: - Xhe 
 
 Present Situation in China 
 
 and 
 
 Its Significance for 
 Christian Missions 
 
 ISSUED BY THE 
 
 COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AND COUNSEL 
 FOREIGN MISSIONS CONFERENCE OF N. A. 
 25 MADISON AVENUE, :: NEW YORK, N. Y. 
 
Men Ought Always to Pray 
 
 The Christian cannot fail to see that God is expressing Himself 
 in the spiritual re-creation taking place in China. Inevitably this is a 
 matter of deepest concern, for it is indissolubly connected with the 
 growth and development of His Kingdom on earth. 
 
 By throwing the whole power of their prayer and spiritual vigor 
 into the balance Christians can help to make the impact of truth and 
 righteousness invincible. They are faced with an opportunity without 
 precedent in modern times and almost incomprehensible in its im- 
 mensity. Conflicting idealisms, misconceptions, lack of sensitiveness, 
 may irreparably delay or set back the flowering of Christ’s spirit in 
 the mind and heart of new China. 
 
 For these reasons the following are suggested as coming within 
 the realm of prayer needed at this time : 
 
 1 . That those who are leading Chinese thought may be actuated by 
 unselfish motives, by pure purposes, directed by Divine wisdom, and 
 empowered by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 2. That missionaries may be given the discernment of the great 
 love to penetrate “accidentals,” finding God’s grace underlying and 
 having the supremest consciousness of His undergirding presence, and 
 confidence in His ability. 
 
 3. That evilly disposed persons may be effectually hindered from 
 interfering with the legitimate expression and growth of those forces 
 and ideas which directly result from the activity of the spirit of truth. 
 
 4. That all Christians may be rendered extremely sensitive to the 
 vastness, the intricacy, the dangers, and the wondrous potency of the 
 upheaval and unrest now manifest in the world as related to the exten- 
 sion of God’s Kingdom. 
 
 5. That God’s spirit may not be fettered in the slightest degree but 
 that because of energies now released His Kingdom might break forth 
 in the world in unmeasured richness and power and with a glory never 
 before imagined. 
 
 China. No man can gauge her possibilities for affecting the future 
 of the human race. To bring her in to the fold of endeavor and thus 
 to link her up with all those who love God supremely is a task of 
 unequalled magnitude. It challenges the utmost of faith. By joining 
 forces now with God in a renewed devotion and consecration we can 
 bring to pass a revolution of the spirit that shall overwhelm the forces 
 of evil and go far toward the establishment of God’s Kingdom in this 
 generation. 
 
 Let us PRAY. 
 
A CHANGING CHINA 
 
 The events of the last six months in China have attracted the 
 attention of the world. Everyone has so long thought of China as the 
 “sleeping giant” that it was with a start of surprise they found this 
 ancient country claiming space on the front pages of the newspapers. 
 As the situation has developed and people have come to comprehend a 
 little more clearly what the disturbances are and what the Chinese are 
 demanding, different groups have been asking themselves how this 
 would affect their interests in China. Various interests have looked 
 with real alarm at the new and seemingly sudden developments. Some 
 commercial men have been quick to see peril for their business if diplo- 
 matic authorities should feel obliged to make terms with the Chinese 
 representatives. Others have been equally ready to recognize the 
 value of good will and generous acceptance of the Chinese point of 
 view. 
 
 Not the least among the interests in China are the Christian forces. 
 They have gone to China not for purposes of exploitation but in order 
 to help the people and in their activities they have built up a Chris- 
 tian investment in China. Christians are not behind others in trying 
 to pierce the unknown elements of the situation and see how it affects 
 them. This little booklet is an effort to set forth in clear and straight- 
 forward terms how China’s new day may influence the future of the 
 Christian movement. 
 
 A study of this sort is the more important when we recall that 
 the Chinese people comprise one quarter of the total population of the 
 world, that they have had a continuous existence as a nation for 
 longer than 4,000 years, and that the country also contains vast 
 mineral and other natural resources awaiting development and im- 
 provement. Here then are the elements for mighty progress — ^the 
 human resources in man-power, the vast material resources in the raw 
 state, and the spiritual heritage of thousands of years. All that is 
 lacking is the spark of self-consciousness for the “giant” to arise and 
 set in motion forces that can shake the world. The awakening of 
 this self-consciousness is going forward rapidly as recent events have 
 witnessed. 
 
 China is beginning to wonder to-day whether Western nations are 
 prepared to concede her rights or whether she will have to fight for 
 them. Must she, despite her age-long pacific temper, adopt militarism 
 in order to get back from those who hold her in bondage the freedom 
 she is entitled to? It is a most serious question not only for China 
 but for the rest of the world. 
 
 The Chinese people are essentially eirenic in disposition and they 
 
 3 
 
are not at all eager to become slaves to militarism in order to throw 
 off the shackles of the more galling bondage to Westerners. But 
 they are seriously roused and apparently resolved to have freedom 
 from Western domination at any cost. The picture of this tre- 
 mendous nation building up a huge military machine should cause every 
 Christian to give serious consideration to means of preventing it. 
 
 On the other hand the genius of the Chinese people is friendly, 
 peaceful and thrifty. With their tremendous human and natural re- 
 sources they can be of immense benefit to the family of nations. There 
 is no question that China constitutes one of the largest potential markets 
 in the world to-day for manufactured goods from other countries. 
 
 The spiritual processes of such a people are marvelous in their 
 variety and richness. It is well within the range of conceivability 
 that they should contribute most effectively toward the solution of 
 those problems of international relationships that so frequently produce 
 war. 
 
 We believe that the most noble course the Western world can 
 follow to-day is the safest. Westerners should unstintingly give of 
 their best to China instead of demanding the most from China. 
 
 The Christian enterprise has always stood for these highest ideals 
 of brotherhood and justice for all people. They should stand as a unit 
 to-day in the effort to uphold those principles which alone can secure 
 to China freedom from the yoke of foreign bondage and an oppor- 
 tunity so to develop as to contribute not only to her own upbuilding 
 but to the greater sense of solidarity of all mankind. Half-way meas- 
 ures will be provocative of greater ills. Let the Christian movement 
 in China face the future without the handicap of our Western psy- 
 chology and interference. 
 
 The modern missionary enterprise in China dates from 1807 
 when Robert Morrison landed at Canton in South China. In the early 
 years of his stay he was able to remain in the country only by living 
 disguised as a Chinese. So great were the difficulties encountered in 
 proclaiming Christianity that at the end of his life he could count only 
 a handful of those who had accepted his message of truth. After 
 thirty years of effort one of the earliest missionaries by the greatest 
 exercise of faith, predicted that at the end of a hundred years there 
 would probably be a thousand Christians in China. These early mes- 
 sengers of the Cross were face to face with a different civilization. 
 The Chinese values of life were most difficult to understand and their 
 cultural qualities were far removed from the missionaries’ apprecia- 
 tion. 
 
 It is now only a few years more than a century, yet the Christian 
 enterprise has grown far beyond the vision of its pioneers. Just a few 
 statistics will help us in gaining some idea of its importance. 
 
 There are approximately 8,000 missionaries in China. Associated 
 with them in Christian work are about 27,000 Chinese. There are be- 
 tween five and six thousand organized churches, having about 550,000 
 baptized members. 
 
 4 
 
The property owned for Christian purposes is valued at many 
 millions of dollars. No one has ever been able accurately to appraise 
 its value. If you will, stop for a moment and try to visualize some 
 of the material manifestations of the spread of Christianity. There 
 are the church buildings, scattered in the many cities and towns. There 
 are the residences in which the missionaries live. Throughout China 
 are a large number of hospitals and orphanages erected by mission- 
 aries. The schools and colleges which have grown up constitute a 
 monument to Christianity in almost numberless communities. There 
 are printing presses and publishing houses that add their share to the 
 material side of the Christian investment in China. There are prob- 
 ably not far from 300,000 students in Christian schools in China to-day. 
 
 But we must not put our trust in figures. A mere enumeration of 
 statistics cannot in any sense measure the quality of the investment 
 of Christian missions in China. If it requires imagination for us to 
 picture the material structures which Christianity has built up how 
 much more must we give it play when we seek to visualize the spiritual 
 side of Christianity’s accomplishment in that great country ! 
 
 The missionary has gone to place his life alongside the lives of 
 a great people. Together with the Chinese who are engaged with the 
 missionaries in Christian work there are 35,000 people actively em- 
 ployed in proclaiming the kingdom of Heaven throughout China. They 
 are spreading a gospel of good will. They are living in the most inti- 
 mate contact with the daily concerns of the Chinese people. They 
 are striving by preaching and teaching, by healing and helping, to win 
 them to friendship with Jesus Christ. Nor must we overlook the lives 
 of the more than half million Christians that are focal points of the 
 contagion of righteousness. 
 
 The result is beyond calculation. The latent spiritual perception 
 of this great nation is being awakened — a conscience aroused — an ideal- 
 ism brought to life. Evidences are not lacking that in China the 
 kingdom of God is beginning to be a reality. 
 
 The Christian investment in China affects the whole destiny of 
 the Chinese people. This is a day when contacts with Western nations 
 are causing Chinese young people to cast aside many of the most 
 sacred traditions and time-honored usages of their society. All the 
 strength and power of the Christian leaven is needed to help guide 
 the nation to dependence on the highest moral ideals. All the help of 
 Christian people is needed to keep the face of this new and changing 
 China toward the light of Christ. 
 
 Christians have scattered the seed of the Gospel. It is growing 
 up to a fruitage fraught with tremendous consequences. No one to-day 
 can destroy the Christian investment in China. It is too firmly estab- 
 lished — too securely placed. It might be possible to restrict its growth 
 or to hinder its natural development, but it is too firmly planted to 
 permit of its being eradicated. Our problem is to discover how Chris- 
 tian people in this country can most effectively contribute to the ad- 
 vancement and building up of this great work in China. 
 
 5 
 
THE PRESENT SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 Such full accounts of the recent disturbances in China have ap- 
 peared in the newspapers that a complete rehearsal of them here is 
 unnecessary. We shall therefore, mention only the main points in 
 outline and thus lead up to the matters of critical importance. 
 
 Labor difficulties in Shanghai during the spring of 1925 occurring 
 in some of the foreign-owned cotton mills offered an opportunity for 
 certain college students interested in social welfare work to take a 
 hand. In a dispute which took place in one of the Japanese cotton 
 mills a Chinese worker was shot by a Japanese overseer. A large 
 memorial service for this worker was led by the students. This meet- 
 ing was broken up by the police, who arrested six students on the 
 charge of making speeches which tended to disturb the peace. 
 
 On May 30 a number of groups of students appeared in Nanking 
 Road to protest against the detention of their comrades in jail. A little 
 later a crowd had gathered in front of the jail and appeared to the 
 police so threatening that they opened fire after the crowd had been 
 ordered to disperse without success. Four Chinese were killed outright 
 and five others died later. There seems to be general agreement that 
 the crowd was not armed. 
 
 The immediate result of this shooting was a great uproar that 
 spread throughout China. Disturbances occurred in other places, and 
 in Hankow and Canton both, shootings occurred which resulted in 
 loss of life. Demonstrations were carried out against the foreigners 
 with particular venom displayed against the British and the Japanese. 
 Strikes were called in various places. In Shanghai they were so gen- 
 eral that the public services had to be manned by foreigners. Marines 
 were landed and a state approaching war existed for several weeks. 
 In Canton the foreigners were all obliged to leave the city and remove 
 to Hongkong, so dangerous did the situation appear. 
 
 Feeling ran so high and the accounts of events varied so greatly 
 that there arose a very general demand that an impartial investigation 
 be conducted to determine the facts and the responsibility in the 
 Shanghai affair. A diplomatic commission was sent to Shanghai from 
 Peking but its findings were never made public. This produced a 
 very bad impression among the Chinese and hindered the efforts to 
 restore a normal situation. It is now reported that a judicial investi- 
 gation is under way which it is hoped will make it possible to fix the 
 responsibility where it belongs. 
 
 Causes of the Disturbances 
 
 According to the attitude of the individual various causes have 
 been assigned for these troubles. Prominent among these have been 
 the labor difficulties. Many of the mills in ShangW are owned by 
 
 6 
 
foreigners. Working conditions in these mills are admittedly bad. 
 Those responsible for the mills claim they are much better than Chinese- 
 owned mills. Some college students have been trying to improve the 
 situation. The incident of the shooting of the workman with the 
 consequent imprisonment and shooting of students and other Chinese 
 by foreigners was undoubtedly the match that set off the explosion. 
 
 Another cause that has been given much publicity is Bolshevism. 
 There is no question that there has been a great deal of communist 
 propaganda going on in- China financed from Moscow. Literature 
 has been seized, schools have been closed and a great hue and cry have 
 been raised. In Canton this influence is much stronger than elsewhere. 
 Evidently these agents have gained a foothold among the revolutionary 
 elements of South China. It would be wrong to ascribe too much of 
 the commotion to this cause, however. There can be little doubt that 
 the Bolshevist agents made use of a situation and probably contributed 
 to its more violent manifestations, but that they are in any large sense 
 responsible is doubtful. 
 
 Another cause has been given as the general attitude of foreigners 
 in China toward the Chinese. In this connection the list of grievances 
 which the Chinese adduce is a long one running back through the 
 years. The foreigner has intruded himself on China, setting up regu- 
 lations and conducting business in a manner that gives little or no 
 consideration for the Chinese point of view. All this is in spite of 
 the fact that the Chinese feel that the country belongs to them and that 
 all foreigners are interlopers. Some of the grievances appear in the 
 list of thirteen demands which we shall presently consider. 
 
 But under all the surface causes, far more deep-seated, and the 
 real wellspring of the present situation, is the developing self-con- 
 sciousness of the Chinese people. This is sometimes styled nationalism 
 The mission and government schools, the increasing contacts with the 
 western world, the rebuffs which China has suffered at the hands of 
 other nations, have all had their effect in bringing about the present 
 mind of China. The reverse side of this has been their own realiza- 
 tion of shortcomings at home, the lack of any stable government, the 
 bandits, and the military chieftains. These things have been rather 
 gloatingly pointed out to China by western powers along with much 
 free advice of an unpalatable nature. So that there has grown up a 
 sort of hopeless fury at the seemingly unbreakable coils of surround- 
 ing circumstances. There has been growing through recent years a 
 restless idealism looking for some way to express itself. And then 
 the shooting occurred and the fire was in the powder ! 
 
 Influence of Christian Students 
 
 Because these demonstrations have been so largely sponsored by 
 the student groups in China whose enthusiasm for reform has some- 
 times led them to excesses of behavior it is of importance that we note 
 the part which the Christian students have been able to play. In the 
 report of the student demonstrations in Peking contained in the Man- 
 
 7 
 
Chester Guardian Weekly of June 19, 1925, this statement is made: 
 “Thirty thousand students and workers paraded past the Legation 
 quarter shouting denunciations of the British and Japanese, flying 
 innumerable banners. . . . The demonstrators preserved excellent 
 order, due to the restraining influence of the Christian students who 
 captured control of the movement on Sunday and by means of numer- 
 ous marshals kept Monday’s crowds constantly on the move.” It is 
 probable that Christian students were not so successful in some other 
 centers in directing the activities of the demonstrators and keeping 
 them within peaceful channels but they were able to render splendid 
 service at many points. 
 
 Chinese Public Opinion 
 
 Before considering the Chinese demands in detail, it is necessary 
 to point out that behind the present patriotic movement stands the 
 united opinion of the Chinese people, both north and south. Dr. J. 
 Leighton Stuart, President of Yenching University, Peking, China, 
 declares : 
 
 “In attempting to interpret the relationship of America to the present situa- 
 tion in China as seen by one who has quite recently come from there, the first 
 and indeed the one all-important fact to which I would call attention is that 
 the present real government of China is public opinion. 
 
 “The Provincial Government now functioning in Peking merely puts official 
 sanction upon the popular voice. Those men could not stay in office if they 
 failed to express and to endorse the will of the people, and, as a matter of fact, 
 they are all in the heartiest sympathy with it. Never before in their long history 
 have the Chinese people been so unanimous, so well informed, and so deeply 
 stirred as they are now over this issue of their sovereign rights in relation to 
 other countries. The phenomenon of a vast populace which, for the last four- 
 teen years, since the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty, has been notoriously 
 distracted by factional differences, now unified at least so far as concerns their 
 demand for the revision of unequal treaties, is one of surpassing significance. 
 
 “The Chinese people, without exception, so far as I have observed, are at 
 one in this sentiment. The students, held largely responsible, are merely the 
 most highly sensitized part of the population. This nationalistic self-conscious- 
 ness has been slowly forming for many years, more recently with amazing 
 celerity; but it formed into a ferment of vivid and violent energy immediately 
 on hearing of the shooting affray in Shanghai on May 30th. It has become 
 highly organized and is quite articulate. It is a striking instance of real democ- 
 racy, this sheer, unmitigated rule of the whole people on a living issue, with 
 all the idealism and all the dangers of such a situation.” 
 
 So far as Christians are concerned. Rev. Ralph A. Ward, D.D., 
 a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, writing from Peking, 
 says : 
 
 “The non-Chinese Christian is impressed by the fact that the issues recently 
 come to focus in China have united all Christian Chinese with every non- 
 Christian Chinese who is in protest against the existing order of international 
 relationships, whatever differences of judgment there may be as to methods for 
 changing that order. Neither I nor any of the many foreigners whom I have 
 asked have found a single exception to this unanimity. 
 
 “In other periods, on other international issues where China was affected, 
 there have been radical differences of opinion among leading Christian Chinese. 
 
 8 
 
Not so to-day. A Christian of whatever race who seeks to understand the 
 present situation does well to note this unity.” 
 
 What the Chinese Demand* 
 
 This united opinion in China stands behind thirteen demands 
 issued by the government and later supplemented by a fourteenth de- 
 mand. These demands were originally framed by the Chinese Chamber 
 of Commerce in Shanghai, the most influential business group in 
 China, were endorsed by labor and educational and student groups 
 of Chinese and later accepted as the basis for government action. 
 These thirteen demands may be grouped for convenience in two sec- 
 tions. The first, covering seven points, deals directly with the shoot- 
 ing of May 30, and calls for apology, compensation, punishment of 
 offenders, release of Chinese arrested, reinstatement of strikers and 
 betterment of labor conditions. The second deals with general ques- 
 tions long a source of friction, which, according to the Chinese, were 
 the underlying causes of the Shanghai affair. These demands, six in 
 number, include revision of the Mixed Court, municipal franchise for 
 Chinese ratepayers in the Foreign Settlement, freedom of speech and 
 the press, and withdrawal of several proposed municipal, Shanghai 
 Settlement, statutes. 
 
 Fundamentally, however, all of the Chinese demands are concen- 
 trated into the fourteenth point in this list which calls for a revision 
 of the so-called unequal treaties. In particular this refers to the 
 problem of extraterritoriality and that of customs control. 
 
 Extraterritorialityf 
 
 According to Charles Sumner Lobingier, former Judge of the 
 United States Court in Shanghai : “Extraterritoriality, or more 
 properly ‘extraterritorial jurisdiction,’ is a system under which a sov- 
 ereign Power retains full control of its nationals in territory outside of 
 its own. This necessarily excludes the exercise of control over the 
 same national by the sovereign Power of the territory in which he is 
 located. In other words the national remains under his own laws and 
 institutions instead of becoming amenable to those of the locality.” 
 (China Mission Year Book, 1924.) 
 
 Thus an American citizen in any part of China who in any way 
 infringes the law, civil or criminal, cannot be haled before a Chinese 
 court but must be tried before a tribunal set up by the United States. 
 This, of course, means that the United States assumes full obligation 
 for the conduct of its nationals in China. 
 
 Twenty-two nations have made treaties with China. Germany and 
 Austria lost the rights of extraterritorial jurisdiction when China de- 
 clared war in 1917. Russia renounced these rights in 1924. The 
 treaties made by Bolivia and Persia in 1919 and 1920 also renounced 
 
 *See Appendix I. 
 
 fSee Appendices II, III, IV, V, VI, VIII. 
 
 9 
 
these rights. The nationals of the other seventeen "treaty Powers” 
 have these privileges of extraterritoriality. At the present time of the 
 123,223 Westerners in China, 34,878 have extraterritorial privileges and 
 88,345, including both Germans and Russians, do not have such rights. 
 Extraterritoriality applies, also, to Japanese in China, who number 
 201,704. (The Statesman’s Year Book, 1925.) 
 
 Consular Courts 
 
 Foreigners who have extraterritorial rights in China and who are 
 charged with violation of the law are tried in the Consular Courts of 
 their own government. Thus the American consuls in China and 
 the American minister in Peking are empowered to try all American 
 citizens "charged with offenses against the law and to issue all the 
 necessary writs and processes.” (W. W. Willoughby, “Foreign Rights 
 and Interests in China.”) 
 
 In view of the fact that most of the American Consular officials, 
 called upon to act in this judicial capacity, were not trained in the law 
 there was considerable diversity in the method of handling cases. As a 
 result, in 1906, the American Congress created a United States Court 
 for China to which are transferred all cases of major importance. 
 This Court, with a Judge and a District Attorney appointed by the 
 President of the United States, was located in Shanghai. The British 
 government also maintains a Court in Shanghai. 
 
 Mixed Courts 
 
 In accordance with the principle that the foreign authorities in 
 the international settlements do not have jurisdiction over Chinese 
 citizens, “Mixed Courts” have been established in Shanghai and Amoy 
 and in the French Concession in Shanghai. These courts deal with all 
 cases arising in the settlement in which a Chinese is a defendant and a 
 foreigner the plaintiff, and with cases of violation by a Chinese of muni- 
 cipal regulations. Cases of foreigners not having extraterritorial rights 
 also come before these courts. All cases in which other foreigners are 
 the defendants are tried in the consular courts. In these Mixed Courts 
 the magistrate is appointed by the Chinese government and foreign 
 assessors represent the consular authorities. These assessors can make 
 statements, examine witnesses, and generally see that foreign inter- 
 ests are given adequate and fair consideration, but they do not share in 
 the judgments of the court. The laws which are administered are 
 the Chinese codes and the municipal legislation. Appeals from these 
 Courts are made to the Chinese Courts. 
 
 When the revolution occurred and the Chinese government was 
 overthrown in 1911, the Mixed Courts were taken over by the Con- 
 sular Bodies in Shanghai and Amoy who reappointed the magistrates 
 then in office in order to maintain the courts ; when the Republic was 
 recognized by the Western Powers, the government of China re- 
 quested that these Mixed Courts be returned to its jurisdiction. In due 
 time, this was done in Amoy, but the request was not acceded to in 
 
 10 
 
Shanghai, where it has been a matter of controversy for more than 
 ten years. Under the existing status of the Court in Shanghai, there 
 is no appeal from its decisions to any other tribunal. Moreover, the 
 foreign authorities in that court still continue to exercise jurisdiction 
 over Chinese citizens, as the Chinese magistrate continues to be the 
 appointee of the foreign consuls. 
 
 Treaty Ports 
 
 Treaty Ports are those cities in which, by international agreement 
 with China, foreigners are permitted to reside and carry on business. 
 There are, at present, 49 of these ports. Only missionaries are allowed 
 to reside and carry on work outside these cities, and foreigners — not 
 missionaries — are allowed to travel in the interior only when provided 
 with passports authorizing them to do so. Since the treaties of 1858 
 and i860 missionaries are permitted to travel and reside and acquire 
 property for missionary work anywhere in China. Most of them live 
 outside the treaty ports. 
 
 Customs Autonomy 
 
 A further fundamental demand of the Chinese relates to the re- 
 storation of customs autonomy to China. 
 
 China’s import and export tariffs are determined by its treaties 
 with foreign Powers. This system was established by the treaties of 
 1842-44, which were negotiated for the purpose of abolishing the exac- 
 tions and other obstacles to foreign trade previously practiced by the 
 Chinese authorities. The treaties limit the tariff to five per cent ad 
 valorem. The new treaty, negotiated at the Washington Conference, 
 and finally ratified in July, 1925, provides for a modification of these 
 duties. It is to bring about this modification that the present confer- 
 ence is convened. 
 
 The Customs Service, which collects the duties and administers 
 other regulations in connection with import and export trade in the 
 open ports, maintaining lighthouses and other aids to navigation, etc., is 
 entirely under the Chinese Government, which employs foreigners of 
 all nationalities as well as its own citizens in this work. The only 
 restriction upon the Chinese Government in the control of this service 
 is the provision that the Inspector General is always to be a British 
 subject so long as the British share in the import and export trade of 
 China is larger than that of any other nation. 
 
 The Customs Revenues are paid over to the Chinese Government, 
 which has, however, given almost all of it as security for the payment 
 of interest on its foreign loans, since the first of these foreign loans^ 
 was negotiated after the China-Japan war in 1894. 
 
 Status of Missionaries 
 
 The status of missionaries in China is set forth by Rev. A. L. 
 Warnshuis, Secretary of the International Missionary Council, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 II 
 
“The first missionary of the Protestant Churches to go to China arrived 
 in 1807. Up to 1842, the position of both the Protestant and Roman Catholic 
 missionaries was contrary to the laws of China, which prohibited all foreigners 
 from residing in the country, and permitted the traders to visit Canton only 
 during the trading season each year. At the end of each trading season, the 
 foreigners were compelled to retire to Macao. The first Protestant mission- 
 aries went to Canton as in the employ of the trading houses. 
 
 “By the treaties of 1842 and 1844, five ports were opened for foreign resi- 
 dence. The missionaries, like other foreigners, could reside in the open ports, 
 and were permitted to erect churches there, but there was no stipulation giving 
 them any liberty to seek converts, and they had no legal right to reside or even 
 to travel in the interior, or to purchase property there. 
 
 “However, when the treaties were revised in 1858-60, each of these con- 
 tained a guarantee of toleration for Christianity, and a promise of protection 
 in the exercise of their faith not only to missionaries but also either explicitly 
 or by implication to Chinese Christians. The Russian minister was the first 
 to formulate such an article on religious toleration, by which the Chinese govern- 
 ment agreed ‘not to persecute its Christian subjects for the exercise of the 
 duties of their religion,’ and to give permission to a fixed number of mission- 
 aries to travel in the interior to propagate their faith. In the negotiation of 
 the American treaty of 1858, an article on Christianity was inserted as a result 
 of the persistent efforts of the interpreters, S. Wells Williams and W. A. P. 
 Martin, both of whom were missionaries. This article reads as follows : 
 
 “Article XXIX. — The principles of the Christian religion, as professed by 
 the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, are recognized as teaching men 
 to do good, and to do to others as they would have others do to them. Here- 
 after, those who quietly profess and teach these doctrines shall not be harassed 
 or persecuted on account of their faith. Any person, whether citizen of the 
 United States or Chinese convert, who according to these tenets peaceably 
 teaches and practices the principles of Christianity, shall in no case be inter- 
 fered with or molested. . . . 
 
 “The advantages and disadvantages of these toleration clauses have been 
 debated by missionaries from the time of their first enactment. Among the 
 advantages claimed, it is pointed out that these clauses have made possible most 
 of the missionary activity of the Christian Church in the interior in China from 
 1858 to this day. To the missionaries was given the right to preach through- 
 out the empire, and the protection of law for their lives and property. While 
 Christianity does not depend upon treaties and political power for its propaga- 
 tion, these articles prevented the government of China from becoming a per- 
 secuting agency. The weak and inexperienced churches were spared the ordeal 
 of persecution and were sheltered until time had been given for their growth 
 in numbers, influence, and intelligent comprehension, and in faith and courage. 
 On the other hand, the very serious disadvantage that arose out of the placing 
 of Chinese Christians under the protection of foreign powers must be recog- 
 nized. To be sure, it was only as protectors of the faith of the converts that a 
 foreign power could legally intervene, but in practice the result was to separate 
 the Chinese Christians from the mass of their fellow countrymen, and to make 
 of them an enclave under the defense of aliens. So much was this the case, that 
 until comparatively recent years the Chinese authorities unwisely but persistently 
 made a sharp distinction in the terms used to describe Christian and other 
 Chinese subjects. Moreover, because of this protection, there were brought into 
 the churches those with unworthy motives who feigned conversion. These 
 clauses were a serious blow to the prestige and sovereignty of the Chinese State, 
 as they practically removed Chinese Christians from its jurisdiction. Under 
 them the missionary came as part of the aggressive West, depending on agree- 
 ments wrested from the Chinese government by war. His message, accordingly, 
 could not but be compromised and often was misunderstood. By no means 
 every missionary or every Chinese Christian invoked their defense, and so far 
 
 12 
 
as the Christians are concerned these clauses in practice have become almost a 
 dead letter. Moreover, through faithful and consistent living, both missionaries 
 and Chinese Christians have overcome many of the disadvantages of these 
 treaties and have witnessed to the coming of what a multitude of Chinese have 
 acknowledged to be a new spiritual and religious power into the ancient Middle 
 Kingdom.” 
 
 The Missionary Point of View* 
 
 There is, of course, a wide divergence in the point of view of 
 various groups of missionaries in China in regard to the present situa- 
 tion. A small group stands with the opinion represented by a mission- 
 ary from Hangchow who recently declared: 
 
 “We hope the Powers will now come forward and give China, not a good 
 scolding, but good, sound, healthy advice and help her by taking her by the 
 hand and lifting her up to her own, and bringing her in line with other civil- 
 ized nations of the world.” He adds, “I do not approve of missionaries dab-, 
 bling in politics.” 
 
 • This same group, doubtless, would stand with a prominent mis- 
 sionary who is reported to have said: 
 
 “What hinders the Chinese people from unification, from being 
 recognized as equals, is not lack of ability — for that they have — it is 
 lack of common honesty. These people have not learned to say no. 
 They cannot tell the truth as they ought to tell it, and cannot handle 
 other people’s money without putting it into their own pockets. . . 
 
 The vast majority of missionaries, however, are believed to stand 
 for an attitude more sympathetic toward the demands of the Chinese. 
 This position is illustrated in a number of significant statements. One 
 of them, printed herewith, was addressed to Secretary Kellogg and 
 signed, among others, by Bishop Lauress J. Birney of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church: 
 
 “But, on the other hand, there is at the present time a widespread and 
 almost unanimous feeling of protest against the unfairness in existing treaties, 
 including those with America. This has accelerated the national movement, 
 which is fundamentally not anti-foreign, but which may become a menace to 
 world peace. 
 
 “With these experiences and reflections in mind, we greet with profound 
 satisfaction and relief the report that our Government contemplates calling a 
 conference of powers to consider the retrocession of extraterritoriality. We 
 approve the conditions suggested in the press reports, the ‘codification of 
 China’s criminal and civil laws,’ the ‘establishment of a responsible Chinese 
 judiciary,’ and the ‘acceptance by Chinese factions of the responsibility of the 
 Chinese Central Government,’ because they will provide necessary safeguards 
 and involve no infringement of Chinese sovereignty. We feel that the risks 
 involved will be far outweighed by the resultant advantages in faith and 
 good-will. 
 
 “We also feel that the control of its own tariff, internal revenue, and terri- 
 tory is essential to the sovereignty of any nation, and since the nations assem- 
 bled at Washington promised to respect the sovereignty of China, it is impera- 
 tive that these promises now be kept. We feel that a conciliatory attitude is a 
 sign of strength, and we believe the time has come when the unfair treaties 
 now binding China should be revised. 
 
 *See Appendix VII. 
 
 13 
 
“We therefore hope that the forthcoming conference will deal not only 
 with extraterritoriality but will widen its scope to include the revision of 
 treaties so that all discriminations against the Chinese, as a nation and as a 
 people — extraterritoriality, foreign concessions, and foreign control of the 
 Chinese tariff and internal revenue — shall be abolished as soon as reasonably 
 possible. 
 
 “(Signed) W. E. Schubert, Chairman; 
 
 Paul G. Hayes, Secretary; 
 
 L. J. Bieney, Bishop ; 
 and fifty-two others.” 
 
 Another such statement, more positive, perhaps, follows : 
 
 “We, the undersigned, wish to state publicly that in harmony with the prac- 
 tice of many missionaries and of some missions in the past, we earnestly desire 
 that no foreign military force be exerted to protect us or our property, that 
 under no circumstances should punitive expeditions be sent out in our behalf, 
 and that no indemnities be exacted on our account. 
 
 “We wish to make it clear that we have no authority to speak for our 
 missions and sign simply in our individual capacities. At the same time we hold 
 that this position is necessarily involved in the true idea of missionary work and 
 so far as our mission boards have not yet accepted it we wish to work to this end. 
 
 “We do not intend, by this statement, to disavow our citizenship, but we do 
 propose to use such influence as we have to persuade our governments to recog- 
 nize our right to take this stand, and, without prejudice to those who cannot 
 take it, to refrain from any action contrary thereto.” 
 
 That some missionary administrators are prepared to act upon 
 the basis of convictions expressed above is apparent from the follow- 
 ing statement of Rev. Ralph E. Diffendorfer, Secretary of The Board 
 of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Qturch, made at the 
 Conference on American Relations with China: 
 
 After outlining the vast interests of the missionary enterprise in 
 China, Doctor Diffendorfer said that all of the advices received from 
 China in recent months from experienced missionary leaders indicate 
 that we have an entirely new situation to deal with, one that we have 
 never faced before in China, a situation which makes it impossible any 
 longer for us to evade the main issue, the fundamental attitude of the 
 Treaty Powers toward the sovereignty and integrity of China. After 
 considering all that is involved, he said that he would recommend to 
 the Board of Foreign Missions that the Board should declare itself in 
 favor of relinquishing the toleration clauses of China’s treaties with 
 the Powers which accord special privileges to missionaries as mis- 
 sionaries, and to support the United States Government in vigorous 
 leadership for the abolition of extraterritoriality at the earliest pos- 
 sible date. Doctor Diffendorfer also said that henceforth all mission- 
 aries who had been sent out to China under the old conditions, “who 
 cannot live among the people for whom they are messengers of good 
 will and love, under the new conditions in China, should be permitted to 
 return to the United States.” 
 
 The Challenge to Missions 
 
 The challenge of the present situation in China is not essentially 
 
dif¥erent from what it has always been. There is perhaps a difference 
 in the form in which it comes to us, or it may be that it is colored 
 by a little different light, but there is no change in the substance. There 
 is an undiminished opportunity to proclaim the righteousness of the 
 kingdom of God, and there are still hundreds of millions who have 
 not found that Kingdom. 
 
 The challenge of the present is not necessarily the expressed chal- 
 lenge of an individual or a group. It lies rather in the whole situation 
 as it is developing in China. We find an awakening people who under- 
 stand better than they ever have what are some of the implications of 
 living in the world to-day. We find young Chinese seeking opportuni- 
 ties for expression such as their fathers would have scorned. From 
 many sources, some articulate, some without the power of formulating 
 their thought, questions and challenges are being flung at the mission- 
 ary work to an extent that has scarcely been equalled in history. It is 
 our problem as loyal Christians to understand and interpret this chal- 
 lenging spirit of China in such terms that we can then supply the needs 
 of the situation. 
 
 So far as the missionary enterprise is concerned, there are two 
 broad fields in which this challenge operates. It comes with most im- 
 pact upon those loyal and devoted souls, the missionaries themselves. It 
 comes again to those of us who remain in this country and support 
 the great work with our prayers and our interest and our money. 
 
 Let us mention first three ways in which this challenge presents 
 itself to the missionaries. 
 
 One aspect is the renewed emphasis on the old doctrine, the mis- 
 sionary must decrease and the Chinese increase. The present situation 
 warns us that in spite of difficulties or obstacles the burdens must be 
 shifted. They must be dumped onto the Chinese, if necessary, in 
 order to get the change effected. So long as the missionary acts as 
 patron saint and “Lord Bountiful” the Christian cause can never come 
 to vigor of expression or vitality of character. The missionary must 
 decrease so that the Chinese can increase. 
 
 Whether we like it or not, it appears certain that the day of the 
 missionary bulking large as an outstanding statesman is practically 
 over. There have been missionaries of vision and courage, many of 
 them, who have labored patiently and sacrificially in the vineyard and 
 whose lives will always be a sainted memory for their friends in China. 
 But after our true Western fashion our preaching has been overt, 
 dictatorial, masterly and preceptual. Jesus taught men how to live by 
 living with them. Probably the seed of the Gospel would have found 
 more favored lodging places in human hearts had it been warmed by 
 the sun of human sympathy and understanding. The time is ripe for 
 the missionary to decrease, in fact, to fall into the soil of Chinese life 
 and die, in order that thereby much fruit may result. 
 
 If the present movement in China means anything it means that 
 the sooner the Chinese Church is in the control of the Chinese the 
 sooner the world can discover whether Christianity as a way of life 
 
 15 
 
has taken a vital hold on China. If it has not the efforts of one hun- 
 dred and twenty-five years of missions are in vain. If it has, then we 
 do not need to worry about the way in which Chinese Christians carry 
 on. In either case, it is time to put the issue to the test. 
 
 Another feature of the challenge to the missionary is that he must 
 keep his eye, his spiritual eye, if you will, fixed on the essentials. How 
 he is to accomplish this is something we do not need to discuss here. 
 Our purpose is only to show that out of the seething East is coming 
 a great demand to know why we are preaching a doctrine that as na- 
 tions we fail to practice. The missionary must be tremendously on the 
 alert that he does not in any sense impede the movements of the Spirit 
 of God. They are eagerly questing to see whether the missionary really 
 thinks as he. preaches. We cannot impress them to-day with emphasis 
 on forms and ceremonies and technicalities. Their alertness is born 
 of a new spiritual perception. There is a laying waste of old forms 
 and customary barriers and the time-honored restraints. To them the 
 church form is not of consequence. They seek the inner guiding 
 spirit, the controlling motive. You may hear it said, “They do not know 
 what they want,” and in a multitude of cases this is true. But like 
 the men of all ages they have buried in them the likeness of the divine, 
 and it does not let them rest. Now in China it is stirred to fresh mani- 
 festation. They are seeking for a better way. It is the way of life 
 that Jesus claimed to be. The only way in which it can be revealed to 
 them is through the absolute reliance on the Spirit of God. By the 
 dynamic of the Christ life they can find the goal of their dreams. The 
 challenge of the present is to dependence on the warm free-moving 
 untrammeled ways of the spirit, not on organization, stiff and cold 
 with its rigid formularies. 
 
 It is no easy task to frame the third aspect of this challenge. There 
 is involved the most delicate appreciation of the most elusive of God’s 
 creations, personality. Christianity has heralded to the world the value 
 of the individual. Jesus Christ died for you, for me. Each indi- 
 vidual has a share in the great glad tidings. The result of this sort of 
 preaching has sometimes been to minister mightily to our own esteem, 
 and to commiserate the poor beggars who haven’t received the teach- 
 ing. Too often Christians have overlooked or ignored that very preg- 
 nant remark of our Lord’s when He said, “The kingdom of heaven 
 is within you.” We have gone about our task of evangelizing the world 
 rather with the idea of doing a favor either to the people or to God, 
 than with the idea of recognizing the image of God in them. We have 
 been obsessed by the metaphors of warfare. We must fight the foe 
 of sin and ignorance and superstition. So much so that we have 
 frequently failed to recognize the likenesses there were to the Son of 
 God among those to whom we went. 
 
 Have we been able to see the kingdom of God within the Chinese? 
 But it is there. Doubtless there are missionaries who will never be able 
 to accept or understand this feature of the present challenge. It would 
 be strange if it were not so. But the Chinese to-day need to be re- 
 
 16 
 
spected and trusted and encouraged for the sake of the Kingdom 
 within. Only as this is accomplished can Christianity really grip and 
 hold the imagination and loyalty of the Chinese. 
 
 Let us turn now to a consideration of the second field in which this 
 challenge operates, namely, the Christian people of the United States 
 and Canada. 
 
 You who are reading this booklet have not come thus far through 
 its pages without catching some glimpse of tremendously significant 
 movements taking place in a country that has only startled the world 
 once in her history. No matter how we may appraise what is going 
 on, we cannot fail to recognize that China is no longer the slumbering 
 giant we have long talked about. Astonishing things are in the way of 
 taking place. The preceding pages have given us some intimation of 
 the significance of these things. Now we should think of how they 
 affect us, as Kristians, who have held ourselves responsible under 
 the divine command of sending ministers of His message to save the 
 Chinese people. 
 
 Future Missionary Efforts 
 
 Let us fairly face the question of the continuance of missionary 
 activity in China. Can we justify it? How may we think conclusively 
 on this problem ? 
 
 This question can be answered by us as Christians only on the 
 basis of essential character and quality of the Christian message. Let 
 us freely recognize that such supporting help as may come from 
 ecclesiastical organizations is only support and not the message itself. 
 Let us admit that the gospel of love and truth and righteousness is 
 God’s gift to all men, not to any one race or country. The message is 
 His message and not ours. We are simply making possible the wider 
 knowledge of the Christ life to the world. The world has not ac- 
 cepted it as yet. Therefore we must not confuse the meager results 
 in Western life with the true worth of the gospel itself. The problem 
 is whether we are prepared to allow the life of Christ to be disattached 
 from its historic “pillars” and reared among another people freed 
 from these incumbrances. If we cannot allow it — ^but insist that the 
 vehicle is just as essential as the message it is built to safeguard and 
 express we have answered the challenge of the Chinese at this one 
 point at least. 
 
 For there is a large group of very sensitive Chinese young men 
 to-day who are trying to discover whether Christianity is a life or a 
 set of doctrines, or a church organization. They strongly suspect that 
 the heart of the matter is the life of Christ but that Western Chris- 
 tians, in fear lest this life with all its implications would not be under- 
 stood, have had to say a lot of things about it which serve to obscure 
 its true beauty, and not to illuminate it. 
 
 Most of them are ready to admit that Jesus Christ proclaimed very 
 vital truth. But they are not willing to subscribe to Western interpreta- 
 tions of that truth. If somehow we could hand them the unadulterated 
 
 17 
 
gospel free from our Western theological appurtenances they could be 
 won to His life service. 
 
 So the challenge to the Christian Church of the West to-day is to 
 keep in mind the essential values and not stress the accidentals. We 
 recognize at once that these values are spiritual. 
 
 China is in the midst of a vast upheaval in the spiritual realm. It 
 is not a matter of days or weeks but of years. The process is one of 
 growth and development and will be going on for decades to come. 
 But we must not ignore her gropings for the light nor her searching 
 questions as she seeks to find her way over new paths. It is a time 
 most critical in the seeds for future development. The Spirit of the 
 Christ is most urgently needed for guidance and for strengthening. 
 We cannot desert China in these days when she needs this Spirit of 
 Divine Love in such unstinted measure. The challenge is that we shall 
 recognize this fact and stand by to the last. 
 
 Another element of challenge that should not escape our atten- 
 tion is the tremendous need which China has now for sympathy and 
 understanding. We cannot afford to deal obliquely or cavalierly with 
 her. She is beginning to awaken to some of the indignities that have 
 been heaped upon her at the hands of Western civilizations and she is 
 full of dreams of righteousness and justice, very largely the product of 
 our missionary teaching, and already disillusionment is in danger of 
 producing disastrous consequences. 
 
 Let us look at the situation in China in the perspective of time and 
 from the standpoint of the Chinese people and appreciate something 
 of the mental and spiritual readjustments they must undergo as educa- 
 tion penetrates deeper and deeper and they realize what are the issues 
 of life in the modern world. 
 
 Missionaries have struggled hard and labored lovingly and long 
 to produce in the Chinese a recognition of truth and righteousness and 
 justice as revealed in Christ. They have sought to liberate the Chinese 
 mind from “its bondage of superstition.” Now the tree is coming to 
 fruit. It may not be the kind of fruit the missionary hoped for, it 
 may be sour to his mouth, but it is fruit, forced in some instances per- 
 haps, but still natural fruit of what has been done. 
 
 Let us not therefore condemn out of hand the ebullitions of 
 Chinese school boys. We should rather have regard to the larger 
 movements of Chinese tliought life seeking to find a natural expression 
 in the world. They may quite likely blunder about a bit like a very 
 young animal or a growing boy whose muscles are not coordinated. 
 But there are immense possibilities in the Chinese people and they are 
 most eager to lay their contributions on the table with the other nations 
 of the world and help to solve those harassing and perplexing problems 
 of human relationships that face the world to-day. They have a store 
 of natural philosophy and of sane and quiet wisdom that will greatly 
 advantage the world if we will only keep step with them. 
 
 The challenge that faces us then is to keep our heads and not be 
 unduly incensed or excited about surface troubles but in sympathy and 
 
 i8 
 
understanding see to the heart of China and let her feel the beating of 
 our heart alongside hers. 
 
 Now this demands of us faith and courage. We may reasonably 
 hope that our national governments may have every respect for China’s 
 effort to secure her freedom from galling restrictions. This is the 
 traditional attitude of our governments. 
 
 We must not fool ourselves into a state of security in feeling that 
 all is well in China. Far from it. But affairs can be greatly improved 
 simply by letting China know we are with her in her struggles toward 
 the light and liberation from bondage of all kinds. We will need to 
 preserve our faith in the vital worth of the Chinese people and in 
 their ability to live and function as good neighbors in a troubled world. 
 We need to keep burning brightly before us our faith in the essential 
 good intentions of China. Much of the suspicion cast upon her in 
 the past has been by Western nations who were seeking some cause for 
 trouble. Anyone who really knows the Chinese loves them. They can 
 command one’s highest admiration. 
 
 We will need to keep up our courage in maintaining our friendly 
 attitude. Untoward incidents that may develop should not rob us of 
 our purpose to be consistently friendly. We need also courage to 
 insist that the Christian Church in China is fundamentally their concern 
 and they must accept responsibility for its upbuilding and development 
 along lines which will completely and fully satisfy their natural genius. 
 
 A challenge implies danger. The danger here is that we shall fail 
 to act as we should in this period. To hesitate or to do nothing is to 
 fatally miss a wonderful opportunity. To persist regardless of changed 
 conditions is to arrive at certain futility. 
 
 To meet the challenge with large vision and the warmth of God’s 
 own Spirit in dealing with them will be to accomplish great things for 
 Him. Someone has said, “The Spirit of God is loose in the world.” 
 Can we not recognize that God calls to us in clarion tones — not to try 
 to harness His power, but to live completely His life among men and 
 thus to show them the wondrousness of His way of life and its com- 
 plete effectiveness to solve all our problems? China calls us to a new 
 day in the kingdom of God. The sun of His Righteousness is rising 
 clear. Let us not obscure it with human clouds but rather make its 
 beauty plain to every heart. 
 
 There is bitter anti-Christian agitation in many parts of China — 
 but, likewise, Christian Chinese, in the face of such propaganda, are 
 demonstrating the superiority of that spiritual possession to which 
 they have laid claim. 
 
 In a certain district in the south of China a Chinese Christian 
 teacher was attacked and severely injured because he dared to send 
 his sons to a mission school in spite of the threats of terrorists who 
 sought to close these schools. Following the attack this Christian wrote 
 a letter to his assailants— -a letter which illustrated rather clearly the 
 sort of contribution that Christianity, in China, is making to the 
 national life. 
 
 19 
 
“To My Former Dear Students: 
 
 “Sirs : 
 
 “Yesterday four of you stopped and attacked me at the lodge of the Cheng 
 family. As to how I was wounded, there is no need of speaking as the matter 
 is now a bygone. I am ashamed of myself because my moral excellence has 
 been so weak that I have not been able to imitate the love of my Lord Jesus and 
 so help my fellow men. Having sustained minor injuries, how would I dare, 
 for such a small matter, to join issue with you? . . . 
 
 “If you wish me to submit, you must bind, me by the use of reason. You 
 must not coerce me by the use of your pomp. The man who submits under 
 coercion has not standing as a man. If I lose my standing as a man, though I 
 may be alive, I am as one dead, and of what use to you would my submission 
 be? At the present time our country has too many of such men — men who 
 regard life and glory as gain and death and insult as injury and do not regard 
 as important righteousness, temperance, virtue. They live from day to day in 
 an indifferent manner without the least self-determination. Alas 1 why do not 
 you, enthusiastic souls, think up some method for making the people of our 
 country all understand righteousness, be governed by righteousness and be will- 
 ing to die for righteousness? 
 
 “. . . Jesus is the one I serve and the truth is what I submit to. Where 
 there are right principles, there is life; where there are no right principles, 
 there is death. To take away my right principles is to rob me of life as well 
 as to take away my standing as a man. 
 
 “My formerly beloved students, the death of my body is not worthy of 
 regret. I hope you can be aroused to a sense of your wrong. I am praying to 
 God in your behalf. Much more do I desire to see your face that we may pray 
 together before the benevolent and merciful God.” 
 
 Young China, to-day, is seeking to evaluate not only the Chris- 
 tian Church, but Christianity itself. It is doubtful if ever, before, 
 among any people, have a nation’s youth been of so earnestly an. in- 
 quiring mind in matters pertaining »to- religion. But in the midst of 
 the deepest suspicion of organized religion — as sometimes manifested 
 in the actions of so-called religious peoples — there is an intense interest 
 in the person and teachings of Jesus. 
 
 In the present situation the Chinese are eagerly waiting to know 
 what the Christian voice of the West will be. If Christianity has been 
 put to an academic test, during the past few years in China, now, cer- 
 tainly, is its practical testing time. Chinese believe that now, as at no 
 previous time, are Christians faced with the opportunity of demonstrat- 
 ing that, regardless of the criticisms levelled against it, the Chris- 
 tian Church can demonstrate, in practical terms, the faith that it 
 represents. 
 
 A newspaper correspondent — a Chinese — puts the Christian 
 opportunity in the following declaration : 
 
 “Upon Christians throughout the world, therefore, rests a respon- 
 sibility to evidence their faith by a practical application of the teach- 
 ings of the Prince of Peace. Do they believe in their hearts that 
 Christ is the apostle of peace? that right is greater than might? that 
 justice is a condition which race, creed nor color affects? that it is 
 un-Christian to oppress and sinful to regard with levity those prin- 
 ciples of human conduct which are the essence of what was pro- 
 
 20 
 
claimed by the gentle Nazarene? If so they will vitalize their beliefs 
 by positive acts ; they will throw in the full force of their great power 
 for good and help by all possible means to bring about the suppression 
 of Western tyranny in China and thus restore to a quarter of the 
 world’s population their shaken faith in the eternal supremacy of 
 justice. 
 
 “The challenge is to the faith of all Christians. China is watching. 
 Your fidelity to religious professions is being tested. Will it be found 
 wanting.” 
 
 Benefits to Christianity 
 
 The fact that there has been a strong anti-Christian movement 
 going on in China for several years, and that the recent disturbances 
 have had a very strong anti- foreign flavor might give a good deal of 
 concern to true lovers of our Lord. There would appear to be reason 
 to fear lest all this upsetting of the mind of China might hinder the 
 cause of Christian work. 
 
 We cannot escape the fact that the uproar that has arisen has 
 called out into the open some very difficult problems. While these are 
 far from being solved, it is quite within the bounds of reason to sug- 
 gest that the very process of meeting them will be a real means of 
 grace and advancement for the cause of Christ in China. 
 
 Think if you will of the benefit that accrues to any movement 
 when it is challenged to define itself in unmistakable terms. For 
 years Christian missions have gone on in very much the same quiet 
 way, satisfied that their message was being “put across” in a convinc- 
 ing manner. Then when the whirlwind of doubt and suspicion strikes 
 them they find that different measures are necessary to clarify their 
 meaning. This need not imply that no one in China had yet dis- 
 covered what Christianity was all about. Many of the Chinese people 
 have entered into a fullness of life with Christ that is thrilling to‘ see. 
 But it does mean that there have been many misapprehensions among 
 the mass of the Chinese as to the purpose of these “foreign devils” in 
 living and preaching this strange doctrine in China. So the anti- 
 Christian movement has challenged Christians to make plain the way 
 of life. 
 
 Not the least part of the benefit at this point has come in the 
 stirring of some of the young Chinese Christians. They perhaps have 
 more quickly recognized the opportunity than the missionaries. The 
 result is a fervid enthusiasm to proclaim the truth of Christ. They 
 have written and are writing copiously in a way to reach the under- 
 standing of the people. They are beginning to build up a really 
 Chinese statement and defense of the Gospel in terms of the new 
 intellectual awakening. From the standpoint of the voracious intellects 
 of young China — ^the student groups that are seething with youthful 
 energy- — this is of the utmost significance and value. They are able to 
 present the truths of religion in a way that will attract the attention 
 of these surging minds. The fact that Chinese of keen perception who 
 
 21 
 
are in the forefront of the intellectual movement have taken it on 
 their hearts to interpret Christianity to China is one of the most 
 hopeful and satisfying of gains. 
 
 There is the added advantage that is the natural result of minds 
 that have become alert. While we were dealing with a passive, apathetic, 
 and indifferent people it was with the greatest difficulty that the claims 
 of Christianity made any impression. The wave of feeling that has 
 swept over China has greatly stirred the imagination of multitudes of 
 the Chinese. This cannot help but provide a much more fertile ground 
 for the sowing of the seed of Christian truth. 
 
 Everyone is well enough acquainted with the fundamentals of 
 advertising to realize that all this activity directed against Christianity 
 for the last two or three years has had tremendous publicity value. 
 You cannot shout anathemas at a thing in the market-place and in the 
 public press without letting the object of your curses be known. Peo- 
 ple may never have considered it worth attention before but when they 
 find a vociferous opposition set up they begin to take notice. The 
 students in their anti-Christian propaganda have rendered a valuable 
 service to the cause of the Gospel. The extent to which it has been 
 noised about has greatly enlarged the circle of those who are potential 
 disciples. 
 
 One of the taunts that has long been flung at the students in 
 Christian schools is that they are attending foreign schools, and that 
 they are being denationalized, and have no patriotism. The same 
 thing has been true, to a somewhat lesser extent, in the attitude of the 
 Chinese as a whole toward those who have taken the Christian name. 
 People in this country probably cannot appreciate how deep a stigma 
 this has been, especially in more recent years. Mission students have 
 been very sensitive to this feeling and it has meant no little difficulty 
 for the missionary to be patient with them in the excess of enthusiasm 
 they have felt obliged to express in order to put their accusers in the 
 wrong. This present period of disturbance has given Christians ample 
 opportunity to prove their patriotism. It has been one of the constant 
 efforts of missionaries to stir up in the minds of the Chinese with 
 whom they have dealt a love for their country that would lead them 
 to improve it as a place in which to live. There is no question that 
 through the years the effect of the Christian Gospel in the hearts and 
 minds of the Chinese has had a great deal to do with bringing about 
 the present breakdown of apathy and the resulting disturbances. Any 
 situation that makes demands for a display of real patriotic feeling will 
 find hearty response from the Christians. This element in the present 
 situation must take its place among the benefits. 
 
 We would be untrue to our faith if we failed to record the great- 
 est benefit that can come out of any such situation. This is the growth 
 and development of the inner spiritual life of those who live through 
 such trying times. Thinking on various issues may be confused, high 
 feelings may produce violent actions that cause suffering, but when 
 the dust subsides and wisdom rules again there cannot fail to be a 
 
 22 
 
definite increase in the lives of the individuals. Any such experience 
 throws the sincere soul back on God: In the end it produces a more 
 Christ-like way of regarding life. This benefit must inevitably come 
 about in the hearts of Chinese Christians as one of the results of the 
 recent upheaval. 
 
 One of the mission boards received word from the Chinese Chris- 
 tians in one of its missions, not long ago, that they had decided that 
 the time had come for them to take over the whole management of the 
 work of the mission. The conviction had been borne in upon them 
 that there could not be a Chinese church until they themselves assumed 
 responsibility for conducting its affairs. They still want the mission- 
 ary, but they want him to assist, no longer to direct affairs. Here is a 
 revolution. Do not minimize its importance. Your imagination can 
 build on this event and picture the glory of a new day. This is one 
 of the banners which the sun hangs in the eastern sky to herald his 
 triumphant approach. Now is the time for Christians everywhere to 
 lift their voices in praise and their hearts in prayer that God Himself 
 may give His greatest grace and wisdom to those who live and work 
 through a situation of this kind. Truly you shall see greater things 
 than these. 
 
 23 
 
APPENDICES 
 
 I 
 
 THE FOREIGN RELATIONS OF CHINA 
 
 Professor S. Gale Lowrie, University of Cincinnati 
 
 (Extract from a pamphlet prepared for the Conference on American 
 Relations with China) 
 
 America and China are bound together by strong material ties. 
 They both flank the Pacific, the highway of the commerce of the future 
 and the area of the most serious problems of the next half century. 
 American trade and commerce is already of the first magnitude and 
 will increase enormously if American capital is to participate in bring- 
 ing the great undeveloped resources of the Orient to human use. But 
 the ties of sentiment which our religious and cultural associations have 
 knit hold us even more closely. It seems a long time ago, as we 
 record history, that American missionary enterprises began in China. 
 It was in 1829. The movement seemed pitiably weak, the discouraging 
 circumstances overwhelming. A difficult foreign language, a highly 
 developed culture little known in the West, indifference and hostility 
 from officials, prohibitions on travel and on the ownership of property, 
 persecution of converts and a seeming indifference at home formed but 
 a few of the obstacles against which the early missionaries contended. 
 Yet in America hundreds of thousands learned first about China and 
 developed an interest in her through these endeavors, and in China 
 forces were started which are resulting in a great renascence. 
 
 The critical situation in China to-day is largely traceable to the 
 cultural and religious influence the missionaries introduced. They 
 brought to the Chinese schools and hospitals and a desire to know of 
 the learning of the West. One of the most significant movements of 
 history, the sending of thousands of carefully selected Chinese stu- 
 dents to the Occident for a Western education that they might return 
 for the dissemination of this culture at home, was strongly affected by 
 missionary influences. The leading force in China to-day is the stu- 
 dent. He is directing the groping feeling for nationalism and the de- 
 mand for a readjustment of relations with the foreign Powers. The 
 Soviets have not created the unrest; they are merely attempting to 
 turn to their own ends forces already at work. Nor is the national 
 consciousness which is being evidenced unwholesome. The Oriental 
 policy of the United States has been to secure, if possible, equal oppor- 
 tunity for all nations in the trade and development of China and to 
 
 24 
 
encourage China herself to become a strong enough power to be the 
 guarantor of this equality. If this policy is to be made effective, a 
 nationally conscious, self-respecting country, jealous of her rights, 
 must evolve. The difficulty at this time arises out of the fact that 
 the relations which have grown up between China and the Powers of 
 the West need readjustment. These rest partly on treaty provisions 
 and are partly the result of other concessions. Because of the inter- 
 dependence of the treaties, .it is difficult for any Power to act alone, and 
 because of the political chaos now prevalent in China, it has not seemed 
 possible as yet to dissociate many of the matters which should be of 
 domestic concern from international control. 
 
 China does not enjoy independence in these essential matters and 
 the limitations are in respect to no single Power, but to most of the 
 leading nations of the world. The restrictions have been established 
 usually by treaty, and by interlocking clauses, such as “most favored 
 nation” concessions, China has undertaken to gjant that all special 
 privileges and advantages she may concede to any nation will be 
 granted to all the rest as well. Since no country wishes to place its 
 own citizens at a disadvantage, practical unanimity is required to 
 effect any material change. Consequently any grievance or counter 
 claim any nation may wish to interject before consenting to a general 
 reform may prevent the carrying out of the program by the other 
 nations as well. 
 
 The fiscal limitations under which China is placed are very severe. 
 The most notable are with respect to the maritime customs. While 
 other nations have unlimited authority in establishing customs tariffs 
 either to secure revenue or for the protection of native industries, 
 China has no such right. Nor did the sacrifice of this power bring 
 her reciprocal commercial advantages. By treaty, first with Great 
 Britain following the Opium War, but made universal by the “most 
 favored nation” clauses, China has entered into unilateral agreements 
 to charge no more than five per cent ad valorem customs taxes on goods 
 brought into or taken from the country. Goods from China entering 
 other countries may be charged any amount the importing country 
 desires and China’s voice is not heard in protest. But even the five 
 per cent permitted China has been reduced materially in actual prac- 
 tice by a system of agreed values, so that the five per cent is really 
 something less than four per cent. The funds from these customs are 
 collected by a department in which foreigners are employed as principal 
 officers by the Chinese Government. 
 
 The sums collected are applied first to the satisfaction of foreign 
 claims against China for which the customs income has been guaran- 
 teed as security, and only the surplus is available for the central gov- 
 ernment. In a similar, though not in so complete a way, foreigners 
 are concerned with the administration of the salt tax and the wine and 
 tobacco revenue. Nor is it conceded that China should be uninfluenced 
 in shaping her other revenue plans. Foreign pressure has been exerted 
 constantly for the abolition of the likin, a troublesome, unscientific 
 
 25 
 
tax on goods transferred from place to place within the country. Until 
 China’s defeat in the war with Japan (1894), China was free from 
 foreign debt. For one reason or another she has been compelled to 
 obtain money abroad until she now owes almost a billion dollars in 
 gold, including domestic obligations. The loans negotiated by the 
 Chinese, whether foreign or domestic, invariably designate certain 
 revenues to be applied to the interest payments and for the ultimate 
 liquidation of the debt. 
 
 The restrictions on the jurisdictional authority of China may be 
 less costly to her exchequer but seem more humiliating. Of first im- 
 portance among them are to be noted the extraterritorial privileges other 
 nations enjoy. While it is the almost universal rule that persons 
 within a country of whatever nationality, unless they be of the diplo- 
 matic corps, are amenable to the laws of that country as interpreted 
 by her courts and administered by her officials, in China citizens of 
 most of the European and American Powers are free from the native 
 laws and answerable only to those of their own respective countries. 
 These laws are applied either by the consuls of the countries of the 
 nationals involved or by special national courts which have been set 
 up for that purpose. Moreover, there are in certain of the larger 
 cities special areas known as “concessions” within which all govern- 
 mental matters are under foreign control and on occasion the Chinese 
 may be forbidden even to enter these areas. Those f)ermitted to come 
 in may be subject to such restrictions as the foreigners impose. These 
 restrictions are often humiliating. No taxes are paid to China by the 
 foreigners in these concessions but both Chinese and foreigners, living 
 or carrying on business therein, pay taxes to the foreign concession. In 
 the Shanghai settlement, the Chinese constitute over seventy per cent of 
 the population and pay more taxes than residents of any other na- 
 tionality, yet they have no voice at all in the selection of governmental 
 officials nor influence on their policies. While some matters pertain- 
 ing to the government of the Shanghai foreign settlement are deter- 
 mined by the foreign rate-payers, the governing commission itself 
 meets in secret session to which none, be he foreigner or Chinese, is 
 admitted. Even in Peking, the national capital, which is not a treaty 
 port, the diplomatic quarter in the heart of the city is governed exclu- 
 sively by the diplomatic corps and Chinese are permitted to enter only 
 under limitations. It is as restricted, so far as they are concerned, as 
 though it were a military reservation, this resulting from the Boxer 
 uprising in 1900, when the legations were under siege for two months. 
 
 In 1898 there began a series of “leases” under which foreign gov- 
 ernments secured control over Chinese territory, although sovereignty, 
 at least nominally, remained with the Empire. Under this system Ger- 
 many acquired Kiaochow in Shantung; Russia secured Port Arthur 
 and the Kwantung Peninsula ; Great Britain, Weihaiwei, and Kowloon, 
 opposite Hongkong; and France, Kwanchow-wan. All of these leases 
 were for ninety-nine years. These arrangements were changed when 
 Japan secured, by the Russo-Japanese war, the Russian lease and by 
 
 26 
 
the Treaty of Versailles, the German lease. The latter Japan returned 
 to China under the terms of the Washington treaties of 1922; the 
 former is still in Japan’s possession. Until recently, foreign govern- 
 ments operated post offices in the principal Chinese cities where for- 
 eigners resided. The withdrawal of these was one of the fruits of the 
 Washington treaties. Foreign loans for the building and operation of 
 railways have carried with them a certain measure of foreign control in 
 their administration. Coastwise shipping and shipping in inland waters, 
 which most countries reserve exclusively for their citizens, is. engaged 
 in extensively by foreigners. In still another way China’s independ- 
 ence has been limited. She has made agreements from time to time 
 that whenever commercial or industrial developments of certain kinds 
 are to be undertaken, these shall be entrusted exclusively to the na- 
 tionals of certain Powers. These nations do not guarantee that their 
 citizens will utilize these grants ; the provisions are merely that no 
 others may be permitted to exploit these concessions. The agreements 
 are unilateral, often made all too casually, and sometimes upon the per- 
 sonal responsibility of an official. They may be unknown to the world 
 at large or even to the Chinese Government itself till objection is 
 made to some development the government has in view. 
 
 But while the Western Powers have many dark pages in the 
 record of their dealings with the Chinese, many of the methods which 
 now seem to impair China’s sovereignty most seriously were instituted 
 with no purpose of limiting her independence but as the best solutions 
 at hand for difficult situations, trying to foreigner and native alike. 
 Many of them have greatly profited the Chinese. The limitation on 
 the amount of the customs tariff was contained in the Treaty of Nan- 
 king of 1842 and in the commerce treaty of the following year. These 
 treaties opened certain “treaty ports” and provided for “concessions” 
 or “settlements” within them. The provision for a five per cent tariff 
 which now seems so grossly inadequate, was in lieu of a series of local 
 charges and imposts which had formerly been charged. It was not so 
 much to get a cheap rate as to simplify a complicated and annoying 
 series of practices. This was its chief virtue for the foreigner ; for the 
 Imperial Government it provided a form of revenue not enjoyed up to 
 that time, and established an economical and fairly certain method of 
 collection. It was almost clear fiscal gain for China. The plan of 
 foreign administration of the maritime customs came quite by accident 
 and was not for the purpose of assuring the payment of foreign debts. 
 During the Taiping rebellion in 1853, the question arose at Shanghai 
 as to the proper officials to whom the customs charges should be paid. 
 As a temporary expedient, foreign merchants adopted the practice of 
 declaring their goods and paying the required duties before their 
 consuls. T^he consuls were to see that these funds reached the proper 
 governmental officials. Soon after, the method was modified so that 
 payments were made to three foreigners, a Britisher, an American and 
 a Frenchman, appointed by the Chinese local customs official. This 
 plan worked admirably and was extended to all treaty ports. It is the 
 
 27 
 
most efficient administrative institution in China to-day. It has ex- 
 tended its services to the surveying of rivers and harbors and coastal 
 waters, the establishment of lighthouses, the publication of trade sta- 
 tistics, the establishment of the Chinese post office, of the language 
 schools, and the protection of the public health in port cities. In the 
 disorganized state of governmental affairs its services have seemed 
 almost indispensable. Undoubtedly the Chinese would desire that it 
 should be the last of the foreign controlled institutions to be put 
 entirely in Chinese hands. Yet it would seem to have been admin- 
 istered with too little regard for the fact that it is a service which 
 the Chinese themselves should ultimately control. It has not trained 
 Chinese for the more responsible positions. The head is a British sub- 
 ject and the staff is composed both of nationals of countries with treaty 
 relations and commerce with China and of Chinese. While the ap- 
 pointment of the Inspector General is in the hands of the Chinese, the 
 British Government is not without influence in his selection. His 
 power over the staff is very complete. Nor have the Powers hesi- 
 tated to use the force of their navies to see that these customs officials 
 are uninterrupted in their duties. This is partly because the proceeds 
 of the customs have been pledged for foreign loans. 
 
 II 
 
 EXTRATERRITORIALITY IN CHINA 
 
 By Professor W. W. Willoughby of Johns Hopkins University 
 
 (Extract from a pamphlet prepared for the Conference on American 
 Relations with China) 
 
 Whatever advantages may result from the exercise by the Powers 
 of extraterritorial rights in China, the following objections to the 
 system exist : 
 
 1. The whole system is in derogation of the dignity of a great 
 and civilized people. 
 
 2. Because of this, its enforced existence tends powerfully to 
 create an anti-foreign feeling. 
 
 3. The system deters China from opening up her entire territory 
 to full foreign settlement and unrestricted commercial intercourse. 
 
 4. It necessitates a multiplicity of courts, that is, different courts 
 for the nationals of each of the Powers that enjoy extraterritorial 
 rights. 
 
 5. It necessitates the appreciation of diverse laws. Thus, if several 
 persons of different nationalities are engaged in the same transactions, 
 not only must each of them be proceeded against in different courts, but 
 their legal rights and responsibilities must be determined by different 
 laws. 
 
 6. In not a few cases, it is found that there are no laws applicable 
 to the facts involved. 
 
 a8 
 
7- The Chinese injured by the criminal acts of nationals of the 
 other Powers have no way of knowing whether the sentences imposed 
 are actually carried out. 
 
 8. In many cases the inconvenience of taking the offender before 
 the nearest consular court as required by the treaties, and then of 
 producing the necessary witnesses or other evidence, makes it prac- 
 tically impossible for the Chinese who have been injured by the acts of 
 foreigners to take any action whatever in order to obtain redress. As 
 to this, the following may be quoted from a recent volume by a highly 
 educated Chinese scholar. Dr. Ching-Lin Hsia, entitled Studies in 
 Chinese Diplomatic History. Doctor Hsia says : 
 
 It is universally known that a Chinese is not in the habit of seeking justice 
 at the law courts, and least of all at foreign institutions of which he knows 
 nothing. Therefore it is not to be expected that a Chinese would bring any 
 ordinary complaints against any British (or other foreign) subject to the 
 ‘‘nearest consul,” whose consulate may be situated at a distance of one, two, or 
 five hundred miles away from the place where the civil (or criminal) injury 
 took place, even if he could be sure that justice was on his side and he could 
 afford the necessary expense and trouble to undertake the required journey 
 thither to receive his scanty justice. . . . Few Chinese know anything about 
 treaties and fewer still understand the working of them. ... In China there 
 exist no such professional lawyers who can explain this complicated system to 
 an intending plaintiff and furnish him such information as to enable him to pro- 
 ceed confidently to the particular consulate of the district. . . . Thus, in theory, 
 a Chinese may always have redress against an alien in his consular court; in 
 practice, however, there are many difficulties in the way of language, difference 
 in court procedure, disparity of punishments of the two systems, and the com- 
 plexities of western law. The natural result is that the Chinese would decide 
 to swallow his grievance without recourse to law, and he would console himself 
 with a bitter determination that never again would he have any more dealing 
 with foreigners. 
 
 9. From the very nature of this authority the extraterritorial 
 courts have little or no authority over the plaintiffs in the suit brought 
 before them. From this lack of authority it results that these plaintiffs 
 cannot be punished for perjuries or contempts committed by them in 
 the course of the proceedings. Furthermore, these courts are not com- 
 petent to consider legitimate set-offs or counterclaims which may be 
 brought forward, the validity of such set-offs or counterclaims being 
 determinable only in the Chinese courts since they are in the nature 
 of actions in which the Chinese appear as defendants. 
 
 10. In general, the extraterritorial courts, being held by consuls, 
 are not administered by persons technically trained in the law. The 
 justice that is had is thus often of the most haphazard character. In 
 many cases there is no appeal from consular decisions for the correc- 
 tion of legal errors, and, when there is a right of appeal, the costs, in 
 most cases, are sufficient to deter the plaintiffs from exercising the 
 right. 
 
 11. Finally, it cannot be denied that the consular or other officials 
 holding the extraterritorial courts are under a strong temptation, which 
 in many cases they cannot resist, to favor the sides of their own na- 
 
 29 
 
tionals who are the defendants in the cases brought before them. The 
 partiality thus displayed is undoubtedly considerable, and in the con- 
 sular courts of certain countries is so great that almost never is a 
 verdict against the defendant obtained. 
 
 Ill 
 
 LETTER TO SENATOR BORAH FROM 21 1 AMERICANS 
 IN NORTH CHINA 
 
 Summer of 1925 
 
 Honorable Sir: 
 
 We, the undersigned American citizens, resident in North China, 
 have read with great interest the press dispatches reporting your stand 
 in favor of the retrocession of extraterritorial rights and opposing 
 armed intervention in China. 
 
 While refraining, as yet, from passing any public judgment with 
 regard to the events in Shanghai of May 30th and following, which 
 we believe to be but an incident revealing deep and new undercurrents 
 of feeling in the Chinese nation, we venture to address you in order 
 to express our approval of the stand you are reported to have taken. 
 We believe that the United States should take such a position, for the 
 following reasons : 
 
 (1) We regard the present Chinese nation-wide movement as the 
 expression of a growing patriotism which is fundamentally not anti- 
 foreign, but which is a justifiable protest against existing treaties no 
 longer acceptable to a self-respecting nation. We believe that this 
 movement shows an increasing and healthy interest, on the part of the 
 Chinese people, in the affairs of their nation and a growing inclination 
 to express public opinion on public questions. We feel that on such an 
 interest of a people in their national affairs and on enlightened public 
 opinion must be laid the foundations of any democracy. 
 
 (2) We believe that non-intervention and the expressed purpose 
 of retrocession of extraterritoriality will serve to assure the Chinese 
 nation of our continued and increasing friendship and that such an 
 act of international good will, at such a time, will do much to allay 
 what fear or suspicion there may be in China of foreign aggression or 
 oppression, and will create an atmosphere favorable to the solution of 
 the present difficulties and to mutual understanding and good will. 
 
 (3) We are convinced that, not to mention personal safety, 
 American enterprise in China, particularly business and missionary 
 enterprise, is fundamentally dependent for its success upon the friend- 
 ship and good will of the Chinese people. It is upon this solid founda- 
 tion that we desire to have our work rest, rather than upon unwelcome 
 treaties or armed force. 
 
 (4) We feel that conditions in China have reached a point where 
 extensive military intervention in the present situation by foreign 
 Powers, in order to protect foreign enterprises, would, so far as the 
 missionary work is concerned, not only alienate the good will of the 
 
 30 
 
Chinese, but practically render useless any further attempts by for- 
 eigners to preach the Christian message of love and human brother- 
 hood in this country. 
 
 In conclusion, we would not presume to outline the actual steps 
 to be taken, but we would express the eager hope that our Government 
 will avail itself of this great opportunity for proving again its sincere 
 friendship for China and, by whatever measures seem best, will accord 
 the most generous treatment possible to this great nation at this critical 
 moment of her spiritual awakening. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 (Signed by 211 Americans.) 
 
 IV 
 
 A COMMUNICATION TO THE AMERICAN MINISTER, 
 
 PEKING 
 
 (Signed by Some 200 American Citizens Resident in Nanking) 
 
 Nanking, China, June 28, 1925. 
 
 To THE Hon. John V. A. MacMurray, 
 
 American Minister, Peking, China. 
 
 Sir: We, the undersigned, American citizens in Nanking, respect- 
 fully submit the following; 
 
 We deeply deplore the fact that although a month has elapsed since 
 the Nanking Road tragedy in Shanghai, no joint commission has made 
 an impartial investigation of the affair and the causes leading up to it. 
 Many conflicting reports have been issued by interested parties. Hence, 
 we believe that until such a commission with adequate Chinese as well 
 as foreign representation is appointed, and its official findings are pub- 
 lished, there will be no mutual trust and permanent good will between 
 the Chinese and citizens of other countries. 
 
 We are firmly convinced that the Chinese people are peculiarly 
 susceptible to reason and the arguments of justice and righteousness, 
 when these are adequately presented. We are confident that if properly 
 chosen representatives, who understand the psychology and customs 
 of China, will make this investigation, they can suggest a sofution of 
 the present conflict that should be acceptable to all parties. We, there- 
 fore, respectfully urge that the representatives of the American Gov- 
 ernment in China use their influence to secure the appointment of 
 such a commission to make a thorough investigation of the tragedy. 
 
 Recognizing, moreover, that the present trouble is an expression of 
 deep resentment on the part of the Chinese against what they consider 
 foreign discrimination and injustice, we further respectfully urge: 
 
 i. That the Government of the United States of America continue 
 its highly commendable policy of seeking such a revision of treaties 
 with China as shall be mutually just and advisable. We recognize the 
 
 31 
 
good will and new attitude toward China which was manifested by 
 the nations participating in the Washington Conference, and we deeply 
 appreciate the interest and the efforts of the American Government in 
 bringing about a more just relationship between China and the other 
 nations. We also recognize the difEculties within China, and without, 
 that have been met in making the new diplomacy effective. Never- 
 theless, it is our conviction that the American Government should con- 
 tinue to urge upon China the willingness and the desire of the Ameri- 
 can people to proceed with this important matter. 
 
 2. That the Government of the United States of America use its 
 influence in every legitimate way to bring about such changes as shall 
 result in China being treated as an equal in all international relations, 
 and that China, on the other hand, be asked to fulfill the essential con- 
 ditions and meet the obligations of such a relationship. 
 
 3. That the officials of the American Government use their influ- 
 ence in all legitimate ways to restrain our own representatives, or those 
 of other nations, from adopting a policy dependent upon military force 
 as an active element in the solution of the present trouble. 
 
 We pledge ourselves to endeavor by word and deed to dissuade 
 our Chinese friends from adopting methods of violence and force, at 
 the same time urging them to work for the speedy establishment of a 
 more stable and responsible government. 
 
 In conclusion, we pledge our allegiance to the high ideals which 
 have hitherto led the Government of the United States of America 
 and its citizens to promote peaceful, friendly, and mutually helpful 
 relations with the people of China. It is because we do not wish to see 
 these friendly relations impaired, but increasingly promoted, that we 
 have submitted the above statements. 
 
 V 
 
 STATEMENT REGARDING THE CHINA SITUATION 
 
 Issued by Committee of Reference and Counsel, Foreign Missions 
 Conference of North America, 25 Madison Avenue, New York, 
 
 July 7, 1925 
 
 The newspapers of July 2nd carried the announcement that the 
 Government of the United States is prepared to meet with the other 
 Powers in conference in regard to carrying out the provisions of the 
 Treaties and the accompanying Resolutions relating to China, which 
 were adopted by the Washington Conference on Limitation of Arma- 
 ment in 1921-22. 
 
 Secretary Kellogg’s announcement has been received with pro- 
 found satisfaction by officers, members and supporters of the Boards 
 and Societies interested in, and cooperating with, the Christian Move- 
 ment in China. We hope that the suggestion of the Government of 
 the United States will be acted on favorably by the other Powers signa- 
 tory to the Washington treaties. The representatives of the Signatory 
 
 32 
 
Powers were agreed when they met in Washington that it was desir- 
 able “to safeguard the rights and interests of China” ; and to this end 
 the Treaties relating to China were concluded and the accompanying 
 resolutions adopted. 
 
 Information reaching us from China, through trustworthy sources, 
 indicates that the prolonged delay in bringing about the arrangements 
 for the relief of China ccmtemplated in the Washington Treaties and 
 Resolutions has created serious misunderstandings on the part of the 
 Chinese people. 
 
 At this distance from China we are not competent to form an 
 opinion as to the responsibility of those involved in the reported local 
 disturbances but we record our conviction that a permanent settlement 
 of the difficulties existing in China will be effected, not by the use of 
 (or by the show of) force, but by friendly conference between those 
 concerned. 
 
 While believing that China’s greatest and most difficult problems 
 are within herself and that their solution involves the establishment of 
 stable and just government, the realization of national unity, and the 
 adoption and enforcement of enlightened laws, we believe justice to 
 China demands the readjustment of the treaty relations between China 
 and other nations as suggested at the Washin^on Conference ; and that, 
 until these Treaties are readjusted, there will inevitably continue to 
 be misunderstandings between China and other nations. We identify 
 ourselves with those who are endeavoring to secure justice for China 
 in all her relations with the other nations because it is the simple and 
 inalienable right of China. 
 
 Signed by the Secretaries of Boards and Societies carrying on 
 work In China, and chairman and secretaries of the Committee 
 of Reference and Counsel. 
 
 VI 
 
 REPORT ADOPTED AT AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON 
 RELATIONS WITH CHINA 
 Johns Hopkins University, September 17-20, 1925 
 (From a summary by Dr. A. L. Warnshuis) 
 
 “Generally speaking we are agreed that extraterritoriality should 
 be abolished and that customs autonomy should be given to China. 
 There is danger that our differences may be exaggerated. There are 
 divergences of view, but I believe in fundamental principle we are 
 agreed. We are not altogether agreed regarding the process to be 
 adopted or the program to be followed in carrying this principle into 
 effect. That is to say, we are not fully agreed at this time whether 
 the abolition of extraterritoriality or the giving of customs autonomy 
 should be by one stroke or whether it should be by progressive stages. 
 
 “I think the meeting this afternoon and the conference has recog- 
 nized that the method of approach to the Chinese people and govern- 
 ment is of extreme importance. There is a great deal of difference 
 
 33 
 
between our making demands upon the Chinese people and referring 
 promises from them to us. There is a good deal of difference between 
 our insisting that they must do certain things first of all and their com- 
 ing to us in return for assurances that we give them with promises 
 that they will on their part do certain things that will make possible 
 the realization of these things upon which we are agreed. 
 
 “With reference to this question of time and method and pro- 
 gram, we recognize that these are questions that a conference like this 
 cannot deal with. They are questions which necessarily must be re- 
 ferred to such international bodies as the Customs Conference which 
 is meeting in Peking on October 26th and to the Commission on Extra- 
 territoriality which is meeting in Peking on December i8th. In both 
 of these bodies the Chinese Government and the governments that 
 have signed the Nine- Power Treaty and those who have later shown 
 their adherence to that treaty, will be represented by formally ap- 
 pointed delegates sent by each of these governments. We hope there in 
 that meeting these parties meeting on a platform of complete equality 
 will be able to come to an agreement, as friends and brothers in a great 
 family of nations. 
 
 “Further, with reference to the opportunity and responsibility of 
 the United States Government, the opinion was expressed that the 
 United States Government should take a position of vigorous leader- 
 ship in these international negotiations. Up to the time of the full 
 realization of the Washington treaties we hope that our government 
 will continue to press strongly for the agreement of all the Powers con- 
 cerned in order that all of them may faithfully, as we know they all 
 intend to, carry out the promises and programs which were outlined 
 in those treaties and resolutions adopted in Washington in 1901. 
 
 “Upon the completion of the Customs Conference and the Com- 
 mission on Extraterritoriality, we do not believe that the action of our 
 government should depend upon the complete agreement of all of these 
 Powers concerned, for the simple reason that we think that our govern- 
 ment should not be delayed in determining its own policy by the action 
 or the failure to act by one or more of the Powers who have com- 
 paratively small interests in the Pacific and in the Far East and in 
 China. 
 
 “It was pointed out at the meeting this afternoon that among the 
 Powers signatory to these treaties there are certainly five Powers who 
 have more poignant interest in the Pacific and in China — China her- 
 self, Japan, Great Britain, France, and the United States. 
 
 “We hope that our government will most earnestly endeavor to 
 work, and in the most effective way possible, to secure the agreement 
 of these five Powers in carrying out the recommendations which will 
 be made by the conference in October and the commission that meets 
 in December. But at the same time our government should have the 
 firm purpose of acting independently if it is found impossible within 
 a reasonable time to secure the concurrent action of these other four 
 Powers — -the other three in addition to China that I have mentioned.” 
 
 34 
 
VII 
 
 MESSAGE OF THE NATIONAL CHRISTIAN COUNCIL TO 
 THE CHRISTIANS IN CHINA 
 
 Adopted by the Executive Committee, July i6, 1925 
 
 “In the first place, in the midst of sorrow, confusion, indignation 
 and embarrassment, we feel very keenly the need that all we Christian 
 people, Chinese and foreign alike, should stand together in one fel- 
 lowship, quieting our minds and souls before God and trying to hear 
 His voice. How difficult it has proved to ascertain the facts of the 
 tragic events in Shanghai, Hankow, Canton, and other places! How 
 easy to jump to hasty conclusions and to pass judgment! How much 
 misunderstanding has already been caused by ill-advised or prejudiced 
 persons? Under the circumstances, we firmly believe it to be the duty 
 of all Christians to refrain from passing judgment at present. Let us 
 rather advocate thorough investigation and insist upon full justice 
 being done. We believe this to be the voice of God, and this voice all 
 people, Christians and non-Christians alike, must heed. 
 
 “In the second place, we would clearly point out that the present 
 difficulties did not rise like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky. They 
 have much unpleasant history behind them. Many people of different 
 nationalities, races, and creeds have openly advocated that all causes of 
 misunderstanding, ill-feeling, malice, jealousy, enmity, and hate, should 
 be studied and removed. 
 
 “What, then, are some of these causes? Space does not permit 
 us to enumerate them all. However, it is important to mention among 
 others the following: 
 
 “Internal Causes: Militarism and Civil War; Political Corruption; 
 Banditry; Poverty; the Curse of Opium, Morphia and Other Nar- 
 cotics ; Ignorance of the Masses ; Mental Unrest of the Student Class : 
 Resentment Against Unequal Treaties; etc. 
 
 “External Causes: Foreign Aggression and Domination; Unequal 
 Treaties; Racial Pride; Smuggling of Opium, Other Narcotics, and 
 Firearms; Lack of Understanding of the Chinese Temperament and 
 Aspirations; etc. 
 
 “We can hardly believe that Christians whether Chinese or for- 
 eign will want to spend any time in arguing as to which of the coun- 
 tries concerned, China or some foreign country, should be the first 
 to remove the causes. Is it not safe and right for us to assume that, 
 in accordance with Christian principles, neither China nor any for- 
 eign country concerned would wish to allow any of these things to con- 
 tinue? Not only that, should not we Christians definitely acknowledge 
 the above-mentioned things as the basic causes of our present crisis 
 and offer our very best service to remove them? Furthermore, should 
 we not take prompt steps to promote a better understanding between 
 and appreciation of China and the foreign Powers and to reestablish 
 
 35 
 
the cordial relationships among them? To fail to perform this impor- 
 tant duty is just as serious as to sow the seed for another world war. 
 
 “In the third place, we wish to state that Christianity, patriotism, 
 and good citizenship are not necessarily opposed to each other. To 
 be a Christian does not at all mean to be unpatriotic or to surrender 
 one’s rights of citizenship. We are not dealing with that kind of 
 narrow and selfish patriotism and citizenship which is really un-Chris- 
 tian and of which we see so much around us. To us, a Christian 
 should be the highest type of patriot and the noblest example of citizen. 
 A Christian cannot but be opposed to a patriotism which is bigoted, 
 blind, or prejudiced ; he can have no use for a citizen who loves his own 
 country at the expense of other countries. A Christian does not defend 
 his country, right or wrong; but he always stands for the right even if 
 this position will align him against his own country on any particular 
 occasion. Still, he is ever ready to assist his country to move forward 
 in the path of righteousness, justice and peace, and he is second to 
 none in this service. He holds himself in readiness to render this assist- 
 ance to other countries as well. Cannot we Christians, foreigners and 
 Chinese alike, during this terrible crisis clearly exhibit our Christian 
 citizenship which includes, but rises above, our respective national 
 citizenship, and our Christian patriotism which seeks not only the good 
 of our own country but also of other countries? In facing the tragic 
 events of the past weeks, can we not rise above our narrow national or 
 racial limitations? Can we not be Christians first of all, and then 
 citizens of our respective countries ? 
 
 “In the fourth place, it is necessary for us to point out that dur- 
 ing a crisis of this kind, if we are not careful, all our baser feelings, un- 
 Christian attitudes, and materialistic tendencies will get the better of 
 us and lead us astray on the one hand; and a feeling of despondency, 
 a revengeful spirit, and most disturbing doubts of not only the reign 
 but also the existence of God will haunt us on the other. Have we 
 Christians in China no ministry for this situation? Must we allow 
 ourselves to fall into either of these groups? God forbid! By all 
 means, we should make a supreme effort to lift ourselves as well as 
 the people of different countries concerned way above any idea of, or 
 desire for, national aggrandizement, vainglory, pride, prestige, military 
 prowess and domination, selfishness, vengeance, and hate. More than 
 that, we should expound and represent the Christian viewpoint of right 
 versus might, of humility, righteousness, justice, forgiveness, and love. 
 Most vital of all, we should emphasize and help make real the spir- 
 itual basis of the world and the universe. It is not any temporal 
 powers, however strong and formidable at the time, but the spiritual 
 that will conquer, transcend and endure. It is these that will be 
 blessed of God. 
 
 “In the fifth place, we wish to point out an open secret that the 
 very foundation of the Christian faith of many people has been 
 shaken by the present situation. Men and women are asking if Chris- 
 tianity is a practical and all-adequate religion, and if the Christian 
 
 36 
 
way of life is a practical and all-adequate way of life. Indeed, these 
 are most serious and challenging questions which we cannot ignore or 
 escape. They must be given satisfactory and satisfying answers, 
 and this right soon. Can the Christian way of life be practiced by 
 an individual even when his personal or national interests are at stake ? 
 Is not the Christian way of life at best a way for the individual ; or, can 
 it be applied also to the economic, social, and political life of a people? 
 Does this way of life have any influence on the international and inter- 
 racial life of the world? Can we Christians, both as individuals and 
 in our corporate relationships, answer these questions not only affirma- 
 tively but also concretely? Can we or should we seek to evade them 
 or turn a deaf ear to them ? 
 
 “What about the long accepted principle that the Church should 
 not meddle with politics? We must agree that the Church should not 
 meddle, if by that we mean for the Church to seek to control the 
 government or actually to interfere with its functions. The history of 
 European countries furnishes us with many illustrations of the dis- 
 astrous results, both to the state and to the Church, when they failed 
 to distinguish clearly between their respective functions and when the 
 Church attempted to control the policies and acts of governments. On 
 the other hand, if political powers violate any or all of the Christian 
 principles of life, should the Church remain silent and passive? We 
 do not see how the Church can ever be absolved from its sin in failing 
 to give itself to the expression of the principles of the Prince of 
 Peace against the military programs which led to the great war — a 
 war which later made not only Europe but the entire world to sustain 
 unprecedented losses and the calamitous consequences of which will be 
 felt by future generations. This sin was committed in the name of 
 “not-meddling-with-politics.” Shall churches and missions in China 
 follow the same course? One of the immediate tasks before the 
 churches and missions is to thoroughly study afresh and together this 
 whole question of the relation of church and state in the light of mod- 
 ern conditions in China to-day. 
 
 “It is, however, evident that if Christianity is to survive as God’s 
 way of life, as being practical, all-adequate, and uplifting, each indi- 
 vidual Christian must think, speak, and act in accordance with Christ’s 
 principles no matter what interests, private, group, or national, are 
 at stake. Thus Christianity will penetrate and transform the economic, 
 social, and political life of the people ; and it will reign supreme in 
 all internal relations. It is Inconceivable that certain areas of life 
 should be shut out from the Christian way or influence. God reigns 
 over the entire universe and not merely over a section of it. He does 
 not divide His realm with either Mammon or Mars. 
 
 “In the last place, should we not seriously consider what the state 
 of organized Christianity in China is to-day? There are more than 
 one hundred separate Christian organizations which are by no means 
 all working harmoniously together. We see traces of misunder- 
 standing, jealousy, strife, and ill-feeling among them. May we pause 
 
 37 
 
for a moment also to consider the relationships existing between the 
 churches and missions. Are they happy? Do we see clearly how the 
 transfer of the work, if such transfer is possible or desirable, from the 
 missions to the churches is to be made? Have not the missions, as a 
 whole, carried too much ecclesiastical baggage over from the West? 
 Do our troubles arise, if we are troubled at all, from real Christianity 
 itself or from this excessive baggage? In short, is the organization of 
 Christianity as we find it in China to-day satisfactory and satisfying? 
 Or, in view of the situation here, do we feel the need of certain changes 
 in it which may be more helpful to the life of the people in China? 
 If so, what changes? Is it not high time for us quickly, sincerely, 
 humbly, before God to find out the needs and aspirations of the 
 Chinese people and with diligence press forward and onward toward 
 our ultimate goal? We must preserve and utilize the best of our 
 Christian inheritance, and, while faithful to God’s Word, be courageous 
 to discard those extraneous things which are of no real value to-day. 
 Certainly, we should retain the best contributions in the Christianity 
 from the West, and again we should not hesitate to incorporate into the 
 life of the Christian Church in China the most helpful and inspiring 
 elements of Chinese civilization. Such a commingling of the best of 
 different civilizations not only will not obscure the face of our Father 
 in heaven but will surely reveal His very nature to us in clearer 
 and more forceful ways. The churches and missions should at the 
 earliest possible moment make a most critical but constructive study 
 of organized Christianity as it exists in China to-day and introduce 
 those changes which will make the Christian way of life more effec- 
 tive, helpful, and better in accord with the ideals and practices of 
 Chinese life. 
 
 “The N. C. C. firmly believes that this is the time of all times 
 when the churches and missions in China need to take time to behold 
 God’s face, to understand better His nature as revealed in Christ and 
 the Cross of Christ, to grasp His Holy Will, to study His Word, to 
 meditate, to pray, to intercede and to live Christ in the fullest sense. 
 It is our sincerest hope that this message may at least call the attention 
 of Christians everywhere both to the seriousness and the hopefulness 
 of the present situation, may stimulate them to clear thinking, courage- 
 ous planning and action, so as to reveal Christ more perfectly to the 
 people of China and of the world.” 
 
 VIII 
 
 RESOLUTIONS WITH REGARD TO EXISTING TREATIES 
 
 IN CHINA 
 
 Adopted by unofficial meeting of eighty-six officers and members 
 of thirty-seven Mission Boards and Societies of the United States 
 and Canada working in China held in New York, October 2 and 3, 1925, 
 
 38 
 
This unofficial meeting, composed of officers and members of Mis- 
 sionary Boards and Societies, of the United States and Canada that 
 are working in China, called to consider the present conditions of mis- 
 sionary work in China, adopts the following resolutions : 
 
 Whereas, We heartily sympathize with China in her aspirations 
 for just, equal, and fraternal relations with other nations and in her 
 sense of the present injustice of existing treaties, and. 
 
 Whereas, We believe that the developments that have taken place 
 in China in the course of .several decades necessitate the revision of 
 the existing treaties between China and other Powers ; therefore, be it 
 Resolved, 
 
 1. With reference to the existing treaties: 
 
 That we urge the early revision of the treaties with China in such 
 a way as to give effective application to the following principles 
 agreed upon in the treaty signed by nine Powers in Washing- 
 ton on February 6, 1922, namely: 
 
 Article i. “The Contracting Powers, other than China, agree: 
 
 (1) To respect the sovereignty, the independence, and the ter- 
 ritorial and administrative integrity of China; 
 
 (2) To provide the fullest and most unembarrassed oppor- 
 tunity to China to develop and maintain for herself an 
 effective and stable government; 
 
 (3) To use their influence for the purpose of effectually estab- 
 lishing and maintaining the principle of equal opportunity 
 for the commerce and industry of all nations throughout 
 the territory of China; 
 
 (4) To refrain from taking advantage of conditions in China 
 in order to seek special rights or privileges which would 
 abridge the rights of subjects or citizens of friendly states, 
 and from countenancing action inimical to the security of 
 such states. 
 
 2. With reference to extraterritorial jurisdiction: 
 
 a. That we express ourselves in favor of the abolition of extra- 
 territoriality in China at an early date. 
 
 b. That we further express the opinion that the determination of 
 that date and of the provisions that may be considered mu- 
 tually desirable should be undertaken cooperatively on terms 
 of equality by China and the other Powers. 
 
 3. With reference to the treaty provisions according special privileges 
 
 to missions and missionaries: 
 
 a. That when our respective governments negotiate the new 
 treaties which are so urgently needed, we wish it to be under- 
 stood that we do not desire any distinctive privileges for mis- 
 sions and missionaries imposed by treaty upon the Chinese 
 Government and people. 
 
 39 
 
b. That correlatively we consider it desirable that the Chinese 
 Government by such legislation as may be deemed necessary 
 define the rights and privileges of missionaries, in particular 
 to acquire and hold property and to carry forward their work 
 in China. 
 
 c. We also express our desire and judgment that the principle 
 of religious liberty should be reciprocally recognized in all 
 future relationships between China and other nations. 
 
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