INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA FAM, pHim WORLD SURVEY CONFERENCE I ATLANTIC CITY JANUARY 7 to 10, 1920 PRELIMINARY i Statement and Budget for China ! » * •* i V PREPARED BY SURVEY DEPARTMENT-FOREIGN DIVISION T HIS Survey statement should be read in the light of the fact that it is preliminary only, and will be revised and enlarged as a result of the dis¬ cussions and recommendations of the World Survey Conference. The entire Survey as revised will early be brought together in two volumes, American and Foreign, to form the basis of the financial campaign to follow. The “Statistical Mirror” will make a third volume dealing with general church, missionary and stewardship data. INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA WORLD SURVEY CONFERENCE ATLANTIC CITY JANUARY 7 to 10, 1920 PRELIMINARY Statement and Budget for China PREPARED BY SURVEY DEPARTMENT-FOREIGN DIVISION 1 / V i ,'i A >. /!: ’ \ \ »v.‘. \ rrr r 4 *; ■vet __ I ■ /. i V j.-..I.VJ. rr 8 f? CHINA T HE Chinese people possess first-class intellectual power and capacity. This does not mean that they can lay claim to a first-class fund of knowledge. Judged by any western standards the mass of the people is extremely ignorant. In the past they possessed great creative powers. They were the discoverers of the mariner's compass, the arts of porcelain manufac¬ ture, of sericulture, of printing from movable type. They produced a literature which has for ages been classic for more peoples than those who received their culture from Greece and Rome. China has an area of 4,278,352 square miles—the largest of any country in the world with the sole exception of Russia. China has a population of over 400,000,000—the largest of any single country in the world—fully one-quarter of that of the whole globe. China lies almost entirely within the temperate zone—the region most favor¬ able to the development of modern civilization. China can grow everything producible in the United States and many other things besides. China can feed and clothe herself if given modern methods and machinery. China has mineral resources that rival those of the United States; her coal seams are inexhaustible; her iron-ore deposits amount to over 750 million tons; she has a monopoly of antimony, and great quantities of salt and natural gas. BUT China has not developed any leaders. Illiteracy, superstition and tradition hold her fast in bondage to the past. AND By the end of the twentieth century—now one-fifth gone—the Chinese will probably number one billion. There are only 5,000 effective missionaries at work in China—about one to every 66,000 souls. Can Christianity win in China under these almost impossible handicaps? They were great engineers. The Grand Canal, the wonderful irrigation system of the Chengtu Plain, the dykes and sea walls, the cantilever and suspension bridges built hundreds of years ago—all bear witness to the greatness of their past. 4 The Eastern Giant : CHINA The Chinese were the creators of their own civilization. There was none from whom they could borrow; none to criticize their achievements. Had the race disappeared from the earth it would be regarded today as having been one of the greatest the world had ever known. Looking upon the Chinese as a living, present-day people, some such appraisement (if made with certain qualifications) is justifiable. There are no signs of racial decay among them. Physically and mentally they are vigorous. They are keen business men, the keenest in all Asia. They are excellent laborers—patient, industrious, sober, enduring; .they can stand any climate and any kind of work; they have individual initiative probably to a larger extent than any other people in Asia. With¬ out any assistance from the government they are emigrating by tens of thousands each year to Mongolia and Manchuria and to many parts of Malaysia. And in whatever part of Asia they settle they become an important economic and social factor. Set over against these splendid racial qualities appear two serious defects: In recent generations the Chinese have failed to produce any adequate leadership and there is no sign of immediate improvement in this respect. In the second place, there is an almost entire absence of public spirit and public morality. The necessity for producing men of character devoted to the highest interests of the state is a matter of vital importance, while the need of such leadership and public spirit is emphasized by the nature and magnitude of the country and its varied and tremendous problems. AREA -SQUARE MILES CHINA 4.278.532 UNITED STATES E : 'I7.7.890 TOTAL POPULATION AND PROTESTANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP CHINA 400.000.0 00 312.970 I 105.253.0 00 UNITED STATES ^5oo CHINA POPULATION PER PROTESTANT MINISTERfOR ORDAINED MISSIONARY) 321.287 x ' 042 UNITED STATES Infer church World Movement or North America GO 24 CHINA: The Sleeping Giant 5 THE PROBLEMS OF CHINA HINA has problems without end. She has confronting her all those that inherently belong to her old civilization side by side with those that are products of modern times. The first are not decreasing; the second are multi¬ plying rapidly. Many of China’s old problems are rooted in ignorance and the persistence of this ignorance is in large part due to illiteracy. There are no statistics on the subject, but it can be safely asserted that 95 per cent, of the population is unable to read and write. This lamentable state of affairs is more difficult to overcome because of the extreme complexity of the written language. For an ordinary adult to learn to read and write with ease is at best a matter of years of toilsome study and in the majority of cases, practically impossible. Illiteracy is a most serious drawback under any form of government and in any state of society. But for a people endeavoring to erect and operate a republican form of government in an Asiatic setting, and striving to modify a civiliza¬ tion thousands of years old by the introduction of new ideas and methods, such a high degree of illiteracy is wellnigh a fatal handicap. CUSTOM AND TRADITION HINA’S bondage to tradition and custom is an even greater difficulty. For ages she has been governed by the past. Her back¬ wardness today is not due so much to the fact that she did not progress as that she did not want to progress. This fundamental attitude has in itself constituted an almost insuperable obstacle to the spread of Christianity. Custom and tradition set narrow limits to the life of women in China for centuries. They denied to her almost all right to education. Replies to survey questionnaires bring out the fact that in many parts of China not more than one-tenth of one per cent, of its women can read and write. The power of a husband over his wife used to be almost without limit. It created a situation which brought the bride into the home of her husband as a slave to the mother-in-law and permitted extreme cruelty to be practised upon the helpless girl-wife. Custom imposed upon Chinese women the ter¬ rible suffering of foot-binding. It made mar¬ riage wholly a matter of arrangement between parents, with no regard to the rights of the young men and women concerned. In the Western world the largest single factor in the production of character, aside from divine influence, has been the influence of women. Tradition and custom have in large measure denied to Chinese women the opportunity to exert such influence. A human mass numbering hundreds of millions cannot be moved quickly from old habits; and great areas of China have never been brought in touch with the Western influence of any kind. SUPERSTITION T HE hold superstition has upon the Chinese is almost incredible. No realm of activity and no class of people have been free from this bondage. It has controlled the practise of medicine and led to the perpetuation of ex¬ quisite tortures; it has prevented the growth and spread of knowledge and given the most terrifying explanations of simple phenomena; it has dominated social and family life and made a naturally kindly people deliberately commit acts of unbelievable cruelty; it has influenced business and kept one of the most practical peoples in the world from any large utilization of their great mineral resources. Finally it has poisoned the inner life of the nation and out of the ethical agnosticism of Confucius, the mysticism of Lao Tzu and the pessimism of Gautama it has created a religion dominated by constant and overwhelming fear. EFFECT OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION HILE the old problems still remain unsolved, China faces the difficult and complicated problems which seem inherent in modern civilization. Her cities have always been crowded. In places such as Shanghai which in sixty years has grown from a sleepy county-seat into one of the greatest ports in the world, there are probably the most congested housing conditions 6 The Eastern Giant : CHINA This map is one of a series all drawn to the same scale for purposes of comparison as to area and population. The map of Pennsylvania serves as a unit of comparison and appears same size on each of the series. CHINA: The Eastern Giant 7 in the world—unless primacy in this respect belongs to similar new industrial centers in Japan. Chinese life has suffered deeply from immoral¬ ity, and in great cities like Shanghai, where the restraining influences of the old life have been thrown off, vice has flourished with an openness and abandon impossible in old China. The needs of the world and the potential riches of China will in the near future combine to force her industrial development. The world needs raw materials and new and enlarged markets. China’s development will meet both needs. One does not have to look very far ahead in order to realize something of the sig¬ nificance that this development holds both for China and for the western world. THE DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT HIS was China’s only hope when the Manchu domination was destroyed. But it has not materialized. China’s instinct for democracy is sure and true but it has been largely thwarted. The name and to some ex¬ tent the forms of a republic exist but there is no reality back of either. At Peking a group of military leaders divided into several factions rules in true military fashion. It is supported by its control of the armies which in turn depend upon funds secured in large part by mortgaging undeveloped resources to foreigners. In the south another group of leaders, not un¬ like in character, rules with an iron hand. In the conflict of rival factions the real and vital interests of the country are ignored. There is an enormous expenditure for military pur¬ poses, yet China is helpless in the face of any foreign aggression. Famine and plague sweep over the land with little or no effort made at cure or even control. In some districts rival armies plunder the helpless people; in others, bandits control trade routes and levy tribute on all travelers. China’s debt grows steadily, while all programs for education and social reform are held in abeyance. A growing social and political unrest is everywhere in evidence. THE SHANTUNG QUESTION HE action of the Peace Conference on the Shantung question aroused the strongest indignation in China. The peoples of the west have little realization of the depth and intensity of this feeling. If the terms of the treaty are allowed to stand, the faith of the Chinese in the moral integrity of the nations party to it will be rudely shaken if not destroyed. The attitude of China toward Christianity in the future may be largely determined by the action taken by western nations on the Shan¬ tung question. The Chinese may test the value of our religion by the morality of our political action. They may note and remember the silence of official leaders of the church in the West in the face of an acknowledged wrong and conclude that Christianity fails to produce men able to stand difficult tests of character, even as they know Confucianism has failed in similar emergencies. Yet out of this spirit of indignation has grown what may be the beginning of a real patriotism among the coming generation in China. The student protest which culminated in the boy¬ cott compelling the resignation of two members of the cabinet was a revelation even to the best informed in China. It may well become a land¬ mark in China’s modern history. CHINA’S MILLIONS LTIMATELY the Chinese will unques¬ tionably be the largest homogeneous human mass in the world. An accompanying chart indicates that, assuming an increase of only 25 per cent., the population of China during the next thirty years will attain an in¬ crease almost equal to the total population of the United States in 1910. While increasing at this rate at home the Chinese are pouring down through Malaysia and the East Indian Islands at the rate of 250,000 a year and give every evidence of be¬ coming the dominant race in these lands. It is therefore no exaggeration to picture at the end of the present century a human mass numbering between eight and nine hundred millions spread over all the habitable regions CHINA: The Eastern Giant 9 from Siberia to the tropics, predominantly Chinese in blood, culture, racial outlook and feeling. A SOLUTION IMPERATIVE T HE general problem which China presents to the world must be solved. Of this there cannot be the shadow of a doubt. To solve it will require the cooperation of all the forces which the West can supply. There must be financial aid on a large scale tendered not in a competitive but in a coopera¬ tive way by the western powers and accom¬ panied by real supervision to insure its being properly applied. In all probability some help along the lines of political reconstruction will be necessary. A group of competent advisers, with recognized standing in the government, and actuated by a genuine desire to help China find her way out of the present muddle would be of inestimable value. But it would be absolutely necessary that such advisers should act entirely for the interests of China and not as representatives of conflicting western interests, each desirous of exploiting China for its own profit. The expansion of Western trade relations with China is of vital importance to the solution of the problem. It must be without special favor to any one country, both for China’s interest and that of the world as a whole. There must be a real open door not a mere political dictum- carrying that name. But helpful as such agencies may be they offer no decisive solution of China’s problems. The real solution must come from the Chinese them¬ selves. Yet they possess in very small measure the great forces upon which a people must depend in such crises. Much that was con¬ structive or preservative under the old social regime is either helpless in the face of modern problems or has itself commenced to disappear. Very little more can be said with reference to her religions. Each of them—Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism—contains elements of spirit¬ ual value and admirable ethical teachings which have doubtless contributed to China’s strength in the past. But despite their elements of worth they have admittedly proved unequal to the task of producing the highest type of in¬ dividual character or of initiating forces and movements capable of regenerating society. And this is China’s all-inclusive, vital need, for she is drifting in a way that makes her a peril to herself and a menace to the world. CHRISTIANITY THE SOLUTION? EPORTS indicate that missionaries are facing this difficult situation, conscious that it will test Christianity to the utmost. All competent observers are agreed that China’s fundamental problem is a spiritual one and that Christianity presents itself as the embodiment of all the moral and spiritual forces known to the Western world. It lays claim to power such as China imperatively needs. It must justify that claim or bow to an adverse judgment. If it fails there will be no valid excuse. This brief review of the problems awaiting solution in China shows how large and difficult is the task. Only as divine power working through human agencies can do humanly im¬ possible things, can Christianity prove effectual. Men and money alone cannot supply the spiritual forces required. Yet men and money are both needed. The World War has given to the Chinese and other Asiatic peoples a standard by which to weigh the genuineness of national conviction and sacrifice. They have seen what America can do in support of her faith in democracy and as a measure of her love of liberty. If a Christian appeal cannot be met in like manner the Chinese may naturally and very reasonably conclude that it is because faith in the truth of Christianity and devotion to its founder do not exist in any large measure among western nations. Such a conclusion would erect a barrier greater than all that have yet existed. It is such facts as these which justify and lie behind the plans of missionary expansion laid before the Ameri¬ can Protestant churches by the Interchurch World Movement. CHINA: The Eastern Giant 11 The Christian Equipment of China A LTHOUGH there are 6,561 missionaries reported as assigned to China, it is safe to say that the full-time working force available is not more / m. than 5,000, equally divided as to men and women. The number of actual effectives is still further reduced by the fact that in 1918 (the period of the latest figures) 1,297 men and women were absent form the field on furlough. It must also be remembered that missionaries in China furnished war service in an unusually large degree while continuing to carry their own heavy load. One hundred and thirty-nine missionaries were absent from the field on war service. Considering the total force, the fact that many of them were of such age as to make no form of war service possible, and that the demands of the field were more than usually heavy during the war, furnished a striking illustration of the patriotism and devotion of the missionaries. The total inadequacy of this staff may be tested by some comparisons. If the entire number were distributed in direct relation to population it would mean one mission¬ ary (man, woman, educator, doctor, evangelistic worker, business agent or adminis¬ trator) for each 60,000 people. If an estimated total of 5,000 effectives be used, the field of work would rise from 60,000 to 80,000. If the further very practical consideration of furloughs is admitted to the calculation it means that only 4,300 effectives can be counted on at any given time. In other words there is at present available an actual working force (inclusive of all types) of one missionary for every 90,000 to 100,000 people. There are six hundred cities and towns in China in which missionaries are resident. The staff in these centers varies greatly. In the great cities there are naturally a number of societies at work with a necessary concentration of administrative and business agencies. In certain centers the educational work is also concentrated. China presents practically all types of missionary work. A mere catalog of the various forms of activity already in existence shows that the conception and presenta¬ tion of Christianity have been broad and inclusive. The gospel message has been stressed from the beginning, and provision for social uplift and the improvement of temporal conditions has never been neglected. CHINA: The Eastern Giant 13 MISSION CENTERS T HE distribution in mission stations in each province may be summarized for China as a whole as follows: 401 stations have 1 to 5 missionaries; 147 stations have 6 to 15 mission¬ aries; 25 stations have 16 to 25 missionaries; 18 stations have 50 or more missionaries. Nearly two-thirds of the total centers occupied in China have less than 5 missionaries while only 61 stations or about 10 per cent, of the total have 15 or more. The 6 coast provinces—Chili, Shantung, Kiang- su, Chehkiang, Fukien and Kwangtung—have 40 per cent, of the mission stations and about 50 per cent, of the total missionary force but only about 34 per cent, of the population. There are 6,121 out-stations in China. This means that on an average there is one little chapel or school for nearly 70,000 people. Reckoned on the same basis, Oregon would have CHINA’S GROWING POPULATION 400 , 000,000 UNITED STATES CHINA Interchurch World Movement of North America 6.D7I 9 chapels; Maine and New Hampshire com¬ bined would have 18. UNOCCUPIED AREAS A REAS in China proper now unclaimed by x"V any missionary agency presents in itself a large problem. In addition the great areas of Tibet, Mongolia, Sinkiang (Chinese Turkestan) and the northwest parts of Manchuria belong almost entirely in the unoccupied list. They present a problem radically different from that of the greater portion of China. The territory is enormous, totaling over 3,000,000 square miles, but the population is very sparse. The number of people for which a single center can suffice is extremely small in comparison with the more densely populated parts of China proper. The difficulties confronting the work here are great and the isolation awaiting those who may undertake it will equal that of the most neglected parts of Africa. THE RELIEF OF PHYSICAL SUFFERING T HAT medical work is an opening wedge for Christian missions is perhaps truer in China than in most mission fields. An unusu¬ ally strong opposition had to be overcome be¬ fore any real hearing could be secured for the gospel message. The work of the medical mis¬ sionary is Christianity speaking a message uni¬ versally intelligible. The general accessibility of all classes of people to Christian influences which characterizes those sections where the work has been long established is in large meas¬ ure due to the work of the doctor and the nurse. If medical work were only a means to an end and designed only to open the door for the other Christian influences there would be little need for the extension of hospital or medical service in the older fields. But medical missions are a necessary and indispensable part of the message that Christianity has for the whole of China. MEDICAL NEED AND SUPPLY I N NO part of China is there a medical force at all adequate to the needs of the situation. In one province there is but one doctor to five millions of people, and missionaries living in lonely stations must travel many days to pro¬ cure medical help in case of need. CHINA AREAS HI UNCLAIMED BY PROTESTANT MISSIONS Population Approximately 35,000.000, CHINA: The Eastern Giant 15 Including all Chinese who have a modern train¬ ing there are something like one thousand doctors in China, about half of whom are con¬ nected with missionary work. This gives an average of one doctor to 400,000 people. The average in America is one to every 712. If the number of medical men in China were multiplied by three there would then be but one per cent, of the number required to equal the percentage of doctors to the population in the United States. It is safe to say that 99 per cent, of all the people who become ill in China are entirely without competent medical attention. China probably affords an exhibition of the greatest physical need the world has ever known. THE PERMANENT SOLUTION HIS of course is to be found in the building up of a well-trained medical profession among the Chinese themselves. Medical mis¬ sionaries foresaw this long ago and in all their hospitals gave to little groups of native students the best training possible under the circum¬ stances. While this training was of necessity weak along many lines it was unusually strong on the practical side. When the Rockefeller Foundation indicated through the China Medical Board its willing¬ ness to enter the field, missionary plans were readjusted so as to leave the way clear in Peking and Shanghai, the two great centers in which this medical board planned to work. But in spite of all the splendid efforts of the Medical Board and other medical schools a long period must elapse in which a continued cry for help will be made by suffering Ch'nese. It can only be answered by many more missionary hos¬ pitals. The program of the Interchurch World Move¬ ment, based on a careful survey, will include the strengthening of present institutions and the opening of a large number of hospitals in new areas where they are most needed. EDUCATIONAL WORK A MERICAN faith in education is respon- sible for the fact that by far the larger portion of the schools above the elementary grade is carried on by American societies. This is especially marked in the field of higher educa¬ tion. There are eighteen colleges and universities connected with the several missions in China. Fifty per cent, of them is entirely dependent upon American societies for staff, equipment and finance. Another 22 per cent, is in a similar way re¬ lated wholly to British societies. Of the remaining 28 per cent, nearly all are union institutions in which British and Amer¬ ican societies unite; but 70 per cent, of the support comes from American societies. This means that about 70 per cent, of all the higher educational work in China depends upon American societies for its staffing and support. In higher education for women the American responsibility is even greater, since the two women’s colleges depend almost en¬ tirely upon America. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION HERE are at least 60,000,000 young people of school age in China for whom there are at present no educational facilities at all. China’s illiteracy is a matter of large moment to the world at large as well as to herself. Even if there were an efficient, well-organized govern¬ ment both able and willing to spend a large proportion of its funds on education the prob¬ lem would not be easily solved. All the help which the missionary movement can give to the development of Christian education in China will be required for a long time. In many ways the crux of the educational prob¬ lem is in the institutions of college and uni¬ versity grade. If the work of this type is to be carried on it must be of such a grade that government institutions even when efficiently organized cannot surpass them. Educational institutions must be planned on a scale which will allow of large expansion. Such institutions must be the chief source of supply for the highest Christian leadership in the ministry, in Christian schools and to an equal degree in business, professional and 16 The Eastern Giant : CHINA political life. They must be within the reach of young men and women of moderate means, for the larger part of the Christian constituency for many years to come will be drawn from these classes. To meet requirements such as these necessitates large staffs, complete equipment and financial support on a very large scale. It is extremely difficult for any one missionary agency to meet such requirements except by confining itself to a very limited area and to a small number of institutions. For the societies which have accepted a considerable responsibility this educational problem has by definite and logical steps led to what is the outstanding feature of the educational situation. THE UNION EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENT T HE movement for cooperative effort in educational work is not of recent origin. More than a decade ago missionary leaders in various parts of the country reached the con¬ clusion that for each denomination to attempt higher education independently would ulti¬ mately be disastrous to the Christian move¬ ment, since it would divide forces and result in a large number of weak and inadequately equipped colleges and universities. The ques¬ tion of union in education thus became the fore¬ most problem in missionary policy. The dis¬ cussion of this question has borne fruit in a splendid program which, as a whole, justifies the statement that nowhere in the world are the evangelical missionary forces, in so large and well-organized a manner, putting into practical effect the principles of union and cooperation. Included in the program are five universities, each involving the cooperation of from four to six denominations. Four of the five are not only interdenominational but international in their cooperation, since British and American societies are represented. They are located in cities of great strategic importance; at Chengtu, the heart of China’s great inland empire, Szechwan; at Peking, a center still imperial in its setting and influence; at Tsinanfu, capital of Shantung, the sacred land of China; at Nanking, the old southern capital of the em¬ pire and the cultural center of the Yangtse Valley; at Foochow, a great commercial port and the center of one of the largest and best organized Christian constituencies of the entire land. In addition to these universities, which are directly and organically connected with the denominations, are others, such as Yale in China and the Canton Christian College, which have no denominational relationship but never¬ theless serve large Christian constituencies. In such important cities as Hangchow and Shanghai, there are well organized institutions of college grade, each with a large area and con¬ stituency tributary to itself. This union movement has spread into all lines of educational effort. In no realm perhaps does it have a larger significance than in that of theological education. It has been demon¬ strated beyond all question that, on mission fields, the training of ministers whose life work will lie within the activities of the several denominations can be carried on in union theological schools. At Peking and Nanking the program projected calls for the enlargement and improvement of existing schools of theology to a point where they will take rank as graduate schools with similar graduate schools of other learned professions. In the education of women the foundation of the higher institutions is fundamentally inter¬ denominational. Each of the women’s colleges at Peking and Nanking is the result of the union of a number of denominational agencies, and the same is true of the women’s medical colleges at Peking and Canton, as well as the school proposed but not yet established at Shanghai. The movement for union has now extended to nearly all types of special training, such as schools for lay evangelists and Bible women; nurses’ training schools; normal schools for men and women. Recently a cooperative effort has been made in the middle schools for boys and girls of the Yangtse Valley and, if experi¬ ments now being made prove successful, the movement will doubtless be taken up in other sections of the country. CHINA: The Eastern Giant 17 With reference to elementary schools, the situa¬ tion necessarily compels denominational sys¬ tems, but the acceptance of the underlying principles of united and cooperative effort ap¬ pears in the joint programs for teachers’ train¬ ing, for teachers’ educational associations, and for cooperative supervision. By reason of this united movement in education an opportunity exists which, if met adequately in men and money, will permit the Christian enterprise in China to exert an almost incalculable influence upon the whole educational development of the land. Remembering the inevitable significance and influence of the Chinese race in the world’s future, we can realize the importance of this opportunity thus presented. The problems of China can be solved only from within. Without the influence which will flow from Christian schools and colleges the leader¬ ship and the trained character upon which this internal regeneration depends cannot be pro¬ duced. LITERATURE HRISTIAN literature was one of the earli¬ est agencies used by the Christian Move¬ ment in China. Morrison and others of the pioneer missionaries gave a large part of their time to the translation of the Bible and the preparation of Christian tracts. Printing establishments were set up in many centers, and some, notably the Presbyterian and Methodist in Shanghai and the Baptist in Canton, have become great publishing houses, serving all denominations. Various tract socie¬ ties were organized by groups of missionaries, and a Christian Literature Society was formed. The combined output has been very large, both in number of titles and in page production. Mr. G. A. Clayton, the foremost authority, gives the following figures in a recent catalogue of Christian literature: Books. 1,188 Booklets. 1,152 Tracts. 1,066 Charts and maps. 45 3,451 These societies have always been approved and commended by the denominational agencies but there has been no organic relation. As a result the production of literature as a form of missionary work has suffered greatly. It has never had its due proportion of workers, equip¬ ment or funds. Today it is the form of work which more than any other needs to be strength¬ ened. BIBLE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION T HIS has been carried on by the British and Foreign Bible Society, the American Bible Society and the Bible Society of Scotland. It has been done in a large way and the circulation is probably greater than in any other mission land. A continual process of revision has brought steady improvement in the translations. Editions have been issued in Wenli, the literary language style; Mandarin, which is the language of the great mass of Chinese, and in many dia¬ lects, as well as in various systems of Romaniza- tion. Recently portions of the New Testament have been printed in the new phonetic script. EVANGELISM A LL types of missionary work are essential JiX. in China but evangelism touches every aspect of the missionary task in a special and direct way. The China Mission Year Book for 1918 (the latest published) supplies a record of what has already been accomplished along these lines. The full church membership is 312,970; the Christian constituency 654,658. These figures compared with those of 1916 show a net gain in church membership of about 17 per cent.; and in the Christian constituency a net gain of approximately 25 per cent. There is a staff of 846 ordained ministers; other evangelistic workers number 10,799; total, 11,645. A church which in the face of such difficulties as are encountered in China can show such gains is not lacking in vitality. A NATIVE CHURCH NECESSARY F OR many years it has been recognized in a theoretical way that the chief agents in the building up of an indigenous church in China and the carrying of the Christian message and service to the people must be Chinese Chris- 18 The Eastern Giant : CHINA tians; and that the weakness of native church leadership both in numbers and in the quality of its training for leadership must be remedied if the task lying before the church is to be accomplished. There are many instances of inadequate salaries paid to native workers. They fail to meet personal expenses; allow no margin for the workers to meet their people in a social way; to purchase the books and periodicals necessary to the maintenance of intellectual life; or to attend necessary conferences and meetings. Information from the field lays emphasis on the need existing for men of the highest training. These however cannot be furnished unless the colleges and universities are much expanded and a large increase in the present staff of theological schools is effected. Without an enormous increase in current funds, buildings and equipment for evangelistic work these trained men cannot be effectively used even when available. INADEQUATE PLANTS AND EQUIPMENT HE inadequacy of the present plant and equipment in evangelistic work is every¬ where in evidence. The number of churches in the great cities which have a staff, equipment or finances adequate to the presentation of Christianity in a complete way is almost negligible. This in itself constitutes a tremend¬ ous problem. Chinese cities are large. Canton, Peking, Shanghai and the Wu-Han center have popula¬ tions in excess of a million each. When China gets fairly launched on a career of modern industrialism and urban centralization she will contain cities of unbelievable magnitude. For such a day the missionary movement must immediately prepare. It is badly behind al¬ ready and only by the expenditure of funds on a large scale can it recover lost opportunities. RURAL EVANGELISTIC WORK HINA is preeminently a land of villages and small towns. There are no govern¬ ment figures available but a conservative esti¬ mate indicates that only in 6,500 of them (or one in 1,100) are there Christian chapels or schools where work is regularly carried on. The inadequacy of such equipment is most apparent even where the chapel is located in a market town or county-seat of a population of 10,000 to 20,000. In China many of the influential people live in or near large country towns. In order to meet their evangelistic needs provision must be made for securing a hearing of the gospel message by these people who to a large extent form public opinion. CHRISTIAN SOCIAL SERVICE T HE invention of a phonetic system of thirty-nine simple symbols now enables all characters in the language to be represented. This system presents a great opportunity to the Christian church to overcome the handicap which widespread illiteracy offers to her work. Chinese of ordinary capacity can be taught to read in a few weeks by this system. Hundreds of chapels with local evangelists standing in close touch with the people offer opportunities for the establishment of schools. The solution of the problem of illiteracy in¬ volves the rousing of the native mind to a sense of the value of knowledge and education; the organization of a wide-spread teaching system; the preparation of literature in this phonetic script and the establishment of at least one vernacular periodical. By the judicious use of funds and workers in this line of activity the percentage of literates in China can be increased in a wonderful way in the course of the next five years. This is but one of many forms of service which the church can render China and enable her to realize the genuineness of Christian brotherly love. It does not entail any lessening of the definite proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ; on the contrary it demands that a greater emphasis than ever be laid upon the message of salvation to all who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. A movement of expansion and extension such as is outlined in this survey should at once be undertaken by all missionary agencies in China. CHINA: The Eastern Giant 19 If it is given adequate support by the people of the west it will go a long way towards the realization of a great ideal—a church so strong in numbers, so capable in leadership, so genuine in spiritual life that to it can be safely com¬ mitted the whole task of spreading the kingdom of God in China. THE PROGRAM FOR CHINA HE program for China involves, first of all, the strengthening of the existing work of the several denominations. If carried out, it will enable all this work to be done with a high degree of effectiveness. Except perhaps in the majority of the older fields and in the case of large educational institutions in the great cities, it provides for a foreign force which will not need to be enlarged. The equipment and operating funds included will enable the whole task to be undertaken in an adequate way in nearly all of the older areas; and in all proba¬ bility no such large property investment will again be called for in connection with the regu¬ lar work. That part of the program called “ Special Types of Work—Unallotted” is the outgrowth of missionary development in China. Certain types of work are now problems for the whole church and for all missionary forces in China. They can only be treated on a nation-wide scale and by the fullest cooperative activity of all missionary agencies. Literature is the most important of these special types and the program provides for a broad and comprehensive advance. The proposal for an architectural and builders’ bureau is a prac¬ tical solution of a problem which would other¬ wise prevent any large and immediate addition to the buildings and equipment of the mission¬ ary agencies. The United City Program pro¬ vides for a wide spread extension of one of the most hopeful recent movements. In such a movement the various Christian forces of China’s great cities can bring their strength to bear in a united way on a task which combines the urban problems of the East and of the West. These are but examples of the many ways sug¬ gested for a united attack by Christian forces in China. The program calls for a definite movement to enter the unoccupied areas of China. For China Proper, it is based upon definite surveys made by the China Continuation Committee; for the great dependencies where millions are scattered over enormous areas, only the out¬ lines of a plan are presented; but the continua¬ tion of the survey will provide sufficient data to allow this work also to be undertaken in an intelligent and well-organized manner. INTERCHORCH WORLD MOVEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA ORGANIZATION OF THE SURVEY DEPARTMENT DIVISIONS BRANCHES SECTIONS Fields —Africa — China — India —Japanese Empire — Malaysia, Siam — Indo-China, Oceania —Philippine Islands —Latin America —Europe — Near East FOREIGN Mission Agencies Coordination —Evangelistic — Educational —Medical — Social and Industrial —Literature . —Field Occupancy —Field Conditions —Graphics — Statistics — Editorial —Research and Library SURVEY DEPARTMENT HOME MISSIONS AMERICAN EDUCATION r~ Fields - Tax-Supported Institutions Agencies — Coordination Organization Relations Denominational and Independent Institutions Theological Seminaries Secondary Schools —| Coordination -Cities -New York Metropolitan -Town and Country -Vvest Indies -Alaska -Hawaii -Migrant Groups -Cities -New York Metropolitan -Town and Country -Negro Americans -New Americans -Spanish-speaking Peoples -Orientals in the U. S. —American Indian -Migrant Groups -Research and Library -Lantern Slides -Graphics -Publicity -Statistics -Industrial Relations -Colleges -Universities —State Universities _ —Municipal Universities “ —State Agricultural Colleges —State Normal Schools E Theological Seminaries College Biblical Departments Religious Training Schools E Comity and Cooperation Field Standards and Norms — Local Church AMERICAN Religious Education AMERICAN Hospitals and Homes - ( Special Groups" Home Community Special Fields — Field Organization Denominational and • Interdenominational Agencies - Research and Instruction Coordination I—Architecture —I— Curriculum ‘—Teachers E Music Pageantry Non-church Organizations E Editorial Statistics and Tabulation Schedules AMERICAN MINISTERIAL SUPPORT AND RELIEF -c Ministerial Support Pensions and Relief