i^FWr L.J.Davies ^?^, s: stirring Facts '*<«* V /^> 0^ OF pSayv>-. OCT 12 ISbb Logical st^^ BV 3415 .D3 1901 Davies, Llewllyn James Stirring facts .^^l^ «f. f«i«c?^ Stirring Facts AN ADDRESS ON CHINA BY THE REV. LLEWELLYN JAMES'^DAVIES For eight years a Missionary of the Presbyterian Church at Chi Nan Fu Philadelphia The Westminster Press 1901 vy Copyright> J90t,by The Trustees of The Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work STIRRING FACTS The cause of missions is the cause of Christ. The cause of Christ is the cause of humanity. Jesus is the great missionary pattern for all the ages. Every full Christian is by virtue of his union with Christ a missionary. " As thou hast sent me into the the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Not in anger but in love, not to condemn but to save, did God send his only begotten Son. God knows the reality of sin and the helplessness of man, the misery and degradation to which he has sunk through his rebellion against his Creator — his Father. A noble response is being made as I write this to the cry for help from Galveston. The horrors of death and starvation touch the hearts of those whose loved ones are safe and who live in peace- ful plenty. How much more must those who are alive and strong spiritually hasten to call to life those who are dead in trespasses and sin ! Spiritual death is more horrible than physical death, and only the spiritually dead can look with complacent unconcern upon the heathen world. For the heathen world is dead — is lost. is without hope. The billows of selfishness and sin have rolled over it ; the tornado of lust and greed has spent its force upon it; and out of the torn and twisted wreck there arises pestilential 3 4 STIRRING FACTS pollution till the whole life of the people is poi- soned and there is neither purity nor truth. " A century ago so-called God-fearing men hid behind a wicked interpretation of the doctrine of God's sovereignty, and said that when God wanted the heathen world converted he would find some way to accomplish his purpose without the aid of missionaries. An hundred years hence the Church will look with wondering horror upon the covetousness of the present age. The Church will have learned to use its immense material re- sources for the accomplishment of spiritual ends, and men will regard their possessions — now so- called — as not their own in fee simple, but as a trust which they are to administer for God, and themselves as stewards of whom a strict account- ing will be required. A prophecy of such a view and practice is contained in some of our noblest hymns. When all those who profess allegiance to Jesus, the great Brother and Lover of mankind, become in fact as well as in name brothers to all men, we will enter an era of " spir- itual expansion " and " imperialism " of the grandeur of which but few have as yet dreamed. England will not then make opium a principal article of trade with China, nor will America be known by her beer bottles and rum barrels. The sounds of advancing civilization will not be those of the rifle and magazine gun. Love is stronger than fear. Right is greater than might. God's plan is better than Satan's. The devil has an awful grip upon the hearts of men, but the ex- ample of God's self-sacrificing love manifest in Jesus will break the power of sin. The day will come when, charged and surcharged with love STIRRING FACTS 5 such as Christ bears us, the zeal for spiritual con- quest of the world will seize upon the hearts of all true believers as now the lust for physical conquest dominates men's lives, and they will go forth by the thousand and ten thousand, and money and treasure be poured out as water to accomplish for all the world what Christ's love has made possible. Then will appear a marvel, a new and glorious reformation. Superstition, ignorance, hate, avarice, and passion, will be driven out of the hearts of men, and in their place love will reign with joy and peace. No sin-cursed, plague-stricken spot will remain on the whole earth, because all men will have known the Lord and have been given life, life eternal, from the hand of the all-bountiful Father. God speed the da}-, the longed-for day, of the im- perialism of righteousness. During seven years of work in China, I have grown to love and honor many of the Chinese workers with whom I have been associated. Dwelling in the midst of a Christless civilization I have been overwhelmed, as one sinking in de^p waters, by the unutterable sin and misery in which those live who know not Christ. When I regarded the awful abyss of death into which their sin has plunged them I have de- spaired. But I have seen tens and hundreds, yielding themselves to God's Spirit, lifted into spiritual life. I have seen fear which rules su- preme in all the heathen world dri\en out by love. I have seen these ransomed ones, impelled by the new life within them, speaking and teaching and drawing many more to the Saviour. So despair has given way to hope, and faith has 6 STIRRING FACTS grown strong, and I believe that despite the selfishness and apathy of the Church, God's purposes of love shall not fail, but that into all the dark places of the earth light, more glorious than the noonday sun in the Orient, shall shine, and joy and the peace of God be given those who are now in the bondage of sin and fear. And even now, though we stand in the midst of the most violent and widespread of all the anti-foreign and anti-Christian outbreaks, I more than ever hope for the regeneration of China and believe this hope to be based on facts, — facts with which I hope to encourage you to a grand forward movement for the salvation of China. / mention first the fact that prejudice against foreigners and the Christian religion is slowly, but very surely, crumbling. How great this prejudice is none can fully realize but those who have liv^ed in China. The common name by which a foreigner is designated is " Foreign Devil." Formerly, every one be- lieved, and many do still, that we kidnap chil- dren in order to use eyes and hearts in the preparation of medicine. Many Chinese think that at the base of every telegraph pole a child is buried. Stories of gross immorality on the part of foreigners are invented, and are circu- (lated by means of tracts and illustrated posters. The anti-foreign riots occurring in the Yang Tse valley in 1891 were directly traceable to a series of such publications called, from the name of the province in which they originated, " The Hunan Tracts." Christians were said to worship the "pig" — a pun on the Chinese word for " Lord," — and to commit unspeakable abominations in STIRRING FACTS 7 churches and chapels. Pictures were given de- picting scenes of grossest licentiousness. " The promiscuous gatherings of men and women in the same building are depicted in positions too disgusting to describe. The illustrations and letter-press out-Nero Nero. The vilest imag- inations have reached their lowest degradation here." Boys were warned that the " Foreign Devils " would deprive them of the power to perpetuate the race, and by these and many such tales was the anger of the populace raised against the Christians. There is, in many minds, a firmly- rooted belief that the missionaries are political agents, and that their ultimate aim is to seize the country for their home governments. One of the false charges made in "The Hunan Tracts" is as follows . " Western kings have cast longing eyes toward the Chinese Empire ; in order to gain possession of it they have brought opium to drain China of its silver and to destroy the lives of its people. But the mainstay of these western kings is the missionaries, whom they palm off as doing good ; who win the peoples' affections by small charities, while in their hearts they are full of fiendish wickedness. What they desire to obtain is traitors within the camp, then they from outside can easily take the country." These " Hunan Tracts " were the work of a Tao T'ai, an important provincial official. The masses of the people of China are densely igno- rant and steeped in superstition. The official and literary classes have played on this supersti- tion to foster the natural fear and distrust of for- eigners. The central government of China has never intended to enforce the treaties which it 8 STIRRING FACTS has most unwillingly negotiated. Proclamations and edicts favorable to foreigners have for the most part been forced, and both officials and people have known that these do not represent the true desires of the Government. Had a more honorable course been pursued by those in authority in China, the anti-foreign feeling of the people might easily have passed away. It seems certain that the present outbreak was the result of a deliberate purpose on the part of the Chinese Government to drive out all foreigners and to destroy the Christians. The fiction of a rebellion under Tuan is now appearing in its true light. It was nothing more than an attempt to gain time and to confuse foreign nations. The wise policy of our President and Secretary of State had much to do in rendering this too clever plan abortive. The people of China are easily governed. They are naturally patient and hos- pitable. When belated or overtaken by the storm I have often secured room and food for the night in strange villages. In one instance, when in the darkness and rain we had lost our way, we were taken in and a meal prepared for us long after the entire village had gone to sleep. Dr. Griffith John, after forty-five years' acquaint- ance with the Chinese, says in the Missionary Review : " In China the eyes of the people are on the officials, and their conduct toward us de- pends upon what they suppose to be the mind and policy of the officials in regard to us." Against this mountain of icy exclusiveness has the missionary pitched his tent and already won many victories. It is now ( 1900) only about thirty-five years since STIRRING FACTS 9 the missionaries could leave the ports and pene- trate the interior of the country, but during this time they have gone to every part of the empire preaching and healing, selling and giving away books and tracts, and living lives in which the people could not but see a new and strange power — the power of love. Missionary doctors have treated millions of cases, have restored sight to unnumbered blind, caused the lame to walk and ,in some cases the deaf to hear. Surgery is un- known to Chinese medical science, and the ope- ration for cataract, which consists in slightly cut- ting the cornea and removing from the eye the crystalline lens which has become hard and opaque, is to the Chinese little short of miracu- lous. Antiseptic treatment of wounds and sores is unknown. The common method of treating a boil is carefully to seal up all the poisonous material, and in some cases this process is continued till the whole affected part sloughs off. I recall a young man whose right arm had been ruined by a series of ulcers treated in this way. The first came near the shoulder, and being carefully sealed up broke out below. This was repeated three or four times, until the poor fellow's arm had literally rotted and dried away. Last year (1899) the missionary physi- cians of our Presbyterian Church alone treated in Cnina 143,491 patients, and in the whole world over 350,000, and ours is but one of many societies. The statistical report presented to the Ecumenical Conference by Dr. Dennis shows^ that in China there were 124 mission hospitals and 240 dispensaries ; that in these over 1,700,000 treatments were given ; and that in the 355 hos- lO STIRRING FACTS pitals and 753 dispensaries, scattered in various mission lands, there were 6,647,840 treatments. Do you wonder that prejudice breaks down be- fore this work, and that many seek and find the Saviour as the direct result of treatment ? As I go about the country I hear many times one man or woman saying to another : " He belongs to the ' Jesus Church.' They have a dispensary at Chi Nan Fu where no money is asked for treatment. So-and-so went there and was cured. They are good people." I gave a dose of qui- nine to a malaria-racked woman, and more than once during the next year or two, when passing through her town, heard some one say : " He is the man who cured Mrs. So-and-so's malaria — that was good medicine." Many officials who care nothing for the religion which the mission- aries preach are influenced by the medical treat- ment received at the hands of our physicians. Li Hung Chang is said to have remarked that " had none but medical missionaries come to China, no riots would have occurred." This is not true, but it shows the estimate in which our medical work is held. Another agency which has broken down preju- dice is the press. The beginning of this work goes back to 1833 when Dr. Williams began to print Christian literature in Chinese. The greatest missionary press in the world is located in China at Shanghai, and belongs to the Pres- byterian Church. In 1891 "The Presbyterian Mission Press " " had over seven hundred publi- cations in Chinese on its catalogue," and issued "615,450 volumes, representing a total of over 41,000,000 pages." In 189S over 21 tons of STIRRING FACTS II paper were used by this establishment, and for 1899 the issue reached over 67,000,000 pages. Besides this great mission press at Shanghai, there are, large and small, 22 others in China, and the grand total of 107,149,738 pages is the record of their output for the year reported to the Ecumenical Conference. There are 32 peri- odicals, with a circulation of 27,270 copies. The Bible is printed in 24 dialects for the people of China. This enormous amount of Christian literature is carried by the missionaries to all parts — one may almost say to every village — of the great empire. The following is an instance of the re- sults of this dissemination of literature : Mr. T'eng Sheng Lin is an old, white-haired man who, for the past ten years, has witnessed for Christ in his native village. He has been re- viled and threatened. One of the most serious threats was that unless he renounced his new faith no one of the villagers would assist in burying him — or in the coarse language of the threat, " He might He on his k'ang (earth-bed) and rot there before they would bury him." None of these things moved him. His first knowledge of Christian truth came from a Gospel of Matthew bought at a market. He took this book home and read it. He committed to memory the Ser- mon on the Mount. All this was before he had ever had speech with a Christian. When, later on, opportunity came, he brought his own grain for food and lived at the house of the missionary for some weeks, studying. That Gospel of Matthew was the seed which fell upon good ground. In many of the more important centers book 12 STIRRING FACTS depots are opened. In these are sold at cost — • or nearly so — complete Bibles, Old Testaments and New Testaments, Bible portions, commenta- ries and aids to Bible study, translations of re- ligious works, such as Pilgrim's Progress ; a large number of original works in Chinese, written to meet certain peculiar conditions of thought, be- sides scientific works — astronomy, physics, geol- ogy, physiology, for example — translated from the best European and American sources. Men buy these, and in the quiet of their own homes read out of their minds the foolish prejudice against foreigners, born almost always of igno- rance. In many places museums have been estab- lished in connection with the missions. These contain models of machinery, of houses, churches, and ships ; electric motors, and machines of various kinds run by them, with small electric light plants ; farming implements of foreign styles, with samples of grains. To such things are added pictures, curiosities, with mounted specimens of local birds and animals. These museums attract vast numbers of people, who learn, perhaps for the first time, that lightning and thunder, day and night, and eclipses of sun and moon, are due to natural causes. Imagine the surprise and gratification of a man who knows nothing of electric science when for the first time he carries on a conversation over the telephone. In their trips throughout the country many missionaries carry a few simple pieces of apparatus and perhaps a globe, and explain to those who have never heard such things some of the more manifest phenomena of nature. These STIRRING FACTS I3 most useful adjuncts of mission work have been provided for apart from tiie regular contributions of the Church. Of the museum opened at the missionary station of Chefoo, Dr. Hunter Corbett writes : " The first year we opened this place 71,500 visitors were received. Everyone heard the gospel preached, and received tracts and books to take home. We have had visits from officials and rich men, also from women and chil- dren, people whom we could not reach before opening the museum. We have now some earnest Christian workers who were brought to a knowl- edge of the truth through this work." The influence of the missionaries has been greatly felt in the work of education. The schools have affected great numbers besides those directly enrolled as pupils. Much general knowledge has been widely diffused both di- rectly and indirectly. The Chinese estimate of education is exceedingly high, and the promi- nence of educational work has helped to break down prejudice against the Church. Some sta- tistics taken from the Ecumenical Conference report follow : — Universities or Colleges, I2with 1,814 pupils. Theological and Training Schools, . . .•66 " 1,315 " Boarding, High Schools, and Seminaries, . 166 " 6,393 " Industrial Training Institutes, 7" ^9^ " Medical Schools or classes, 30 " 251 " This gives a total of 9,964 pupils in these ad- vanced schools. Besides these there are many thousands of pupils in the primary or day schools. By no means the least of the influences tend- ing to break down the Chinese prejudice against 14 Stirring facts foreigners, is the character of tlie men and women who have gone to China as missionaries. The Chinese assign but two grand motives for the actions of men — gain and glory — " h " and " ming." The missionary goes to China neither to get rich nor to secure fame. Fortunate is it for him that he has another motive, and it is the out- working of this motive in deeds which gives weight to his words. Some people seem to conceive the missionary as a never-resting talking machine. But while it is true that he does an immense deal of speaking, both public and private, yet it is equally true that he has time left for a great deal of living. One of our ladies walked out for ex- ercise one evening and, passing near the suburb wall, saw a man lying on some straw with noth- ing to shelter him from the coming storm but an old piece of matting. He was attended by his sister, a serving woman from some wealthy home. She had given up her position to nurse him through his illness in a hired room in the city ; his money gone, he had been placed on a wheelbarrow by his late landlord and trundled off to die. This should not be taken as prima facie evidence of superior brutality since, ac- cording to Chin&se custom, if the man died on his place without means of burial the landlord would probably be obliged to bear this expense and might be even further " squeezed " by unscru- pulous police or " yamen " officers who might charge him with murder, in order to procure more money. By the time the matter was re- ported to the mission communit)', the rain was falling, but it was not long until one of the gen- tlemen had sent for the local police officer and STIRRING FACTS I5 had directed him to carry the poor man to the hospital. The calling; of the officer was to avoid possible suspicion ot foul play, in case the man died on our hands. At the hospital a room was given the outcasts, and food and such medicine as the case required were provided. The man lived through the night, and after the end had come was given burial by the missionaries, and his sister sent on her way to friends with a small gift of money. This is perhaps a small matter. But in a land where charitably disposed natives would be restrained by fear of probable evil consequences such action on the part of foreign- ers cannot but excite favorable comment. Oppor- tunity for helping the needy is in China literally without limit. In view of the numerous attacks on the character and devotion of missionaries in the daily press, it seems no breach of delicacy for me to say that the men and women whom our Board sends abroad are a picked band, physically, mentally, and morally. Young men and women desiring appointment must furnish physician's certificate to soundness of health, as well as recommendations from teachers and pastors. Many who apply are turned away and it is very seldom indeed that one whom the Board has appointed proves himself unfit for the work. Missionaries are by no means perfect, but they have high ideals and noble purposes. God puts the seal of his approval upon their work. It is an honor to belong to this body of men and women. No lover of the missionary cause has reason to be ashamed of those who go to foreign lands. I wish to quote the testimony of three officials I 6 STIRRING FACTS — British, American, and Chinese — to the work and character of Protestant missionaries in China. Mr. J. Dyer Ball, M. R. A. S., of II. B. M. Civil Service, Hong Kong, author of various works on the Chinese language, says in Things Chinese : " Had Protestant missionaries done nothing else in China than (to have) prepared and published the books issued by them in Chinese ; started the schools ; written the books in English, con- taining the narratives of their own travels and accounts of the natives and of their religious customs and manners ; translated nativ^e works ; instructed the youth of both sexes, and founded hospitals and dispensaries — had these, we say, been the only things accomplished by Protestant missionaries, they would haye done a noble work ; but added to these more secular labors is the di- rectly religious work of preaching the gospel, tract and Bible distribution, visiting, gathering together the converts, etc., all of which, though less appreciated by the general mercantile com- munity of China, has been as signally success- ful as the other class of undertakings." The second testimony is that of an American — Colonel Charles Denby, who was for many years the honored representative of the United States at Peking. At a dinner in the Chinese capital he acknowledged that he had come to China prejudiced against the missionaries and their work, and affirmed that his changed views were based upon his personal observations in various mission stations. In a dispatch bearing date March 22, 1895, addressed to the Secretary of State, he said : " I think that no one can contro- vert the patent fact that the Chinese are enor- StlRRlNG FACTS 1 7 mously benefited by the labors of the mission- aries in their midst. I can and do say that the missionaries in China are self-sacrificing ; that their lives are pure ; that they are devoted to their work ; that the arts and sciences and civil- ization are greatly spread by their efforts ; that they are the leaders in all charitable work ; that they do make converts, and such converts as are mentally benefited by conversion." The other is the opinion of a Chinese Prefect. On July 4, 1895, the Prefect of Nanking issued a proclamation in which the following passages occur : " The Prefect, with the Magistrate of the provincial capital, has personally visited each church and commanded the Magistrate of out- side districts to visit personally each mission sta- tion and talk with the missionaries. We have personally inspected the hospitals, schoolhouses, etc. They are for good purposes, established with a sincere desire to save men. Though there are Chinese who take pleasure in doing good, there are none that excel these missionaries. Let none of you invent false reports." The simple kindliness of their lives does more, perhaps, to destroy prejudice and establish friend- ship than all that the missionaries preach, and what Dr. Williams said many years ago as to the effect of this upon the Chinese is as true to-day as then. He wrote : " It was soon ascertained that the hatred and contempt of foreigners, which were supposed to dwell in the minds of all Chi- nese, needed only to be met with kindness and patient teaching to give place to respect and con- fidence." These and other agencies have broken down 2 1 8 STIRRING FACTS doubt, fear, and prejudice, till now very many people are ready to listen, and listen sympatheti- cally, to the story of God's love; and very many acknowledge that the doctrines and practice of the Church are good, who as yet know the truth but superficially. This is the first great fact which I wish you to bear in mind for your en- couragement and stimulation in this work, namely, that all through the empire prejudice is breaking down. The second fact is that the number of workers coining to China frojn Christian countries is rapidly increasing. It is but ninety-three years since, in 1807, Robert Morrison, the pioneer Protestant mis- sionary, landed at Canton. God uses wonder- fully insignificant means to further his purposes. Morrison's attention was turned to China by a Chinese manuscript which he saw in the British Museum. When he was prepared to go, a way was found, even though the East India Com- pany refused him transportation, as it had earlier refused to take Carey to India. We may be proud of the fact that it was an American firm through which he secured passage, and that it was first in an American warehouse at Canton that he studied the language. His Chinese teacher feared for his life if it should become known to the local officials that he was instruct- ing a foreign barbarian, and hence carried poison with him that he might anticipate the executioner if he were caught. The Chinese have a horror of mutilation, and suicide is con- sidered virtuous in the certain prospect of death by decapitation. The Emperor sometimes takes STIRRING FACTS I 9 mercy on a Ini^h official, whose death has been determined, and manifests his clemency by pre- senting him with a silken scarf with which to hang himself In 1809 Morrison's right to re- main in China was secured by his appointment as translator to the East India Company. The opportunity thus afforded bore fruit. In 18 14 he completed the translation of the New Testa- ment. This was a stupendous work. Imagine yourself almost bare-handed attacking a strange and difficult language, and within seven y6ars completing such a translation ! Of his work in lexicography another has said : " There is no finer monument of human perseverance than the dictionary of Dr. Morrison." During these years he w^as alone. In 1813 came the first recruit, Milne, followed in 18 16 by Medhurst — names ever to be honored. But these two soon retiring from China proper worked among colonies of Chinese in neighboring settlements. For twenty years Morrison was the only missionary on Chi- nese soil. The secret of his patience is given in his answer to the question which some one asked him : " Do you think you can do anything for China ?" His reply was : " No ; but I think that God can." It was 1 829 when the American Board Missionaries, Bridgman and Abeel, joined this intrepid advance scout of the Christian army. In 1833 S. Wells Williams came to begin the printing of Christian literature. During this period fonts of movable Chinese type were pre- pared. In 1835 Dr. Peter Parker opened the first mission hospital in China. During the thirties other devoted men and women had come and begun to preach to the Chinese at Bangkok '20 STFRRINC FACTS and Singapore. These advance agents had been preparing for the year 1842, in which the treaty ports were opened and tlie Emperor re\'oked edicts against Christianity, in force since 1724 when the Jesuits had been banished. Thus for- eigners were given a legal status in China, and it was no longer a crime for Chinese to believe on Christ. This year marks the beginning of organized missionary effort in China. The little vanguard of about twenty, which had been wait- ing at Canton and in the adjacent colonies, pushed forward to occupy the newly opened treaty ports. From that time to the present the number of workers on the field has constantly and grandly increased. Many have laid down their lives in that strange land, and many have re- turned to their home lands broken in health, but the number of those actually carrying on the work has multiplied many fold. In 1847, five years after the opening of treaty ports and forty years from the date of Morrison's landing, there were 112 missionaries. In 1858 there were 214, or almost twice as many as before. Twenty years more pass and the force of foreign Chris- tian workers was 473, and had again more than doubled. We come now to a period of even more rapic^ growth. In 1877 there were 473 missionaries; in 1890 there were 1,200. This was an average increase of 56 for each of these thirteen years. A great missionary conference was held at Shanghai in 1890. There were 475 delegates in attendance. People of all denominations gathered to discuss methods and plans and to pray for the kingdom of God in China. After much prayer and con- STIRRING FACTS 21 ferencc it was determined to issue a call to the Church in countries nominally Christian for 1 ,000 new missionaries to be sent to China within five years. The call was issued and then they went back to their work. Some doubted ; others believed and prayed. God heard the prayers and gave the i ,000 in less than five years. I was one of that i ,000, and I rejoice that I was. Since that time within these past four or five years, hundreds more have come, till now the grand total of Protestant missionaries, including those under appointment is nearly, if not quite, 3,000. In other words, there are in China to-day almost as many foreign missionaries as there were Chi- nese converts thirty- three years ago, and for the last decade the average growth of the missionary body has been over 1 50 per year. Let us give glory to God. But let us also allow these great things to spur us on to more perfect discipleship, to more strenuous efforts. For what are these among so many? For every person in the United States China has five or six. Parishes of individual missionaries contain from 500,000 to i ,000,000 people. There are millions to whom God's love is as unknown to-day as it was to their ancestors of one hun- dred years ago. The voice of these Christless millions is as the voice of God calling to us who have both seen and heard. A third fact is the increasing number and con- secrated character of our Cldnese evangelists and pastors. Our Presbyterian Church has nearly 600 of these men and women, and there are in all the missions probably not less than 5,000, and in all 22 STIRRING FACTS the world 40,000 or 50,000. Ten years ago Chi Nan V\\ had but two and now we have sixteen, and in other stations their number and efficiency have greatly increased. These men are carrying the gospel leaven from village to x'illage, from house to house, and from man to man, through- out the length and breadth of that great empire, I have been associated with eight evangelists in my district at Chi Nan Fu, and some of them are as noble, consecrated spirits as I have ever known. I rejoice that they count me their friend and that I have been privileged to work with them these years. One of them, my well- beloved friend Lu Ping, is sixty-three years of age, and is as vigorous as most men of forty-fi\'e. He was converted, and thoroughly converted, at the age of thirty-six. At that time he was abso- lutely illiterate. He can now read the New Testament, large portions of which he has com- mitted to memory, and is a most efficient evan- gelist. I received a letter from him last spring, telling that over thirty new inquirers from the district northeast of our station had been brought in for instruction directly in the face of the " Boxer" persecution of the past year. He has been preaching now for twelve or fifteen years and has been the means of bringing to Christ all his own and his brother's family, in- cluding their old mother who was born about the time Morrison landed in Canton. Besides this he was largely instrumental in developing the church in his native village, which numbers now about sixty members; and also another organiza- tion, twenty miles to the east, where, within the past four years, a new church of about sixty STIRRINC; FACTS ^3 members has come into existence. He is a true successor of Peter and John, for he, too, cannot but speak the thini^s which he has seen and heard, and whether at home or abroad he daily- proclaims the good news of salvation from sin through fiiith in our Lord Jesus. These men are prepared for their work first and most essentially by their thorough conver- sion. It is the aim of the missionary to use no evangelists who do not show themselves called of God before they receive the call from men. More than once I have been asked to employ this one or that as a preacher and have refused, since the man showed no great interest in the salvation of those about him. In som'e cases the man has had plenty of the " gift of gab " and sufficient information to go on talking by the hour or day. But that is not what is wanted. To be an acceptable preacher in China — and where on earth is it otherwise ? — a man must have gone through deep personal experiences of repentance from sin ; he must feel deeply the infinite mercy of God in being willing to save him and to save others ; he must have the enthusiasm born of a conviction that the message committed to him is the only exceedingly important affair about which men need concern themselves ; he must have the patience which springs from a heart brought to a white heat of love by the indwelling of God's Spirit, and he must possess the courage of those who know that their cause shall certainly tri- umph, because it is the cause of God, If to these be added the wisdom which is from above, the candidate would be acceptable to any mis- sion. The Chinese evangelists have their faults, 24 STIRRING FACTS but very many of them have the qualities of mind and heart which make them <(reat men even though their lives are spent amidst the dirt and confusion of inns, or on the road, or in the humble homes of their poor countrymen. These men are further trained for their work by the missionary in institutes for Bible study, or station classes as they are called. In these we all gather at one place, and spend from two weeks to a month in daily study. Not only Bible work, but instruction in modern science, geography, physics, physiology, astronomy, and other things, is given them by the missionary. This teaching is strictly practical, and is aimed to better fit them for their work among the people. That it does so is abundantly evidenced ; nor is this strange among a people many of whose scholars and wise men still believe that the earth is flat. Besides these less educated men there is an ever increasing body of those thoroughly trained in the Christian schools and colleges. To these are open many lucrative positions in government work and private business. Many of those edu- cated in mission schools are living Christian lives in such positions. Many others have taken the very much lower salary offered them by the mis- sions or by financially independent Chinese churches, and are spending their lives in preach- ing and teaching the truths of the Christian re- ligion. In these men — the Chinese evangelists and pastors — the hope for Christianizing the empire centers. " In heathen countries the successful evangelists of the future will be men who come from the people — men even who cannot read and STIRRING FACTS 2^ "vvrite," said Bishop Thoburn at the Ecumenical Conference. They can do what no foreigner is able to accomplish. They arc suited to the work in every way. This method of employing native agents commends itself to all but the merest handful of those in charge of the work. One ordained missionary may have oversight and di- rection of five or ten or twenty of these men. They speak their own language, understand the situation of the people to whom they speak, and can adapt the truth to the capacity of their hear- ers as no outsider can hope to do. They have themselves believed the same things that are held true by their hearers, and can relate the process by which they have reached their new faith. On the other hand, their hearers' attention is not diverted from the message to the messenger, as seems too often the case when the foreigner speaks. The Chinese evangelist speaks to his Chinese audi- ence with no wall of fear or prejudice obstruct- ing his access to them. These men visit the fairs or markets, spread their Christian books and tracts in the view of the people, and preach to those who gather about. They notice, per- haps, that some one is paying especial attention, or that he has been coming to hear them repeat- edly. When the end of the talk is reached they may ask the name and village of such an one, and inquire whether he is willing to receive them at his house. If he gives them a genuine invitation to come, they go to the village and call at his home. Some of the neighbors come in, and opportunity for preaching or discussion is afforded. This is one of the most important advantages the native has over the foreigner. He 26 STIRRING FACTS can, SO to speak, " play " his fish and deHcately lead him to the shallows. He can read the mind of the possible incpiircr by signs which would wholly escape the untrained foreign eye. These evangelists work for from two to five dol- lars a month. They carry their own bedding, eat poor food, walk all day, and then preach half the night, or preach all day and continue in conver- sation until midnight ; endure cold and heat, rain and wind and dust ; are reviled, contemned, and persecuted — sometimes even to physical beating. The crowns of many of them will glow with countless gems in the kingdom to which they go, for they have turned many, very many, to righteousness. They are true successors of the prophets and apostles, and of the glorious com- pany of martyrs who in every land have pro- claimed salvation to the lost. Let us all join with these men in prayer and effort for China's salvation. A fourth fact is that the Church in China is groiving in an almost geometrical ratio. Morrison landed in 1807 — ninety-three years ago. He baptized his first convert in 18 14. At this time he was not allowed to preach openly. From 1 8 14 to 1842 about one hundred baptisms occurred. Two years before his death this apos- tle to the Chinese wrote : " I have been in China twenty-five years, and am beginning to see the work prosper." Those were the days of small things physically, but of mountain-moving faith and indomitable courage. I have received about twice as many new members during the two years past as were baptized in all China during the first thirty-five years of missionary work, and STIRRING FACTS 2j there are many who have received a far greater blessing. At the ii\\(\. of this first period not more than ten names were on the roll — some authorities say six only. In 1853, or ten years after the opening of the treaty ports, there were 350 members. In 1857 there were 500 enrolled. That was forty-three years ago. There are now as many names upon the books of our station at Chi Nan Fu as comprised the whole Protest- ant Chinese Church at that time. Ten years more passed, and before 1867 that 500 had been multiplied to 3,000. Another decade was marked by an addition of over 10,000 names, which brought the total to 13,515 in 1877. In 1886 there were 28,000 and in 1889 there were 37,287 members. The membership in 1893 was 55,093, and during these past six years almost 50,000 more have confessed their faith, thus giving a total of about 100,000 at the close of 1899. These figures may be tabulated as follows: — 1814, first convert baptized by Morrison. / 1842, enrolled membership, 6 or lo ■. 1853, " " 350 I 1857, •' " 500 ' 1867, " " 3,000 1877, " " 13,515 1886, " " 28,000 1889, " " 37,287 1893, " " 55,093 1899, " " 100,000 The Missionary Review of the World strik- ingly says : " As evidence of marvels at hand, it is to be remembered that it took thirty years to produce the first six converts in China, thirty 26 STIRRING FACTS years more to turn them into six thousand, while ckiring the last year alone more than six thou- sand converts were gathered in." These are but figures, yet they fairly thrill with life. The complaint is sometimes heard that it takes a great deal of money to convert a single heathen, but where else can results proportion- ally so large be found? If a man wants quick and large returns for his money, Foreign Mission work is the place in which to invest it. Colqu- houn, in China in Transformation, p. 152, says that British trade with China has increased four- fold in forty years. The membership of the Protestant Church in China has grown two hun- dred-fold since 1857, or fifty times as rapidly as Great Britain's trade. The vast sums invested by the Presbyterian Church in buildings, equip- ment, and salaries in America produced a growth of but 1.3 per cent in membership during 1898, whereas the money invested by the Church in foreign missions paid over 14 per cent in in- creased church membership. This is the language of foolishness, yet we can accept the challenge of the overmastering mercantilism of the day. The Spirit of God is moving on the millions of China, and we may hojoe to see mighty changes in the immediate future. Dr. Ashmore, after fifty years in China, said at the Ecumenical Conference : "There is to be a better China — a regenerated China. Once emancipated from their slavish allegiance to their literary class, having no India caste to keep them back, we are safe in assuming that there will be such ingatherings into the Church as the world has never seen. ... It is our firm conviction that the coming century will STIRRING FACTS 29 witness the fall of heathenism in China and the dominance of the Christian faith." A fifth fact is that the Chinese Church is a con- secrated, wit)iess-bearing Church. This appears from what they are themselves doing toward support of the work. In the earlier stages of mission work it was, of course, necessary that all money should come from the missionary. There was no Christian con- stituency from which to draw funds. How matters have changed may be illustrated in the development of educational work. When the first mission schools were opened in Shan- tung only the poorest and most forlorn of the population were willing to be enrolled as pupils. In Chi Nan Fu the missionaries were compelled to take beggars from the street, or others as poor. These pupils were washed and shaved (their heads), clothed, and given bedding — so much, before they could be admitted to the school ; then they were given their food and books, with other articles necessary to their work. In fact the institution was on an abso- lutely free basis. This was not what the mis- sionaries wanted, but it appeared to be the only way in which a start could be made. Gradually a Christian constituency has grown up round the station. A better class of pupils has come to the schools. Ideas of self-help and independ- ence have been instilled by the missionary and received and adopted by the more adx'anced of the Chinese community. One by one the gifts of the mission have been withheld. Sometimes there has been some friction, but the missionary has always had the support of the leading Chinese 30 STIRRING FACTS Christians. Thus, one step at a time, and with much exhortation and persuasion, the spirit of independence has thrown until a year or more ago the Boys' High School had reached a posi- tion where nothing but the teachers' salaries came from the mission and the boys provided their own bedding, clothing, food, and incidentals. This development of financial strength has been shown in the conduct of primary schools as well as in the higher departments. When I took charge of my portion of the Chi Nan Fu field six years ago, the teacher's salary was paid in full by the mission ; part of the books were given to pupils ; and to each of those from vil- lages other than that in which the school was located, enough money was given to provide from one-half to three-fourths of his food. From this we have advanced within these three or four years past until now these incidental and board- ing expenses are carried by the pupils themselves, and in addition from one- third to three-fourths of the salary of the teacher is paid by the Chinese patrons of the school. This has come about with- out the slightest friction and has met the approval of part, at least, of those who have had to pay the money formerly given by the mission. In the older Christian communities many of the churches are entirely self-supporting, that is, they pay all their running expenses, including the salary of the Chinese pastor ; and many of the newly organized churches which are now more or less irregularly served by the foreign mission- ary, or by an unordaincd cx'angelist, are looking f )r\vard to tlic day when their strength will be sufficient to warrant the calling: of a settled STIRKING FACTS 3 1 native pastor. More than once has one of my elders exchiimcd that he wished his church were strong enough to have my entire time, that is, to call me to be the pastor of that individual church and to pay my salary. It is difficult to secure accurate and complete statistics of contributions from Chinese Chris- tians toward support of the Church ; but some idea of the progress along this line may be se- cured by a comparison of the results tabulated in'the statistical tables of the two Shanghai con- ferences of 1877 and 1890. In 1877 there were 312 organized churches in all China, and but 18 of these were self-supporting. This is a percent- age of 5.7. In 1890 the various societies at work in China reported 522 organized churches, 94 of which were independent of foreign support. This shows that over 18 per cent of the churches were self-supporting. From another point of view it appears that the increase in contributions was proportionally much greater than the increase in membership. In 1877 there were 13,025 mem- bers reported. In 1890, 37,287. This is an increase of 2.86 fold. On the other hand contributions grew during this period from $^271.^2 (1877) to $36,884.54 (1890), or 3.97 times. Hence, while the membership fell somewhat below a threefold increase, contri- butions lacked but little of a fourfold growth. There is every reason to think that the growth toward self-support has not fallen off during the ten years past. The Chinese Church as I know it is a witness- bearing Church. Not that every one of its mem- bers has risen to this privilege, but it is true that 32 STIRRING FACTS a very large proportion have. Shao Tei Heng was a sneak thief, and a Cliinese sneak thief the description of whose Httleness and meanness baf- fles me. He had run away from home at the age of fourteen and Uved as a beggar and thief until over forty, when he was suddenly and powerfully converted. One day long afterwards he met a teacher coming out of the dispensary whither he had gone for treatment of writer's cramp. The teacher was a heathen. Shao Tei Heng asked what was his trouble and told him he must pray to God if the medicine was to do any good. They prayed. The man was healed and he and his whole family thank God to-day for the ex-thief This same man has brought in eight or ten others. He was himself baptized about four years ago. Mrs. Ts'wei was an ignorant countrywoman. The evangelist told me she wished to be bap- tized. I examined her and, rather in doubt and with much hesitation, received her. I was afraid she had not rightly comprehended what faith in Jesus is. She seemed to receive a baptism from above, for she became a serious learner of hymns and portions of the gospels, and since that time has greatly helped her husband and brought seven or eight persons to a knowledge of Jesus. Traveling one afternoon in the northern part of my district, I found the road so heavy that I was obliged to step off the Chinese wheelbarrow in order to lighten it. Even then the mud clogged the wheel so that c\'er)' few rods the barrow man must stop to dig it clear. The sun was setting as we reached the village eight or nine miles from our destination, and we knew that to pro- STIRRING FACTS 33 ceed farther was impossible. There was no public inn. We had no friends or acquaintances. A kind-hearted farmer, who had an empty room, took pity on us and lodged us. After the even- ing meal the people of the village came in to smoke and talk. There may have been thirty or forty of them. We talked of the new religion, and they asked many questions regarding my native land and its customs. This discussion continued for two hours or more, and toward the end one of the men said, " Mr. P'ang Choa is a member of your church, is he not?" This was the name of a man whom I had but recently bap- tized, a member of a new Christian community out of which a church has since been organ- ized. I answered " Yes " to his question, though not without some misgivings that something might be wrong. The testimony which he pro- ceeded to give to the changed character of the man was very clear. He had known the new disciple for many years, and had known that he was a salt smuggler and a violent man. He said there was not the slightest doubt that he had renounced these ways. Mr. P'ang, before his conversion, was in constant danger of losing his head, since salt smuggling is a capital offense. He was notoriously unkind to his wife and negli- gent of his family. He was illiterate, and be- longed to the numerous class of landless — pro- prietors of their time only, which in China is barely sufficient to keep soul and body together. He was altogether the kind of man whom our critics, who leave the work of God's Spirit out of consideration, would declare " a rice Christian." The Spirit of God took hold of him, and he 3 34 STIRRING FACTS ceased to violate the laws of the land. Before it was generally known that he was a Christian, and just at the time when the struggle for honest living was hardest, a friend came and gave him a sum of money with which to buy illicit salt, and, refusing to believe that he had gone out of the business, insisted on leaving the money with him. Perhaps the surest proof of his changed heart was the new attitude toward his wife. He no longer abused her. On the contrary, when he had himself learned to read the Gospel of Matthew he taught her, and from him she learned to pray, and so their two sons and the daughter- in-law, with her children, believed and were bap- tized. Before Mr. P'ang had himself received baptism he had been living this Hfe for over two years, and in this time had learned to read Mat- thew's Gospel and had committed it to memory. He placed a small bean-oil lamp on two sticks driven into the soft wall of his adobe house, and at night, when unable to sleep, spent many hours reading and memorizing the book through which God's light had come into his soul. Nor is his a vain repetition of meaningless sounds as is so often the case when Chinese memorize their classics. He is now an elder iji the new church, and, with a companion, goes to neighboring vil- lages where there are inquirers and explains the truth to them. I said to him one day, about four years after his conversion: " I wish I could find you a place in which you could earn your li\'ing without working so hard." He replied that I need not worry about him ; that he was getting on all right, and that he had no complaint to make of the way in which the heavenly Father STIRRING FACTS 35 was caring for him. At this time the members of the family were eating but Httle more than chaff and bran. They bought the wheat and ground it at their handmill ; renewed their capi- tal by selling the bread which they made from the flour, and sustained life on the refuse of the milling process. Though so desperately poor, he has never shown any other spirit than that manifested by the answer to my question. He subscribed and paid toward the new church building a sum sufficient to provide himself with good food for three months. This man was one of the sixteen men who, with four women, were baptized May 30, 1897, after the unusually long probation of two and one-half years. These and forty others received later were constituted the " Harmony Church," on September 24, 1899. A building, combined church and school for which no mission funds were used, was dedicated June 19, 1898 — ^just about a year from the time of the first baptism. When the church was organized there were, besides the sixty members, ov^er eighty hopeful inquirers. Of the native Christians whom he met in India, Julian Hawthorne said : " Those that I saw are a remarkable and impressive body of men and women. I was always saying to my- self, ' They are like the people of the Bible.' " This might with equal truth be said of the Chi- nese Christians. Very many of them " are like the people of the Bible" in their simplicity, ear- nestness, and faith. To these the words of our Lord, which to many in lands nominally Chris- tian possess no vitalized meaning, appeal with the force of overwhelming certainty. How true this 36 STIRRING FACTS is appears from the following incident, which comes from Manchuria : " In one place a man was found unable to leave his bed, having been beaten nigh to death because he had followed the new faith, but he said to Mr. Douglass, ' Is it not enough for the disciple, pastor, that he be as his Master ?' One of this man's daughters came forward for baptism ; she was asked, ' What if you should have to suffer as your father ?' and her quick reply was, ' Has not our Lord said, " Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven" ? ' When converts are made of such stuff as this, it is no wonder that the kingdom advances." (Missionary Review of the World.) It was in the summer and early fall of 1899 that the Boxer troubles began in the persecution of Chinese Christians connected with the sta- tion of the American Board Mission at P'ang Chuang and a little later of our Chi Nan Fu country members. At that time no one supposed that before the year was gone and as a result of her vacillating and criminal policy, the Empress Dowager, with the virtually de- throned emperor and the court, would have fled the imperial city before the advancing arms of the despised " foreign devils." It is true that the missionaries urged upon the officials as a ground for prompt and vigorous suppression of the law- lessness, the fear that if not promptly dealt with the outbreak would assume the proportions of a serious and widespread rebellion. To this and other appeals a deaf ear was turned, and the true aim of the Governor of Shantung in his out- rageous encouragement of lawlessness appeared STIRRING FACTS 37 in the memorial in which he addressed the throne, saying that the " Boxer " movement was too strong to be put down, and would better be util- ized to drive out all foreigners. It is not intended to discuss here the vicious attitude of the Chinese officials, which was the immediate occasion of the fearful outbreak that has affected directly all the so-called civilized world. At the opening of the disturbance the attack was upon the Chris- tians living in the villages of northwestern Shantung. What these men and women were called upon to suffer may be judged when it is known that bands of men numbering from fifty to five hundred, armed with weapons of all sorts, came to their homes and stole everything. At first the temper of these mobs was less violent, and bodily injury seldom resulted except when resistance was offered. Clothing, bedding, grain, fuel, furniture, carts, animals, farming implements, ready money — everything, was taken. Some- times the deeds to property were demanded, and when secured were handed over to anyone who would pay for them. In other cases the owners were permitted to ransom their property with money borrowed from sympathizing neighbors, but many times the mob ended their work by setting fire to the buildings and leaving their victim with nothing but what he wore. As this outbreak has developed, the spirit of the rioters has grown more fierce, and since their cause has received the support of the Chinese government, many of the Christians have been killed — how many we do not as yet know. But through these fearful struggles the great body of believers has stood firm, and these Chinese saints have testified 38 Stirring facts to the genuineness of their profession even at the cost of their hves. One man, Mr. Chang, whom I baptized about two years ago and who is one of the wealth- iest men in the church, after seeing his house looted and partly burned and his grain and fuel carried away, was himself tied to a tree and threat- ened with instant death unless he forsook the Christian religion. The " Great Knife " was held above his head, but he answered his tormentors : " If you kill me I shall believe in Jesus, and if you let me go I shall still believe in him." I have not received details as to how God turned aside the evil purposes of his enemies, but he was saved. It was my privilege to baptize that man and to do something in instructing him in the way of life. I pray that I may be as faithful. I might go on indefinitely telling of such men and women. They are glorifying God by bear- ing fruit. They are treading to-day the same path of obloquy and scorn and suffering which the God-man trod nineteen hundred years ago. God grant that they put us not to shame in that great day when all nations shall stand before the glorified King ! An open door of wondrous privilege is before us. From the ashes of this great conflagration will arise, even more vigorous, a purified Church, whose dependence shall be wholly upon God, The travail of soul of missionary and Chinese Christian will not be in vain, and after these agonizing throes are past we may hope to see the new and regenerated China. Another has said : " What Christianity has done for us it will do for the Chinese, and under conditions far more STIRRING FACTS 39 favorable, by reason of the high vitalizatlon of the age in which we live, its unfettered communi- cation and the rapid transfusion of intellectual and spiritual forces. The forecast of results like these is no longer the iridescent dream it once api^eared. It is sober history rationally inter- preted." To each of us it is given to have a part in this great work. He who prays and gives, whose soul is consumed with zeal for the con- version of all for whom Christ died, and who is willing to suffer w'ith him that men may live, is a true soldier of Jesus Christ and fellow-worker with his saints. Each of us may stand at the bedside of the sick and suffering in heathen lands and bring relief of body and soul to thousands of God's sinning children. It were enough if only our own sins were forgiven ; but who shall measure the love and mercy of the Saviour who raises those but just forgiven to the position of ambassadors — of fellow-workers with himself for the salvation of others ? He offers this wonder- ful privilege to each, and he w411 pay not a paltry five per cent but infinite interest on the spiritual capital which we may bring to his service. In the name of the Saviour who died for all, in the name of sin-ridden, suffering humanity which God loves, I call upon each of you to rise to a higher, more complete consecration, to consider his stewardship, to accept the honor which God waits to bestow, and to become from this hour forth more fully than e\'er before coworkers with Jesus for the salvation of all men. fiord ' PAM PHLET BINDER ■. Syracuse, N. Y. Stockton, Calif. BW8240 .D25 "Stirring facts, an address on China. m m mm m am m ;^ y^