fifty-four Y^^^Q Hmenca •4^ A GLIMPSE AT OUR CHINESE IMMIGRANTS Proportion of the Chinese Population of California to the Total Population By ANNIE S. DODGE Published by the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society Price, 10 Cents 1904 Boston, Mass. Opening Exercises ^ ^ ^ I. READING. S soon as travel across the Pacific began to be easy, men from China came to America. From 1850 till the time of the building of the first Pacific railway comparatively few came, but with the call for a large number of laborers for that gigantic undertaking thousands came. Others, influenced by the stories of gold in California, came to make their fortunes. Those hostile to Chinese immigration claim that almost all were contracted laborers of the Chinese allied societies, the " Six Companies." Chinese writers claim that this is a misrepresentation, that the laborers came independently, and that the " Six Companies " are only charitable organizations, with the purpose of caring for newcomers. The census of 1900 places the number of Chinese in the United States as 106,659. They are in every State and Territory, including Alaska. The largest number are on the Western coast, California claiming 40,262. The Eastern cities all have large settlements. In Massachusetts we have 2,681 Chinese. Most of these men come from South China, from the vicinity of Canton. Some are paupers and coolies, — their opponents say almost all. Their friends claim that the majority belong to the middle class, and are intelligent men, with some education, knowing how to read and write. Some 2 of the merchants belong to a still higher class, and are men of culture and position. Taken as a whole, the Chinese furnish the smallest percentage of inmates to our prisons, asylums, and alms- houses. In criminal court cases the Chinese is seldom the aggressor. Ninety-eight times in a hundred he is the complainant, on account of the injustice done him by his American neighbor. Comparatively few of the Chinese come here with any inten- tion of staying more than a few years, and most of them leave their families in China. There are consequently only a small number of Chinese women ' in this country. In the West there are some thousands; in the E^ast only the richest merchants have their wives and children with them. Men and women alike come here heathen, arid bring their heathen ceremonies with them. Their temples' in this country a,re very like those in China, and the methods of worship much the same. Every one offers at the shrine, lii' time of trouble and anxiety, meat- offerings and wine-offerings ; ■ bn lesser occasions incense-sticks, candles, and sacrificial papers. The privilege, bought at auction, of selling these articles to the worshippers, brings large revenues to the temples. One in San Francisco has gained over $12,000 yearly in this way. The temples are free to all. The largest one, in New York, claims 7,000 worshippers. What the Chinese see in their few years' stay in this country gives them their only idea of Christian civilization. The 100,000 now here, when they return to China, will return with a mission of indifference and hostility to us and our faith, or with a mission of trust in our religion and respect for us. Many who go back 3 as pagans carry with them less morality than they bring here. A converted Chinese has said: ".Through his peculiar device, God divided the Chinese population and brought a part of it over to Christian America, that their infirmity might be cured more quickly," THE KIND FOR WHICH WE WORK. and some one else has said that " the man who strives to teach the Chinese Christian principles is doubtless working together with some of the largest discoverable plans of God." II. READING. The right of the Chinese to come to this country was early affirmed by the Burlingame Treaty of 1868 between the United 4 States and China, which recognized the right of immigration on both sides. As more and more Chinese came into the country the Western States began to complain bitterly and to urge restrictive legislation, nominally on the ground that the immigrants were of low character, really to protect the labor of other nationalities. In 1888 the Scott Exclusion Act was passed, forbidding immi- gration, and declaring that whoever helped a Chinese into the country was liable to a term in the penitentiary. In 1892 came the Geary Bill, still more stringent, reaffirming the Scott law, depriving the Chinese of the right of bail, and requiring a new registration of Chinese laborers under almost impossible conditions. After May 5, 1893, every laborer must obtain a certificate of his right to be in the country from the collector of internal revenue in his district; if after a year he should be found without such certificate, he might be arrested, and — if the loss of the document could not be proved — he should be hable to ' irhprisonment and deportation. The law also provided that Chinese coming from Canada should be treated as if landing at American ports. It was enacted for ten years. In .1893 it was sustained by the United States Supreme Court. The people of the Western States regarded this as a triumph for civilization, calling it " simply an affirmation of American nation- ality." The Eastern press and people thought of it as " an unjust and disgraceful law which must be wiped out." One prominent journal said: "The Christianizing of China will have to be left to some nation that is sufficiently Christian in practice to do unto China what it would have China do in return." 5 The last Exclusion Act, that of 1902, extended the provisions of the Geary Bill to the island dependencies of the United States, except Hawaii. It has been impossible to carry out in full the rigid provisions of these acts. They have partly defeated their own purpose, but to a large extent their provisions have been carried out, with much attendant severity and suffering. The Supreme Court has decided that a child born in the United States, of Chinese parents, is a citizen, and there are cases on record where Chinese men have claimed their citizenship. III. TEST QUESTIONS. 1 . What great enterprise virtually started Chinese immigration ? 2. What other motive brought Chinese to this country? 3. What association has been said to be behind Chinese immi- gration? 4. What other purpose are the Six Companies said to have ? 5. How many Chinese are now in this country? 6. Ho\y widely distributed are the Chinese over this country? 7. How many Chinese are there in California? 8. How many Chinese are there in Massachusetts? 9. What part of China do most men come from? 10. To what class do the enemies of Chinese immigration say those in this country belong ? 11. To what class do the champions of Chinese immigrants claim they belong? 12. What right was given the Chinese by the Burlingame Treaty? 13. How has successive legislation affected the right of Chinese immigration? ,. 14. To the feeling of what part of the country has anti-Chinese legislation been a concession? 15. Can a Chinese be an American citizen? 16. How does the purpose of Chinese immigrants differ from that of almost all others ? 6 ly. To what three places do the Chinese furnish the smallest proportion of inmates ? 1 8. What is the general position of the Chinese in criminal court cases ? 19. Where in the country is the largest number of Chinese women and children? 20. Describe Chinese temples and worship in America. 21. Where in America is the largest Chinese temple? 22. What differing views of American civilization may returning Chinese take back to China? 23. What great possibility is connected with the immigration and return of the Chinese? (Note to the Leader: — Have these test questions copied on slips of paper, and the slips either tied into little rolls with narrow ribbon, or mounted on green tissue-paper leaves, and arranged in a dish for a Chinese salad. After selections I. and II. have been read, pass around the slips, and call for the reading of each question, with impromptu answer by its holder. If the holder cannot answer, call for answers from the floor.) SINGING. IV. QUESTION EXERCISE. NTO what two divisions does Christian work for the Chinese in America logically fall ? A ns'iver. The work for the vast number of Chinese in the Western States, which is too large to be undertaken by the Christian churches of that section alone, and belongs rather to the churches of the entire country through their missionary boards ; 7 and the work for the comparatively small number of Chinese in Eastern cities, generally undertaken by individual churches. 2. How have the different churches of the country met their responsibility in the West ? - Answer. In 1852, only two years after the first Giinese immigrants came to the country, a Presbyterian missionary. Rev. William Speer, opened a dispensary in San Francisco for the Chinese, and began preaching the gospel to them. As a result the first Chinese church in the New World was organized Nov. 6, 1853. The next year the Baptists undertook work in the same field, and they were closely followed by the Episcopalians, the Methodists, and the Congrega- tionalists. With some changes and interruptions all of these have worked until the present time. The first school work in the English language for the Chinese was begun by a member of the First Congregational Church in Oakland, Cal., and that church was the first English-speaking communion in the country to receive Chinese into its fellowship. The Methodists and Presbyterians are doing effective rescue work for Chinese women and girls. In the Rescue Home of the Meth- odists in San Francisco over 400 women and girls have been helped to a better life. V. SUGGESTED FIVE-NINUTE PAPER. The Status of Chinese Women in America, or Reading, " Chinese Women in America," by Miss S. E. Stein. 8 . VI. QUESTION EXERCISE CONTINUED. 3. Give a brief resume of the work of the American Baptist Home Mission Society on the Pacific coast. Aftswer. " As early as 1852 the American Baptist Home Mission Society was in correspondence with Doctor Dean in reference to securing a native Chinese for missionary work in CaHfornia." In 1854 Rev. J. L. Shuck was sent to Sacramento by the Southern Baptist Convention. A church of nineteen Chinese was organized by him in i860. In 1870 Rev. John Francis, assisted by a Chinese evan- gehst, began work in San Francisco under the appointment of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and in 1874 he was able to report our mission as the most prosperous on the Pacific coast, with three native evangelists and 275 Chinese in the Sunday schools. The years brought changes to the mission, and finally the Society decided that it was wisest to leave the responsibility for the work with the English-speaking churches, aiding them as liberally as possible. In accordance with this vote the Society cooperated with the Metropolitan Baptist Church in San Francisco and the First Baptist Church of Portland, Ore., in mission-work. That in Port- land developed into sustaining a paid night-school, as well as the usual Sunday and week-day religious services. The growing antagonism of the Calif ornians to the Chinese in- terrupted the work in San Francisco, but in 1880, the year of the culmination of the anti-Chinese agitation. Rev. J. B. Hartwell came to take up the work under the auspices of the Southern Baptists. He was soon transferred to the care of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and served as superintendent of Baptist Chinese missions on the Pacific coast for nine years, until he went to China. " In 1888 a Baptist Chinese Mission building was dedicated in San Francisco. Preaching is done there Sundays and week-days, both in the church and on the street; Bible-classes are also held, and day-school, night-school, and Sunday-school work is maintained regularly." The present superin- tendent of Baptist Chinese Mission work in San Francisco is Rev. George Campbell. There were last year fourteen missionaries among the Chinese on the Pacific coast, under the appointment of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, the Woman's Baptist Home Mission Society, or the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society. The general society also assists in maintaining seven day-schools for the Chinese, mainly in California, Oregon, Washington, and Montana. HAT work has the Woman's Society of the West done on the Pacific slope? Answer. ''"k^ Since 1884 different missionaries of the Western society have worked in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, and Helena. Through their lives and those of their native helpers, the work in the West has been closely connected with that in China itself, as a number of them have become missionaries to the Chinese in their own land. Their work in the West has been naturally mainly among lO Chinese women and children, visiting them in their homes being a' large part of it. In 1895 was begun the unique department of their mission, the kindergarten for Chinese children. This has proved pleasant as well as effective work. Sometimes as many as seventy-five children have been enrolled, two-thirds of them being girls. One of the teachers has been a Chinese woman, who has taught in her own language. In 1903 the Woman's Baptist Home Mission vSociety reported that they were supporting four missionaries among the Chinese, and aiding in the support of two others.- 5. What work is the Woman's' American Baptist Home Mission Society doing for the Chinese in the West? A nszver. In California, Miss Sallie E. Stein is working at Fresno, and Miss Eliza Willsie at Sacramento ; Mrs. J. Whitmore is at Butte, Montana. i ±. I'^^r'^^f VILISUGGESTED READING ( In whole or in part ) . " Chinese Work in Butte, Montana," by Mrs. M. C. Reynolds. VIII. QUESTION EXERCISE CONTINUED. 6. What is the character of the work in Fresno and Sacramento ? Ansiver. Miss Stein and Miss Willsie both give much time to visiting the Chinese women in their homes. They have found many who are touched by their friendship and are glad to receive the message II they bring. They also are engaged in school work, and though numbers vary and there are reverses and disappointments, the work is successful, and they write of die joy and compensation they find in it. 7. What special work is being done in Chicago? A nswer. The Chinese Mission in Chicago has been established for twenty- six years, and has been aided by the American Baptist Home Mission Society since 1891. Since its organization over sixty Chinese have been baptized into the membership of the Baptist churches of the city, and a number more have come by letter, while many have joined churches of other denominations. Hundreds more have been in the school. Its influence has been felt in the Chinese Y. M. C. A. of this country, and also in the support of Christian schools and tliO publication of Christian literature in China. Many men forjnerly connected with the mission are now in China,, actively ci.jaged in church, school, or hospital work. 8. What Chinese mission of special interest is there in New ^'ork City? Answer. ' " The Morning Star Mission," in Mott Street, was begun in July, 1892. It was at first proposed to make it undenominational, but support could not be guaranteed, and the mission was then offered to three denominations before Miss Helen Clark, its leading worker, secured a pledge for its support from the American Baptist Home Mission Society. Its purpose was to reach the Chinese women and children as 12 well as the men. Rooms large enough to accommodate thirty men were hired, but at the first meeting seventy-five came. It was necessary to secure larger quarters at once, and temporary use of the Chinese theatre was obtained. Over four hundred Chinese men came to the first meeting there, and heard the gospel preached in their own language by an evan- gelist of their own race, Rev. Jue Hawk. The congregations have continued large, and the work has met with success. Miss Clark writes of it : " We have at all times been cordially received and kindly treated wherever we have been. God has opened a wide field for us, and He has already shown us that the field is white to the harvest." 9. What has been the scope and general character of the missions that individual Christian churches in the East have carried on? A nswer. There are Chinese Sunday schools in every large Eastern city. " In almost every place where the industrious Chinaman is found there are also those who look at the soul in the man and try to save it." The work is necessarily painstaking and elementary, beginning with the English alphabet and the easy story ; and the individual teacher for each man, or possibly for two advanced students, is a necessity. Joseph Cook styled the policy of the Chinese Sunday schools that of "baiting the gospel hook with the English alphabet," but Mr. C. W. Perkins, long- the superintendent of the Clarendon Street Baptist Chinese Sunday School, assures us that for many of the men the hook does not need to be baited. He says : " Their chief desire seems to be to study the Bible. They soon turn from the primer, 13 saying, ' Me no likee read that, that no sense, me want to read Holy Bible.' " lo. What is the story of Chinese work in Boston? Answer. There are in Boston proper about 1,200 Chinese; in the city and its suburbs perhaps 1,500. Fifteen Chinese women and about A CHINESE READING LESSON. twenty children make their home in Boston. To meet as far as possible the needs of this large colony there are some twenty schools, A glimpse at the three largest may indicate the work of all. 14 T?he Mt. Vernon Church, CongregationaUst, has a flourishing scl]ool of over one hundred men, which has had a long and success- ful history. It is under the charge of Miss Harriet Carter, who has made helping the Chinese in Boston her life-work, having been engaged in it now over twenty-five years. The largest Methodist Episcopal Chinese Sunday school is that connected with the Bromfield Street Church. Its largest attendance at a single service has been 117. In 1900 forty-two men had been received into the church. Miss Eliza Bigney, who has been work- ing for the Chinese for nineteen years, is the superintendent of this school. The school of the Clarendon Street Church, under the direction of Mr. Charles W. Perkins, is the best known among the Baptist Chinese schools in Boston. It is fifteen years old, and has now ail average attendance of about sixty, though it has numbered 150 a*t a single session. Fifty-five of its scholars are members of the Clarendon Street Church. They have organized for themselves a Chinese Y. M. C. A., which has thirty members. They hold a prayer-meeting of their own in Chinese on Sunday afternoon, and for some years they have supported a native evangelist in China. II. What other agencies in Boston are seeking to help the Chinese ? Answer. There are two missions stationed in the Chinese quarter where the gospel is preached in the Chinese tongue. At one of them a school is held on Sunday afternoons and week-day evenings. An 15 out-of-door service is also held in that quarter, with preaching in English and Chinese. " The Chinese Christian Home and School " has been maintained for some years in a good quarter of the city, and offers to its inmates neat lodgings and a reading-room, with a life free from the influences of idolatry. It is almost wholly sup- ported by Christian Chinamen. Quite recently the " New England Chinese Mission " has been organized, with a large committee con- sisting of representatives from five different denominations, to help in the Chinese work throughout New England. 12. What is the unanimous testimony of mission workers as to the kind of Christian character Chinese converts develop ? i Answer. J " They are remarkably faithful and consistent in their .'Christian living," and quick to see and be hurt by the inconsistencies in our American Christianity. Their own thorough-going spirit is indi- cated by the story of two Chinese, who, on forming . a business partnership, agreed to these three rules : ( i ) We will , not buy or sell anything that is injurious to our fellow men. (2) We will do no business on Sunday. (3) Of all that we make, one-tenth shall be given to the Lord." The generosity of tlie Chinese, Christian or pagan, has almost become a proverb. Not only do they give for the laenefit of their own people, but for all deserving causes. Twelve thousand dollars were contributed by American Chinese for the benefit of yellow fever sufferers of the South, and this is one instance out of many. The Christian men who return to China prove remarkably effi- cient helpers to the missionaries. Their influence in procuring good locations for school buildings is in itself a great help. The loyalty i6 of the Chinese converts to the gospel was proved forever in the Boxer insurrection of 1900, and the same strain of heroism exists in our American Chinese Christians. One of them has said, com- paring his old faith with his new : " Since we found Jesus we stop to speak the bad word, stop to gamble, and smoke opium ; Confucius only can tell us between good and bad, but not able to melt our heart, to inspire our spirit, but Jesus only can.'" IX. SINGING IN CHINESE. Tune : "yesKS, Our /Ci>ig.'" Han seong mo su gein sing kim wurn, Don dong ow gor mon gay jong. Que G ben koon han du e gow han. Dor sheen G yon way mo kong. Chorus: Yasso Gow, yesso Gow dor, G done way, G done way. Wing way G, wing way G doi, she yin fe, she yin fe, Yasso Gow, yesso Gow dor, G dune way, G dune way. Wing way G dor, she yein fe. ^ ^ ^ NOTES TO LEADERS. If it is desired to have a Chinese tea in connection with this meet- ing, the following hints from the Woman's World of January, 1898, may prove helpful : " The room is lighted with Chinese lanterns, and decorated with red geraniums and yellow marigolds, with Turkey-red hangings. Chinese ginger jars, Chinese shoes, and Chinese baskets are used as receptacles for the flowers with charming ef¥ect. Peacock feathers also add to the Chinese completeness of decoration. " The table is covered with a cloth of Turkey-red cotton, a most effective background for the green and gold of the dishes of real (or imitation) Canton ware. A quaint Chinese vase may stand in the centre of the table, filled with blossoms of the Chinese sacred lily, no longer a stranger in the United States. The place-cards are long strips of bright yellow paper, each decorated with a black Chinese hieroglyphic, the translation of which runs : 'May you wear yellow, fine gold, and be worth 150,000 taels ($210,000).' These cards may be made by any one with knack, and of course are prized as souvenirs. Chinese incense is burned, and all can easily fancy they are breathing the air of the Celestial Empire. " There should be a distinct Chinese flavor in the refreshments served, among which may be the various forms -of rice, roast pork, excellent tea, preserved ginger, citron, and China nuts. Sugar-cane is a favored delicacy with these strange, interesting people, and, when available, should be cut in short lengths, and be an accomlpaniment of the candied citron aud nuts. Chinese costumes might be worn by the waiters. " Pictures of our American ' China-towns,' strings of cash (ten make one penny), Chinese slippers, dolls, etc., would make an interesting exhibition. Most city laundries can furnish the lily bulbs in November. The incense, tea, and nuts can also be found there. The article quoted says the Chinese fiddle will make an amusing and at the same time pathetic feature of enter- tainment. The Chinese party in question was supposed to close when the air was blue with the incense, and as heavy with the scent of the lily as that of a Joss-house (temple), and after a resolution of regret at departing and a motion to adjourn to the United States of America." If a longer program is desired, other readings which may be used are: " A Sojourner," published by the A. M. A. " Dawn of a New Life," published by the A. M. A. i8 " One of His Jewels," published by the W. B. H. M. Soc. Our Chinese Kindergarten," published by the W. B. H. M. Soc. " Condition of Chinese Children," published by the W. B. H, M. Soc. " Rescued from Slavery," published by the W. A. B. H. M. Soc. Selections from "The Lady of the Lily Feet," by Miss Helen S. Clark. References: The Home Mission Echoes for Dec, 1899; A^ay, 1900; April, 1901 ; Oct., 1902; July, 1903. "The Ciiinese in America," by Miss Hattie E. Genung. "Lesson VHL The Chinese in America," by Miss M. G. Burdette, of the W. B. H. M. Soc. "The True Purpose of the Chinese Sunday School," by Mr. Charles W. Perkins. "A Catechism: Work Among the Chinese in America," published by the A. M. A. Outlook, April 23, 1904, pages 963 and 971.