Congregational Missions in the Heavenly Kingdom Judson Smith URING 1 902 the American Board had twenty missions in eleven differ- ent countries. The work of these missions is done in 101 stations and 1 ,293 out-stations by 544 foreign missionaries and 3,9 1 9 native mission- aries. Religious meetings were conducted in 1,668 different places. The 535 organized churches had 59,585 communicants, of which 5,902 were added during the year 1 902. The average attendance at the services of the missions was over 88,000. There were 763 Sunday schools with a membership of 70,243, and 66,263 pupils and students under instruction in 1 4 theological schools, 1 1 4 boarding and high schools, and 1 ,240 day schools. The total native contributions were $176,439. Minute adopted by the Prudential Committee November 24, 1 903. The Prudential Committee finds that the estimates received from the missions for the year 1904 call for $140,000 more than the appropriations for the previous year. The best interests of the work demand such an in- crease both for the needed re-enforcement of the missionaries and the develop- ment of the native agency. But while our present financial outlook does not warrant an advance like this there are celtmn items in these estimates amounting to $28,020 in excess of the amount appropriated last year which the Committee deem well- nigh imperative, and which, if granted, will save from disastrous losses other- wise inevitable. Deeply impressed by these urgent needs, the Committee states them clearly to the churches upon which must rest the responsibility as to whether the special work referred to shall be abandoned for lack of this added amount of $28,020. Until some decisive answer is received from the churches or individuals as to their purpose to meet these needs, the Commit- tee does not feel warranted in increasing the appropriations above those of tte previous year, but the Committee is encouraged to hope that a generous re- sponse will be made to this statement. The response should be made quickly, that serious results may be averted and our missionary service made much more effective. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE, BOSTON Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/congregationalmiOOsmit MAKIVK MKMORIAL ARCH AT OREI5T1X, OHIO Congregational Supplement to 'Princely Men in the Heavenly Kingdom” A Biographical Mission Study Text-Book on China for Young People, by Harlan P. Beach Congregational Missions in the Heavenly Kingdom BY REV. JUDSON SMITH, D.D. Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions DEPARTMENT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE, BOSTON 1904 Congrcgafionaf (^arfgrs of I9OO Rev. Ernest R. Atwater Mrs. Elizabeth G. Atwater Bertha B. Atwater Celia B. Atwater Ernestine H. Atwater Mary S. Atwater Miss Susan R. Bird Rev. Dwight H. Clapp Mrs. Mary J. Clapp Rev. Francis W. Davis Miss Annie A. Gould Miss Mary S. Morrill Miss Mary L. Partridge ♦ Rev. Horace T. Pitkin Rev. Charles W. Price Mrs. Eva J. Price Florence Price Rev. George L. Williams PREFACE The missionary awakening among the students of North America has been charac- terized as the greatest religious movement in the nineteenth century. While it had its beginnings in the first decade, it was not until the last three decades that interest be- came widespread, commanding the attention of the entire student world. Since the organ- ization of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions in 1886, it has rendered invaluable service to missionary societies and boards by raising up an army of well-quali- fied candidates for missionary appointment, over two thousand of whom have already sailed to foreign fields. Not least among its benefits conferred upon the Church of Christ, however, has been its contribution to Christian literature of more than a score of text-books for the scientific study of missions and an equally notable gift to the churches of an in- creasing number of able and devoted students of missions capable of leading the large arm}^ of young people of all denominations in organ- ized missionary effort, to hasten by prayer, gift of money and consecration of life the evangel- ization of the entire non-Christian world. Preface A similar awakening is therefore now appearing among young people in general in the movement for the study of missions and pro- motion of systematic and proportionate giving. Missionary text-books or manuals are there- fore being prepared for use by classes or so- cieties of young people which will become the foundation of this educational campaign. To supplement the information given in the text-books, historical sketches of Congrega- tional missions will be issued from time to time. This pamphlet has been prepared, therefore, not only to complete a series of studies for young people, but to bring to the attention of all the remarkable history and achievements of men and women sent forth to China by Congregational churches, and supported by the prayers and gifts of Congregational church members. The» sketch of the four missions of the American Board in China is sent forth with the belief that a loyalty to missions in China, in degree comparable to the devotion to the cause of Christ of the thirteen Congregational missionaries and their five children martyred in the year 1900, may take possession of every Congregational young man and woman in the churches. CONTENIS Congregational Martyrs of 1900 Preface ' . 1 , 1 ST OF Illustrations . Statistics of Chinese Missions, 1902 Chronology of Chinese Missions Foochow Mission .... North China Mission Shansi Mission .... South China Mission Appendix, containing (Questions Pag’e 4 .s 8 9 10 1 1 19 • 31 37 • 43 ILLUSTRAl'IONS Page Martyr Memorial Arch, Oberlin, Ohio, Frontispiece Bridge of Ten Thousand Ages . . ■. .12 Pastor Ling, Foochow ...... 14 Foochow City Station . . . Facing page 15 Girls’ College, Foochow . . u n Pagoda Anchorage Station House “ “ 19 Village with Eighty-three Christians “ “ 21 Tai-yuen-fu Memorial . . . “ “ 33 Mission Premises at Canton . “ “ 37 Presby'terian Hospital and Church “ “ 37 Dr. Hager’s Helpers, 1903 . . n n American Board Teacher . . . . .40 STATISTICS OF CONGREGATIONAL MISSIONS IN CHINA SNOIX -AHIHXNOD aAIXVN N N -t- 00 VO N ^ ro VD *-< ^ CO NO NO^ C^ NOIXOAHXS -Ml aaaNA aaaivnN N N On "o ’4“ fo to CO 3.359 aooHOS AvaNiis Ni saaawaiM lo 0 0 00 CO CO Cl c^ to zo6i ‘iixiva ao NOissaaNOO no aaaav ^ ON CO to NO lO CO C0 M -t" SHaaaoA\ aAixvN c0 0 00 C!\ iJO rl "1" SNOIXVXS tr'j N ''I 1 NO aaaNAoa Hvax N ro lo CXD OD oo oo 00 (X) MISSION Foochow North China Shansi South China CHRONOLOGY OF CONGREGATIONAL MIS- SIONS IN CHINA, SHOWING STATIONS IN EACH MISSION AND DATES OF OCCUPATION FOOCHOW MISSION Stations When Established Ponasang 1S47 Foochow City 1850 Shao-wu ......... 1S77 Pagoda Anchorage 1S90 Inghok 1S9S NORTH CHINA MISSION Tientsin ......... 1S60 Peking 1S62 Kalgan ......... 1S65 Tung-cho 1S67 Pao-ting-fu ........ 1S73 Pang-Chuang ........ 1S79 Lin-Ching ........ 1887 SHANSI MISSION Taiku ......... 1SS3 Fenchow-fu 1SS7 SOUTH CHINA MISSION Hong Kong 18S3 Canton *§90 I FOOCHOW MISSION The city of Foochow, from which this mis- sion takes its name, is the principal city of the province of Fuhkien, and more attractive than Chinese cities usually are. It is situated on the River Min, thirty miles from the sea, in a broad and fertile valley, surrounded by strik- ing mountain ranges, Ku Shan, the highest peak, rising twenty-five hundred feet above the plain. The population of the city and its Location suburbs is estimated at a million souls. No one can form a definite idea of a million objects of any kind. But a ride in a sedan chair from the landing on the river through the subui'bs, past the shops, among the crowded streets, and cross the river on the “stone bridge of ten thousand ages,” into the city through its gate and narrow, winding ways, with people rush- ing, speaking, peering at you — men, women, children, here, there, eveitywhere — makes one feel how many a million are. The two oldest stations are in the city and in the suburbs, with two other stations near at hand, on the river and on its affluents. The Foochow Mission I 2 Church Missionary Society of England and the Methodist Board of America have each a Stations mission centering in this city, but occupying BRIDGE OF TEX THOUSAND AGES entirely distinct fields in the country round about. These three missions live and work together in most admirable harmony. The one interior station, Shao-wu, lies 250 miles northwest of Foochow up the Min River, and occupies a territory 200 miles long and 100 miles broad, among an unusually vigorous and promising people, numbering 300,000, where an entirelv different dialect is spoken. The journey to Inghok, which takes two days, or Foochow Mission 13 that to Shao-wu, which takes two weeks, is an experience never to be forgotten. You set out in a house boat, with half-a-dozen Chinese more or less to guide the boat and look after your goods. The outlook is charming. Hills rise upon hills on either side before you, enough in five miles to fit out an entire state with noble sceneiy, and all is fair. But soon you come to rapids. Your boat is tossed and twisted from side to side, bumped against rocks, grounded on the sand, while you are fortunate if you and your goods are not tilted into the stream. But patience and perseverance pre- vail, and at last you reach your destination, with bruises and sprains, but with a sense of victory, inspired by all that you have seen and done and conquered. This mission was opened in the suburbs of Foochow in 1847, by Rev. Stephen Johnson and Rev. and Mrs. L. B. Peet. The expan- sion of the field, the increase of the force, the development of the work have gone on steadily through all the intervening years, until to-day there are five centers of missionary residence occupied by thirty-six men and women, and more than a hundred points adjacent where Christian work in church and school is in progress. Evangelistic work and touring have always been a prominent part in the missionary labors of this field, the results showing how^ Methods of Work and Results 14 Foochow Mission Three Generations of Christians successfully this has been done. There are more than loo churches and chapels, with a membership of 3,082, and 7,000 more are con- nected with these churches as regular attend- ants on worship and Sunday school. Eleven ordained pastors stand at the head of the na- tive laborers, assisted by 1 50 other natives who preach the gospel. These, with 100 Chris- tian teachers in mission schools, help to widen the reach of the gospel, deepen its hold and make it fruitful in hun- dreds of homes. Take, as an example. Pastor Ding of Ponasang, the first native ordained in this mission, erect, vigorous, earnest, a con- stant comfort to the missionaries. Two sons of his are in the ministry, one of them, a very handsome man, being a teacher in the Theo- logical Seminaiy, while his aged mother and his wife and his daughter are active in all good work, all wholesome to see. Ten years ago there was not a self-support- ing church in the mission. Now there are eight, and these churches are taking substan- tially the entire direction of their own work. FOOCHOW CITY STATION QIKTS COTLEGE, FOOCHO\Y Foochow Mission 15 which indicates a great gain. The Christian Endeavor Society was introduced in this mis- Churches sion within five years from the first organization in America and has proved of gi'eat service to the churches. The Young Men’s Christian Association is also well organized, and num- bers among its members many of the most promising young men of the mission. The various mission schools form the second inost important kind of work in the field, and have been growing rapidly during the last decade in pupils and in influence. The Theo- logical School stands at the head, does all its work in the Chinese language, and sends out six or seven men every year, all graduates, who are in great demand. The best of them can preach more effectively than any of the mis- sionaries. Foochow College in the city, with Education one hundred and fifty boys, and the College for girls at Ponasang, with thirty students, are extremely interesting schools to visit. The students who face you as you sit in the chapels are a picked company, bright, alert, eager, capable boys and girls ; less advanced, to be sure, but not so greatly different from those you will find at Amherst and Wellesley. Boarding schools for girls, four in number, prepare their pupils for the college and also for Christian work in their own homes. A training school for Bible women, a flourishing kindergarten, women’s Foochow Mission 1 6 classes under Bible women, and ninety day schools scattered all over the field, suggest the variety and reach of the educational work of the mission. No one can visit any of these schools with- out seeing how powerful a hold they give to all missionary work and how full of promise are Influence the bright-eyed, responsive, energetic boys of Schools girls that come under a Christian teacher. Near the mouth of the Min River is a girls’ school, whose teacher was once a Sharp Peak hoodlum, but who grew into refined Christian womanhood in Miss Newton’s school at Pon- asang. Who can ever forget how those girls hung on their teacher’s face and- words, and admired her, and saw in her what they hoped one day to be? Who can think lightly of its immediate and lasting influence? The old couplet puts it well, — “A boy’s will is the wind’s will, But the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.” Medical work is one of the most impressive and far-reaching influences connected with the missionary work. Relief from bodily distress easily opens the way for the reception of Medical Christian truth, as our Lord’s miracles of healing prepared many hearts to welcome him and his divine message. This mission is unusually well equipped in hospitals and dis- Foochow Mission T7 pensaries, medical work being carried on at each of its five stations. Thousands of men and women are treated in each of them every year. The gospel is taught to all those who come for help, and Christian influence in this way goes to many a home and village quite outside the native preacher's voice. If you sit with the physician in his clinic, noting those who await his counsel, marking his skill, pa- tience and the wonderful relief experienced, and consider what would become of these peo- ple if he were not there, you cannot wonder that his teaching has authority, or his personal influence comforting and inspiring power. In some of the hospitals, classes of medical stu- dents are trained and made ready greatly to broaden the reach of this arm of the service. The outlook for the work of this mission is of the most hopeful and inspiring sort. Every field is open, homes are accessible, the good will of the people is already won, the prelim- inary work is over, and everything is ready for a widespread, swift and resistless advance. It is the day of opportunity, for which fifty-six years have been preparing, and to which every motive urges the workers on. A mis- sionary family ought this very day to be on its way to take the important place at Shao-wu left vacant by Mr. Hinman’s withdrawal to be the Secretary of the Christian Endeavor Union Outlook i8 Foochow Mission in China, and another family should be on the ground soon to relieve Dr. Walker, at Shao-wu, whose strength is greatly weakened. Two single women are needed for school work at Pagoda Anchorage. Most of all, and always, are needed the prayers of all Christians that the work of the mission may be blessed, “ so that he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.” t i I’ACODA ANCHORAGE STA'IION HOUSE II NORTH CHINA MISSION North China since i860 has included the provinces of Chihli, Shantung, Honan and Shansi, with Manchuria. Peking, its central city, is the most important among Chinese cities. The Manchus made it their capital in 1628. It stands as the type of Manchu bril- liance and power, whose masterful influence controls the eighteen provinces. No Chinese The Field city is so well laid out ; there are elsewhere no such splendid monuments, such temples, palaces or public buildings. The Confucian temple, with its thirteen classics carved in marble, the Buddhist monasteries, the astro- nomical instruments, the vast grounds of the temple, give uniqueness and beauty scarce paralleled among Asiatic cities. A very re- cent imperial census gives Chihli a population of twenty million, and Shantung thirty-eight million. Five rivers course the Chihli plains, uniting in a flne sea river at Tientsin. The Peiho and Grand Canal are of first impor- tance. Shantung boasts of and mourns over the Yellow River. 20 North China Mission Five great elementary religions control Chi- nese life. These are Confucianism, official and orthodox, accepted of all ; Buddhism, an exotic from India, yet supplementing the cold ^atiye formalities of the state religion in marriage and Religions p^rial forms, in splendid pagodas and temples, through fears and hopes of the soul; Taoism, full of mysteries and superstitions, fruitful source of hero worship and semi-gods, Li Hung Chang being the latest canonized, na- tive secret cults denying the realities of the gods, and vaguely seeking the “ Great True” invisible ; and Mohammedanism, with its twenty million adherents. Despite her conservatism, China long since entered the world life of commerce, diplomacy Signs of and progress. The telegraph, begun in i88i. Progress every province by its two thousand miles of wires. The first railroad of seven miles has reached widely, connecting Tientsin with the sea, with Peking and with several other important places. The trunk line from Peking to Hankow is opened for two hundred and thirty miles. Several other lines, includ- ing that to Siberia, are also open. The North China Mission was opened in i860, the year of the occupation of Peking by the Allies, and in close connection with those events. Dr. Blodget entered Tientsin with the Allied army and followed it to Peking, seizing \ f' \ II,I.AGE WITH rilKEK CHRISTIAN'S North China Mission 21 this favorable opportunity to gain entrance for the gospel. The mission had occupied five stations in the first thirteen years, selecting the centers of work with wise strategy : Organization Peking, the imperial capital in 1862 ; Tient- sin, the Chicago of North China, in i860 ; Kalgan, the health resort by the Great Wall, in 1865 ; Tung-cho, long the harbor and granary of Peking, in 1867 ; and Pao-ting-fu, the capital of the province, in 1873. These are the chief cities of the North, and command the whole province of Chihli. Two stations were chosen later in the neighboring province of Shantung, Pang-Chuang in 1879, cen- ter of famine distribution in that year, and Lin-Ching in 1886. The territory covered is Territory five hundred miles from north to south, and varies from fifty to two hundred miles from east to west, as large as the state of Pennsyl- vania, with a population not far from thirty million souls. It is doubtful if any other mission of the Board gives access to so vast a population in so central and commanding a position. No one who has not traveled in China can form a just conception of the den- sity of its population in this region. The cit- ies are great and populous, but it is the open country which astonishes you. Village joins close upon village as you go, on the right, on the left, each with from two thousand to twenty 22 North China Mission thousand souls, mile upon mile, for fifty or a hundred miles at a stretch, till the wonder grows how they live, where they can find their food. The people are busy, the streets are full of hurrying men, the homes are thronged with children ; and the impression of a vast population, beyond all computation, grows upon you, and you are bewildered. The development of the work was slow but continuous along the four main lines of mis- sionary effort, preaching, teaching, translat- ing, and medical wmrk. The life of a busy Development Station like Pang-Chuang is a wonderful sight of Work jQ witness. There is the Williams Hospital, where twenty-five thousand patients are treated every year; the meeting before the daily clinic is like a regular Sunday service, with a full and attentive audience. The scene at the clinic is most impressive. The sense of need, of suffering, of faith and hope among the patients with the sense of capacity and helpful- ness and sympathy and skill in the physician and his attendants, are ever present. No one can be an hour in such a place and not be thrilled with gratitude and hope. If one goes to the girls’ school, where forty choice girls are gathered under the missionary teacher, it is possible to see how plastic are their minds and hearts, what soil for Christian virtues and good thoughts they present, how wise North China Mission 23 and patient is the teacher, and how powerful the sceptre she wields. Attend a quarterly meeting of the church on Sunday, where five hundred men and women gather from far and near, and the native pastors administer the communion. Note the quiet, serious, wor- shipful air, the earnest and forceful speech of these pastors, the sincerity of prayer, the fer- vor of song, the generous gifts, and think what it all means, and your heart grows warm and hopeful and confident. This means, in due time, the evangelization of all this great land. To attend the commencement of the North China College is an experience rare and memorable. The students in the chapel, sturdy, serious, dignified, attractive, are a body of picked men ; the president’s address is sim- ple, practical, high-toned ; the students’ ora- tions are thoughtful, delivered with dignity, brim full of patriotism, eagerly listened to by their comrades ; the choruses are ren- dered' by the boys themselves either alone or under a foreign leader, who astonish you in the end by their effective rendering in four parts, by Chinese voices alone, of the Hallelujah Chorus. This college is a foun- tain of life and power. It is doing for the mission precisely what Yale and Amherst have for generations been doing for New England. After forty years, in 1900, there Higher Education 24 North China Mission were sixty missionaries, seven native pastors, 120 preachers, teachers and Bible women, and 130 places regularly occupied by church or school or both. In the eight churches there were 2,500 members, increasing by about 270 each year. The Theological Seminary had fifteen students. North China College seventy-five, the Bridgman School eighty. Upon this work, so wisely located and ad- ministered, so deeply rooted and fruitful, the Boxer Boxer outbreak fell with terrible fury and Outrage destruction. Its first distinct appearance was at Pang-Chuang and Lin-Ching, in the province of Shantung, early in the year 1899. The governor of that province at that time was Yii Hsien, later the infamous leader of the bloody deeds in Shansi. His sympathy with the Boxers, which was scarcely veiled, gave them twofold courage and strength. The Empress Dowager, directly or indirectly, fa- vored the anti-foreign outbreak ; and it was only with extreme difficulty and long delay that the foreign embassies at Peking succeeded in securing the dismissal of Yti Hsien and the appointment of Yuan Shih Kai, and the effective suppression of the Boxer soldiery in this province ; and this was not done till many villages in these stations had been looted, many native Christians reduced to beggary, North China Mission 25 and the whole region terrorized. Yuan Shih Kai’s strong hand forced the Boxers out of the province early in 1900, and the rising flood moved northward into the fields adjacent to the stations of Pao-ting-fu, Tientsin, Peking, and Tung-cho. There the excitement spread, the numbers grew, the dangers thickened through the spring of 1900, till the climax was reached in June. The foreign forces concentrated in Tientsin, and great battles were fought, resulting in the capture of the native city, the destruction of its walls and of many of its buildings. Meanwhile, a detach- ment of the foreign force pressed its difficult march to Peking to raise the siege under which the embassies and the missionaries had rested within the city from June 20th. On Fall of August 14th the Allies captured the city, drove the government to flight, and set up foreign rule for the time. Prior to these events the Boxers had fallen upon Tung-cho station with fearful violence, putting to the sword more than half the church members, and driving from their villages and homes many others connected with them. The missionary homes and all the buildings of the station were looted and burned, not one brick upon another being left. Most of those who fell were true to their faith and died the death of Christian martyrs, to the astonishment of their murder- 26 North China Mission ers and to the glory of God. The missionaries and many refugees fled to Peking and endured the long and fearful siege in the British embassy. The Christians in Peking and in the out-sta- tions in like manner were either driven into hiding or were openly slain, men, women. Widespread children, with loss of their homes and all Desolation their possessions. The missionary premises, including houses, press, chapel and school, were burned to the ground and left a smok- ing ruin. Tlie missionaries took refuge in the British embassy, and bore their share in that perilous siege. The fields of Kalgan, Tientsin, and Lin-Ching were also deeply disturbed, the native Christians harried, driven to flight, in some instances put to the sword, the mission premises injured or par- tially burned at Tientsin, and sacked and destroyed at the other stations. Pao-ting-fu was a center of disturbance for many weeks. The out-stations were visited and terrorized with the death of many Christian Chinese and their friends, while the authorities of the city were overawed and silenced. In the height of the madness, before any relief could come, all the missionaries on this station were destroj'ed by fire and sword, three of them beloved members of our own mission. Pang-Chuang, which was the only station North China Mission 27 effectually guarded, suffered no loss through all those stormy days. Its troubles came earlier, and while deeply confusing and de- moralizing, involved no destruction of life. Such a blow as this and other missions in this province, and all the missions in Shansi suffered, had never before fallen upon any field under the care of the Board, and is exceedingly rare in the modern history of missions. It is estimated that this outbreak cost the lives of one hundred and thirty-five adult Protestant missionaries and fifty-three children ; of thirty-five Catholic fathers and nine sisters. The destruction of propert}" was equally great. Practically all the mission sta- tions north of the Yellow River, with homes, chapels, hospitals, schools, and other build- ings of every description, were utterl}' de- stroyed. As an example of the spirit and heroism with w^hich the Chinese Christians, pastors, people, men, women, children, met the chal- lenge of death or the denial of Christ, let the story of Pastor Meng of Pao-ting-fu suffice. He was at Peking when the Boxers closed in on Pao-ting-fu and threatened death to every Christian, foreign and native alike. In- stantly he resolved to return to guard the mis- sionaries there, and against the remonstrance of all, like Regulus of old, marched to Pao- Cost in Lives A Native Martyr 28 North China Mission Reconstruc- tion ting-tu amid bristling dangers, and stood by the side of Mr. Pitkin, Miss Morrill, and Miss Gould till two days before they were slain, when he, bis wife, and all but one of his five children were cruelly put to death. One can- not forbear to ask what Cyprian, the martyr- bishop of Carthage did, that Meng, the pastor at Pao-ting-fu did not do, in honor of his Lord. As soon as the court fled from Peking and the Boxer storm was past, the work of recon- struction began in all the desolated regions. Jiy the wise and energetic efforts of Dr. Ament the refugees of the Peking out-stations were promptly restored to their own villages, their homes rebuilt, and their losses made good. The destruction in the out-stations of Tung- cho was so cruel and deep that the refugees were kept with the missionaries in Peking many months, and even when indemnities were gained for all their losses, many of them were settled in new homes near the new station by the city wall. Rebuilding was soon begun on the enlarged compounds in Peking, Tnng- cho, and Pao-ting-fu ; Tientsin and Pang- Chuang were reoccupied, Lin-Ching joined to Pang-Chuang, and Kalgan treated as an out-station for the time. Missionary work in all its usual forms was renewed in all the stations. Already the volume of activities has reached the dimensions of four years ago, while in North China Mission 29 some instances it has gone beyond that limit. The opportunity for reaching the Chinese and winning them to the Christian life is vastly en- hanced, and far outruns the capacity of the force now in the field. New missionary fami- lies are urgently called for, and enlarged means to meet the immediately urgent needs of the woi'k already in hand. The court in due time returned to Peking, and while not reformed or essentially changed in spirit, it has thus far maintained an outwardly friendly attitude toward all foreigners. Mis- sionaries everywhere are treated with great deference, their work is unhindered so far as public interference is concerned, Western learning is welcomed, education in some forms fostered, and the times are favorable for an immediate and great advance in the diffu- sion of Christianity among the people of the land. It is the time to pour in men and money with generous hand, to build on the old foun- dations, to seize the new opportunities, and so possess the land and the people’s minds that no attempted repetition of the outbreak can be successfully made, and that the evangelization of the land may be hastened apace. Outlook Ill SHANSI MISSION The province of Shansi lies west of the province of Chihli in which Peking is located, and is separated from it by high mountain ranges. The Yellow River is the boundary line on the west, Mongolia on the north, and Province of Honan on the south. There are several fer- tile plains in the central portion, of which the Tai-yuen-fu plain is the largest. It has an area of two thousand square miles, and is three thousand feet above sea level. Innumerable walled villages, market towns and hamlets, besides eleven large cities and the capital, Tai-yuen-fu, dot the plain. One of the moun- tain peaks west of the plain is pointed out as the Ararat of China, and is called Ken Tsu Shan (mountain of the ancestors of man). The story is told that when the whole race was destroyed by a flood, two persons saved their lives by jumping on the backs of two lions, which carried them to the topmost ledge of the mountain. These two afterward be- came the parents of the whole human race. Shansi may be considered the cradle of the Shansi Mission 32 Chinese nation. The origin of the race is shrouded in obscurity, yet the first records represent it as a band of emigrants from the Northeast, which settled in the fertile plains of Shansi and Honan. Near the city of Ping- yang-fu lived and ruled the famous emperors, Yao Shuen and Yii (2356-2196 B. C.). A few miles from the city was a large temple, the remains of which could be seen a few years ago. The people of Shansi are noted for their intelligence and enterprise and commercial People thrift. Ping Yao and Taiku, two of its cities, are the chief banking centers in all the region. Shansi men are widely scattered through the empire as traders and bankers, and they are found as cashiers in the banks of Japan. The origin of the Shansi Mission was in the China Band, formed in Oberlin Theological Seminary in the year 1879-1880, in the classes then under the instruction of Dr. Judson Smith, then professor of church history, now Origin of the Yov&xgn Secretary of the American Board. Mission students, twelve or more in number, called on their teacher and asked him to go with them and establish a mission in China, as groups of mediaeval monks under their ab- bot had often planted Christianity in new cen- ters in Europe. Out of this grew the band, and later the Shansi Mission of the Board. >, -v. ■ y I 'Vv ' ' TAI-YIFEN-FU MEMOKIAI. Shansi Mission 33 Rev. Martin L. Stimson and Mrs. Stimson, of Oberlin, were the pioneers, going out in i88i. They were joined the next year by Messrs. Atwood, Tenney, and Cady, all of Oberlin and members of the band. Still others fol- lowed, until eighteen years later, at the time of the Boxer outbreak, the force numbered sixteen. With the counsel and aid of the North China Mission the province of Shansi was chosen as the seat of the mission, and the capital city, Tai-yuen-fu, was made the first station. At a Stations later date, after consultation with other mis- sions in the province, and in the spirit of mis- sionary comity, the seat of the mission was changed to Taiku and a second station was opened at Fenchow-fu. Each was a populous city of four hundred thousand souls, and the district in which each stands had more than a million souls. _ The work of the mission followed the cus- tomary lines, except that unusual attention was given to education, and to the opening and management of opium refuges. The people progress of of Shansi are peculiarly addicted to the use of t/ie Mission opium, and these refuges seemed an essential part of the means of reaching them with the gospel. After the first difficulties were over- come good progress was made, churches or- ganized, schools opened, the confidence of the people won, and the foundations of a strong 34 Shansi Mission and successful mission firmly laid. In 1900 there were two stations, eleven places of stated preaching, eight native preachers, and ten other native workers, two churches with 171 members, no in Sunday schools, eighty-six under instruction, forty-tive of them in the academy, and sixteen in the girls’ boarding school. The native contributions amounted to $634. The mission was well planted in a broad and promising field, and its work was already fruitful in a goodly degree. Upon this mission and all its work in the summer of 1900 the hand of violence under Martyred the lead of the infamous governor, Yii Hsien, M/ss/onaries suddenly laid. At the end of July the missionaries at Taiku, three men and three women, were put to the sword amid the smok- ing ruins of their homes. In the middle of August the band at Fenchow-fu, two men and two women and five children, were marched out to their death, and their homes confiscated. A noble monument to these martyrs and those who fell at Pao-ting-fu has within the year been erected on the college campus at Oberlin, trodden by so many of them in their student days, and publicly dedicated to their lasting memory. (See frontispiece.) The native Christians and their leaders also perished in great numbers and with a like noble devotion to their faith. One of the first patients Shansi Mission 35 in Dr. Atwood’s opium refuge was a man who afterward taught in the boys’ school. After be- Apostolic ing soundly converted, he entered heartily into all Christian work, and became a very Paul among his people. When the Boxers came he was among the first to be taken, and be- fore his accusers, under the cruel knife like Cyprian at Carthage and Polycarp at Smyrna, “ witnessed a good confession,” and kindled a light in Shansi that will shine till time be no more. The mission lay prostrate and bleeding for more than a year ; then, with official apology and restitution, amid popular rejoicing, the one surviving missionary returned, gathered Reopening the precious remains of associates and gave Outlook them public and honorable burial, received solemn pledges of protection to the work from officials, and began to rally and comfort the remnant whom fire and sword had left. The mission force was so depleted that it has not yet been possible to re-establish residence in the field, but frequent visits are made from Pao- ting-fu, what remains of the two churches have resumed worship, and schools are in progress. The field is open, safety is assured, and a great opportunity lies before the mission. Happily two new families have just been ap- pointed to this field, and the voice of the gospel, silenced these three years, will soon be heard, and the work, consecrated by martyr blood, be fully resumed. I MISSION PREMISES AT CANTON (on the right) PRESRYTERIAN IIOSPITAE AND CHURCH (on the left) PR. HAGER’ S HELPERS IX THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION, 1903 IV SOUTH CHINA MISSION The South China Mission was organized in 1883 for the purpose of connecting Christian work in behalf of Chinese in this country with Origin and missionary work in Southern China. Many of these people having become true and earnest Christians here, on returning to their homes needed counsel and help in maintain- ing their Christian life. At the same time they were capable of aiding in the evangelization of their own people. The Chinese in this country, almost to a man, come from certain districts in the province of Kwangtung, of which Canton, on the River Pearl, ninety miles from Hong Kong, is the capital. They all pass through Hong Kong, the great sea- port of Southern China, and can easily be met and followed to their homes and kept within view. Rev. Charles R. Hager, a graduate of Pacific Theological Seminary and a worker among the Chinese in and around San Fran- ^ersonwe/ cisco, was the first missionary appointed to this work, and from 1883 to 1890 was the 38 South China Mission only missionary on the field. He made Hong Kong the center of his work, kept in close touch with the Christian Chinese returning home from this country, and gradually de- veloped a regular missionary work in the country districts to which they belonged. Rev. C. A. Nelson joined the mission in 1893, and is there to-day. Two single women spent a few years in this field, and an interesting girls’ school was opened under their care. To-day the mission consists of Rev. C. R. Hager, M.D.,Mrs. Hager, Rev. C. A. Nelson and Mrs. Nelson. Dr. Hager resides in Hong Kong, super- intending the work in that city and in twenty- seven out-stations in country districts that lie from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty miles to the south and west of Hong Stations Kong. He has been able to erect in Hong Kong a large building for mission purposes at a cost of several thousand dollars, without any financial aid from the Board, mainly by gifts from the Chinese and their friends in Hong Kong. Here are domiciled the mis- sionary family, the mission church of the city, and the schools under Dr. Hager’s care. Mr. Nelson resides in Canton, on premises pro- vided by the Board, including residences for the missionaries and a building for the girls’ boarding school. The compound is near the South China Mission 39 great city, convenient to the centers of mis- sionary work, and yet outside the city walls and in a healthful and attractive' situation. Mr. Nelson superintends the missionary work in Canton and on two out- stations, and is charged with the development of a school for training preachers and teachers. The field occupied by these men belonged to the first mission established by tbe Board in China in 1830. Various causes led to the transfer of the work here to the Presbyterian Previous Board, our mission force going northward to Occupation Shanghai and at length to Peking. The re- turn of the Board for the work committed to Dr. Hager and his associates was warmly welcomed by all the other societies interested, and there are the most cordial relations be- tween our laborers and the members of all other missions. The long cultivation of this field, from the days of Robert Morrison to the present time, has prepared the way for an un- usually abundant harvest in these later days. The word of our Lord is notably fulfilled : “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor ; other men labored and ye are entered into their labor.” The method of developing the evangelistic work is very simple and effective. The peo- ple in a village not far from one of the out- stations hear what is going on ; some of them 40 South China Mission Methods of Work Results visit the village and become interested ; the missionary visits the place, holds meetings, and presently a site is secured for regular Sunday services, the people themselves meet- ing a part or all of the cost ; the best man available is put in charge, and a new out- station is secured. Or Christian Chinese from this country form a nu- cleus in a new place, begin religious ser- vices, solicit a visit from the missionary, rent or build a chapel, and fix a new center. Or the missionary visits a place to see what can be done, is sometimes welcomed, quite as often rebuffed, perhaps driven out ; but at a later day finds an entrance, gathers a constituency, and this place is added to the list of villages occupied. The growth of this evangelistic work has been more and more rapid from year to year, the limit being fixed rather by the strength of the missionary and the resources at his com- mand than by the possibilities of the field. In 1895, when the mission had been established twelve years, there were seven stations and AMERICAN BOARD TEACHER South China Mission 41 seven preachers, 118 church members, forty additions for the year, and native gifts $9.16; in 1902, seven years later, there were twenty- seven stations and twenty-three preachers, 1,429 church members, 496 additions for the year, and native gifts $5,200, a very unusual increase. The Board is able to appropriate only $1,000 a year for the regular work of the mission, aside from missionary salaries, while three or four times that sum seems indispensable to Outlook keep pace with the growing work. Were it not that special gifts, generous in amount, come in from Christian Chinese in this land, the work would suffer at every point. APPENDIX. QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. I. — FOOCHOW MISSION. 1. Describe the location of Foochow. 2. Point out on the map the stations of this Mission and indicate distances. 3. What method of travel is used in this region ? 4. When and by whom was the Mission opened.? 5. What classes of native laborers are employed, and how many are there of each ? 6. How many of the churches are self-supporting.? 7. In what year was the first Christian Endeavor Society organized in the Mission .? 8. Name the three largest educational institutions of the Mission. 9. What other schools are taught and superintended.? 10. At how many points is medical work done, and with what evident results.? 11. What is the outlook for future missionary work in the Mission ? 12. Point out on the map the place where Mr. Walker resides, and where one of the two new missionary families is needed. II. — NORTH CHINA MISSION. 1. Describe the field of the North China Mission. 2. What are the five great Chinese religions.? 3. Mention several indications that Western civilization is being impressed upon China. 4. Name and locate on the map, in order of occupation, the stations of the North China Mission, and characterize these cities. Appendix 5. Give the area and population of the district of the North China Mission. 6. Summarize the achievements in the Mission after forty years. 7. What political events preceded the massacres of 1900 in North China? 8. In what cities and towns did Congregational mis- sions suffer violence, and how? 9. When was Peking taken by the Allied Army? 10. Give the facts about loss of life and property in North China. 11. Describe Pastor Meng’s heroic action and death. 12. To what extent has the Mission recovered its former power and equipment? 13. Characterize the present attitude of Chinese toward missionaries. III. SHANSI. 1. Bound the province of Shansi. 2. What is the Chinese legend regarding the origin of the human race ? 3. Give the names of two of China’s earliest emperors, and locate on the map the city in which they lived. 4. Characterize the people of the Shansi province. 5. Describe the unique method of founding this Mis- sion. 6. Name and locate the station first opened and the two finally occupied. 7. Summarize the achievements of this Mission in 1900. 8. Mow many Congregational missionaries were killed in the Shansi province? 9. To what degree has the Mission recovered its former strength ? IV. — SOUTH CHINA. 1. When and why was the Mission in South China or- ganized ? 2. Locate on the map the section of the empire from which the Chinese in America come. Appendix 3. What two stations have been established? 4. Describe the equipment of these stations and the territory influenced by them. 5. Relate the first date of Congregational missions in China to the life and work of China’s first Protes- tant missionary. 6. Indicate the methods of missionary work employed in South China. 7. Compare the results of Christian work in the field in 1895 with those of 1902. (Recmt ^u6Cication0 of American (goarb ^uxtM^ fov ^oun^ ^eojjCo. PRINCELY MEN IN THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM: a biographical mission study text-book on China (or young people’s clcisses. By Harlan P. Beach ; with Congregational Supplement by Judson Smith. Eleven illustrations. Price 35c. in paper ; 50c. in cloth, including Supplement in paper. CONGREGATIONAL MISSIONS IN THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM: Supplement to Princely Men in the Heavenly Kingdom. A sketch of the (our missions of the Board in China, with eleven illustrations, a list of questions and statistical tables. By Rev. Judson Smith, D.D. . Free to all who order the above textibook. To others, 1 5c. a copy. MISSIONARY HAND-BOOK FOR PASTORS AND OTHERS. Containing sug- gestions for missionary committees and a bibliography of 250 selected missionruy books. By H. W. Hicks. Price, 1 0 cents. DEPARTMENT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MISSIONARY HERALD. Sub- scription price (or the magazine, 75c. per year, or 50 cents in clubs of ten. HOW TO SECURE AND MAINTAIN A TRAINED LEADERSHIP IN THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETY. By H. W. Hicks. Price, 5c. a copy. 50c. a dozen. PRESENT DAY ASPECTS OF MISSIONS IN JAPAN. With full material and outline program for missionary meetings. By H. W. Hicks. Price, 5c. MISSIONS IN AFRICA. An outline program for a missionary meeting, with helps. By 'H. W. Hicks. THE CLAIMS OF THE WEAK UPON THE STRONG. An outline program for a missionary meeting on South America. By H. W. Hicks. CONGREGATIONAL CONQUESTS'JN THE LAND OF THE TRIDENT. A con- cert exercise program for a missionary meeting on India. Nineteenth thousand. Prepared by H. W. Hicks. FREQUENT MISSIONARY LETTERS FROM MISSIONARIES TO YOUNG PEOPLE, contmning information of value for missionary meetings, mission study classes, and current topic reports. Free to all who apply. AMERICAN BOARD NEWS ITEMS. Issued frequently by the Home Department. Adapted admirably to use by committees in presenting current topices or infor- mation. A PRACTICAL PLAN of co-operation between the Young People’s Society of Christian Elndeavor and the American Board. LARGE PROFIT FROM SMALL INVESTMENT; or. What Small Sums of Money Will Do When Used by the American Board. WHAT $100 WILL DO When Used by the American Board. THE PHILIPPINES. A pamphlet describing the beginning of the newest mission of the Board in the Philippines. By Rev. Robert F. Black. FIVE DEPARTMENTS OF THE AMERICAN BOARD. Containing many facts regarding the industrial, medical, literary, educational and evangelistic work of Congregational native and foreign missionaries. By James L. Barton.