‘^he cButeau of ^Widtiond, The Record of Ten Years of Church Progress in China By the Right Revere^id FREDERICK ROGERS GRAVES, D D. Bishop of Shanghai BISHOP GRAVES Was Consecrated Bishop of Shanghai, June 14th, 1893 ST. JOHN’S PRO-CATHEDRAL, SHANGHAI Forward into Light A Record of Ten Years of Church Progress in China BY THE RIGHT REVEREND FREDERICK ROGERS GRAVES, D.D., BISHOP OF SHANGHAI T he Editor has asked me to write a review of the China Mission for the ten years from 1893 to 1903, as being the member of the mission who is likely to know the most about the facts concerning both the districts and the work that has been done in them. Some Obstacles to Christian Work Looking back along the years, I am impressed by the changes in this time. China in 1903 is in many respects a dif- ferent country from the China of 1893. The period of change began with the China-Japan war in 1894, which showed the world that China was no longer a strong empire and pricked the bubble of her military reputation. This was as much of a surprise to the Chinese them- selves as it was to most of the world out- side, and there followed a spasmodic at- tempt at reform, ill-conceived and ill- managed, resulting in the coup d’etat of 1898, which took all power out of the hands of the Emperor and placed it in the hands of the Empress Dowager. This meant, of course, a reactionary pol- icy, and the control of the empire by the ultra-conservative party. Xaturally, mis- sionarj- work came in for its share of dislike. “No progress” was the motto of the men in power, and, as missionary work meant new ideas, it was regarded with jealousy and suspicion. Then, too, it was a work which was promoted by foreigners, and the Chinese Government had its own reasons for distrusting for- eign nations at this time. After the war with Japan the policy of Western nations toward China be- came more aggressive. In various parts of the country territory was de- manded and secured; Wei-hai-wei went to England, Kiao-chou to Germany, and Port Arthur to Russia. The Chinese were thoroughly irritated and alarmed, and yet they were unable to adopt a ^rong policy and repel aggression. Amongst the people there was a mingled sense of dissatisfaction with the Govern- ment and of hatred toward foreigners, which finally took shape in the Boxer movement. Everybody knows how the Empress encouraged this movement in the hope that it would free China from foreign control and drive out of the country every man of Western race. The terrible events of 1900 followed speedily. It is needless to tell again the story of the sufferings and martyrdom of tho Christians in North China. So thorough was the persecution that, when it ended, missionary work in the northern half of the Empire seemed to have heen an- nihilated. The Christians had to bear the weight of the Boxer rising, but, when it was suppressed hy the expedition which foreign nations united to send, China saw that, so far from its having freed her from foreign influence, it had only been the means of forging new and stronger chains to fetter her. The coun- try was in different places in the oc- cupation of foreign troops, and, as it ap- pears now, Manchuria, the fatherland of the reigning dynasty, has been lost to China and passed deflnitely under the control of Russia. One thing the Boxer movement certainly did, it awakened many of the thinking men of China to the sense that a reform in head and mem- bers was urgently" needed if the empire was to survive. There was an outcry for reform, hut this the Manchu rulers were quick to repress, and while many see only too clearly the ultimate fate of their country, there does not exist any man or any party which is strong enougn to stay the fall of China. She seems to grow weaker and weaker, and to he utterly un- able not only to execute any reform, but even to conceive of any reasonable plan to help herself out of her difflculties. Probably these ten years have been the most momentous and critical i)eriod in the history of China since the Manchu conquest. Events have moved rapidly and are now apparently beyond the con- trol of China. The strong self-ruling empire, reformed and free, which Amer- icans hoped to see and labored to es- tablish, has apparently vanished from our sight, and the huge mass of the em- pire drifts on without guidance to the end which is already in sight, control by Western nations or division among them. So far as missionary work is concerned these years have been a time of difficulty, of open hostility or ill-concealed opposi- tion. The hatred which has heen felt to foreigners in general has been extended to mission work, and most unjustly, for, so far as the Protestant missions are con- cerned, their influence has been exerted throughout to help China by furnish- ing her with educated and honest citi- zens. The spirit of patriotism and loyal- ST. PAUL'S PRO-CATHEDKAL, nAXKOW W N VriHDlZS Oim.INE MAP SnOWINO THE niSTKK'TS OF SHANGHAI AND HANKOW ty has been always inculcated both upon the converts at large and upon the scholars in the educational institutions. There has never been a more loyal body in China than the Chinese Christians, and when the Chinese Government turned against them it turned against its truest friends and most patriotic citi- zens. The Coming of the Light But, in spite of opposition and even of persecution, these years have not been without advantages for the work of mis- sions. The old sullen inditference has been to some extent broken down, and centuries. It is true that the old Con- fucian party is trying to revive the wor- ship of Confucius and to make it com- pulsory in all the Government schools and colleges, but this of itself shows that they see that the supremacy of Confu- cianism is threatened. It has been well pointed out lately that whereas the Gov- ernment has to pay a salary to students to get them to attend the Government in- stitutions for Confucian learning, the schools and colleges of the missionaries are crowded with young Chinese who are willing to pay liberally for their educa- tion out of their own pockets. The centre of gravity has shifted, and it is ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE WITH THE STUDENTS AT DRESS PARADE the people are more ready to hear than they used to be. The Chinese have awakened to the facts of the outside world; new ideas have come in with a rush ; and there has sprung up in con- sequence a demand for Western educa- tion. which grows more and more rapid- ly, and which the missionary schools and colleges have been able, to some extent, to meet and profit by. Most significant sign of all, the Chinese in ever-growing numbers are coming to see that Confu- cianism cannot meet the conditions of the modern crisis, and are turning to the “New Light.” A serious breach has been made in the walls of the conservatism which has held China in its bonds for only a matter of time when the change will come in the body politic. Thus, if these years have been in many ways years of difiieulty and sometimes of fierce hostility, they have been at the same time years which have opened new doors and created new opportunities. Certainly there has never been a time when the Gospel could be preached so freely, or has met with so ready an acceptance; when Christian literature circulated so widely, and when the services of missionary schools to the country were so fully ap- preciated as they are to-day. An End and a Beginning If I were required to sum up the situa- tion briefly, I should say that all the signs show that we are nearing the end of the period in which Christianity has had to struggle for a bare foothold, and has been obliged to devote its energies to defence, on the one hand, and to the mak- ing of a breach in the walls of ignorance and prejudice on the other, and that we are at the beginning of a period when ing a brief space of time, but ten years is long enough to give us some indication of the progress we are making. To begin with, I think we all felt in the early part of 1893 somewhat as if the Church had sent us out here and then for- gotten about us. Ours was a small mis- sion. We were but seven foreign clergy, and only five of us had been in the field WHEKE ST. PETERS CHURCH, SIXZ.\, WAS BEGUN the results of the work of the past will be largely gathered in. The past has been a time of sowing, and the time of the harvest is at hand. The Forward riovcment in the Church And now to turn to the work of the Church and to sum up what has been ac- complished during this period. It is not always easy to estimate our advance dur- any length of time. There were four mis- sionary physicians and three lay-workers — a staff of fourteen in all. We had had no bishop over us since the death of Bishop Boone in October, 1891. We were holding but three points where the work was established in any strength — Shanghai, Hankow, and Wuchang. The other stations were small, and the work of little extent. None of our mission- aries were resident at any places but the three I have named above. Our mission house in Ichang had been burned in a riot, and the vork there was at a stand- still. Of country work, owing to the smallness of our force, we had very little ; only the beginnings had been made. St. John’s College was a building of Chinese construction; Boone School was small, and all our boarding scholars for the whole mission were but 203. We had been doing our best with the means at have visited often every part of our work along the one thousand mile line from Shanghai to Ichang, and it is with a feeling of satisfaction that I can answer that no small progress has been made. It would be strange indeed if the Church had had a body of such earnest workers here as we have gradually gathered to- gether and could not point to some re- sult. I appreciate more and more strongly the longer I live and work in ST. PETER’S, SINZA, THE CHURCH WHICH GREW OUT OF THE CHAPEL IX THE ALLEY our disposal, and, I think, good founda- tions had been laid, but it was the day of small things. We were few in num- bers, we were scattered widely, and we had a greater work on our hands than we knew how to do. But we werehopefulof the future, we believed that the Church would some day realize her opportunity and come to our aid. So we kept on praying and working, no matter what the odds against us. Ten years have passed since then, and the editor asks me to tell what are the conditions to-day. During that time I China, that the best and most enduring results are those which cannot be meas- ured by statistics. But this outward progress is of importance, too, and at any rate it is the only measure the Church at home can use to tell whether we are doing our duty here. Perhaps the best thing I can do will be to contrast the state of things which has been outlined above with the present condition of the mission. Then and Now We had no bishop in charge in 1893, in SOME VIEWS FROM THE SHAXGHAI DISTRICT A CORNER OP THE BOVS’ SCHOOL AT THE NEW BISHOP GRAVES AN1> GROUP OF NATIVE CHRIS- STATION IN WUSIH TIANS AT KIADING GRACE CHAPEL IN SHANGHAI NATIVE CITY THE CHAPEL AT THE NEW STATION IN SOOCHOW THE TWING MEMORIAL BUILIHNG AT ST. MARV’S SCHOOL, SHANGHAI, NOW BEING ERECTED THROUGH THE GIFTS OP THE WO.MAN'S AI'X- ILIAP.V IN THE UNITED STATES. SOME VIEWS FROM THE HAXKOW DISTRICT THE XOAXKTN’G COMPOTVD, SHOTVTXG ST. JAMES’S HOSPITAL AT THE LEFT; CHAPEL IN* CENTRE; UESI1>EN*CE AT THE RIGHT THE NEW ST. JOHN’S CHTUCH, HANKOW A COrNTUV CUA PET. AT CUrRO THE MISSION HorSE AT ICHANG A WARD IN ST. PETER’S HOSPITAL, WUCHANG THE CHAPEL AT KIUKIAXG, THE NEW AND ONLY STATION IN THE PROVINCE OF KIANGSI the first lialf of the year. We have now two bishops and two missionaru districts, and the work in either of these two dis- tricts is stronsrer than the whole mission was then. We were workin.sr in three of the iirovinccs of China then; we are working in five provinees now. Our foreign missionaries were resident in three cities then; they are resident in eight now. Our mission staff consisted then of seven foreign clergy and seven lay-workers; it has now grown to two bishops, twenty-one foreign clergy, and twenty-five lay-workers. We had hut few baptized Christians in ad- dition to the 818 communicants then; where Ave have 3.000 baptized Christians and 1.309 communicants now. Our boarding scholars were 203 then; they are now, and they would be more if we had the room. These are some of the facts which lie on the surface. Creating a flission Plant TajI; us look at them a little more care- fully. And, in the first place, lot us look at the material side of things, the build- ings and equipment of the mission. A mission that is doing things in a broad way and trying to accomplish its end in the varied departments of church Avork. evangelistic, educational and medical Avork, must have buildings in which its Avork may be carried on, churches, schools, hospitals, and houses for the mis- sionaries Avho are doing the work. Bricks and mortar are not of themseh’es any in- dication of a successful mission, but if there is a Avork Avhich corresponds to them, so that the buildings are the out- AA'ard sign of a real activity and the in- struments by AAdiich work is carried on, they may be in a true sense a sign that the mission is flourishing. No one who saAv the mission in 1893 Avould recognize it in 1903. in this respect. In these ten years the old buildings have been rebuilt or enlarged, and many neAV buildings luiA-e been added. This part of the work has been in itself no small task. The ncAA’ buildings are all of the most sub- stantial character, and well adapted to the uses for which they are intended, and they allow for a large and growing AA’ork. The mere list of these buildings is net a short one. At Shanghai there is St. John’s College with the Science Hall and the beginnings of another hall to complete the group of buildings; the TAving Memorial Hall at St. Mary’s School, noAV nearly finished; nine new residences; St. Peter’s Church, Sinza; the enlargement of St. John’s Pro-Cathe- dral; St. Fdizabeth’s Hospital for Women and Children; the Training School- for Women; while a new Orphanage and a new St. Luke’s Hospital are rising from the ground. In the old city a new church has been acquired and additional buildings for schools and meeting rooms have been erected. At Soochow and Wusih land has been bought and build- ing is going on. In the Missionary District of Hankow there has been like progress. A house has been built at Wuhu and a compound purchased, where sorely-needed buildings are to be erected as soon as the Church will give the money. At Nganking, farther up the river, we had not even started work in 1S93, while now we have a hue compound and a house, a hospital, a chapel and a school. At Wuchang the Divinity -school has been built, there is a new Boone School, a new school building for girls at St. Hilda’s, St. Peter’s Hospital and the house for the doctors, with smaller buildings at St. Saviour’s, St. Mark’s and Fukai. At Hankow there is the Bishop’s house and the house for ladies. St. Bartholomew’s House has been rebuilt and doubled in size, and St. John’s and St. Peter’s churches have been built in other parts of the city. At Hanch’uan there has been acquired a house and chapel; so, too, at Hsinti. The house at Ichang has been rebuilt since the riot, and a lot has been THE >IEX OF THE NOAXKIXG COXGREGATIOX THE WOMEX OF THE XGAXKIXG COXGREGATIOX bought and a chapel, school, and house for the Chinese clergyman built upon it. In Shasi the mission work was carried on in 1893 in a wretched building rented from the Chinese, whereas now we have a commodious chapel, a school, and a house for the clergj-man. The mission now owns land and buildings for chapels and other purposes in Chiaowei, Houkang and Shayang, stations in the country back of Shasi. At Ruling a sanatorium has been built. This is an extensive list, and there are numerous smaller items of building which do not enter into it. And it has been done with very little expense to the Board. In most cases the work has been accomplished by a special gift from individuals or from the Woman’s Auxiliary, or has been done with funds belonging to the mission in China, and in the case of the Boone School and St. John’s College very sub- stantial subscriptions have been made by the Chinese themselves. Evangelistic Work To pass to another department — the church and evangelistic work. In Kiangsu we have established the new parish of St. Peter’s, Sinza, which has become the centre not only of a large work in that part of Shanghai, but also A MODERN’ RESIDENTE IN’ THE SHAXOHAI MISSION’ has an extensive out-station work de- pendent upon it. The work in the old city has been revived in Grace parish. Near Shanghai we had formerly a num- ber of small stations where work was car- ried on. Some of these have been dropped, but their place has been taken by stations in larger places or at more central points. A marked advance has been made in the opening of stations in the large cities of Soochow, Wusih, and Changchou (Zangzok), and in the newer latest venture has been made by Bishop Ingle in establishing a mission in Changsha, the capital of Hunan. The number of enquirers, of catechumens, and of the baptized has been growing steadily, and the outlook for this branch of the work is very encouraging, especial- ly in the up-river district. riedical Work The medical work also shows marked increase. The new hospitals, St. Peter’s, THE REDEMPTION OF CHINESE WOMANHOOD. A GROUP OF ST. MARY'S HALL GIRLS IN THE SCHOOL GARDEN work Started by Mr. Eees in Woosung and in the Sungkong district. In Nganhui Province evangelistic work has been pushed out from Wuhu to Nanling and Fanchang, and the strong station at Nganking with an out-station dependent on it also marks a solid ad- vance. In Kiangsi, work has been opened in Kiukiang. In 1893 the outwork around Hankow had but lately been started, but it is now much extended and in a most flourishing condition, while further up the river a number of new stations shows increased life, and Ichang is stronger than it has ever been. The Wuchang; St. James’s,Nganking, and St. Elizabeth’s, Shanghai, with the building now being erected at Shanghai for St. Luke’s, and the dispensary work which has grown at St. John’s under Dr. Lin- coln, show how much more largely we are entering upon this work than before. The new buildings, the larger staff of missionary physicians and the greater number of patients treated indicate prog- ress of the most gratifying kind. If onr doctors were able with so little help and with an equipment so much smaller to do the excellent work for the mission which they have done in the past, what may we not expect from the future of this work under more generous conditions, with room to work in and suitable buildings and appliances. Under this head I ought also to mention the greater elSciency of the Medical School since its reorganiza- tion, the larger number of missionary physicians allowing a greater range in studies, and the more thorough and ad- vanced English course at St. John’s fur- nishing the hospital school with a better educated class of medical students to in- struct. ter class of pupils is now secured, in- creased fees have made the institutions more prosperous and independent. We see Boone School steadily advancing to become the college for the Hankow Dis- trict. There are new institutions, like the Church Training School for Bible- women in Shanghai or the Xormal School for Catechists and Teachers in Hankow, which have been established to train workers from among the Chinese. And lastly, there have been a revision and reform of the day-schools throughout THE REDEMPTION OF CHINESE WOMANHOOD. A MEETING OP THE "WOMAN'S Al’NILIAP-Y IN SHANGHAI Educational Work I have already mentioned, under the head of buildings, the enlargement of our chief educational institutions. Along with this has gone a great advance in the character of the education supplied, which is broader and more thorough. This has been made possible by supply- ing a larger staff of teachers and es- pecially by allowing them to devote their time and energies to the one work of education, instead of having half a dozen other occupations in addition, as we were obliged to have in former times because the mission was so short-handed. A bet- the entire mission, by which the work of this grade is greatly improved. The Work among Women The work for Chinese women has been greatly developed. Wliereas we had the greatest difficulty a few years ago in securing a sufficient number of women from the United States to do this par- ticular work, we now see women coming forward in increasing numbers to carry on this most important department of the mission. The Woman’s Auxiliary, founded when Mrs. Twing was visiting China in 1893. has grown in numbers and usefulness. The last annual meeting. held at Shanghai on May 25th, 1903, was very largely attended, and showed both an increase in the amount of the con- tributions and a movement amongst the Chinese Christian women to bring in their sisters to the Church. The Training of Workers The system of having a definite course with examinations for the study of the Chinese language, which each missionary must pursue, and which is in force throughout the mission, has resulted in raising the efficiency of the missionaries, both as regards the written and the spoken language, and has set a standard which is of the greatest value. The unity of the mission has been helped by the biennial conferences which are now held in both of the districts. At these meetings the policy of the mission is discussed, plans for new work are con- sidered, and a general knowledge of the work of the mission is communicated to the missionaries. The devotional meet- ings held in connection with the con- ference have proved to be invaluable in cementing the workers into one body, animated by one religious spirit. The regular practice of mid-day prayer in common, wherever we have missionaries working together, has been of great value in the same way. Literary Work Literary work has not been neglected. It is not necessary to specify the many works of a religious or educational kind which have been put forth by the mem- bers of the mission in these years, but the most noticeable things are the translation of a Church Hymnal, the revision of the Book of Common Prayer and the two new translations, in Mandarin and in the Shanghai dialect, which have been is- sued, and above all the completion of Bishop Schereschewsky’s monumental translation of the Bible. These are the chief landmarks in this department, and the most likely to interest people at home. The literary work of the mission has gone on side by side with the other branches and now we send our books to Hongkong, and Manila, and Honolulu, for the use of the Church in those places, in addition to circulating them in the Empire of China. The Net Gain This, then, seems to me to be a fair account of the state of the mission at the end of these ten years. A larger force of missionaries, a better outward equip- ment, a more complete organization into two missionary districts, a wider and more thorough work, a , deeper sense of unity amongst the missionaries, and a hopeful outlook for the future. And to what are we to attribute these good results? First of all, to the bless- ing of God, without Whom we can do nothing. When we come to speak of human agencies they are mainly three: The faithful work of the missionaries who have come to us from the United States; the support which has been steadily given by the Church through the Board of Managers; and (a cause which is too often overlooked) the steady, loyal work of the Chinese clergy, catechists and teachers, through whose labors the Church is brought into touch with the people, and without whom the work of the foreign missionaries would fail to effect any great result. There is besides these regular and steadily working causes something to which we have more than once owed the opportunity of advance or improvement, I mean the liberal gifts of the Woman’s Auxiliary, or the sums which have been placed at the disposal of the mission by generous Christian men and women at home. They would not wish me to record their names here, but their gifts have been, and will be, the means of conferring untold blessings on thousands in this land, blessings to body, mind and soul. Believing, as we all do, that this work is God’s and that in doing it we are carry- ing out His will, we rejoice over all these signs of advance and prosperity. They mean that the work is being ac- complished, and we shall all pray that in the years to come there may be a larger return and a more rapid in- crease, for the good of the Church, the salvation of souls and the glory of God. w Some Special Needs of the China Mission TBE SHANGHAI DISTRICT !■ Eight young, unmarried clergymen. 2. Two young, unmarried physicians. ; 3. Two young unmarried laymen as teachers in' St. John’s College, Shanghai. 4. One woman physician. 5. Five unmarried women missionaries. 6. A new building for St. Mary’s Orphanage, Shanghai, to cost .«3,600. 7. A new dispensary and Sunday-school building at Jess- field, to cost 1S1,300. THE DISTRICT OF HANKOW 1. Five young unmarried clergymen, 3. Six young, unmarried physicians, 3. Two young, unmarried laymen as teachers in Boone School, 4. Four young women for edncational and zenana work. 5. A residence for women missionaries in Wuchang, to cost #5,500. 6. A new building for Boone School, Wuchang, to cost #13,000 7. A church for Nganking, to cost #5,000. 8. An addition to St. James’s Hospital, Nganking, to cost #5,000. 9. A school at Hankow, for the training of native cate- chists, and teachers, to cost #3,000. 10. A church and dwelling at Kiukiang, to cost #7 000. 11. Band and amission house at Changsha, to cost #5.000. 13. A hospital and a mission house in Shasi, to cost #7,000. 13, Band and a mission house in Nanchang, to cost .#5,000. pamphlet may be obtained from the Corresponding Secretary, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York, by calling for Pamphlet No. 224. a a a a a a a D All offerings for Missions should be sent to Mr. George C. Thomas, Treasurer, Church Mis- sions House, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York. a a a a a g ]|The Domestic and For- eign Missionary Society OF THE Protestant Epis- copal Church in the United States, 281 Fourth Avenue, New YORK, a a g