CORNELL .
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

 

THE WASON
CHINESE
COLLECTION

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

Sketches

OF THE

MISSIONS OF THE AMERICAN BOARD

IN

CHINA.

THE NORTH CHINA MISSION,

By Rev. Henry Biopcet, D.D.

THE FOOCHOW MISSION,

By Rev. C. C. Batpwin, D.D.

BOSTON:
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,

I SOMERSET STREET.
1896.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
wis ee
The Missions of the dit Board in China.

At the present time the American Board has four dis-
tinct missions within the Chinese Empire — the Foochow,
the North China, the Shansi, and the South China mis-
sions. The Board has had three other missions in China:
the Canton, which was discontinued in 1866; the Amoy,
transferred to another missionary board in 1857; and the
Shanghai Mission, the location of which, as well as the
name, was changed to North China in 1860. The Shansi
and South China missions are of recent date, and their
history may be briefly told. Of the two older missions
the history is given in the following pages— that of Foo-
chow by Dr. Baldwin, and that of North China by Dr.
Blodget, in each instance the senior missionary on the
ground. What they say of the country, the people,
the language, and the religions of China need not be
repeated in connection with the story of the other mis-
sions. In these preliminary pages, therefore, it will be
sufficient to give an outline of the missions which pre-
ceded the establishment of those now existing, and a brief
record of the present Shansi and South China missions.

THE Canton Mission. — The first Protestant mis-
sionary who went to China was Robert Morrison, sent
out by the London Missionary Society. He landed in
Canton, September 8, 1807, and his presence was toler-
ated simply because his character as a missionary was
not known. He served in the East India Company as
2 MISSIONS IN CHINA.

translator, and so became familiar with the language and
the people. In 1813 he was joined by Mr. Milne, and
the two, compelled at times to escape the suspicions
and oppositions of officials and others by removing
to Macao, or Malacca, were able to issue a dictionary
-and grammar of the Chinese language, and to prepare a
translation of the Bible by the year 1819. The first con-
vert they received in 1814. Rev. Elijah C. Bridgman, the
first missionary of the American Board to China, sailed
from New York, October 14, 1829, in company with Rev.
David Abeel—the latter going out under the American
Seaman’s Friend Society to labor among the seamen —
and arrived in Canton, February 25, 1830. ‘The first years
were spent in the study of the language at Canton and
Macao. In 1832 Mr. Bridgman issued the first number
of the Chinese Repository. In 1833 Mr. S. Wells Williams
and Rev. Ira Tracy joined the mission at Canton. In the
mean time Mr. Abeel, who had become a missionary in
connection with the American Board, made explorations in
Java, Singapore, and Siam. Dr. Peter Parker joined the
mission in 1834, and opened a dispensary in which a large
number of patients were treated. Public preaching was
not permitted. The Opium War, which began in 1840,
caused the total suspension of missionary labors in China,
and Messrs. Bridgman and Abeel, the latter of whom had
just returned from the United States, removed to Macao.
The war was concluded by a treaty of peace, August 20,
1842, by which five of the principal ports were opened to
commerce. These ports were Canton, Amoy, Foochow,
Ningpo, and Shanghai. By this treaty of 1842 Hong Kong
was ceded to England, and mission premises were
secured at this city, and missionary work was not resumed
in Canton until 1845, save that Dr. Parker maintained his
hospital. The prejudices of the Chinese, however, had
THE CANTON MISSION. 3

been so aroused that missionaries lived under many restric-
tions. Dr. Ball had a small school for boys, and preaching
was maintained in the houses of the missionaries. Dr.
Parker continued his hospital work, although he accepted
the office of Secretary of Legation to the United States
Embassy, and was subsequently appointed United States
Commissioner to China. Dr. S. Wells Williams was
engaged in the work of publication, sending forth a great
number of valuable tracts and books, including his ‘“ Tonic
Dictionary of the Canton Dialect and Commercial Guide,”
until in 1857 he accepted the post of Secretary of Lega-
tion, in which position he faithfully served the cause of
missions. Mr. Bridgman was transferred to Shanghai in
1847, that he might engage, in connection with delegates of
other societies, in the translation of the Scriptures. In
1850 congregations of from fifty to sixty persons were
secured at Canton. Patient labor marked the succeeding
years, during which prejudices were overcome to some ex-
tent, and excursions were made into the country adjacent to
Canton to familiarize the people with the presence of
foreigners, but few conversions were reported. A civil war
in 1854, followed in 1856 by a war with England, sadly
interrupted missionary labors. The missionaries of the
Board were again compelled to remove to Macao, and their
dwellings, together with the printing establishment and many
books, were destroyed by fire. By the treaty signed in June,
1858, the toleration of Christianity, whether Protestant or
Catholic, was guaranteed in all parts of the empire. This
was a remarkable concession, in view of the previous exclu-
siveness of the Chinese, and what the higher officials then
promised by the treaty was not at once actually secured.
Slowly but surely has practical liberty to preach the gospel
been attained. Near the close of 1858 Messrs. Ball and
Bonney were able to return to Canton and take up work,
4 MISSIONS IN CHINA.

finding the people more friendly than before the war, with
free access to every part of the city. Their audiences then
numbered from 150 to 400 hearers. Schools for boys and
girls were maintained. The death of Mr. Bonney in 1864,
and of Dr. Ball in 1866, greatly reduced the strength of the
mission, and in the mean time other missionary societies
had commenced work in Canton, while the better outlook
of the missions of the Board at Foochow and in North
China seemed to render a withdrawal from Canton advis-
able. This was accordingly done in October, 1866.

THe Amoy Muission.—This mission was begun in
1842, when the five ports were opened at the conclusion
of the Opium War. Mr. Abeel was transferred from
Canton to the city of Amoy, where a promising work was
soon inaugurated. He was reinforced in 1844 by Messrs.
Doty and Pohlman with their wives. All these mission-
aries, and those who subsequently joined the mission,
were members of the Reformed (Dutch) Church, which at
that time codperated with the American Board in foreign
missionary operations. On the withdrawal of that church
from this coéperation, in 1857, in the hope that by inde-
pendent action they might be inspired to more vigorous
labors for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom, this
Amoy Mission was transferred to its Board of Foreign
Missions. The first converts at Amoy were baptized in
1846, and at the time of the transference of the mission
170 had been received to church fellowship. Since then
the mission has been prospered until it has 18 out-
stations ; and 11 churches, with 1,119 members.

Foocuow Mission. — This mission was begun in
1847, on the arrival of Messrs. Johnson and Peet, who
had been laboring among the Chinese in Siam. The
history of this mission, from the pen of Dr. Baldwin, will
be found on a later page of this pamphlet.
SHANGHAI AND SHANSI MISSIONS. 5

THe SHANGHAI Mission was not formally organized
until 1854, although in 1847 Dr. Bridgman and his wife
were transferred from Canton to Shanghai, that he might
better prosecute the work of translation. Messrs. Blodget
and Aitchison joined this mission in 1854. Preaching was
sustained in the city and in the suburbs, also at Pinghoo,
one of the chief cities in the province of Chehkiang. Dr.
Bridgman prosecuted his work until the time of his death,
in 1861. The version of the Scriptures which bears his
name, together with that of Mr. Culbertson, was nearly
completed at the time of his death, and was issued in
1862. The opportunities for missionary work seemed to
be much more hopeful at the north, and the station at
Shanghai was discontinued in 1862, and the name of the
mission was changed to the North China Mission. The
history of this mission, from the pen of Dr. Blodget, will
be found on page g.

THE SHANSI Mission was begun in 1882 in the prov-
ince of Shansi, directly west of Chihli. This region had
been previously visited by Dr. Blodget and others, and it
was believed to offer the best opening for a new mission.
Tai-yuen-fu, the capital of the province, is 350 miles west
of Peking. The province contains about 66,000 square
miles, and the population is estimated at about 9,000,000.
The first missionary residence, that of Mr. Stimson, was
at Tai-yuen-fu, but since then the cities of Tai-ku, Jen Ts’un,
and Fen-cho-fu, the latter having about 250,000 inhabitants,
have been occupied. Many tours have been made in
the region about the three stations, and the people seem
friendly and are ready to listen. There is much call ‘for
medical work, and such services in this line as the
brethren have been able to render have been highly
appreciated. The people of the province are greatly
addicted to the use of opium, and the poppy is culti-
6 ; MISSIONS IN CHINA.

vated in all that region. Some opium refuges have been
conducted with good results. In 1888 a church was
organized at Tai-ku, and five members were received on
confession of faith, There is a fair attendance at the
Sunday services. In 1889 a boarding school for boys
was opened at Tai-ku with fifteen pupils, many others who
desired to come being declined for want of room. Many
discouragements have attended this mission in its early
history, but the outlook is encouraging for the future.
The missionaries have acquired the language, they have
won the favor of the people, the truth has found lodg-
ment in some hearts, and much may be anticipated from
this mission in the interior of China.

THe SourH Cutna Mission. — This mission was
begun in 1883, having specially in mind the interests
of the Chinese who have resided in America and have
returned to their native land. Most of the Chinamen
who have come from the United States are from the vicinity
of Hong Kong, and in passing to and fro, and especially if
they remain among their kindred, they need Christian
counsel and stimulus lest they relapse into idolatrous ways.
Rev. Mr. Hager, having commenced the mission in 1883,
was joined in 1890 by Rev. and Mrs. John R. Taylor who,
on account of ill-health, were compelled to return to the
United States in 1893. Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Nelson joined
the mission in 1892 and Miss N. M. Cheney and Mrs.
Hager in 1894, the latter dying after a service of less than a
year. The missionary residences have been removed from
Hong Kong to Canton, and there are now seven out-stations
and nine native preachers.
The North China Mission.

BY REV. HENRY BLODGET, D.D., OF PEKING.

Location. — The field of the North China Mission
embraces the province of Chihli, with that portion of
Mongolia which lies north of it, the western part of the
province of Shantung, and the northern part of the prov-
ince of Honan. Most of this region lies within the
Great Plain of Northeastern China, of which it forms
the northern part. This plain is 7oo miles in length,
and extends from the Barrier range of mountains, a little
north of Peking, to the Po Yang Lake, and Hangchou on
the south. The width of the plain varies from 150 to
400 miles, and it is estimated to contain 210,000 square
miles, and to support a population of 177,000,000 of
human beings, amounting to nearly two thirds of the
population of Europe. The province of Chihli has a
population of 28,000,000; Shantung, 29,000,000; and
Honan, 29,000,000.

THE CiimaTe. — The climate of this northern part of
the plain is very healthful. For the greater part of the
year dry weather prevails, and the sky is clear and cloud-
less. Heavy rains fall in July and August. The annual
rainfall does not much exceed sixteen inches, and the
greater part of this comes in these summer months. In
the winter there is no rain and but little snow. What
snow falls is quickly blown away or melts into the earth.
The people greatly desire a fall of snow in the winter,
both to purify the air against fevers and diphtheria, and

(9)
10 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

for the sake of the winter wheat. In the winter and spring
there are frequent and violent dust storms, which, however
disagreeable they may be, are yet considered salutary in
their effects.

In summer the heat is great, the mercury rising at
times to 104° or 106° Fahrenheit, while in the winter it
sometimes sinks to zero. The heat is not, however, of
long continuance, while the cool and bracing weather,
which prevails during the greater part of the year, gives
tone and vigor to the constitution.

SoriL aND PRopuctions.— The soil of this northern
portion of the plain is, for the most part, very fertile,
yielding two harvests each year. In some places, where
the soil is nitrous, or where it is sandy, the harvests are
scant. The principal productions are wheat, barley, sev-
eral varieties of millet and sorghum, maize, buckwheat,
sesamum, oats, many kinds of pulse, vegetables of all
descriptions, hemp, and fruits, among which are apples,
pears, peaches, apricots, persimmons, and excellent grapes.

Tue Propie. — The inhabitants of this region of coun-
try are mostly Chinese, having the same general character-
istics as the Chinese in the central and southern portions
of the empire. There are, however, differences in the
Chinese living in different provinces which are sometimes
very striking. Whether these differences are owing only
to soil, climate, contact with surrounding peoples, and
vicissitudes of their own history, or also to difference in
the original stock from which they sprang, it is sometimes
difficult to say. The Chinese of the north are larger and
stronger than those of the south, more open in disposition,
and friendly toward foreigners. At the same time they
are less cultivated, and a much smaller proportion of them
have learned to read. Relatively to other Chinese, they
have manifested a good degree of readiness to receive the
gospel.
THE PEOPLE. It

Besides the Chinese, there are the Manchus, the
Mongols, and the Mohammedan population, which last is
scattered among the Chinese much as the Jews were scat-
tered in the Roman empire. Unlike the Jews, however,
a few of whom in many places received the gospel, the
Mohammedans are unmoved by its message, whether
brought to them by Roman Catholic or Protestant
Christians. In this they are like the followers of Islam
throughout Asia. These people claim to be descendants
of the Arabians, and to have entered China soon after
the commencement of the Mohammedan era. They have
the Koran and many other books in the Arabic language.

The Manchus came to China at the time of the con-
quest of the country by their ancestors in the first half
of the seventeenth century. They all receive a stipend
from the Emperor, of whom they are regarded as the serv-
ants, being obliged to perform military duty in peace or
war, as the necessities of the government may require.
Hence it is not permitted to them to scatter in the country
among the people, or to give their daughters to the Chi-
nese in marriage. They are found only in Peking, and in
military encampments, the location of which is determined
both by a regard to the health of the soldiers, and the
security of the government.

The Manchus have adopted the dress and civilization
of the Chinese, from whom they are scarcely distinguish-
able in general appearance. There is in the Manchu
mind more of directness and of ability to command, less
of prejudice against those of otx2r nations, and a greater
capacity for improvement. Quite a number of them have
received the gospel.

The Mongols are a people of ruder mold. They live
on the pasture lands outside the Great Wall, and tend
their flocks and herds. The horse and the camel are their
12 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

delight. These sons of the desert rove from place to
place, according as they find pasturage for their animals,
and care little for the refinements and amenities of civ-
ilized life. They are intensely Buddhistic, and wholly
under the power of their Lama priesthood.

THE GovERNMENT.— The government of China by
the Manchus is, on the whole, mild, and considerate of the
interests of the people. There are, no doubt, many and
grievous wrongs and great corruption. But it is difficult
to see how a better government could be instituted with-
out an entire renovation of the rulers and people, such
as Christianity alone can produce. Compared with the
Turkish government, the Chinese is merciful, kind, and
just. It is surprising, and worthy of admiration, to see
how in great national calamities, as of floods and famine,
the government comes forward to the relief of the suffer-
ing people. The historian may yet find that the greatest
product of the Chinese mind is that system of govern-
ment, connected with literary examinations, which has
grown up in so many centuries, and now holds together in
peace and contentment so large a proportion of our fellow-
men.

TOLERATION OF CHRISTIANITY. — By the treaties of
1858-1860, and subsequent conventions, the Chinese
government has guaranteed the toleration of Christianity;
and it has confirmed this by frequent edicts, explanatory
of and enforcing the provisions of the treaties. It must
of necessity happen that, in the transition of families and
communities from the o‘a religions to the Christian faith,
numerous difficulties should arise, and persecutions be
instituted ; and Christians in China well need to remem-
ber that theirs is the religion of the cross. As yet no
exemption from idolatrous worship has been granted to
officials of the government who should become Christians,
AT SHANGHAI. 13

The toleration of Christianity is only for the people, not
for their rulers.

COMMENCEMENT OF Missions IN NortTH CHINA. —
In the providence of God the American Board was the
first to enter this inviting field, by establishing here, in
1860, the North China Mission. The history of this mis-
sion is closely connected with that of the Shanghai
Mission, and through that with the history of the mission
at Canton, the first of the American Board and of the
American churches to China.

Mr. Bridgman, the first American missionary to China,
arrived in Canton in the year 1830, twenty-three years
after Dr. Morrison, who was the pioneer of Protestant
missions in this empire. In 1847 Mr. Bridgman went
to Shanghai, as a delegate of his missionary brethren, to
assist in the translation of the Bible. This resulted in
his permanent residence in this city, where he died in the
year 1861. The translation of the Bible into the written
language of China, made by Messrs. Bridgman and Cul-
bertson, is still in use; and the twenty volumes of the
Chinese Repository, edited by Dr. Bridgman, remain as
an invaluable thesaurus of matters relating to China and
the far East.

In the year 1854 Messrs. Aitchison and Blodget were
sent by the Board to join Dr. Bridgman at Shanghai, thus
forming the Shanghai Mission. Mr. Macy joined the
mission in 1858, making the fourth ordained missionary.

The following year, 1859, was one of sore trial to the
newly formed mission. Mr. Macy died in April. Mr.
Aitchison accepted in June a place offered him in the
American Embassy, then about to proceed to Peking, in
the hope that it might result in fixing his residence in the
northern capital. He had only been eight days in Peking
when he was taken ill, and, after eleven days of suffering,
14 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

died August 15, en route to the seaboard. He was buried
in the Gulf of Chihli. In the autumn of the same year
Mrs. Blodget was compelled, by failure of health, to return
to the United States. In the following spring, 1860, Mr.
Blodget, for a like reason, was obliged to quit Shanghai,
and, in hope of establishing a mission in the north of
China, went first to Japan, and thence to Taku and
Tientsin, taking up his residence at the latter place,
November 8, 1860. This was the opening of missionary
work in this northern portion of the Great Plain, not for
the American Board only, but for all Protestant missions.

THE TIENTSIN STATION.

Tue Crry.—Tientsin is situated on the right bank
of the Pei Hé, or White River, about thirty miles from
its mouth, at the confluence with its waters of the Grand
Canal, or “Transit River,’’ and several smaller rivers, by
which easy access is had to distant parts of the plain.
Its distance from Peking is eighty miles; from Pao-ting-fu,
the provincial capital, one hundred and twelve miles,
Tientsin is the entrance port, not only for the province
of Chihli and Inner Mongolia, but also for Shansi, North-
ern and Western Shantung, and the northern part of
Honan. It is the largest port north of Shanghai. The
city is built on raised ground, and extends more than four
miles along the banks of the river. The population is
estimated at 500,000. Its busy multitudes are full of
life and animation, and intent on the pursuit of gain.
The trade of this city is immense. Already the contact
with Western civilization has impressed itself upon Tientsin
and its surroundings. Stone paved roads, kerosene lights,
iron bridges, the everywhere present jinriksha, the forts and
river police boats, the steam launch, the railway to Taku,
the factories of various sorts, the foreign settlement and
MISSION WORK IN THE CITY. 5

numerous steamers as object lessons set before the people,
— these all indicate that a new age has dawned, and that
new forces are at work in this ancient mart.

Mission WorK IN THE City. — Mr. Blodget came to
Taku with the British fleet in the summer of 1860. The
ensuing war was of short duration. When he took up his
residence in Tientsin, in the autumn, the city was garri-
soned by British and French forces. A lodgment was
soon obtained in the barracks of the soldiers, and Christian
work was commenced at once, both among the soldiers and
the thronging multitudes of Chinese, who received with great
friendliness the newly arrived missionary.

In April of the following year, 1861, Mr. Blodget had
the happiness of welcoming to this field the Rev. J.
Innocent, of the English Methodist mission, and in
May the Rev. J. Edkins (now Dr. Edkins), of the London
mission. A journey to Peking in the month of May
showed how entirely, at that time, the country was open to
travel and to evangelistic work; nor was any objection
offered to passing about freely within the walls of the
capital, even in the case of those who had no connection
with the legations. A chapel and houses were soon ob-
tained by lease within the city of Tientsin, and in May the
Sabbath services, which had been held in a temple
court, were removed to this place. The first convert
was baptized in June, 1861.

Several journeys were undertaken, in this and the
following year, for the exploration of the field, and also
with a view to direct missionary effort. These journeys
extended as far as to Téh Chou, in Shantung, on the
south; to Pao-ting-fu, the provincial capital; to Tai-
yuen-fu, the capital of Shansi, and Ta-Tung-fu in the
same province; to Kalgan, and also to Tung-cho, and
other cities east of Peking.
16 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

The station was reénforced in 1863 by the arrival of
the Rev. C. A. Stanley in March, and the Rev. L. D.
Chapin in May, and again, after the removal of Mr. Blodget
to Peking in 1864, and of Mr. Chapin to Tung-cho in
1867, by the arrival in 1872 of the Rev. A. H. Smith and
the Rev. H. D. Porter, M.D. When Messrs. Smith and
Porter left Tientsin to form the interior station at Pang-
Chuang in 1882, Rev. H. P. Perkins was located with Mr.
Stanley at Tientsin. Mr. Perkins was succeeded by Rev.
E. E. Aiken in 1892.

The principal labors of the missionaries at this station
have been in preaching the gospel, both in the city and
the country, and in the wide distribution of Christian
books. A day-school for boys has generally been main-
tained, to which at times a few boarders have been
admitted. A boarding-school for girls has been success-
fully carried forward by Miss Stanley, assisted by one of the
graduates of the Bridgman School in Peking. To this
school day pupils are also admitted. Station classes, both
of men and of women, are frequently gathered and taught
more perfectly the way of the Lord. Two centers of work
in preaching and teaching are opened, at a distance of
more than two miles from each other, one of them in the
city, the other at the mission residences in the Settlement.
At the latter place there is great need of a capacious, well-
built chapel. In country districts, chapels should be built
by the natives, assisted by voluntary contributions of mis-
sionaries, but this will be found impossible in places where
missionaries reside. The chapel in such localities must in
some degree correspond to the dwellings of the preachers.
It would be unseemly to have it otherwise. But the natives
are not now, and for generations to come will not be, equal
to such an outlay.

Since the arrival of Mr. Bostwick in 1887, the business
FAMINE RELIEF. 1

center of the mission has been transferred from Peking to
Tientsin. All supplies are now received and forwarded at
the latter station, and the presence of the Treasurer, Mr.
Bostwick, has set the missionaries free for effective work in
their own calling, both in the city and in the surrounding
country. The project of a higher institution of learning at
Tientsin, in which the English language and the rudiments
of Western science should be taught, has often been before
the mission, and has met with much favor. But the estab-
lishment of the Tientsin University, with Rev. C. D.
Tenney at its head, in which the English language and
Western sciences are to be taught, seems to obviate the
necessity of such a movement on the part of the mission.

Famine RELIEF. — Frequent famines occur in the regions
of the plain, not far distant from Tientsin. Such famines are
sometimes occasioned by drought, at other times by excess
of rain, in July and August. Merchants in China, as well
as British and American Christians in the homeland, have
given large sums for the relief of those brought into distress
by such famines, and the missionaries at this station have in
various years nobly undertaken the work of distribution.
The work of evangelization received a great impulse in the
year 1877. At that time the missionaries were furnished
with funds, to the amount of about $10,000, by the liberal-
ity of Christian nations, and they threw themselves unre-
servedly into the work of famine relief, being assisted also
by members of the station at Tung-cho. Their principal
labors were in the region of the village of Pang-Chuang,
the central place of their mission work in Shantung. Multi-
tudes of the starving people were relieved in their distress,
and saved from death. In this and the following years the
missionary found open doors and open hearts to the preach-
ing of the gospel. Several hundreds were baptized. The
church was greatly enlarged, and a new station at Pang-
18 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

Chuang was the result. The life of Mr. Smith, at one time
greatly endangered by famine fever, was spared, and his
labors are still continued at this new station.

The importance of Tientsin as a missionary station,
both as being the key to all the surrounding country, and
as being itself already a large city and sure to become
one of the largest and most influential cities of China, can
hardly be overestimated.

THE PEKING STATION.

THE Ciry.— Peking is situated at the northern ex-
tremity of the Great Plain, the Barrier Mountains being
in full view from the city walls on the east, the north, and
the west. The Great Wall, which runs through and over
these mountains, is at its nearest approach only forty
miles from Peking. Numerous roads from the plain, and
from different passes in the wall, lead to the several gates
of the city. The wall of Peking, which is nearly rec-
tangular in form, is twenty-one miles in circuit, has thir-
teen gates, and contains an area of twenty-six square
miles. The population at the present time is not sup-
posed to exceed a million and three hundred thousand.
These are mostly Chinese and Manchus. A few Mongols
live in the city.

THe ForsippeN Crry.— There are four divisions of
the city of Peking, each rectangular in form and _sur-
rounded by its own wall. The innermost city, called the
Forbidden City, is two and a quarter miles in circuit, and
has outside of its wall a wide and deep moat. Here
are the palace of the Emperor and the surrounding
buildings, numerous public edifices, an ancestral hall, and
a Lama temple for the worship of Buddha.

THE IMPERIAL City.— Without, and. surrounding the
Forbidden City, is the Imperial City. This issix miles
PEKING STATION. 19

in circuit, and contains numerous residences, both of
high officials and of the common people. Here are
ir.perial temples, and altars of each of the three religions
of China; an artificial lake, and an artificial hill, sur-
rounded and adorned with costly temples and public
buildings; the Western Park, the Marble Bridge, and
the recently built Cathedral of the Roman Catholic
Church. Parts of this city are reserved for the imperial
use, but most of it is open to all, and visitors may go
and come in it at pleasure.

THE Mancuu City.— Surrounding the Imperial City
is the Northern, or Manchu City, which is fourteen miles
in circuit, and has a wall nearly rectangular in form, fifty
feet high, forty feet wide at the top, with imposing gates
and lofty towers, surpassing the walls of any other city
now extant. This city is well shaded, and is regularly
laid out, with broad avenues and wide streets. Scattered
in different parts of the city are the palaces of the princes
of the blood, various public buildings, eostly residences of
high officials, and temples large and small to all the gods.
In the southeastern part are the Examination Hall, with
its ten thousand cells, and the Astronomical Observatory.
On the south side of the city, without the wall, is the
Altar to Heaven; on the north, the Altar to Earth; on
the east, the Altar to the Sun; and on the west, the Altar
to the Moon.

THe CHINESE City.— Directly south of this city, and
extending beyond it to the east and west, is the Southern,
or Chinese City, the wall of which, including the cross
wall common to this and the Manchu City, is fourteen
miles in circuit, and incloses an area of eleven square
miles. This city has the appearance of a busy commer-
cial mart, rather than of a governmental or literary center.
Here are the theaters, numerous club-houses for citizens
20 NORTH CxuINA MISSION.

of all the different provinces, and hundreds of inns, all of
which are not allowed in the Manchu City. Life here is
freer and less restricted than in the Northern City, and the
whole aspect of things is more like what is seen in one of
the great cities on the seaboard.

THe Four Attars.—The location of the Altar to
Heaven in this city, south of the imperial residence, as
that of the Altar to Earth on the north of it, and of the
altars to the Sun and Moon on the east and west, is deter-
mined by the opinions of the Chinese scholars as to the
worship of their most ancient Emperors. These four
altars, taken with others which belong to the same class,
if we consider the grandeur of their conception, the labor
and costliness of their construction, the elaborate ritual
prescribing the worship to be offered upon them, form the
most remarkable illustration of the worship of nature now
extant on the face of the globe.

lf the student of antiquity is drawn to Peking as pre-
serving in a living reality forms of human life and religious
worship, which in the case of Babylon and other ancient
cities have been for ages buried in the earth, how much
more ought the Christian to be drawn to this great city, in
which he discerns the fountains of political, educational,
and religious influences which flow forth to four hundred
millions of our fellow-men! Now is his golden oppor-
tunity.

Mission WorK IN PEKING. — The station was formed
in 1864. Though Mr. Blodget had made frequent visits
to this city since May, 1861, it was not until February,
1864, that he took up his permanent residence here.
Through the timely assistance of the late Dr. S. Wells
Williams, the present mission premises were purchased
in March, and a chapel was opened in one of the rear
buildings almost immediately for the public preaching of
MISSION WORK IN PEKING. 21

the Word. This was a new departure for Peking, and one
which attracted crowds of curious listeners.

In commencing chapel preaching in this place Mr.
Blodget was assisted by the late Rev. W. C. Burns, whose
memory is still fragrant in the minds of some who heard
the gospel at that time. Two men were baptized im: 1888
who remembered having heard him preach in this chapel
twenty-four years before.

In July, 1864, Mrs. Bridgman arrived in Peking, hay-
ing left New York when only partially recovered from a
dangerous accident. Mrs. Bridgman at once set herself
to establish a girls’ boarding-school, which has been con-
tinued ever since, and is now known as the Bridgman
School. She also paid to Dr. Williams the entire sum,
amounting to nearly $5,000, which had been expended for
houses, lands, and school buildings in the purchase already
mentioned, and made the entire premises over to the
American Board. These were but a part of her bene-
factions to this station. In 1868 Mrs. Bridgman left
Peking, broken down in health, and returned to Shanghai,
where she spent the remainder of her days. During her
last years of feebleness she established in Shanghai a
boarding-school for girls, erecting buildings for its accom-
modation, and also for a dispensary for women, all of
which, by her will, have passed into the hands of the
Woman’s Union Mission in New York. Mrs. Bridgman
died in 187r.

The station was further reénforced in November, 1864,
by the arrival of the Rev. John T. Gulick and Mrs. Gulick,
who, however, left Peking in July of the following year to
commence work in Kalgan. Rev. Chauncey Goodrich and
Mrs. Goodrich arrived in August, 1865, and were followed
in June, 1868, by Mr. P. R. Hunt, Mrs. Hunt, and Miss
M. H. Porter. In the year 1869 the Rev. Chester Hol-
22 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

combe joined this station and remained with the mission
until 1876, when he succeeded Dr. Williams as Secretary of
the United States Legation. Mrs. Blodget returned to
China with her husband in 1870, since which time they
have continued to be members of the Peking station.
After‘the removal by death of Mr. and Mrs. Hunt, the
vacancy was filled by the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. W. C.
Noble in 1878, Mr. Noble succeeding Mr. Hunt as Treas-
urer of the mission and Superintendent of the Press, which
offices he held for ten years. Rev. J. H. Roberts and Mrs.
Roberts took the place of Mr. and Mrs. Holcombe in 1877.
Mr. Roberts was succeeded, in turn, by Mr. and Mrs.
Ament in 1880. Miss Chapin joined the station in 1872,
Miss Haven in 1879, Miss Russell in 1890, Miss Hinman in
1894, and Rev. C. E. and Mrs. Ewing in 1894.

Two day-schools for boys have usually been maintained
at this station, one of which is supported by the church,
and at present there are two others in the country. There
are seven day-schools for girls connected with the station,
of which four are in the country stations. Of the three in
the city, one is called the “Emily Ament Memorial
School,” having been established by her parents, aided by
many friends, in memory of that sweet child who was so
early transferred to her heavenly home.

The work is carried forward in the city and country
from two centers, the South Church and the North Church.
‘The older of these is the South Church. There are now in
this church two deacons, the senior deacon having died
recently. These give a large part of their time to the
needs of the church, and engage in evangelistic labors. A
committee of the church takes the entire charge of admin-
istration, raising money for the poor, attending to the bury-
ing of the dead, preaching in the chapel during the week.
They hold themselves responsible for the boys’ day-school,
THE BRIDGMAN SCHOOL. 23

the support of the latter being given by the church, three
men assuming one half. Pastor Hung, who is over the
country work, is supported entirely by this church.

In the years 1894, 1895, a series of revival meetings
were held by this church, of which the result in the quick-
ening of the piety of its members and in the conversion of
unbelievers was very gratifying.

Tue Bripcman ScuHoot.— This school for girls is the
oldest educational institution in the mission, or even in any
Protestant mission in North China. Itwas founded in 1864
by Mrs. Bridgman, whose name it bears, and has been most
laboriously and carefully conducted ever since. Of neces-
sity it was commenced among heathen, having at first heathen
teachers, heathen pupils from heathen families and those of
the poorest sort; also a heathen matron. It was obliged to
struggle against the prevailing suspicions and prejudices as
to all that is done by foreigners, and the slight value attached
to the education of Chinese women and girls.

By thirty years of patient, prayerful labor, under the
supervision of Miss Porter, Miss Chapin, and Miss Haven,
it has attained assured success, and its roots have struck
deep into the rugged soil. During the last six years it has
had native Christian teachers, respected and esteemed for
their character. Among its pupils there are now twenty-
eight church members, this being more than half of the
whole number, and most of the remainder have their
names registered as on probation for church membership.

The ‘Four Books” are taught in this school, the
“Chinese Classic for Girls,” and several smaller Chinese
books ; also Arithmetic, mental and written; Geography,
History, Physical Geography, Science Primer, Biology, and
Physiology. But the principal study is the Bible. Around
this all things center. The Old and New Testaments,
their history, geography, prophecies, doctrines, precepts,
24 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

examples, are very carefully taught to the pupils; also such
works as the “ Evidences of Christianity ” and the ‘“ Balance
of Truth,” etc. Few young ladies in Christian lands know
more of the Sacred Scriptures, or are more carefully gov-
erned and watched over in all respects.

A plan of requiring normal work of the elder pupils has
been instituted, so that they go forth qualified to teach
boarding and day schools in the various stations of the
mission. ‘This institution has been of the greatest service
in training up young women suitable to become the wives
of native helpers, able also to take a leading part in
religious work. The foundation is laid here for well-
ordered Christian families, and for useful missionary service.
The graduates are found at almost all the stations of the
mission as wives of native pastors and helpers, teachers of
schools, and assistants in work for women. In Peking the
school has formed the nucleus for evangelistic work both in
the city and country.

EvancEListic Work.— The station at Peking early
obtained, by the blessing of God, two chapels in desirable
locations, which have been opened daily for more than
twenty-five years for the preaching of the gospel. In con-
nection with these, country work has developed in many
places. The evangelistic work begun by Messrs. Blodget
and Burns has been carried forward by Messrs. Goodrich,
Holcombe, Roberts, Ament, and Aiken, assisted by the
ladies of the mission and by native helpers, men and
women. The results have been, by God’s blessing, most
gratifying. More than five hundred, including those in the
city and in the country, have been received to the church.
Great numbers who have never professed the Christian
faith have learned something of its doctrines, and have
become either believers in secret, or favorably disposed
toward the gospel. Some have been kept back by sharp
THE PRESS. 25

persecution. There are three out-stations, one each in the
cities of Cho-chou, Liang-hsiang, and Shun-i, all connected
with the North Church and under its care. With the South
Church are connected infant churches in the districts of
Pa-chou, Wén-an, and Pao-ting. The ladies of the station
have under their charge the Bridgmaa School, the six day-
schools for girls, the station classes for women, the work of
visitation and instruction of women in the city and country,
and the Hospital and Dispensary for Women in Peking.
Miss Murdock, M.D., has now removed from Kalgan to
Peking, and has in charge the very promising medical work
at this station. Suitable premises have been purchased,
and the key of Christian kindness and medical skill has
been put into her hands wherewith to unlock the homes of
the high and the low, the rich and the poor, to the message
of the gospel.

Tue Press. — Mr. Hunt, after twenty-seven years of
service in India, came to Peking with the enthusiasm of
youth to establish a Mission Press, and to take charge
of the financial affairs of the mission, which previously had
been under Mr. Blodget’s care. The press, which he estab-
lished in 1869, was and still is the only press under the
control of Protestant missions in North China. The money
for this purpose was supplied by the indemnity fund re-
ceived from the Chinese government after the burning of
the Mission Press in Canton, in 1858; and it was origi-
nally given to the Board by the Bleecker Street Church in

_ New York for the establishment of the Canton press. Mr.
Hunt was a skilful printer. Work done by him was well
done, whether in the establishment of the press, or in
printing the books which issued from it. .

During the nineteen years in which Mr. Hunt, and Mr.
Noble who succeeded him, had charge of the press, there
were printed on it, for the American Bible Society, the
26 NORTH CHINA ALISSION.

version of the New Testament in Mandarin, prepared by
the Peking Committee; the version of the Old Testament
in the Mandarin, prepared by Bishop Schereschewsky ;
also the Psalms and various portions of the New Testa-
ment; for the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, the four
Gospels in the written language, with notes on the same,
and other small books; for the Church Mission Society,
the Book of Common Prayer; for the North China Tract
Society, a series of Sabbath-school lesson papers, con-
tinued through a course of years, and other books and
tracts ; for the North China Mission, 4 Treatise on Theology
by Mr. Sheffield, a work on Christology by Mr. Stanley,
a geography by Rev. L. D. Chapin, A Zyeatise on Physt-
ology by Rev. H. D. Porter, M.D., several editions of a
hymn book by Messrs. Blodget and Goodrich, quite a
number of small books and tracts by Miss Porter, Miss
Andrews, Mr. Goodrich, Mr. Sheffield, Dr. Porter, Mr.
Blodget and others; also Mr. Pilcher’s Geography for
Beginners, Mr. Holcombe’s Life of Christ in Scripture
language, portions of the version of the New Testament
in a very simple style of the written language, by Messrs.
Blodget and Burdon, and other books and tracts not here
enumerated. From the first this press has done a select
work for local convenience, rather than a large work for
distant parts of China.

The opportune arrival of an experienced printer, Mr.
J. L. Mateer, just before the departure of Dr. Blodget,
has given a new impulse to the work. A larger num.
ber of laborers has been employed and new machinery}
has been ordered with a view to introducing the photo
engraving process. The amount of work done has greatly
increased.

The aspect of mission work as a whole in this great
center of influence and power is most hopeful. Perhaps
THE KALGAN STATION. 27

there is no large city in Europe, or even in the whole world,
more open to every sort of evangelistic and educational
labor, and to all the eleemosynary institutions of the
Christian church, than is Peking at the present time.

THE KALGAN STATION.

Tue City. — Kalgan is situated just within the northern
branch of the Great Wall which for several thousand
miles forms the boundary between China and Mongolia.
It is the center of an important trade, extending not only
to Mongolia, but into Siberia and Russia. Its distance from
Peking is about one hundred and forty miles, a journey of
four days in a northwest direction. After the first day’s jour-
ney, the traveler leaves the Great Plain, and enters the Nan-
Kou Pass, a gradual ascent through gorges in the mountains,
fifteen miles in length, in which is the Chii-Yung Pass, in
the southern branch of the Great Wall. The elevation of
Kalgan above Peking is probably more than 2,000 feet.

The population is scattered along for two miles in a
valley between high mountains, which are for the most part
rugged and barren. The whole number of the inhabitants
of the upper and lower cities might be estimated at one
hundred and twenty thousand. The greater part are
Chinese, but there are also Manchus and Mohammedans
resident in the city, the last-named having two mosques
for their religious worship. Many Mongols pass through
Kalgan, and a few of these people are always found there.
One day’s journey from Kalgan northward brings the
traveler to the home of these people on the plateau, or
Grass Land as it is called by the Chinese. Here they
rove from place to place, feeding their numberless flocks
of sheep, herds of cattle, and droves of camels and horses.
Missionary work at Kalgan naturally concerns itself also
with the conversion of the Mongols.
28 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

The climate of Kalgan is remarkably healthful, being
surpassed in this respect by that of few places in the
United States.

Mission Work at Katcan. — This station was opened
by the Rev. John T. and Mrs. Gulick in the summer of
1865. At that time very few, if any, Protestant missiona-
ries were living in the interior, away from the open ports,
excepting the German missionaries who had early pushed
their way into the Canton province. The China Inland
missionaries were just arriving in Shanghai. Great diffi-
culties were encountered at first in renting houses and
obtaining suitable places for mission work. In the end,
unwearied patience, combined with tact and prudence, and
unbounded charity in dispensing medicines to the sick and
in caring for their wants, secured the desired result.

Mr. and Mrs. Gulick also established a day-school for
boys soon after their arrival in Kalgan, which has been in
operation, with little or no interruption, until the present
time. They continued their labors in Kalgan for ten
years, sometimes taking long journeys into the region
southwest of the city, and again to the north in Mongolia.
The legends of the people will long retain the memory of
the foreign lady who rode the shaggy-haired donkey and
healed their sick. .

These pioneers were reéniorced by the coming of the
Rev. Mark Williams and Mrs. Williams, Mr. Thompson
and Miss Diament, who enlarged their work and carricd
it forward after their departure. Later followed Mr. and
Mrs. Sprague, Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, and Miss V. C.
Murdock, M.D.

When Miss Murdock left for Peking, Dr. and Mrs.
McBride were assigned to Kalgan, and after the death of Miss
Diament and of Dr. McBride, the Board sent out Miss H. B.
Williams and Dr. and Mrs. Waples to fill the vacant places.
OUT-STATIONS OF KALGAN. 20

The missionaries at this station lived for years in hired
houses belonging to the Chinese. Subsequently land was
bought and buildings erected better adapted to the needs of
the work, the tenure of which would not be subject to the
caprice of avaricious landlords. The missionaries have
now an eligible location, with a chapel for Sunday serv-
ices, buildings for a boarding-school for girls, and suitable
houses, the building for the boarding-school and one of the
houses being gifts of one of the missionaries.

The girls’ boarding-school was established by Mrs.
Williams. For several years it was under the charge of
Miss Diament, whose life was laid down in this service.
For atime Dr. Murdock continued the care of the school,
which has now fallen to Miss Williams. It has grown in
numbers, and gives much promise of usefulness. A day-
school for girls has been opened in the upper city, and
station classes for men and women are held four months
each winter at the mission residences. A boys’ boarding-
school and day-school are now maintained at this station
with much labor of the missionaries, and corresponding
success. Quite a number of the lads have found their way
to the Tung-cho College, where they have made a good
record for themselves.

Dr. Murdock greatly enlarged the medical work at
Kalgan and in the interior stations. In addition to the
usual treatments in the hospital and dispensary, she opened
an opium refuge in which a large number of the unhappy
victims of this vice of China were treated successfully.

Out-Stations oF Katcan.— The most fruitful part of
the field has been the Yii-chou valley, including the city of
Yii-chou, Ching-k’o-ta, and other towns and villages in that
region. At one time a station was opened in the city
of Yii-chou, and Messrs. Pierson, Goodrich, and the late
A. O. Treat, M.D., were resident there. Kalgan and
30 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

Vii-chou are solely in charge of missionaries of the
American Board. Other missions are not likely to enter
this field.

THE TUNG-CHO STATION.

Tue Ciry.—Tung-cho is the port of Peking, from
which city it is twelve miles distant, being connected with
it by a canal having several locks, and also by an elevated
stone causeway. The city is built on the right bank of
the Pei H6, and is, in a direct line, one hundred and
twenty miles from the sea. The site of the city is only
one hundred feet above the sea level. The river in the
summer time is filled with boats of every description,
which unlade their cargoes and passengers at Tung-cho,
thence to be transported along the canal, or over the
stone road to Peking. The population of the city is esti-
mated as above 100,000.

Mission Work aT Tunc-cHo.— This was opened by
the Rev. L. D. Chapin in 1867. No serious difficulties
were experienced by the missionaries on their entrance
into this field. The people from the first have been very
friendly. Mission residences were easily obtained, and
the usual labors of preaching the gospel and teaching the
young were soon commenced.

This station was reénforced in 1868 by the arrival
of Miss M. E. Andrews, and in 1869 by the Rev. D. Z.
Sheffield and Mrs. Sheffield; later, by Miss J. G. Evans,
Rev. C. Goodrich and Mrs. Goodrich, and Dr. Holbrook.
Mr. and Mrs. Beach arrived in 1883, and Dr. and Mrs.
Ingram in 1887. After the return of Mr. and Mrs. Beach
to the United States, Rev. and Mrs. E. G. Tewksbury were
assigned to this station, and later Mr. and Mrs. Kingman,
and Mr. and Mrs. Wilder, Miss Luella Miner, and Miss
Abbie Chapin were also stationed at Tung-cho.
THE HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE. 31

EpucaTionaL Work. — This station has come to be the
educational center of the mission. There are here, besides
classes for the instruction of women, two day-schools for
boys, seven day-schools for girls, a high school for boys, a
College, and a Theological Seminary.

Tue HicH ScHooL AnD CoLLEGE.— The boarding-
school for boys, early established by Mr. Chapin, has been
greatly enlarged and expanded by the efforts of Dr.
Sheffield and others, so that it has now become the Mission
High School. To this, selected pupils are sent from all the
stations of the mission to go through with a thorough
course of study, in the hope that many of them will take
the College and Theological course, and enter the Christian
ministry ; that others will become Christian teachers, and
that all of them, in one way or another, will be helpful to
the cause of Christ.

The course of study embraces a thorough knowledge
of the Chinese classics, learning to compose in the written
language, a familiar acquaintance with the Bible, includ-
ing the study of Bible history and geography, and the
committing to memory of quite a number of books of
the New Testament; also some of the more important
branches of general knowledge and Western science,
such as geography, mental and written arithmetic, alge
bra, geometry, chemistry, natural philosophy, mechanics,
physiology, geology, and astronomy. It is designed to
extend the course and introduce higher branches as fast
as the needs of the school and the circumstances of the
mission make it desirable.

As yet there has been no systematic and regular
instruction in the English language embraced in the
course of study. The mission is not unobservant in this
regard of the needs of the times and of the course taken
by other schools of the higher grade,
32 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

A plot of ground of ample dimensions outside the city,
in an elevated part of the plain, in the open fields, has been
purchased for the site of the College and High School, and
one large building, in its design not without regard to archi-
tectural proportions and beauty, and called “ Williams
Hall,” has been erected for the accommodation of the
students. Two houses also have been built for those in
charge of the institution. A chapel and other buildings
will follow. Oxford and Cambridge, Harvard and Wale,
had each its day of small things. The North China College
of the American Board is now in the early stages of its
career, but everything pertaining to it is full of hope and
good cheer. Difficulties it has had, has now, and must
have in the future, but one after another they will be over-
come, or removed out of the way, and the College will, by
the favor of God, become a great light in the darkness, a
source of rich and manifold blessings to the millions among
whom it is located.

THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. — Connected with the Col-
lege and High School is the Theological Seminary, in the
development of which Dr. Goodrich has had a large share
To this the mission looks for its supply of educated minis-
ters. Hebrew and Greek are not included in the course of
study, but great prominence is given to the study of the
Bible, both of the Old Testament and the New. The
various departments of Exegesis, Systematic Theology,
Church History, Homiletics, and the Pastoral Charge,
each has its place in the appointed curriculum. In addi-
tion a course of lectures is provided for each year for the
benefit of the students and the native helpers from other
stations who attend at the annual meetings. The work
of the mission has not yet attained sufficient proportions
to furnish a new class annually to this seminary. Thus far
hree classes, numbering about forty students, have been
THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 33
graduated. Of them the greater part are now laboring in
the mission as pastors, assistant preachers, or teachers.

The seminary is located within the city walls, at the
mission premises, where there are abundant opportunities
for evangelistic work on every hand.

MepicaL Work.—A great and increasing amount of
medical work has been done at this station from the first.
Through the energetic labors of Dr. Holbrook a hospital
and dispensary were opened, suitable buildings having
been erected by special gifts of friends to the work in
the homeland. An elementary work on chemistry and a
similar work on biology were prepared by Dr. Holbrook,
and left for publication on her departure from China.
Her work is carried on by Dr. Ingram, who has also
opened dispensaries at two country stations not remote
from Tung-cho.

Mrs. Sheffield has greatly assisted in the medical depart-
ment, and during the absence of Dr. Ingram has taken the
sole charge of the work.

THe CHURCHES AND EVANGELISTIC Work. — The
mother church at this station is within the city walls at the
mission compound, and is under the care of Pastor
Chang. A second congregation now assembles week by
week at the college. Five miles north of the city, at Fu-hi,
a third church is established, and an out-station is main-
tained at Yung-li-tien, fifteen miles to the south. From all
these places evangelistic work is carried on according to the
measure of strength and opportunity, both by natives and
foreigners. The accessibility of Tung-cho by water, and
the abundant accommodations of the mission premises,
have caused this station to be chosen as the place for the
annual gatherings of the mission.
34 NORTH CHINA MISSION.
n

PAO-TING-FU.

Tue City. — Pao-ting-fu is the capital of the province
of Chihli, although of late years the governor-general has
fixed his summer residence in Tientsin. The city is situated
on the great southwest road from Peking, and also on the
Yung-ting River, which connects it with Tientsin, and is
about one hundred and ten miles distant from each of - these
cities. The road from Peking follows the Barrier Mountains,
which are in full view on the northwest, and is the highway
of travel to the southwestern provinces. The river affords
easy transport for grain, salt, coal, and every kind of mer-
chandise. Pao-ting-fu is at present, and must continue to
be, one of the important cities of this province.

The station at Pao-ting-fu was opened by the Rev.
Isaac Pierson in the year 1873. At no other place has so
great difficulty been experienced in obtaining suitable
residences for mission families. For two years Mr. Pier-
son lived in a Chinese inn; and subsequently occupied
rented houses in a crowded part of the city. It is only
within two years that a plot of ground has been purchased
in the southern suburb, upon which buildings have been
erected to accommodate one or two families. Happily
there has been no collision with the authorities or with the
people. By uniform kindness and prudent management
all causes of offense have been avoided.

MEDICAL AND OTHER Work. — Here, as at Kalgan and
Tung-cho, medical work, though administered at first by
unprofessional hands, has been a most potent agency in
removing prejudice and opening the hearts of the Chinese.
After the arrival of Dr. Peck, in 1880, this branch of the
work fell to his care. Large numbers of patients from the
city, and from the surrounding region of country, flocked
to his hospital and dispensary. This useful work was carried
forward by Dr. Merritt, who succeeded Dr. Peck on the
THE PANG-CHUANG STATION. 35

removal of the latter to Pang-Chuang, and is now in the
hands of Dr. Noble, who joined the station in 1892.

Two boarding-schools, one for boys and one for girls,
are maintained at this station, also two day-schools for
girls. Work for women, under the direction of Mrs.
Pierson and Miss Pierson, Mrs. Noble, Misses Morrill and
Gould, has been especially encouraging. The chapel doors
have been kept open to all who wish to hear the gospel
message, and besides the large class of catechumens from
the country, colporters have been sent each winter with books
and the gospel message into all the towns and villages in
the surrounding region. An excellent native pastor and a
very efficient native agency, combined with the readiness of
the people not only to hear, but to embrace the gospel,
render the work at this station very encouraging. The
foundations were well laid by Mr. Pierson, and a successful
work has grown up in the years following, which is now
under the care of Dr. Noble and the Rev. G. H. Ewing.

THE PANG-CHUANG STATION.

Location. — It has been usual in China in all the
missions to locate foreign missionaries in large and
important towns and cities. Pang-Chuang is almost, if
not quite, the only case of a mission station established
in a small village in a rural district, quite away from any
city or great mart of trade. Its distance from Téh Chou
southward is about fifteen miles, and it is seven miles to
the nearest town on the Grand Canal. This canal affords
easy communication with Tientsin during the greater part
of the year. The intense heat upon the plain in the
summer season is compensated for by the fresh air of
the open country.

In locating this station the fact was not without
weight that in China the reverse is true of that which
36 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

took place in the Roman empire. There the villagers,
or pagani, were the last to embrace the gospel and leave
their paganism. In China they are the first. The great-
est successes of Christian missions in China, heretofore,
have been among the country people. Not only are they
more simple-minded, but they have also less to fear, in
becoming Christians, from loss of position or wealth, or of
the means of earning their daily bread.

It was not, however, due to such considerations that
Pang-Chuang became a mission station. The work here
was rather the natural outgrowth of the work at Tientsin.
Mr. Hou, of Pang-Chuang, a man whose name is held
in loving remembrance by the Christians of that region,
heard the gospel from a native helper in his own home,
and went to Tientsin to learn more of this new way. In
the words of Christ he found the truth for which he had
elsewhere sought in vain, and was baptized in 1872.*

“Within a few years he became himself a helper, his
house the headquarters of the missionaries at every visit,
as well as the center of famine relief work, and his village
was afterwards chosen as the residence of missionaries
designated to the Shantung station of the American Board.
From the year 1872 the work in this region gradually
expanded, until, at the end of 1877, the annual additions
brought the membership up to forty-three, representing
twelve different villages.” Under these circumstances
the missionaries took up their abode in Pang-Chuang.
They live in a very populous region of country, so that
within a radius of six miles there are approximately one
hundred and fifty villages and hamlets, containing sixty
thousand inhabitants. In more than sixty of these villages
they already have church members, and the lines of their

* «Sketches of a Country Parish,” by the Rev. A. H. Smith.
GROWTH — SELF~SUPPORT. 37

efforts are constantly reaching out into a wider circuit of
outlying towns, villages, and cities.

After some delay in the purchase of land and the
erection of houses, and further delay occasioned by the
opposition of a recusant magistrate, happily overcome by
the friendly aid of the United States officials, Messrs.
Smith and Porter took up their residence in Pang-
Chuang in 1882. They met with a most cordial recep-
tion from the people, and were quite overwhelmed with
demonstrations of affection and gratitude. These kindly
feelings have continued until the present time.

Miss Porter joined her brother at this station in 1882,
and Dr. and Mrs. A. P. Peck removed from Pao-ting-fu
to Pang-Chuang in 1885. The Misses Wyckoff came in
1887.

GrowtTH. — The work here is in a more advanced con-
dition than at any other station of the mission. The over-
sight and instruction of the native helpers, care and disci-
pline of the churches, superintendence of the day-schools,
teaching the Scriptures to men and women, and the wider
range of evangelistic work, occupy all the time of the mis-
sionaries. There is daily preaching at the dispensary to
the patients there assembled, and regular preaching both
at the central station and at the six principal out-stations.

SELF-SUPPORT. — Greater efforts to secure self-support
have been made here than in any other station of the
mission. A commodious and tasteful chapel has been
erected at this central station, wholly by the offerings of
members of this church, native and foreign, and of other
sister churches in the mission, without any assistance from
the funds of the Board. Some of the out-stations, stimu-
lated by this example, are now moving in the same direc-
tion. A chapel and connected buildings at Chang-ssu-ma
have been completed. The entire cost was $270, of which
38 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

the Chinese contributed nearly one third, the result of
many years of self-denial in giving.

Mr. Chu Kuang-kwei has publicly given to the church
for permanent use the house at Li-lu-chang in which
services have been held for a few years past. In other
out-stations church members are enlarging the buildings
already occupied, giving land and preparing to erect new
buildings, so that when present plans are carried out,
thirteen out of the seventeen out-stations will be provided
with chapels and school buildings. In regard to schools
and native agency the same idea of self-support is made
prominent. The boarding and day schools are supported
by the Chinese themselves. In the boarding-school the
boys paid during the year forty-one per cent. of the cost
of their food, and in the day-school one third of their
teachers’ salary.

The native helpers number twenty-nine. The scale of
salaries is very low, ranging from $3.50 to $1 per month,
Two men give their services. The plan is to keep the
salaries low until the church shall find out by experience
what is right and wise to propose for the pastorate. In the
work for women the same principles of self-help and self-
support are steadily kept in view. Quarterly meetings of
the Christians and their friends are held at the central
station, at which members are received to the church by
baptism, or are admitted to the list of those on probation.
Large numbers flock together on these occasions, amounting
‘sometimes to four hundred and fifty worshipers, taxing to
the utmost the capacity of the chapel.

The outlook from Pang-Chuang, beyond the field of
its immediate operations, embraces the northwest of Shan-
tung, the southern part of Chihli, and the northern part
of Honan, a densely populated portion of the Great
Plain, covered with walled cities, towns, villages, and
THE LIN-CHING STATION. 39

hamlets, all easily accessible and inviting the labors of
Christian missionaries.

MepicaL Worx. — The extensive medical work at
Pang-Chuang, commenced by Dr. Porter and carried for-
ward by Dr. Peck, following, as it did, the work of famine
relief, has been a constant exhibition to the people of the
charities of the Christian church. The Williams Hospital,
established through a legacy of the late Dr. S. W. Wil-
liams, and bearing the name of this early missionary of
the Board and devoted friend of the Chinese, has ex-
tended its fame to regions far and near, and attracted to
the village of Pang-Chuang patients of all grades of
society, some of whom have come hundreds of miles, and
even from other provinces, to be healed of their diseases.

THE LIN-CHING STATION.

Location. — One step forward into this unoccupied
region was taken by the Rev. F. M. Chapin in 1866 by the
occupation of Lin-Ching as a mission station. This is
a department city on the Yii-hé, at its junction with the
Grand Canal. “It lies in the midst of a beautiful country,
full of gardens and cultivated grounds, interspersed with
buildings. This place is the depot for produce brought
on the land, and a rendezvous for large fleets of boats and
barges.” By the river it affords the means of communica-
tion with the northern part of Honan and regions near to
Southeastern Shansi.

STATION OPENED. — Mr. Chapin commenced work in
Lin-Ching in 1886. The following year he was able to
purchase premises for the mission residences, and in 1888
Mr. Chapin and the Rev. H. P. Perkins removed their
families to this new station. E.R. Wagner, M.D., and Mrs.
Wagner joined them here in 1889. A kindly reception has
eT

40 NORTH CHINA MISSION.

been accorded to the missionaries by the people, to which,
no doubt, the medical work of Mr. Atwood, who labored
awhile at this place, contributed in no small degree. This
work was continued by Mr. Perkins, and by Mrs. Perkins
also, whose medical education and practice at Tientsin
have rendered her services of great value at this station.
A new impulse was given by the arrival of Dr. Wagner, who
now has charge of this branch of work.

A church has been formed at this station, and it now
has under consideration plans for the erection of a chapel.
The work is carried forward with cheering results, both in
the city and in the regions round about.

CONCLUSION.

The mission in North China is of recent origin; but
it has been abundantly blessed of God. After more than
thirty years of labor in Canton, the American Board had
but one station there and very few converts. This was
in the early stages of missionary work in China. In
North China the Lord has given us, in twenty-eight years,
five stations in the most important cities of Chihli, and
two stations in Shantung, and in these seven stations more
than sixteen hundred converts. Five of the stations —
Pang-Chuang, Pao-ting-fu, Tung-cho, Peking, and Kal-
gan — have now domestic chapels for Sabbath services, and
in all the stations, whether having such chapels or not,
orderly congregations of Christian worshipers assemble
each Lord’s day to join their fellow Christians in China
and in all the world, in prayer, in praise, and in hearing the
Word of God.

Education and the medical work receive a large measure
of attention. There are in the mission, besides station
classes, twenty-seven common schools, nine boarding-
schools, one college, one female seminary, and one theo-
CONCLUSION. Al

logical seminary ; also hospitals and dispensaries at six of
the seven stations. The one aim in both education and
the medical work is to build up the kingdom of Christ.

The lines of our efforts extend from Yii-chou on the
northwest to Lin-Ching on the south, a distance of more
than five hundred miles, through a populous region of coun-
try, in which the people use the same language, and are
everywhere accessible to the gospel. The work laid upon
the mission is great. The outlook for the future is full of
promise. If the mission and its supporters go forward in
humble trust in the ever present Saviour, and in patient
endurance of labor and trial, they will share the honor of
being used by God, with other branches of his church, to
establish his kingdom in these populous and powerful
regions of China, into which, in his providence, they were
the first to enter.
The Foochow Mission.

BY REV. C. C. BALDWIN, D.D., OF FOOCHOW.

"

Location. — The center of the mission is at Foochow,
the capital of Fuhkien Province, about in longitude 119°
east, latitude 26° north, corresponding to the southern
part of Florida. The city is situated about two miles
from the north bank of the River Min, and twenty-five
miles from the sea. It is a walled city with seven gates,
and is from six to seven miles in circuit. The main
thoroughfare is a street, starting from the center of the
city (or from North Gate), running to the South Gate of
the city, thence mostly in a straight line through the’
southern suburbs, across the river on a long bridge, called
“the bridge of 10,000 ages,” the small island of Tong-
chiu, a short bridge, and on through the extensive suburb
of A-to—in all a distance of seven miles. The popula-
tion of city and suburbs is estimated at from three quar-
ters of a million to one million. The city stands near the
north side of a fertile plain, fifteen miles in extent from
west to east, traversed by the two channels of the Min.
The plain is covered with numerous villages, inhabited,
each, by hundreds or thousands of people. The whole
population of city, suburbs, and plain, is about one and a
half millions.

Foochow, like other cities of its class, is important as
the political, literary, and commercial center of a whole
province, whose area is 53,000 square miles, and popula-
tion from fifteen to twenty or twenty-five millions. It is

43)
44 FOOCHOW MISSION.

the official residence of high provincial officers, as the
Viceroy of the two provinces of Fuhkien and Chehkiang,
Governor, Treasurer, Criminal Judge, Tartar General, Salt
and Land Tax Commissioners, Literary Chancellor, and
the two district magistrates, who control the two districts
into which the city and adjacent territory is divided. From
eight to ten thousand students appear twice in three years
from all parts of this prefecture to compete before the
Chancellor for the first degree; and about the same
number twice in five years, from the whole province, to
compete for the second degree before Imperial Commis-
sioners. ‘The city is also the residence of many gentry,
_ literati, and retired officers. Its commercial importance is
indicated by its large interior and seacoast trade, as also
by its trade with foreign countries in teas, opium, woolen
and cotton goods, rice, and various less important articles.

CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. — What is said of the
Chinese in general applies for the most part to the people
of Fuhkien. It has been the fashion at the West to call
them stupid, or stolid, because undemonstrative toward
strangers ignorant of their language and ways; but asa
race they rank high in intellect and other endowments.
In temperament they are impassive or apathetic. They
are somewhat deficient in activity and push, but have
great powers of endurance. They are often obstinate,
but may be convinced or.led, not driven, to a conclusion.
They are plodding, but patient; accomplishing great
things, while to the eye of Western people they often
seem slow and inefficient. The bearing of the better
classes is usually quiet, dignified, and self-respecting.
Still, politeness is often mere form —a thin veneer cover-
ing utter indifference or dislike.

In regard to morals, their ethical system, while of
course having no recognized basis in the Divine Will and
RELIGION OF THE PEOPLE. 45

commands, is admirable as a national bond enduring for
centuries. The roots of the system are in the doctrine
of “filial piety” and the various family and social rela-
tions. All rules are based on these. Hence result
strong family ties and intense clannishness. But however
beautiful their ethical rules may be, they fail of supreme
control in personal life. The Chinese, including women
and children, are very abusive and vile in language in
home and street. We hear on all sides the most ribald
expressions, and language is exhausted to invoke the
blighting curse of heaven and the gods on the objects of
their hate and jealousy. In private life vast multitudes
are depraved and vicious in their tastes and conduct; and
this is as true of the outwardly refined as it is of the
vulgar crowd. Obscene talk and secret deeds of evil are
but registers of the habitual mental state and feelings of
the heart. The duplicity of the Chinese has passed into
a proverb, Confucius used deception as though it had
no moral character. The national conscience is warped
by false ideas derived from the heathen systems, and
from writers of antiquity.

THE RELIGION OF THE PeopLe. — The three religions,
or sects, are Confucianism, Rationalism, and Buddhism.
(Confucius, born 551 B.C. ; Lau-tsz (Rationalist), 604 B.C. ;
Buddha, 623 B.C.) Though sages and philosophers are
worshiped, Confucianism is a political and ethical, rather
than a religious system, inasmuch as the chief aim and
drift of the classic books and commentaries is to teach
government and morals in the “five relations” of ‘‘ prince
and ministers,” “father and son,” “husband and wife,”
“brother and brother,” ‘‘friend and friend.” It is from
the other two sects that Chinese heathenism mainly
derives its spirit and many rites of worship, for we regard
the universal ancestral tablet worship as national rather
46 FOOCHOW MISSION.

than Confucian. The State worship, called Confucian,
is a political, not a popular ceremonial, enacted at the
capital by the Emperor, as vicegerent and son of heaven,
the codrdinate of heaven and earth, and pontifex max-
imus, assisted by members of the imperial clan and offi-
cers of the “ Board of Rites.”

Officials throughout the empire are required to per-
form ceremonies at temples to hosts of objects, adding
the worship of the Emperor, who also frequently adds new
deities at will, on the same principle that new saints are
canonized by the Pope. To speak of Confucius only:
“There are 1,560 temples dedicated to him, in which
some sixty-two thousand pigs, rabbits, sheep, and deer,
and twenty-seven thousand pieces of silk are annually
offered, the animals all being eaten or used by the wor-
shipers.”

It is computed roughly that there are a million temples
in fifteen out of the eighteen provinces of China proper,
containing ten million idols and tablets, and that these
temples, at the low average of a thousand dollars each,
cost the people a thousand millions of dollars. If to this
is added the entire expense of idol worship, and the vast
sums consumed in street processions, we find not only
an enormous waste of public and private wealth, but a
wide depletion of industrial resources, with deterioration
of morals.

It is a significant fact that the sects and systems, in
the popular view and practice, are not rival or antago-
nistic, but friendly and supplementary. The devotee, if
one god fails, tries another. In his distress he is not
likely to go to Confucius for relief, but to some filthy idol
or senseless charm.

THE Mission OF THE AMERICAN Boarp, — This will
first be traced by: periods of ten years, to be followed by
FIRST DECADE. 47

brief sketches of some departments of missionary labor.
The several reénforcements will be mentioned at the be-
ginning of each decade.

1847-1857. The mission was begun January 2, 1847,
by Rev. Stephen Johnson, joined, in September of the
same year, by Rev. Lyman B. Peet and Mrs. Rebecca
C. Peet —all from the Chinese mission of the American
Board in Siam. They were reénforced in May, 1848, by
Rev. and Mrs. Seneca Cummings, Rev. and Mrs. C. C.
Baldwin, and Rev. William L. Richards, a son of William
Richards, missionary at the Sandwich Islands. Miss
Caroline Selmer, of Stockholm, Sweden, married Rev.
Stephen Johnson in December, 1849; Rev. Justus Doo-
little and Mrs. S. A. H. Doolittle joined the mission in
May, 1850; and Rev. Charles Hartwell and Mrs. Lucy E.
Hartwell in June, 1853. Our first dwellings were on
the Island of Tongchiu, between the bridges, and subse-
quently in the near suburbs, on the south and north of
the river. Evangelistic work, always regarded as first in
importance, was prosecuted in our homes and in public
places, with the aid of such Scriptures and tracts as could
be prepared by ourselves, or obtained from other sources.
A small boarding-school of boys and girls was commenced
in 1853 or 1854, under charge of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle,
at their residence in the suburbs. Day scholars were also
admitted. This school was discontinued in 1858, when
the young men of the institution became regular preach-
ers, but it formed the nucleus of the “ boys’ boarding and
training school” of after years. It was not till near
the close of this decade, October 19, 1857, that the first
church was formed, consisting of only four members —
two young preachers and two teachers of the boarding-
school. In these early years we occasionally experienced
harsh treatment from the natives, especially in country
48 LOOCHOW MISSION.

places. Missiles, such as small stones and broken tiles,
were thrown at us, but with no serious results.

1857-1867. The mission was reénforced by Mrs, Lucy
E. Doolittle and Mrs. H. L. Peet in 1859; Rev. and Mrs.
Simeon F. Woodin in 1860; and Miss Jane S. Peet in
1867. A site for two new houses was secured 7m the city,
near the yamen of the Min magistrate, in 1861, and build-
ings erected in 1862. The boys’ boarding and training
school was resumed in 1864, on a somewhat different
basis, under care of Mr. Woodin. A new building for
the institution was opened with appropriate religious ser-
vices, November 1, 1867. After some previous experience
in the training of three girls, a girls’ boarding-school was
regularly organized in 1863, under the superintendence of
Mrs. Baldwin. At the expiration of seven years, twenty-
five girls and three married women had been under in-
struction, the number of pupils being at one time twenty-
two. This period is also noted in our history for the
completion of a translation of the whole New Testament
in the Foochow dialect, by a committee of four from
the two American missions — Messrs. Maclay and Gibson,
of the Methodist Episcopal mission, and Messrs. Hartwell
and Baldwin, of the American Board mission. The first
uniform edition was published in 1866. In the work of
evangelization, our territorial limits were enlarged. Be-
sides occupying the center in common with the other two
missions, we obtained, in a partition of the field by mutual
agreement, the cities and districts of Changloh and Yung-
fuh, with their hundreds of villages. This compact field
of cities and districts extends from the sea, on the south
of the Min, about one hundred miles into the interior, with
a varying width of twenty to thirty-five miles.

1867-1877. The mission was reénforced by Miss
Adelia M. Payson in 1869; Dauphin W. Osgood, M. D.,
THIRD DECADE. 49

and Mrs. Osgood in 1870; Rev. Joseph E. Walker in
1872; Miss E. A. Claghorn in 1872; Rev. Josiah B.
Blakely and Mrs. Blakely in 1874; and Henry T. Whit-
ney, M.D., and Mrs. Whitney in 1877. In education,
Miss Payson succeeded Mrs. Baldwin as principal of the
girls’ school, which continued to grow in numbers, and in
results of a cheering spiritual nature. The boys’ board-
ing and training school, after an intermission of one or
two years (1870-1), was resumed under charge of Mr.
Baldwin, 1872. Tours of exploration and for sale of
books had been made by some in the mission to the
Upper Min region, but in 1873 native preachers and
colporters were sent to rent places for a new mission
station and out-stations, seconded by the missionaries.
The center chosen for the new work was the prefectu-
ral city of Shao-wu, about two hundred and fifty miles
up the Min and only two or three days’ travel from
the border of Kiangsi province. Out-stations were se-
lected at the town of Yangkau and city of Tsiangloh
(since relinquished), and the work advanced in several
villages in the prefecture. An extensive tour was under-
taken in 1873 by Messrs. Woodin and Walker and Dr.
Osgood, who visited the four cities of the Shao-wu pre-
fecture and two cities in the adjoining prefecture. Mr.
Walker, who was specially designated to that field, has
had one clerical reénforcement only — Mr. Blakely and
wife in 1874, who were obliged to abandon the work in
1880. Dr. and Mrs. Whitney went to Shao-wu in 1877,
the last year of the decade. The period under review is
also noted for the commencement of medical work by Dr.
Osgood at Foochow in 1870.

In the literary department of this period we notice
three very important publications: (1) Zhe Hoochow Dic-
tionary, pp. 1,107, in Chinese and English, edited by R.S,
50 FOOCHOW MISSION.

Maclay (Methodist Episcopal mission) and C. C. Baldwin,
1870. (2) a Manual of the Foochow Dialect, pp. 256, also
in Chinese and English, by Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin (includ-
ing one section by R. S. Maclay) in 1871. Both books were
printed and expenses and risks borne by the Methodist
Episcopal Press at Foochow. (3) The publication of the
books of the Old Testament in the Foochow dialect, begun
in 1866, was continued through this period and the next.
If the revision and publication of some of the poetical
books are included, the work was not completed till the
year 1888. This heavy task has been undertaken by the
three missions in concert, but much the larger part of
the work and responsibility of translation has been borne
by the mission of the American Board.

1877-1888. During this period the mission was reén-
forced by Miss Ella J. Newton in 1878; Miss Alice B.
Harris in 1882; Miss Emily S. Hartwell, Miss Elsie M.
Garretson, Rev. George H. Hubbard and Mrs. Hubbard,
Kate C. Woodhull, M.D., Miss Hannah C. Woodhull, and
Mrs. H. L. Peet (returning) — all in 1884; Miss Caroline
Koerner in 1887; Rev. Lyman P. Peet in 1888. In con-
sequence of the death of Dr. Osgood, August 17, 1880, Dr.
Whitney left Shao-wu to take charge of the medical depart-
ment at Foochow. But we were cheered by the advance
in the evangelical work at Shao-wu. The gospel found its
way to distant places in the prefecture, where a few gave
up their idols and accepted Christ. This Shao-wu field,
however, has always suffered from want of a strong force
of laborers. At Foochow, during the summer term of the
girls’ school in 1879, ten of the pupils were from heathen
families. In 1881 a new building was erected and dedi-
cated, bearing the name of the “ American Board Female
College.” In every advance the institution has received
the marked sympathy of the native Christians. A woman’s
HOSPITAL AND COLLEGE. 51I

school was begun in 1885, under the temporary charge of
Mrs. Peet. In 1886 the school was removed to the city
station, continuing for a time under care of Mrs. Hart-
well (formerly Mrs. Peet). In 1887 Miss Woodhull took
charge of the instruction, and at the close of the year was
able to report fair prospects in the new quarters with her
twelve pupils. The period under review also witnessed
the foundation of a woman’s hospital under Miss Kate
C. Woodhull, M.D., opened January 1, 1886, under favor-
ing auspices. New building enterprises were also carried
forward successfully in the city for a new woman’s hos-
pital and the boys’ boarding and training school.

Two notable events, during this period, affecting mis-
sionary work, should also be mentioned. One was the
establishment of the “ Anglo-Chinese College” of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Mission, 1880, in which Western science is
taught, and the English language, as well as the Chinese
classic, is made the medium of instruction. This college
has received from us from ten to twenty pupils, who would
naturally have remained in our schools and received
training to become helpers in our work as preachers or
teachers. The teaching of English in the college is the
strongest attraction, as a tolerable proficiency in speaking
it opens the way to lucrative positions in foreign estab-
lishments and under the Chinese government. This will
continue to affect our work for some time. The other
event referred to was the French invasion, in which their
gunboats destroyed the Chinese fleet off the Arsenal in
the Min, ten miles below Foochow, and silenced or demol-
ished the river-forts and defenses as they retired. This
invasion caused intense excitement and widespread dis-
tress, even among people distant from the scene of action.
But good came out of the evil, for the Chinese not only
learned to discriminate more carefully between different
52 FOOCHOW MISSION.

nationalities, but also to appreciate the friendly disposi-
tion and good motives of American and English mission-
aries. One of our chapels near the scene of battle was
looted by lawless Chinese soldiers, for which the local
government made full restitution.

1888-1895. During this period the mission was reén-
forced by Rev. and Mrs. George M. Gardner (1889), Dr.
and Mrs. H. N. Kinnear (1889), Edward L. Bliss, M.D.,
and Miss Caroline E. Chittenden (1892), Miss Frances E.
Nieberg, M.D. (now Mrs. Goddard) (1893), Rev. and Mrs.
Willard L. Beard and Rev. Dwight Goddard (1894).

During this period there has been an exceptional advance
in the chief lines of work. In the earlier portion there was
manifested a spirit of self-help in the building of new
chapels. The Shao-wu report for 1890 stated that “Ten
years ago there was not a place in all the scores of villages
where the missionaries coming would have been anything
more than an amusement to a gaping crowd.” But now
this is all changed. In one district the missionary tourists
found all their time and strength employed in visiting those
places only to which they were invited by their Chinese
friends. Chinese officials, formerly so conceited and
hostile, have latterly made very friendly visits, during which
Christian conversation has been introduced without offense.
The employment of theological students in evangelistic
tours and in general work also deserves special notice. The
special features which during the last three years give great
encouragement are: (1) The Crowded Churches. These
churches, of course, are small compared with the churches
in America, but they are often filled to overflowing. On
some occasions the church members with the students in
the schools fill them, almost to the exclusion of outside
people. (2) The Common Schools. In these there is
growth in system and in interest on the part of the people.

‘
DEPARTMENTS OF MISSIONARY WORK. 53

A kindergarten commenced in 1894 secured from the first
the interest of the Chinese. (3) The Christian Endeavor
movement. ‘This movement dates back to 1885, when the
first society in the mission, which was also the first in all
China, was formed at the church in the suburbs. This was
followed by similar societies in country places. The annual
“rallies” of 1893, 1894, and 1895 have been marked with
much enthusiasm. (4) The native Woman’s Missionary
Society. Organized in 1893, it has led the native women
to enter on new forms of Christian work with much devo-
tion and zeal. (5) A Class of Exhorters. Composed of
volunteers from the boys’ boarding-school, under the wise
guidance of the principal and city pastor, they go out on
Sabbath days to the suburbs preaching the gospel as they
have opportunity.

This period has also been marked by revivals similar to
those that are witnessed in the homeland. Spiritual bless-
ings have come to the boarding-schools, and in some
measure to churches and societies of Christian Endeavor,
and at no time has there been a more manifest spirit of
inquiry and desire for the preaching of the gospel than at
the close of this period.

DEPARTMENTS OF MuIssIONARY Work.— To the fore-
going running history of the mission the following para-
graphs may be added relating to some departments of
missionary labor.

Evangelistic work is carried on in connection with
native pastors, preachers, colporters, and others, in and
from churches, chapels, schools, and the homes of native
Christians, as centers, through the various districts. It
involves extensive tours, at much expense of time and
money. This work is not only the chief department, but
enters as a practical element into all the rest, such as the
schools of all grades and the hospitals.
54 FOOCHOW MISSION.

The educational department comprises two boarding-
schools, two theological training schools, one woman’s
school, and common or day schools. This department
requires careful planning and oversight of a peculiar kind,
and is subject to more fluctuations of success and failure
than some of the others.

In the boys’ boarding-school, besides the difficulty of
getting scholars from the limited constituency of Chris-
tian families, other obstacles have blocked the way. The
poverty of the Christians has prevented them from send-
ing their boys away for a term of years, for the mission
allowance of a dollar per month to each scholar has barely
sufficed for his food, firewood, and lights. To keep prom-
ising lads in school without drawing on mission funds, it
has in many cases been necessary to assist them privately.
But, with a few intermissions, this school has been sus-
tained.

The girls’ boarding-school has been built up against
peculiar obstacles. Girls, on entering the school, have
always been required (if small-footed) to unbind their
feet, which of course is wholly opposed to Chinese custom.
Again, in early years strong suspicions were had in regard
to the designs of foreigners. The assertion that girls
would be transported to the West, or manufactured into
opium, was not uncommon. The girls, moreover, were
mostly from heathen families at first, and this was a peculiar
drawback. But the blessing came in due time, and many
of the girls have been converted and have become teachers
in the woman’s school and common schools, and students
in the woman’s hospital, both before and after their
marriage.

The medical department. This has reached its present
condition of success through the labors of Dr. Osgood
at Foochow, 1870-1880; Dr. Whitney at Shao-wu and
DEPARTMENTS OF MISSIONARY WORK. 55

Foochow, 1877-1896, in the men’s hospital; and of Miss
Dr. Woodhull, 1884-1896. In the hospital for women and
children are medical students under training in the knowl-
edge and practice of the profession, and a few have already
graduated from the men’s hospital with diplomas. In 1889
Dr. H. N. Kinnear took charge of the medical work at
Foochow Suburbs (Ponasang), and in 1892 Dr. E. L. Bliss
entered upon work at Shao-wu, while the next year Miss
F. E. Nieberg, M.D., came as a reénforcement at Foochow
city. The medical work has proved specially interesting
and helpful, as is indicated by the fact that in the reports
for the year 1894-95 there were treated in connection
with the hospital for women and children in Foochow city
5,547 patients, while within the whole mission not less than
24,000 patients were treated. These facts are cited merely
as hints of success in the work. With its limited appliances,
the department helps to give our mission a good standing
and moral influence among the Chinese, in addition to the
physical relief imparted to suffering thousands, and the
religious instruction of patients and their friends in the
exercises of reading the Bible, prayers, and the distribution
of tracts and leaflets.

Literary work has taken a wide range, in which nearly
all the missionaries have shared. Small books in prose
and poetry, tracts and leaflets, a catechism, a hymn book
in several editions, gradually enlarged, a child’s paper (in
concert with the Methodist Episcopal Mission), element-
ary treatises in arithmetic, geography, and astronomy, have
been published. The whole Bible has been translated
into the Foochow dialect, in union with the other missions,
and has been thoroughly revised. Two editions of a work
on Anatomy, by Dr. Osgood, revised by Dr. Whitney and
Mr. Hartwell, have been published. A Dictionary and
Manual in this dialect have also been issued from the
56 FOOCHOW MISSION.

Methodist Episcopal Press. The preparation of these works
for publication, with the codperation of others, has cost us
much time and hard work, and has been effected in the
midst of other duties, commonly regarded as more pressing
and important. This helps to explain the fact of the lapse
of twenty-two years between the issue of Genesis and
Malachi, and the additional new translations of poetical
books.

Self-support. The sketch would be incomplete without
a reference to this important subject. It seems needless to
say that “ self-support” in a// departments is the aim ; but
progress has been slow. The first church was not formed
till near the close of the first decade of our history. All
the churches are small, and some maintain only a struggling
life. The rule at present is to specify a certain amount for
each church to contribute. This is usually done by leaving
the church to raise the pastor's or preacher’s salary for a
certain number of months in the year. Our first church in
the Suburbs at present contributes, with aid received from
missionaries, six months’ pay; the second church in the
city, with similar help, four months’, and the Yung-fuh
church four months’, while the weaker churches fall far
below these rates. ‘The principle of self-support is also
carried out in other departments: (1) In the boys’ board-
ing and training school the pupils board themselves, paying
their way with the aid of the small allowance from the
mission. (2) In the girls’ boarding-school the board is
furnished, but the pupils pay admission fees and all their
incidental expenses. (3) In the common schools the
teachers are paid a very moderate monthly stipend, with
the expectation (not always realized on account of the
poverty or the indifference and penuriousness of the
parents) that the scholars will pay tuition fees. (4) In the
hospitals there is good progress. There are three sources
DEPARTMENTS OF MISSIONARY WORK. 57

from which moneys come toward self-support: contribu-
tions from Chinese officials and Chinese employés in hongs,
pay for medicines, and the professional fees. The subscrip-
tions to the men’s hospital amount to $300 or $400 per
year.

Aside from the mission of the American Board, the
English Church Missionary Society and the American
M. E. Board of Missions have work extending through the
province which centers at Foochow. The year 1895 will
be memorable throughout this district on account of two
events: first, the conclusion of the war between China and
Japan, in which the armies and fleets of the Chinese were
defeated ; and secondly, the massacre of English missiona-
ries at Ku-cheng, one of the district cities of the Foochow
Prefecture. These events, which for a time seemed to
imperil the missionary work, have turned out rather to its
advantage, for never has there been a more cheering pros-
pect for the progress of the kingdom of God throughout
this region than at the beginning of the year 1896.

The statistics of the Foochow Mission for the year 1894-
95 are as follows: American missionaries, 28 (of whom 12
are men) ; native pastors, 6; other preachers, 22; total
native helpers, 83; churches, 25 ; members, 926; added
during the year 1894-95, 172; number under instruction,
868 ; places for stated preaching, 35.

We learn yearly lessons of a gracious Providence, both
general and particular, as in securing sites for our build-
ings, when the prospect seems almost hopeless; in the
manifest abatement of prejudice, as our aims become better
known ; and in the wonderful preservation of life and prop-
erty in times of peril. Best of all, we are permitted to
rejoice that the Chinese find their way over all obstacles,
within and without, to the cross of Christ.
 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sketches of the Missions of the American