\ - \ J Hi l PM». CHlM MISSION AR Y ENTERPRISE IN CHINA From a Social and Secular Standpoint Being a Resume' of an Article by Chester Holcombe, for Thirty Years Connected with American ‘Diplomatic A ffairs in China, Printed in The A tlantic Monthly, September, / 906 IT Copies of this leaflet may be had in any quantity by asking the Correspond- ing Secretary, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York, for Leaflet No. 252 I Missionary Enterprise in China By Chester Holcombe A RE missionaries as such at all responsible for the unrest in China? Have uprisings large or small had their origin in popular protests against missionary en- terprise? Do the Chinese Government and the Chinese people feel the presence of missionaries to be an unwelcome in- trusion and an impertinent interfer- ence ? These ideas, so commonly met and so constantly reiterated — sometimes as ques- tions, frequently as positive assertions — have again and again been disproved by friends of the missionary cause. But — seemingly because they were friends — their testimony was not widely accepted. A cause was needed to explain certain effects; a scapegoat to bear the burden of certain sins — and the missionary proved very convenient. Important Testimony It is, then, a matter of great moment that testimony of the highest and most unbiased character bearing upon these questions has been given to the public. Missionary Enterprise in China 3 Those who wish to form an intelligent opinion upon the facts of the case have now the means of doing so without ac- cepting the defendant’s testimony in his own behalf. For it is not a missionary — not even, so far as is shown, a Church member — but a diplomatist, who speaks. And he speaks as a diplomatist, seeking the factors which underlie and influ- ence the national situation in China, simply that the truth may be known and justice done. Mr. Chester Holcombe, who discusses this subject in The Atlantic Monthly for September, has been for over thirty years intimately associated with Ameri- can diplomatic affairs in China. Several important volumes, such as “The Heal Chinaman,” and “The Real Chinese Question,” have issued from his pen. He holds no brief for missionaries; with the ethical or religious questions involved in their presence in China he has noth- ing to do; even of the moral influence they exert he does not speak. He views the matter from a purely secular and so- cial standpoint. Whether the Chinese people and the Chinese government want them or not, whether their presence is an aid or a menace to the peace and prog- ress of the nation — these are the impor- tant questions with which he deals. And in the treatment of this subie^ “neither conjecture nor hearsay form the basis of conclusions reached, but facts gained 4 Missionary Enterprise in China through a long and necessarily close study of the missionary question in China, innumerable discussions, and much practical experience in the adjust- ment of so-called ‘missionary cases.’ ” Why Missionaries Suffer The first corroborative fact cited by those who are disposed to lay any meas- ure of blame upon the missionaries, is that in the Boxer rebellion and other lesser uprisings it is almost invariably the missionary and his native convert who have suffered ill-treatment or loss of life. In explanation of this, Mr. Hol- combe reminds us that “the Boxer up- rising was an abortive attempt to drive all foreigners of every class from China, and thus to save the empire from par- tition and distribution among the great cormorant Powers of Europe — which was believed to be the distinct purpose and inevitable result of the continued presence of foreigners there; in fact, missionaries formed the only class of alien residents who had no part in the development of such a fear and frenzy. They suffered most because they alone of all alien classes had established them- selves at remote parts of the interior, in close touch with the people, and out of reach of battleship, cruiser, or any other means of defence or place of refuge. In a general raid against all foreigners, the missionary was first attacked because he Missionary Enterprise in China 5 was first at hand, and, to put it frankly and truthfully, he suffered because he was in or part of bad company; not be- cause he was a missionary, but for the crime, in Chinese eyes, of being a for- eigner.” Christianity Not Forced Upon Chinese Nor is Mr. Holcombe disposed to ac- cept the theory that uprisings are in any measure a protest on the part of the Chi- nese against an alien and unwelcome form of religion which is being forced upon them. He says: “To talk to per- sons who choose to listen, to throw wide the doors of chapels where natives who desire may hear the Christian faith ex- plained and urged upon their attention, to sell at half cost or to give the Bible and Christian literature freely to those who may care to read them, to heal the sick, without cost, who come for medi- cal treatment, to instruct children whose parents are desirous that they should re- ceive education — surely none or all of these constitute methods or practices to which the word force may be applied under any allowable use of the English language. And this, thus briefly sum- marized, constitutes the entire body of missionary effort in China. . . . There is no difference between the work of pioneer preachers in the Far West, that of laborers or ‘settlement workers’ in 6 Missionary Enterprise in China the slums of great cities, or of eloquent pastors of wealthy and fashionable churches in the Back Bay district of Boston or Fifth Avenue in New York, and that done by missionaries in China. If the last named force the acceptance of Christianity upon their hearers, then so do all the others. . . . Those who as- sert that Christianity is wholly unsuited to the Chinese character, that the Chi- nese will not and cannot become sin- cere and loyal Christians, are most re- spectfully referred to the long list of na- tive martyrs, of both sexes and all ages, who readily and gladly gave up their lives in the Boxer movement, rather than abjure the Christian faith.* “It might further be added that un- selfish men and devoted women, enthusi- astic in what appears, to them at least, to be a great cause, who are ready to ex- patriate themselves and to abandon all their ambitions and their lives to its promotion in foreign lands, have as good a right to carry out their self-sac- rificing wishes, to enter China and do their chosen work there by all proper methods, as have their fellow-citizens who seek the same empire in order to win a fortune by dealing in cotton goods, kerosene, silk, tea, or possibly in opium. * Those who are desirous of securing infor- mation on this matter are referred to “The China Martyrs of 1900,” by Forsyth : or “China’s Book of Martyrs,” by Luella Miner. — Editor of The Spirit of Missions. Missionary Enterprise in China 7 They have precisely the same right, no greater and no less, to the protection and sympathetic assistance of their own gov- ernment as any other class of citizens. To more than this, American mission- aries have never made claim.” The Real Cause of Outbreaks What, then, is the cause for this hatred for the foreigner which now and again breaks forth in such blind fury and of which the missionary is so fre- quently the victim? Mr. Holcombe, as a careful student of history, finds it, not in rebellion against an unwelcome re- ligion, but in a smouldering sense of the injustice and selfish cruelty which has from the beginning marked the dealings of presumably Christian nations in their intercourse with China. “The entering wedge,” he says, “to break open the barred doors of Chinese seclusion was driven home by the military power of Great Britain mainly in order to force a market for Indian opium, of which that Christian government held a monopoly. From that day to this every form of foreign enterprise in China, ir- respective of character or nationality, has been tainted with opium and hin- dered by the hatred, suspicion and con- tempt engendered by the eventual suc- cess of this monstrous scheme to despoil China in brain, body, and pocket, for 8 Missionary Enterprise in China the sake of gain to the exchequer of Great Britain. To this must he added more than sixty years of unjust and in- excusable diplomacy, the exploitation of China to suit the rival ambitions and satisfy the ever-growing greed of the great European Powers, robberies of its territory upon every border, and a con- sistent disregard of every claim which the Chinese might put forward to the ownership of their own territory and the management of their own affairs. Most clearly it must he understood that not the missionary in the cabin hut the opium and gunpowder in the hold has fixed the hatred and established a per- manent opposition among the Chinese to all things foreign. Once for all, it must be most emphatically declared that not Christian propagandism, but most un- christian policies and practices of ag- gression, dominance and spoliation upon the part of certain governments of Europe brought about the horrors of the Boxer uprising.” No Special Privileges for Missionaries It is a common but mistaken im- pression that extraordinary privileges have been asked for missionaries and grudgingly granted by the government under practical coercion. Nothing could he further from the truth. “Our own Missionary Enterprise in China 9 government,” he declares, “is particularly careful upon this point, asking special favors for none, and exerting its efforts, when occasion arises, for its people as American citizens only. It is not per- mitted even to state the calling or avo- cation of the bearer of a passport, and though the request has often been made by Chinese officials that this be done in the case of missionaries in order that special protection and assistance be afforded them, it has been necessary to refuse the request as contrary to statute or regulation. The missionary possesses only such privileges, exemptions, and immunities under treaty as are grafted to his fellow-alien of every other class and occupation. The right to reside, ac- quire property, and to pursue his calling at certain specified centres of population, mostly upon the sea-coast, and to travel freely under passport, throughout the in- terior, covers all to which he is entitled under the official pledge and seal of the Imperial government of China. Attitude of the Government “Yet, from the inception of what may be termed modern missionary enterprise in China, the missionaries have gone be- yond this narrow limit of favor, gone be- yond the treaty ports, until now they can be found in every province and in nearly every large city. Even in many mud- 10 Missionary Enterprise in China walled villages and rural hamlets mis- sionary families are now to be found quietly and permanently established in homes, in close touch and intimate asso- ciation with the native residents. This special favor, unobtainable by any other alien class in the empire, has assuredly not been won either through any exer- cise of governmental force or diplomatic pressure. It has been slowly gained by the exercise of patience, tact and discre- tion upon the part of the missionaries themselves, under the open eyes and with the tacit, though unspoken, consent of the Imperial authorities. . . . The Em- peror will neither force nor forbid the residence and labors of missionaries at any points beyond the treaty ports. But recognizing and appreciating the self- denying and philanthropic character of missionary effort, he will gladly permit those engaged in it to establish them- selves throughout the interior, wherever they may he able to do so with the con- sent and the good will of the people of the locality. It is not known that this well-established line of policy has been formulated and officially communicated to any foreign power. But it has been verbally declared to the writer by mem- bers of the Cabinet and other high au- thorities of the empire upon many oc- casions.” Not only has the Chinese government opposed no barrier, and indeed given a Missionary Enterprise in China 11 tacit consent to the extension of the sphere of missionary enterprise far be- yond the limits imposed by treaty, but the authorities have never, in the case of injury to persons or property in towns not covered by treaty regulation, pleaded this fact as exempting them from re- sponsibility and reparation. The wit- ness borne upon this point by Mr. Hol- combe is most positive, and indicates clearly that the real desire of those in authority is to deal fairly with the mis- sionaries, and to recognize the value of their unselfish efforts for the good of Chinese humanity. He says: “The gov- ernment has never, within the knowledge of the writer, attempted to shirk full re- sponsibility for the lives and property of American citizens in any part of the empire, or to claim that missionaries, in establishing themselves in the interior, ran their own risk, took their lives into their own keeping, and must themselves bear any financial losses which local op- position to their presence might entail upon them.” Chinese Sympathy for Mission Work Of course, the facts thus far stated are in a large degree negative; that is to say, they do not necessarily indicate ap- proval of, or sympathy for, missionary work as such on the part of the Chinese 12 Missionary Enterprise in China government. Positive evidence of tliis is hardly to be expected, yet Mr. Holcombe cites instances of official and semi-official acts which indicate that the ■authorities do recognize in Christian missions as conducted among them a valuable factor in the modernization of China. For ex- ample, an official commission coming to this country took pains to visit, among the other places upon its list, the offices of the American Board, which is the parent of foreign missionary organ- izations in the United States and has large interests in China. The members of this commission, though not them- selves Christians, repeatedly expressed their gratitude for what was being done in their home-land, and said: “We know who our friends are.” It is also matter of common knowledge that influential and prominent Chinese are constantly making large donations to missionary hospitals and schools; that they are fostering the rapidly increasing demand for Christian literature and edu- cational works; and that they are show- ing special and unsolicited courtesy and assistance to missionaries. All these facts, the writer declares, are evidence that “whatever may be the opinion of foreigners, either resident in China or in their native lands, China itself, as repre- sented by the leaders of thought and pub- lic opinion in it, has recognized and ac- cepted the missionary enterprise as one Missionary Enterprise in China 13 of the most important and useful factors in the creation and development of new life in that ancient and antique em- pire.” Value of TJtese Statements It would have been almost useless for an avowed friend of the missionary cause to make statements like the above with the hope of having them widely received. There are many people who would be only too ready to attribute their positive- ness either to ignorance or to invincible prejudice, but we fancy that even these will scarcely be prepared to discredit or gainsay the assertions of a man who, with unbiased view, has been so long an observer of actual conditions upon the spot. Mr. Holcombe would have conferred a great benefit upon missionary enterprise had he done no more than that which is outlined above, but he proceeds to touch upon a matter which is being constantly brought forward, and presented — as mis- sionaries and their friends have believed — in a false light. There is certainly a widespread impression that constant fric- tion exists between the great body of the Chinese and the missionaries who live among them; that there is indeed a covert distrust and hatred, waiting only the opportunity for expression. It is worth while, then, to have a statement like this : “In many years of intimate 14 Missionary Enterprise in China official and friendly intercourse with all classes of Chinese in every part of the empire, the writer has never heard even one complaint of, or objection to, the presence of American missionaries in China, or the character of their work.” Of course, cases of friction do arise. It would be impossible that foreigners should live with any intimacy among such a people as the Chinese without sometimes — and frequently unintention- ally — giving cause of offence. “The mis- sionary cases” to which Mr. Holcombe alludes are of this character. Not all missionaries are wise, nor are all China- men lacking in foolish superstitions and prejudices. But so far as the attitude of the Chinese people is concerned, the writer declares that “with greater mutual intelligence and less frequent occasions of misunderstanding, these causes of friction and conflict have, in great meas- ure, disappeared. The true character and great value of the missionary enter- prise as a factor in the modernization of China, and in bringing it into line with the great nations of the world, is almost universally recognized and appreciated, at least by those who are being most radi- cally affected by it.” C ommercial Importance of the Missionary The final point upon which Mr. Hol- combe touches does not concern those of Missionary Enterprise in China 15 us who believe in missions for their own sake, and yet it is worthy of note that, in the opinion of a trained and careful ob- server, the value of the missionary en- terprise to the cause of commercial ex- pansion is reckoned as a great one. This is, of course, no argument for preaching the Gospel in China, or anywhere else, nor is it a thing which as believers in Christian missions we would care to see brought forward, but Mr. Holcombe has treated the whole subject from a secular point of view, and he renders a service to the cause of truth and justice in as- serting that in the missionary enterprise is to be found an agency unequalled by any other for the development of our commerce. He goes on to say that “every missionary is, whether willingly or un- willingly, an agent for the display and recommendation of American fabrics and wares of every conceivable sort. Each missionary home, whether estab- lished in great Chinese cities or rural hamlets, serves as an object lesson, an ex- position of the practical comfort, con- venience, and value of the thousand and one items in the long catalogue of articles which complete the equipment of an American home. Idle curiosity upon the part of the natives grows into per- sonal interest which in turn develops the desire to possess. Did space permit, an overwhelming array of facts and figures could be set forth to prove the inesti- 16 Missionary Enterprise in China mable, though unrecognized, value of the missionary as an agent for the develop- ment of American commerce in every part of the globe. The manufacturing and commercial interests in the United States, even though indifferent or active- ly hostile to the direct purpose of the missionary enterprise, could well afford to bear the entire cost of all American missionary effort in China for the sake of the large increase in trade which re- sults from such effort.” What This Enterprise Deserves Is it not time that, in the face of testi- mony like the foregoing, cheap sarcasms and mean misrepresentations concern- ing missionary work and its results should cease? An enterprise which has won, and honestly won, for itself — in the face of, and in spite of, the distrust and ill- feeling which Christian governments had justly incurred— the good will even of those who are not its converts, and the protection of a government which only a few years ago was avowedly hos- tile to it, should certainly receive from the men of a Christian nation at least the same fair treatment and no less cor- dial support than that which is given it by the Chinese themselves.