to  see,  and  by  the  haughtiness 
of  their  gaze  recalling  the  decadent  Romans  of  the  last 
days  of  the  empire.  Their  silken  garments,  their  arched 
mouths,  the  coldness  of  their  icy  stare,  have  not  yet  been 
duly  depicted.  .  .  .  The  Chinaman  may  be  apparently 
Indian-like  in  his  stolid  manner,  but  the  Chinese  woman 
is  not.  She  is  devoured  by  curiosity.  The  women  flock 
around,  and  beg  me  to  take  off  my  gloves  and  my  hat, 
that  they  may  see  how  my  hair  is  done,  and  the  color  of 
my  hands.  Then  some  old  woman  is  sure  to  squeeze  my 
feet,  to  see  if  there  is  really  a  foot  filling  up  all  those  big 
boots  ;  for,  of  course,  all  the  women  here  have  small  feet ; 
that  is,  they  have  them  bandaged  up,  and  astonishingly 
well  they  get  along  upon  their  hoof-like  feet.  They  are 
very  friendly,  and  bring  out  chairs  and  benches  before 
their  cottage  doors  and  beg  us  to  sit  down,  and  oifer  us 
tea,  or,  if  they  have  not  got  that  ready,  hot  water.  But 
the  children  cry  with  terror  if  I  touch  them  or  go  too 
near ;  and  one  little  boy,  in  a  school  we  went  into,  simply 
trembled  with  fear  all  the  time  I  stood  near  him  to  hear 
him  read.  —  Mrs.  Archibald  Little. 

We  do  not  lack  either  men  of  intellect  or  brilliant 
talents,  capable  of  learning  and  doing  anything  they 
please,  but  their  movements  have  hitherto  been  hampered 
by  old  prejudices.  —  Emperor  Kuang  Hsu. 

THEMES   FOR   STUDY   OR  DISCUSSION 

I.     The  Opium  Habit  and  Other  Elements  of  Weak- 
ness in  Chinese  Character. 
II.     Elements  of  Strength  in  Personal  and  National 
Life. 

III.  Poverty  and  Industry  of  the  Chinese. 

IV.  Lack  of  Privacy  and  Love  of  Noise. 
V.     Marriage  and  IMortuary  Customs. 

VI.     What  the  Chinese  Eat  and  Drink. 


118  BEX  CHRISTUS 

VII.  Incouveniences  of  Travel  ui  Far  Cathay. 

VIII.  Doctoring  in  China. 

IX.  How  Women  are  Handicapped. 

X.  Infanticide  and  Footbinding. 

XI.  "  Chinese  "  Gordon  and  the  T'ai  P'ing  Rebellion. 

XII.  Some  Epoch-making  Treaties. 

BOOKS   OF   REFERENCE 

General  References  as  before 

Ball's  "  Things  Chinese."     I,  II,  VI,  IX. 

Bishop's  "  The  Yangtze  Valley  and  Beyond."     I,  IV,  VI, 

VII,  IX,  X. 
Bryson's  "John  Kenneth  Mackenzie."     VIII. 
"  Chinese  Empire  "  (Rand,  McNally  &  Co.,  1900).    IX,  X. 
Colquhouii's  "  China  in  Transformation."     II,  XI,  XIL 
Coltman's  "  The  Chinese."     VIII,  IX. 
Douglas's  "  Society  in  China."     V,  VI,  VII,  IX,  X. 
Dukes's  "Everyday  Life  in  China."     Y. 
Edkins's  "  Religion  in  China."     XI. 
Gilmour's  «  Among  the  Mongols."     VI,  VIII,  IX. 
Graves's  "  Forty  Years  in  China."     I,  II. 
Gray's  "  China."     I,  II,  V,  VI,  IX. 
Guinness's  "  In  the  Far  East."     VII,  IX. 
Hake's  "  Story  of  Chinese  Gordon."     XI. 
Henry's  "  Ling-nam,  or  Interior  Views  of  South  China." 

IX,  X. 
Hue's  "  Travels  in  Tartary,  Thibet,  and  China."     Ill,  IV, 

V,  VII. 
Johnston's  "  China  and  Its  Future."     XI. 
Lockhart's  "  Medical  Missionary  of  China."     VIII. 
Nevius's  "  China  and  the  Chinese."     Ill,  IV,  VI,  IX,  X. 
Oliphant's  "  Lord  I^lgin's  Mission  to  China  and  Japan." 

XII. 
Robson's  "  Griffith  John."     XI. 
Talmage's  "  Forty  Years  in  South  China."    X. 
Williamson's  "  Old  Highways  in  China."     IX. 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  CHINA  119 

Articles  on  China  in  Periodicals:  — 

Century,  Vol.  3,  "  General  Charles  George  Gordon."     XI. 
Eclectic,  Vol.  95,  "  Romance  of  Chinese  Social  Life."    I,  II. 
Forum,  Vol.  28,  "  Chinese  Daily  Life."     Ill,  IV,  VL 
Harper,  Vol.  59,  "  Last  of  the  Tai  Ping  Rebellion."     XI. 
Living  Age,  Vols.  121  and  122,  "Manners  and  Customs  in 

China."     I,  II,  V. 
Popular  Science,  Vols.  33  and  34,  "  Chinese  Marriage  and 

Funeral  Customs."     V. 


CHAPTER   IV 

CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS.      PART   I 

From  Earliest  Times  till  near  the  Close  of  the 
Nineteenth   Century 

At  what  time  Christianity  was  first  brought 
to  the  Chinese  Empire  it  is  perhaps  not  possible 
with  certainty  to  determine.  The  traditions 
of  the  churcli  and  scattered  notices  in  various 
writers  "  lead  to  the  belief  that  not  many  years 
elapsed  after  the  times  of  the  apostles,  before 
the  sound  of  the  gospel  was  heard  in  China  and 
Chin-India."  Those  who  desire  to  collect  the 
traces  of  these  early  missions  will  find  full  (but 
not  entirely  uncritical)  references  to  them  in 
the  writings  of  the  Abbe  Hue.  Relative  cer- 
tainty begins  with  the  record  of  the  arrival  of 
the  Nestorians,  which  it  is  supposed  occurred 
505  A.D.  Nestorius  was  a  monk,  and  later  a 
presbyter  in  Antioch,  and  after  the  year  428 
patriarch  of  Constantinople.  He  soon  became 
involved  in  a  controversy  in  respect  to  the 
nature  of  the  union  of  the  human  and  divine 
in  the  person  of  Christ,  and  he  and  his  ad- 
herents were  eventually  banished  from  the 
Roman  Empire.     Some  time  after  this  he  died, 

120 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  121 

no  one  knows  where  or  when.  His  adherents 
found  an  asylum  in  the  kingdom  of  Persia, 
whence  they  probably  came  to  China.  The 
only  record  yet  found  of  the  presence  of  this 
form  of  Christianity  in  China  is  the  famous 
Nestorian  Tablet,  which  was  discovered  in  Si 
Ngan  Fu  in  the  year  1625,  by  workmen  engaged 
in  making  excavations  for  the  building  of  a 
house.  There  is  no  longer  room  for  the  small- 
est doubt  in  regard  to  the  genuineness  of  this 
wonderful  relic  of  the  past,  the  date  of  which 
is  the  year  781,  contemporaneous  with  the  semi- 
anarchic  condition  of  England,  in  the  generation 
following  the  death  of  "the  Venerable  Bede," 
and  the  struggles  between  the  kingdom  of  Mer- 
cia  and  the  West  Saxons. 

The  history  of  the  Nestorian  church  in  China 
contains  both  an  encouragement  and  a  warning. 
Among  a  people  who,  like  the  Chinese,  revere 
the  past  because  it  is  the  past,  the  Nestorian 
Tablet  is  a  convincing  witness  of  the  antiquity 
of  the  Chinese  faith,  and  of  its  triumphs  during 
one  of  the  most  splendid  dynasties. 

Roman   Catholic  Missions 

The  first  effort  by  Romanists  of  the  medi- 
eval period  was  made  by  John,  called  Monte 
Corvino,  from  the  name  of  a  small  village  near 
Salerno,  where  he  was  born.  He  was  sent  by 
way  of  India  on  a  mission  to  the  Tartars,  reach- 
ing China  in  1291,  at  the  time  when  the  famous 


122  BEX  CHRISTUS 

Kublai  Khan  was  emperor.  In  1307  this  zeal- 
ous missionary  was  to  be  reinforced  by  seven 
Franciscan  monks,  who  were  made  bishops  in 
advance  of  their  departure,  Corvino  being  ap- 
pointed archbishop  of  Peking.  Three  of  the 
seven  died  of  fatigue  on  the  way,  one  returned 
to  Europe,  and  the  other  three  did  not  reach 
their  destination  until  1308.  The  subsequent 
history  of  this  wonderful  movement  resembles 
the  course  of  those  rivers  which,  flowing  through 
desert  wastes,  are  lost  in  the  sand.  Corvino 
died  at  a  great  age  after  a  life  of  incredible 
toil.  Other  faithful  and  laborious  men  suc- 
ceeded him,  but  the  Mongol  dynasty  soon  ran 
its  short  life,  and  the  empire  was  once  more  in 
confusion.  The  Mings,  who  succeeded  to  the 
throne,  endeavored  to  put  a  stop  to  all  commu- 
nication with  foreign  lands,  and  the  Christians 
were  persecuted  and  slain.  So  completely  were 
the  traces  of  the  past  effaced  that  it  was  long 
forgotten  that  Christianity  had  ever  entered 
the  Celestial  Empire  at  all. 

The  second  period  of  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sions is  separated  from  the  first  by  a  long  inter- 
val of  silence.  The  great  Xavier  died  on  the 
island  of  St.  Johns  (Sancian)  toward  the  close 
of  1552,  after  heroic  and  unavailing  efforts  to 
obtain  an  entrance  to  the  hermetically  sealed 
empire.  Valignani,  the  Superior  of  their  mis- 
sions in  the  East,  did  not,  however,  abandon  the 
apparently  hopeless  enterprise,  but  appointed  to 


CHRISTIAN  illSSIONS  123 

it  a  Neapolitan  Jesuit  named  Roger,  wlio  was 
soon  joined  by  another  Italian  whose  brilliant 
career  in  China  has  perhaps  never  been  equalled 
by  any  other  missionary  in  any  land,  Matthew 
Ricci.  They  effected  an  entrance  into  the  prov- 
ince of  Kuang-tung  in  1-682,  disguising  their 
object  and  adopting  the  garb  of  Buddhist  priests, 
which  twelve  years  later  was  wisely  exchanged 
for  that  of  the  literati.  The  next  one  and 
twenty  years  were  occupied  with  adventures 
more  romantic  than  mere  fiction,  in  incessant 
efforts  to  reach  the  capital  of  the  empire,  Peking. 
Of  these  remarkable  experiences  and  triumphs 
we  have  full  contemporary  accounts,  which 
have  been  invested  with  still  greater  interest 
by  the  pains  taken  to  set  them  forth  in  the  vol- 
umes of  the  Abbe  Hue  ("  History  of  Christian- 
ity in  China,"  etc.). 

No  detailed  mention  can  be  made  of  the  liter- 
ary, scientific,  and  miscellaneous  labors  of  Ricci, 
nor  of  the  work  of  other  distinguished  pioneers. 
The  Jesuits  achieved  notable  triumphs,  then 
came  a  reaction  due  to  a  variety  of  causes,  and 
finally  an  edict  whereby  "  all  missionaries  not 
required  at  Peking  for  scientific  purposes  were 
ordered  to  leave  the  country."  In  1747  severe 
persecutions  extended  all  over  China.  Many 
foreigners  and  converts  during  this  stormy 
period  "  suffered  death,  torture,  imprisonment, 
and  banishment."  The  behavior  of  the  Catho- 
lic Christians  during  this  trying  century  and  a 


124  BEX  CHRISTUS 

quarter  is  the  most  convincing  proof  of  the 
genuineness  of  their  religion.  No  better  evi- 
dence of  this  could  have  been  given  by  converts 
anywhere  under  the  skies. 

The  Situation  To-day. —  During  the  past  half- 
century  the  growth  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  in  China  has  been  great,  not  in  large 
centres  only,  but  also  in  all  the  provinces.  In  a 
work  by  the  vicar  apostolic  of  the  province  of 
Che-kiang,  the  English  translation  of  which 
was  issued  in  1897,  the  opinion  is  expressed 
that  during  this  time  the  number  of  converts 
has  doubled,  but  the  editor  confesses  that  he  is 
unable  to  obtain  any  statistics.  According  to 
the  vicar  there  are  twenty -seven  bishops,  besides 
four  districts  differently  organized,  and  probably 
three-quarters  of  a  million  Christians.  Much 
larger  estimates  are  frequently  given,  but  it 
is  uncertain  upon  what  basis  the  computation 
is  made,  as  Catholic  statistics  usually  refer  to 
families,  while  those  of  Protestant  missions 
take  the  number  of  baptized  communicants. 

With  such  different  origin,  methods,  and 
aims,  it  is  perhaps  not  surprising  that  Catholic 
and  Protestant  missionaries  in  China  ordinarily 
meet  but  seldom,  and  have  none  but  the  most 
formal  relations  one  with  another.  There  are 
not  only  the  barriers  of  such  diverse  forms  of 
faith,  but  often  also  those  of  nationality  and 
language.  There  is  said  to  be  but  one  English 
priest  in  China,  although  Germans  are  numer- 


CHIilSTlAN  MISSIONS  125 

ous,  and  the  other  nations  of  Europe  are  largely 
represented.  It  would  be  easy  to  append  an 
extended  essay  upon  the  methods  of  these  two 
branches  of  the  church  in  China,  but  it  is 
scarcely  worth  the  space,  and  must  in  any  case 
be  unsatisfactory,  from  the  lack  of  that  definite 
acquaintance  with  many  facts  in  regard  to  Roman 
Catholic  missions  on  which  either  commendation 
or  criticism  should  be  based.  It  is  -certain  that 
they  have  many  faithful  and  loyal  followers 
who  have  shown  their  faith  by  their  works  in 
times  of  the  greatest  storm  and  strain.  It  is 
equally  certain  that  many  others  have  but  a 
superficial  knowledge  of  Christianity,  and  that, 
especially  since  the  Boxer  rising  was  suppressed, 
multitudes  have  flocked  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
standard  with  a  view  to  revenge.  The  semi- 
political  management  of  this  great  ecclesiasti- 
cal organization  is  one  of  its  worst  features, 
another  being  a  frequently  well-marked  ten- 
dency to  antagonize  Protestants  by  any  and 
every  means.  One  would  gladly  pass  over  this 
as  a  local  and  a  temporary  phase  did  facts 
admit.  If  the  present  aggressions  committed 
in  the  name  of  this  church  in  China  are  not 
stopped,  there  is  every  reason  to  fear  that  they 
may  bring  about  another  outbreak  perhaps 
greater  than  the  last.  A  frank  recognition  of 
this  would  be  of  the  greatest  service  to  the 
Chinese,  to  Protestants,  and  to  that  great 
church  which,  for  the  welfare  of  a  great  race, 


126  REX  CHBISTUS 

has  endured  so  much  persecution  and  suffered 
so  many  martyrdoms. 

Protestant  Missions 

It  is  not  easy  for  one  who  lives  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  twentieth  century  to  project  himself 
backward  intellectually,  in  such  a  way  as  to 
comprehend  the  relations  then  existing  between 
China  and- the  lands  of  the  west.  From  the 
Chinese  point  of  view  their  empire  had  nothing 
to  gain  by  the  visits  of  these  unwelcome  stran- 
gers from  the  west  except  that  trade  was  pro- 
moted, an  object  which  the  mandarins  professed 
to  view  with  supreme  contempt,  and  in  regard 
to  which  they  entertained  the  most  fatuous 
notions.  Because  large  cargoes  of  tea  were 
shipped  to  England  and  to  the  United  States, 
it  was  inferred  that  the  inhabitants  of  these 
remote  and  inhospitable  lands  would  otherwise 
have  nothing  to  drink.  Because  rhubarb  was 
bought  in  great  quantities,  the  Chinese  logically 
inferred  that  the  digestion  of  the  barbarians 
was  of  such  a  sort  that  without  this  drug  they 
must  inevitably  die.  The  records  of  the  inter- 
course between  China  and  every  one  of  the 
western  nations  which  dealt  with  her  are  full 
of  incidents  which  show  how  difficult  it  was  to 
arrive  at  any  modus  vivendi  whatever.  The 
conceit  and  arrogance  of  the  Chinese  officials, 
high  and  low,  passes  belief,  and  it  was  hand- 
somely matched  by  the  attitude  of  the  common 


CHRISTIAN  3IISSI0NS  1^7 

people,  who  took  no  pains  to  conceal  their  open 
contempt  for  the  red-haired,  blue-eyed  monsters 
who  forced  themselves  upon  them  year  by  year, 
and  who  year  by  year  became  a  more  and  more 
difficult  problem. 

In  order  to  incommode  the  court  at  Peking 
as  little  as  possible,  the  merchants  were  assigned 
to  Canton  as  their  only  port ;  and  in  order  the 
better  to  control  them,  they  were  penned  up  on 
an  insignificant  strip  of  land  which  would  with 
difficulty  afford  pasturage  for  one  or  two  ambi- 
tious cows.  These  were  the  famous  "factories," 
with  a  tiny  space  upon  which  alone  tlie  inmates, 
who  were  virtual  prisoners  awaiting  their  tickets 
of  leave,  could  take  that  exercise,  the  object  of 
which  was  to  the  Chinese  of  that  day,  as  it  has 
been  to  the  Chinese  ever  since,  an  insoluble 
riddle.  Yet  under  even  these  restrictions  and 
incessant  humiliations  trade  flourished,  and 
then,  as  too  often  now,  trade  had  rights  which 
outweighed  all  other  human  interests.  Perhaps 
there  never  was  a  more  typical  illustration  of 
the  familiar  aphorism  that  corporations  have  no 
souls  than  the  career  of  the  British  East  India 
Company,  both  in  India  and  in  China.  In  the 
former  land  they  deported  those  who  came  with 
the  tidings  of  salvation,  for  the  reason  that  the 
knowledge  of  such  an  errand  would  not  improb- 
ably be  attended  with  political  troubles,  and 
political  troubles  would  lead  to  irregularities 
which    might   involve   the   loss   of   the  sacred 


128  BEZ  CHRISTUS 

Trade,  which  was  in  reality  the  idol  before 
which  "  The  Company  "  bowed,  and  which  alone 
it  worshipped.  Like  others  in  different  parts 
of  the  world  since,  they  were  in  the  China  trade 
"for  what  there  was  in  it,"  and  for  nothing 
else. 

The  Pioneer  Society.  —  Modern  missionary 
work  in  China  is  naturally  divisible  into  four 
distinct  periods,  each  terminated  by  a  foreign 
war.  The  first  period  covers  the  years  between 
1807  and  1842.  Thus  we  see  that  it  was  not 
until  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  the 
conscience  of  Protestant  Christendom  became 
sufficiently  enlightened  to  contemplate  the  pos- 
sibility of  endeavoring  to  do  its  age-long  duty 
by  its  fellow-men  at  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
The  beginnings  of  this  enterprise  were  every- 
where conducted  under  difficulties  and  against 
opposition  such  as  we  cannot  now  fully  compre- 
hend. The  faith  which  could  not  only  rise 
against  these  hindrances,  but  could  at  the  same 
time  do  the  work  of  the  church  abroad  while 
keeping  its  missionary  fires  alight  at  home,  is 
nothing  less  than  sublime.  The  cry  of  Vali- 
gnani,  the  successor  of  Xavier,  as  he  viewed  from 
a  distance  Chinese  mountains  dimly  defined,  is 
said  to  have  been  :  "  O  mighty  fortress,  when 
shall  these  impenetrable  gates  of  thine  be  broken 
through  ? " 

It  is  to  the  London  Missionary  Society  that 
belongs  the  honor  of  first  undertaking  a  Protes- 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  129 

tant  mission  to  the  dense  population  of  China, 
under  conditions  which  indeed  promised  but 
little,  and  which  might  well  have  given  pause  to 
any  but  those  animated  by  the  most  burning 
zeal.  The  first  missionary  was  Robert  Morrison, 
a  Northumbrian  lad  born  in  1782,  who  spent 
his  youth  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne  employed  at 
manual  labor  for  twelve  or  fourteen  hours  a 
day,  yet  seldom  failing  to  find  one  or  two  hours 
for  reading  and  meditation.  Even  at  work  his 
Bible  or  some  other  book  was  usually  open 
before  him.  He  was  not  able  to  obtain  many 
books,  but  such  as  he  could  get  he  read  and 
re-read  with  great  avidity,  a  sure  sign  of 
an  intellectual  appetite  certain  to  lead  to 
future  results.  It  is  interesting  to  know  that 
neither  his  father  nor  his  relatives  could  for 
some  time  be  induced  to  look  with  favor  upon 
his  desire  to  become  a  minister,  much  less  his 
wild  plan  for  missionary  work  abroad.  He  had 
prepared  for  the  divinity  scliool  at  Hoxton  by 
studying  between  seven  at  night  and  six  in  the 
morning,  during  the  daytime  making  boot-trees. 
He  began  the  study  of  the  Chinese  language  in 
London,  with  a  Chinese  who  happened  to  be  in 
the  country.  It  was  vain  to  expect  a  passage 
in  the  ships  of  the  East  India  Company,  so 
Morrison  sailed  for  New  York,  where  he  spent 
some  weeks,  leaving  for  China  armed  with  a 
letter  from  James  Madison,  Secretary  of  State, 
to    the  American  consul  at  Canton,  where  he 


130  BEX  CHBISTUS. 

lived  for  a  year  in  the  factory  of  some  New  York 
merchants.  Although  the  foreigners  both  in 
Macao  and  in  Canton  were  outwardly  friendly, 
Morrison's  position  was  one  of  extreme  delicacy 
and  difficulty.  Even  a  footing  on  Chinese  soil 
seemed  unattainable,  and  the  limitations  under 
which  he  labored  were  most  disheartening.  He 
was  the  constant  victim  of  that  observation  with- 
out sympathy  which  Mrs.  Browning  defined  as 
torture.  For  a  Chinese  to  teach  the  language  to 
foreigners  was  to  subject  himself  to  the  penalty 
of  death,  and  almost  all  the  helps  to  the  acquire- 
ment of  the  intricate  maze  of  hieroglyphs  were 
at  that  time  lacking.  Morrison  lived,  as  we 
have  seen,  with  the  Americans  and  passed  for 
one,  as  they  were  less  disliked  than  the  English. 
But  his  position  was  precarious  in  the  extreme, 
and  in  less  than  a  year,  in  company  with  all  the 
other  British,  he  was  driven  by  political  dis- 
turbances to  Macao,  where  he  fared  ill. 

In  1809  he  found,  however,  a  double  relief. 
He  was  married  to  the  daughter  of  an  English 
resident  in  Canton,  and  he  was  engaged  by  the 
East  India  Company  as  Chinese  translator  at  a 
salary  of  ,£250  per  annum.  This  gave  him 
a  definite  status  and  was  an  aid  rather  than  a 
hindrance  to  the  prosecution  of  his  mission,  as 
his  translation  work  assisted  him  in  the  study 
of  the  language  and  increased  his  opportu- 
nities for  intercourse  with  the  Chinese.  His 
life  was  often  endangered  by  pirates.     There 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  131 

was  in  Canton  little  congenial  society,  neither 
the  English  nor  the  American  residents  having 
any  interest  in  his  work  or  any  belief  in  it. 
His  first  child,  a  boy,  died  at  its  birth,  and  the 
Chinese  objected  to  its  burial.  His  wife  was 
dangerously  ill.  His  faith  and  courage  were 
strained  to  the  breaking-point,  but  he  plodded 
on  at  his  grammar  and  his  dictionary,  foun- 
dation works  of  inestimable  value  to  later 
students.  The  grammar  was  finished  in  1812, 
sent  to  Bengal  for  printing,  and  never  heard  of 
for  three  years,  coming  forth  at  last  to  be  highly 
appreciated.  Morrison  printed  a  tract  and  a 
catechism,  translated  the  Acts  and  the  gospel 
of  Luke,  a  copy  of  which  was  burned  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  bishop  of  Macao  as  a  heretical 
work.  The  publication  of  these  books  produced 
a  storm  of  opposition  from  the  Chinese.  A 
special  proclamation  was  issued  against  him,  and 
those  who  had  assisted  him  were  warned  that 
the  penalty  was  death. ^ 

A  True  Yokefellow.  —  Just  at  this  juncture 
the  Society  sent  out  Rev.  Robert  Milne  and 
his  wife  to  join  the  Morrisons,  who  arrived  in 
July,  1813,  but  in  less  than  a  fortnight  the 
Portuguese  governor  expelled  them  from  Macao, 
no  assistance  being  given  by  the  English  resi- 
dents lest  their  trade  should  be  prejudiced. 
At  this  critical  period,  when  it  was  necessary  to 
try  new  ways,  Milne  was  admirably  adapted  to  be 
Morrison's  associate.     He  devoted  himself  with 


132  REX  CHRISTUS 

great  zeal  to  the  study  of  the  language,  restrain- 
ing as  he  could  his  impatience  to  be  at  work. 
He  was  the  author  of  the  oft-quoted  saying 
that  "  to  acquire  the  Chinese  is  a  work  for  men 
with  bodies  of  brass,  lungs  of  steel,  heads  of  oak, 
hands  of  spring-steel,  eyes  of  eagles,  hearts  of 
the  apostles,  memories  of  angels,  and  lives  of 
Methuselah  !  " 

By  the  end  of  1813  the  whole  New  Testament 
had  been  translated,  —  considering  the  circum- 
stances and  the  difficulties  a  gigantic  achieve- 
ment. It  was  agreed  to  search  for  a  place  in 
the  East  India  islands  or  the  Malay  peninsula 
where  the  headquarters  of  the  mission  might 
be  established,  and  where  Chinese  might  be 
trained  who  could  enter  China  without  attract- 
ing that  suspicion  which  was  inseparable  from 
foreigners.  Milne  spent  seven  or  eight  months 
in  prospecting  in  Java  and  Malacca,  which  was 
selected  as  the  coign  of  vantage  from  which 
to  move  China.  In  the  same  year  Morrison 
baptized  his  first  convert  at  a  spring  issuing 
from  the  foot  of  a  hill,  away  from  human 
observation.  The  East  India  Company  under- 
took the  cost  of  printing  Morrison's  Chinese 
dictionary,  upon  which  they  spent  £10,000. 
Mrs.  Morrison  was  ordered  to  England  with  her 
children,  returning  to  China  six  years  later,  only 
to  die.  Milne  established  himself  at  Malacca, 
where  the  difficulties  were  different  from  those 
in  China,  though  not  less  formidable.     He  had 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  133 

made  remarkable  progress  in  Chinese,  and  aided 
in  the  translation  of  the  Bible  and  other  works. 
Morrison  was  sent  on  an  embassy  to  Peking 
with  Lord  Amherst,  an  enterprise  which  failed, 
owing  to  the  arrogance  of  the  Chinese,  but  the 
experience  was  invaluable  to  him. 

Strong  Foundations  Laid. — The  establishment 
at  Malacca  of  an  Anglo-Chinese  college  was  the 
next  great  step,  and  one  in  which  Morrison 
endeavored  to  interest  friends  at  home.  The 
proposal  was  warmly  taken  up  and  Milne  was 
made  president.  In  a  report  on  the  condition 
of  Malacca  this  institution  was  highly  praised 
by  a  member  of  Parliament  for  its  thoroughl}^ 
sound  and  efficient  work.  Reinforcements  were 
now  sent  out  to  this  "Ultra-Ganges  mission." 
A  magazine  called  the  Q-leaner  was  issued. 
The  presses  poured  forth  pamphlets,  tracts,  and 
gospels,  both  in  Malay  and  in  Chinese.  Schools 
were  founded,  but  the  people  were  ignorant  and 
listless.  The  converts  were  far  from  satisfac- 
tory. Mrs.  Morrison  and  Mrs.  Milne  had  both 
died,  and  Mr.  Milne  himself  followed  in  1822, 
after  eleven  years  of  most  fruitful  service.  One 
of  his  tracts,  the  "  Two  Friends,"  has  had  a  wider 
circulation  perhaps  than  almost  any  other  Chi- 
nese publication,  and,  what  is  more  remarkable, 
was  recently  shown,  by  a  formal  note  of  the  mis- 
sionaries scattered  all  over  China,  to  be  still  one 
of  the  most  popular. 

Mr.  Morrison  visited  England  in  1824-1825, 


134  REX  CHBISTUS 

where  he  was  again  married.  He  was  received 
with  great  demonstrations  of  respect,  present- 
ing his  Chinese  Bible  to  King  George  IV.  He 
returned  in  1826  to  fall  upon  stormy  times.  The 
relations  between  China  and  Great  Britain  were 
becoming  greatly  strained.  As  a  prophecy  of 
the  coming  and  inevitable  war  the  political  ba- 
rometer was  continually  falling.  The  external 
issue  of  the  conflict  when  it  came  was  a  demand 
from  the  Chinese  for  the  surrender  of  some  nine 
million  dollars'  worth  of  opium,  but  the  real 
question  was  the  rights  of  intercourse  between 
other  nations  and  China.  In  1833  the  Roman 
Catholics  attacked  Dr.  Morrison,  securing  the 
suppression  of  his  presses  and  his  publications. 
The  monopoly  of  the  East  India  Company  was 
abolished  and  Dr.  Morrison's  connection  with  it 
ceased.  He  died  in  June,  1834,  after  twenty- 
seven  years  of  as  laborious  and  fruitful  effort  as 
were  ever  spent  by  any  missionary  that  ever 
penetrated  the  Celestial  Empire.  This  early 
work  is  a  microcosm  in  which  may  be  discerned 
the  roots  of  all  that  has  since  been  accomplished 
in  the  Land  of  Sinim.  Dr.  Morrison  published 
more  than  thirty  different  works,  one  of  which 
was  his  monumental  dictionary  in  six  quarto 
volumes.  Of  the  Bible,  twenty-six  Old  Testa- 
ment books  were  translated  by  him,  and  the 
remainder  by  Dr.  Milne  under  his  colleague's 
supervision.  Dr.  Morrison's  best  known  con- 
vert, Liang  A-fa,  was  a  useful  and  a  successful 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS  135 

evangelist  who  suffered  much  for  his  faith  and 
died  in  1855.  He  was  the  author  of  a  variety 
of  widely  circulated  tracts,  one  of  which  gained 
great  celebrity,  because  from  it  Hung  Hsiu- 
ch'uan,  who  subsequently  started  the  great  T'ai 
P'ing  Rebellion,  gained  his  first  knowledge  of 
Christianity. 

Among  the  reinforcements  sent  to  the  Malacca 
mission  was  Dr.  W.  H.  Medhurst,  who  arrived 
in  1817,  where  he  labored  most  industriously 
for  many  years.  After  the  death  of  Dr.  Mor- 
rison he  visited  Canton  and  made  a  voyage  of 
observation  along  the  coast  of  China  as  far  as 
northeastern  Shantung.  After  the  war  with 
China  he  lived  for  thirteen  years  in  Shanghai, 
where  also  he  was  indefatigable.  He  was  the 
first  to  issue  a  Christian  trimetrical  classic  on 
the  plan  of  the  Chinese  text-book.  His  publi- 
cations in  Chinese,  in  Malay,  and  in  English 
were  more  than  ninety  in  number,  one  of  which 
was  a  Chinese  and  English  dictionary  in  two 
octavo  volumes.  The  lives  of  the  trio  men- 
tioned, like  those  of  the  great  Indian  three  — 
Carey,  Marshman,  and  Ward,  —  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  mysterious  fact  that  the  pioneers  of 
missions  are  often  the  ablest  workers,  whom  it 
is  difficult  to  equal  and  impossible  to  surpass. 

Arrival  of  Americans 

It  v/as  appropriate  that  the  earliest  mission- 
aries from  the  United  States  should  have  been 


136  BEX  CHRISTUS 

sent  by  the  oldest  American  society,  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  founded  in  1810,  fifteen  years  later 
than  the  London  Missionary  Society.     The  at- 
tention of  the  Board  was  first  called  to  China 
by  a  Christian  merchant,  Mr.   Olyphant,  then 
living  at  Canton.    His  vessels  were  always  open 
and  free  to  missionaries.     One  of  them,  named 
the  Morrison,  of  four  hundred  tons  —  a  large 
vessel  for  those  times  —  was  almost  a  missionary 
ship.     The  first  recruits  were  Rev.  E.  C.  Bridg- 
man  and  Rev.  David  Abeel,  who  arrived  Feb- 
ruary, 1830.     The  former  was  soon  a  secretary 
of  one  of  the  earliest  organized  efforts  to  en- 
lighten the  Chinese,  called  the  Society  for  the 
Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge  in  China,  which 
dates  from  1834,  and  which,  within  recent  years, 
has  a  modern  successor  in  Shanghai  of  great 
influence  and  importance.     Mr.  Bridgman  was 
also  one  of    the  originators  of    the    Morrison 
Education  Society,  another  fruitful  seed  in  the 
early  soil.     In  1832  he  began  the  publication 
of  the  Ohinese  Repository,  consisting  of  papers 
on  subjects  of  interest  and  value  to  those  wish- 
ing to  comprehend  China.    It  was  issued  monthly 
for  twenty  years  under  his  editorship  and  that 
of  Dr.  Williams,  and  contains  a  history  of  for- 
eign intercourse  and  missions  during  that  time. 
It  is  now  very  scarce.     Mr.  Bridgman  was  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Committee  of  Dele- 
gates in  Shanghai  to  translate  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  later  the  Old  Testament.     Samuel 


CHRISTIAN  MIS,SIONS  137 

Wells  Williams,  who  was  appointed  printer  to 
the  American  Board  mission  in  1832,  was  one 
of  those  men  not  infrequently  to  be  met  with  in 
the  mission  field  who  are  endowed  with  untir- 
ing industry,  great  versatility,  and  an  unusual 
talent  both  for  acquiring  and  for  imparting 
knowledge.  He  was  one  of  a  party  to  convey  a 
number  of  shipwrecked  Japanese  back  to  their 
land  in  the  year  1837.  Though  the  enterprise 
failed,  it  was  useful  in  giving  that  experience 
which  fitted  Dr.  Williams  to  be  interpreter  for 
an  American  expedition  to  Japan  in  1853,  and 
again  with  Commodore  Perry  in  1854.  From 
1856  he  was  secretary  of  the  United  States 
Legation,  and  took  an  important  part  in  the 
negotiation  of  the  treaty  of  1859  and  of  the 
year  following.  His  greatest  work  was  his 
"  Middle  Kingdom,"  in  two  volumes,  published 
in  1848  and  entirely  recast  in  1883,  which  is  a 
standard  authority  on  everything  relating  to 
China.  Another  important  contribution  to  the 
study  of  China  was  his  syllabic  dictionary, 
published  in  1874. 

Beginning  of  Medical  Work. — The  name  of 
Dr.  Peter  Parker  is  inseparably  linked  with  the 
early  stages  of  medical  work  for  the  Chinese, 
which  has  always  been  so  great  an  aid  in  over- 
coming their  hostility  to  foreigners.  His  first 
hospital  was  opened  in  the  Chinese  quarter  of 
Singapore  in  the  3^ear  1834.  A  year  later  it 
was   transferred    to    Canton,   special    attention 


138  REX  cnmsTUS 

being  given  to  diseases  of  the  eye  and  to  sur- 
gical cases.  Dr.  Morrison  had  also  been  con- 
nected with  a  similar  enterprise  in  1820,  and 
Dr.  Colledge  of  the  East  India  Company  opened 
a  dispensary  at  his  own  expense  in  1837,  which 
lasted  for  five  years  and  was  very  successful. 
Dr.  Parker's  work  began  Nov.  4,  1835,  and 
while  at  first  the  object  of  much  suspicion  on 
the  part  of  the  Chinese,  soon  attracted  wide 
notice  for  its  wonderful  cures  in  all  ranks  of 
society,  and  elicited  many  touching  expressions 
of  gratitude.  This  enterprise  so  favorably  begun 
has  been  carried  on  ever  since,  and  was  the  pat- 
tern of  many  others  since  established.  The 
influence  of  Dr.  Parker's  medical  work  led  to 
the  formation  in  1838  of  the  Medical  Missionary 
Society,  a  pioneer  in  a  field  now  much  more  fully 
explored.  Dr.  Hobson  of  the  London  Society  con- 
ducted a  separate  hospital  in  Canton  from  1846 
to  1856.  He  was  the  author  of  many  tracts  and 
of  several  medical  works  in  Chinese.  He  was 
associated  with  another  man  of  mark,  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Lockhart,  who  had  a  long  and  varied  ex- 
perience in  southern,  central,  and  northern  China, 
and  whose  volume  called  "The  Medical  Mis- 
sionary in  China"  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  is 
still  one  of  the  best  presentations  of  its  subject. 

The  Second  Period,  1842  to  1860 

The    outcome    of    the    struggle    with    Great 
Britain  was  that  China  was  compelled  to  yield 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  139 

everything  claimed,  and  as  we  have  already 
seen,  in  addition  to  Canton,  which  had  been 
little  more  than  a  prison-house  for  merchants, 
the  ports  of  Amoy,  Foochow,  Ningpo,  and  Shang- 
hai were  definitely  opened,  and  consuls  were 
appointed  to  each  of  them.  International  re- 
lations were  thus  constituted,  and  with  it,  as 
a  bitter  accompaniment,  exterritoriality, —  an 
imperative  necessity  in  the  case  of  an  Oriental 
government  like  China,  but  not  the  less  galling 
to  its  pride.  Now  that  Great  Britain  had  pre- 
pared the  way,  Belgium,  France,  Holland,  Por- 
tugal, Prussia,  Spain,  and  the  United  States 
hastened  to  send  embassies  and  to  make  treaties. 
Hongkong  was  ceded  to  the  British,  and  a  small 
and  iDarren  rock  of  "  rotten  granite  "  was,  by  the 
magic  touch  of  good  government  and  commer- 
cial enterprise,  converted  into  one  of  the  most 
important  ports  of  the  world.  There  was  an 
enormous  expansion  of  business  in  e,very  direc- 
tion, yet  no  one  was  satisfied,  for  the  British 
public,  at  least,  had  persuaded  itself  that  now 
that  China  was  "opened,"  her  people  would 
desire  Occidental  civilization.  Thither  accord- 
ingly were  sent  great  and  futile  shipments  of 
knives,  forks,  stockings,  and  pianos  !  The 
Chinese  officials  had  been  demonstrated  to  be 
but  men  of  straw,  and  a  British  consul,  Mr. 
T.  T.  Meadows,  perhaps  the  most  philosophical 
of  the  many  writers  on  China,  considered  that 
this  itself  was  one  of   the  chief  predisposing 


140  BEX  CHRISTUS 

causes  of  the  great  T'ai  P'ing  Rebellion,  which 
for  half  a  generation,  like  a  slow-moving  but 
irresistible  lava-flow,  devastated  more  than  half 
the  empire. 

The  effect  of  the  new  conditions  was  as 
much  appreciated  by  the  body  of  missionaries 
as  by  the  merchants.  When  Morrison  died  in 
Canton,  in  1834,  the  prospect  of  the  extension 
of  the  evangelistic  work,  as  Dr.  Williams  re- 
minds us,  was  nearly  as  dark  as  when  he  landed. 
Only  three  assistants  had  come  to  his  help,  so 
that  when  the  first  American  missionaries  ar- 
rived, at  the  expiration  of  twenty-three  years 
of  toil,  he  was  again  quite  alone.  Within  the 
period  closing  with  the  treaty  of  Nanking,  about 
fifty  missionaries  had  been  sent  from  Europe 
and  America,  either  to  China  or  to  the  Chinese 
settlements  in  Java,  Siam,  and  the  Straits;  but 
owing  to  the  fluctuating  nature  of  these  immi- 
grants and  to  other  causes,  none  of  these  mis- 
sions had  taken  root.  They  were  now  almost 
entirely  abandoned  for  work  in  China  itself. 
The  converts  there  had  been  but  few,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  war  it  is  said  that  they  might 
have  all  been  counted  on  the  fingers  of  one 
hand. 

Splendid  Reinforcements.  —  Without  descend- 
ing into  detail,  a  few  words  may  suffice  to  indi- 
cate the  nature  of  the  great  forward  movement 
which  took  place  in  China  after  the  war.  The 
American  Presbyterian  mission  began  to  work 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  141 

in  Canton  in  1842,  followed  two  years  later  by 
the  American  Southern  Baptist  mission.  Two 
German  missions,  the  Rhenish  and  the  Basel, 
entered  the  Kuangtung  province  in  1817.  They 
met  with  phenomenal  difficulties  and  discour- 
agements, yet  persevered  in  their  work.  One 
mission  was  largely  for  the  native  Cantonese 
and  the  other  for  the  Hakkas,  a  race  of  former 
immigrants  from  central  China.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  one  of  their  best  men  tried  for 
many  years  to  establish  himself  in  the  vicinity 
of  Swatow,  but  failed  ;  yet  that  region  later 
became  the  headquarters  of  a  conspicuously  suc- 
cessful work  by  the  American  Baptists,  under 
the  lead  of  Dr.  Ashmore  (now  a  veteran  of 
more  than  fifty  years'  standing),  and  by  the 
English  Presbyterians,  led  by  Rev.  William  C. 
Burns,  one  of  the  best-known  missionaries  of 
this  period  by  reason  of  his  evangelistic  spirit, 
his  extraordinary  command  of  many  dialects,  his 
sweet  hymns,  and  his  unequalled  translation  of 
the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  into  the  mandarin  col- 
loquial. He  also  opened  the  work  of  the  same 
society  at  Amoy,  where  the  London  society  was 
represented  by  the  Stronach  brothers,  who  came 
from  Peking  and  Singapore.  They  devoted 
themselves  with  great  ardor  to  street  preach- 
ing, one  of  them  learning  by  heart  large  portions 
of  the  Chinese  classics,  so  that  when  attacked 
by  Chinese  scholars  they  always  found  more 
than  their  match.     The  work  of  the  American 


142  BEX  CHRISTUS 

Board  at  this  port  was  subsequently  transferred 
to  the  American  Reformed  mission.  All  three 
of  these  missions  expanded  into  large  propor- 
tions, and  the  entire  history  of  their  develop- 
ment is  a  study  in  the  wise  and  efficient  union 
of  faith  and  works.  The  phenomenal  measure 
of  union  here  attained  was  wholly  due  to  the 
missionaries  on  the  field,  and  not  to  the  societies 
at  home,  making  another  object-lesson  in  the 
conduct  of  missions. 

In  Foochow  the  American  Board  mission 
and  that  of  the  American  Methodists  were  each 
begun  in  1847,  followed  three  years  later  by  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  of  England.  Each 
of  these  has  grown  to  large  results,  attained 
after  long  seed-sowing  and  patient,  prayerful 
waiting.  In  the  case  of  the  Church  mission  it 
was  eleven  years  before  the  first  converts  were 
gained,  and  in  the  others  almost  as  long. 

Ningpo  was  occupied  by  the  American  Baptist 
mission  in  1843,  the  American  Presbyterian  mis- 
sion following  the  next  year,  and  the  Church  mis- 
sion in  1848,  in  each  case  with  expansion  in  due 
season  similar  to  that  just  mentioned.  In  the 
rising  port  of  Shanghai  the  London  mission  was 
begun  by  Dr.  Medhurst  and  Dr.  Lockhart  pre- 
viously referred  to,  followed  soon  after  by  Mr. 
Muirhead,  who  lived  to  complete,  and  more  than 
complete,  fifty  years  of  arduous  and  unusually 
varied  and  efficient  service.  The  American 
Protestant  Episcopal  Board,  under  the  lead  of 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  143 

Dr.  Boone  and  a  party  of  nine  recruits,  followed 
in  1845  ;  the  American  Southern  Baptists,  with 
whom  the  names  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Yates  will  al- 
ways be  identified,  in  1847  ;  and  the  American 
Presbyterian  mission  in  1850,  where  their  evan- 
gelistic labors  have  been  admirably  matched  by 
the  establishment  and  conduct  of  one  of  the 
largest  and  best  mission  presses  in  the  world. 
The  American  Southern  Methodist  mission 
(1848)  has  also  done  a  great  work,  especially 
for  education  of  varied  grades. 

Many  other  incipient  movements  date  from 
this  period  of  preparation.  It  was  a  time  of 
restriction,  with  possibilities  of  future  develop- 
ments rather  than  of  actual  expansion.  For- 
eigners were  limited  to  a  thirty-mile  radius  in 
thekr  excursions  from  the  treaty  ports.  The 
occupation  of  a  large  part  of  the  interior  by  the 
T'ai  P'ing  rebels  made  travelling  dangerous ; 
and  though  many  bold  and  brave  missionaries 
adventured  their  lives  in  the  camp  of  the  leader, 
who  successfully  established  himself  at  Nanking 
in  1852,  it  became  more  and  more  evident  that 
nothing  really  reformatory  was. to  be  expected 
from  these  "  Kings,"  with  their  blasphemous 
assumptions.  Fifty  years  from  the  beginning 
of  Protestant  missions  it  was  estimated  by  some 
that  the  number  of  converts  was  not  more  than 
one  hundred,  although  others  place  the  figures 
much  higher.  Yet  important  beginnings  had 
everywhere    been   made.      The   medical   work 


144  BEX  CHEISTUS 

was  a  great  blessing  in  Canton,  in  Shanghai, 
and  wherever  else  it  was  practicable.  The  thin 
end  of  the  missionary  educational  wedge  began 
to  be  inserted  in  the  yawning  rifts  of  Chinese 
ignorance  and  prejudice,  and  was  driven  home 
with  sturdy  blows. 

Translation  of  the  Scriptures.  —  Mention  has 
already  been  made  of  the  significant  fact  that 
the  very  first  Protestant  missionaries  translated 
the  whole  Bible  into  Chinese,  an  enterprise  which, 
so  far  as  is  known,  the  Roman  Catholics  with  their 
start  of  many  hundred  years  never  undertook. 
The  revision  of  the  earlier  translation  was  ar- 
ranged for  immediately  after  the  close  of  the 
war  of  1842,  by  a  general  conference  at  Hong- 
kong the  next  year.  The  committee  consisted 
of  Rev.  Messrs.  Medhurst,  J.  Stronach,  and 
Milne,  from  the  London  society,  and  Rev. 
Messrs.  Bridgman,  Boone,  Shuck,  Lowrie,  and 
Culbertson,  from  American  societies.  The  New 
Testament  was  finished  in  1850,  the  Old  Testa- 
ment in  1853,  and  another  version  in  a  simpler 
style  in  1862  by  Messrs.  Bridgman  and  Culbert- 
son. In  1865  the  New  Testament  was  also 
translated  into  the  mandarin  dialect  by  Messrs. 
Blodget,  Edkins,  Burdon,  and  Schereschewsky, 
the  latter  making  the  admirable  rendering  of 
the  Old  Testament  alone.  The  difficulties  of 
fixing  upon  suitable  terms  for  such  expressions 
as  faith,  atonement,  regeneration,  sanctification, 
etc.,  in  a  language  like  the  Chinese,  was  very 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  145 

great.  The  rendering  of  the  word  "baptize" 
proved  an  obstacle  to  unity  of  versions,  and 
singular  as  it  may  appear  to  those  unacquainted 
with  the  nature  of  the  question,  no  common 
term  for  God  could  be  agreed  upon.  Even  to 
the  present  time,  all  copies  of  the  Scriptures 
and  most  other  Christian  books,  are  printed  in 
different  editions  with  different  terms.  While 
this  has  been  an  obvious  and  much  regretted 
evil,  the  injury  to  the  mission  cause  has  been 
far  less  than  might  be  supposed,  since  the  Chi- 
nese are  familiar  with  great  diversities  of  ex- 
pression for  the  same  concept.  There  is  now 
an  increasing  tendency  to  harmony,  and  within 
a  few  decades  the  controversy  will  have  been 
forgotten. 

Treachery  in  Treaties.  —  The  last  four  years 
of  this  period  were  witnesses  of  another  war 
between  Great  Britain  and  China,  the  occasion- 
ing cause  being  a  "  lorcha  "  loaded  with  opium 
and  flying  the  British  flag.  But  the  real  diffi- 
culty was  the  intolerable  assumptions  of  the 
Chinese,  who  had  unlearned  all  the  lessons  of 
the  previous  contest.  Treaties  were  signed  in 
1858,  but  the  foreign  envoys  committed  the 
fatal  mistake  of  leaving  Tientsin,  and  China 
as  well,  by  the  end  of  the  year,  relieving  the 
emperor  from  his  fear  of  being  captured  and 
carried  off,  as  the  governor-general  of  Kuang- 
tung  had  been.  The  following  year  the  Chin- 
ese   treacherously    refused    to    exchange    the 


146  BEX  CHEisrus 

ratifications  of  the  treaties,  and  drove  back  the 
British.  Tliis  involved  another  war,  which 
took  pLace  in  1860,  with  the  British  and  French 
as  allies,  resulting  in  the  capture  of  Peking 
in  the  month  of  October,  and  supplementary 
treaties  signed  at  Peking. 

The  Third  Period,  1860  to  1895 

The  close  of  the  second  war  with  Great 
Britain  is  one  of  the  turning-points  of  modern 
Chinese  history.  The  ignorant  and  obstinate 
Manchus  and  Chinese  had  been  forced  to  rec- 
ognize the  power  of  the  "barbarians."  The 
important  right  of  residence  in  Peking  was 
conceded.  Many  new  ports  were  opened,  each 
a  large  window  for  more  light  to  enter  the 
empire.  One  of  the  most  unique  events  was 
the  introduction  into  the  treaties  of  the  "toler- 
ation clause,"  which  in  the  American  version  is 
as  follows  :  "  Art.  XXIX.  The  principles  of 
the  Christian  religion  as  professed  by  the  Prot- 
estant and  Roman  Catholic  churches,  are  rec- 
ognized as  teaching  men  to  do  good,  and  to  do 
to  others  as  they  would  have  others  do  to 
them.  Hereafter  those  who  quietly  profess 
and  teach  these  doctrines  shall  not  be  harassed 
or  persecuted  on  account  of  their  faith.  Any 
person,  whether  citizen  of  the  United  States  or 
Chinese  convert,  who  according  to  these  tenets 
peaceably  teaches  and  practices  the  principles 
of  Christianity,  shall  in  no  case  be  interfered 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  147 

with  or  molested."  Much  has  been  written  and 
said  in  condemnation  and  in  praise  of  this 
article,  the  former  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
"  forcing  our  religion  upon  the  Chinese,"  though 
it  cannot  justly  be  so  construed.  Like  exterri- 
toriality, it  was  not  perhaps  quite  welcome  to 
the  Chinese,  but  they  made  in  the  first  instance 
no  objections  whatever,  or  it  would  not  have 
been  included,  as  the  Ministers  held  no  brief 
for  missions.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that 
the  treaty  has  been  most  useful  to  the  better 
interests  of  all  classes  of  Chinese.  That  it  has 
been  at  times  abused  is  likewise  true,  but  in  this 
respect  this  article  is  unfortunately  not  singu- 
lar. A  spurious  clause  appended  by  a  zealous 
Father,  employed  as  interpreter,  to  the  Chinese 
but  not  to  the  French  version  of  the  French 
treaty  reads  thus  :  "  It  is  in  addition  per- 
mitted to  French  missionaries  to  rent  and  to 
purchase  land  in  all  the  provinces,  and  to  erect 
buildings  thereon  at  pleasure."  As  only  the 
French  text  is  authoritative,  this  pious  fraud 
was  useless.  Contrary  to  the  common  repre- 
sentations on  the  subject,  it  may  be  said  to  have 
had  no  relation  at  all  to  Protestant  missionary 
residence  in  the  interior. 

Evidences  of  a  New  Era.  —  It  was  in  the  early 
part  of  this  period  that  the  Chinese  Imperial 
Maritime  Customs  service  was  instituted,  manned 
by  foreigners  and  furnishing  an  object-lesson 
in  civil  service,  and  revenues  for  the  empire. 


148  BEX  CHRISTUS 

The  Burlingame  mission  to  foreign  courts  was 
despatched  to  enable  the  Chinese  to  get  their 
breath  before  coming  into  the  "sisterhood  of 
nations."  A  large  party  of  Chinese  youth  was 
sent  to  the  United  States  to  be  educated,  only 
to  be  recalled  some  years  later  before  the  fruits 
were  ripe.  The  Chinese  commercial  spirit 
came  to  self-consciousness  in  western  ways  by 
the  organization  of  the  important  China  Mer- 
chants' Steam  Navigation  Company,  and  in 
general  it  was  evident  that  a  new  era  had  set  in. 
At  the  declaration  of  peace  in  the  autumn  of 
1860  more  than  a  hundred  missionaries  were 
penned  up  in  Shanghai  awaiting  the  second 
"  opening  "  of  China.  Rev.  Henry  Blodget  of 
the  American  Board  was  the  first  Protestant 
missionary  to  enter  Tientsin  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  British  army,  passing  on  later  to 
Peking.  During  this  period  that  mission,  ex- 
panding into  several  stations,  began  at  T'ung 
Chou  the  rudiments  of  what  blossomed  into  a 
college  and  theological  seminary,  together  with 
the  usual  forms  of  work,  and  a  printing-press 
in  Peking.  Mr.  Edkins  of  Shanghai  estab- 
lished himself  at  Tientsin,  and  later  at  Peking, 
in  each  of  which  cities  flourishing  missions 
developed.  The  hospital  work  at  the  former 
city  is  associated  with  the  names  of  Dr.  J.  K. 
McKenzie  and  Dr.  Roberts.  Dr.  Lockhart,  as 
already  mentioned,  opened  a  hospital  in  Peking, 
followed  by  Dr.  Dudgeon  and  many  others. 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  149 

Mr.  Muirhead  of  Shanghai  was  able  to  visit 
Hankow,  seven  hundred  miles  up  the  Yang^-tse 
River,  at  an  early  period  after  the  treaty  of  1858, 
and  in  1861  Mr.  Griffith  John  went  to  occupy 
what  Secretary  Mullens  thought  "  the  finest  mis- 
sionary centre  in  the  world."  From  this  strategic 
point  the  work  of  the  London  and  other  societies 
has  spread  all  over  that  part  of  the  empire, 
into  remote  Ssuch'uan,  and  more  lately  into 
the  formerly  sealed  province  of  Hunan. 

The  American  Presbyterian  mission  ex- 
panded from  Shanghai  into  the  great  and 
ancient  cities  of  Hangchow,  Soochow,  and  Nan- 
king, and  later  to  Peking,  where  its  beginnings 
are  linked  with  the  name  of  Dr.  W.  A.  P. 
Martin,  subsequently  president  of  the  T'ung 
Wen  Kuan,  and  of  the  Imperial  University,  au- 
thor of  many  important  works  in  Chinese.  In 
Shantung  the  same  mission,  beginning  at  Che- 
fop  and  Teng  Chou  Fu,  worked  westward  to 
many  cities,  developing  into  two  different  mis- 
sions. The  name  of  Dr.  Nevius  will  always  be 
associated  with  his  great  work  in  eastern  Shan- 
tung. A  fine  college  grew  up  under  the  guid. 
ing  hands  of  Dr.  C.  W.  Mateer  and  others, 
the  usefulness  of  which  is  but  begun. 

The  Church  mission  opened  a  station  in 
Peking,  which  was  later  turned  over  to  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  (the 
Anglican  mission),  which  now  has  two  bishops 
over  its  flocks  in  Chihli  and  Shantung. 


150  EEX  CHBISTUS 

The  American  Methodist  mission,  whose 
occupation  of  Foochow  has  been  mentioned, 
began  work  in  central  China  in  1867,  and  in 
Peking  two  years  later,  reaching  out  for  vast 
distances  in  every  direction.  Their  modest 
Boys'  Boarding  School,  begun  in  1878,  devel- 
oped ten  years  later  into  what  became  the 
Peking  University,  with  a  large  constituency. 
An  important  mission  of  this  society  in  the 
far  province  of  Ssuch'uan  was  begun  in  1881, 
followed  for  a  time  by  violence  and  serious 
trouble. 

The  China  Inland  Mission.  —  Even  to  sketch 
in  the  baldest  outline  the  trickling  of  these 
streams  which  were  to  convey  the  water  of  life 
to  widely  separated  parts  of  China  would  occupy 
many  pages,  and  would,  after  all,  convey  but  a 
slight  impression  of  the  real  work  of  more  than 
fifty  different  missionary  societies  which  grad- 
ually overspread  the  land.  To  one  of  these, 
however,  it  is  necessary  to  devote  a  little  space 
on  account  of  its  unique  origin,  methods,  and 
results.  The  China  Inland  Mission  was  begun 
in  1865  by  Rev.  J.  Hudson  Taylor,  a  physician 
who  went  to  China  under  the  Chinese  Evan- 
gelization Society  in  1853.  It  has  always 
been  distinctively  a  "faith  mission,"  with  no 
guaranteed  salary  for  its  workers,  no  personal 
solicitation  of  funds  being  authorized,  "pan- 
denominational,"  and  in  its  fuller  development 
international.     Its  efforts  were  systematically 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  151 

directed,  not  merely  to  working  in  China  but 
for  the  whole  of  the  empire,  especially  the 
unoccupied  provinces,  then  very  numerous.  Its 
plan  was  to  begin  at  the  capital  of  each  prov- 
ince, although  this  would  generally  be  the  most 
difficult  city  to  enter,  taking  the  prefectural 
cities  later,  and  the  -smaller  ones  last.  Thus 
centres  would  be  taken  and  held,  through  which 
the  whole  province  might  be  influenced.  The 
first  stages  were  largely  preliminary,  especially 
itinerating,  which  was  carried  on  sometimes 
upon  a  gigantic  scale ;  as,  for  example,  one  of 
Mr.  Stevenson's  journeys  from  Burmah  to  Yun- 
nan, Ssuch'uan,  and  thence  to  Shanghai,  and 
back  to  Burmah,  making  in  240  days  a  total  of 
about  7700  miles. 

One  of  the  marked  features  of  the  growth  of 
the  mission  has  been  the  arrival  of  large  rein- 
forcements at  one  time  in  answer  to  definite 
prayer.  In  1881  seventy-seven  members  of  the 
mission  signed  an  appeal  for  seventy  additional 
workers,  and  in  the  three  following  years  sev- 
enty-six recruits  reached  the  field.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1886,  a  hundred  new  workers  were  asked 
for,  and  the  whole  number  was  sent  out  during 
the  following  year.  Among  the  forty  acces- 
sions in  1885  were  the  well-known  "  Cambridge 
band,"  whose  arrival  created  a  profound  impres- 
sion both  at  home  and  abroad.  The  prayers 
for  funds  were  answered  in  like  manner,  so  that 
they   have    substantially   kept   pace   with    the 


162  REX  CHRISTUS 

expanding  area  of  labor.  A  considerable  num- 
ber of  societies,  especially  from  Scandinavian 
countries,  have  sent  out  workers  as  "associates" 
of  the  Inland  Mission.  At  the  end  of  1898, 
two  years  before  the  close  of  the  period  under 
consideration,  this  mission  had  583  workers  dis- 
persed through  all  the  provinces  except  Kuang- 
tung  and  Fukien,  with  131  stations,  and  more 
than  as  many  churches,  containing  4300  mem- 
bers. 

The  policy  of  adopting  large  cities  as  cen- 
tres of  effort  has  been  generally  followed  all 
over  China.  The  United  Presbyterian  church 
has  a  large  and  rapidly  growing  work  in 
Manchuria,  begun  in  this  way,  but  developed 
according  to  providential  leadings,  until  at 
the  close  of  this  period  it  had  literally  almost 
covered  the  whole  land  with  its  influence.  On 
the  other  hand,  three  missions  in  North  China, 
the  London  Society  in  Chihli,  the  English 
Methodist,  and  the  American  Board  in  Shan- 
tung, have  each  one  station  in  a  country  village, 
from  which  the  work  expands  as  elsewhere, 
without  the  advantage  of  a  large  urban  con- 
stituency, and  free  also  from  its  drawbacks. 

Modus  of  Mission   Work 

Amid  wide  diversities  of  conditions  the  pro- 
cesses by  which  the  gospel  is  introduced  in  a 
new  mission  station  bear  a  general  family  like- 
ness, and  may  be  readily  outlined.     The  first 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  153 

requisite  is  a  home  for  the  missionary,  and  in 
securing  this  infinite  patience  and  great  tact 
are  often  indispensable,  especially  in  the  early 
stages  of  the  work.  In  shrewdness  at  bargain- 
ing the  Chinese  yield  nothing  to  either  Jew  or 
Gentile ;  and  the  moment  that  a  foreign  "  bar- 
barian "  wishes  a  site  it  rapidly  increases  in 
value.  The  small  holdings  of  Chinese  property, 
the  large  families,  indefinite  subdivisions  of 
land  and  dwellings,  the  tyranny  of  the  aged,  as 
well  as  of  those  belonging  to  the  literary  class, 
the  terrorism  of  professional  bullies,  the  antip- 
athy to  foreigners  on  the  part  of  neighbors 
and  of  the  "  gentry,"  the  incapacity,  obstinacy, 
ignorance,  cunning,  deceit,  and  open  hostility 
of  the  local  and  higher  officials,  make  this  a 
task  which  not  infrequently  extends  over  sev- 
eral years.  Only  the  most  resolute  purpose, 
backed  by  illimitable  faith  in  his  mission  of 
enlightenment  to  those  refusing  to  be  enlight- 
ened, prevents  discouragement  and  failure. 
Not  all  beginnings  have  been  of  this  descrip- 
tion, but  they  are  frequent  and  are  always  to 
be  expected,  especially  in  the  larger  cities  and 
in  provincial  capitals.  The  gradual  thawing 
of  the  icebergs  of  prejudice  may  generally  be 
counted  upon,  but  it  is  a  slow  process.  The 
deeds  of  a  moderate-sized  mission  compound 
would  sometimes  make  a  carpet  for  a  large 
room,  and  the  separate  sheets  resemble  crazy 
patchwork  in  their  number,  each  one  perhaps 


154  BEX  CHRISTUS 

the  issue  of  a  hotly  contested  and  long-con- 
tinued battle.  In  countless  instances,  to  other 
forms  of  opposition  has  been  added  that  of  mob 
violence,  which  is  readily  excited  by  subter- 
ranean means  through  the  influence  of  the 
officials  or  the  literary  class.  The  wildest 
stories  are  in  circulation  about  the  extraction 
of  the  eyes  and  hearts  of  children  for  use  in 
"  making  silver,"  until  the  whole  region  is  wild 
with  passion.  It  was  this  form  of  libel  which 
in  the  first  part  of  this  period  produced  the 
terrible  Tientsin  massacre  (June,  1870)  in 
which  twenty  foreigners  lost  their  lives,  in- 
cluding a  French  consul. 

The  Second  Step.  —  As  soon  as  a  base  of 
operations  is  secured,  the  next  step  is  usually 
the  opening  of  a  street  chapel,  to  which  any 
and  all  are  cordially  invited.  At  first  the 
crowd  gathers  automatically,  but  in  case  of 
marked  opposition  the  place  is  in  a  manner 
boycotted,  and  those  seen  to  go  there  may  suf- 
fer for  it.  Roughs  and  rowdies  may  get  up 
disturbances,  and  every  day  may  be  a  crisis. 
The  neighbors  perhaps  will  not  go  into  the 
chapel  at  all,  and  scholars  are  very  shy  of  it. 
Many  coolies  listen  to  the  reiteration  of  Chris- 
tian truth  and  daily  remark,  "  This  doctrine  is 
all  right,"  with  not  the  smallest  perception  of 
its  drift.  Scholars  may  condescend  in  private 
conversation  to  announce  the  view  that  "  this 
doctrine  is  practically  the  same  as  ours,"  only 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  155 

it  is  the  Occidental  version,  whereas  Confucian- 
ism is  the  form  adapted  for  China.  The  late 
Li  Hung  Chang,  in  addressing  a  large  company 
of  friends  of  missions  in  New  York,  remarked 
that  in  his  opinion  Christianity  and  Confu- 
cianism were  substantially  the  same,  and  this 
friendly  and  superficial  notion  is  very  prevalent. 
The  Abbe  Hue,  in  one  of  his  volumes  on  "  Chris- 
tianity in  China,"  shows  how  for  centuries  the 
course  of  thought  has  run  in  fixed  grooves. 
"  Then,  as  now,  the  mandarins  listened  to  dis- 
courses on  God,  the  soul,  and  salvation,  from 
mere  curiosity,  or  as  they  say  themselves,  'to 
amuse  their  hearts  a  little.'  They  were  often 
even  courteous  enough  to  declare  the  doctrines 
perfect  and  unanswerable,  but  on  going  away 
resumed  their  habitual  indifference,  and  became 
just  as  Chinese  as  ever." 

When  audiences  fail,  it  is  not  difficult  to  draw 
them  in  by  singing.  It  is  often  possible  to 
secure  a  large  attendance  after  the  shops  close 
for  the  evening.  One  day  a  countryman  drifts 
into  the  chapel  who  has  come  to  town  to  sell 
his  watermelons.  He  squanders  three  cash  on 
a  catechism  which  he  cannot  read,  and  disap- 
pears. The  next  year  he  reappears  with  two 
other  men,  one  of  whom  is  a  scholar,  and  the 
remote  village  in  which  he  lives  is  suggested  as 
a  good  place  in  which  to  begin  interior  work. 
A  helper  being  sent  to  it  is,  however,  unable  to 
find  the  place  at  all.     "  What  does  this  fellow 


156  REX  CHRISTUS 

want  of  that  village?"  is  the  thought  of  every 
one  of  whom  inquiry  is  made.  When  at  last 
the  village  is  found,  a  hopeful  interest  seems  to 
be  aroused,  which  goes  on  for  some  months.  It 
then  turns  out  that  the  scholar  is  an  opium 
taker,  and  wishes  to  rent  his  premises  for  "a 
chapel"  to  the  foreigner.  It  is  a  well-tried 
maxim  that  a  missionary  dates  his  real  troubles 
from  the  time  of  the  baptism  of  his  first  con- 
vert. Not  all  openings,  however,  are  disap- 
pointing. Sooner  or  later  there  is  a  patch  of 
peculiarly  fertile  "  good  ground  "  which  brings 
forth  thirty-fold,  and  these  form  spots  of  light 
in  the  midst  of  a  gross  darkness  that  may  be 
felt. 

The  Peripatetic  Preacher.  —  Itinerating  con- 
stitutes an  important  part  of  missionary  work, 
particularly  in  the  earlier  stages.  The  mere 
sight  of  a  foreigner  is  in  itself  an  illumination 
to  the  rustic  in  the  interior.  Markets  and  fairs 
are  held  everywhere,  often  on  fixed  days  of  the 
moon,  and  at  such  times  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
drawing  a  large  audience.  Book  sales  will  help 
to  confer  an  air  of  respectability  to  street 
preaching,  for  the  Chinese  have  a  profound  def- 
erence for  literature.  Even  a  turbulent  crowd 
will  sober  down  when  some  one  calls  out,  "  See, 
he  is  going  to  sell  books  now  !  "  As  a  rule  only 
a  small  percentage  of  the  men  can  read,  and  it 
is  therefore  indispensable  to  furnish  tracts  and 
leaflets  in  a  style  so  simple  as  to  be  readily 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  157 

understood  of  the  people.  The  population  is 
so  dense,  and  the  indifference  of  most  of  them 
to  new  ideas  so  great,  that  only  when  a  district 
has  been  continuously  visited  for  a  long  series 
of  years  can  it  be  said  in  any  real  sense  to 
have  heard  the  gospel.  In  the  accomplishment 
of  this  work  colporteurs  are  indispensable,  and 
any  number  of  the  right  men  could  be  usefully 
employed.  The  Chinese  Christians  of  Canton 
organized  many  years  since  a  "  Book  Lending 
Society,"  which  is  a  unique  and  useful  way  of 
bringing  Christian  literature  to  the  attention  of 
local  scholars,  by  loaning  to  them  books  to  be 
returned  later  in  good  condition,  and  perhaps 
exchanged  for  others.  The  village  school- 
master and  the  literary  graduate  thus  reached 
exert  an  influence  greater  than  that  of  scores  of 
other  men.  Such  devices  ought  to  be  in  use  all 
over  China. 

Churches  in  Embryo. —  As  soon  as  the  station 
is  really  in  working  order,  there  is  almost  sure 
to  be  opened  a  little  day-school  for  boys.  At 
first  these  are  all  of  necessity  children  of  non- 
Christian  parents,  and  some  inducements  may 
be  offered  to  them  to  attend.  But  ere  long  the 
constituency  alters,  and  the  bud  of  a  Christian 
school  is  developed.  The  parents  become  inter- 
ested, and  the  lads  themselves  may  be  the  means 
of  doing  great  things  for  the  Master.  There  is 
no  room  for  disappointment  if  the  percentage  of 
such  success  is  not  large,  when  one  recollects 


158  REX  CHBISTUS 

how  much  fruit  may  depend  from  one  little  tree 
long  cultivated.  The  handful  of  pupils  taught 
by  Dr.  S.  R.  Brown  in  Amoy  had  among  them 
three  who  exerted  a  mighty  power  for  good  in 
the  future  history  of  China,  though  nothing 
seemed  less  likely  at  the  time.  As  there  begin 
to  be  converts,  the  work  of  the  missionary  is 
imperceptibly  altered.  While  still  endeavor- 
ing to  reach  outsiders,  he  feels  a  yet  stronger 
pressure  to  teach  those  who  are  the  first-fruits 
of  the  new  kingdom.  This  is  done  in  many 
ways,  especially  by  station  classes  for  men,  held 
at  seasons  and  places  most  convenient  for  them, 
in  wliich  the  greatest  contrasts  of  learning  and 
ignorance  are  united,  but  where  there  is  room 
for  every  talent  which  the  teacher  possesses. 
These  are  rudimentary  theological  seminaries, 
and  out  of  them  have  come  some  of  the  best 
workers  ever  seen  in  China.  At  first,  by  reason 
of  the  poverty  of  the  people,  it  may  be  neces- 
sary to  give  assistance  to  these  adult  pupils  in 
food  or  fuel,  but  later,  as  a  better  comprehension 
of  the  value  of  the  instruction  prevails,  this  is 
no  longer  the  case.  By  this  time  embryonic 
churches,  in  the  shape  of  small  groups  of  twos 
and  threes  in  places  near  and  far,  begin  to 
appear,  and  the  planting  and  training  of  these 
bands  of  disciples  require  all  the  time,  strength, 
and  wisdom  available,  and  not  infrequently 
much  more.  To  this  work  there  is  no  assign- 
able limit.     It  is  in  this  that  the  greatest  trials 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  159 

and  the  greatest  awards  are  alike  met.  As 
the  station  grows  older  and  is  perhaps  better 
equipped,  a  boarding-school  is  added,  in  which 
the  instruction  of  lads  from  the  day-school  is 
carried  further,  perhaps  with  a  view  to  contin- 
uation in  a  college  elsewhere. 

The  Doctor  and  the  Dispensary.  —  In  a  well- 
equipped  station  there  is  likely  to  be  a  physician 
who  opens  a  dispensary  and  a  hospital,  the  twin 
keys  which  unlock  many  Chinese  hearts  closely 
sealed  against  all  other  influences.  It  is  when 
sick,  weak,  and  helpless,  that  the  love  and  com- 
fort of  the  gospel  appeal  most  strongly  to  all. 
Human  nature  is  everywhere  the  same,  and 
that  practical  philanthropy  which  does  not  de- 
spise nor  refuse  toilsome,  disagreeable,  and  even 
loathsome  tasks,  if  only  good  may  result,  is 
even  to  the  most  bigoted  Chinese  its  own  self- 
evidence  of  a  good-will  to  man  never  before 
seen.  Chinese  medical  science  is  little  better 
than  a  parody  on  what  it  professes.  Surgery  is 
practically  unknown.  Chinese  medicines  are 
nauseous,  expensive,  and  for  the  most  part 
inert.  Superstition  vitiates  every  kind  of  treat- 
ment. Nursing  is  "  a  lost  art "  never  discovered. 
Foods  for  the  sick  are  everything  which  they 
should  not  be,  and  dieting  is  both  inconceivable 
and  impossible.  Antiseptics  are  as  unknown  as 
the  X  rays,  and  in  the  absence  of  sanitation, 
ventilation,  proper  clothing,  isolation,  and  gen- 
eral common  sense,  nothing  but  a  strong  con- 


160  BEX  CHRISTUS 

stitution  and  the  mercy  of  God  prevent  all 
patients  from  dying  daily  of  unconscious  but 
age-long  violation  of  all  the  laws  of  nature. 
One's  faith  in  the  germ  theory  of  disease  is 
much  shaken  by  the  unassailable  fact  that  the 
Chinese  race  still  survives. 

Preaching  to  dispensary  patients,  and  espe- 
cially faithful  work  among  regular  occupants  of 
the  hospital,  is  probably  the  most  immediately 
rewarding  missionary  effort  in  China.  If  the 
hospital  and  dispensary  staff  should  be  adequate, 
great  good  may  be  done  by  combined  medical 
and  evangelistic  tours,  referring  all  graver  cases 
to  the  central  station  for  treatment.  A  list  of 
the  diseases  treated  in  a  well-established  medi- 
cal work  reads  like  the  table  of  contents  of  a 
compendious  treatise  on  the  Theory  and  Practice 
of  Medicine  and  Surgery.  Great  numbers  of 
frightful  cases  present  themselves  which  in  an 
Occidental  land  would  never  be  seen  at  all, 
because  they  would  have  been  treated  in  their 
earlier  stages.  The  training  of  medical  students 
is  an  important  part  of  the  missionary  physi- 
cian's work.  It  is  a  task  beset  with  difficulties, 
but  has  great  rewards. 

Special  efforts  are  often  made  for  opium 
smokers,  especially  in  the  opium-cursed  province 
of  Shansi,  where  wonderful  results  have  been 
sometimes  obtained.  Deacon  Liu,  the  stalwart 
Christian  who  refused  to  fly  from  the  Boxers, 
had   at   one  time    been  a  phenomenally  heavy 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  161 

smoker,  taking  more  than  an  ounce  of  opium 
each  day.  Here  and  elsewhere  the  outcome  of 
"  opium  refuges  "  has  been  mixed,  and  not  in- 
frequently highly  disappointing.  It  has  been 
found  that  opium  pills  compounded  with  mor- 
phia may  induce  a  worse  habit  than  the  one 
given  up.  Or,  in  Chinese  aphoristic  phrase, 
"trying  to  cure  consumption,  the  patient  gets 
asthma  also."  Work  for  the  blind  is  carried  on 
to  some  extent  by  Mr,  Murray  in  Peking,  in  the 
use  of  the  Braille  system  of  raised  dots  to  rep- 
resent Chinese  sounds,  and  with  wonderful  re- 
sults ;  but  the  plan  has  not  yet  been  widely 
introduced.  Something  has  been  done  in  the 
way  of  Protestant  orphanages,  and  a  great  deal 
by  the  indefatigable  Roman  Catholics.  Mrs. 
Mills  of  Chefoo,  formerly  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  mission,  is  a  pioneer  in  efforts  for 
the  very  numerous  deaf  and  dumb.  A  refuge 
for  the  insane  was  founded  by  Dr.  J.  G.  Kerr 
in  1898  at  Canton,  and  each  of  these  enterprises 
has  a  vast  field  among  the  hopelessly  afflicted 
in  this  great  empire.  Dr.  Kerr  died  in  1901, 
having  been  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest 
hospitals  for  more  than  forty  years.  He  trained 
a  hundred  qualified  Chinese  physicians  and 
published  many  well-known  medical  works. 
A  beginning  has  likewise  been  made  in  the 
special  treatment  of  lepers,  particularly  by 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brewster  in  the  Fukien  prov- 
ince,   where    the    number    of    those    suffering 

M 


162  HEX  CHRISTUS 

from  this  terrible  malady  is  much  greater  than 
elsewhere. 

There  is  no  reason  why  self-supporting  Chris- 
tian physicians,  men  and  women,  should  not 
feel  a  call  to  practise  their  divine  art  in  China, 
in  cooperation  v/ith  any  other  work  which  they 
might  select,  with  a  reasonable  certainty  that 
great  good  in  new  ways,  as  well  as  in  those 
already  opened,  will  assuredly  result. 

SIGNIFICANT   SENTENCES 

He  has  sounded  forth  the  trumpet  that  shall  never  call 

retreat, 
He  is  sifting  out  the  hearts  of  men  before  His  judgment 

seat. 
O  be  swift,  my  soul,  to  answer  Him,  be  jubilant,  my  feet. 
Our  God  is  marching  on  ! 

—  Julia  Ward  Howe. 

The  Yale  Law  School  student  graduating  with  the 
best  record  (1903)  was  Chung  Hui  Wang,  a  graduate  of 
Tientsin  University. 

Morrison's  translation  of  the  New  Testament  is  one  of 
the  noblest  services  ever  rendered  by  any  human  hand  to 
tlie  cause  of  religion.  .  .  .  Seven  years  had  elapsed  be- 
fore he  brought  a  convert  to  the  font ;  but  through  the 
means  of  his  dictionary  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  to  how 
many  souls  the  doctrines  of  redeniption  have  been  and 
will  be  conveyed.  —  Noi-th  American  Review. 

What  has  China  to  show  for  her  far-famed  literary  ex- 
aminations? Only  a  graduate  wearing  a  yellow  crystal 
or  ruby  button  —  and  to  this,   sometimes,  is   added  a 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  163 

peacock's  feather.  This  last  is  a  fit  emblem  of  his  great- 
ness ;  for  just  as  surely  as  the  glory  of  the  peacock  falls 
to  the  ground  at  the  first  adverse  wind,  this  man  falls 
from  his  pedestal  whenever  he  comes  in  contact  with  an 
all-round  educated  man  from  the  Occident. 

—  Haknah  C.  Woodhull. 

During  my  twenty  years'  stay  in  China  I  always  con- 
gratulated myself  on  the  fact  that  the  missionaries  were 
there  .  .  .  The  good  done  by  them  in  the  way  of  edu- 
cation, of  medical  relief,  and  of  other  charities  cannot 
be  overestimated. 

—  Hon.  G.  F.  Seward,  fonner  U.  S.  Minister. 

I  made  a  study  of  missionary  work  in  China.  I  took 
a  man-of-war  and  visited  almost  every  open  port  in  the 
empire.  At  each  of  these  places  I  visited  and  inspected 
every  missionary  station.  At  the  schools  the  scholars 
were  arrayed  before  me  and  examined.  I  went  through 
the  missionary  hospitals.  I  attended  synods  and  church 
services.  I  saw  the  missionaries,  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
in  their  homes.  I  unqualifiedly,  and  in  the  strongest  lan- 
guage that  tongue  can  utter,  give  to  these  men  and  women 
who  are  living  and  dying  in  China  and  in  the  far  East 
my  full  and  unadulterated  commendation.  In  China  the 
missionaries  are  the  leaders  in  every  charitable  work. 
They  give  to  the  natives  largely  out  of  their  scanty  earn- 
ings, and  they  honestly  administer  the  alms  of  others. 
When  famine  arrives  —  and  it  comes  every  year  —  or  the 
rivers  inundate  the  soil  with  never-ceasing  frequency, 
the  missionary  is  the  first  and  last  to  give  his  time  and 
labor  to  alleviate  suffering.  They  are  the  writers  of 
books  for  the  Chinese.  They  are  the  interpreters  for 
them  and  the  legations.  The  first  graduates  of  the  finest 
western  colleges  supply  and  practice  surgery,  —  an  un- 
known art  among  the  Chinese. 

—  Charles  Denby,  former  U.  S.  Minister. 


164  BEX  CHBISTUS 

The  Open  Door 

The  Open  Door  for  China  ! 

Doors  that  are  closed  shut  in 
Squalor  and  superstition 

And  the  old,  old  shapes  of  sin ; 
The  sin  of  the  Primal  Peoples, 

Cunning  and  fierce  and  fell. 
With  foul  untruth  and  lack  of  ruth, 

And  hate  as  deep  as  hell. 

The  Open  Door  for  China ! 

And  hail  to  the  coming  light  I 
For  blinded  eyes  and  stifled  cries 

Are  there  in  her  awful  night. 
The  light  of  the  White  Man's  Gospel  — 

The  light  of  the  White  Man's  Law  — 
Woman  and  slave  to  lift  and  save 

From  the  "  ancient  dragon's  "  maw. 

Blood  of  the  pale  young  martyrs, 

New-slain  for  the  White  Man's  creed  — 
Of  the  mighty  tree  that  is  yet  to  be 

It  waters  the  fertile  seed. 
Their  happy  eyes  shall  see  it 

From  the  Place  of  the  Golden  Floor ; 
They  failed  —  they  died !     Their  hands  set  wide 

The  leaves  of  the  "  Open  Door  "  ! 

—  Blanche  M.  Channing,  in  the  Boston  Journal. 

THEMES  FOR  STUDY  OR  DISCUSSION 

I.   The  Door  Opened  to  the  Gospel. 
II.    The  White  Man's  Burden  in  China. 

III.  The  Nestorian  Tablet. 

IV.  Fibre  of  Faith  among  the  Early  Converts. 
V.   Native  Preachers  and  Teachers. 

VI.   The  Two  Roberts  —  Morrison  and  Milne. 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  166 

VII.   Williams,  The  Pioneer  Printer. 
VIII.   Peter  Parker  and  Medical  Missions. 
IX.   Power  of    Christian   Literature   in   the   Flowery 

Kingdom. 
X.    The  China  Inland  "  Faith  "  Mission. 
XI.   The  Tragedy  at  Tientsin  in   1870   and  Tientsin 

To-day. 
XII.   Sir   Robert   Hart    and    Our    Debt    to    Christian 
Diplomats. 

BOOKS  OF   REFERENCE 

General  References  as  Before 

Beresford's  "  The  Break-up  of  China."     II,  XII. 
Bishop's  "  The  Yangtze  Valley  and  Beyond."    I,  U,  XII. 
Bryson's  "John  Kenneth  Mackenzie."     VIII. 
Creegan's  "  Great  Missionaries  of  the  Church."     I. 
"Crisis  in  China"  (reprint  of  articles  in  North  American 

Review).     II,  XII. 
Curzon's  "  Problems  of  the  Far  East."     II,  XII. 
Dukes's  "  Everyday  Life  in  China."     V. 
Foster's  "  Christian  Progress  in  China."     I,  IV,  V,  IX. 
Gibson's  "  Missionary  Problems  and  Methods."     I,  IV,  V. 
Graves's  "  Forty  Years  in  China."     II,  VIII,  IX,  XII. 
Gutztaff's  "  Chinese  History."    I,  II,  III. 
Henry's  "  The  Cross  and  the  Dragon."     IV. 
Hue's  "Travels  in  Tartary,  Thibet,  and   China."     HI, 

IV,  V. 
Johnston's  "  China  and  Formosa."     V,  VIII. 
Johnston's  "  China  and  Its  Future."     XII. 
Leonard's  "  A  Hundred  Years  of  Missions."     I,  IV,  V. 
Moule's  "  New  China  and  Old."     Ill,  VIII. 
Muirhead's  "  China  and  the  Gospel."    IX. 
Nevius's  "  China  and  the  Chinese."     I,  HI,  IV,  V,  IX. 
Robson's  "  Griffith  John."     V. 
Speer's  "  The  Oldest  and  Newest  Empire."    I,  II. 


166  REX  CHRISTUS 

Speer's  "  Missions  and  Politics  iu  Asia."    I,  IT,  IX. 
Taylor's  "Days  of  Blessing  in  Inland  China."     II,  X. 
Wilson's  "  China."     IX,  XL 

Articles  on  China  in  Periodicals :  — 

Contemporary,  Vol.  36,  "  The  Future  of  China."     XII. 
Nineteenth   Century,  Vol.  43,   "The  Future  of  Manchu- 
ria."    II. 
North  American,  Vol.  153,  "New  Life  in  China."     II. 


CHAPTER  V 

CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.      PART  II 

On  the   Threshold  of  the  Twentieth   Century 

Woman's  Work. ^  —  One  can  have  no  idea  of 
the  regenerative  forces  at  work  in  China  without 
some  knowledge  of  woman's  work  in  the  Flowery 
Kingdom.  It  is  desirable,  therefore,  at  this  point 
to  summarize  those  forms  of  activity  which  be- 
long distinctively  to  woman's  realm.  From  the 
beginning,  as  wives  of  missionaries,  women  have 
had  a  noble  share  in  the  labors  of  their  husbands, 
but  it  is  in  their  organized  capacity  that  we  see 
the  largest  results.  Hon.  Chester  Holcombe, 
secretary  of  the  legation,  and  for  some  years 
acting  minister  of  the  United  States,  says:  "If 
the  missionaries  in  that  vast  empire  had  accom- 
plished nothing  more  during  the  half  century 
than  to  furnish  object-lessons  of  the  true  posi- 
tion of  women,  and  the  highest  type  of  Christian 
homes,  that  result  alone  would  justify  their 
presence  in  China,  and  the  money  invested  in 
the  enterprise."  But  in  addition  to  this  general 
service,  as  exponents  of  a  new  type  of  woman- 
hood, there  are  certain  concrete   achievements 

1  At  Dr.  Smith's  request  this  part  of  Chapter  V  was 
written  by  Miss  Dyer. 

167 


168  REX  CHRISTUS 

which  stand  forth  as  conspicuous  examples  of 
what  women  alone  could  do  there  for  their  own 
sex.     Foremost  among  these  is  — 

The  Educational  Work.  —  Like  all  far-reach- 
ing plans  for  the  uplifting  of  the  human  race, 
the  beginnings  were  humble.  The  genesis  of 
schools  and  colleges  for  woman  throughout  the 
East  may  be  traced  to  a  little  gathering  of  ladies 
in  a  London  drawing-room  in  the  summer  of 
1834.  Rev.  David  Abeel  had  just  returned 
from  China  to  recruit  his  broken  health.  Bur- 
dened with  a  sense  of  the  misery  and  degrada- 
tion which  he  had  seen  among  the  women,  and 
which  no  man  could  relieve,  he  laid  their  case 
before  these  ladies.  The  result  was  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Female  Edu- 
cation in  the  East.  This  was  the  first  attempt 
to  reach  women  in  non-Christian  lands  in  the 
only  way  they  could  be  reached  —  through  their 
own  sex.  A  representative  of  the  society  was 
sent  to  Singapore  to  open  a  school  for  Chinese 
girls,  the  foregleam  of  a  light  now  shining 
brightly  in  many  educational  centres.  Little 
did  that  small  group  of  praying  women,  who 
assembled  at  Mr.  Abeel's  appeal,  realize  that 
before  the  century  closed  its  rays  would  have 
penetrated  into  dark  corners  throughout  the 
whole  world. 

Nearly  a  generation  passed,  however,  before 
this  pioneer  society  was  followed  by  a  second, 
this    time    in    America.     The  Woman's   Union 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  169 

Missionary  Society,  formed  in  New  York  in 
1861,  marks  an  era  of  rapid  expansion.  No  less 
than  thirty-three  societies  came  into  existence 
within  twenty-one  years  in  the  United  States 
alone.  The  Congregationalists  of  Boston  led 
off  in  1868  with  the  Woman's  Board  of  Mis- 
sions. The  Methodists,  Baptists,  Presbyterians, 
and  Episcopalians,  also  societies  in  Canada,  fol- 
lowed in  quick  succession. 

It  is  profoundly  significant  that  this  splendid 
new  impulse  for  foreign  missions  synchronizes 
almost  perfectly  with  the  movement  for  the 
higher  education  of  women,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  colleges  for  them  both  in  England  and 
the  United  States.  The  enlargement  of  mind 
and  soul,  the  broader  horizon  of  thought,  the 
development  of  administrative  powers  engen- 
dered by  greater  educational  privileges  needed 
to  be  directed  into  channels  of  worthy  effort. 
Coincident  with  this  opening  of  doors  of  privi- 
lege in  Christian  lands  came  the  opening  of 
doors  of  opportunity  in  heathendom.  Seldom 
has  there  been  a  more  marked  example  of  the 
way  in  which  the  field  and  the  workers  are 
divinely  fitted  for  each  other. 

Day  and  Boarding  Schools.  —  Prior  to  the 
period  of  organization  a  few  schools  for  girls 
had  been  established  in  China.  One  of  the 
oldest,  which  may  be  taken  as  a  type  of  all,  was 
founded  by  Mrs.  C.  C.  Baldwin  of  the  Ameri- 
can  Board  in  Foochow  nearly  fifty  years  ago. 


170  BEX  CHEISTUS 

/mother  was   started  by  the  Woolston  sisters, 
Sarah  and  Beulah,  under  the  auspices  of  Meth- 
odist women   in    Baltimore.     These  and  other 
early  plants  were  transferred  eventually  to  the 
fostering  care  of   the  Woman's  Boards  of  dif- 
ferent   denominations.      Bitter    opposition  was 
encountered  at  first.     The  Chinese  claim  that 
women   have    neither    minds    nor    souls,   why 
should  they  be    taught   to   read?      If    parents 
did  not  want  their  girl  children,  why  should 
they  commit  them  to  foreigners?     There  were 
other   ways   to    dispose    of   the   encumbrances. 
They  could  put  them  out  of  existence,  or  could 
give    them   to  some  one  who  wanted  to  bring 
up  a  wife  for  his  son.     Better  still,  they  might 
sell    them   for    a   small   sum  of    money.     This 
last  consideration  furnished  the  solution  to  the 
problem.     For    money   the    missionaries   were 
allowed  the  privilege  of  feeding,  clothing,  and 
educating  the  girls,  and  also  deciding  to  whom 
they   should   be   betrothed.      This   was   called 
"  buying  the  right  of  betrothal,"  and  it  marked 
an  important  stage  of  progress,  as  it  made  it  pos- 
sible to  marry  the  girls  to  Christian  young  men. 
The  custom   is  almost   unnecessary  nowadays, 
and  is  always  discouraged  if  any  other  way  can 
be  found  to  release  the  girls. 

After  the  period  of  organization  set  in,  the 
women  of  England  and  America  took  up  the 
extension  of  these  schools  in  good  earnest,  and 
from   1870  till  the  close  of   the  century   they 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  171 

multiplied  rapidly.  Through  them  access  was 
gained  to  the  homes,  thus  giving  an  opportu- 
nity to  reach  the  hearts  of  the  poor,  unloved, 
sorrowinsr  veomen.  Yet  the  obstacles  to  their 
establishment  even  now  are  many  and  arise  from 
a  variety  of  sources  —  the  distance  is  too  great, 
and  the  girls  must  not  be  seen  on  the  street  even 
if  the  mother  is  willing.  The  father  or  a  big 
brother  vetoes  the  plan,  or,  if  he  be  over-per- 
suaded, uncles,  aunts,  and  grandmothers  hover 
in  the  not  distant  offing  with  their  scoffs  and 
biting  sarcasms.  Mrs.  A.  H.  Smith  said  at  the 
last  Shanghai  Conference  :  "  As  we  hold  out  the 
bright  and  cheerful  lamp  of  education  to  our 
Chinese  sisters,  such  a  warning  cry  of  opposition 
goes  up  all  around  that  one  might  suppose  we 
had  offered  a  lighted  bomb  !  "  The  education  of 
girls  is  in  no  way  opposed  to  the  theories  of  the 
Chinese,  but  only  to  their  practice.  In  this  lies 
the  hope  of  a  great  intellectual  awakening  for 
their  women.  Experience  shows  that  Chinese 
girls  have  as  good  minds  as  the  boys,  but  their 
disabilities  are  naturally  much  greater. 

The  boarding-schools,  now  counted  by  scores, 
bring  teacher  and  pupil  into  still  closer  relations 
than  the  day-schools,  and  increase  the  power  of 
personal  influence.  In  them,  also,  it  was  nec- 
essary at  first  to  provide  almost  everything  for 
the  pupils ;  but  by  degrees  more  and  more  re- 
sponsibilit}^  in  this  matter,  as  well  as  in  regard 
to  betrothals,  is  laid  upon  the    parents.     This 


172  BEX  CHRISTUS 

enhances  in  their  eyes  the  value  of  an  education 
for  their  daughters.  What  is  learned  from 
books  constitutes  but  a  small  part  of  their 
training.  One  of  the  most  important  functions 
is  to  fit  them  to  become  wives  of  the  Chris- 
tian young  men  who  are  to  be  at  the  head  of 
the  church  in  China,  and  noble  mothers  for  a 
new  and  better  generation  yet  to  come.  The 
course  of  study  is  elementary,  but  the  schools 
are  graded,  so  that  classes  can  be  graduated, 
and  they  are  forerunners  of  colleges  and  higher 
institutions  of  learning. 

Influence  on  the  Community.  —  As  teachers, 
Bible  readers,  physicians,  nurses,  wives  of 
preachers,  and  mothers  in  their  own  homes, 
the  girls  from  these  schools  are  already  shap- 
ing public  sentiment  in  this  vast  empire.  At 
the  annual  conference  the  native  women  make 
reports  of  their  evangelistic  tours  and  other 
forms  of  service.  The  consciousness  that  such 
reports  are  expected  of  them  awakens  a  sense 
of  responsibility  and  a  laudable  ambition.  One 
of  the  most  notable  gatherings  of  the  nineteenth 
century  was  a  women's  conference  at  Shanghai 
in  November,  1900,  at  which  English-speaking 
ladies,  foreign  and  Chinese,  compared  notes 
concerning  the  home  life  of  Chinese  women. 
Lady  Blake,  wife  of  the  governor  of  Hong- 
kong, presided,  and  among  the  speakers  was 
Dr.  Ida  Kahn,  one  of  the  few  Chinese  gradu- 
ates from  a  medical  school  in  the  United  States. 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS  173 

Her  address  on  Girl  Slavery  was  a  finished, 
as  well  as  a  forcible,  production.  The  intelli- 
gent grasp  of  all  the  topics  by  the  native 
women  spoke  volumes  for  their  missionary 
training. 

A  striking  illustration  of  their  influence  in 
creating  a  right  public  sentiment  appeared 
recently  in  Hangchow,  where  the  wives  of  sev- 
eral mandarins  met  in  an  ancestral  hall,  and 
formed  themselves  into  an  anti-footbinding 
'society.  Eighty  women  were  present,  fifty  of 
whom  signed  a  pledge  to  unbind  their  own 
feet  and  never  to  bind  their  daughters'  feet. 
This  meeting  was  most  remarkable  in  that  it 
was  called  by  non-Christian  women,  and  entirely 
conducted  by  them.  Before  its  close  they  de- 
cided to  go  to  work  at  once  to  raise  money 
among  themselves  to  open  a  girls'  school.  The 
initial  public  protest  against  the  cruel  custom 
had  been  made  years  before  by  one  brave  Ameri- 
can girl  at  the  head  of  a  school  in  Peking.  "  I 
cannot  have  children  in  my  school  with  bound 
feet,"  she  said.  The  same  attitude  was  taken 
by  missionaries  of  different  denominations,  who 
had  been  constantly  working  to  abolish  the  evil. 
This  attracted  attention,  and  brought  forth  re- 
monstrance, but  a  sentiment  against  the  cus- 
tom was  awakened  and  mass  meetings  were 
held  to  keep  it  alive.  But  who  would  have 
predicted  that  any  such  spontaneous  action  by 
Chinese  women  themselves,  and  not  Christians, 


174  BEX  CHBISTUS 

would  ever  have  taken  place  ?  The  same  power 
of  public  sentiment  led  twentj^-one  families  of 
high  social  position  in  Foochow  to  obtain  im- 
perial sanction  to  unbind  their  women's  feet. 
About  three  years  ago  the  empress  dowager 
issued  an  edict  against  the  custom,  which 
caused  much  rejoicing  in  America.  But  despite 
her  command  the  expectations  of  a  large  mar- 
ket for  American  shoes  in  China,  to  cover  liber- 
ated feet,  have  not  been  realized. 

A  Birthday  Gift  to  the  Empress  Dowager.  — 
Another  significant  incident  took  place  during 
the  war  with  Japan.  "  It  Avas  a  happy  sugges- 
tion," says  Dr.  Smith,  "at  this  time  of  storm 
and  stress  that  women  of  the  Protestant  churches 
should  present  to  the  empress  dowager,  on  the 
completion  of  her  sixtieth  year  (Nov.  7,  1894), 
a  special  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  in  large 
type,  with  gold  border  and  solid  silver  covers 
embossed  with  bamboo  designs.  The  10,900 
contributors  represented  twenty-nine  missions. 
The  casket  was  carried  to  the  Tsung  Li  Yamen 
by  the  British  and  American  Ministers,  and  the 
following  day  it  was  sent  by  the  Yamen  to  her 
Majesty,  and  subsequently  acknowledged  by 
return  gifts  to  twenty-two  lady  missionaries 
who  had  been  prominent  in  the  movement. 
The  greatest  curiosity  was  excited  by  this  vol- 
ume. The  emperor,  hearing  of  it,  sent  eunuchs 
to  the  depository  of  the  American  Bible  Society 
to  procure  copies  of  the  Bible  for  himself,  and 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  175 

it  was  known  that  he  read  it  and  that  he  learned 
to  pray.  What  influence  these  incidents  may 
have  exerted  it  is  impossible  to  say." 

Kindergartens.  —  In  1894  the  first  kinder- 
gartens were  opened,  but  less  than  a  dozen  are 
to  be-  found  in  all  China.  Yet  children  mature 
so  much  earlier  in  the  East  than  in  the  West 
that  there  is  far  greater  need  of  this  class  of 
schools  in  the  Orient  than  in  lands  where  evil 
influences  are  neutralized  by  Christian  homes. 
If  a  Froebel  instead  of  a  Confucius  had  laid  the 
foundations  of  China's  educational  system,  what 
a  different  nation  she  would  be  to-day ! 

The  notion  that  the  Chinese  do  not  care  for 
their  children  is  false,  though  the  horrible  facts 
of  infanticide  and  girl  slavery  would  seem  to 
warrant  such  a  belief.  It  is  true,  also,  that  they 
are  callous  toward  the  dead  because  they  know 
nothing  of  a  future  life.  This  leads  a  father, 
when  his  child  dies,  to  say  he  has  "  thrown  it 
away."  But  parental  love  is  as  strong  in  the 
human  heart  in  China  as  elsewhere.  Does  a 
mother  lack  affection  who  says  of  her  baby, 
"  He  is  so  sweet  that  he  makes  you  love  him  till 
it  kills  you "  ?  Probably  no  country  in  the 
world  has  more  travelling  shows  specially  pre- 
pared for  the  entertainment  of  children.  The 
fact  that  an  army  of  men  find  it  possible  to  sup- 
port themselves  by  selling  toys  and  sweets  is 
proof  that  the  Chinese  are  fond  of  children  and 
indulgent  to  them. 


176  BEX  CHRISTU8 

Among  their  games  is  the  counterpart  of  our 
familiar  Punch  and  Judy  show.  Says  Dr. 
Headland  of  the  Peking  University,  "  Those  who 
hold  that  the  Chinese  do  not  love  their  children 
have  never  consulted  their  nursery  lore."  No 
literature,  not  even  their  sacred  books,  is  so 
generally  known  as  the  rhymes  which  corre- 
spond to  the  English  Mother  Goose ;  but  many, 
unfortunately,  are  grossly  impure.  No  mother 
in  a  Christian  land  would  allow  her  children  to 
read  them.  He  tells  us  that  two  out  of  the 
eighteen  provinces  are  singularly  rich  in  these 
juvenile  jingles.  No  fewer  than  five  versions 
may  be  found  of  "  This  little  pig  went  to  market," 
showing  that  baby  fingers  and  toes  furnish  the 
same  entertainment  in  the  Orient  as  in  the 
Occident.  The  rhyme  of  the  Little  Mouse  is 
as  popular  all  over  North  China  as  Jack  and  Jill 
to  an  English-speaking  child.     It  begins:  — 

"  He  climbed  up  the  candlestick, 
The  little  mousey  brown, 
To  steal  and  eat  tallow, 
Aiid  he  couldn't  get  down. 
He  called  for  his  grandma 
But  his  grandma  was  in  town, 
So  he  doubled  up  into  a  wheel 
And  rolled  himself  down." 

On  account  of  their  multitude  of  toys,  their 
fondness  for  games  and  their  innate  ingenuity, 
Chinese  children  are  peculiarly  receptive  to  kin- 
dergarten teaching. 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS  177 

Bible  Women  and  Other  Workers.  —  Next  to  the 
teacher,  perhaps  the  Bible  woman  is  the  strong- 
est personal  force  on  missionary  ground.  She 
is  an  exponent  of  the  "  new  "  womanhood,  and 
the  preparation  for  her  many  and  varied  duties 
is  a  delicate  and  difficult  task.  The  Oriental 
sense  of  propriety  demands  that  she  shall  be 
middle-aged.  There  is  no  branch  of  the  evan- 
gelistic work  more  important  than  the  tours  of 
these  native  Christian  women.  There  are  few 
homes  to  which  they  are  not  welcome.  Every- 
where they  are  listened  to  with  respect.  They 
show  wonderful  tact  in  adapting  themselves  to 
circumstances  and  in  overcoming  the  prejudices 
of  the  people.  They  visit  the  afflicted,  pray 
with  the  dying,  minister  to  the  sick  and  desti- 
tute, giving  freely  of  their  own  small  allowances 
to  help  those  in  distress.  Occasionally  one  will 
supply  the  pulpit  till  a  pastor  can  be  found  to 
take  charge.  In  the  conduct  of  the  affairs  of 
the  native  churches  everything  depends  upon 
the  character  and  quality  of  those  who  may  be 
raised  up  as  assistants  from  among  their  own 
people.  It  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  the 
supreme  importance  of  adequate  and  thorough 
Christian  training  for  all  classes  of  women  is 
deeply  felt,  and  training-schools  for  Bible  women 
have  come  to  be  recognized  as  a  necessity. 
More  than  twenty  have  been  established  since 
1874,  when  the  first  one  was  opened  by  the 
Baptists  at  Swatow.     A  student  from  a  single 


178  BEX  CHRISTU8 

school  of  this  character  last  year  reported  4367 
attendants  at  her  meetings  during  a  tour  of 
less  than  six  months.  But  the  whole  number 
of  persons  reached  by  this  form  of  service  ex- 
ceeds computation,  and  their  influence  for  good 
no  man  can  measure. 

It  is  not  only  to  the  poor  and  humble  that 
they  carry  the  message  of  salvation.  One  of 
the  Bible  women,  Mrs.  Chao,  received  a  sum- 
mons lately  to  visit  a  princess,  whose  name  for 
obvious  reasons  is  withheld.  As  Mrs.  Chao  un- 
folded to  her  the  precious  truths  concerning  the 
true  God,  the  princess  was  much  affected,  and 
falling  upon  her  knees  cried  out ;  "  I,  the  great 
Princess  Imperial  of  the  first  rank,  who  have 
never  knelt  to  any  one  but  my  Empress,  I  kneel 
before  you,  and  entreat  you  to  tell  me,  are  you 
the  true  God  ?  " 

The  gathering  of  Chinese  women  for  instruc- 
tion in  station  classes  is  another  useful  form  of 
Christian  activity.  Brought  together  for  six 
weeks  or  two  months  during  the  least  busy  time 
of  the  year,  and  put  under  regular  instruction, 
away  from  the  endless  interruptions  of  their 
own  homes,  they  have  a  chance  to  see  more 
clearly  the  full  meaning  of  Christianity,  as  ex- 
emplified in  the  lives  of  their  teachers.  At  the 
end  of  the  term  they  return  home  benefited 
themselves  and  ready  to  help  others. 

Mothers'  meetings  play  an  important  part  in 
the  education  of   Chinese   women.     These  are 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  179 

held  in  the  homes  of  the  missionaries,  with 
surroundings  as  bright  as  possible,  and  often 
attract  timid  women  of  the  better  classes.  See- 
ing a  foreign  baby  bathed  is  a  great  delight  and 
an  excellent  object-lesson.  At  the  close,  tea 
and  light  refreshments  are  served.  Though 
first  drawn  by  "  cake  and  curiosity,"  they  learn 
to  love  these  gatherings,  from  which  they  carry 
away  beautiful  truths  concerning  motherhood, 
pre-natal  as  well  as  its  later  phases.  They  go 
back  to  their  own  dwellings,  dark  with  igno- 
rance and  superstition,  with  the  light  of  new 
ideas  in  their  eyes  and  the  stirring  of  new  long- 
ings in  their  hearts. 

Such  are  some  of  the  "  by-products  "  of  mis- 
sionary effort,  and  they  are  often  quite  as  pre- 
cious as  the  ore  mined  by  direct  labor. 

Medical  Work 

In  order  to  appreciate  fully  what  women  are 
doing  in  China  in  their  medical  capacity,  one 
must  have  a  clear  conception  of  what  a  Chinese 
home  is  like.  Into  its  seclusion  no  foreign  male 
physician  may  penetrate,  but  the  woman  doctor 
has  access  everywhere,  from  the  i/amen,  or 
government  house,  to  the  most  abject  mat  hovel. 
She  sees  the  boy-baby  idol  dressed  and  cared  for 
as  though  a  real  baby  ;  the  paper  idols  in  their 
straw  shrines  in  the  homes  of  the  poor  and  the 
bronze  idols  in  those  of  the  rich;  the  mystic 
characters  on   slips  of  red  paper  on  the  walls 


180  BEX  CHBISTU8 

with  sticks  of  incense  burning  before  them; 
the  charm  worn  round  the  neck  to  ward  off 
devils ;  the  family  shrine  with  its  ancestral  tab- 
lets, costly  vases  and  incense  burners.  To  her 
"  comes  the  little  slave  girl  almost  murdered, 
the  childless  wife  whose  husband  is  about  to 
discard  her,  the  thirteen-year  old  daughter-in-law 
whose  mother-in-law  has  beaten  her  eye  out, 
and  the  child  whose  poor  little  crushed  feet, 
inflamed  and  suppurating  with  decaying  bones, 
appeal  to  her  from  the  cruel  bandages."  It  was 
being  an  eye-witness  to  conditions  such  as  these 
which  converted  Isabella  Bird  Bishop  from  in- 
difference to  foreign  missions  into  an  ardent  be- 
liever in  their  saving  power,  and  led  her  to  build 
five  hospitals  and  an  orphanage  in  the  East. 

To  the  Methodist  church  belongs  the  honor 
of  sending  out  the  first  medical  missionary 
woman  in  the  person  of  Dr.  Combs  of  Philadel- 
phia, who  reached  Peking  in  the  fall  of  1873. 
With  her  was  associated  Dr.  Howard  (now  Mrs. 
Dr.  King)  a  graduate  of  Ann  Arbor.  She  was 
summoned  to  Tientsin  to  attend  the  wife  of  the 
prime  minister  Li  Hung  Chang,  and  later  to 
minister  to  his  mother,  an  aged  woman  who  left 
a  bequest  of  $1000  for  Dr.  Howard's  work,  the 
first  bequest  of  a  Chinese  woman  to  Christian 
benevolence.  Mrs.  Wu,  the  wife  of  a  former 
Minister  to  the  United  States  was  also  a  patient. 
Thus  access  was  gained  to  households  of  rank, 
and  this  proved  a  turning-point  in  the  history 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  181 

of  medical  work  in  Tientsin.  There,  and  in 
other  great  cities  —  Peking,  Shanghai,  Canton, 
Foochow,  and  elsewhere  —  the  women's  hospi- 
tals and  dispensaries  are  power  houses  from 
which  radiate  immeasurable  forces  for  good. 

Healing  is  only  a  small  part  of  the  physician's 
work.  Systematic  preaching  and  teaching  in 
the  waiting-rooms,  and  especially  in  the  hospital 
wards,  are  perhaps  universally  practised.  When 
patients  have  most  time  on  their  hands,  and 
when  their  hearts  are  peculiarly  opened,  Chris- 
tian teaching  readily  finds  entrance.  The  same 
persons  constantly  return, bringing  their  relatives 
and  friends,  and  thus  the  circles  of  influence 
perpetually  widen.  In  the  poor  man's  home, 
where  the  newly  born  girl  baby  is  not  wanted, 
the  woman  physician  does  the  work  of  an  evan- 
gelist by  telling  of  a  Heavenly  Father's  love  for 
even  this  tiny  babe.  To  the  crowd  on  the 
street,  where  a  woman  has  taken  poison  and 
thrown  herself  on  the  doorstep  of  her  adversary 
to  die,  she  tells  the  story  of  redeeming  love. 
Many  a  sufferer  turns  to  kiss  the  shadow  of 
these  Santa  Filomenas  as  it  falls  upon  the  wall 
in  hospital  or  home.     In  China,  too, 

"  A  Lady  with  a  Lamp  shall  stand 
In  the  great  history  of  the  land, 
A  noble  type  of  good, 
Heroic  womanhood." 

The  rapid  expansion  of  medical  work  during 
the  last  two  decades    forms    one  of   the    most 


182  REX  CHRIST  us 

encouraging  records  in  the  annals  of  foreign  mis- 
sionary effort.  Hospitals  and  dispensaries  are 
now  regarded  as  indispensable  agencies  in  every 
field.  Some,  like  the  Isabella  Fisher  Hospital 
in  Tientsin,  were  endowed  by  a  single  person. 
At  Shanghai  the  land,  building,  furnishing,  in- 
struments, and  the  salaries  of  a  physician  and 
nurse  for  some  years,  were  provided  for  by  the 
munificence  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Williamson  of 
New  York,  for  whom  the  hospital  is  named. 
Last  year  36,643  patients  were  treated  at  the 
dispensary,  and  538  were  admitted  to  the  wards, 
of  which  90  were  maternity  cases.  The  Pres- 
byterians alone  have  seven  hospitals  for  women 
in  China.  Four  are  brand  new,  three  taking 
the  place  of  those  recently  destroyed  by  Boxers. 
A  few  Chinese  women  have  received  medical 
training  in  the  United  States.  One  of  the  first, 
Miss  Hii  King  Eng  of  Foochow,  the  daughter 
of  a  native  clergyman,  studied  at  the  Woman's 
College  in  Philadelphia  and  is  now  at  the  head 
of  the  Woolston  Memorial  Hospital.  She  came 
to  this  country  in  1884  and  returned  fully 
equipped  in  1895.  Some  idea  of  the  extent  of 
her  practice  may  be  gained  from  the  fact  that 
she  treated  over  15,000  patients  last  year.  An- 
other one  was  Mary  Stone,  the  first  girl  brought 
up  by  her  own  parents  in  all  central  and  western 
China  with  unbound  feet.  Her  father  and 
mother  were  among  the  first  Christian  con- 
verts.     She   was    accompanied   by   Ida   Kahn, 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  183 

who  began  her  life  in  a  heathen  home.  Both 
graduated  from  Ann  Arbor  and  are  now  suc- 
cessful practitioners  together  in  a  large  hospi- 
tal in  Kiukiang.  These  are  some  of  the 
results  seen  in  the  second  generation  of  Chris- 
tian families. 

A  small  beginning  has  been  made  in  behalf 
of  special  classes  of  suffering  humanity,  such  as 
lepers,  but  the  defectives  are  scarcely  touched  as 
yet.  The  first  school  for  blind  girls  was  opened 
in  1890,  when  Dr.  Mary  Niles  of  Canton  was  the 
means  of  saving  the  life  of  one  of  the  viceroy's 
wives.  In  gratitude  the  man  asked  if  there  was 
anything  he  could  do  to  assist  in  her  work.  She 
replied  that  she  wanted  money  to  start  a  home 
for  blind  girls  in  the  city,  and  he  gave  her  $1000. 
The  initial  step  has  been  taken  in  rescue  work 
in  Shanghai  by  opening  a  Door  of  Hope,  a 
branch  of  the  Florence  Crittendon  JNIission  in 
New  York. 

The  First  Medical  College  for  Women.  —  The 
crowning  achievement  of  all  these  years  of  labor 
is  the  erection  at  Canton,  one  of  the  most 
populous  cities  in  the  empire,  of  the  Women's 
Medical  College,  the  first  institution  of  its 
kind  in  China.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that 
Protestant  work  began  in  this  busy  metropolis, 
where  Dr.  J.  G.  Kerr,  of  the  American  Presby- 
terian mission,  gave  nearly  fifty  fruitful  years  to 
medical  service.  The  exercises  in  connection 
with  the  opening  of  the  college,  Dec.  17,  1902, 


184  BEX  CRRISTUS 

were  worthy  of  so  remarkable  an  event.  An 
audience  of  seven  hundred  persons  assembled 
within  the  building,  and  Chinese  officials  from 
the  viceroy  down  were  present  either  personally 
or  by  deputy.  A  guard  of  five  hundred  soldiers 
lined  the  streets  in  the  neighborhood  to  do 
honor  to  the  occasion.  The  college,  the  gift  of 
one  generous  man,  is  splendidly  located,  and 
is  the  property  of  the  American  Presbyterian 
Mission.  The  wealthiest  and  best  educated 
Chinese  have  shown  a  marked  interest  in  the 
enterprise,  which  is  due  largely  to  the  untiring 
efforts  of  Dr.  Mary  H.  Fulton,  aided  by  her 
faithful  coadjutor,  Dr.  Mary  Niles.  They  and 
their  associates  have  an  extensive  practice 
among  all  classes,  high  as  well  as  low.  Thou- 
sands of  women  have  been  relieved  of  nameless 
sufferings  through  their  ministrations.  The 
noble  pioneer  work  of  Dr.  Kerr  and  others 
paved  the  way  for  Dr.  Fulton  to  realize  the 
dream  which  she  had  cherished  during  her  eigh- 
teen years  of  missionary  life.  The  preceding 
June  she  had  opened  a  new  hospital  for  women. 
On  the  day  when  the  college  was  dedicated 
the  Chinese  officials  were  loud  in  their  praise,  and 
astonished  that  one  woman  could  accomplish  so 
much.  The  United  States  consul,  who  made 
the  formal  address,  said,  "  In  raising  the  women 
of  China  to  such  a  noble  and  unselfish  standard. 
Dr.  Fulton  is  undertaking  one  of  the  grandest 
tasks  that  has  ever  fallen  to  one  of  her  sex." 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  186 

There  are  accommodations  for  about  sixty  stu- 
dents.   The  first  class  numbered  thirteen.     The 
faculty  consists   of   six  foreign    physicians  and 
several  capable  native  doctors.     The  course  of 
study  covers  four  years.     Strict   examinations 
are  held,  and  diplomas  given  only  to  those  who 
have  met  all  the  requirements.     The  institution 
is  entirely  self-supporting,  and  all  the  students, 
as  well  as  the  members  of  the  faculty,  are  ear- 
nest Christians.     It  is  proposed  to  add  a  train- 
ing-school for  nurses,  and  a  children's  hospital, 
for  which  the  Chinese  have  subscribed  83000; 
and  when  completed,  the  group  of  buildings  will 
constitute  a  medical   plant  of   which   any  city 
might  be  proud.     Its  influence  in  undermining 
idolatry  and  in  laying  the  foundations  of  Chris- 
tianity will  be  incalculable.     The   China  Mail 
in  an  editorial  said :   "  Among  the  present-day 
developments  of  mission  work  and  general  prog- 
ress, there  is  nothing  of  more  importance  than 
the    thorough    training    of    Chinese  women    in 
western  medicine  and  surgery.     The  field  for 
such,    when    properly   qualified,    is    practically 
limitless."     For  several  years,  in  all  the  large 
centres,  women  missionaries  have  been  engaged 
in  precisely  this  work  of  fitting  native  girls  for 
the  medical  profession,  in  which  some  of  them 
have  attained  eminent  success.     One  advantage 
of  this  new  institution  is  the  opportunity  af- 
forded to  train  larger  classes  at  a  time,  with 
less  expenditure  of  missionary  force. 


186  BEX  CHRISTUS 

In  China  the  number  of  women  workers 
equals,  if  it  does  not  actually  exceed,  that  of 
the  men.  In  view  of  what  they  have  accom- 
plished since  the  little  company  gathered  in  the 
London  drawing-room  to  listen  to  Dr.  Abeel's 
appeal,  there  might  well  be  inscribed  upon  the 
walls  of  every  schoolhouse,  chapel,  hospital, 
dispensary,  orphanage,  and  regenerated  home. 
Sir  Christopher  Wren's  famous  motto  in  St. 
Paul's  cathedral.  Si  monumentum  requiris,  eir- 
cumspice. 

General  Summary  of  the  Third  Period 

Returning  now  from  relevant  digressions,  it 
is  desirable  to  call  attention  to  the  great  changes 
which  were  coming  over  the  vast  empire  of  the 
Far  East.  The  haughty  exclusiveness  of  the 
"  Son  of  Heaven  "  could  no  longer  be  maintained 
in  the  face  of  the  military  occupation  of  Peking 
and  the  dictation  of  a  series  of  treaties  by  the 
allies.  A  few  years  later  the  troublesome  Audi- 
ence Question  was  settled,  and  the  relations 
between  the  court  of  Peking  and  the  other  gov- 
ernments were  put  on  a  new  basis.  In  self- 
defence  it  became  necessary  for  the  Chinese  to 
know  something  of  international  law,  and  this 
led  them,  at  last,  to  take  steps  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  army  of  coolies  who  had  been 
sent  to  remote  parts  of  the  world  as  laborers 
on  plantations,  where  they  were  often  treated 
with  cruelty  and  whence  many  of  them  never 


CHRISTIAN  MlSSIOIiS  187 

returned.  Ministers  from  Peking  began  to 
appear  in  Occidental  capitals,  and  little  by- 
little,  despite  the  ignorance,  the  obstinacy,  the 
selfishness,  and  the  insincerity  of  the  officials  of 
the  empire  high  and  low,  rays  of  light  began 
everywhere  to  penetrate  the  circumambient 
darkness.  Almost  the  whole  of  this  long  pe- 
riod was  marked  by  a  series  of  contests  between 
missionaries  and  the  Chinese  officials  and  lit- 
erati, in  which  the  latter  strove  to  choke  off  the 
perpetual  advances  of  the  former,  but  always 
without  success.  Dr.  Dudgeon  of  Peking  is 
authority  for  the  statement  that  with  a  view  to 
discourage  missionary  efforts  the  official  census 
of  the  einpire  was  materially  reduced  by  one- 
third,  with  the  connivance  and  by  the  sanction 
of  the  Board  of  Revenue.  "  The  following  5^ear, 
as  no  abatement  of  missionary  zeal  followed,  the 
figures  were  again  added  to  the  record."  It  was 
remarkable  that  in  spite  of  the  long  series  of 
more  or  less  important  riots  few  missionaries 
were  actually  killed.  Mr.  Argent,  a  lay  mis- 
sionary of  the  English  Wesleyan  Society,  to- 
gether with  Mr.  Green,  a  customs  officer,  was 
murdered  at  Wu  Hsiieh  in  central  China  at  a 
time  of  peculiar  unrest.  Rev.  James  A.  Wylie 
of  the  United  Presbyterian  Mission  was  killed 
in  Liao  Yang,  Manchuria,  by  passing  soldiers, 
during  the  war  against  Japan. 

The  Great  Famine.  —The  years  1877  and  1878 
were  marked  by  the  Great  Famine,  which  spread 


188  REX  CHRISTUS 

its  baleful  shadow  over  all  the  northern  prov- 
inces of  the  empire.  During  the  first  of  these 
years  the  missionaries  in  eastern  Shantung  took 
active  steps  in  administering  partial  relief,  and 
when  the  distress  became  general,  in  the  year 
following,  this  was  repeated  on  a  gigantic  scale. 
A  central  committee  was  organized  in  Shanghai, 
and  both  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries, together  with  some  members  of  the 
customs  service  (sixty-nine  foreigners  in  all), 
engaged  in  the  work  of  distribution  of  relief 
upon  as  large  a  scale  as  practicable.  Four 
Protestant  missionaries  died  from  exposure  and 
overwork,  one  of  whom,  Mr.  Whiting  of  the 
American  Presbyterian  mission,  was  honored 
by  the  governor  of  Shansi  with  a  public  funeral 
in  the  provincial  capital.  The  horrors  of  that 
terrible  time  will  never  pass  out  of  remem- 
brance. The  official  report  of  the  committee 
estimated  the  loss  of  life  at  from  nine  and  a 
half  to  thirteen  millions,  and  according  to  Dr. 
Williams  no  famine  is  recorded  in  the  history 
of  any  land  which  equalled  this  in  the  death- 
rate.  The  gratitude  of  the  people  was  real,  if 
not  always  formally  expressed  in  cordial  ac- 
knowledgment like  that  of  a  communication 
from  H.  E.  Kuo  Sung  Tao,  Minister  to  Great 
Britain,  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Salisbury,  in  which 
he  spoke  of  it  as  "too  signal  a  recognition  of 
the  common  brotherhood  of  humanity  ever  to 
be  forgotten." 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  189 

As  one  of  the  incidents  of  this  critical  period 
it  may  be  mentioned  that  Rev.  Timothy  Richard, 
then  connected  with  the  newly  formed  English 
Baptist  mission  in  Shantung,  felt  drawn  to  go 
to  Shansi,  where  he  began  that  cultivation  of 
an  acquaintance  with  Chinese  officials  which 
later  bore  important  fruits.  In  the  year  1889 
some  forty  families,  numbering  perhaps  three 
hundred  persons,  of  the  Christians  of  this  same 
mission  were  impelled  by  local  distress  to  mi- 
grate from  Shantung  to  remote  Shensi  (together 
with  thousands  of  their  fellow  provincials), 
among  them  some  who  were  the  life-blood  of 
the  church,  including  promising  young  men  and 
lads  from  the  schools.  Rather  than  settle  in 
the  heathen  villages,  they  determined  to  erect  a 
village  for  themselves  where  they  could  control 
their  environment.  After  much  hardship  and 
sacrifice  this  was  accomplished,  the  hamlet  being 
styled  "  Fu  Yin  Ts'un,"  or  "  Glad  Tidings  Vil- 
lage," a  name  unique  in  China.  The  settlement 
much  resembles  Christian  communities  which 
have  been  organized  in  India.  It  was  a  natural 
outcome  of  this  migration  of  the  flock  that  some 
of  the  shepherds  should  be  moved  to  follow.  In 
spite  of  famine,  sickness,  and  persecution,  this 
graft  from  afar  prospered,  so  that  five  years  later 
instead  of  one  station  there  were  sixteen,  with  a 
large  company  of  worshippers  and  many  learn- 
ing to  read. 

Two    Notable    Gatherings.  —  An     interesting 


190  REX  CREISTUS 

epoch  in  missionary  effort  was  marked  by  the 
gathering  of  the  first  General  Conference  at 
Shanghai  in  May,  1877,  attended  by  126  repre- 
sentatives of  different  bodies  in  a  three  days' 
session,  the  proceedings  of  which  were  gathered 
into  a  useful  volume. 

There  were  at  that  time  26  societies  working 
in  the  empire,  besides  the  three  Bible  Societies, 
British,  Scotch,  and  American  (29  in  all),  and 
a  few  unconnected  workers.  The  total  attend- 
ance was  478,  242  belonging  to  13  British  socie- 
ties, 210  to  10  American,  and  26  were  connected 
with  two  German  organizations.  Of  the  ladies 
172  were  wives  of  missionaries,  and  63  were  un- 
married. The  little  handful  of  native  Chris- 
tians found  at  the  close  of  the  first  war  with 
Great  Britain  had  multiplied  to  something  over 
13,000,  and  the  stations  occupied  amounted  to 
92,  with  318  organized  churches. 

At  a  second  General  Conference,  also  con- 
vened at  Shanghai  in  May,  1890,  the  sessions 
extended  to  eleven  days.  The  number  of  mis- 
sion societies  in  the  empire  was  then  40,  the 
actual  attendance  445  persons,  18  of  whom 
were  unconnected.  The  number  of  mission- 
ary workers  in  China  was  found  to  be  589 
men,  391  married  women,  and  316  unmarried 
women,  —  a  great  expansion  over  the  last  show- 
ing,— making  a  total  of  1296.  The  churches 
were  estimated  at  522,  and  the  native  Christians 
were  found  to  be  37,287.     Sixty-one  hospitals 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  191 

and  44  dispensaries  in  the  year  1889  had 
treated  more  than  348,000  patients.  A  care- 
ful examination  and  comparison  of  the  merely 
numerical  exhibits  of  these  two  conferences 
may  convey  an  impression  of  a  portion  of 
the  external  results  of  thirteen  years  of  labor. 
But  the  great  momentum  which  had  been  ac- 
quired, the  accumulated  knowledge,  the  funded 
experience,  the  spiritual  impetus,  cannot  be  set 
down  in  statistical  tables. 

Bible  and  Tract  Societies. — Repeated  refer- 
ence has  been  made  to  the  translations  of  the 
Bible  into  Chinese,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  and  the  American  Bible 
societies.  The  former  organization  began  its 
work  in  China  with  the  earliest  translation  work 
of  Dr.  Morrison,  and  has  been  one  of  the  main- 
stays of  the  missionaries  ever  since.  By  its  aid 
the  Bible,  and  portions  of  the  Bible,  have  been 
rendered  into  numerous  colloquial  dialects,  and 
through  the  agency  of  many  indefatigable  col- 
porteurs copies  of  one  or  another  of  the  various 
versions  have  been  sold  in  all  parts  of  the 
empire. 

The  work  of  the  American  Bible  Society  in 
China  dates  from  1834.  All  efforts  of  both  soci- 
eties were  much  hindered  by  the  unsettled  con- 
dition of  the  country  before  and  during  the  war 
with  Great  Britain,  but  as  soon  as  that  was  over 
activity  recommenced.  In  the  earlier  stages  of 
its  work    the  distribution    of    books  was  done 


192  BEX   CHRISTUS 

altogether  by  missionaries,  and  for  the  most 
part  gratuitously ;  but  this  policy  was  altered 
about  1866  to  the  present  plan  of  sales  through 
general  agents,  and  only  occasional  gifts.  Even 
as  late  as  1870,  the  date  of  the  Tientsin  mas- 
sacre, the  sales  suddenly  dropped  from  over 
216,000  copies  to  about  37,000,  showing  a  sensi- 
tiveness to  political  conditions  like  that  of  a 
barometer  during  a  typhoon.  The  phenomenal 
record  of  Bible  sales  since  the  Boxer  outbreak 
shows  how  important  an  agency  this  now  is,  and 
is  yet  to  be  in  the  future. 

Each  of  the  Bible  societies  has  had  able  and 
active  superintendents,  the  learned  and  modest 
Mr.  Wylie  representing  the  British  and  Foreign 
and  Drs.  Gulick,  Wheeler,  and  Hykes  the 
American  society.  In  each  decade  there  was  a 
great  expansion,  due  not  merely  to  the  widening 
field,  but  to  the  augmenting  demands  of  the  rap- 
idly growing  native  church.  The  Scotch  Bible 
Society,  being  formed  much  later  than  the  other.* 
(1860),  was  less  hampered  by  constitutional 
restrictions,  and  has  readily  allowed  the  sales  of 
tracts  and  Bibles  together,  and  early  sanctioned 
the  use  of  annotated  editions  of  the  gospels,  and 
suitable  introductions.  It  has  a  large  and  well- 
equipped  printing  establishment  at  Hankow, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  enterprising  of  the  agen- 
cies for  the  regeneration  of  the  people. 

There  are  a  number  of  tract  societies  work- 
ing in    China,  one  of  which  had  its  rise  in  the 


CHEISTIAN  MISSIONS  193 

early  dawn  of  mission  work,  being  allied  to 
the  Religious  Tract  Society  of  London.  At 
the  close  of  the  period  under  consideration  this 
society  and  another  of  similar  object  were  united 
under  the  name  of  the  Chinese  Religious  Tract 
Society,  receiving  grants  from  the  British  and 
American  Tract  societies,  and  publishing  useful 
magazines  in  Chinese.  The  Central  China 
Religious  Tract  Society  has  its  headquarters  in 
Hankow,  its  issues  being  largely  the  production 
of  the  prolific  and  devoted  Dr.  Griffith  John, 
who  has  been  mentioned  as  one  of  the  earlier 
pioneers.  A  North  China  Tract  Society  was 
organized  in  1882,  which  has  a  wide  field  of 
its  own,  and  a  large  number  of  publications  and 
republications.  Other  societies  of  the  same 
sort  have  their  centres  in  Foochow,  Kiukiang, 
on  the  Yang-tze,  and  more  recently  in  western 
China.  The  products  of  all  these  organiza- 
tions, representing,  like  the  Bible  translations, 
the  best  work  of  the  best  Christian  minds 
familiar  with  the  needs  of  China,  have  greatly 
multiplied,  and  are  now  disseminated  by  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  pages.  The  value  and  fruit- 
fulness  of  this  agency  cannot  be  exaggerated. 

Literary  Labors.  —  One  of  the  committees 
appointed  at  the  conference  of  1877  was  "to 
prepare  a  series  of  school-books,"  the  need  of 
which  was  recognized.  It  consisted  of  Drs. 
W.  A.  P.  Martin,  Alexander  Williamson,  Rev. 
Messrs.  C.  W.  Mateer,  Y.  J.  Allen,  R.  Lechler, 


194  BEX  CHEISTUS 

and  Mr.  J.  Fryer.  At  the  succeeding  con- 
ference it  appeared  that  forty-two  separate 
works  had  been  issued  under  the  lead  of  this 
able  committee,  representing  a  vast  amount  of 
work.  It  was  then  proposed  that  a  band  of 
practical  educators  should  form  a  new  society, 
to  be  called  the  Educational  Association  of 
China,  with  a  view  not  merely  to  publish  school 
books,  but  to  improve  methods  of  teaching 
and  to  promote  educational  interests.  In 
the  transition  stage  in  which  this  great  and 
ancient  empire  then  was,  this  would  be  a  task 
of  equal  importance  and  difficulty.  As  a  result 
of  this  coordination  of  intellectual  and  moral 
forces,  a  wide  range  of  books  has  been  prepared 
covering  the  most  important  branches  of  human 
learning,  so  that  it  has  become  possible  for  a 
Chinese  pupil  to  receive,  through  the  medium  of 
his  own  language,  the  equivalent  of  a  college 
education  in  the  west.  Triennial  meetings  of 
this  influential  and  aggressive  body  have  been 
held,  beginning  with  1893,  and  the  results  of 
the  work  which  directly  and  indirectly  are  due 
to  this  agency  alone  are  beyond  computation. 

Another  indirect  outgrowth  of  the  text-book 
committee  of  1877  was  the  organization  by 
Dr.  Williamson  of  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion 
of  Christian  and  General  Knowledge  among 
the  Chinese,  popularly  styled  the  Diffusion 
Society.  Its  object  was  to  provide  high-class 
literature  for  the  more  intelligent  of  the  people 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  195 

and  illustrated  books  for  families,  without 
trenching  on  the  fields  of  other  organizations. 
Physically  and  intellectually  Dr.  Williamson 
was  a  man  of  large  mould,  and  devised  large 
things  for  China.  His  death  was  a  great  loss, 
but  Rev.  Timothy  Richard,  of  the  English  Bap- 
tist mission,  who  had  already  shown  his  talent 
in  this  work,  was  invited  to  become  secretary, 
and  his  mission  granted  permission.  Mr.  Rich- 
ard at  once  broadened  the  scope  of  the  efforts  to 
be  undertaken  and  greatly  widened  the  possible 
field.  His  idea  was  to  strike  for  the  enlighten- 
ment of  the  higher  classes,  especially  the  officials, 
from  whom  the  greatest  help  might  come,  and  the 
greatest  opposition  usually  does  come.  During 
the  two  following  years  there  were  serious  riots 
in  central  China,  and  an  urgent  appeal  was 
issued  for  the  preparation  of  literature  specially 
adapted  to  win  the  approval  of  those  who  actu- 
ally hold  the  key  to  the  hearts  of  the  masses. 
The  society  published  an  ably  edited  magazine, 
conducted  by  Dr.  Y.  J.  Allen,  called  the 
Review  of  the  Times,  as  well  as  a  similar  one, 
The  Missionary/  Review,  designed  especially 
for  Christians.  The  avoAved  object  of  the 
former  was  instruction  of  educated  men  and 
officials.  With  this  view  numerous  volumes 
were  likewise  prepared,  the  most  comprehensive 
being  the  work  of  a  learned  German  scholar 
of  the  Basel  Mission,  Dr.  Ernst  Faber,  under 
the  title  of  "Civilization  East  and  West."     It 


196  BEX  CHRIST  us 

is  an  elaborate  exposition  in  seventy-three 
chapters,  under  five  general  divisions,  of  the 
fundamental  principles  underlying  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  Occident.  The  circulation  has  been 
large,  and  the  indirect  results  must  have  been 
great.  One  of  the  wise  methods  of  the  Diffusion 
Society  is  to  distribute,  through  the  agency  of 
local  missionaries,  copies  of  its  books  accom- 
panied with  portions  of  the  Bible,  at  the  literary 
examinations,  to  scholars  on  their  departure  for 
home.  In  this  way  the  minds  of  the  leaders  of 
the  whole  empire  are  reached. 

Power  of  the  Printing-Press.  —  The  great 
streams  of  Christian  literature  implied  in  the 
preceding  jjaragraphs  could  not  have  been  pro- 
duced without  the  aid  of  mission  presses,  of 
which  the  chief  has  been  that  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  mission  in  Shanghai,  which  cele- 
brated its  jubilee  in  1894.  Much  of  its  phe- 
nomenal success  in  its  second  stage  of  existence 
is  due  to  the  singular  gifts  and  industry  of  Mr. 
William  Gamble,  who  arrived  in  1858.  He 
came  from  an  old  Irish  Presbyterian  family, 
and,  after  emigrating  to  the  United  States, 
worked  in  a  large  establishment  in  Philadelphia, 
and  then  in  the  Bible  House,  New  York,  whence 
he  went  to  Ningpo,  where  the  press  then  was, 
taking  new  type,  matrices,  and  a  casting-ma- 
chine. "  With  his  two  main  inventions,  —  the 
making  of  matrices  of  Chinese  type  by  the  elec- 
trotype process,  and  the  Chinese  type-case  as 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  197 

now  generally  in  use,  —  added  to  his  keen  busi- 
ness faculty,  indomitable  perseverance,  unfail- 
ing patience,  and  true  missionary  spirit,  he 
succeeded  in  so  developing  the  Mission  Press 
that  it  speedily  grew  from  infantile  proportions 
into  a  mighty  agency  for  achieving  great  re- 
sults. He  did  a  work  that  has  hardly  been 
equalled  in  the  annals  of  missions,  or  in  the 
history  of  the  development  of  the  art  of  prints 
ing.  Owing  to  the  geographical  position  of 
Shanghai,  this  great  establishment  bears  a 
unique  relation  to  all  the  missions  in  China. 
For  the  last  fifteen  years  it  has  been  under  the 
expert  management  of  Rev.  George  F.  Fitch, 
upon  whose  desk  are  daily  poured  letters  from 
all  parts  of  China,  and  from  well-nigh  all  parts 
of  the  world.  Almost  every  individual  mis- 
sionary in  China  has  dealings  with  the  Press, 
and  at  the  time  of  the  jubilee  there  were  more 
than  a  thousand  names  on  its  ledgers.  Its 
Chinese  force  then  numbered  96  men,  besides 
30  binders  outside,  and  for  the  five  preceding 
years  the  out]3ut  had  been  something  over 
200,000,000  pages,  of  which  123,000,000  were 
scriptures,  more  than  43,000,000  religious  books 
and  tracts,  and  above  18,000,000  magazines. 
For  twenty  years  a  Chinese  elder  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church  had  served  as  its  cashier  (com- 
pradore'),  "and,  while  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  had  passed  through  his  hands,  it  is 
not  known  that  a  single  dollar  had  ever  been 


198  REX  CHEISTUS 

misappropriated."  In  1861  the  American  Meth- 
odist mission  began  a  press  at  Foochow,  which, 
under  the  superintendency  of  Rev.  Messrs. 
S.  L.  Baldwin,  L.  N.  Wheeler,  N.  J.  Plumb, 
and  others,  has  done  much  work,  printing  not 
only  for  the  southeastern  provinces,  but  also 
for  Hongkong,  Bangkok,  and  central  and  north- 
ern China. 

.  Reference  was  made  in  speaking  of  the  early 
period  of  missions  to  the  printing-press  of  the 
American  Board  under  Dr.  Bridgman,  soon  after 
taken  over  by  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams.  That 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  Canton  in  1858,  and  ten 
years  later  Mr.  P.  R.  Hunt,  formerly  of  Madras, 
was  sent  to  Peking  to  set  up  a  press  there, 
which  under  different  managements  was  contin- 
ued till  it  was  destroyed  by  the  Boxers  in  June, 
1900.  It  was  useful  in  printing  the  scriptures 
in  mandarin  colloquial,  and  in  much  work  for 
the  North  China  Tract  Society,  and  for  various 
missions.  Other  presses  were  established  by  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  at  Ningpo  (1869)  ; 
by  the  English  Presbyterian  mission  at  Swa- 
tow  (1880)  for  printing  books  in  the  Romanized 
colloquial ;  by  the  National  Bible  Society  of 
Scotland,  already  referred  to,  at  Hankow  (1885) ; 
by  the  American  Methodist  mission  at  Kiukiang 
(1890),  and  later  in  Peking  in  connection  with 
the  Peking  University.  In  the  latter  city  the 
Anglican  mission  also  has  a  press.  The  China 
Inland  Mission  has  one  at  Tai  Chou,  the  United 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  199 

Presbyterian  mission  at  Newchwang,  and  the 
American  Presbyterian  mission  on  the  island 
of  Hainan. 

This  third  period  closed  with  the  unexpected 
outcome  of  a  needless  war  with  Japan,  which 
exposed  to  all  the  world  the  inherent  weakness 
of  China,  and  her  inability  to  play  the  part 
which  had  been  forced  upon  her  in  the  "  sister- 
hood of  nations." 

The  Fourth  Period,  1895  to  1903 

During  the  protracted  war  with  Japan  the 
Chinese  for  the  first  time  learned  to  distinguish 
between  different  nationalities  of  foreigners. 
The  government  undertook  to  protect  neutrals, 
and  while  many  mission  stations  had  to  be  tem- 
porarily abandoned,  there  were  many  others  in 
which  the  missionaries  remained  in  tranquillity, 
and,  as  it  proved,  in  safety.  But  the  strange 
position  in  which  China  found  herself,  and  the 
complete  inability  of  the  people  to  comprehend 
what  was  going  on,  led  to  exhibitions  of  dissat- 
isfaction and  race  hatred,  with  a  blind  violence 
which  was  an  amazement  to  the  most  experi- 
enced. In  the  peaceable  province  of  Ssuch'uan 
riots  broke  out  which  resembled  a  tropical  thun- 
der-storm, driving  to  the  seacoast  more  than 
eighty  foreigners.  During  the  progress  of  the 
continued  persecutions  it  was  reported  that  more 
than  fifty  thousand  Christians  had  suffered  in 
various  ways,  many  having  been  killed.     The 


200  REX  CHRISTUS 

primary  source  of  these  troubles  was  the  recent 
war-  It  was  known  that  the  officials  were  anti- 
foreign,  and  it  was  proved  that  the  troubles 
were  incited  by  them.  During  the  summer  of 
this  year  a  terrible  tragedy  took  place  in  Ku 
Ch'eng,  in  the  Fukien  province,  where  Rev.  Mr. 
Stewart,  his  wife,  family,  and  associates  —  ten 
persons  in  all  —  were  attacked  by  members  of  a 
Vegetarian  Society  and  killed.  Explicit  impe- 
rial decrees  were  issued  in  regard  to  these 
events,  but  the  spirit  which  caused  them  re- 
mained unaltered. 

At  the  General  Conference  of  1890  a  strong 
committee  had  been  appointed  to  put  before  the 
Chinese  government  a  Statement  of  the  Nature, 
the  Work,  and  Aims  of  Protestant  Missions  in 
China.  Up  to  this  time  it  had  made  no  report, 
but  on  Nov.  11,  1895,  a  very  comprehensive 
document  was  laid  before  the  Tsung  Li  Yaraen, 
to  be  presented  to  the  emperor.  This  paper 
pointed  out  the  fact  that  Christianity  is  preached 
all  over  the  world ;  that  its  growth  has  been 
steady  since  its  origin  ;  that  it  is  an  Oriental 
religion ;  and  that  it  is  not  new  nor  recently 
established.  Special  efforts  were  made  to  show 
what  Christianity  teaches ;  its  instructions  in 
regard  to  obedience  to  rulers,  and  in  regard  to 
filial  piety.  Its  peculiar  tenets  were  enlarged 
upon,  its  past  history  and  the  honor  in  which 
the  Christian  church  is  held  in  western  lands, 
its  relations  to  Christian  civilization,  its  output 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  201 

of  useful  literature  in  China,  its  toleration  in 
China  under  successive  dynasties,  and  in  con- 
clusion it  was  prayed  that  the  decrees  ordering 
the  suppression  of  false  and  calumnious  books 
and  placards  should  be  rigorously  executed. 
The  substance  of  the  closing  petition  was  granted, 
but  the  strange,  complex  organization  known 
as  the  government  of  China  went  on  its  way  as 
before.  There  were  outrages  here  and  there 
upon  missionaries,  converts,  and  chapels,  verbal 
reproof,  and  a  lingering  settlement  or  no  settle- 
ment at  all.  The  whole  "  missionary  question  " 
was  once  more  raised  in  the  press  of  China  and 
the  home  lands,  and  after  strong  presentation 
of  both  sides,  no  discerning  observer  could  fail 
to  perceive  that  here  is  a  sociological  force 
beyond  the  reach  of  any  statesman  or  group  of 
statesmen,  which  must  of  necessity  be  allowed 
to  work  itself  out. 

A  Wonderful  Awakening. —  Meantime  the  num- 
ber of  missionaries,  in  spite  of  massacre,  was 
rapidly  increasing.  The  conference  of  1890 
had  called  for  1000  more  men,  as  well  as  a  large 
reinforcement  of  women  workers,  to  be  sent 
out  within  five  years.  At  the  expiration  of 
that  time  it  was  ascertained  that  the  number  of 
recruits  had  been  1153,  but  of  these  505  were 
unmarried  women,  and  167  wives  of  mission- 
aries. In  view  of  the  increasing  need  the  com- 
mittee renewed  the  appeal  in  stirring  terms. 
There   was  a  great  awakening  in   Manchuria, 


202  REX  CHRISTUS 

where  the  people,  being  largely  immigrants  from 
other  provinces,  appeared  to  be  more  accessible 
to  new  ideas  and  to  Christianity  than  else- 
where. 

The  first  provincial  union  of  the  growing 
Christian  Endeavor  Society  was  organized  in 
Canton  by  Rev.  A.  A.  Fulton.  Great  conven- 
tions under  the  lead  of  Mr.  John  R.  Mott  and 
others  were  held  at  many  accessible  points,  and 
both  Chinese  and  foreigners  were  deeply  moved; 
for  this  was  rightly  felt  to  be  the  promise  and 
potency  of  much  greater  things  yet  to  come. 
The  work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation began  to  be  heard  of  in  China,  a  youthful 
giant  which  will  expand  with  the  new  century 
till  it  fills  all  the  land. 

The  Anti-Foot-binding  Society.  —  All  mission- 
aries have  always  been  opposed  to  Chinese 
foot-binding,  but  in  these  years,  under  the  lead 
of  Mrs.  Alicia  Little,  the  wife  of  a  British  mer- 
chant, the  matter  was  taken  up  in  earnest  by  the 
foreign  community  ladies,  and  in  a  wonderfully 
short  time  a  great  public  sentiment  had  been 
developed  among  the  Chinese  themselves,  espe- 
cially the  highest  officials,  many  of  whom  gave 
great  impetus  to  the  movement.  The  society 
which  these  ladies  organized  had  the  enterprise 
and  audacity  to  try  to  get  the  matter  before 
the  emperor  and  the  empress  dowager,  but 
their  memorial  was  politely  stifled  in  the  ar- 
chives of  the  Tsung  Li  Yamen.     No  one  could 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  203 

then  have  been  made  to  believe  that  within  a 
few  years  the  empress  dowager  herself  would 
openly  advocate  this  reform,  as  has  recently 
happened. 

Other  Reforms.  —  The  hostile  province  of  Hu- 
nan, by  the  operation  of  natural  and  inevitable 
causes,  was  "  opened,"  just  as  China  itself  had 
been,  two  generations  before,  and  began  to 
clamor  for  more  light.  A  hundred  copies  of 
the  Review  of  the  Times  were  ordered,  and 
the  services  of  able  men  were  asked  to  help 
dispel  the  darkness.  All  this  was  but  casting 
up  a  highway  for  the  diffusion  of  the  light  of 
the  gospel.  There  were  reform  societies  organ- 
ized even  among  the  Hanlins  of  Peking,  and 
there  were  signs  of  the  possibility  of  a  new  life 
everywhere.  The  railway  from  Tientsin  to 
Peking  was  completed  at  once  and  proved  an 
immense  success,  while  the  Lu  Han  line  from 
the  capital  to  Hankow  was  pushed  forward. 
Yet  the  years  following  the  treaty  at  the  close 
of  the  war  with  Japan  were,  on  the  whole,  a 
time  of  continued  disappointment  to  the  friends 
of  China.  There  was  no  serious  effort  to  make 
the  indispensable  changes  without  which  it  was 
doubtful  whether  the  empire  could  longer  be 
held  together. 

China  in  Convulsion.  —  We  have  thus  far  fol- 
lowed the  Protestant  missionary  effort  from  its 
beginnings  down  nearly  to  the  close  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  and  have  seen  the  little  one 


204  REX   CHRISTUS 

become  a  thousand,  and  the  small  one  a  strong 
nation.  For  the  next  quadrennium  the  story 
of  that  effort  is  so  implicated  with  the  political 
history  of  the  Chinese  Empire  that  it  is  impos- 
sible even  to  understand  the  former  without 
adequate  knowledge  of  the  latter.  Merely  to 
recapitulate  in  outline  the  events  which  led  to 
the  emperor's  attempt  at  reform  in  1898,  leading 
to  his  overthrow  in  September  of  that  year,  and 
the  counterblast  of  the  empress  dowager  in  the 
year  and  a  half  following,  would  expand  the 
remainder  of  this  chapter  into  a  volume,  and 
would,  after  all,  convey  no  correct  impression. 
It  is  therefore  necessary  to  refer  the  reader  to 
fuller  sources  of  information  elsewhere,  while  we 
confine  ourselves  to  a  few  general  observations, 
of  the  justice  of  which  the  discriminating  stu- 
dent must  be  his  own  judge. 

The  convulsion  which  shook  China  to  its 
foundations  was  due  to  general  causes,  slow  in 
their  operation,  but  inevitable  in  their  results. 
It  was  the  impact  of  the  Middle  Ages  with  the 
developed  Christian  commercial  civilization  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  albeit  accompanied  with 
many  incidental  elements  which  were  neither 
Christian  nor  in  the  true  sense  civilized.  If 
Christianity  had  never  come  to  China  at  all, 
some  such  collision  must  have  occurred,  unless 
both  Manchus  and  Chinese  had  shown  them- 
selves more  ready  to  adapt  themselves  to  the 
altered  condition  of  a  new  time  than  has  ever 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  205 

heretofore  been  the  case.  All  impulse  toward 
the  real  renovation  of  China  came  from  without. 
Every  force  from  within  had  long  since  been 
exhausted  and  more  than  exhausted.  Making 
all  allowance  for  every  influence  brought  to  bear 
upon  China  anywhere  and  at  any  time,  we  find 
those  which  had  their  origin  in  Christianity 
far  to  outweigh  all  the  rest.  Attention  has 
been  repeatedly  called  to  the  wide  missionary 
itineration,  the  unceasing  efforts  at  evangeliz- 
ing all  parts  of  the  empire,  the  universal  circu- 
lation of  the  scriptures,  and  especiall}^  the 
magazines,  particularly  the  Review  of  the  Times, 
and  other  publications  of  the  Diffusion  Society. 
These  had  penetrated  China  as  aqueous  vapor 
pervades  the  atmosphere,  making  indeed  no 
external  display,  but  preparing  the  way  for 
future  precipitation. 

In  the  beginning  of  1898  the  emperor  sent 
for  books  to  the  number  of  129,  a  full  list  of 
which  was  published  in  the  report  of  the  Dif- 
fusion Society  for  that  year,  beginning  with  Dr. 
Faber's  "  Civilization,"  already  mentioned,  and 
ending  with  a  "  Child's  Prayer."  If,  we  repeat, 
there  had  been  no  missionary  effort  in  China, 
that  empire  would  still  have  been  brought  into 
collision  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  but  there 
would  then  have  been  only  destructive  and  no 
constructive  forces  brought  into  action.  It  is 
the  peculiarity  and  the  glory  of  Christianity  to 
show  how  a  nation  and  a  race,  as  well  as  an 


206  BEX  CHRISTUS 

individual,  may  be  regenerated.  The  hostility 
of  the  Chinese  people  was  first  of  all  toward 
foreigners  as  such,  by  whom  they  saw,  or  sup- 
posed themselves  to  see,  their  empire  despoiled. 
But  there  was  also  a  large  residuum  of  that  natu- 
ral antipathy  of  the  human  heart  to  any  divine 
teaching  which  uncompromisingly  points  out 
weaknesses  and  faults,  and  which  is  no  respecter 
of  person.  Amid  the  varied  action  of  so  many 
agents  it  is  vain  to  deny  that  Christianity  has 
sometimes  been  so  presented  as  to  be  misrepre- 
sented, but  on  the  whole  there  had  for  some 
time  been  a  marked  and  a  growing  friendliness 
on  the  part  of  both  people  and  officials,  which 
not  infrequently  led  missionaries  to  the  erroneous 
conclusion  that  the  days  of  their  mourning 
were  now  ended.  The  semi-political  adminis- 
tration of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  in  China 
unquestionably  excited  the  active  animosity  of 
many  who  were  either  outwardly  amicable,  or 
at  least  neutral  toward  Protestants.  Of  this 
fact  there  were  innumerable  examples  during  a 
series  of  years,  and  these  continue  down  to  the 
present  time. 

The   Great   Boxer   Rising 

This  began  in  the  early  summer  of  1899 
(preludes  having,  however,  been  experienced  in 
different  places  earlier)  and  it  continued  with 
intermittent  sequence  for  fifteen  months  or 
more.     It  was   in   many   respects   one   of   the 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  207 

most  unique  phenomena  of  the  century.  In 
the  regions  where  it  originated  and  where  its 
withering  influence  was  longest  felt,  it  almost 
paralyzed  its  victims  with  fear.  When,  in 
accordance  with  orders  from  Peking,  the 
Christians  were  commanded  to  recant  or  to 
die,  Chinese  ideas  of  obedience  to  the  properly 
constituted  authorities  impelled  multitudes  to 
a  formal  compliance  who  had  no  wish  to  deny 
their  faith.  This  was  especially  the  case  in 
Shantung,  where  the  long-continued  strain  was 
most  felt,  and  where  the  alluring  phrase  "  tem- 
porarily abjure"  was  employed  in  official  proc- 
lamations. Many  Christians  chose  rather  to 
fly  from  the  storm,  becoming  wanderers  and 
fugitives  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  rather  than 
send  in  to  the  yamen  written  notice  of  the 
recantation.  But  the  greater  number,  unable 
to  take  with  them  their  families,  unwilling  to 
abandon  their  parents,  and  filled  with  corrod- 
ing anxiety  about  their  scanty  but  precious 
possessions,  fell  into  the  cunningly  laid  trap, 
and  did  what  was  demanded.  A  certain  pro- 
portion went  to  the  temples  as  well,  for,  having 
been  forced  to  take  the  first  step,  they  found  no 
place  for  pause.  This,  however,  was  far  from 
universal.  It  is  probable  that  the  instruction 
of  nearly  all  the  Christians  had  been  defective 
in  regard  to  the  right  course  of  action  to  be 
taken  under  these  crucial  circumstances. 

In  Chihli,  Manchuria,  and  Sliansi  the  coming 


208  EEX  CHBISTUS 

of  the  fearful  storm  was  far  more  sudden, 
frequently  resembling  a  typhoon,  which,  unan- 
nounced, overwhelms  its  victims  in  remediless 
ruin.  There  is  scarcely  any  form  of  cruelty 
known  to  the  Chinese  which  was  not  practised 
upon  these  terribly  persecuted  sheep  without 
shepherds.  Great  numbers  resisted  every  effort 
to  make  them  renounce  their  faith,  though  they 
were  sometimes  buried  alive  by  degrees;  oppor- 
tunity being  given  at  different  stages  of  the 
process  to  save  themselves.  In  other  instances 
they  were  roasted  to  death  with  kerosene,  or 
hacked  into  small  pieces  with  swords,  their 
bodies  thrown  into  running  streams,  or  burned 
to  ashes  which  were  ground  under  heavy  rollers, 
to  prevent  the  victims  from  rising  within  three 
days  from  the  dead  and  exacting  vengeance. 
These  cases  of  loyalty  to  their  divine  Master 
were  well  matched  by  a  similar  fidelity  to  their 
missionary  friends,  for  Avhom  many  Christians 
willingly  gave  their  own  lives,  although  they 
were  aware  that  the  offering  would  not  avail  to 
save  them.  The  numerous  examples  of  this 
sort  have  presented  the  character  of  the  Chris- 
tianized Chinese  in  a  new  light,  and  the  whole 
horrible  experience  has  been  an  appendix  to 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  to  the  eleventh 
chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  The 
literature  of  the  Christian  church  has  been  per- 
manentl)'-  enriched  by  these  records,  constantly 
increasing  in  number  and  variety.       To  them 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  209 

the  interested  reader  must  be  referred  for  a 
more  adequate  summary,  as  well  as  for  details. 
The  devastating  Boxer  cyclone  cost  the  lives 
of  135  adult  Protestant  missionaries,  and  53  chil- 
dren ;  of  35  Roman  Catholic  Fathers,  and  nine 
Sisters.  The  Protestants  were  in  connection 
with  ten  different  missions,  one  being  uncon- 
nected. They  were  murdered  in  four  provinces 
and  in  Mongolia,  and  belonged  to  Great  Britain, 
the  United  States,  and  Sweden.  No  such  out- 
break against  Christianity  has  been  seen  in 
modern  times.  The  destruction  of  property 
was  on  the  same  continental  scale.  Generally 
speaking  all  mission  stations  north  of  the 
Yellow  River,  with  all  their  dwelling-houses, 
chapels,  hospitals,  dispensaries,  schools,  and 
buildings  of  every  description  were  totally  de- 
stroyed, though  there  were  occasional  excep- 
tions, of  which  the  village  where  these  pages 
are  written  was  one.  The  central  and  south- 
ern portions  of  the  empire  were  only  partially 
affected  by  the  anti-foreign  madness,  not  be- 
cause they  were  under  different  conditions,  but 
mainly  through  the  strong  repressive  measures 
of  four  men,  Liu  K'un  Yi  and  Chang  Chih 
Tung,  governors-general  of  the  four  great  prov- 
inces in  the  Yang-tse  valley  ;  Yuan  Shih  K'ai 
in  Shantung,  and  a  Manchu,  Tuan  Fang,  in 
Shensi.  The  jurisdiction  of  this  quartette  made 
an  impassable  barrier  across  which  the  move- 
ment was  unable  to  project  itself  in  force,  but 


210  HEX  CHBISTUS 

much  mischief  in  an  isolated  way  was  wrought 
in  nearly  every  part  of  China  not  rigorously 
controlled. 

Effect  on  the  Native  Church.  —  The  havoc 
wrought  in  all  mission  plants  was  a  symbol  of 
the  devastation  in  the  native  church.  In  many 
places  it  was  dispersed  to  all  the  winds  of 
heaven.  In  others  it  was  literally  exterminated. 
Many  unworthy  members  hastened  to  withdraw 
from  its  connection  when  trouble  came ;  but 
it  is  a  significant  fact  that  perhaps  quite  as 
many  others  who  had  waxed  lukewarm  and 
had  been  dropped  from  the  rolls,  finding  no 
discrimination  made  by  Boxers  between  them 
and  others  in  better  church  standing,  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  if  they  were  to  be  pillaged 
and  threatened  as  Christians,  in  spite  of  their 
record,  they  might  as  well  be  Christians  to 
make  sure  of  some  refuge  in  the  beyond,  even 
if  none  were  to  be  found  here  !  The  suffer- 
ings of  the  poor,  harassed,  tempest-tossed  wan- 
derers were  most  pitiful,  subjected  alike  to  the 
insults  of  their  bitterest  enemies  and  the  taunts 
of  their  relatives  and  neighbors.  "  Where  now 
is  that  Den-of-lions  and  Fiery-furnace  Jesus 
of  yours  ?  Ask  him  to  come  and  untie  you  !  " 
said  a  scoffing  spectator  to  one  who  had  been 
seized  and  bound,  and  was  expecting  execution. 
Nothing  was  more  common  than  for  own  daugh- 
ters to  refuse  their  aged  mothers  a  temporary 
shelter  from  pursuit.     "No!    You  cannot  come 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  211 

in  here  and  implicate  us.  Go  to  your  foreign- 
religion  friends ;  no  doubt  they  will  look  after 
you  !  " 

But  much  worse  trials  were  yet  to  come. 
When  at  length  the  tide  slowly  turned,  the 
Boxer  leaders  proscribed,  and  the  plunderers 
of  Christians  in  danger  of  arrest  and  heavy 
fines,  then  arose  fierce  temptations  to  which 
many,  alas,  succumbed  —  the  thirst  for  that 
revenge  so  dear  to  the  Chinese  heart,  and  so 
insistently  inculcated  in  the  classics.  In  regions 
where  the  conditions  admitted  of  it,  it  was  so 
easy  to  loot  without  fear  of  consequences,  the 
possibilities  of  extortion  loomed  so  large  and 
appeared  so  attractive  !  The  indemnities  which 
were  freely  paid  by  the  Chinese  government, 
or  by  local  officials,  proved  to  many  a  greater 
snare  than  Boxer  threats  or  imperial  edicts. 
One's  vanished  possessions  rose  in  one's  estima- 
tion after  they  had  taken  their  flight.  What 
more  natural  than  to  persuade  oneself  any 
amount  attainable  would  not  be  too  much  for 
what  had  been  suffered?  The  quarrels  and 
heart-burnings  in  the  process  of  the  division 
of  whatever  allowance  had  been  made  by  way  of 
reparation  for  wrongs  were  a  far  harder  test  of 
Christian  faith  than  the  sudden  necessity  for  a 
decision  to  recant  and  live  or  to  refuse  and 
die.  These  temptations,  perils,  sins  need  to  be 
set  before  us  in  a  clear  lime-light  to  make  it 
plain  what  tests  the  native  church  in  China  has 


212  BEX  CHRISTUS 

passed  through  before  the  Boxer  madness,  while 
it  lasted,  and  especially  since.  These  conditions 
brouglit  the  best  men  in  those  churches  to  the 
front,  and  showed  them  as  pure  gold  tried  in 
the  fire.  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  did  not  al- 
together deprive  them  of  their  foreign  teachers, 
as  the  latter  were  only  for  a  time  withdrawn. 
When  they  returned,  the  great  task  of  strength- 
ening the  things  which  remain  began  in  earnest, 
and  this  has  been  going  on  ever  since.  The 
Chinese  church  is  not  yet  strong  enough  to 
stand  entirely  alone,  but  it  is  far  stronger  and 
more  self-conscious  of  the  eternal  indwelling 
Spirit  than  ever  before.  It  has  learned  the 
power  of  God  to  keep  the  soul  in  times  of 
deadly  peril,  and  to  enable  the  weakest  to  give 
the  strongest  testimony.  It  has  learned  by 
humiliation  and  confession  to  put  away  its 
sins,  and  to  gird  itself  for  new  conflicts  and 
new  victories. 

The  public  and  honorable  funerals  given  in 
provincial  capitals  and  elsewhere,  not  to  the 
foreign  martyrs  only,  but  also  to  the  Chi- 
nese, attended  as  they  were  by  the  highest  ofiQ- 
cials,  and  conducted  with  punctilious  Oriental 
ceremon}^,  have,  from  a  native  point  of  view, 
placed  the  church  before  the  people  of  China  in 
an  altogether  new  light.  Its  ablest  leaders  are 
more  trustworthy  men  than  before  their  trials, 
and  the  body  of  believers  has  a  unity  and  a 
cohesiveness  which  will  certainly  bear  fruit  in 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  213 

the  not  distant  future.  It  is  especially  note- 
worthy that  in  the  most  important  cities, 
as  a  direct  result  of  the  unequalled  opportuni- 
ties afforded  by  the  total  and  simultaneous 
destruction  of  all  mission  property,  in  the  ensu- 
ing reconstruction  everything  was  on  a  larger 
scale  than  before,  and  one  far  better  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  the  work.  Mission  compounds 
which  had  long  been  straitened  with  no  hope 
of  relief  were  at  once  doubled  in  size,  or  more 
than  doubled,  and  the  outcome  of  the  effort  to 
extirpate  missionaries  and  expel  all  foreigners 
has  been  such  improvements  in  mission  plants 
as  might  not  otherwise  have  been  realized  in  a 
century. 

The  Aftermath. — It  is  a  typical  Chinese  fact 
that  two  full  years  after  the  Boxer  delusion  had 
been  exposed,  discredited,  and  extinguished  in 
the  provinces  which  gave  it  birth,  the  move- 
ment took  firm  root  once  more  in  remote  Ssu- 
ch'uan,  with  the  familiar  phenomena  so  often 
seen  elsewhere.  Large  bands  practised  by 
night  and  by  day,  the  wildest  plans  were  laid 
for  driving  out  and  exterminating  foreigners 
and  delivering  China.  Chapels  were  destroyed. 
Christians  looted,  and  many  of  them  killed. 
But  for  the  presence  of  an  able  and  energetic 
governor-general,  the  whole  province  would 
have  been  swept  into  the  madness.  Sporadic 
outbreaks  have  occurred  elsewhere,  but  it  is 
certain  that  they  are  no  longer  encouraged  by 


214  BEX  CURISTUS 

the  responsible  officials,  and  most  of  them  come 
to  an  early  end.  There  is  no  doubt  that,  accom- 
panied as  it  is  by  heavy  exactions  for  the  benefit 
of  the  mandarins,  the  foreign  indemnity  presses 
hard  upon  China,  and  will  do  so  for  a  genera- 
tion yet  to  come.  What  that  period  may  bring 
forth,  no  one  is  qualified  to  say.  The  political 
horizon  is  full  of  clouds,  and  the  impending 
crisis  may  involve  changes  in  the  rulers  of  the 
empire.  But  whatever  happens,  the  Chinese 
people  will  remain,  and  it  is  certain  that  they 
cannot  long  remain  as  they  now  are. 

All  signs  indicate  that  China  is  open  as  never 
before.  Foreign  languages  are  eagerly  studied 
in  the  very  cities  where,  but  a  short  time  since, 
all  foreigners  were  killed.  There  is  an  unprec- 
edented demand  for  the  publications  of  all  the 
presses,  Bibles,  tracts,  and  the  books  and  maga- 
zines of  the  Diffusion  Society,  the  sales  of  which 
increased  from  a  little  over  $12,000  worth  (Mex- 
ican) in  1897,  to  more  than  $33,000  worth  in 
1902.  It  is  supposed  that  text-books  to  the  value 
of  perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars 
were  sold  in  Shanghai  in  that  year.  The  Pres- 
byterian Press  received  four  commissions  for 
books  from  the  capital  of  Ssuch'uan,  one  of  them 
by  telegraph,  ordering  books  to  be  sent  by  mail, 
though  the  postage  bill  alone  amounted  to 
$328  !  At  a  dinner-party  given  in  that  year  in 
Pao  Ting  Fu  to  officials  and  to  missionaries  by 
Yuan  Shih  K'ai,  then  governor  of  Shantung  and 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  215 

now  viceroy  of  Chilili,  on  his  departure  for  his 
new  post,  he  made  the  interesting  statement 
that  upon  inquiry  he  had  found  that  mission- 
aries were  always  in  the  vanguard  of  progress 
in  all  lands,  and  that  he  was  therefore  glad  to 
welcome  them  at  his  table.  But  inasmuch  as 
there  were  no  books  in  Chinese  to  give  such  in- 
formation as  the  officials  generally  sought  about 
the  rise  and  progress  of  Christianity,  he  had 
taken  the  Bible  and  a  boxful  of  Protestant  and 
Roman  Catholic  books  in  Chinese,  and  had  sent 
them  to  a  Chinese  doctor  in  literature  whom  he 
had  engaged  to  read  them  through,  and  then 
write  a  brief  digest  of  the  whole.  Some  time 
later  he  brought  the  result  to  Dr.  Richard  in 
Peking,  and  asked  him  to  revise  them  before 
they  should  be  published.  This  revision  was 
greatly  needed,  as  they  contained  undigested 
fragments  from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
from  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  writers, 
and  from  the  records  of  the  Foreign  Office. 
This  incident,  mentioned  by  Dr.  Richard  in  his 
report  of  the  Diffusion  Society,  exhibits  in  a 
striking  manner  China's  need  of  more  light. 

According  to  German  statistics,  quoted  by 
Mr.  Beach  in  his  "  Geography  of  Protestant  Mis- 
sions," the  total  number  of  foreign  missionaries 
in  China  at  the  beginning  of  1900  was  2785, 
of  whom  610  were  ordained,  773  were  wives  of 
missionaries,  and  825  other  ladies.  There  were 
162  male  physicians  and  79  women.    The  aggre- 


216  BEX  CHRISTUS 

gate  of  native  workers  was  6388,  and  the  total 
number  of  native  Christians  112,808,  of  which 
the  province  of  Fukien  contained  more  than 
25,000  ;  Kuangtung,  15,000;  Manchuria,  9900  ; 
Chekiang,  9250 ;  Chihli,  8000  ;  Hupeh,  4650 ; 
and  Kiangsi,  4570.  The  number  of  differ- 
ent organizations  working  in  the  empire  had 
increased  from  the  forty  of  1890  to  sixty-seven. 
Since  the  restoration  of  the  empire  to  order  and 
quiet,  the  number  of  missionaries  is  again  on 
the  increase,  and  by  the  time  of  the  next  con- 
ference (which  was  to  have  been  held  in  1901), 
there  will  have  been  an  expansion  in  every 
direction  such  as,  at  the  beginning  of  mission 
work  a  hundred  years  previous,  would  have 
been  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  wildest  imagina- 
tion. But  even  at  that  early  date  it  was  not 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  faith  of  those  whose 
motto,  like  that  of  Carey,  was  "Ask  great  things 
of  God ;  expect  great  things  of  God." 

SIGNIFICANT   SENTENCES 

It  is  impossible  to  raise  the  men  of  the  East  unless  the 
■women  are  raised,  and  real  converts  among  Asiatic 
women,  especially  among  the  Chinese,  make  admirable 
Christians.  —  Isabella  Bird  Bishop. 

I  fully  believe  that  until  the  gospel  is  implanted  in  the 
hearts  of  those  who  are  to  rule  the  homes  there  cannot  be 
a  great  awakening  of  the  men  and  boys.  We  have  in- 
stances where  men  have  been  church  members  for  some 
time  and  have  never  taught  their  families;   but  I  have 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  217 

noticed  that  when  the  women  receive  the  glad  tidings  it 
is  not  long  before  these  homes  are  acquainted  with  the 
fact.  — Mrs.  E.  C.  Titus. 

Much  has  been  said  about  sending  ladies  to  China  as 
missionaries.  Possibly,  if  I  had  never  seen  the  ladies  at 
work,  I  might  agree  with  these  critics,  but  the  truth  is 
that  they  do  the  hardest  part  and  the  most  of  the  work  in 
China.  The  teaching  of  the  children  and  the  nursing 
and  treating  of  the  sick  women  and  children,  surgical  and 
medical,  fall  to  their  lot.  I  have  not  space  to  praise 
them  here,  and  I  could  not  say  sufficient  good  of  them  if 
I  had.  —  Hon.  Charles  Denbt. 

Bondage  to  Custom 

Engagements  are  almost  as  binding  as  marriages  in 
China.  .  .  .  Yet  what  shall  we  say  to  the  case  of  a 
dainty  little  hospital  assistant,  a  bright  and  winning  girl, 
who  is  betrothed  to  an  idiot  who  cannot  walk  without 
assistance,  and  who  makes  awful  faces  when  he  tries  to 
speak  his  unintelligible  jargon?  This  betrothal  took 
place  because  the  girl's  father  liked  the  boy's  grandfather^ 
who  is  now  dead,  and  so  are  both  the  girl's  parents. 
"What  can  be  done  ?  I  believe  the  cure  will  come  in  time 
by  an  enlightened  generation  of  Christians  refusing  to 
make  infantile  betrothals.  —  Mrs.  Arnold  Foster. 

One  Out  of  Five 

One  fifth  of  all  the  women  of  the  world  are  found  in 
the  homes  of  China.  One  baby  girl  out  of  every  five  is 
cradled  in  a  Chinese  mother's  arms  unwelcomed  and  un- 
loved, unless  by  that  poor  mother's  heart.  One  little 
maiden  out  of  every  five  grows  up  in  ignorance  and  neg- 
lect, drudging  in  the  daily  toil  of  some  poor  Chinese 
family,  or  crying  over  the  pain  of  her  crippled  feet  in  the 
seclusion  of  a  wealthier  home.     Among  all  the  youthful 


218  BEX  CHRISTUS 

brides,  who  day  by  day  pass  from  the  shelter  of  their 
childhood's  home,  one  out  of  every  five  goes  weeping  in 
China  to  the  tyranny  of  the  mother-in-law  she  dreads, 
and  the  indifference  of  a  husband  she  has  never  seen.  Of 
all  the  wives  and  mothers  in  the  world,  one  out  of  every 
five  turns  in  her  longing  to  a  gilded  goddess  of  mercy  in 
some  Chinese  temple,  counting  her  beads  and  murmuring 
her  meaningless  prayer.  Of  all  the  women  who  weep, 
one  out  of  every  five  weeps  alone,  uncomforted,  in  China. 
Out  of  every  five  who  lie  upon  beds  of  pain,  one  is  wholly 
at  the  mercy  of  Chinese  ignorance  and  superstition.  One 
out  of  every  five,  at  the  close  of  earthly  life,  passes  into 
the  shadow  and  terror  that  surround  a  Chinese  grave, 
never  having  heard  of  Him  who  alone  can  rob  death  of 
its  sting.  One  fifth  of  all  the  women  are  waiting,  wait- 
ing in  China,  for  the  Saviour  who  so  long  has  waited  for 
them.  What  a  burden  of  responsibility  does  this  lay 
upon  us  —  the  women  of  Christendom ! 

—  Mrs.  F.  Howard  Taylor. 

Were  the  women  only  converted  we  believe  that  idol- 
atry would  soon  cease  out  of  the  land. 

—  William  Muirhead. 

Nearly  one  half  of  the  women  of  the  world  belong  to 
the  two  great  empires  of  China  and  India.  .  .  .  The 
women  conserve  the  ancient  religions  and  superstitions 
of  their  country ;  and  what  can  a  man  do  when  the 
women  of  the  household  are  against  him? 

—  Isabelle  Williamson. 

The  word  "  home,"  which  is  unthinkable  by  us  apart 
from  the  tender  ministry  of  woman,  is  represented  in  the 
Chinese  language  by  a  pig  under  a  roof.  In  most  cases 
it  is  an  accurate  description  of  the  Chinese  home,  which 
to  our  eyes  is  often  little  better  than  a  pigsty.  Of  course 
the  Chinaman  does  not  mean  to  satirize  his  home.  To 
him  the  pig  is  the  symbol  of  "  plenty."  .  .  .     Again,  our 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  219 

sense  of  all  that  is  sacred  receives  a  severe  shock  when 
we  discover  that  the  word  "  marriage  "  is  represented  by 
a  woman  and  a  pig  practically  under  the  same  roof.  .  .  . 
Until  we  have  a  race  of  Christian  mothers  in  the  homes 
we  despair  of  producing  a  high  tyjje  of  Christian  char- 
acter among  the  members  of  the  native  church. 

—  J.  Miller  Graham. 

THEMES  FOR  STUDY  OR  DISCUSSION 

I.  Women's  Work  for  their  Sisters  in  China. 

II.  Some  Notable  Women  Missionaries  in  China. 

III.  Chinese  Women  as  Christian  Workers. 

IV.  Schools  for  Girls  in  China. 

V.   Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  and  Christian 

Endeavor  Societies. 
VI.   Peking  and  Nanking  as  Educational  Centres. 
VII.   Yung  Wing  and  His  Chinese  Boys  in  the  United 

States. 
VIII.   Lessons  Learned  from  the  War  with  Japan. 
IX.   Brewing  of  the  Boxer  Storm. 
X.   Compare  the  Empress  Dowager  with  Catherine  II 

of  Russia. 
XI.   The  Siege  of  Peking. 
XII.  Message  of  the  Martyrs. 

BOOKS  OF   REFERENCE 

General  References  as  before 

Berry's  "  Sister  Martyrs  of  Ku  Cheng."    II,  III. 
Broomhall's  "  Martyrs  of  China  Inland  Mission."  IX,  XII. 
Chang  Chih  Tung,  "  China's  Only  Hope."     VIIL 
Condit's   "The    Chinaman   as  We  See  Him."     Ill,  V, 

VI,  VII. 
"Crisis  in  China"  (reprint  of  articles  in  North  American 

Review).     VIII,  IX. 
Edwards's  "  Fire  and  Sword  in  Shansi."    U,  IX,  XII. 


220  BEX  CHRISTUS 

Foster's  "  Christian  Progress  in  China."     I,  II,  III,  IV. 

Graham's  "  East  of  the  Barrier."     I,  IX. 

Graves's  "  Forty  Years  in  China."     VIII. 

Ketler's  "  The  Tragedy  of  Paotingfu."      II,  VIII,  IX,  X, 

XI,  XII. 
Lewis's  "  Educational  Conquest  of  the  Far  East."     VIII, 

IX. 
Martin's  "  The  Chinese."    VI. 
Miner's  "  Two  Heroes  of  Cathay."     IX. 
Mott's  "Strategic  Points  in  the  World's  Conquest."     V. 
Report  of  the  Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference,  1900. 

I,  II,  III,  IV,  V,  VI. 
Ross's  "  Mission  Methods  in  Manchuria."     VIII. 
Smith's  "  China  in  Convulsion."     VIII,  IX,  X,  XI,  XII. 
Wilson's  "  China."     VII,  VIII,  IX,  X,  XL 

Articles  on  China  in  Periodicals  (see  Appendix)  :  — 

Contemporary,  Vol.  70,  "  Reform  of  China  and  the  Revo- 
lution of  1898."     IX. 

Forum,  Vol.  18,  "  Significance  of  the  China-Japan  War." 
VIIL 

Review  of  Reviews,  Vol.  22,  "  The  Chinese  Revolution." 
IX. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE  OPEN   DOOR   OF   OPPORTUNITY 

The  Chinese  Empire  is  by  far  the  most  ex- 
tensive field  ever  opened  to  the  conquests  of 
the  church  of  God.  Gibbon  estimated  that  the 
Roman  Empire  contained  120,000,000  persons  ; 
but  it  is  certain  that  China  has  a  population  be- 
tween three  and  four  times  as  great.  This  unex- 
ampled magnitude,  which  at  times  seems  almost 
overwhelming,  is  accompanied  and  conditioned 
by  a  homogeneity,  which,  whether  we  consider 
its  duration  in  time  or  its  persistence,  is  a  phe- 
nomenon unparalleled  among  the  nations  of 
history.  Amid  all  their  endless  diversities  the 
ideas  and  the  ideals  of  the  Chinese  people  are 
substantially  the  same.  In  this  respect  China 
is  antipodal  to  that  museum  of  races,  languages, 
religions,  and  civilizations,  to  which  we  give  the 
merely  geographical  appellation  of  India.  In 
China  influences  can  be  propagated  from  one 
extremity  of  the  empire  to  the  other,  to  which 
difference  of  race  and  language  would  elsewhere 
be  an  almost  complete  barrier.  According  to 
the  best  estimates  the  mandarin  dialect  alone, 
in  some  one  of  its  forms,  is  spoken  by  three  hun- 

221 


222  REX  CHRISTUS 

dred  millions  of  Chinese.  Countless  prefectures 
and  even  single  counties  have  a  population  greatly 
in  excess  of  that  of  whole  groups  of  Polynesian 
islands.  It  should  be  especially  noted  that  the 
greatest  specific  hindrance  which  the  gospel 
encounters  in  India  is  altogether  absent  in 
China,  which  never  had  a  system  of  caste  and 
would  never  have  submitted  to  it.  The  Chinese 
have  always  been  a  race  religiously  tolerant. 
They  are  a  marvellous  example  of  unity  in  diver- 
sity and  diversity  in  unity.  They  have  repeat- 
edly shown  themselves  to  be  hospitable  to  new 
religious  ideas,  as  is  shown  by  the  rapid  and 
universal  spread  of  Buddhism,  and  also  by  the 
root  struck  into  Chinese  soil  by  Nestorianism 
and  the  mediaeval  Roman  Catholic  missions,  each 
of  which  failed  from  internal  rather  than  from 
external  causes.  Had  Chinese  Mohammedanism 
been  a  missionarj'-  religion,  perhaps  it  might  long 
since  have  taken  possession  of  China.  There  is 
a  powerful  democratic  element  in  Chinese  so- 
ciety to  which  no  adequate  justice  has  yet  been 
done. 

No  people  were  ever  more  easily  governed 
than  the  Chinese,  when  the  government  has 
been  in  the  direction  of  their  ideals.  Feeling 
the  inadequacy  of  the  current  faiths  —  or  no 
faiths  —  they  have  originated  a  bewildering 
multitude  of  secret  sects,  with  which  the  empire 
is  literally  honeycombed.  Probably  not  more 
than  a  small  number  of  them  are  really  political 


THE  OPEN  DOOR   OF  OPPORTUNITY    223 

in  their  ultimate  aims;  but  while  the  government 
forbids  them  all  alike,  it  finds  itself  powerless  to 
put  them  down.  Seriously  to  attempt  it  on  a 
large  scale  might,  and  probably  would,  cause  a 
revolution,  in  which  new  rulers  would  take  the 
helm  of  the  ship  of  state,  after  which  the  secret 
sects  would  flourish  as  before.  The  practical 
Chinese  have  a  wonderful  talent  for  compromise. 
They  dislike  to  press  things  to  extremities.  It 
is  a  universally  accepted  axiom  that  if  a  single 
individual  is  willing  to  sacrifice  his  life,  ten 
thousand  men  cannot  hinder  him. 

The  once  almost  impassable  barrier  of  the 
Chinese  language  has  been  completely  scaled,  as 
well  as  tunnelled.  It  is  extremely  rare  that  one 
otherwise  fitted  for  work  in  China  is  obliged  to 
give  up  that  ambition  through  inability  to  mas- 
ter the  colloquial  speech.  A  great  and  rapidly 
increasing  Christian  plant  has  been  set  up  in 
every  part  of  China.  Almost  every  corner  of 
the  empire  has  been  penetrated  again  and  again. 
The  experience  of  thousands  of  workers  has 
been  funded  and  put  at  compound  interest.  As 
compared  with  a  century  ago  we  have  of  China 
and  the  Chinese  a  vast,  a  varied,  and  an  aug- 
menting knowledge. 

The  real  motive  of  Christianity  in  pressing 
itself  upon  China  is  beginning  to  be  dimly  ap- 
prehended by  many  who  until  lately  never  heard 
of  it.  This  is  indeed  a  slow  process,  but  it  is 
a  process  which  is  continually  going  on  in  the 


224  REX  CRRISTUS 

minds  of  men,  and  of  women  as  well,  in  all 
ranks  of  life,  from  the  empress  dowager  to  the 
peasants  grinding  at  a  mill.  Race  hatred  and 
suspicion  survive,  and  increase  too,  after  their 
kind,  and  will  continue  to  survive  after  seons 
shall  have  passed  away;  but  in  spite  of  them 
Christianity  gets  a  better,  a  fairer,  a  fuller  hear- 
ing than  before,  with  each  new  advance. 

A  Modern  Miracle.  —  The  survival  of  the 
Christian  church  notwithstanding  the  fierce 
onslaught  of  Boxer  fanaticism,  armed  with 
illimitable  supernatural  powers  and  backed  by 
the  highest  authority  in  the  empire,  is  a  stand- 
ing miracle  which  invites  examination  and  com- 
pels explanation.  Since  the  foreign  soldiers,  as 
a  rule,  neither  knew  nor  cared  anything  about 
the  Chinese  Christian  church,  it  cannot  be  ex- 
plained as  due  to  force  of  arms.  It  cannot  be 
charged  to  diplomatic  patronage,  for  in  the  final 
treaties  between  the  Powers  and  China,  mis- 
sionary interests  were  studiously  ignored.  Had 
they  been  raised  as  a  living  question,  there  was 
so  much  disagreement  that  no  action  could  have 
been  unanimous,  and  without  unanimity  there 
could  have  been  no  action  at  all.  Why,  then, 
was  not  the  church  exterminated?  How  came 
Chinese  officials,  without  diplomatic  pressure  of 
any  kind,  and  wholly  of  their  own  accord,  to 
grant  indemnities  for  losses  to  those  native 
Christians  of  whom,  but  a  few  months  before,  im- 
perial edicts  had  commanded  the  slaughtering  ? 


THE   OPEN  DOOR    OF  OPPORTUNITY     225 

The  more  it  is  considered,  the  more  clearly  will 
it  be  perceived  that  no  story  of  the  three  chil- 
dren in  the  furnace  of  fire,  or  of  Daniel  deliv- 
ered from  the  hungry  lions,  is  more  worthy  of 
careful  investigation  than  the  continued  exist- 
ence of  the  Christian  church  under  apparently 
impossible  conditions.  The  steadfastness  shown 
by  many  individual  members  of  that  church, 
Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  alike,  in  refus- 
ing to  recant,  and  in  sealing  their  testimony 
with  their  lives,  is  an  irrefragable  argument  in 
favor  of  the  genuineness  of  their  faith.  Great 
numbers,  it  is  true,  did  recant,  just  as  we  have 
too  much  reason  to  fear  would  be  the  case  in 
our  own  land  under  like  fiery  trial,  and  great 
numbers  of  these  have  confessed  their  sin  and 
weakness,  and  have  turned  unto  the  Lord  for 
help  and  grace,  just  as  like  sufferers  have  done 
in  every  age.  Proofs  offered  by  genuine  and 
unobtrusive  martyrdom  the  Chinese  can  com- 
prehend as  well  as  we  can,  and  they  do  not 
attempt  to  refute  them.  Their  existence  on  a 
large  scale  makes  a  background  for  preaching 
Christ  to  the  Chinese,  hitherto  unavailable. 

A  United  Church. — An  important  incidental 
effect  of  the  almost  complete  destruction  in  sev- 
eral provinces  of  the  outward  symbols  of  mission 
work,  has  been  a  marked  impulse  on  the  part  of 
Protestant  missions  toward  a  greater  unity,  di- 
minishing competition,  economizing  labor,  and 
increasing  the   output.      To  what   extent  this 

Q 


226  EEX  CEBI8TUS 

may  be  carried  cannot  yet  be  known,  but  union 
educational  institutions,  both  in  Chihli  and  in 
Shantung,  are  now  assured.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  expect  in  due  time  a  practical  federation  of 
Christian  churches  in  China  which  will  present 
a  united  front  to  the  enemy,  and  which  will  lead 
to  the  introduction  of  Christian  influences  upon 
a  far  larger  scale  than  at  present.  Protestant 
missions  with  essential  unanimity  emphatically 
decline  the  offer  of  the  Chinese  government  to 
confer  official  recognition  upon  their  leaders. 
They  refuse  to  interfere  in  the  ordinary  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Chinese  courts  of  justice.  The 
fact  of  this  settled  policy  is  coming  to  be 
more  and  more  understood  by  all  ranks  of 
Chinese  officials.  The  opposite  practice  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  church  in  each  particular,  what- 
ever advantages  it  may  appear  to  give  for  a 
time,  is  making  clear  the  fundamental  differ- 
ences between  these  two  forms  of  Christianity, 
and  we  need  not  fear  the  result.  In  the  Boxer 
troubles  Protestants  suffered  much  because  they 
were  mistaken  for  Romanists,  against  whom 
there  was  not  unreasonably  much  prejudice. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  same  phenomenon 
may  be  repeated  in  other  forms,  but  the  con- 
flict and  the  resultant  discrimination  seem  to  be 
inevitable^  In  the  communities  where  they 
exist,  there  is  an  augmenting  influence  of  the 
Christian  churches,  and  since  the  Boxer  up- 
rising  collapsed,  this  influence  has  greatly  in- 


THE  OPEN  DOOR   OF  OPPORTUNITY     227 

creased.  Many  Chinese  officials  for  the  first 
time  have  come  into  contact  with  educated  Chris- 
tian Chinese,  and  have  been  struck  with  their 
good  sense,  their  capabilities,  and  their  evident 
moral  integrity.  In  China  these  qualities  in 
combination  are  rare  indeed.  Their  existence  is 
a  prophecy  and  a  promise.  The  Chinese  know 
very  well  how  to  talk  about  preferring  righteous- 
ness to  gain.  But  when  one  of  their  most  pro- 
gressive governors  is  popularly  believed  to  have 
paid  a  bribe  of  twenty  thousand  ounces  of  silver 
to  the  Manchu  nearest  the  throne  to  get  his  ap- 
pointment confirmed,  the  spectacle  of  a  poor 
Chinese  who  respectfully  and  modestly,  but 
firmly,  declines  to  take  surreptitiously  a  sum  of 
money  which  would  quietly  place  him  beyond 
the  fear  of  poverty,  is  one  which  cannot  fail  to 
have  its  influence.  China  has  occasionally  had 
men  who  would  do  this,  and  one  of  them  who 
lived  and  died  in  the  Han  dynasty  (124  a.d.) 
is  still  cherished  in  the  national  memory.  But 
China  has  never  had  the  art  of  producing  such 
men,  and  its  introduction  will  be  owing  solely 
to  Christianity. 

Power  of  Regenerated  Lives.  —  The  "  out- 
populating  power  of  the  Christian  stock,"  in- 
sisted upon  more  than  half  a  century  ago  by 
Dr.  Horace  Bushnell,  is  a  most  important  factor 
in  the  coming  evangelization  of  China.  Where 
the  family  is  the  unit  of  social  life,  as  the  vil- 
lage of  political  life,  the  renovation  of  the  family 


228  BEX  CHRISTUS 

is  the  great  social  problem.  Christianity  under- 
takes this  mighty  task  by  regenerating  the 
fathers,  the  mothers,  the  husbands,  the  wives, 
the  children,  and  the  neighbors.  An  intelligent 
official  who  glanced  through  a  small  Christian 
tract  explaining  by  scripture  texts  the  duties  of 
each  of  these  classes  to  one  another,  remarked, 
"  This  is  good ;  if  every  one  were  to  act  like 
tJiat,  I  should  have  no  trouble  in  governing 
the  people."  To  the  five  human  relations  of  the 
Chinese,  must  be  added,  or  rather  prefixed,  the 
divine  relation  between  God  and  man,  before 
society  can  have  either  an  adequate  basis  or 
a  legitimate  object. 

There  will  be  developed  in  an  ever  increasing 
ratio  assistance  from  the  Chinese  themselves 
from  the  ranks  of  the  native  church,  for  it  is  by 
them  that  the  real  work  must  ultimately  be 
done.  The  first  foreign  workers  are  of  necessity 
isolated,  and  without  helpers.  With  the  expan- 
sion of  the  church  as  an  organic  and  coordinated 
body,  workers  of  all  grades  of  efficiency  will 
more  and  more  appear.  A  large  part  of  the 
future  literature  by  which  China  is  to  be  moved 
must  be  achieved  by  them.  In  them  is  the 
hope  of  China.  The  philanthropies  which  have 
been  ancillary  and  subordinate  to  the  work  of 
Christian  missions  in  China,  have  exerted  a 
wide,  a  deep,  and,  we  may  well  believe,  a  perma- 
nent influence  upon  the  people.  In  the  Great 
Famine  of  1877-1878,  and  in  numerous  similar 


THE  OPEN  DOOR    OF  OPPORTUNITY     229 

emergencies  since,  vast  sums  from  abroad  have 
been  disbursed  to  needy  Chinese.  The  methods 
of  distribution  have  necessarily  been  far  from 
scientific,  for  the  problem  is  too  profound  to  be 
attacked  except  upon  its  edges.  An  army  of 
agents  supplied  with  the  revenues  of  an  empire 
would  still  be  altogether  inadequate.  We  are 
for  the  most  part  quite  helpless  to  remove  the 
causes  of  these  great  calamities,  which  recur 
Avith  the  persistence  of  a  repeating  decimal. 
Yet  something  has  been  accomplished ;  best  of 
all,  a  great  object-lesson  in  practical  Christianity 
has  been  given,  which  has  deeply  affected  many 
Chinese  officials  of  great  influence,  and  has  cer- 
tainly done  much  to  remove  the  prejudices  of 
millions  of  people.  The  Christianization  of  a 
land  like  China  proceeds,  as  we  have  seen,  along 
many  distinct  but  coordinated  lines.  In  its 
present  stage  it  is  practically  impossible  to  dis- 
sociate evangelism  from  education,  and  it  can 
be  accomplished  only  by  the  unlimited  use  of 
Christian  literature,  and  of  secular  literature 
prepared  from  a  Christian  point  of  view. 

The  temper  of  many  of  the  officials  in  China 
is  not  unfrequently  thoroughly  pessimistic. 
They  are  profoundly  dissatisfied  with  the  condi- 
tion of  their  country,  without  being  at  all  aware 
of  the  real  sources  of  its  weakness.  They  per- 
ceive that  everything  ought  to  be  done,  but  they 
do  not  clearly  see  how,  under  present  conditions, 
anything  can  be  done.     As  in    the  great   coal 


230  BEX  CERISTUS 

strike  in  the  United  States,  every  one  feels  the 
pressure  of  the  trouble,  and  perhaps  every  one 
has  some  more  or  less  vague  notions  about  its 
causes.  But  to  the  question,  ^'■WJiat  can  we  do 
about  it?"  few  have  a  definite  answer.  To 
China  in  this  mood,  twentieth  century  Chris- 
tianity ought  to  come  with  a  clear  message. 
China  needs  light,  and  those  who  have  the 
Light  of  the  World  ought  to  bestow  it,  for  it 
is  evident  that  the  hope  of  the  empire  lies  in 
Christian  education. 

Educational  Reforms.  — After  much  vacillation 
the  government  of  China  appears  to  be  acting 
upon  a  more  or  less  clear  recognition  of  the  need 
of  radical  reformation  in  the  fossilized  methods 
of  the  past.  On  the  29th  of  August,  1901,  an 
imperial  decree  was  issued  commanding  the  abo- 
lition of  the  examination  essay,  or  wen-chang, 
for  literary  degrees,  in  favor  of  short  essays  upon 
modern  matters  and  western  laws,  constitution, 
and  political  economy.  The  same  procedure  is 
to  be  observed  in  future  iji  examining  candidates 
for  office.  A  similar  decree  commanded  that  the 
usual  methods  of  conferring  military  degrees 
after  trials  of  strength  with  stone  weights,  agility 
with  the  sword,  marksmanship  with  the  bow  and 
arrow,  on  foot  and  on  horseback,  should  be  defi- 
nitely abolished,  as  having  no  relation  to  strategy 
and  to  that  military  science  which  for  military 
officers  is  indispensable.  Instead  of  the  former 
methods,  military  academies  are  to  be  established 


THE  OPEN  BOOR    OF  OPPORTUNITY     231 

in  the  various  provincial  capitals,  the  students 
being  required  to  be  examined  in  their  knowl- 
edge of  literature  as  well  as  in  military  science 
and  drill.  In  the  following  month  a  decree  was 
issued  commanding  all  existing  colleges  in  the 
empire  to  be  turned  into  schools  and  colleges  of 
western  learning,  each  provincial  capital  to  have 
a  university  like  that  in  Peking,  the  colleges  in 
prefectures  and  districts  to  be  tributary  to  those 
at  the  provincial  capital.  The  system  is  ulti- 
mately to  be  completed  by  the  general  introduc- 
tion of  primary  scliools  in  the  villages.  A  few 
days  later  another  decree  was  issued  ordering 
the  governors-general  and  governors  to  follow 
the  example  of  Liu  K'un  Yi  (since  deceased), 
Chang  Chih  Tung,  and  others,  in  sending  abroad 
young  men  of  scholastic  promise  and  ability  to 
study  any  branch  of  western  science  or  art  best 
suited  to  their  abilities  and  tastes,  so  that  in 
time  they  might  return  to  China  and  place  the 
fruits  of  their  knowledge  at  the  service  of  the 
emperor. 

Thus  we  behold  the  kernel  of  the  reforms 
ordered  by  his  Majesty,  Kuang  Hsu,  in  1898, 
and  which  led  to  his  dethronement  and  impris- 
onment, substantially  adopted  less  than  three 
years  later  by  the  empress  dowager  and  her 
advisers.  It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed 
that  the  issue  of  decrees  like  these  indicates 
a  steady  and  a  consistent  purpose  on  the  part 
of  the  government  to  adopt  real  reforms.     In 


232  REX  CHRISTUS 

many  cases  the  responsibility  for  the  execu- 
tion of  these  plans  is  committed  to  officials 
thoroughly  hostile  to  their  intent.  For  a  long 
time  to  come  the  progress  made  must  be  so  slight 
as  to  be  scarcely  discernible.  The  bare  notation 
of  the  tenor  of  these  far-reaching  edicts  gives  to 
the  Occidental  reader  but  a  vague  notion  of  the 
tremendous  intellectual  revolution  which  they 
connote.  ''Never  before  was  there  such  an  order 
from  any  government  involving  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  views  of  so  many  millions,  by  the 
study  of  the  methods  of  government  in  other 
nations."  For  a  long  time  it  had  been  dimly 
perceived  that  some  changes  of  this  description 
were  inevitable,  and  when  they  came,  there  was 
not  only  no  formal  protest  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  but  in  Shansi  when  a  vote  was  taken 
among  the  students  at  the  provincial  capital  by 
the  conservatives,  they  found  to  their  astonish- 
ment that  eighty  per  cent  of  the  students  were 
in  favor  of  western  learning  ! 

The  majority  of  those  who  have  the  supreme 
control  of  China  to-day  are  unhappily  pro- 
foundly ignorant  of  the  nature  of  the  great 
problems  which  that  empire  has  to  solve,  and 
still  more  so  of  the  processes  by  which  alone 
there  is  any  rational  hope  of  their  solution. 
It  is  obvious  to  one  who  knows  anything  of 
the  Chinese  educational  system  of  the  past 
millennium,  that  the  introduction  of  the  new 
methods  will  involve  its  radical  reconstruction 


THE  OPEN  DOOR   OF  OPPORTUNITY     233 

from  top  to  bottom.  Western  geography,  mathe- 
matics, science,  history,  and  philosophy  will  be 
everywhere  studied.  The  result  cannot  fail 
to  be  an  expansion  of  the  intellectual  horizon 
of  the  Chinese  race  comparable  to  that  which  in 
Europe  followed  the  Crusades.  This  will  be  a 
long  process  and  a  slow  one,  but  it  is  a  certain 
one.  It  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  missionary 
education  in  China  is  seen  in  its  true  character. 
Every  mission  station  is  a  dynamo,  diffusing 
impartially  in  every  direction  light  and  heat. 
It  is  at  once  a  spiritual,  a  moral,  and  an  intellec- 
tual centre.  In  its  schools  pupils  are  educated, 
and  not  merely  instructed ;  the  seeds  of  a  new 
community  are  everywhere  sown.  From  the 
Christian  colleges  now  widely  scattered  over  the 
face  of  the  land  young  men  are  constantly  going 
out  with  enlarged  minds  and  with  open  vision. 
It  is  an  instructive  fact  that  it  is  only  in  Chris- 
tian schools  that  that  patriotism  in  which  the 
Chinese  seem  so  strangely  deficient  is  inculcated 
on  principle.  China  will  never  have  really  patri- 
otic subjects  until  she  has  Christian  subjects. 

Educational  Needs.  —  There  is  scarcely  a 
branch  of  modern  education  which  is  not  ur- 
gently needed.  The  Chinese  need  to  know 
in  detail  something  of  the  history  of  the  world 
of  which  they  seem  but  yesterday  to  have  be- 
come an  integral  part,  that  they  may  have 
correct  standards  of  comparison.  They  need 
thorough  instruction  in  political  economy  and 


234  REX  CHRISTUS 

its  laws,  and  in  every  department  of  sociology. 
They  need  to  know  the  underlying  philosophy 
and  principles  of  trade,  that  they  may  compre- 
hend and  accept  the  proposition,  incredible  to 
them,  that  what  is  to  the  advantage  of  one  may 
be  to  the  advantage  of  all.  They  need  espe- 
cially to  study  the  laws  of  production,  and  ere 
long  it  will  be  necessary  to  ponder  the  laws  of 
distribution.  They  need  to  examine  scientifi- 
cally the  incalculable  resources  at  the  disposal 
of  the  people,  and  to  learn  how  to  develop  and 
employ  them.  They  need  to  have  the  barren 
scholasticism  of  the  learned,  and  the  narrow 
utilitarianism  of  the  uneducated  classes,  re- 
placed by  real  knowledge.  They  need  medical 
teachingf  to  save  innumerable  lives  and  to  dimin- 
ish  the  sum  of  human  misery.  In  every  direc- 
tion China  needs  the  truth  to  make  her  free. 

Christian  education  has  produced  some 
sweet  first-fruits,  out  of  all  proportion  to  the 
number  of  workers.  Until  within  a  few  years 
nine-tenths  of  the  general  knowledge  which 
has  been  diffused  throughout  China,  and  ninety- 
nine  hundredths  of  all  the  modern  schools,  are 
due  to  missionaries.  In  central  China  there 
are  large  and  infl.uential  Christian  colleges  in 
Shanghai,  Soochow,  and  Nanking ;  in  south- 
eastern China  at  Foochow  and  Canton  ;  at  Teng 
Chou  Fu  in  Shantung,  and  in  Peking  and  T'ung 
Chou  in  the  metropolitan  province  of  Chihli. 
In  the  capital  of  Shansi  (T'ai  Yuan  Fu)  there 


THE  OPEN  DOOR   OF  OPPORTUNITY     235 

is   a  unique  government  college  founded  with 
money  which  would   otherwise    have  been   ex- 
pended in  missionary  indemnities.     Dr.  Timothy 
Richard,  at  whose  suggestion  this  step  was  taken, 
was  placed  in  charge  of  this  institution  for  a 
period   of   ten   years,  by  the  enlightened  gov- 
ernor of  Shansi.     The  government  has  already 
established  provincial   colleges    in   the  capitals 
of  eleven  out  of  the  eighteen  provinces.     The 
policy  has  been  deliberately  adopted  of  requir- 
ing   from   every  student,  upon  penalty  of  ex- 
clusion, the  formal  worship  of  Confucius,  which 
makes  the  services  of  Christian  teachers   and 
the    attendance    of    Christian    pupils    impossi- 
ble.     It  is   incidentally   a   testimony   that   the 
Chinese  authorities  have  felt  Confucianism  to 
be  in  danger  from  the  increasing  encroachments 
of  Christianity.     It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that, 
because  Confucian  students  are  held  aloof  from 
immediate    contact   with    Christian   instructors 
and  Christian  text-books,  that  they  can  be  alto- 
gether isolated  (in  medical  phrase)  so  as  to  be 
beyond  the  reach  of  Christian  influences  of  all 
sorts.      Christian  periodical  literature  is  able  to 
go  where  Christian  feet  cannot,  and  where  the 
living  voice  cannot  penetrate. 

In  direct  work  with  Cliristian  students,  and 
in  indirect  relations  with  non-Christian  students 
of  all  types,  the  International  Young  Men's  and 
Young  Women's  Christian  associations  have  a 
unique  and  a  most  important  field.    Their  efforts 


236  BEX  CHBISTUS 

are  as  yet  but  in  their  preparatory  stages,  but  are 
rapidly  growing  in  importance  and  power,  so  that 
the  good  which  they  will  be  able  to  accomplish, 
often  in  silent  and  unobtrusive  ways,  is  inesti- 
mable. The  United  Society  of  Christian  En- 
deavor is  another  agency  peculiarly  suited  to 
Chinese  habits,  and  it  has  wrapped  within  it  a 
vast  potentiality  of  good.  Its  great  gatherings, 
attended  by  a  choice  company  of  Chinese  youth, 
uniting  in  the  use  of  the  mandarin  dialect  as 
"  the  greatest  common  multiple  "  of  this  strange 
language,  are  a  natural  means  of  conveying 
spiritual  impulses  to  widely  separated  regions, 
just  as  in  other  lands,  but  with  perhaps  far 
greater  efficiency,  on  account  of  the  freshness 
of  the  new  life  which  has  come  into  many  hearts, 
and  the  absence  of  many  of  the  other  avenues 
by  which,  in  Christian  lands,  that  life  can  be 
outwardly  manifested.  The  singular  solidarity 
of  the  Chinese  and  their  unrivalled  talent  for 
organization  make  it  certain  that  forms  of  Chris- 
tian energy  like  those  just  mentioned  will  ere 
long  be  widely  adopted,  and  must  of  necessity 
be  extremely  efficacious  in  multiplying  the  influ- 
ence of  the  church. 

The  New  China.  —  The  immense  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  a  practical  regeneration  of  an 
empire  like  China  must  not  for  a  moment  be 
lost  sight  of  nor  minimized.  Each  one  of  them 
must  ultimately  be  reckoned  with,  singly  and 
in  combination.     But  they  have  proved  insuffi- 


THE  OPEN  DOOR    OF  OPPORTUNITY     237 

cient  to  stop  the  progress  of  a  movement  which 
has  now  attained  to  large  proportions  and  will 
soon  be  far  greater.  It  is  to  be  anticipated  that, 
at  some  perhaps  not  distant  day,  there  may 
be  a  great  movement  toward  Christianity.  No 
human  prevision  can  foresee  how  or  when  it 
will  appear,  nor  what  shape  it  may  take.  As 
has  already  been  pointed  out,  on  account  of  its 
mass,  its  homogeneity,  its  high  intellectual  and 
moral  qualities,  its  past  history,  its  present  and 
prospective  relations  to  the  whole  world,  the  con- 
version of  the  Chinese  people  to  Christianity 
is  the  most  important  aggressive  enterprise  now 
laid  upon  the  church  of  Christ.  To  reply  to 
the  numerous  objections  which  are  and  have 
always  been  made  is,  for  readers  of  a  book 
like  this,  a  mere  waste  of  time.  They  have  all 
been  often  answered,  and  are  at  this  moment 
refuted  by  the  actual  work  done.  To  abandon 
a  field  because  new  and  unexpected  difficulties 
have  arisen  is  not  in  accord  with  the  genius  of 
Christianity.  Merchants,  surveyors  of  Chinese 
railways,  and  openers  of  its  new  mines  are  all 
liable  to  be  overtaken  by  mobs  and  violence, 
yet  they  do  not  surrender  their  coveted  conces- 
sions, and  neither  shall  we.  As  compared  with 
the  expenditures  of  enterprises  like  these,  and 
still  more  in  comparison  with  the  costly  military 
disbursements,  the  total  sum  required  for  all  the 
missions  in  the  Chinese  Empire  is  a  mere  trifle. 
In  results  achieved  and  achievable  the  returns 


238  BEX   CHRISTUS 

to  be  expected  from  the  latter  far  outweigh 
those  which  can,  by  any  possibility,  arise  from 
the  former.  That  there  is  to  be  commercially, 
industrially,  and  in  some  shape  politically,  a  new 
China  is  certain.  When  such  a  population  is 
really  revolutionized,  the  whole  world  must  be 
affected  by  the  tremendous  change.  No  more 
lands  now  remain  to  be  discovered  and  peopled  ; 
but  as  Dr.  Josiah  Strong  well  remarks,  to  raise 
the  scale  of  living  in  China  to  the  average 
standard  in  the  United  States,  would  be  equiva- 
lent to  the  creation  of  five  Americas.  In  mod- 
ern economics  nothing  is  considered  to  be  too 
expensive  which  is  worth  while.  Ten  millions 
of  dollars  are  spent  for  a  dam  on  the  Nile,  but  in 
a  short  time  —  perhaps  annually  —  it  will  repay 
its  cost  and  make  Egypt  again  the  garden  of 
the  earth.  A  hundred  or  two  millions  of  dollars 
are  voted  for  a  canal,  but  it  is  to  alter  the  trade 
routes  of  the  globe  and  bring,  as  never  before, 
the  Orient  and  the  Occident  face  to  face. 

Money,  labor,  prayer,  lavished  upon  the  re- 
demption of  the  great  Chinese  Empire,  in  the 
end  will  yield  ampler  returns  than  can  be  looked 
for  in  any  other  land.  Upon  the  people  of  the 
United  States  China  has  an  especial  claim. 
"Who  is  my  neighbor?"  China.  Owing  to  her 
geographical  position,  if  for  no  other  reason,  our 
country  has  never  had  any  territorial  disputes 
with  her.  The  United  States  has  no  "conces- 
sions" to  be  protected  at  the  open  ports,  no 


TBE  OPEN  DOOlt   OF  OPPORTUNITY     i23d 

"spheres  of  influence,"  no  "earth  hunger." 
Our  treatment  of  the  Chinese  in  our  own  coun- 
try has  been  full  of  injustice,  and  of  an  undis- 
guised contempt  for  the  principles  upon  which 
our  republic  is  ostensibly  founded.  Do  we  not 
owe  to  the  Chinese  people  practical  reparation, 
in  the  gift  of  the  fuller  knowledge  of  that  which 
shall  help  them  to  become,  like  ourselves,  wise 
and  strong  ? 

Perhaps  it  might  be  difficult  to  find  in  any 
land  a  class  upon  which  more  and  greater  bless- 
ings have  been  lavished  than  the  women  of  the 
United  States.  But  these  great  gifts  are  a  loan, 
and,  upon  the  principle  enunciated  by  the  Mas- 
ter, they  only  mean  that  by  Him  the  more  will 
be  required, — assistance,  sympathy,  prayers  for 
those  in  less  favored  lands.  To  our  country- 
women the  innumerable  millions  of  Chinese 
women  and  children  mutely  and  unconsciously 
appeal.     "Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give." 

Their  experience  of  universal  popular  educa- 
tion gives  American  missionaries  important  ad- 
vantages, and  a  corresponding  responsibility. 
Nearly  all  the  large  missionary  colleges  in  China 
were  built  by  American  societies,  and  are  taught 
by  American  teachers.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
find  anywhere  positions  of  greater  importance. 
China  has  many  needs.  She  needs  new  intel- 
lectual life  of  every  description  in  every  fibre  of 
the  body  politic.  But  she  needs  still  more  a 
new  moral  and  spiritual  life,  without  which  a 


240  BEX  CHRISTUS 

merely  intellectual  renaissance  will  be  full  of 
deadly  perils.  Every  renovating  force  from 
within  has  long  been  exhausted,  and  more  than 
exhausted.  Her  religions,  her  nature  worship, 
her  hero  worship,  her  ethical  traditions,  are  life- 
less and  spent.  Commerce,  science,  diplomacy, 
culture,  civilization,  she  must  have  in  ever  in- 
creasing measure ;  but  apart  from  Christianity 
they  are  a  Pandora  box  of  potential  evils. 
Aside  from  Christianity  there  is  no  visible  hope 
for  China.  With  it,  after  age-long  slumbers, 
she  will  awake  to  a  new  life  in  a  new  world. 

If  this  book  does  not  lead  up  to  the  question 
in  the  mind  of  the  reader,  "What  can  I  do  for 
the  redemption  of  China?"  it  will  have  been 
written  and  read  in  vain. 

SIGNIFICANT    SENTENCES 

I  admire  and  reverence  those  devoted  men  and  women 
[the  missionaries],  and  I  regard  them  as  taking  to  China 
precisely  the  commodities  of  which  she  stands  most  in 
need,  namely,  a  spiritual  religion  and  a  morality  based 
on  the  fear  of  God  and  the  love  of  man.  —  Sir  Edwin 
Arnold. 

I  went  to  the  East  with  no  enthusiasm  as  to  missionary 
enterprise.  I  came  back  with  the  fixed  conviction  that 
missionaries  are  the  great  agents  of  civilization.  I  could 
not  have  advanced  one  step  in  the  discharge  of  my  duties, 
could  not  have  read,  or  written,  or  understood  one  word 
of  correspondence  on  treaty  stipulation  but  for  the  mis- 
sionaries. —  Hon.  W.  B.  Rked,  United  States  Commis- 
sioner. 


THE  OPEN  DOOR   OF  OPPORTUNITY    241 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  while  American  commerce 
has  been  relatively  declining  in  China,  American  missions 
have  been  relatively  increasing.  The  factor  of  missions 
is  to  be  reckoned  with  as  much  as  the  factor  of  trade.  .  . 
American  missionaries  have  been  free  from  the  suspicion 
of  acting  as  political  allies ;  and  they  thus  possess  a  de- 
cided advantage  in  attracting  the  natives  to  an  honest 
acceptance  of  the  Christian  religion.  —  Forum,  April,  1899. 

We  cannot  think  of  withdrawing  our  missionaries  from 
the  Far  East  unless  we  are  willing  to  withdraw  our  mer- 
chants. Our  ministers  of  the  gospel  must  remain  as  long 
as  our  ministers  of  diplomacy.  —  Hon.  John  Barrett. 

Should  he  [a  voyager]  be  shipwrecked  on  an  unknown 
coast,  he  will  devoutly  pray  that  the  missionary  may  have 
preceded  him.  —  Charles  Darwin. 

Everything  that  has  been  done  for  the  blind  in  China, 
or  any  other  eastern  land,  has  been  done  by  missionaries. 
Miss  Gordon  Cumming  said  she  was  astonished,  when 
visiting  Peking,  to  stand  at  the  door  of  a  dark  room  and 
hear  the  Scriptures  read  by  the  touch  of  men  who,  not 
four  months  before,  begged  in  the  streets,  half  naked  and 
half  starved.  The  missionary  has  done  this  work  alone, 
from  his  slender  income,  boarding,  lodging,  and  clothing 
his  pupils. 

Until  one  travels  from  Canton  to  Kalgan  and  takes 
long  journeys  into  the  interior,  one  cannot  realize  the 
extent  of  this  wonderful  work,  or  the  resourcefulness  of 
the  missionaries.  Nor  can  one  realize  the  hold  which 
the  missionary  has  upon  the  future  of  China.  He  has 
not  only  established  churches  and  planted  schools;  he 
has  written  books  and  translated  other  books,  and  intro- 
duced western  ai'ts  and  sciences,  and  pioneered  the  way 
for  commerce  and  civilization.  .  .  .     The  missionary  is 

B 


242  BEX  CHRISTU8 

unsealing  the  Chinaman's  ears,  tliat  he  may  hear  the 
tramp  of  the  advancing  nations  of  the  twentieth  century. 

—  Dr.  F.  E,  Clark. 

I  believe  the  advancement  of  civilization,  the  extension 
of  commerce,  the  increase  of  knowledge  in  art,  science, 
and  literature,  the  promotion  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
the  development  of  countries  rich  in  undiscovered  min- 
eral and  vegetable  wealth,  are  all  intimately  identified 
with,  and  to  a  much  larger  extent  than  most  people  are 
aware  of,  dependent  upon,  the  work  of  the  missionary; 
and  I  hold  that  the  missionary  has  done  more  to  civilize 
and  to  benefit  the  heathen  world  than  any  or  all  other 
agencies  ever  employed.  —  Alexander  Mc  Arthur,  M.P. 

This  is  the  crack  of  doom  for  Paganism. 

—  Dr.  W.  a.  p.  Martin,  on  the  Boxer  uprising. 

They  climbed  the  steep  ascent  of  heaven 

Through  peril,  toil,  and  pain; 
O  God,  to  us  may  grace  be  given 

To  follow  in  their  train.  —  Reginald  Heber. 

Lo,  these  shall  come  from  far ;  and  lo,  these  from  the 
north  and  from  the  M'est;  and  these  from  the  land  of 
Sinim.  —  Isaiah. 

THEMES  FOR  STUDY  OR  DISCUSSION 

I.   China  in  Convulsion. 

ir.   Kuang  Hsu  and  His  Schemes  for  Reform. 
HI.   Ladies   of    the   Legations  at  the   Court    of    the 

Empress  Dowager. 
IV.   Li  Hung  Chang  and  Other  Eminent  Viceroys. 
V.   Chinese  Scholars  and   Statesmen   in   the   United 
States. 
VI.   The  United  States  as  a  JMaker  and  Breaker  of 
Treaties  with  China. 


TUE  OPEN  DOOR   OF  OPPORTUNITY     243 

VII.    Russia's  Occupation  of  Manchuria. 
VIII.    The  "  Yellow  Peril "  and  the  "  Yellow  Hope." 
IX.   Men  of  Might  who  have  shaped  the  Future  of 
China. 
X.    How  Missions  have  Helped  in   Diplomacy,  Phi- 
lanthropy, and  Social  Progress. 
XI.   Outlook  for   Chinese  Women   in   the   Twentieth 

Century. 
XII.    Coordination  of  Christian  Forces  in  China. 

BOOKS   OF   REFERENCE 

General  References  as  before 

Bishop's  "  The  Yangtze  Valley  and  Beyond."     XI,  XII. 
Bryson's  "John  Kenneth  Mackenzie."     IX,  X. 
Condit's  "  The  Chinaman  as  We  see  Him."     V,  VI. 
Chang  Chih  Tung's  "  China's  Only  Hope."     IV,  V,  VIH. 
Colquhoun's  "  China  in  Transformation."     I,  VII,  VIII. 
Coltman's  "  The  Chinese."     X. 

Creegan's  "  Great  Missionaries  of  the  Church."     IX. 
»  Crisis  in  China."     VIII,  IX. 

Curzon's  "  Problems  of  the  Far  East."     II,  III,  VIII,  IX. 
Douglas's  "  Li  Hung  Chang."    IV. 
Gibson's  "  The  Chinese  in  America."     V,  VI. 
Gilmour's  "  Among  the  Mongols."     IX,  X,  XII. 
Hake's  "  The  Story  of  Chinese  Gordon."     IX. 
Johnston's  "  China  and  Its  Future."     IX,  X,  XII. 
Ketler's  "  The  Tragedy  of  Paotingfu."     IX,  XII. 
Lawrence's  "  Modern  Missions  in  the  East."     IX,  X. 
Leonard's  "A  Hundred  Years  of  Missions."     IX,  X. 
Lewis's  "  Educational  Conquest  of  the  Far  East."     IV, 

X,  XIL 
Mackay's  "  From  Far  Formosa."     IX, 
Nevius's  «  Life  of  John  L.  Nevius."     IX. 
Report  of  the  Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference,  1900. 

rv,  V,  IX,  X,  XI,  XII. 


244  BEX  CHEISTUS 

Robson's  "  Griffith  John."    IX. 

Smith's  "  China  in  Convulsion."     I. 

Speer's  "  The  Oldest  and  the  Newest  Empire."     VI. 

Speer's  "  Missions  and  Politics  in  Asia."     X. 

Wilson's  "  China."    IV,  V,  VI,  VII,  VIII,  IX,  X. 

Articles  on  China  in  Periodicals  (see  Appendix)  :  — 

Contemporary,  Vol.  73,  "How  China  may  yet  be  Saved." 

I,  VII. 
Fortnightly,  Vol.  44,  "  The  Youngest  of  the  Saints."     IX. 
Forum,  Vol.  14,  "A  Chinaman   on  Our  Treatment    of 

China."     VI. 


APPENDIX 

LEADING  MISSIONARY  PERIODICALS 

Assembly  Herald  (Pres.),  U.  S. 

Baptist  Missionary  Magazine  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  U.  S. 

Chronicle  London  Missionary  Society,  England. 

Church  Missionary  Intelligencer  (C.  M.S.),  England. 

Foreign  Missionary  Tidings  (Pres.),  Canada. 

Friends'  Missionary  Advocate  (Friends),  U.S. 

Helping  Hand  (  W.  B.  F.  M.  S.),  U.  S. 

Life  and  Light  for  TFo?Han  (  Woman's  Board,  Cong.),  U.  S. 

Messenger  and  Record  (Pres.),  England. 

Mission  Studies  (Board  of  Interior,  Cong.),  U.S. 

Missionary  Gleaner  (Dutch  Reformed),  U.  S. 

Missionary  Herald  (Baptist),  England. 

Missionary  Herald  (Cong.),  U.  S. 

Missionary  Link  (Woman's  Union),  U.  S. 

Missionary  Outlook  (M.  E.),  Canada. 

Missionary  Review  of  the   World  (Interdenominational), 

U.S. 
Missionary  Tidings  (Christian),  U.S. 
Spirit  of  Missions  (P.  E.  Church),  U.S. 

Woman''s  Missionary  Friend  (M.  E.),  U.  S. 

Wo7nan's  Work  for  Wo7nan  (Pres.),  U.  S. 

Woman's   Missionary    Magazine    (United  Free  Church), 
Scotland. 

Women's  Missionary  Magazine  (U.  P.),  U.  S. 

ADDITIONAL   ARTICLES  IN   PERIODICALS 

[Owing  to  the  complex  international  situation  in  China, 
the  number  of  valuable  magazine  articles  concerning  that 
country,  since  the  memorable  summer  of  1900,  is  unusu- 

246 


246  BEX  CHRISTUS 

ally  large.  Besides  the  few  mentioned  below,  the  student 
should  consult  the  files  of  denominational  papers,  and 
publications  like  the  Outlook,  to  which  Dr.  Smith  is  a 
regular  contributor.  —  F.  J.  D.] 

Atlantic,  Sept.,  1900,  "  Russia's  Interest  in  China."  Oct., 
1900,  "The  Crisis  in  China."  Jan.,  1901,  "The 
Empress  Dowager."  Dec,  1902,  "  Chinese  Dislike 
of  Christianity." 

Century,  Dec,  1900,  "  The  Struggle  on  the  Peking  Wall." 
Jan.,  1901,  "Besieged  in  Peking."  Mar.,  1901, 
"  Flight  of  the  Empress  Dowager."  May,  1901,  "  A 
Missionary  Journey  in  China."  Sept.,  1902,  "  A  Visit 
to  the  Empress  Dowager." 

Contemporary,  July,  1900,  "  A  Scramble  for  China."    Aug., 

1900,  "  Who's  Who  in  China."  Oct.,  1900,  "  Our 
Future  Policy  in  China."  June,  1902,  "  The  Genius 
of  China." 

Fortnightly,  June,  1900,  "  The  Last  Palace  Intrigue  at 
Peking."    Aug.,  1900,  «  Peking  — and  After."    Feb., 

1901,  "  China  and  Non-China."  May,  1901,  "  China, 
Reform,  and  the  Powers." 

Forum,  July,  1900,  "  Chinese  Civilization  :  The  Ideal  and 
the  Actual."     Nov.,  1900,  "  Taming  of  the  Dragon." 

Harper,  Oct.,  1900  (1)  "  Wei  Hai  Wei,"  (2)  "  The  Chinese 
Resentment."  Jan.,  1903,  "  Chinese  and  Western 
Civilization"  (by  Wu  Ting  Fang). 

Nineteenth  Century,  July,  1900,  "Our  Vacillation  in 
China  and  Its  Consequences." 

North  American,  July,  1900,  "  Mutual  Helpfulness  be- 
tween China  and  the  United  States." 

Review  of  Reviews,  Sept.,  1900,  "  Can  China  be  Saved?" 
Jan.,  1901,  "  Foreign  Missions  in  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury." Mar.,  1902,  "  Practical  Missions."  May,  1902, 
"  Return  of  the  Court  from  Peking "  (from  Revue 
de  Paris).  July,  1902,  "System  of  Modern  Colleges 
for  China." 


APPENDIX  247 

LIST   OF   TWENTY   BOOKS  ^ 

At  Moderate  Prices,  Most  Useful  in  Course  ok 
Study  on  China 

General  Works 

"Dawn    on  the  Hills    of    T'ang."      Harlan    P.   Beach. 

Student  Vol.     N.Y.     ^0.75. 
"  Princely  Men  in  the  Heavenly  Kingdom."     United  Soc. 

C.  E.,  Boston.     $0.50. 

People  and  Life 

"Home  Life  in  China."    M.  I.  Bryson.     American  Tract 

Society,  N.Y.     f  1.00. 
"  Chinese  Characteristics."      A.  H.  Smith.      Revell  Co., 

N.Y.  $1.25. 
"China:  Travels  in  the  Middle  Kingdom."    James  H. 

Wilson.     Appleton,  N.Y.     $1.75.'" 

Mission  Work 

"John  Kenneth  Mackenzie."     M.  L  Bryson.     Revell  Co., 

N.Y.  $1.50. 
"  The  Cross  and  the  Dragon."     B.  C.  Henry.     Randolph, 

N.Y.  $1.00. 
"  China  and  the  Chinese."    John  L.  Nevius,  Pres.  Board, 

Phil.  $0.75. 
"Mission  Methods  in  Manchuria."     John  Ross.     Revell 

Co.,  N.Y.     $1.00. 

History 

"China"  (Story  of  the  Nations  Series).     R.  K.Douglas. 

Putnam,  N.Y.     $1.50. 
"A  Cycle  of  Cathay."    W.  A.  P.  Martin.     Revell  Co., 

N.Y.    $2.00. 

1  Several  desirable  books  are  excluded  from  this  list  on 
account  of  their  high  price.  Secure,  if  possible,  other  books 
mentioned  at  the  close  of  each  chapter. 


248  BEX  CHRISTUS 

Present  Political  Situation 

"China's  Only  Hope."     Chang  Chih  Tung.     Revell  Co., 

N.Y.     $0.75. 
"Missions  and  Politics    in   Asia."      Robert  E.   Spear. 

Revell  Co.,  N.Y.     ^1.00. 
"  The  Crisis  in  China."     Harper  Bros.,  N.Y.     $1.00. 

The  Boxer   Uprising 

"  Fire  and  Sword  in  Shansi."     E.  H.  Edwards.     Revell 

Co.,  N.Y.    $1.50. 
"The  Tragedy  of  Paotingfu."     I.  C.  Ketler.     Revell  Co., 

N.Y.     $2.00. 

Religious  and  Educational 

"  Confucianism  and  Taoism."    R.  K.  Douglas.     Nelson, 

N.Y.     $1.00. 
"  The  Educational  Conquest  of  the  Far  East."     Robert 

E.  Lewis.     Revell  Co.,  N.Y.    $1.00. 
"Two  Heroes  of  Cathay."     Luella  Miner.     Revell  Co., 

N.Y.     $1.00. 


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INDEX 


Abeel,  David,  136,  168, 186. 
Allen,  Y.  J.,  193. 
Amherst,  Lord,  133. 
Amoy,  27,  32,  139. 
Ancestral  worship,  80,  88. 
Anhui,  36. 
Ann  Arbor,  183. 
Antiquity,  1,  12,  121. 
Area,  2. 

Arnold,  Edwin,  240. 
Ashmore,  Dr.,  141. 
Audience  question,  186. 

Baldwin,  Mrs.,  81,  169. 

Bamboo,  7. 

Barrett,  John,  241. 

Beach,  H.  P.,  215. 

Bible  societies,  174,  191 ;  trans- 
lations, 132, 144 ;  women,  174. 

Bishop,  Isabella  Bird,  180,  216. 

Blake,  Lady,  172. 

Blind,  161. 

Blodget,  Henry,  148. 

Books,  bamboo,  11;  Buddhist, 
67 ;  destruction  of,  14 ;  ency- 
clopaedia, 23 ;  "of  Changes," 
57,59;  "Shuo  Wen,"  15,  19; 
60,  62,  78,  131,  156,  194,  215, 
235. 

Boone,  Dr.,  143. 

Boulger,  D.  C,  115. 

Boxers,  64,  78, 125, 160, 192, 198, 
206  et  seq.,  224,  226. 

Brewster,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  161. 

Bridgmaa,  E.  C,  136,  144. 

Brown,  S.  R.,  158. 

Buddhism,  15,  17,  61,  67  et  seq. 

Burns,  W.  C,  141. 


Cambridge  Band,  151. 
Canals,  5;  Grand,  21,  30,  31. 
Canton,  27,  33,  127,  137,  198. 
Chang  Chih  Tung,  116,  209. 
Channiug,  Blanche  M.,  164. 
Chao,  Mrs.,  178. 
Chef 00,  31,  33,  149,  161. 
Chekiang,  19,  32,  124,  216. 
Chentung  Liang  Cheng,  39. 
Chihli,  5,  23,  29,  149,  207,  216. 
Christian  Associations,  202,235; 

Endeavor,  202,  236. 
Chu  Fu-tze,  55. 
Chu  Hsi,  19,  36. 
Ch'img  Ch'ing,  35. 
Clarke,  F.  E.,  242. 
Classics,  17,  19,  20,  141. 
Climate,  6. 

Colleges,  148,  234,  239. 
Combs,  Dr.,  180. 
Conceit,  8,  26,  126. 
Confucius,  12,  16,  31,  44  et  seq. 

Sayings  of,  80 ;  96,  175. 
Conservatism,  9(5,  101. 
Cooper,  T.  T.,  107. 
Cumming,  Miss  Gordon,  241. 
Customs  service,  147. 

Darwin,  Charles,  241. 
Denby,  Charles,  163,  217. 
Diffusion  Society,  194,  205,  214. 
Dispensaries,  159. 
Distrust,  104. 
Door  of  Hope,  183. 
Dragon,  61 ;  Throne,  22. 
Dudgeon,  Dr.,  148,  187. 
Dynasties,  Chou,  11,  59;  Han, 
14,  227;  Hsai,  10;  Manchu, 


253 


254 


INDEX 


25;  Ming,  21,  122;  Mongol, 
20,68,122;  Sui,21,67;  Sung, 
19,  32,  68:  T'ang,  4,  16,  51, 
68.  76 ;  Tsin,  13. 

East  India  Co.,  127,  129,  132, 
138. 

Edkins,  Mr.,  148. 

Education,  144.  168,  194,  234. 

Emperors,  Chia  Ch'ing,  26; 
Ch'ien  Lung,  26;  Ch'in  Shili 
Huang,  13 ;  Chu  Muan  Cliang, 
21;  Hsieu  Feng,  28;  K'ang 
Hsi,  25,  70 ;  Kao  Tsung,  17 ; 
Kuang  Hsu,  117,  204,  231; 
Ming  Ti,  67;  P'ing  Ti,  14; 
Shun,  10;  Tai  Tsung,  17; 
Tao  Kuang,  27;  T'ung  Chih, 
28;  Yang  Ti,  21;  Yao,  10; 
"  YeUow,"  15  ;  Yung  Clieng, 
26. 

Faber,  Ernst,  54,  62,  195,  205. 

"  Face,"  107. 

Famine,  6;  Groat,  187,  228. 

Farming,  metliods  of,  4. 

"Feng-shui,"  9. 

Fitcli,  G.  F.,  197. 

Five  Relations,  47,  55,  89,  104. 

Foochow,  27,  32,  139,  169,  193, 

198. 
Food  supply,  6. 
Foot-binding,  18,  173,  202. 
Foreigners,  sentiment  toward, 

94,  206. 
Formosa,  27,  32. 
Forum,  241. 

Foster,  Mrs.  Arnold,  217. 
Fukien,  32,  95,  161,  200,  216. 
Fulton,  A.  A.,  202;   Mary  H., 

184. 

Gamble,  "William,  196. 
Genghis  Khan,  20. 
"  Glad  Tidings  Village,"  189. 
Gordon,  Charles  George,  28. 
Gracey,  J.  T.,  40. 


Graham,  J.  M.,  219. 
Griffin,  Lepel,  81. 

Hangchow,  19,  32,  149. 
Hankow,  36,  192. 
Headland,  Dr.  176. 
Heber,  Reginald,  242. 
Herodotus  of  China,  15. 
Hobson,  Dr.,  138. 
Holcombe,  Chester,  167. 
Honan,  36. 

Hong  Kong,  33,  144,  172,  198. 
Hospitals,  137,  159,  182. 
Howard,  Dr.,  180. 
Howe,  Julia  Ward,  162. 
Hue,  Abbe',  120,  123, 155. 
Hu  King  Eng,  182. 
Hunan,  35,  76,  149,  203. 
Hunt,  P.  R.,  198. 
Hupeh,  36,  216. 

Ideographs,  3,  11. 

Immigrants,  23,  33. 

India,  6,  67,  127, 135,  189,  221. 

Indirection,  103. 

Industry,  90. 

Infanticide,  58. 

Ink  invented,  15. 

Insincerity,  105. 

Irishmen  of  China,  33. 

Itinerating,  156. 

Japan,  13,  16,  28,  59,  137,  199. 

Jesuits,  60,  123. 

Jews,  15,  49. 

John,  Griffith,  149,  193. 

Kahn,  Ida,  173,  183. 
Kansuh,  38,  76. 
Kerr,  Dr.,  161,  183. 
Kiangsu,  31,  216. 
Kindergartens,  175. 
Kipling,  41. 
Kuang  Hsu,  231. 
Kuangsi,  33,  36,  70. 
Kuangtung,  27,  33,  123,  216. 
Kuan  Yin,  74. 


INDEX 


255 


Kublai  Khan,  20,  122, 
Ku  Ch'eng,  33,  200. 
Kueichou,  34. 
Kung,  Prince,  28. 
Kuo  Sung  Tao,  188. 

Lao-tze,  59,  62. 

Legge,  Dr.,  51,  54. 

Liang  A-fa,  134. 

Li  Hung  Chang,  30,  36,  52,  54, 

155,  180. 
Literature,  15, 17, 18,  26,  194. 
Little,  Mrs.,  117,  202. 
Liu,  Deacon,  160. 
Lockhart,  William,  138,  148. 
Loess,  5,  .37. 
London  Times,  40. 
Lui  K'un  Yi,  209. 

Hacao,  33,  130. 

Madison,  James,  129. 

Mail,  China,  185. 

Manchuria,  6,  24,  28,  38,  64, 
152,  187,  201,  207,  216. 

Marco  Polo,  20. 

Marsh,  Dr.,  81. 

Martin,  W.  A.  P.,  48,  71,  149, 
242. 

Ma  Tuan  Lin,  19. 

McArthur,  Alexander,  242. 

McKenzie,  Dr.,  148. 

Meadows,  T.  T.,  139. 

Medhurst,  W.  H.,  135,  142,  144. 

Medical  work,  179. 

Mencius,  12,  31,  55,  70. 

Mills,  Mrs.,  161. 

Milne,  Robert,  131, 144. 

Minerals,  8,  34. 

Missions,  Am.  Board,  136,  152, 
169, 198 ;  Baptist,  141, 1(59, 177, 
189,  195;  China  Inland,  150, 
198 ;  Episcopal,  142,  149,  169, 
198;  Reformed,  142 ;  German, 
141 ;  London,  128, 152 ;  Meth- 
odist, 142,  150,  169,  180,  187 ; 
198;  Presbyterian,  38,  140, 
143,  149,  152,    169,   182,   187, 


196,  198,   199;   Roman  Cath- 
olic, 121,  188;  Union,  169. 

Mohammedanism,  18,  53,  76  o.t 
seq.,22-2. 

Mongolia,  20,  68. 

Monte  Corvino,  121. 
^jfMorrison,  Robert,  129, 140, 191. 

Muirhead,  William,  142,  149, 
218. 

Nanking,  22,  27,  .31, 140,  149. 
Napoleon,  39;  "of  China,"  13. 
Native  Christians,  210,  225. 
Neandor,  39. 
Nestorians,  37.  120,  222. 
Nevius,  J.  L.,  149. 
Niles,  Mary,  183. 
Ningpo,  27,  32,  139,  197. 
North  American  Review,  162. 

01jT)hant,  Mr.,  136. 
Opium,  27,  37,  90,  160. 

Pao  Ting  Fu,  30. 

Paper  money,  18. 

Parker,  Peter,  1.37. 

Parliament  of  Religions,  5,  97. 

Patriotism,  95. 

Peking,  2,  20,  24,  28,  30, 63, 127, 
148,  173,  186,  198,  231;  Ga- 
zette, 18,  53,  54;  University, 
198. 

Peng  Kuang  Yu,  52,  97,  108. 

Persecutions,  199,  208. 

Plain,  Great,  6,  31,  36,  38,  85. 

Population,  2,  14,  17,  84,  221. 

Poverty,  58,  90,  92, 158. 

Prince,  of  Peace,  14;  of  litera- 
ture, 18. 

Printing  presses,  133,  192,  196, 
214. 

Provinces,  29. 

Queue,  64. 

Railroads,  30,  31,  35,  38,  203. 
Ralph,  Julian,  40. 


256 


INDEX 


Ramazan  fast,  76. 

Reed,  W.  B.,  240. 

Reforms,  29,  35,  203,  230. 

Reid,  Gilbert,  39. 

Ricci,  Matthew.  123. 

Ricbard,  Timothy,  69,  189,  195, 

215. 
Rivers,  2,  21,  30,  33,  37. 
Roberts,  Dr.,  148. 
Roman  Catholics,  206,  222. 
Russia,  31,  38. 

Salt  wells,  9,  35. 
Schools,  17, 150, 157, 169, 171,233. 
Secret  sects,  77  et  seq.,  222. 
Seward,  G.  F.,  163;  W.  H.,  41. 
Shanghai,  27,  30,  32,  135,  139, 

172,  183,  188,  190,  196. 
Shansi,  5,  9,  23,  37,  95,  188,  207, 

232. 
Shantung,    12,  23,  31,  38,  95, 

135,  149,  226. 
Shensi,  37,  76,  189. 
Si  Ngan  Fu,  29,  37,  121. 
Singapore,  137,  168. 
Smith,  Mrs.  A.  H.,  171;  Moses, 

80.  , 

Solidarity,  85. 
Soochow,  31,  149. 
Speer,  William,  115. 
Ssuch'uan,  9,  35,  149,  199,  213. 
Stewart,  Mr.,  200. 
Stone,  Mary,  182. 
Stronach,  144. 
Strong,  Josiah,  238. 
Superstitions,  63. 
Suspicion,  104. 
Swatow,  18,  33,  141. 

T'ai  P'ing  Rebellion,  27,  31,  34, 
36, 135,  140,  143. 


T'ai  Shan,  31. 

Taoism,  59  et  seq. 

Tartars,  19,  23. 

Taylor,  J.  H.,  150  ;  Mrs.  F.  H., 

218. 
Temples,  53,   67,    72;    Temple 

Bar,  115. 
Three  Kingdoms,  16,  67. 
Tientsin,  30,  54,  145,  148,  154, 

180. 
Titus,  Mrs.  E.  C,  217. 
Tract  societies,  191,  198. 
Training  schools,  177. 
Treaties,  145. 
Tuan  Fang,  209. 

Unity,  50,  89, 142,  222,  225. 
University,   Peking,   149,   198; 

Tientsin,  102. 
Untruthfulness,  105. 

Valignani,  122,  128. 

Wall,  Great,  13,  38. 

War,  methods  of,  12;  with 
France,  28 ;  with  Great  Brit- 
ain, 146;  with  Japan,  28,  32, 
203 ;  Opium,  27. 

Wei  Hai  Wei.  31, 

Williams,  S.  W.,  16,  21,  27,  37, 
52,  136,  188. 

Williamson,  Dr.,  182,  194,  218. 

Woman's  work,  167. 

Woodhull,  H.  C,  163. 

Woolston  sisters,  170. 

Worthley,  Evelyn,  81. 

Wu,  Mrs.  180. 

Yates,  Dr.  and  Mrs.,  143. 
Yuan  Shih  K'ai,  209. 
Yunnan,  34. 


5  241      3 


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