Within the gateways of the Far East: a record of recent travel

Wthin

Qate^softhe
Far East

CharlesR.Erdman

LIBRARY OF PI

/W -4 2006

THEOLOGICAL:

DS 508 .E7 c.2

Erdman, Charles Rosenbury,

1866-1960.
Within the gateways of the
Far East

Within the Gateways
of the Far East

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

Princeton Theological Seminary Library

http://www.archive.org/details/withingatewaysofOOerdm

THE FAMOUS TORII, OR GATEWAY, AT MIYAJIMA
"We saw its shrines float on the surface of the flood tide."

Within the Gateways
Of the Far East

A Record of Recent Travel

By
CHARLES R. ERDMAN

Professor of Practical Theology
Princeton Theological Seminary

Author of "The Gospel of John, an Exposition," "The

Gospel of Matthew," " The Gospel of Mark," " The

General Epistles," "The Acts," "The Gospel

of Luke," "Coming to the Communion,"

"The Return of Christ," etc.

-»!W

ILLUSTRATED

L

;;;'CETON

APR -4 2006

M<Y

New York Chicago

Fleming H. Revell Company

London and Edinburgh

Copyright, 1922, by
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

New York: 158 Fifth Avenue
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave.
London: 21 Paternoster Square
Edinburgh : 75 Princes Street

To

MY WIFE

who

encourages me

in

every worthy effort

and even

forgives me

for writing books

Foreword

MY next thrilling narrative will prob-
ably be dedicated to that rapidly
diminishing number of persons who
have distinguished themselves by never visiting
the Orient. These pages were prepared more
particularly for the perusal of personal friends
and they may be regarded as an apology for
an extended absence from home. They do not
form an absolutely complete compendium of
routes, distances, areas, populations, rainfalls,
products, languages, customs, vital statistics of
Lama priests, and similar informing items
which fill more important and conventional
books of travel. The omission of any such
details is due to the cruel limitations of space
imposed by the high cost of printing.
Compensation is offered in the original and
profound observations made by the author,
whose ignorance of geography, history, science,
and religion enables him to write with such
abandon and assurance as characterize all who
have spent a few days in the Far East. The
value of the volume will ever remain a matter
of personal opinion, to which those who
7

8 FOEEWORD

read it through will be fully entitled. The
reading must be prompt, because the Orient is
changing so rapidly that the statements of the
author soon may be out of date. To this same
cause must be attributed any apparent inaccu-
racies the book may contain.

C. R. E.
Princeton, N. J,

Contents

I. "Westward Ho"

II. China.

III. Korea

IV. Japan .

V. Homeward Bound

13
32
62
92
108

Illustrations

FACING PAGE

The Famous Torii of Miyajima . . . Title

The Daibutsu 26

The Great Wall 32

The Cheng- Yang- Men Gate, Peking . . 56

A Korean Peasant 70

Pyeng-Yang City Wall 86

The Yomei-Mon at Nikko .... 94
Fujiyama . . . . . . .108

XI

"WESTWARD HO"

TO reach the Far East you may sail
due west, and you surely will choose
that course if you are starting from
California for the coast of Cathay.

From San Francisco to Honolulu is a voy-
age of five days and fifty-five nights, at least
so it seems to my friend who loves to lounge
on deck but loathes being shut down below in
a hot little box without light or air, or room to
move. However, my friend has never been at
sea, and he cannot imagine what it is to occupy
a cabin flooded with sunshine and swept by
breezes, cooled and heated and lighted by elec-
tric devices, provided with beds and with ward-
robes and couches, with hot and cold water,
with adjoining baths and all the appointments
of more stationary hotels.

Then too his imagination is clouded by an
unfortunate knowledge of history, and he re-
members that Thurston and Bingham and their
wives and companions, the first missionaries to
Hawaii, spent one hundred and fifty days on
13

14 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

their toy ship Tkaddeus en route from Boston,
that Mrs. Bingham in her journal uncomplain-
ingly compared her stateroom to the " Black
Hole of Calcutta," that in those days the menu
consisted of hardtack, pickles and pork, that
ships were usually boarded by pirates, wrecked
by typhoons and their companies devoured by
cannibals.

As a matter of fact, a modern Pacific voyage
is attended by not the slightest discomfort aside
from paying for the ticket ; and the trip is sur-
prisingly short. One scarcely has thrown his
cabin into disorder with trunks and bags, has
sorted out his steamer letters and telegrams,
has advised the captain as to his duties, has
taken a few turns on deck, and an occasional
sleep in his room, has grown accustomed to the
roll of the ship and to the snoring of his cabin-
mate, in fact has just accommodated himself
to his surroundings, when suddenly he has
pointed out to him, on a bright morning, the
bold headlands of the Hawaiian Islands, " the
Paradise of the Pacific."

These islands were known to the Spaniards
and visited by Juan Gaetano in 1555 ; but they
were " discovered " by Captain Cook in 1778,
and by him " placed upon the map," and
named the " Sandwich Islands " in honour of
the Lord of the British Admiralty. For these

" WESTWAED HO » 15

and other indiscretions, the famous, or notori-
ous, captain was killed by the natives who for
a time had worshipped him as a god ; they re-
moved his flesh from his bones, decked the
skeleton in red feathers and then paid it the
same divine honours as when it had been more
decently clothed. A monument to the memory
of the rash captain has been reared by his ad-
miring countrymen, where he is supposed to
have fallen, on Hawaii, the southernmost of
the islands, which island has given to the group
their present name.

These Islands of the Blest, some eight in
number, stretch from southeast to northwest
over a distance of about two hundred miles, in
the northern tropics, and some two thousand
miles west of the Calif ornian coast. The third
in size, but the most important, is Oahu, on
which the city of Honolulu is situated, and it is
this island which appears first, raising its grey-
green mountain summits out of the emerald
sea.

However, to the south, some fifty miles in
the distance, one traces the faint outlines of
Molokai, " the leper island " ; but these out-
lines are less vague and indistinct than the
myths which are usually associated, in popular
fancy, with the false phrase " leper island "
and the famous name of Father Damien.

It is true that at Kalaupapa the government

16 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

has long been conducting a colony for lepers,
but only a fraction of the island is devoted to
this purpose.

It is also true that here Father Damien un-
selfishly performed the rites of his church and
ministered to the " faithful," that he con-
tracted the loathsome disease of leprosy and
died worthy of all the praise bestowed upon
him, even by Stevenson ; but in doing him full
justice it is not necessary to forget the Protes-
tant workers who laboured at his side, but
whose lives were preserved by more careful
personal habits and by a wiser observance of
sanitary laws. Most of all is it right to re-
member the modern heroes who are labouring
to-day so devotedly for the relief of the pitiful
sufferers on Molokai, and the scientists in other
places, who by their discoveries and their in-
vestigations even hold out hopes of effecting
permanent cures, even of stamping out leprosy
from the earth.

It is, however, the island of Oahu which we
are approaching. We round the great prom-
ontory of Koka Head, follow with the eye the
white line of foaming surf, pass Diamond
Head and the famous Waikiki Beach and are
soon alongside the great wharf in the harbour
of Honolulu.

A resident of New York cruelly remarked

"WESTWAKD HO" 17

that he spent a week one afternoon in Philadel-
phia. For quite contrary reasons, a day and
a night passed in Honolulu are so crowded
with incidents and impressions and delights
that they linger in memory quite disassociated
from any particular measurements of time.

In order that the stay may be most enjoyable
one should provide in advance to be met at the
wharf by relatives, particularly by a cousin,
who bears the name of " the beloved disciple."
First of all you will pay a visit of respect to
the Palace, the last royal occupant of which
was Queen Liliuokalani, whose lovely song
"Aloha Oe " bids fair to make her fame out-
live that of the reckless Captain Cook, or of
the intrepid warrior Kamehameha I. It was
by the leadership of the latter that the islands
were brought under the sway of a single ruler,
more than a century ago ; and just across from
the royal palace you may see standing his im-
posing gold-wrought statue.

The " Mission Memorial," with its offices
and commodious auditorium, was erected by
the worthy descendants of the Christian heroes
to whose lives and services the present civiliza-
tion and prosperity of the islands are traced,
and it forms the radiating centre from which
are going forth similar transforming influences
into all parts of the islands to-day.

A drive up a steep narrowing valley brings

18 GATEWAYS OF THE FAK EAST

one suddenly to the Pali, the brink of a preci-
pice, from which one looks down a sheer thou-
sand feet upon a panorama whose loveliness is
probably unsurpassed. From the foot of the
cliff the verdant fields stretch away to the white
surf and the many-shaded expanse of the green
sea, while the picture is framed in the rugged
steeps of the mountains and the bending blue
of the sky. It is indeed a scene of loveliness;
but an inscription on the rock, behind the visi-
tor, reminds him that it was once a scene of
horrid tragedy, for here the defenders of the
island took their last stand, and from this rock
the king and the remnant of his army were
hurled headlong, as Kamehameha the Great
completed his conquest of the islands.

Then you visit Waikiki, with its white
sands, its curling waves, its surf-boards, its
canoes and its joyous bathers. After a glimpse
at the aquarium, at the polo field and the coun-
try club, you make a round of the schools and
educational institutions which are the glory of
the islands, and you realize on what broad
lines the early missionaries built, and how
wisely their descendants are following their
policies to-day.

Seven years after the landing of the Pil-
grims from the Thaddeus, a boarding-school
for boys was established; and, ever since,
Christian education has been a chief concern of

" WESTWARD HO » 19

those who have led in the life and development
of the Islands. Among other results may be
mentioned Maunaolu Seminary, Kohala Girls'
School, Mid-Pacific Institute, the Christian
Worker's Institute, the Theological Seminary,
and the admirable system of Sunday Schools
established in the centres of population on each
of the Islands.

Of all the myths connected with these ro-
mantic scenes, none is more familiar than the
one which suggests that the missionaries " ex-
ploited the natives " and that their children
" have grown rich " because of the land they
inherited. Nothing could be farther from the
facts. It is true, however, that the great prin-
ciples taught by those early pioneers, and the
institutions they founded, did establish on the
Islands a Christian civilization, and that the
descendants of the missionaries have been the
leaders in every community, because of their
ability, their worth, and their strength of char-
acter.

The need of real " missionary effort," how-
ever, has not passed; in fact a new situation
has arisen which offers a serious challenge to
the Church. This was impressed on the mind
by a visit to the Buddhist temple. Here one
seemed to be in a Protestant church. There
were the pews, the pulpit, the pipe organ, but
there, most conspicuous of all, the great golden

20 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST

shrine with its Buddha. Here are being sung
such adaptations of Christian hymns as these:

" O, for a thousand tongues to sing
My Holy Buddha's praise." . . .

" Joy to the World ! The Buddha's come,
Let Earth receive the truth." . . .

" Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of
sin,
The law of Buddha teaches peace
within." . . .

Yet this suggests no approach to Chris-
tianity, nor sympathy for its teachings, for
in this temple Christianity is being most bit-
terly assailed. Now, on these islands, nearly
every second person, actually over one hun-
dred thousand of the population, are Japanese;
and for them Buddhism has become a rallying
centre. Can these thousands be brought to ac-
cept the Gospel of Christ ?

After a night of perfect rest at a country
home on the northern shore of the island,
guarded by sentinels of royal palms, breathing
the fragrance of flowers and lulled to sleep by
the murmur of the surf, we drove to the city,
in the early morning, through great plantations
of sugar-cane, of bananas and of pineapples.
The cost of missionary operations on these

" WESTWAED HO " 21

islands, during the full century, is estimated at
one and a half million dollars. The annual
exports now amount to more than one hundred
million. Some eighty million is in sugar, but
an increasing amount of the remainder is in
pineapples, more than six million cases of
which are shipped in a single year.

The great naval station at Pearl Harbor,
and the thousands of soldiers at the Schofield
Barracks remind the traveller of the strong
fortification of this far-American outpost, and
also of the fact that while he is five thousand
miles from home, he is still in his native land
and under the United States flag.

This was further impressed as one em-
barked to continue his voyage, for, as the
vessel moved from its moorings, the Hawaiian
National Hymn and " Aloha Oe " were pre-
ceded by the " Star Spangled Banner." Then
the serpentine streamers of paper began to
break, the flower-bedecked and garlanded pas-
sengers waved farewells to their friends on the
shore, and the islands of romance, of beauty,
of sentiment and of song, began to fade in the
distance. Yet as those scenes were beginning
to grow dim, the marvel of one great romance
became only more vivid, the romance of those
messengers of Christ, who, summoned by the
appeal of a Hawaiian boy, sailed from their
homeland in 1819 on that little brig Thaddcus.

22 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

In that very year, and in the same month, a
providential preparation was being made for
their coming. The islanders, ignorant of the
approaching messengers, weary of their idol-
atry and of the irksome requirements of their
cruel taboos, destroyed their idols, burned their
temples and abolished their priesthood. The
messengers of the Cross found a people without
a religion, but without spiritual truths or moral
restraints. No wonder that their messages
were received and that in 1837-1838, under the
leadership of Titus Coan and Lorenzo Lyons
and their companions, nearly twenty thousand
new members were added to the church. Do
not such facts outline the real romance of these
Islands? Such at least were the thoughts
which filled the mind as the jagged outlines of
the volcanic mountains sank beneath the hori-
zon of the sapphire sea.

By the time one was under way from Hono-
lulu to Yokohama, he had become fairly well
acquainted with his fellow-passengers and had
found them to form a more varied and less
conventional company than usually sail on an
Atlantic liner. It was also remarked that the
average intelligence of Pacific voyagers is
rapidly rising, as was evident from the fewer
number of inane criticisms passed upon mis-
sionaries and the smaller amount of liquor

"WESTWAKD HO" 23

consumed than might have been expected from
popular reports.

There was marked informality and good
fellowship. The hours were passed in such
social amusements as are usual in places where
the surroundings are delightful and time is not
at a premium.

On the first evening the most interesting
pastime consisted in searching for the
Southern Cross. Those who depend for their
information upon poets and the authors of
guide-books, have little conception of the diffi-
culty inexperienced travellers have in discov-
ering this elusive constellation. For two
nights the search was continued ; every author-
ity on board was consulted from the captain
to the cabin-boy. Three different " crosses "
were definitely pointed out, and when there
remained little doubt that we were gazing on
" the Cross " it proved to be a kite, for the
poor little quadrangle of stars has no connec-
tion between its four twinkling points, and it
may have been more than local and provincial
prejudice which declared that there is far
greater impressiveness in the majestic " Cross "
which glorifies the northern sky.

The days passed so rapidly that apparently
it was not thought worth while to count them
all ; for we retired on Monday night at eleven,
slept eight hours, and awoke on Wednesday

24 GATEWAYS OF THE FAK EAST

morning. The captain explained that we had
" crossed the meridian " and so " lost a day."
Another explanation was that the captain in-
tentionally dropped a day to shorten the voy-
age for the benefit of those who are so con-
structed that they cannot enjoy the sea.
Whatever the explanation of the fact, this ex-
perience of losing a day out of one's life, espe-
cially when he knows he is moving toward
the " sunset," has solemn implications from
the view-point of science, of philosophy or of
religion. In a word, it reminds one that a
day of reckoning is sure to come; and that
when one continues to borrow, as we had in
turning our watches back a half hour every
day of our voyage, whether one borrows time
or strength or money, some day he may have
to pay, and the experience may occasion some
surprise. However, there is a brighter view
of this " loss of a day " at the one-hundred-
and-eightieth meridian: some "lost days" of
life may never be regained, but this full day at
least awaits one, and can be recovered just
where it was lost, if one will but change his
course and steer courageously toward the sun-
rise.

Another equally practical suggestion came
to mind. It was in reference to my friend
who is a Seventh Day Adventist. He wor-
ships on Saturday and regrets that we hold

1 « WEST W AED HO ' ' 25

Sunday as the day of sacred rest. Why not
have this friend take a voyage toward the west
and bring all his sect with him? Let them
carefully observe as sacred every seventh day,
let them continue their journey around the
world, and when they reach home they will
be worshipping on the same day with all their
fellow-Christians. Thus simple is the process
of converting an Adventist into a Presbyterian.
Thus slight are some of the barriers which
prevent the union of churches.

Then with deeper distress came the thought
of the Adventist who had preceded us across
the sea with the sole purpose of distressing
converted heathen by telling them they must
observe as the seventh day, a day the number
of which has not changed since the creation of
the world. He declares it a sin to change the
day of sacred rest; yet he knows that when he
crossed the Pacific he dropped a day from his
week and began to worship on Friday, or, if
he refused, he arrived in the East worshipping
on Sunday with all his fellow-Christians.
Thus in crossing the one-hundred-and-eightieth
degree, the Seventh Day Adventist seems to be
in danger of losing his religion, — or his mind.
Thus serious is the matter of journeying west-
ward toward the East ; for the Adventist is not
the only man who has lost his religion by a
voyage across the sea.

26 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

While thus meditating about the Seventh
Day, on the eighth day from Honolulu, about
noon, there appeared in the western sky what
seemed at first to be a fleecy cloud, but later
proved to be the desire of our hearts, a distant
view of the snow-capped summit of Fujiyama,
" the sacred." This sight was the signal for
packing bags, paying fees, and leaving the ship
for a glimpse of romantic, picturesque Japan.

The first sight which usually amuses tourists
in the Orient is that of their fellow-passengers
looking supremely uncomfortable and self-con-
scious as they sit perched on those glorified
baby-carriages, the " jinrikishas " or " pull-
man-cars," and as they roll silently along the
wharf, toward the Yokohama hotels, drawn by
little brown-clad Japanese coolies.

Some of us, however, wished to attempt the
perilous experiment of " hustling the East " ;
we were anxious to save time ; so we mounted
a motor-car and rushed off to pay our respects
to the "Daibutsu" or "Great Buddha" of
Kamakura.

The drive was indeed one of deadly peril,
not however to the occupants of the car, but to
the pedestrians and more particularly to the
children who scurried out from under the
wheels as we dashed through streets and alleys
.and lanes so narrow that the mud-guards

THE DAIBUTSU

" The colossal image of brass towered before us some fifty feet into

the evening sky."

* WESTWARD HO " 2T

seemed to scrape along the piles of goods dis-
played in the little open-fronted shops that
lined both sides of the way through the city.
No one in the party commanded enough Japa-
nese to consult with the driver on the delicate
topic of speed ; so we resigned ourselves to the
probable slaughter of innocents, and as we be-
gan to reach stretches of open country we
settled down to enjoy the scenes through which
we were passing. There were wooded hills
and vistas of the sea, and crowded villages
and fields green with growing grain ; but there
were two features of the landscape, for which
we had been prepared properly by the guide-
books and encyclopaedias, which impressed us
almost with the force of discoveries ; these were
the cherry blossoms and the children.

They appeared in about equal numbers, both
in the state of nature, but many of the latter
were clothed in kimonos of various colours, the
younger children bound to the backs of their
mothers, or contentedly clinging to the shoul-
ders of sisters or brothers little larger than
themselves. Both the abundant blossoms and
the superabundant babes seemed symbolic, the
one of the beauty, the other of the growth and
hope of Japan.

In about half an hour we found ourselves
standing on the sloping " approach " and gaz-
ing in wonder at the colossal image of brass

28 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

which towered before us some fifty feet into
the evening sky. We lingered there in the twi-
light, in the starlight, in the moonlight, ever
more deeply impressed by the majesty and the
vast proportions of the statue. As a symbol
of Buddhism it may well be vast in propor-
tions, for before that image, one-third of the
human race or more than four hundred million
human souls are virtually bowing in worship,
seeking that conquest of all desire, that calm of
perfect resignation, which the face of this
statue so perfectly represents. The ideal is not
that of holiness, of achievement, of service, it
is the " Light of Asia " not the " Light of the
World."

Leaving Yokohama next day, we travelled
the eighteen miles to Tokyo by a truly modern
electric train, and glimpses of the Imperial
Palace, of the Imperial University and of the
unique new Imperial Hotel, impressed upon
our minds the fact that we were in the capital
of the Island Empire; then, further extended
motor excursions, in various directions, with
friends residing in the city, made us realize
that Tokyo is one of the four or five largest
cities in the world. Most of the buildings are
insignificant in height; they seem in too much
terror of earthquakes to raise themselves far
above the ground.

Whatever is beautiful in the way of gardens

"WESTWAKD HO" 29

or residences is carefully screened by walls
from the profane gaze of the tourist. Broad,
dusty avenues have been cut through mazes of
narrow winding streets which for miles stretch
in every direction. A careful search discovers
Christian churches and schools and hospitals,
but it cannot be said that religion has placed
any very marked impression on the great
metropolis.

We were conducted to the shops on the
Ginza and on the crowded cross-streets. We
were entertained in a restaurant sitting on the
floor in stocking feet and struggling with chop-
sticks. We drove to Ueno Park, not simply
to see the cherry blossoms, but to visit the na-
tional Exhibition where were displayed all the
industrial and artistic products of the Empire.
The jostling crowds were evidently from the
country districts, for, as foreigners, we seemed
to attract as much attention as other " exhib-
its," a fact which suggested the truth that
Western influence and Christianity itself have
reached only a fractional part of Japan.

A night on a Japanese sleeper may leave
something to be desired in the way of luxury,
but it brought us to the ancient, Western cap-
ital, charming Kyoto. It was a picture of love-
liness as we looked down upon it from the
hotel; it seemed to be a bouquet of cherry-
blossoms, enveloped by hills of green.

30 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

It is, however, a city " wholly given to
idolatry." Of course one will enjoy a visit to
the grounds and buildings of the Mikado's
Palace; he will struggle against the tempta-
tion to bankrupt himself in the shops which
are the most attractive in the land, but his real
concern in Kyoto will be its countless temples.

We rambled through acres of these struc-
tures, carefully depositing our shoes outside in
the rain, and walking in cloth slippers over
vast expanses of polished floors, passing before
uncounted idols and becoming more and more
depressed by realizing the familiar fact that a
proud modern empire, one of the five great
powers of the world, is in the deadening grasp
of false religions and degrading cults.

It was a relief to drive out to Lake Biwa,
although the superb view there was obtained
from the platform of a heathen temple. How-
ever, it was an unalloyed pleasure, one sunny
spring morning, as the guest of friends from
Princeton, to make the excursion to the rapids
of Katsura-gawa. We motored out through
the fields and villages, along the busy roads, to
Hozu and then boarded a crude little craft, but
were comfortably seated in chairs, as we shot
the rapids to Arashi-yama, some thirteen miles
below. The river rushed through a rocky
gorge, but the boatmen were skillful, and the
scene was charming, as the green hills which

1 * WESTWARD HO" 31

rose precipitously from the banks of the wind-
ing stream were densely covered with foliage
and were adorned by great masses of bright
blossoms.

Such a scene was a perfect preparation for
our sail, next day, through the famous beauties
of the Inland Sea. At sunset we passed the
narrow straits at Shimonoseki; all of Good
Friday we ploughed the Yellow Sea, which,
however, was blue in the morning and green
in the afternoon, but sufficiently muddy to be
regarded as yellow as, toward evening, we
dropped anchor at the mouth of the Yangtse.
The next morning we landed at Shanghai, the
place of all places to end a westward voyage
to the Far East, for here, as in no other place,
the East and the West are found to meet.

II

CHINA

SHANGHAI is rightly regarded as the
" Gateway of China," and in China a
gateway is never a thing to be despised ;
for this is a land of walls. The Great Wall,
stretching fourteen hundred miles across the
northern border, is not merely a monument of
the past, it is a symbol for the present of all
Chinese life, whether domestic, social, re-
ligious or political; all is surrounded by bar-
riers, and those who find no special way of
entrance pass by in ignorance of the meaning
and mystery which lie within.

Shanghai is not to be despised, although
some travellers affect such contempt. Of
course when one has travelled ten thousand
miles in search of the Far East, he is a little
surprised to find a great commercial city with
so many great buildings and broad boulevards,
and the beautiful homes and the crowded street
cars and noisy motors and similar reminders
of the conventional and commonplace West.

However, when one has been jostled for a

few days by the hurrying crowd of natives,

when he sees that only one in seventy-five, of

the million and a half of the residents, is a

32

THE GREAT WALL

Once 1700 miles in length; it is 35 feet high and 23 feet thick;

the greatest defensive work in the world.

CHINA 33

foreigner, when he turns from the Interna-
tional and French settlements and plunges into
the wild welter of the " native city," he will
encounter sufficient foul odours, piles of pro-
visions and coffins, squalid hovels, clinging
beggars, mangy dogs and other sickening sights
to satisfy the most romantic lover of the allur-
ing mysteries of the Orient.

In Shanghai one can catch a glimpse of the
Far East, and he can even use this city as a
Gateway to the realm of Christian missions.
Evidently most tourists need such an entrance ;
for most of them travel through these Eastern
lands and never catch a glimpse of the fascinat-
ing fields of enterprise and endeavour which
often lie hidden behind the walls of Western
indifference and ignorance and prejudice.

Many persons imagine that they have seen
Shanghai when they can tell you of the busi-
ness houses on the Bund, of the Bubbling Well
mansions, of the shops on Nanking Road, of
the events of the Race Course or the " dinner-
dances " at the " Astor House Hotel." They
would be surprised and delighted if given even
a glimpse of the charming campus of St. John's
University, the beautiful new buildings of the
Baptist University, of the ornate old palace
occupied by the McTeyre School for Girls, or
the great educational work being done by the
Presbyterians behind the walls of their com-

34 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST

pound, but hardly beyond the odours of the
streets and canals, at the South Gate of the
Chinese City.

However, to those who were fortunate
enough to gain an entrance, Shanghai offered
in May, 1922, a true gateway for an investi-
gation of the missionary occupation of China.
At a great National Christian Conference
there were gathered twelve hundred delegates
representing all the forces now engaged in the
evangelizing of this land. It was a natural
place for such a gathering, for here are the
headquarters of practically all the societies
and organizations whose influences radiate
throughout the eighteen provinces and pene-
trate into Mongolia and Manchuria and
Thibet.

It was not the first Christian Conference, of
a national character, to be held in this city; but
the others have been mainly gatherings of mis-
sionaries and of persons representing mission-
ary agencies, as for instance the notable Cen-
tenary Conference of 1907 which celebrated
the one hundredth anniversary of the begin-
ning of missionary effort in China and re-
called the arrival of Robert Morrison in Can-
ton.

The distinguishing feature, however, of the
Conference held in Shanghai, May 2-11, 1922,
was the fact that it was composed not only of

CHINA 35

foreigners, but of an equal number of Chinese ;
or to be more exact, subtracting the forty-five
representatives of Western Boards and
Agencies, there were but four hundred and
eighty-eight foreign delegates and five hundred
and sixty-five Chinese. Of these latter, sixty-
three were women.

The Conference marked the new epoch
which is opening in the development of Chi-
nese Christianity. For a hundred and fifteen
years Christianity has been regarded as a for-
eign religion. Its leaders and most of its
financial support have come from Western
lands and churches. It is felt, however, that
the time has now come for the Chinese Chris-
tians to assume an ever increasing share in the
control and the extension of the Christian
forces and agencies in their own land. Ulti-
mately China must be evangelized by Chinese,
and one great purpose of the Conference was
to aid Chinese Christians in recognizing their
unity and their responsibility.

It must be remembered that at present
Christian believers in China are divided into a
very large number of denominations which
derive their names and characteristics from the
separated churches of the West. Such a condi-
tion has often been ridiculed ; it is unfortunate,
but for a time it was inevitable. No one
Western church was strong enough to under-

36 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

take, unaided, the evangelization of so vast a
country; and as the Christian societies in all
the home lands were divided, it was natural
that their missionary representatives should, at
first, train their converts along the exact lines
of faith and order which they themselves held.

More recently, however, there have been ef-
forts toward closer union, particularly within
the groups of the same denomination. Thus
the Episcopal Churches have one national or-
ganization of Chinese Christians; and just be-
fore the National Christian Conference con-
vened there was held in Shanghai the first
regular session of the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church of China. To further
such movements toward union, in fact to fos-
ter the project of one national church for all
Chinese Christians, was one of the prime pur-
poses of the National Christian Conference.
The further and more definite aim was to es-
tablish an organization which would coordinate
the work of the various missions with that of
the existing churches, or with that of such a
national church, should the latter come into
being. The great theme of the Conference,
therefore, was the " Chinese Church." To
prepare for the work of the Conference, five
commissions were appointed to deal with the
following subjects:

(1) The Present State of Christianity in

CHINA 87

China; (2) The Future Work of the Church;
(3) The Message of the Church; (4) The De-
velopment of Leadership for the Work of the
Church; (5) Coordination and Cooperation in
the Work of the Church.

The chairmen of two of these committees
were Chinese, as were the majority of the
members of the committees. In preparing
their reports, hundreds of the most experienced
Christian workers, both Chinese and foreign,
were consulted, so that the findings and recom-
mendations of these committees represent the
mature thought of a very large number of spe-
cialists in the subjects under consideration.
In framing their reports these committees also
had the aid of two documents, both of an ex-
traordinary character.

The first was the report of the " China Edu-
cational Committee of 1921 and 1922." This
committee, composed of leading educational-
ists from America, England and China, had
spent four months in making a survey of the
whole field of missionary education in China.
Their report, now published under the title of
"Christian 'Education in China'' together with
the reports of the National Christian Confer-
ence, offers to China an outline of the most
perfectly graded and coordinated system of
Christian education existing in any modern
nation.

38 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

The other document was the "General Sur-
vey "of the numerical strength and the geo-
graphical distribution of the Christian forces
in China, made by a special committee under
the leadership of the Rev. Milton T. Stauffer.
It comprises some six hundred quarto pages,
and is probably the most elaborate and careful
survey ever made of a great missionary field.

Thus aided, the Committees were able to
present, to the members of the National Con-
ference, reports which, together with the two
volumes already mentioned, will be indispen-
sable to any one who wishes to form a fair esti-
mate of the present state of Christianity in
China, of the most approved methods of mis-
sionary work, and of some of the chief prob-
lems which now confront the universal Church
of Christ.

These reports show that the present numer-
ical strength of the Protestant Church in China
is approximately 375,000, which is more than
a fourfold increase since the Boxer uprising of
the year 1900; and to this statement as to
church numbers must be added the long list of
native leaders and of the large Christian insti-
tutions and a generous estimate of the wide
influence of the Christian community.

It is obvious, however, that the work of
evangelizing China has only been begun ; 375,-
000 out of 400,000,000 is less than one in one

CHINA 39

thousand, less than one-half of one per cent.
There are vast areas as yet unreached, scores of
great walled cities unentered, countless multi-
tudes who have never heard the Gospel mes-
sage.

The first result of this Conference, there-
fore, was a fresh realization of the gigantic
task of the Christian Church.

A second result was a deepened sense of
unity among the many denominations of Chi-
nese Christians. As the Conference pro-
gressed it became evident to all that the time
had not yet come for any movement toward the
organization of a National Chinese Church;
yet the Chinese delegates revealed the surpris-
ing strength of the native Christian leaders,
and plainly expressed their desire for increased
ecclesiastical independence, and their self-con-
sciousness as an indigenous church. While no
visible organization was proposed, this sense
of unity and of responsibility was so great that
the chairman of the Conference, a Chinese
leader of poise and discretion, could exclaim
with fervour, " This meeting is the birthplace
of the Chinese Church."

However, no one felt that this infant, inor-
ganic, potential church was ready to assume
responsibility for the evangelizing of China,
without further aid from the West. The bur-
den must be assumed gradually. Eventually

40 GATEWAYS OF THE FAK EAST

Chinese Christians must be relieved from the
stigma of being adherents of a foreign religion,
they must be free from the denominational
divisions which have been imported from
Western Christianity, and must be independent
of foreign support. However, let no one
dream that this day has come or that the work
of the Western churches is now complete.
Vast sums of money and great reinforcements
of devoted men and women must be sent to
China if the work now begun is to be continued
successfully. The ideal toward which all mis-
sionaries are working is to make their own ef-
forts superfluous by the establishing of a self-
supporting and self-governing indigenous
church, which can evangelize its own land.
That ideal has not been attained in China. As
it is more and more perfectly realized, delicate
questions will arise involving the relations be-
tween the missions and the churches. A
strong desire was expressed by the Chinese
delegates to the Conference that during this
period of transition, there should be no separa-
tion between these forces, but that sympathetic
and whole-hearted cooperation should be main-
tained.

An effort to provide for such true unity
among the Christian forces in China was the
most definite and concrete result of the Con-
ference. There was formed a National Chris-

CHINA 41

tian Council, composed of one hundred mem-
bers, seventy-five of whom were nominated by
the denominational groups represented in the
Conference, and twenty-five additional mem-
bers proposed by these nominees. The Council
is to meet annually and is to continue in exist-
ence until it convenes another national Con-
ference, sometime within the next ten years.
The Council is to elect its own officers and to
appoint an executive committee of not more
than twenty-one members, a majority of whom,
as in the case of the Council, shall be Chinese.
The great purpose of this new organization is
to express and to promote unity and harmony
among all the societies and churches, both for-
eign and Chinese, which are engaged in the
evangelization of the land.

For the formation of such a national coun-
cil there was a remarkably unanimous desire.
There are differences of theological views
among the Christian workers in China; some
may be regarded as serious and radical. They
are the same which exist in America and in
England. A journey across the Pacific does
not necessarily change religious convictions.
These differences undoubtedly threaten to dis-
turb the peace and to retard the growth of the
Chinese Church. However, the action of the
Conference in establishing this National Chris-
tian Council expressed the deep yearning for

42 GATEWAYS OF THE EAR EAST

harmonious action and united effort which ani-
mates even those who are most solicitous as to
the future of Christian work in the Orient. It
is in the reports of such a great Conference as
this which met in Shanghai, that one who de-
sires a glimpse at missionary enterprise in
China can find a gateway into a field of re-
markable interest and importance. He will
learn that six thousand men and women, from
distant homes, are now labouring as Christian
missionaries in this one land of the Far East,
and that, despite their denominational differ-
ences, they are consciously one in their purpose,
their efforts and their hopes.

Another gateway through which one can
catch a glimpse of the forces that are trans-
forming China can be found by visiting the
great plant of the Commercial Press at Shang-
hai. This is the largest printing establishment
in Asia and one of the largest and most effi-
cient in the world. It employs thousands of
workers, its buildings cover acres of ground,
its machinery is most modern and its equip-
ment includes even a department for producing
moving-picture films. From its presses issues
a vast variety of publications, of school books,
of advertisements, of Bibles, printed both in
the Chinese characters and in the modern, pop-
ular " phonetic " type. Its influences extend

CHINA 43

to every part of the land and aid immeasur-
ably in producing the New China.

This great Press, however, is a direct prod-
uct of Protestant missions. It was founded
and developed by two Christian men who were
educated in mission schools and were prepared
for their great work by being employed for
years in the Presbyterian Press, which is the
oldest printing establishment in China and one
of the chief glories of the Presbyterian Mis-
sion.

In this connection, too, should be mentioned
the influence of evangelical literature and of
such periodicals as the Chinese Christian Intel-
ligencer, by means of which the Gospel is be-
ing sent forth from Shanghai to all the prov-
inces of China.

A gateway which leads into a limited but sig-
nificant realm of life is found in the Foreign
Protestant Churches in Shanghai. It is com-
monly supposed that the lives of foreign resi-
dents in the Far East are so lax morally, and
so utterly irreligious, as to constitute a great
obstacle to Christian missions and a disgrace to
Christian nations. It is probably true that a
large city like Shanghai is a refuge for moral
derelicts and is filled with temptations to vari-
ous forms of vice and is lacking in the religious
restraints found in most Western communities.

44 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST

On the other hand, it must not be forgotten
that it contains groups of devoted Christians
such as were found in these Protestant
churches. Besides the Episcopal Cathedral,
might be mentioned the Union Church, the
Community Church, and the Free Christian
Church. In all of these, week after week,
large and eager audiences were faced; nor
could one find more genuine fervour than in
the seven Sunday services conducted in the
last named of these churches, the membership
of which was composed mostly of missionary
workers. The Community Church is largely
a product of American business men; it is
planning to erect a building in the newly de-
veloped foreign residence section of the
" French Concession." These churches are
doing much toward impressing Christian ideals
upon the social and commercial life of the city.

One of the most valuable instruments for
opening non-Christian lands to the reception
of the Christian message has been found in the
work of medical missions. Shanghai again
furnishes a gateway through which one can
catch a glimpse of that fascinating form of
work. Saint Luke's and the Margaret Wil-
liamson Hospitals should surely be visited ; but
not the least remarkable, possibly the most im-
pressively interesting of all, is the Bethel Hos-

CHINA 45

pital and Nurses' Training School, conducted,
near the West Gate of the native city, by Dr.
Mary Stone and her Chinese and foreign asso-
ciates. Dr. Stone received her thorough med-
ical and surgical training in America ; for some
years she practised in an inland city of China,
but more recently established her work in
Shanghai, near the great cotton factories and
directly across Arsenal Road from the barracks
of thousands of Chinese soldiers.

Just here is a bit of humour and romance.
A dog carried from the hospital into the bar-
racks a Bible, which he had partly destroyed.
The soldiers read the stories and were so inter-
ested that they came over to the hospital to
secure a complete copy of the Book, and this
interest opened up the way for Dr. Stone, not
only to treat the wives and families of these
men, but to bring to them the Gospel message.
The hospital is now self-supporting and, with
the school and its new Gospel Tabernacle, is a
most definite and successful evangelizing
agency. The work of Dr. Stone gives a
glimpse of what the Gospel of Christ is doing
for the women of China and of what women,
both Chinese and foreign, are doing toward
spreading the Gospel in China.

China is a land of funerals and graves. As
one journeys through the country in any direc-

46 GATEWAYS OF THE FAB EAST

tion he is surprised by the sight of the innu-
merable mounds which mark the sleeping places
of the dead; and even when jostling through
the crowds of the city streets he is impressed
not, for instance, with the truly interesting
wedding pageants, but rather with the funeral
processions which form the most spectacular
feature of Chinese life. The central object in
one of these processions is, of course, the great
catafalque in which the coffin is borne. This
rests on a huge framework of poles supported
on the shoulders of coolies who number thirty-
two or sixty- four, or even as many as one hun-
dred and twenty-eight. Modern brass bands
playing gay and festive tunes, or mournful
and weird wind-instruments, mingle their notes
with the wailing of the mourners. Great
numbers of standard-bearers carry flags and
streamers; but the most interesting feature in
the processions consists in the articles made of
paper which are burned and so, passing into the
unseen, provide for the dead man all possible
necessities in the world of spirits. These ar-
ticles include not only large quantities of paper
money but houses and horses and, at present,
full-sized automobiles.

Of course all these customs are sadly con-
nected with the ignorance and superstition and
false religious conceptions of the people.

Possibly a Chinese funeral, as no other spec-

CHINA 47

tacle, suggests how truly this nation is in need
of Christ. When on his way from the north,
an esteemed friend, one of the most charming
delegates to the Shanghai Conference, re-
marked to his wife, " I do wish these Chinese
Christians who are with us could see a Chris-
tian funeral while in the city, because, as we
discourage ancestor worship, the Chinese com-
monly think that we do not honour our dead
and because they do not know how at such
times we express our Christian hope."

By a strange providence he was stricken with
heart disease during the days of the Confer-
ence; everything was done to give him relief,
but all to no avail ; and smiling he fell asleep,
saying in a farewell word that he was privi-
leged above others in that he was so soon to see
his Lord.

Then those Chinese did see a Christian fu-
neral, though they saw it through their tears.
As they walked along that paved avenue of
lime trees where the birds were singing, as
they entered that crowded vine-clad chapel and
heard the hymns and messages of triumph,
they realized that their " beloved physician "
was already with his Lord ; and as they saw his
body lowered into the grave, in the beautiful
Bubbling Well Cemetery, they were reminded
of Him who is indeed " the Resurrection and
the Life."

48 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

To the traveller who uses Shanghai as a
gateway to China, the two cities most accessible
and of chief interest are Hangchow and Soo-
chow. There is a Chinese proverb which says
that " Heaven is away in the sky, but Soochow
and Hangchow are here below." There are
many possible ways of interpreting such a
proverb, but the obvious one is that these cities
are attractive and easy of access.

Hangchow has been the terminus of the
Grand Canal for over six centuries. For the
past ten years it has been the terminus of a rail-
road. The journey from Shanghai formerly
occupied six days by boat; it is now a ride of
four or five hours by train. The route lies
through a rich farming country which, in the
springtime, is glorious with its fields of green
and gold and fascinating with its canals and
shrines and grey-walled cities.

Hangchow has a situation of rare beauty.
Three sides are surrounded by an amphitheatre
of hills. To the west stretch the quiet waters
of the great artificial lake, the shores of which
are dotted with monasteries and pagodas and
other monuments of the past. Marco Polo re-
garded Hangchow as the noblest and best city
in the world, and while much of its ancient
splendour has faded, it still claims the title of
" Heaven below." This phrase must be ac-
cepted with some limitations, especially when

CHINA 49

one wanders through the narrow, dirty streets
of certain sections of the city. So, too, while
one admires the picturesque monasteries of the
West Lake and its environs, it is rather de-
pressing to be reminded by them of the degrad-
ing heathenism by which the great masses of
the Chinese people are still bound. In these
very monasteries are between five and six hun-
dred priests, most of whom are leading lives so
lazy and dissolute that the popular proverb says
" If you would find a man of black heart, look
among the monks."

Christian missions and Western education
are doing much to transform and renew the
life of this historic city. Perhaps the most in-
teresting feature of the religious work is the
unity existing among all the representatives
of the various churches and expressed in the
organization of the Union Evangelistic Com-
mittee which coordinates all the various activi-
ties of the six missions that are working to-
gether with such marked success.

It was a privilege to visit the new building
of the Young Men's Christian Association, the
ground for which was given by the Govern-
ment, and to address an audience of alert and
ambitious men and boys.

It was also an inspiration to confer with the
missionaries and see the different " com-
pounds," the hospital and the churches, and to

60 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

meet in one of the mission schools the daugh-
ter of the famous patriot Yuan.

It will be remembered that he was governor
of the Province at the time of the Boxer up-
rising. An edict had been issued ordering the
death of all foreigners. Yuan changed the
word " kill " to " protect," and then published
the edict. The Empress regarded this act as
treason. The foreigners in the Province were
indeed saved; but he was sawn asunder, the
halves of his bleeding body thrown into a
rough box and buried. However, when public
opinion changed, he was given a state funeral
by command of the Emperor, and his name
was inscribed in the Hall of Fame.

The point of greatest interest, possibly, was
the Hangchow Christian College. Not the
least impressive feature is the site of its cam-
pus. Where is there another like it? Pos-
sibly that of Robert College, Constantinople,
may be its equal. Like the latter it is outside
the city, in fact some four miles beyond the
great walls. It lies on the slopes of a high hill,
above the broad Chien Tang River, command-
ing a superb view of mountain and plain and
water and sky. What is more important is the
fact that this college is situated in the midst of
the seventeen million people of Chekiang
Province, the only institution of its kind.
Surely it is worthy of more liberal support

CHINA 51

from the American Presbyterians by whom it
has been established.

Hangchow lies to the southwest, but Soo-
chow some three hours by rail to the north of
Shanghai. Why it is regarded as near or like
to heaven it is difficult to imagine; but one
must remember that it once had a glory which
is departed, and that few facts in the Far East
seem to support popular theories of evolution.

Soochow is more commonly called the Ven-
ice or Amsterdam of China; however, it looks
as though it would require a century of con-
tinuous washing and fumigating to make it
compare with even the less cleanly of these
European cities. However, if one can be
happy when not inhaling perfume, and can set
his eyes strictly for the picturesque, he will re-
gard a day in Soochow as one of the most
memorable in his life.

Hangchow boasts an artificial lake ; Soochow
is an artificial city ; that is, it was built to order
for old King Wu. He selected a group of is-
lands among a score of lakes, he connected
them by bridges, surrounded them by a great
rectangular wall, intersected them with canals,
beautified them with parks and palaces and li-
braries and comfortable homes, and then emp-
tied three large cities to supply inhabitants for
his beautiful new capital

52 GATEWAYS OF THE FAK EAST

However that was a great many years ago;
the splendour has faded, but the city is still
famous for its silks, its suicides, its pagodas
and its canals. Silks form the glory of Soo-
chow; they are its staple product and chief
source of wealth; but how these delicate fab-
rics, with their artistic designs and perfect
workmanship, can come out of those dark,
damp, dirty, earthen-floored huts is a mystery
to all beholders.

As to the canals, spanned by their beautiful
bridges and fragrant with the accumulated
odours of ages, they are oi continual service,
not only as furnishing means of transporta-
tion, but as receptacles for all kinds of refuse,
while in them all clothing is washed, all food
is cleansed, fish are hatched, and from them
drinking water is supplied.

The pagodas of Soochow are among the
most impressive of the land. At Lin Yin Mon-
astery, near Hangchow, is an inscription de-
claring that those who enter are only " one
foot from heaven." If this is equally true of
any place in Soochow, it must be on the top of
the Great Pagoda, the highest in China and so
in the world. It is octagonal in shape, contains
nine stories and rises some two hundred and
fifty feet in height. It commands a superb
view; the narrow streets and canals of the
city, the great lake to the west, the picturesque

CHINA 53

pagodas, the ranges of hills, the many villages,
towns and cities, and best of all, within the
city and beyond its walls, like oases in the
desert, the " compounds " of the University, of
the hospitals, and of the schools and the
churches, established by Christian missionaries.
Their work seems to be the only hope of the
land. The view from the Great Pagoda brings
five million people within the range of vision;
in the great new temple near the Presbyterian
compound the people are worshippers of five
hundred gods ; how long will it be before these
worshippers come to know the transforming
power of Christ?

Nanking, or " The Southern Capital," was
given this honorary title by the Ming Em-
peror Yung when he removed the seat of gov-
ernment to the "Northern Capital," Peking.
For centuries it had been the most important
city in China, and even to the present time it is
one of the most interesting of the provincial
capitals.

It is situated on the Yangtse some two hun-
dred miles north of Shanghai. Its great walls,
thirty to fifty feet in height, are over thirty
miles in circumference and enclose a vast area,
large portions of which are not covered with
buildings but consist of green hills and culti-
vated fields.

64 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

The most conspicuous objects in the city are
the buildings belonging to the various educa-
tional institutions. Travellers who confess or
boast that they see nothing of Christian mis-
sions can never have in mind their visit to Nan-
king. Here instruction is being given to boys
and girls and men and women in every grade
from the kindergarten to the College, Univer-
sity and Theological Seminary. Some of the
most interesting audiences faced in China were
those of the Chinese Christian Church, of the
Woman's Bible Institute and of the Union
Theological Seminary; and one of the most
surprising exhibitions of the character of New
China was given by the speeches delivered in
English by the members of the University de-
bating team, which had just returned victorious
from a contest in Shanghai.

These worthy institutions deserve further
development; but it appears that the specific
work of evangelism, both within and without
the city, should be more generously supported
and more widely extended. In any event, few
places afford better opportunities than Nanking
to study the present problems and progress of
Christian Education in China.

Peking is the most impressive city in China
and one of the most romantic cities of the
world; its impressiveness, however, is that of

CHINA 55

faded splendour, its romance is that of de-
parted power. The city is a veritable monu-
ment and symbol of past empire.

Its grandeur dates from the days of Kublai
Khan who in 1264 made it his magnificent
capital, and from this centre ruled all China.
For some seven centuries successive dynasties
of Mongols, Mings and Manchus maintained
this city as the seat of the Dragon Throne, and
since the establishment of the Republic in 1910
it has continued to be the centre of that rather
elusive and theoretical entity known as the
" Chinese Government."

Experts in political economy can speak more
wisely; but to an inexperienced traveller in
1922 the nation seemed to be sadly lacking in
political unity. Not only were the people di-
vided in sympathy between the " North " and
the " South," but the various provinces were
controlled by military " governors," while the
civil "governors," like the President of the
Republic, were mere official puppets. Each
governor maintained his position by forces of
soldiers, and when out of power he and his
followers played the polite role of bandits.
These civil "wars" between the contending
chieftains were comic enough in the eyes of
the world, but sufficiently tragic in the minds
of the poor peasants who were plundered and
pillaged and compelled to support insolent

56 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST

marauders masquerading one day as "ban-
dits " and the next day as " government
forces."

Two of these military governors, in the early
summer, were striving for the mastery of
China. These were Wu Pei Fu and Chang
Tso Lin. The descent of the latter from his
capital in Mukden, for a time blocked the road
from Shanghai to Peking; but after a really
serious and decisive battle had been fought
south of the city, it proved possible to find a
way through the trains of soldiers and muni-
tions and to reach the famous capital.

Peking is really four cities in one. Its heart
is the " Forbidden City," shut in by its walls
of reddish-pink. Around this lies the " Im-
perial City " guarded by walls twenty feet in
height. Outside this lies " the Tartar City "
surrounded by its famous walls which are forty
feet high and some fourteen miles in circum-
ference. This inclusive Tartar City, which by
most persons is regarded as " Peking," is
called however the " Inner City," for through
its southern gates one enters the great
" Chinese City," surrounded by walls of its
own. This " Outer City " covers a vast area.
Part of it is crowded with shops ; but its chief
glory is the great Temple of Heaven.

Perhaps no place of worship in the world so
stirs the emotions as does the central " altar "

THE CHENG- YAXG-MEN GATE, PEKING

Connecting the Inner or "Tartar City" with the Outer or

" Chinese City "

CHINA 57

of this temple. The walls of the temple are
three miles in circuit; so that one feels that
the city, with its throngs and its tumult, has
been left far behind when he enters the solitude
of this place of prayer. When at last he ap-
proaches the " altar," he finds no shrine, no
temple, no roofed structure, but a simple
" triple circular marble terrace," the upper sur-
face of which is paved with marble blocks, the
central one being in the form of a perfect cir-
cle. Here, with no image, under the wide and
boundless sky, century after century the em-
perors of China knelt to worship the one su-
preme God of Heaven.

The further one goes back in history the
purer is the conception of God which he finds.
Christianity has not developed out of the
world religions. The latter are a corruption
of a primitive belief. How far this corruption
has progressed was intimated by a visit to the
Lama Temple, near the north wall of the
" Inner City," a temple which is known as
" the official residence of a living Buddha."
The tile-roofed buildings are picturesque, the
great wooden and gilded Buddhas are gro-
tesque but imposing; however, it is pathetic
to listen to the senseless mummery of the
shaven priests and to see the incense offered by
the ignorant worshippers, and to remember
how many millions accept as their religion this

58 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

corrupt and degrading form of original Bud-
dhism.

Another striking contrast was found by
visiting the stately " Confucian Temple."
Here again were neither altars nor images nor
idols. The great sage is worthy of such a
memorial. His teachings embody a truer
morality than can be found in any system out-
side the Hebrew Scriptures; he always re-
garded character as the real goal of education ;
yet he never dreamed that to-day millions of
men would be worshipping him as a God ; how-
ever he was never able to point men to the
saving power of the true God who later re-
vealed Himself in Jesus Christ.

The failure of Confucianism is written
large upon the face of modern China. It was
therefore a great privilege, as a favoured guest
of Mr. Gleysteen, the President of Truth Hall,
the historic Presbyterian Boys' Academy, to
be given some insight into the Christian edu-
cational institutions which have been estab-
lished in Peking, and which are making this
city the educational centre for China.

In various parts of the city, work is being
done, much of it in Union enterprises, by Con-
gregationalists, Methodists, Anglicans, Presby-
terians and by the Princeton University Centre
of the Young Men's Christian Association.

The superb plant of the Peking Union

CHINA 59

Medical College (Rockefeller Foundation) is
the most imposing monument of the sympa-
thetic interest felt by America for the people
of China.

However, after a brief survey of the field,
one felt, as in Nanking, that a new effort
should be made to place the purely evangelistic
work of the Christian missions on the same
high plane of efficiency, and to man it as
strongly, as the superb work which is being
done in the sphere of Christian education.

Of course the great need in China is that
of trained Christian leaders. Yet she must
have leaders in all walks of life; many of these
must be found outside of Christian schools
and institutions of higher learning. Among
the most famous of such leaders is the great
" Christian General," Feng Yu Hsiang. As a
young soldier he witnessed in the Boxer upris-
ing the death of Doctor and Mrs. Hodge, of
Mr. and Mrs. Simcox and of Doctor Taylor.
He was deeply impressed by the demeanour of
these martyrs. Later on he was led to con-
sider the unselfish work of the missionary
physicians and finally in an evangelistic meet-
ing in Peking he determined to begin a Chris-
tian life, and joined a class for the study of
the Bible.

Coming from a very humble origin he has
risen to be one of the most conspicuous men

60 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

of modern China. He is a true soldier. The
discipline of his troops is perfect; they are
allowed neither to smoke nor to gamble nor
to swear. They all observe " grace before
meals." Nine-tenths of them are Christians.

These are the men upon whom General Wu
relied to defeat Chang Tso Lin. Nothing
could withstand their attack; and when the
defeated forces of Chang tried to take a stand
to the north of the city, Chang saw the sol-
diers of General Feng again pressing upon his
right flank and he turned in flight, withdrawing
all his forces beyond the Great Wall.

As the way to this great " wonder of the
world " was opened, a day was spent in clam-
bering over its vast ramparts. The Great Wall
was found twisting and turning and climbing
and creeping over mountains and valleys as
far in either direction as the eye could reach.
Again one realized that China is a land of
walls. Once it was closed to the Gospel but
now the doors are opened wide and those who
will may enter.

Returning to Peking and taking a last view
of the city, seeing its temples and palaces and
imperial mansions with their yellow tiles
gleaming among the groves of trees with which
the city abounds, one was again impressed with
the fact that Peking is indeed an imperial city,
it is the capital of this mighty nation, it is yet

CHINA 61

to determine the destiny of four hundred mil-
lion people. Is that destiny to be shaped by the
influence of Confucius or by the power of
Christ?

Ill

KOREA

IT was impossible to reach Korea by the
usual route through Mukden, for the con-
tending Chinese armies had more im-
portant uses for the railroad than the trans-
portation of American travellers. However,
even an elementary knowledge of geography
gave the comforting assurance that the " Land
of the Morning Calm " might be approached
by sea in spite of the conflicts among the sons
of Han.

Some of our American countrymen have
trouble in locating Korea; their difficulty is
much like that of the man who told his pastor
that he had trouble with the Book of Daniel.
" Why, what is your trouble ? " he was asked.
" My difficulty," he replied, " is to find it in the
Bible."

So a Missouri postmaster was given a parcel-
post package directed to " Korea." He
searched his lists in vain, to find the rate, and
then asked politely, " In what part of Kansas
is Korea, anyway ? "

Some of us remember that Korea is a little
peninsula about six hundred miles in length,
appended to the east coast of Asia, and related
62

KOEEA 63

to it somewhat as Florida is to the United
States. We recall that politically as well as
geographically it has hung as a tempting mor-
sel between China, Russia and Japan, and that
these nations ever have been ready to devour
each other to secure it, until finally it has been
swallowed up by the " Island Empire " which
is now proposing to assimilate it into her body
politic.

What has further tended to conceal its lo-
cation has been the revival of the old name
" Chosen," by which name it is now desig-
nated as a Province of Japan. Some Ameri-
cans are feverishly fearful of offending Japan
by still using the name of " Korea," but they
need not be so timid. The Japanese governor
of one of the Provinces, in sending me a gift,
accompanied the gift by his card on which he
had written his address in " Korea."

The elementary knowledge which suggested
the plan of reaching Korea by sea proved to
be shared by many other travellers, so that
when through gracious friends in Tientsin an
effort was made to secure a passage to Dairen
or Antung or Chemulpo it was learned that all
the little steamers were filled and many names
were on the waiting lists; but eventually a
berth was secured on a Japanese boat bound for
Moji, in Japan, from whence Korea could be
reached by way of Shimonoseki and Fusan.

64 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST

For two days we steamed across the gulf
of Pechili along the north coast of Shantung;
a fact which reflects no more upon the size of
the Shantung peninsula than upon the slow-
ness of the boat. On the second afternoon the
coast of China, far to the westward, appeared
to sink into the sea. The skies were blue, the
sunlight was dancing over the waves and the
scene was one of peculiar peace and loveliness.
Suddenly at five o'clock the ship changed her
course, cut a complete semicircle and put back
toward the west. It was soon whispered about
that a passenger was missing from the first-
class cabin, a Japanese woman, the mother of
two little children who were accompanying her
home. She had been seen on deck at three
o'clock; now she was nowhere to be found,
and as the rails were high it was concluded
that she could not have fallen but must have
leaped into the sea. Men were stationed at
the bow, and three high up on the mast, but
as one realized how much time must have
elapsed since the tragedy occurred, and as one
gazed out upon that vast unbroken expanse of
sea and sky, the search for one little human
body was seemingly hopeless.

For exactly two hours the course was held
westward, and then the ship again put about
and turned her bow toward the east. After
only a few minutes had passed the engine bells

KOEEA 65

sounded, the ship came to a complete stop, and
there, as we peered over the starboard rail,
only a hundred yards away, could be seen
plainly a dark kimono and a mass of black hair
rising and falling with the waves. To have so
exactly retraced the course, to have succeeded
in such a search, was a feat of navigation
worthy of all praise. There was a long delay
in lowering the life-boat ; the sun had sunk in
splendour behind the barren hills of Shantung
when the poor little dripping body was drawn
on board. The sailors acted with marked ten-
derness and reverence in the presence of the
dead. For hours the surgeon and his assist-
ants were reported to be endeavouring to fan
back some spark of life, but such efforts were
of course futile.

Before midnight just before the door of the
little room in which the body lay, there was
placed a small stand and upon it lighted can-
dles and burning incense, and a glass of water
and a lotus flower, and a bowl of rice, pro-
visions for the spirit which was supposed to
be hovering near. Through the night a stew-
ard kept constant vigil, and in the morning a
small coffin was built and in it was placed the
body, carefully prepared for the burial which
was to take place when the ship reached the
Japanese port.

A suicide at sea is not a rare occurrence but

66 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST

it is always an incident of deep pathos and
tragedy, particularly when it involves a young
mother whose children are weeping at their
failure to find her, while her husband is
hastening to the harbour to welcome her return
home.

These tragedies are all too common among
the Japanese; but what drove this woman to
her desperate deed, what fear or remorse or
heart-break ? This was only one more mystery
of the sea; yet it reminds us that there are
distresses too painful to be endured by those
who know nothing of the comfort and power
of Christ.

Previous impressions of Korea had been
gained from books, and they were deepened
by the first glimpse of the bleak cliffs and
rocky, barren islands of the southwestern
coast. The picture in mind was a land of
lonely, desolate mountains inhabited by rude,
ignorant peasants, writhing under the iron heel
of Japan. Two months of continuous travel
quite altered the opinion. Even as we glided
into the superb harbour of Fusan, on a lovely
morning in May, the abundant verdure on the
round hills reminded us of former approaches
to the Emerald Isle.

We journeyed from southeast to northwest,
and from southwest to northeast, some three

KOKEA 67

thousand miles by rail and nearly another
thousand by Ford cars. We spent a week at
a time in quaint cities like Taiku and Seoul and
Kwongju and Andong, each one of which is
encircled by an amphitheatre of green hills and
of towering mountains.

We rode for days through beautiful valleys
which were radiant with the gold of ripe bar-
ley and wheat, and great patches of deep green
hemp, and we looked on the flooded rice fields
which mirrored the blue and the white of the
sky and the drifting clouds. We made a four
days' excursion to the peaks and passes and
gorges of the Diamond Mountains, once re-
garded as the wonder of Eastern Asia, now re-
garded as one of the wonders of the world.
We stayed for a week at Wonsan, with its
superb harbour and encircling hills and island-
guarded coast, looking eastward over the Japan
Sea ; and then went to Sorai Beach on the west
coast, with its silver sands, and its rocky, wind-
swept bluff rising high above the blue tides of
the Yellow Sea. Then the impression deep-
ened that Korea is a land which has features
of rarest charm.

Of course your friend who always looks on
the darker side tells you that an unfair ad-
vantage was taken by visiting Korea in May
and June and July, and that one could judge
better by looking on the brown hills, and sun-

68 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

burned fields in the early fall, or upon the
dreary scenes of winter; but shall not every
country be allowed some change of dress?
Does even Southern California always wear
her gay garments? Moreover, wise men tell
us that no one really knows the Diamond
Mountains or the Northern Highlands of
Korea unless he has seen them in the glory of
their autumn garb.

Tourists will not much longer be content
with the conventional dining-car " Korean
Tour," from Fusan to the Yalu, as they rush
from Japan to China; they will soon insist
upon lingering to see something of one of the
most beautiful and interesting countries of
the world.

The Korean people are physically strong and
stalwart, they are gentle, genial, affable and
courteous in their demeanour, poetic in their
forms of thought and expression, usually poor,
ignorant and superstitious, but intelligent,
thoughtful and capable of the most surprising
and rapid mental and social and spiritual de-
velopments.

In the past, Korea possessed a far more
advanced and complex civilization than now,
and gave to Japan many of her most valued
arts, as for example the manufacture of the
beautiful Satsuma ware and the other grades

KOEEA 69

of porcelain, and also the culture and manu-
facture of silks.

At present, however, the Koreans are a race
of farmers; the latest statistics show that
nearly fifteen out of their seventeen millions
are supported by agriculture, while less than
one million are engaged in trade and transpor-
tation.

The methods of farming are extremely prim-
itive. It is true it requires no little skill and
ingenuity to irrigate the rice fields and keep
them at an exact water level and to prevent
them from being washed away by storms ; how-
ever, the Korean uses the same kind of plow,
threshes his grain with the same light flail on
the hard rock " floor," and grinds his produce
in the same crude mills as did his ancestors
three thousand years ago.

Most Koreans live in mere huts. These are
built with mud walls and thatched with rice
straw, and when grouped together look like
clusters of brown mushrooms.

All Koreans dress in white. This is not say-
ing that the dress remains white. However,
the miracle is that those immaculate flowing
robes emerge from such squalid mud huts and
that they retain their spotlessness so long and
under such adverse conditions. All wear
white, and at all times, rich and poor, young
and old, scholars at their books and plough-

70 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

men in their fields, old men with their top-
knots and their black horsehair hats, and
young women at work with their babes on
their backs. Of course one must except the
countless children who scramble through the
dirty streets; they are clothed only in the rich
brown of the Korean skin.

It is true that the top-knot, and the black
horsehair "fly-trap" hat which surrounds it,
are disappearing from the cities and towns, but
they are found everywhere in the county, and
there too one can still see, in the fields, the
famous tent-like straw hats of the farmers.
These are so large that when a peasant went
out to cultivate his six rice fields, after finish-
ing five he could not find the sixth until, as he
looked around, he saw his hat on the ground,
and lifting it he found his lost field — so they
say, — but you know Korean rice fields are
small.

Since her occupation of Korea, Japan has
wrought many changes; she has introduced
railroads and telegraphs and telephones; she
has improved the methods of education, of
agriculture, of arboriculture, of irrigation and
of sanitation. She has brought real and abid-
ing benefits to the Korean people. Whether
these compensate them for the loss of their
independence is a question as to which no one

A KOREAN PEASANT

" The Koreans are a race of farmers; fifteen out of their seventeen

millions are supported by agriculture "

KOKEA 71

would feel like denying the Korean a right to
his opinion.

Surely the political situation in the country
has vastly improved within even the last few
months. It will be remembered that the un-
armed "Independence Movement" of 1919
was met by Japan with a ruthless cruelty which
for a time lost for her the sympathy of all
civilized nations; but apparently a different
regime has been inaugurated. The prisons are
still well filled with political offenders who are
serving long sentences for the hideous offense
of having cried " Mansei," or for having been
prominent as religious leaders. It is still
proper, when meeting a distinguished Korean,
to ask him, not as to his family or his health,
but as to how long he has been in jail ? Even
now, justice is not being done to the Koreans
who have migrated to Manchuria, and even yet
minor police officials, both Japanese and
Korean, are occasionally guilty of acts which
are unjust, irritating or intimidating; but these,
when reported to the higher officials, are re-
buked. To say the least, a reign of terror no
longer exists, and the Christian Church no
longer is openly opposed.

Baron Saito, the present Governor General,
is regarded as an enlightened, just and benevo-
lent ruler. Such were the popular reports,
and, as the guest of honour at a dinner gra-

72 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

ciously given by him in his official residence, an
opportunity was given of meeting him per-
sonally, and of conversing with him and with
certain of his official staff. The Baron is a
genial and affable gentleman, kindly and demo-
cratic in his demeanour. He understands
English among other languages. During the
administration of President Cleveland he spent
considerable time in Washington. His pur-
poses are to extend, in Korea, as rapidly as
possible, the educational system and the ma-
terial improvements which already have been
far advanced. Such officials are the hope of
brighter days in the Far East.

The Koreans still cherish the dream of
political independence, but there are no more
serious " demonstrations," no more public
shoutings of " Mansei " or other pernicious
phrases. The supposed right of " self-determi-
nation " is finding other no less objectionable
forms of expression. There are even indica-
tions that some Koreans are making the mis-
take, common among other peoples, of con-
fusing liberty with license, and freedom with
anarchy. This is suggested by the present
epidemic of " strikes." They are sufficiently
foolish and frequent to satisfy the soul of a
radical American labour agitator. Every one
strikes in the Orient, and Korea is quite abreast
of the times.

KOREA 73

Schoolboys strike if they wish a better
building or a more popular teacher, or if they
suspect that they are not in absolute control of
the school.

The Pyengyang papers reported that a strike
had been declared by the Guild of Dancing
Girls, a society of young ladies whose morals
are not "above suspicion"; they had struck
because some pure-minded citizen had over-
thrown a monument they had erected in a
public place to the memory of a former man-
ager. They made the dire threat to remain off
duty until the offender should be apprehended
and punished.

The lepers went on strike, at the Taiku
leprosarium, and threatened to " leave " unless
they were allowed a sum of money, daily, for
tobacco. Now, no matter how much the most
tender-hearted sympathizer might wish to give
these poor outcasts any weed which would
afford them consolation, the pathetic humour
of the situation consists in the fact that they
are being supported by the gifts and sacrifices
of persons who are at their wit's ends to pro-
vide food for them, and if any one of these
lepers were to " leave " he would have no place
to go, and fifty others would be fighting for the
privilege of being admitted to fill the vacancy.
They decided to remain.

It is obvious that very many Koreans need to

74 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST

learn the lesson that true freedom is liberty
safeguarded by law.

The present consuming passion of the
Koreans, however, is for education. It is al-
most unbelievable to see the facility with which
they absorb and assimilate Western learning
and customs, and the eagerness with which
they crowd into government and mission
schools of all characters and grades.

The provision for education is pitifully in-
adequate; not one boy or girl in fifty can be
given the opportunity that is craved. The
most painful self-denial will be practiced by
families to provide education for a son. A
hundred applicants will pay for the privilege
of trying a competitive examination for en-
trance to a school even when they know that
only one vacancy is to be filled.

The intellectual ability of the Korean is
astounding. Out of little mud huts emerge
boys and girls who not only master the prac-
tical arts but become proficient in science, in
music, in history and philosophy, and, as young
men, many graduate in theology, fully equipped
to serve as pastors in Christian churches.

Korean student life is a fascinating study.
It has, in the higher academies, all the out-
ward expressions of student life in America,
baseball teams, glee clubs, bands, debating so-

KOEEA 75

cieties, special uniforms, and various social
organizations.

It is in the sphere of education that the
chief disagreement seems to exist between the
Japanese government and the Christian mis-
sions in Korea.

The Japanese constitution guarantees relig-
ious liberty to all citizens of the Empire ; and in
accordance with this provision, recently there
has been extended to private schools in Korea
the right to teach religion. However, the
schools which accept this right to teach religion
are discriminated against, under the present
law, and the schools which do not teach relig-
ion are given a " recognition " and privileges
which they otherwise could not enjoy.

That is, the graduates of any mission school
which teaches Christianity cannot enter any
government institution of the next higher
grade without a special government examina-
tion, nor is the diploma of such a school
recognized. Nor can a graduate of such a
school enter even the Chosen Christian College
without a government examination, even
though fully accredited by the Christian school
from which he comes.

In order to avoid these disabilities and to
enjoy the advantages of being recognized by
the Japanese government, some mission
schools have given up the teaching of the Bible

76 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

or religion. They do such teaching " out of
school hours " and " not as schools " ; they do
what they receive special privileges for not
doing. They believe that the government will
continue to " wink at the irregularity," but they
are aware that an officer could at any time
close such schools for actual illegal conduct.

Such an evasion of law constitutes a form of
apparent immorality which only the most skill-
ful casuist can reconcile with the teachings of
Christ.

There exist, therefore, several classes of
schools in Korea, and their status and relation
can be understood best by a glance at the
system of education previously existing in
Japan but this year extended to Korea.

I. Primary School Period (from six years
of age), covering six years.

II. Middle School Period, covering five
years.

III. Higher School Period (preparatory to
the University), covering three years.

IV. University, period of four years.

V. Post-Graduate (special study).
These periods are approximate; the second

is in some instances shortened, and the third
lengthened.

This is the regular government system,
which exists also in other parts of the Japanese
Empire. There are in Korea at present no

KOEEA 77

institutions of as high a grade as the Uni-
versity (IV, V) ; but in addition to the gov-
ernment institutions, schools of the three lower
grades have been established by Christian mis-
sionary societies. To distinguish them from
government schools they are classed as
" private schools." Those which claim to
teach no religion and to "have no religious
exercises of any kind in connection with their
work," if on a grade with the government
schools, are " recognized " by the government,
and their graduates are placed on the same
status, and have the same opportunities for
securing desirable positions, as have the gradu-
ates of government schools.

Whether " recognized " as teaching no re-
ligion, or not " recognized " because teaching
religion, all these schools must be " registered "
with the government. To be so registered
they each must submit a petition giving a state-
ment as to resources, constituency, buildings,
qualifications of teachers, and courses of study.
According to the new law, of April, 1922,
every primary school must have an endowment
of $15,000; every middle school must have an
endowment of $200,000 or an income of $14,-
000; every higher school (preparatory to the
University) an endowment of $300,000, every
University an endowment of $500,000.

At present, the majority of Mission schools

78 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

are registered under previously existing ordi-
nances; they cannot be " recognized," nor re-
registered, unless they meet these new regula-
tions of the Japanese government.

The government recently agreed to allow the
Chosen Christian College, a missionary institu-
tion of the Higher School grade, (" University
preparatory") to teach religion and still be
" recognized," but the graduates are not al-
lowed to enter a University, nor can the
graduates of a school, which teaches the Bible
as a part of its course, enter this " college "
without a special examination given by the
government. The grade of this Institution
(Higher School) is above that of an American
High School and includes many " college "
courses; however, should the institution ad-
vance to the grade of a University, it would be
required to forfeit its right to teach religion.
The government now lists it merely as a
" special school."

This penalizing of institutions on the ground
that they teach Christianity is obviously con-
trary to the liberties guaranteed by the Japanese
Constitution, and certain high officials, while
making no promises, express hope that relief
may soon be given. This probably may be
found along the line of an arrangement which
has long existed in Japan proper. Here there
are a number of " registered " private schools,

KOEEA 79

" approved " by the government as of equal
grade with the government schools, as for ex-
ample the Meji Gakuin in Tokyo, the Kwansei
Gakuin in Kobe, the Doshisha in Kyoto.

The missions in Korea are advised to con-
tinue their efforts to bring their schools to the
level of the regular government schools, in
their equipment and teaching force, with the
hope that in Korea such a class of " approved "
schools may be recognized by the government.

At least from the view-point of the Korean,
there are two vital defects in the system of
education imposed by Japan. First the course
of study of every school is selected and rigidly
enforced by the government. No persons are
allowed to establish and conduct, even at their
own expense, schools in which any courses
whatever are taught, however admirable, in
case these courses are not those prescribed by
the government, and this, too, in communities
where the government has made no provision
for education.

Secondly the Koreans are distressed by the
requirement that all instruction in the schools
of Korea must be given in the Japanese lan-
guage. They declare that this places a need-
less barrier in the way of educating their chil-
dren, that it opens before these children only
the literature of Japan, while giving them no
real Korean culture, and that it is the expres-

80 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

sion of a hopeless endeavour to obliterate all
distinction between Koreans and Japanese. It
would seem that some radical modification of
so exasperating a regulation would make for
the peace and prosperity of the land.

Korea is a land without a religion. This
statement has been contradicted by far wiser
men; but they wrote yesterday; this book is
written for to-day; its words may not be true
to-morrow; but why borrow trouble? The
fact then is this, the Koreans, as a people, have
nothing that corresponds to any of the great
religions of the world. They once were
Buddhists; they received this religion from
India, and gave it to Japan, but they have kept
none of it for themselves. Now Japan is try-
ing to repay the debt. At great expense she is
trying to restore Buddhism to Korea. The
new shrines are decorative ; the fresh paint on
the old buildings is sometimes an improvement ;
but the reestablishment of the religion is hope-
less. Buddhism in Korea has been discredited
too thoroughly ; it too long has been dead.

Mrs. Bishop, and even later writers, en-
couraged us to believe that if we went far
enough into the mountains we would find mon-
asteries and temples filled with Buddhist priests
and nuns. We went into the wild mountain
fastnesses of the southwest and northeast. We

KOEEA 81

here and there found a beautiful old shrine,
and usually a sleepy priest who would solemnly
unlock the dusty prison of his gilded god; but
worshippers there were none.

We made a memorable visit to the Diamond
Mountains, where the best Buddhist relics re-
main. At Choanji we lived in a building of
one of the most famous of these monasteries
which dates from the days of Mohammed.
The building had been converted into a most
comfortable little Japanese inn. The mon-
astery was situated far up in a narrow valley,
down which a noble mountain torrent was roar-
ing. On three sides were steep slopes covered
with spruce and pine. We were conducted
through the silent buildings by a monk,
shaven-headed, mild-mannered, clad in a dirty,
padded robe which was patched like a " crazy-
quilt."

That night we slept soundly; we had come
ninety miles in a Ford car ; but at four we were
awakened by the patched priest who was knock-
ing on a hollow piece of wood and intoning
sleepily a " call to prayer." Then he pounded
with considerable vigour on a brass bell. It
was all quite interesting; but none of the other
five priests preferred prayer to slumber; neither
did we, at the time; and soon all was silent
save the music of the stream. However, at the
same hour the next night, the performance was

82 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

repeated ; then it seemed to be an interruption.
The third night the same thing occurred; then
it seemed to be an insult. We decided to re-
nounce Buddhism for ever ; — so has Korea.

Then there is Confucianism. Well, at its
best, that was never intended to be a religion.
Confucius never dreamed that any one would
worship him; — no one should. His name is
known and honoured among all Koreans, but
as a philosopher, and as the author of rules of
conduct. He has given to Korea its forms
and ceremonies for social life, but not a re-
ligion.

The nearest approach to religion is in the
practice of " ancestor worship." Some Ko-
reans still observe its forms. One man visited
the grave of his father every day for twenty-
six years. He bowed his head to the same spot,
until his hands and forehead had worn hollows
in the solid rock. However, when we visited
the scene, the weeds and undergrowth were
covering the place and his piety was becoming
a tradition. So is ancestor worship, in Korea.
You can find shrines in most of the door-yards
of the wealthy, but as far as real religious
sentiments are concerned, they are about on a
level with those which stir the noble breasts of
the members of the Society of the Cincinnati
or of the Daughters of the Revolution.

Of course the dread of spirits remains; but

KOEEA 83

" animism " is fast becoming only an interest-
ing study for the antiquarian. We had read
much about the " devil posts " which stood " at
the entrance to every village " and " on top of
every high hill " ; but for two months we
hunted for a " devil post " ; we travelled thou-
sands of miles, but all in vain. We always
found some one who had seen one; we could
buy some imitations for souvenirs; but we
could find no posts.

" Spirit trees " were about as rare. We did
see one with its paper prayers pinned to the
branches and its heap of stones near the trunk :
but as for any external signs of worship or of
religion in Korea, they are now extremely hard
to find.

" Every house has its spirit-jar," so we were
told and such may be true; but the old men
smile as you ask about them, and the young
men laugh, and the wise observer says that
" probably no man under forty-five years of
age believes in spirits to-day."

Soothsayers and sorceresses are still to be
found, but the latter are sought, rather for
their aid in times of sickness, not to lead in
worship. Their medicinal prescriptions are
still valued ; but their influence is fast waning
before the advance of Western science.

It is just this lack of real religion in Korea
that constitutes the call and the opportunity of

84 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

the Christian Church. Intemperance and im-
morality are everywhere on the increase.
Strange new modern cults are being pushed.

The absorbing interests of a new material
civilization are crowding upon the awakened
minds of the people. They need the stabi-
lizing and saving influence of the Christian
Gospel. It is the one hope for the land.

The history of Christian missions contains
no romance of greater interest than that which
has been written by the annals of the Korean
Church. Since an entrance was found, by the
coming of a Christian physician to the Korean
court in 1884, the progress of Christianity has
been continuous and surprising, and the figures
given last year, 1921, by the Federal Council
of Protestant Churches in Korea, are as fol-
lows:

Churches and Groups,
Church Buildings,
Communicants,
Catechumens,
Baptized Children,
Total Adherents,

3,338

2,996

91,818

35,225

19,679

241,328

In some parts of the country the intelligent
acceptance of the Christian faith has been so
eager that the prophecy has frequently been
ventured that Korea will be the first land of
the Orient to become converted to Christ. It

KOEEA 85

was a great pleasure to visit the city of
Syenchun, far in the north, to face one of the
audiences which regularly gather in its great
churches, and to learn that this is probably the
" most Christian city of the world," as, on any
Sunday, more than three thousand of its six
thousand residents can be found in churches.

It was also a thrilling experience to address
the vast audiences in Pyengyang and to go out
into the surrounding country and be given an
insight into the work of the churches which are
grouped around each evangelizing centre. The
picture of these Korean audiences can never be
effaced from memory. On one side of each
church the men and on the other the women,
all clothed in spotless white, all seated on the
floor and crowded into spaces incredibly small
for the number of auditors; in front of the
women the girls, and in front of the men the
boys, clustered around the feet of the speaker.
The church buildings are spacious, but utterly
lacking in artistic beauty; however, the best
adornment for any such structure are the eager
congregations which throng them to the doors,
three or more times on a single day.

No one reason can account for the unique
success of mission work in this " Land of the
Morning Calm " ; but among the factors may
be mentioned the simple and wise methods
which have been employed, and the emphasis

86 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

which has continually been placed upon self-
support, Bible study, and personal evangelism.
In China, it is commonly said, the converts to
Christianity give less to the church than they
previously gave to idolatry ; but, in Korea, more
is given relatively for Christian work than in
America. The Koreans have their own mis-
sionaries working in Ouelparte Island, and in
China, and a large region has been allotted in
Shantung for their special occupation. Yet
the Korean Christians are pitifully poor. It is
well said that they are true " rice Christians ";
for at times they take the rice they need for
food and sell it in order to advance Christian
work.

They are eager students of the Bible. It is
interesting to ask an ordinary audience to an-
swer questions about Bible topics and to notice
the accuracy and promptness of their replies.
Down at the leper colony at Kwangju before
the address in the crowded chapel, a series of
such questions was proposed, and it is far
within the truth to assert that no university
gathering in America could have made such
accurate and confident and joyful replies. At
many Christian centres, " Bible Institutes " are
held annually, at one season for men, at an-
other for women, and, in order to be present,
these Korean peasants will walk for miles over
mountains and valleys, carrying with them

KOEEA 87

their bags of rice, for food, and then remain
for periods of four or six weeks, sleeping in
incredibly cramped quarters, and cooking their
own food, in order to receive instruction in
the Bible.

While at the Institute at Taiku, a young
Korean woman was heard reciting upon the
structure and furniture of the Tabernacle, with
a fluency and an assurance which would have
startled an American student of theology, as it
did an American professor.

Sunday School methods also have been
wisely adopted and adapted. In all the large
centres, like Seoul or Pyengyang, in fact quite
universally through the land, the churches are
filled successively, on Sunday morning, by
crowds of children, then of women, then of
men, all engaged in studying the Bible.

An admirable system has been adopted at
Kwangju. Here the churches are united in a
Sunday School Association and, in the im-
mediate vicinity of the city, twenty-two schools,
with twenty-five hundred scholars enrolled, are
in session every Sunday morning. These
schools rapidly develop into churches. One
such " heathen Sunday School " was visited.
It had been established three miles from the
city, by a faithful worker, who had found a
native village with no " Believers," no knowl-
edge of God or of morality; and there, after a

83 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

few weeks of her effort, we saw two houses
crowded, one with women and children, one
with men; and there Christian hymns were
being sung and the Christian Scriptures were
being taught. The whole life of the village
had been changed already and there, before
long, will be established a Christian church.

The evangelistic zeal of the Koreans has
been equally characteristic. Men and women
will pledge in advance so many " days " a year
and will then employ these days in house to
house visitation in the towns in which they
reside, speaking with others about the Christian
faith.

It must not be supposed, however, that these
Korean believers are faultless, or that they
make any claims of sinless perfection. In fact
it was almost a relief to discover how really
human they are, and how even the church life
is not quite free from occasional dissensions.
However, taken all in all, the body of Christian
believers in Korea is not only the largest in
proportion to the population, but the most alert,
independent and energetic of that to be found
on any mission field in the world.

The growth of the Church has been continu-
ous during all the nearly forty years of its ex-
istence; but this growth has not been uniform.
It was checked by the Japanese occupation of
the country, by the persecution of 1910, and by

KOEEA 89

the Independence Movement in 1919. How-
ever, the government interference has always
reacted favourably. The Korean people re-
spect the Japanese and live with them in perfect
friendliness ; but they have no love for the gov-
ernment, and the suspicion that the government
was opposed to the Church made the Church
immensely popular.

At present it is generally understood that the
government is maintaining religious liberty, ex-
cept in the matter of education, and its attitude
is increasingly a negative factor in actual
church life; nor is there in Korea any such
popular antagonism to Christianity as is mani-
fested in certain other parts of the Far East.
Of course occasionally a man, or more com-
monly a woman, is made to suffer severe
persecution by members of the family because
in becoming a " Believer " it is necessary to
break away from certain customs and practices
associated with ancient heathen belief.

The Koreans, now, are peculiarly open to
the gospel message and ready to listen to the
messenger. During many weeks it was a
great privilege to be the constant companion of
an own brother who has resided in Korea for
sixteen years and speaks the language with re-
markable fluency. He served as guide and in-
terpreter and instructor. In village after vil-
lage as we stopped by the way, as curious

90 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST

crowds gathered around us, they were always
most respectful as they listened to anything
said to them, ready to accept tracts and leaflets
and prompt to answer any questions relating to
religion or their beliefs in spirits or their cus-
toms or superstitions.

It was also possible for us to gain a fair
impression of Korean character. Instead of
finding the people unrestrained and quarrel-
some, as some have reported, they appeared
in various street scenes and under certain se-
vere provocations, to possess great self-control
and kindliness of spirit. When deeply affected,
however, their fondness for speech was mani-
fested, and the torrent of words which flowed
forth was amusing and astounding.

In view of such favouring conditions, and in
face of the opportunities which are fleeting, it
was distressing to find an appalling lack of
workers. Practically every mission station
was undermanned and its workers were over-
burdened. This was not because of any un-
wise ambition on the part of the evangelistic
force which led them to undertake excessive
tasks, but because of the recent depletion in the
force. Men have been taken from the field to
do necessary work in educational institutions
which even with this help are not fully sup-
plied with teachers. In addition, there are the
cases of death, of sickness and of resignation,

KOEEA 91

so that the evangelistic force at present is less
efficient than it was twelve years ago. A large
number of new men are not needed, nor will
large numbers be needed in years to come. If
rightly directed now the Church of Korea
would soon be able to evangelize the land.
However, there is imperative and critical need
of some twenty new workers at once. In
Korea is the place where the battle line of
heathenism has begun to break. If the
Christians of America were really aware of
the actual situation, it seems certain they would
immediately throw in such reinforcements as
to ensure a speedy victory, which would bring
influences of light and life to all the peoples of
the Far East.

IV

JAPAN

THIS was my third visit to Japan, a
fact which is of not the slightest in-
terest to the American public, but is
published for the benefit of friends who travel
as a profession and who love to list and post
the number of their Pacific voyages. I had
crossed the Pacific but once ; however, I caught
a glimpse of Japan before sailing for China,
and another after my return from China, and
another before crossing to Korea, and another
after my two months' stay in Korea, and an-
other before my departure for home. This
form of statement is designed to impress my
readers and to prepare them for the claim that
the word Japan had ceased to connote a mere
confused blur of kimonos and rice fields, and
cherry-blossoms, and jinrikishas, and Bud-
dhas, and pine trees, and moonlit lakes.

I had come to distinguish, with some degree
of assurance, between obi and torii, between
daimyos and dynamos, between ohaio ("good
morning") and oyu ("hot water"), between
yen and sen, between Hideyoshi and Ieyasu,
92

JAPAN 93

and even to detect a difference between police-
men and reporters, between shopkeepers and
swindlers. This dent in my vast ignorance of
things Japanese was due in large measure to
delightful zigzag journeys with my brother and
his wife. She was born in Japan, and her
knowledge of the language and their faithful
but rather futile efforts to make me understand
what I heard and saw, raised me nearly to the
intellectual level of a guide-book graduate.

We journeyed from Shimonoseki to Sendai,
from Kyushu to Karuizawa. We saw the
summer sun sink behind the purple islands of
the Inland Sea. We spent a Sunday at Miya-
jima, and saw its shrines float on the surface
of the flood tide, and watched the people wor-
shipping the Shinto goddesses and feeding oats
to the sacred horse. At Kyoto we visited the
temples and walked over acres of polished
floors, and reviewed regiments of dusty, gilded
gods, of which there were " thirty-three thou-
sand " under a single roof; and, at night, in the
glare of electric lights, among crowds of ex-
cited, and intoxicated, and shouting worship-
pers, we saw hundreds of men, nearly naked,
staggering under the " floats," which carried
the sacred furniture, and other objects of ado-
ration from the temples, as they were borne in
the great procession, on the occasion of the
annual Shinto festival in July. We went to

94 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

Nara to visit the temple parks, with their
countless stone lanterns and sacred deer, and to
pound its bell, and to gape at its colossal Bud-
dha. At Hakone we saw Fuji, the worshipped
mountain, arrayed by the " rosy-fingered
dawn " in purple and scarlet and white, and
mirrored on the surface of the silent lake. We
passed through the dust and the shops and the
crowded streets, and under the shadow of tow-
ering modern structures and among the miles
of miniature houses and great parks of Tokyo,
the largest, but one of the least impressive
cities of Asia. We learned how to use the
word " magnificent " at Nikko, and cautiously
walked around its sacred red bridge, and
crossed its rushing stream, and photographed
the moveless monkeys and the sacred cat, and
marvelled at the beauty and splendour of the
shrines, and toiled up the endless steps of stone,
under the shade of the towering cryptomerias,
to pay a tribute of respect at the tombs of the
great Shoguns. We joined the stream of pil-
grims and toiled up the sacred steeps, past the
beautiful waterfalls, to see the sacred mountain
reflected on the surface of charming Lake
Chuzenji. We penetrated the twenty-six tun-
nels and scaled the high passes to reach Karu-
izawa, a place nearer heaven (by twelve hun-
dred feet) than any we had visited, and here ad-
dressed large audiences of patient missionaries,

THE YOMEI-MON AT NIKKO
An exquisite gateway leading to the mausoleum of Ieyasu

JAPAN 95

each day, during two happy weeks. We even
pursued auditors who had fled to the new sum-
mer resort, across the mountains at Nojiri;
and later visited those who were seeking rest at
Takagama Beach in the famous region of Mat-
sushima. There we plunged into the cool surf
of the Pacific; and then, after meeting the
notable Bible Class of my friend, Professor
Kajiwara, at Sendai, left for Yokohama and
for home.

Such journeyings, under such tuition, to-
gether with extensive research, profound inves-
tigations, acute questioning, mature reflection,
and other strenuous mental processes, con-
vinced one of the truthfulness and accuracy of
all the conflicting and irreconcilable reports
which have reached the Western world rela-
tive to " mysterious Japan." At least, one
could agree with those who admire the
courtesy, the cleverness, and the unfailing
self-confidence of the Japanese. One could
see that these people are devoted lovers
of beauty, and that their land is one of exquis-
ite charm, the truest paradise in the world for
tourists, and for men who wish to write books.
Nor could one help wondering at the incredible
rapidity with which the nation has adopted and
adapted all the arts and inventions of modern
civilization ; this would be particularly apparent
to one who stops at the " Imperial Hotel," who

96 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

travels " first-class " on the " sleeping " and
" dining cars," and glides over the mountain
passes in a " Hudson super-six " ; a slightly
altered impression has been registered by some
who have carried packs along the dusty roads
and stopped among the peasants of the inland
districts.

No one could fail to rejoice that the spirit
of militarism in Japan is being restrained,
that there is a definitely improved international
outlook, and that the papers print fewer pro-
posals for the conquest of the world. No one
could fail to observe, even among a people so
recently awakened by Western thought and so
mentally alert, a present renaissance of intel-
lectual life, a rising passion for education, and
a sincere desire to reach ultimate truth.

However, no one who is a true friend of
Japan, no one who, at the same time, has read
the government statistics and has listened to
the story of those who have the welfare of
Japan most on their hearts, can fail to be ap-
palled at the sight of a land so near to spiritual
and moral bankruptcy. Japan has long loved
beauty, she has begun to seek for truth ; when
will she learn to love purity and virtue, and
holiness and God? The great masses of the
people of Japan are still under the dominance
of degrading forms of heathenism. Forty-six,
out of fifty-six millions, are officially classed as

JAPAN 97

Buddhists. None of the fourteen sects in Ja-
pan teaches the true tenets of Buddhism, but
all unite in filling the minds of the common
people with absurd superstitions, and in requir-
ing the rites of an ignorant idolatry. One will
see more outward manifestations of heathen-
ism on a journey of a single day in Japan than
by a residence of two months in Korea.

However, Buddhism is fast losing its hold.
It is a dishonest religion, in which the priests
teach the people beliefs the very opposite from
those which they themselves hold. It cannot
stand the light of investigation. Nor can it
meet the tests of modern science and civiliza-
tion. Buddhism is making a frantic effort at
revival; it is adopting Christian methods and
Christian forms ; but all in vain. It is unsound
at the heart. It is being deserted by the men
and women of education, and derided by many
of the " intellectuals." Its ultimate failure is
certain. However, one should not underrate
its present influence upon the millions in Japan
who are still under its insidious spell.

The state religion of Japan is Shintoism.
Official reports classify only fourteen million
Japanese as Shintoists; however, its influence
is absolutely universal. It constitutes at the
same time the very strength and the weakness
of the Empire. The worship of ancestors,

98 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

reaching its climax in the worship of the Em-
peror, or more exactly in the worship of the
spirit of the emperors, does give a unity to the
nation, and a loyalty to the Imperial House,
which are almost without a parallel in history.
However, emperor worship, in any form, is
degrading, and as intelligence increases, be-
comes the occasion of reaction and revolution.
Real enlightenment and emperor worship are
absolutely incompatible.

The present problem before the government
of Japan is along this very line. The Consti-
tution vouchsafes to all citizens religious lib-
erty; how then can the government require its
officials, and even the children in its schools, to
bow before the picture of the Emperor and to
worship at Shinto shrines? The solution at-
tempted is clever but ineffectual; the govern-
ment declares that " all ceremonial observances
which are officially obligatory shall not be re-
garded as religious but as patriotic."

The government does not deny, as is often
asserted, that Shintoism is a religion. It re-
gards it as the real religion of the nation ; but
it declares that such forms of Shinto worship
as the government requires shall not be consid-
ered to be religious acts. This, however, is but
an abstraction and a fiction. A ceremony
which at one time and for one person is an act
of worship, cannot be, in reality, a mere civil

JAPAN 99

ceremony at another time or for another person,
and as a matter of fact, the great mass of the
Japanese people do accept emperor worship as
a religious ceremony, and the very essence and
crown of all their religious system.

The great peril to the nation, from both
Buddhism and Shintoism, lies in the fact that
neither one gives any true basis or adequate
sanction for morality. If Buddhism does not
directly foster immorality, it at least sanctions
officially the worst forms of social impurity.

Intemperance and immorality are at present
sapping the vitality of the Japanese people.
While these, rather than the religions of Japan,
form the real barrier to the progress of Chris-
tianity, they likewise constitute the great ap-
peal to the Christian church. All who love
Japan should yearn to see her social and indus-
trial life cleansed and purified and permeated
by the power of the living Christ.

It is true that Christianity has obtained a
firm foothold among the Japanese people. It
has been the chief factor in introducing most
that is best in the life of modern Japan. How-
ever, the obstacles to its progress have been
very great, the growth of the Church has been
slow, and the task of evangelizing the country
has only been begun.

Work was undertaken as soon as the land
was opened to Western nations. Among the

100 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

first great leaders should be mentioned such
men as Liggins and Williams of the Episcopal
Church, Hepburn of the Presbyterian Church,
Verbeck, Brown aod Simmons of the Dutch
Reformed Church, who reached the field in
1859. The detestation with which Christian-
ity was then regarded is suggested by the edicts
which are commonly reported to present visi-
tors in Japan, one of which, for example, ran
as follows: "So long as the sun warms the
earth, let no Christian be so bold as to come to
Japan, and let all know that if the King of
Spain, or the Christians' God, or the great God
of all, violate this command, he shall pay for
it with his head."

The work of evangelization, however, was
pressed with vigour. Other societies became
interested; large numbers of reinforcements
were sent out, until to-day there are nearly
thirteen hundred foreign missionaries on the
field.

Opposition gradually decreased until at pres-
ent the barrier to Christian progress is found
less in hostility to the Gospel than in an almost
universal indifference to Christianity. The
educated classes are largely infidel or agnostic,
and the masses of the people feel little concern
in real religion. Still, in spite of all obstacles,
vigorous and independent churches have come
into being, and there are now in Japan some

JAPAN 101

one hundred and twenty-seven thousand Prot-
estant communicants, organized into one thou-
sand, four hundred and ten churches, three
hundred of which are self-supporting.

However, the influence of Christianity is
quite inadequately represented by such figures.
Many Japanese who are actual adherents to
the faith are connected with no organized
church, thousands of others are carefully read-
ing and studying the Bible. Christian phrases,
and customs, and ideals are rapidly pervading
every sphere of thought and life, whether so-
cial, industrial, educational, literary or political.
There has been, during the past eight years,
an increase of seventeen per cent, in the num-
ber of Protestant ministers and eighty-five per
cent, in the Protestant Church enrollment.
The Roman Catholic Church reports seventy-
six thousand, and the Greek Catholic thirty-six
thousand adherents.

Nevertheless, it must be remembered that
less than one-half of one per cent, of the popu-
lation of Japan is included within the Christian
community. Furthermore, if we accept the
modern basis of calculation, namely, that a
mission field is not " occupied " unless there is
at least one missionary to every fifty thousand
of the population, then Japan, from the view-
point of modern Christian missions, is still one
of the great unoccupied fields of the world.

102 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

The missionary methods employed in Japan
are similar to those found in other mission
fields. However, most travellers find that the
evidences of missionary effort are less con-
spicuous than in some lands ; but when one is
guided by resident workers, and is shown the
real facts, he is certain to be surprised at the
vigour and the extent of the Christian enter-
prise.

One misses the medical missionary work,
and the Christian hospitals, that elsewhere
form so prominent a feature of missionary
service. On the other hand, it is interesting to
note certain new forms of work, such as the
enterprise of " Newspaper Evangelism," which
has attained marked success.

A day was spent with the leader in this form
of activity, Dr. Albertus Pieters, at Fukuoka,
on the southern island of Kyushu, and we were
deeply impressed with the results which are be-
ing secured by Christian messages printed in
secular papers. An insertion at advertising
rates is expensive; but tens of thousands of
readers, who are indifferent to Christianity,
and who would never attend a place of preach-
ing, read the Gospel story ; and every insertion
results in a number of inquiries which are care-
fully preserved and used as means of securing
personal correspondence and interviews. This
method has been given the endorsement of the

JAPAN 103

Federated Missions of Japan and is being
adopted in other parts of the Empire.

Then, too, as we sailed through the Inland
Sea, and later as we rode along its shores, we
were reminded of the romantic story of the
"Fukuin Maru" ("The Gospel Ship"),
which moves about among those picturesque
islands and has accomplished a work of such
surprising proportions. Something of that ro-
mance was learned from my friend, F. W.
Steadman, who for a time conducted the work,
and from another personal interview with the
present gallant young commander of the ship,
the Reverend James F. Laughton; more of it
still is written in the life of " Captain Bickel
of the Inland Sea."

It is of great importance to note the superb
work of Christian education which is being
done in Japan. One feature of the work is
the prominent place in the curriculum given to
the Bible and to religious teaching in many of
the institutions. Another feature is the large
number of Japanese leaders who have shown
themselves able and qualified to assume great
responsibilities in the conduct and extension of
this work.

Then, too, as Japan ultimately must be evan-
gelized by Japanese, it was a great delight to
learn of the wide influence being exerted by

104 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

such evangelists as Paul Kanamori and S. Ki-
mura, who are bringing the Gospel message to
tens of thousands of their fellow-countrymen.
It has been a great privilege to become person-
ally and intimately acquainted with these
workers, and to learn from them that at no pre-
vious time has it been so easy for them to gain
a hearing or to secure decisions for Christ.
Of great importance, too, is the Bible-teaching
work of such leaders as C. Kajiwara, of Sen-
dai, and K. Uchimura, of Tokyo.

At present one of the most interesting prob-
lems in the evangelization of Japan concerns
the relations between the denominational
churches, and the relations of these churches to
the various foreign missions.

Union and cooperation have already pro-
gressed much further in Japan than in China.
The country is not so vast, the numbers of
Christians and missionaries are not so great.
A much stronger native leadership, especially
in educational lines, has been developed. How-
ever, the next step proposed to secure more
effective cooperation is along the line recently
taken in China, namely, the formation of a
National Christian Council.

For many years there has existed in Japan a
Federation of Churches, and also a Federation
of Missions, like the Federal Council of

JAPAN 105

Churches and the Federal Council of Missions
in Korea; but there has been no organization
uniting the churches and the missions. The
Federation of Churches does not seem to have
been very active, but the Federation of Mis-
sions has been most efficient. The annual
Conference of this Federation, held at Karu-
izawa in August, was an occasion of instruc-
tion and inspiration to all who attended its
sessions, and it revealed how much this organi-
zation has been accomplishing for the unifica-
tion and strengthening of the missionary cause
in Japan.

However, the work of the missionaries must
be brought into closer harmony and coopera-
tion with the work of the indigenous Japanese
Church. With this end in view, a National
Christian Conference was held at Tokyo, May
18-24, 1922. A very large proportion of the
churches and missions were represented. A
committee was appointed to formulate a plan
for a National Christian Council. This plan
was acted upon favourably by the Federation
of Churches, and when presented to the Feder-
ation of Christian Missions at Karuizawa, in
August, was referred for favourable action to
the individual constituent missions.

A few extracts from the proposed constitu-
tion of this National Council will give some
indication of its nature and purpose:

106 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

Article I. The name of this organization shall
be The National Christian Council of Japan.

Article II. The Council shall consist of the
recognized evangelical bodies.

Article III. The purpose of the Council shall
be:

i. To express and foster the spirit of fellow-
ship and unity of the Christian Church in Japan
and to develop a deeper realization of its oneness
with the Church throughout the world.

2. To be a medium through which the Church
may speak in a representative capacity on matters
affecting the entire Christian movement in Japan,
such as general social, moral and religious ques-
tions.

3. To represent the Christian Church in Ja-
pan in communicating effectively with bodies
similar to this Council in other countries and to
express its voice and make its contribution in the
International Missionary Council and in other
international relations.

4. To take counsel, make surveys, plan for co-
operative work and to take suitable steps for
carrying on such work, and to act in behalf of
the cooperating bodies in all matters of common
interest when the Council is satisfied that the ac-
tion taken will be in accordance with the wishes
of the cooperating bodies.

5. To provide for the holding of Christian
Conferences at suitable times on matters of vital
importance to the Christian movement in Japan.

6. In all the above-mentioned functions, the
Council is understood as having no authority to
deal with questions of doctrine or ecclesiastical

JAPAN 107

polity, neither shall its functions be interpreted as
being in any way legislative or mandatory.

«

It is further proposed that this Council shall
be composed of one hundred members. Of
this number eighty-five (fifty-one Japanese and
thirty- four missionaries) shall be chosen by the
cooperating Christian bodies, and the remain-
ing fifteen members shall be coopted by the
eighty-five elected members.

It is therefore evident that, as in the new
National Christian Council of China, the ma-
jority of members are to be representatives of
the native churches. However, it is also evi-
dent that this Council is to be a more truly rep-
resentative and authoritative body than that of
China, as its members are to be elected by the
various missions and other organizations to
which these members belong. It would seem
that such a Council would make for the unity
and efficiency of the whole Christian movement
in Japan and thus aid greatly in supplying to
the nation its supreme needs, namely, the pre-
cepts and the power of the living Christ.

HOMEWARD BOUND

AS weeks and months drifted by, the
yearning for home, and the sense of
distant separation, became too intense
and insistent to be dispelled long, even by the
pressure of duties or the attractions of new
audiences or the fellowship of fascinating
friends; and when, for the fourth and last
time, Tokyo had been reached, even the touch-
ing tributes of generous Japanese and the real
delight of their farewell " Princeton dinner,"
were less thrilling than the sight of the great
American ship chafing at her moorings by the
Yokohama pier. However, when farewells
had been said, when one stood alone on deck
and looked down at the upturned faces of loved
ones who had made the Orient precious, when
the engines started and our paper serpentines
snapped, and the space of separating water
widened, there was something in the eyes that
blurred the scene, and something in the heart
that in other circumstances would have been
called regret. Then, as we steamed down the
bay and started for the open sea, we looked
westward, and there, above the summer haze,
apparently floating on the clouds, was the pur-
108

FUJIYAMA

More correctly called Fuji-San or Fuji-no-Yama, is an extinct

volcano 12,365 feet in height, and is the pride of Japan

HOMEWARD BOUND 109

pie cone of Fujiyama. The shore line soon
disappeared, but the slopes of the sacred moun-
tain stood out clear in the sunset, and as the
eye followed the diverging lines of that moun-
tain-top downward into the mists they seemed
to expand until they enclosed the island, the
nation, the Orient. Tnat mountain was all we
could see of Japan, but for us it was at the
time all of Japan, all of the Far East; and then
it sank into the darkening sky. By the next
morning we were far on our delightful voyage
across the Pacific, surprised to find so many ac-
quaintances on board, and glad of the oppor-
tunity to form new friendships. We were
homeward bound and our faces were toward
the future.

As the voyagers exchanged confidences one
of the first questions asked was as to what
each one was hringing from the Orient.

The Wise Men from the East are pictured as
bearing gifts; and most men to-day come from
the East wiser, and poorer, for the gifts they
bear. These gifts somewhat differ, according
to the taste, the character and the former finan-
cial condition of the bearer, according also to
the sensitiveness of his conscience and his fear
of customs officials, according also to the num-
ber of women in his party or the influence of
the charming advisers he has met on the way.

110 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

Yet, after all, there is a striking similarity
in these souvenirs, as gifts from the Far East
are easily classified and their origins located;
and while many are exquisitely beautiful there
seems to be " no new thing under the sun."

Practically every place in the Orient has its
specialty, its meibutsu, and this must be pur-
chased by each tourist as a gift for some one
at home or as a proof that he has travelled
abroad. However, according to popular re-
port, most of these Oriental purchases are
made by wives and daughters, while the hus-
bands and fathers decry the conspiracy of East-
ern nations in the matter of currency, for their
" dollars " and " yen " are worth only half a
dollar each; and consequently, according to
these men, every American woman imagines
that she has an opportunity of buying goods at
half price; the consequence in the amount of
the purchases can best be stated by those most
concerned.

Among these purchases which can be listed
according to places, if not prices, are the carved
ivory and jade from Canton, the silks from
Shanghai, the furs and beads and cloisonne
and red lacquer, and gorgeous "mandarin
coats " from Peking, the brocaded silks from
Nanking, and from Hangchow the umbrellas
and the fans. One should pause to remark
that in the Far East a fan is an article of real

HOMEWAED BOUND 111

importance ; there, a fan is carried by every one
from the Japanese " red-cap " who wrestles
with your luggage, to the imposing Korean
gentleman who, in flowing white robes, sits as-
tride his donkey, under the shadow of his
spreading umbrella. In the Orient it is almost
as necessary to carry a fan as it is to " save
your face."

The " specialty " of Korea is its brass. Re-
cently more tin and less copper is being used in
its composition than in former days, so that the
older pieces, less yellow in colour and, when
sounded, clearer in tone, are more highly
prized.

Then, too, there are the Korean chests, not
to be carried away in hand-bags, but to be
shipped homeward, resplendent with their cor-
ners, and their countless hinges, of brass.
Some of these chests are valuable heirlooms,
from the homes of the former gentry and
nobles, and are of great value as antiques ; but
most are of modern manufacture.

Korean fans, of bright colours, are made in
many parts of the country and are prized by
purchasers, but it seems that those of most
clever workmanship and of greatest value are
produced only in Chun-ju, in the southwest.

As to Japan, if its scenery is the delight of
tourists, so, too, are its souvenirs. While, in
all the great shopping centres, articles from

112 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

almost any part of the land can be purchased,
nevertheless there are " specialties " associated
with many separate places, the meibutsu of a
particular locality being confined often to a
very limited area.

Nagasaki, on the southwestern Island of
Kyushu, is famous for its beautiful articles
made of tortoise-shell.

One who crosses to the sacred island, beauti-
ful Miyajima, will be attracted by the ingeni-
ous articles made of wood. In Nara, memo-
rable for its temples, its parks and its sacred
deer, the shops, not unnaturally, are filled with
little souvenirs made of deer-horn, but they
also offer for sale beautiful articles of lacquer.

Kyoto is a perfect delight and bewilderment
to all persons who love to make purchases of
Japanese goods, as its shops are probably the
most attractive in the Empire. Antiques and
modern products can be found in endless pro-
fusion. Some of the establishments are quite
imposing, but many of the most popular are
insignificant in appearance, and located on nar-
row and obscure streets. Some of the articles
most commonly sought, and which can be seen
in the process of manufacture in the various
places where they are purchased, are of
" damascene," of cloisonne and of various
kinds of pottery; then, too, there are the em-
broidered silks, particularly, exquisite kimonos,

HOMEWARD BOUND 113

some of which are of ancient and rare work-
manship, while many are of modern design
and made specially for " foreign trade."

In the beautiful Hakone district, mosaic
woodwork is the " specialty " which fills a
prominent place in the shops ; but the real spe-
cialty of Hakone is the view of the peerless
Fujiyama, of its majestic summit and its re-
flection in the still water of the lake. This
cannot be purchased, but its faint reproduc-
tions can be found in a very large portion of
Japanese pictures and other works of art, and
the memory will be one of the most satisfying
souvenirs of an Oriental tour.

The articles sold at Nikko are tempting, par-
ticularly the coloured photographs and the pro-
ductions of various kinds of wood ; so, too, at
Sendai, farther north, souvenirs can be secured
made of curious coal-black wood, and excellent
samples of red lacquer.

Many other " specialties " might be men-
tioned, such as articles made of crystal, of cut-
velvet, of bamboo, of paper and of bronze ; but
enough has been said to suggest the wild pro-
fusion of purchases paraded in the conversa-
tion of homeward bound tourists; but vastly
more varied, more diverse, more confusing, are
the impressions, the memories, the opinions,
the reactions, which are bundled together in the
brains of these travellers, and are certain to be

114 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

presented, with oracular impressiveness and
wearisome iteration, to innocent and indulgent
relatives and friends and even to the patient
American public.

These mental " specialties " inevitably differ
according to the previous prejudices, igno-
rance, occupation, and antipathies of the indi-
vidual traveller. Some of them are antiques,
but not of great value; others are new and
original, but of less value still. Some are fab-
rics of the imagination; others are based on the
infallible information gained in a chance con-
versation with an illiterate coolie. Some will
be kept for private consumption ; some will be
paraded before admiring friends on state occa-
sions ; some will be preserved as curios by their
honoured recipients; some will form even ma-
terial for books.

A few of these personal impressions are here
recorded for the enlightenment of the reader,
who may classify them according to his own
best judgment.

First of all, the writer brought back with
him a confirmed conviction that many persons
who remain at home are better informed as to
the Orient than are some who have caught
casual glimpses of the Far East; and the
further conviction that one need not travel to
become a great philosopher ; in fact, Immanuel

HOMEWAKD BOUND 115

Kant is said to have never journeyed forty
miles from Konigsberg; it was even disheart-
ening to read, in China, the words of Laotse:
" The further one travels, the less one may
know." However, as to Laotse, the writer
has no sympathy with Taoism ; and as to Kant,
he may not have travelled, but he often seemed
to arrive at conclusions far enough from the
truth; and as to the friends at home, it is a
satisfaction to believe that by an Oriental tour
you may have approached a little nearer to
their level of intelligence, and, in spite of stu-
pidity and a poor memory, may have stored
away in the subconscious mind some ideas
which may emerge in future hours of need.

Moreover, since all life in the Far East lies
hidden behind almost impenetrable walls, if one
is fortunate enough to find here or there a
gateway through which he gains a glimpse of
the mysteries which lie beyond, it may be his
duty to tell others what he has seen, however
imperfect his vision, however partial his views.

A second conviction brought from the Orient
was this: the better one is informed, the less
likely he will be to make sweeping statements,
and the more will he appreciate the peril of
passing comprehensive judgments upon any
race or nation or group of i: dividuals. A cer-
tain traveller, after a prolonged residence of

116 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

fifteen minutes in Asia, arguing from the ina-
bility of a Japanese " rickshaw " coolie to un-
derstand " cockney " English, characterized all
Orientals as " brainless imbeciles." Even a
short journey enables one to appreciate the re-
mark: "All generalizations are false, including
this one."

However, even with this in mind, one gen-
eral statement must be allowed, and it is this:
One brings back from his journey the memory
that wherever he went he met with unfailing
courtesy and consideration, and was over-
whelmed with kindness. These were shown
by all persons, without a single exception, from
the cabin boys on the steamers and the em-
ployees on the railroads, to the government of-
ficials, and to the personal friends whose gen-
erosity and graciousness made every day an
unbroken delight. " Showing tenderness to
strangers from far countries " was one of nine
cardinal directions enjoined upon rulers by
Confucius. It was a joy to find how far, in
this particular, at least, Confucius rules the
East.

In the fourth place, one brings back home a
heightened respect for the Oriental races, and a
truer appreciation of their many admirable
qualities. He realizes that " comparisons are

HOMEWAED BOUND 117

odious," and that they are needless and are
commonly unfair. He has reinforced his con-
viction that it is not necessary to hate Japan in
order to sympathize with Korea or to appreci-
ate China, and that, on the other hand, his
general conclusions as to the situation in the
Far East will not be clarified by attempting to
imagine that all Japanese are charming fairies
or thinly disguised angels.

Then again, one returns with a larger con-
ception of the latent power of the nations of
the East. He does not feel called upon to pro-
claim a " yellow peril " ; but he has at least a
faint vision of populations and resources which
promise to become prime factors in the for-
tunes of the world. This is most notably true
of China; not to speak of her potential wealth,
the multitudes of her people are beyond com-
prehension. Some one who delights in mathe-
matical calculations has affirmed that if the
population of China should pass a given point,
in single file, the procession would never cease,
for before the present generation has passed,
other generations would have been born to take
its place ; so we can conclude that " there is no
end to the Chinese."

Further, one returns with a haunting mem-
ory of the poverty, and ignorance, and pain

118 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST

which enslave these millions of the East. This
is peculiarly evident in China, where multi-
tudes ever live under the shadow of impending
death from flood or famine. Even in Japan,
the majority of the people are hovering near
the border-line of want. The houses in which
Orientals live are mere huts compared with the
common homes of America. Ninety-nine men
out of every hundred in the East could carry
on their backs, excepting their huts and house-
holds, all that they possess on earth. The
building of Western manufacturing plants has
introduced new problems, and hundreds of
thousands of men and women and little boys
and girls are living in practical and bitter
slavery.

The prevalence of disease is such that it is
difficult to believe the statements of reputable
physicians as to actual existing conditions.
Ignorance of the simplest laws of hygiene
leaves the masses a prey to continual pestilence.
Every thirty-seven seconds of every minute,
and hour and day and year, at least one man in
China dies of tuberculosis. In Korea the in-
fant mortality reaches the pitiful ratio of fifty
per cent.

There are more lepers in China, at this pres-
ent hour, than there are Christians in all the
eighteen provinces. In fact, in all the Orient,
lepers are everywhere to be seen, jostling in the

HOMEWARD BOUND 119

crowds, riding on the cars, lying in loathsome
helplessness by the roads. The Christian mis-
sionaries have begun a work for these outcasts,
and under their influence governments are do-
ing something; but the provision is absolutely
inadequate. Possibly the most agonizing sight
of the Oriental tour was that of the despairing
lepers outside the admirable but overcrowded
asylum at Kwangju (Korea). They had
crawled for miles on bleeding and festering
feet and hands, hoping to be admitted to the
" heaven on earth," only to be refused admis-
sion, because every inch of space was occupied.
There by the roadside they lay, with no pro-
tection from the heat and dust of summer and
no shelter from the coming storms and snows
of winter, matchless pictures of human misery,
left by their fellow-men to die in anguish, with
none to pity or relieve.

However, the moral leprosy of the Far East
is incomparably more terrible than any physical
disease. Impurity, intemperance, dishonesty,
cruelty, gross materialism, selfishness and sen-
suality, like foul ulcers, are eating out the
strength and vitality of these mighty nations.
Their pitiful moral impotence is an unanswer-
able indictment of their moribund religions.
They are familiar with the noble ethics of
Confucius, but what power can make these
helpless masses either desire or do the right?

120 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

They " see the better and approve," but they
" follow the worse." Christ is the only hope
for the Orient, and of all the precious memo-
ries which one brings from the Far East, none
will compare with those of the lives and char-
acters and labours and achievements of the
messengers of the Christian Church.

Now, as to these missionaries, so much has
been said, so well said, and so poorly said, that
even the self-assurance born of a limited stay
in the Orient hardly emboldens one to add an-
other word.

However, it must be remembered that all
previous estimates of Christian missionaries
must now be revised or reaffirmed. All are
out of date. They were made yesterday, or
last year, or a decade ago. The missionaries
of to-day form a new company, and must be
judged on their own merits. In fact, no more
vivid impression is brought back from the Far
East than that of the extreme youth of the
missionary body. To patriarchs who have
passed the " dead line " of fifty, these workers
seem like boys and girls. Of course there are
among them veterans, who belong to an older
generation; but one who is fond of statistics
declared, recently, that of the six thousand mis-
sionaries in China, less than twenty per cent
had been on the field ten years.

HOMEWAED BOUND 121

Whatever any one has ever affirmed to the
contrary, it can be confidently maintained that
the older missionaries and the generations
which preceded them laid the foundations
wisely and well, and no higher compliment can
be paid to the present staff of workers than to
say that they are worthy successors to those
whom they follow.

Taken all in all, the eight thousand mission-
aries of the Far East form the most intelligent,
the most cheerful, the most industrious, the
most useful group of similar size that can be
found in any quarter of the earth.

Their hospitality is unbounded, and prover-
bial; but not infrequently abused. It forms
the basis for the antiquated criticism- of the
" luxury and extravagance " in which mission-
aries live. One popular American writer,
stricken with fever, was rescued from death by
a missionary family who nursed him back to
health and, at great sacrifice, provided certain
nourishing delicacies prescribed by the physi-
cian. On his recovery, the ingrate returned
home and regaled the American public with
published accounts of the self-indulgent luxury
of missionary homes.

These missionaries form a brave and inde-
pendent and self-respecting group of workers.
They deprecate being called heroic, and hate
being regarded with pity. Their joys and rec-

122 GATEWAYS OF THE FAK EAST

ompenses are many, but their sacrifices and sor-
rows are real and bitter. A single Mission,
this very year, mourned the loss of three little
children from three different households within
almost as many weeks. Yet these crises are
met with Christian courage. It would be im-
possible to forget the impression produced by
the services held in one of these sorrowing
homes. It was a June day of rare beauty.
Great clouds were drifting across the blue
heaven ; the air was quivering with the song of
birds, and the breeze which stole gently
through the poplars was sweet with the fra-
grance of flowers. Yet, in spite of the dark
shadow which so plainly rested upon that com-
pany of sympathizing friends, the simple sol-
emn service seemed to be in harmony with the
summer scene about us with its brightness and
its beauty. The Scripture message was one of
cheer and hope and comfort, as it spoke of re-
union in the presence and at the appearing of
Christ, and the hymns contained notes of tri-
umph. The sense of bereavement and of lone-
liness did make the homeland, with its relatives
and friends beyond the seas, seem very far
away, but the real Homeland, with its glories
and its joys, seemed strangely near, and the
company of Christian workers, met to express
their sympathy and love, appeared to form one
closely united family of faith.

HOMEWAED BOUND 123

These missionaries do show their courage,
not only in bearing such bereavements as this,
but in enduring continual separations from
loved ones, particularly those caused by the
necessity of sending children to America or
Europe to be educated. Happily this cause of
distress is being lessened. Schools for the
children of missionaries and of other foreign
residents are being established in many centres
of the Far East. An educator who has de-
voted his life to the development of one of the
largest of these schools declares that he was
impelled to the task by seeing the grief of a
certain missionary who was parting with his
children for a period of seven years. Long
after, as he met the same worker, he asked
whether the separation had been so long:
" Yes," was the reply, " it proved to be four-
teen years before I saw my family again ; they
were grown to be men and women. I really
never again saw my children."

To avoid such experiences, missionaries are
supporting some of these schools out of their
own meagre salaries. The Church at home
could make no wiser investment of funds than
by fostering, at its expense, all these necessary
institutions, not merely out of sympathy for
the missionaries, but because a longer residence
upon the field, on the part of the children of
missionaries, has resulted in a larger propor-

124 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST

tion of these children returning, after their col-
lege courses in America, to devote their lives to
missionary service; and, other things being
equal, those who in early years have become
familiar with the language and customs of Ori-
ental peoples, make the most efficient workers
in these various fields.

However, one returns from the East with an
impression that missionaries are no more se-
verely tested by separation and solitude than by
enforced society and compulsory companion-
ship. Not only are persons of contrasting
tastes and temperaments, who previously were
total strangers, compelled to live together for
years in the narrow limits of a contracted
" compound," but families of very different
antecedents and customs must live for long
periods under the same low roof. It is not
strange that at rare intervals frictions arise;
the remarkable thing is to note the harmony
and affection which more commonly prevail.
One of the obvious needs, in most stations, is
that of more and better homes for the workers ;
and one of the evident requirements of mis-
sionary candidates is that they should be rea-
sonably free from egoism, eccentricities and
fads.

Another impression brought back from the
East is that of the extreme difficulty of acquir-

HOMEWAED BOUND 125

ing the use of Oriental languages. This diffi-
culty is not only an almost insuperable barrier
to the usefulness of many missionaries, but the
continual endeavour to attain proficiency forms
a severe, if often unrecognized, strain upon
their nerves and a menace to their health.
" Language schools " have been established,
most wisely; but their curricula should be en-
larged ; and, furthermore, candidates who have
no ear for distinguishing sounds, and no apti-
tude for linguistic study, should seriously
question whether their life-work should lie in
either China, Korea or Japan.

Again, one could not fail to note the frail or
broken health of large numbers of missionary
workers. The unfavourable conditions of life,
the tax of overwork, the continual drain upon
their sympathies, make the maintenance of
physical vigour a matter of unusual difficulty.
Most mission boards and agencies are giving
increasing consideration to this matter, and
very wisely are providing for shorter terms of
service and for more frequent furloughs.
However, it would be a matter of wise econ-
omy if heed were taken to the urgent request
of the missionary body and a proper sanita-
rium, or series of sanataria, could be provided
for the Far East. There appears to be abso-
lutely no place in the Orient where a worker,
suffering from over-strain, or temporary ail-

126 GATEWAYS OF THE FAE EAST

ment, can retire for rest and recuperation.
Here is the opportunity for some benevolent
person to make an invaluable contribution to
the missionary cause.

However, taken as a whole, the missionaries
are vigorous, efficient, devoted, optimistic, and
their influence forms the most hopeful feature
of all the situations and developments in the
Far East.

Nothing could be farther from the truth
than to imagine that missionaries, and large re-
inforcements of missionaries, are no longer
needed in the Orient. It is true that churches
have been established in China and Korea and
Japan, but in no one of these lands are the
churches so united, or so strong, as adequately
to meet the problem of evangelizing their own
peoples. In Eastern lands not one person out
of a hundred, in China scarcely one in a thou-
sand, is a Christian. Only a small fraction of
the population have heard of Christ. The
work of the missionaries has only been begun;
but it has been begun well, and it merits an
immeasurably increased appreciation and sup-
port.

After some months of continual association
with missionaries, one could not fail to return
from the field with the belief that the time has
come for more definite and aggressive and per-

HOMEWAED BOUND 127

sonal evangelistic effort. Particularly was this
evident in China and Japan. Other forms of
service are admirable and essential, whether
medical, or industrial, or educational, or social ;
and all of these may be used toward the one
supreme end of bringing individual souls into
vital relationship to Christ; but there is some-
times a danger of mistaking the means for the
end. The reports at the Shanghai National
Conference laid great stress upon this point;
and the Conference of Federated Missions, at
Karuizawa, took " Evangelism " as its theme,
and made ringing declarations along this line.
The feeling seemed to be unanimous that the
definite presentation of the Gospel message to
individuals must be made and kept more pre-
eminent in all the forms of missionary activity
which are being prosecuted so admirably and
with such notable success.

Finally, the supreme conviction which one
brings back from the Orient is that of the unity
of the human race and the sufficiency of the
Gospel of Christ. The differences between the
peoples of China and Korea and Japan and
America are obvious and interesting, but their
similarities and their essential oneness are far
more real and important. All have the same
sorrows and joys, and hopes and fears, and
temptations and sins, and glorious possibilities

128 GATEWAYS OF THE FAR EAST

and spiritual needs ; and, for all, there is hope
and relief and light and triumph and liberty
and peace in the presence and the transforming
power of the living Christ. For making Him
known, the Orient has never offered more
abundant opportunities, nor have the obstacles
ever been more obvious or more real ; and these
obstacles and opportunities constitute the most
significant walls and gateways of the Far East.

Printed in the United States of America

m!.n,ceton Theol

lltlSuJ&tiSSX Lib^ries

1 1012 01356 OS™