1^VV7 - 
 
 CM \ ^ 
 
 The 
 
 Situation in China 
 
 A Report to the Board of Foreign Missions of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church of 
 an OflBcial Visit by 
 
 REV. RALPH E. DIFFENDORFER, D.D. 
 
 Corresponding Secretary 
 
 PRESENTED TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD 
 
 JULY 21, 1927 
 NEW YORK CITY 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/situationinchinaOOdiff 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 It was not until we reached Manila, on March 31, and met there 
 our mission^ies from South China that we had any intimation what- 
 ever of the extent, significance, and effect of recent events in China. 
 Throughout our three and one-half months of journeying in India, 
 except for occasional reflections in the periodicals from America, al- 
 ways four to six weeks old, we would not have known that there v/as 
 anything unusual happening in China. Short paragraphs in the press 
 from Reuter’s brought the only news we had; “General So-and-So ad- 
 vanced — ’’ ; “The Powers were in Conference — etc. The nationalist 
 ipress in India, dependent upon the same source, with bits of informa- 
 tion secured through their own channels, confined themselves largely 
 to comments on the bearings of the revolution in China on their own 
 nationalist aspirations. 
 
 When we left Burma, on February 4, we still expected to carry out 
 our full itinerary in China. Indeed, in Burma we received letters from 
 Bishop Wallace Brown and missionaries in Fukien outlining our itin- 
 erary for a two weeks’ visit to the interior stations. 
 
 On February 7, we were in Singapore at the closing session of the 
 Malaya Conference, and on the eleventh we left Singapore for Java. 
 During these few days in Singapore, the report had come that Dr. 
 Hu’s hospital of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society in Foochow 
 had been looted and that she was probably then in Singapore. The 
 reasons given for the attack seem to indicate no anti-foreign or anti- 
 Christian feeling. When we returned to Singapore from Java and 
 South Sumatra, on February 28, we had no additional information, 
 except that letters, coming through from Chinese in South China to 
 Chinese in Singapore, indicated that there were serious troubles in 
 their country. 
 
 On March 5, when we visited Douglas Coole at Sitiawan in the 
 Malay peninsula, we learned through a letter from Dr. T. H. Coole, 
 of Foochow, who was one of the missionary refugees in Manila, that 
 there had been a general evacuation of missionaries from South China. 
 We then went to North Sumatra and did not again return to Singapore 
 until March 17, and left for North Borneo and the Philippines on 
 March 19, a twelve days’ voyage. On March 28, at Sandakan, North 
 Borneo, after we had embarked on an Australian boat for Manila, the 
 wireless operator gave us a confused and garbled message concerning 
 “the capture of Shanghai and the bombardment of the city with the 
 loss of many Chinese and foreign lives.’’ We discovered later that this 
 message referred to the Nanking disaster of March 24. 
 
 The chief interest in these facts is in the way news of the upheaval 
 in China apparently is being censored, only a slight indication of the 
 estimate given in some quarters of the possible effect of what is hap- 
 pening in China on the destinies of the people of Asia and their gov- 
 ernments. 
 
 3 
 
4 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 In Manila, letters came through from Shanghai telling of the 
 Nanking outrage and the newspapers were discussing the reaction of 
 the Powers to the Nanking affair. During our two weeks in the Phil- 
 ippine Islands, our China missionaries revealed a confused and chaotic 
 state of mind, and a wide difference of opinion as to the wisdom and 
 necessity for the evacuation and to the possibility of return. We were 
 getting quite opposite messages from Foochow as to the possibility of 
 visiting Fukien at all, and finally concluded to go to Hongkong, to dis- 
 cover what could be done and to receive there messages as to proce- 
 dure. Upon our arrival in Hongkong, a message from Bishop Brown 
 reported that he had left Foochow for Shanghai to see Mrs. Brown 
 on board ship for America, and suggested that we come to Shanghai 
 for conference with a few of his men. We also had urgent appeals 
 from our missionaries and Chinese in Foochow to make every effort 
 to visit them. This was the Saturday before Easter. We engaged 
 passage on a ship sailing for Foochow on the Tuesday morning after 
 Easter, April 19. We had concluded that as long as any of our mis- 
 sionaries were in China and felt that they needed and desired our 
 presence, it was the duty and the privilege of a Secretary of the Board 
 of Foreign Missions to go to them at any cost. In the meantime the 
 American Consul at Foochow had given his consent to our going, and 
 later told me we had done our duty in visiting Foochow to see, for 
 ourselves, the conditions under the new nationalist regime. 
 
 In Canton 
 
 On Saturday, in Hongkong, we found the night and day boats to 
 Canton running, and after inquiry at the local steamship office, together 
 with consultation with a British army officer in our hotel, the Chinese 
 manager of our hotel, and the manager of the American Express Com- 
 pany, all of whom said we probably would find Canton quiet, we de- 
 cided to take the Saturday night boat up the Pearl river to Canton and 
 to spend Easter day there. 
 
 On Sunday morning, at breakfast on the boat approaching Canton, 
 we met a refugee missionary who was just returning to Canton after 
 several weeks’ absence, to conduct the Easter services at the Church 
 of England in Shameen, the foreign concession. This service was a 
 Parade Service, attended by a company of British soldiers, six women 
 and a dozen foreign civilian men. Then we went into the Chinese 
 city to our Canton Methodist Church, for their 12 o’clock Easter serv- 
 ice. It will be remembered that this church in Canton is an outgrowth 
 of work among the Chinese in New York City and in California, and 
 is independent of our Annual Conferences in China. It is now a self- 
 supporting church and has, through its own efforts, opened eighteen 
 preaching places and Sunday schools, some of them the beginnings of 
 other independent congregations. We found a congregation of about 
 seventy-five, of whom two thirds or more were men. At the close of 
 the service, the pastor greeted me very heartily and called a young 
 Chinese, an American-trained doctor who knew English. We were 
 also greeted by the pastor of our Chinese congregation in Sacramento, 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 5 
 
 California, who had come to Canton to get his wife and family to take 
 them to America. The young doctor had spent thirteen years in the 
 United States, studying at Asbury College, Emory University, and 
 George Washington University, having completed his medical course, 
 with two years of interneship and a year of special training in surgery. 
 He is now the president of the Kwong Wah Medical College in Canton, 
 a Chinese institution independent of foreign control from the begin- 
 ning, financed and built by Chinese money, entirely staffed by Chinese 
 medical men, mostly Christians, with a student body of 150 young men 
 and women. He is also superintendent of the medical school hospital. 
 He and his wife invited us to lunch with them at a Chinese restaurant. 
 
 We walked up Taiping Road, a modern thoroughfare marked out 
 and cut through the heart of the city west from the river front, one 
 of the improvements of the commission form of government estab- 
 lished six years ago under Dr. Sun Yat Sen. A few minutes later 
 found us on the third floor of a large Chinese public eating house, in a 
 little alcove behind closed screens. There, during the process of Our 
 first Chinese meal in China, this young doctor gave us our first con- 
 nected account of what was happening in China. He also told us of the 
 proclamation posted throughout the city, that on April 12 there was 
 to begin a general massacre of all the foreigners in China, to be com- 
 pleted about the sixteenth. Good Friday. On the way to the restaurant 
 we passed under bamboo arches that were being erected on main thor- 
 oughfares for the celebration of the event. Following these proclama- 
 tions, there had been almost a complete exodus of foreigners from 
 Canton. Nothing happened on the twelfth nor on any day following, 
 until early on the morning of Good Friday, April 16, when General 
 Chiang Kai Shek turned the tables and inaugurated his campaign to 
 exterminate the Communist radicals from Kuomintang. It was re- 
 ported that on Good Friday morning, between 200 and 300 Communists 
 were executed in Canton, more than 1,000 were put in prison, and 1,500 
 labor agitators were being held prisoners in two large unfinished office 
 buildings. On the way to our Chinese restaurant, as we turned into 
 Taiping Road, we saw in the block ahead of us hundreds of Chinese 
 working men filling the street. On both sides of this street, in the 
 heart of Canton’s best business district, two six-story modern office 
 buildings were in the process of construction by a group of wealthy 
 Chinese, each building costing about $500,000 Mex. When these build- 
 ings were nearing completion, they were taken over by the Communist 
 laborers employed on them, and turned into living quarters and labor 
 union headquarters. These fine new buildings gave every appearance 
 of. crowded tenements. On Friday morning, nationalist troops seized 
 the two buildings, put guards at all the entrances, and the occupants 
 became prisoners. On Sunday morning, as we passed through, we 
 saw the imprisoned working men letting ropes down from the windows 
 of .the stories above, with baskets attached, and pulling up food and 
 clothing furnished by friends on the street. 
 
 It was this campaign against the radical element that relieved the 
 tension of the city, made it quiet and orderly, if not friendly. Seated 
 
6 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 in this Canton restaurant on Easter day, this young educated and 
 intensely patriotic physician and surgeon gave his view of the general 
 situation in China. In Exhibit “A,” on page 37 of this report, will 
 be found some paragraphs from the stenographic notes of this conver- 
 sation. 
 
 On Sunday evening we spent several hours in conference with 
 some of the missionaries from the Union Theological Seminary of 
 Canton. On Monday morning we went down the river to the campus 
 of Canton Christian College. It was guarded at all entrances by na- 
 tionalist troops. We had to secure passes from the officer at the main 
 entrance, and give up the passes upon our exit. All the members of 
 the faculty and the president. Dr. Henry, were required to observe 
 this rule. The university had been closed for about two weeks, due 
 to labor difficulties. The labor group had made demand after demand 
 which the university had met, and finally all the employees of various 
 kinds at the university were organized into one labor union. These 
 included the men in the pump house, the electricians, the gardeners, 
 the servants in the homes of the faculty, both Chinese and foreign, and 
 the clerks, stenographers and bookkeepers in the university offices. 
 
 A good illustration of labor difficulties in Canton at the present 
 time is indicated by the situation at the college pump house. After the 
 erection of the new pumping station, there had been employed a good, 
 faithful Chinese to run the pumps. Some months ago he came to the 
 university authorities and said that he would have to have another man 
 on the pumps, that he was working too long hours, and that the labor 
 union had decided that there should be two men for a shift instead of 
 one. The university complied and things went along as usual. Then 
 the two pump men came and said they would have to have a nan to 
 cook their meals for them while they were at work during the day. 
 Again the university authorities complied. The cook was provided and 
 the pumps were again operating, when one day it was discovered that 
 the two pump men had retired from business and out of their salaries 
 had employed the cook to run the pumps ! 
 
 The university was finally forced to close its doors. When the 
 announcement was made, there were over 700 students in attendance. 
 All but a few of them voted to keep the university going, the students 
 volunteering to do the work of the servants on the grounds. Dr. Henry 
 pointed out that this loyalty on the part of the students shows that 
 they have passed through a two-year period of agitation, unrest and 
 impossible demands upon the part of the student body. The students, 
 of course, did not find themselves capable of doing all the kinds of 
 work that had to be done. When we visited Canton, the university 
 was in consultation with city and labor union officials, looking toward 
 a possible settlement. During our visit there we studied the plan for 
 the reorganization of the university in order to meet the requirements 
 for registration under the nationalist government, our first introduc- 
 tion to that problem. At the College, all the requirements had been met. 
 There was a Chinese board of managers, a Chinese president, and a 
 plan worked out whereby the former Board of Trustees in New York 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 7 
 
 should become an American Foundation, and should, under certain 
 conditions, rent the property in Canton to the Board of Managers in 
 China at $i.oo a year. Dr. Henry, with far-sighted vision, has taken 
 a lesser post in the university in order to preserve the contacts and the 
 support of the university’s American constituency. In making these 
 adaptations, and in anticipating the revolution and its meaning for edu- 
 cation in China, the university has not had the unanimous support of 
 the foreign community in South China, especially in Canton and Hong- 
 kong, as we discovered in conversations with army officers and business 
 men. Canton Christian College, now known as Lingnan University, has 
 incurred for itself the reputation of being exceedingly “radical and un- 
 safe,” when as a matter of fact, from the point of view of the college 
 authorities, it was merely adapting itself to inevitable conditions, and 
 stabilizing itself in Chinese life in preparation for even larger service 
 to the Chinese community. 
 
 Later, on Monday, we visited the Kwong Wah medical college 
 and hospital, drove throughout the city over the newly constructed 
 streets, saw the National University, the public parks, the playgrounds, 
 and the fine new outdoor amphitheater and stadium, heard and dis- 
 cussed further plans for the development of modern sewerage and sani- 
 tation systems, health education, and other schemes of this progressive 
 southern city. 
 
 It was interesting to us to observe that the one American woman 
 missionary who did not leave her post in Canton is instructor in Eng- 
 lish literature at the National University. She has gone to and fro 
 day after day to her work, and testifies that her contacts there with the 
 nationalists are worth more to her and her future service to the Chris- 
 tian movement than all of her previous years in China. 
 
 We shall never cease to be grateful that our first contact with 
 China was in Canton. It is decidedly a Chinese city, the foreign con- 
 cession, Shameen, being a limited area on an island in the river. Signs 
 of progress were in evidence everywhere. The people seemed to believe 
 in the revolution and in the future of China. In Canton one felt the 
 spirit of the Nationalist Movement, which was not repressed by any 
 outside influences. The missionaries from America, England, Australia 
 and New Zealand with whom we talked all shared this buoyant hope. 
 While recognizing the difficulties and the excuses, they were also clear 
 in the conviction that nothing can withstand or check the evolution of 
 national consciousness in a great but hitherto politically dormant people. 
 
 In Foocho^v 
 
 The three-day sail from Hongkong to Foochow included a day’s 
 stop at Swatow and a day at Amoy. We found Swatow under martial 
 law, the raid on the Communists having started the night before, when 
 thirty-five were reported executed, twelve of them publicly. At 
 Amoy, there had been executions a plenty. We went ashore but found 
 few foreigners. On Friday morning, April 22, we were anchored in 
 the Min River below the city of Foochow. 
 
 The missionaries from Foochow, in a special launch, gave us a 
 
8 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 welcome even before our ship from Hongkong had found suitable 
 anchorage in the river. As we stepped to the rail, we saw a pert little 
 steam launch making circles around us, with a dozen handkerchiefs 
 wig-wagging an enthusiastic “Glad to see you !” What we lacked in 
 numbers, we made up in vigor as we returned the signals. 
 
 They came up the gangway like a boarding party, and we found 
 ourselves surrounded by a happy crowd of men and women who had 
 been worried for fear we would be frightened out of a visit to Foochow. 
 Visitors to Foochow were not numerous during those days of active 
 anti-Christian and anti-foreign propaganda, and the American Consul 
 had ordered all American women and children to leave, allowing only 
 those men and single women to remain who were essential to the con- 
 duct of institutions. 
 
 The launch was able to take us all and our luggage, and we started 
 from Pagoda anchorage up the twelve miles of shallow water to the 
 city of Foochow. There were several prominent Chinese in our party, 
 most distinguished among whom was Mr. Hu, a Christian layman of 
 the highest quality, a gray haired man who has never had the advantage 
 of a foreign education, but whose precise English puts to shame the 
 slang of some of the younger generation who have returned from years 
 of study in America. 
 
 The trip up to Foochow that day in the launch was a combination 
 picnic and pilgrimage. We stopped first at an island where the Ameri- 
 can Board has located a splendid hospital, and met two of our own 
 missionary families from the interior, living there under refugee con- 
 ditions. In one case, a single room made dining room, living room and 
 bed-room facilities for a family of four. Whatever the inconveniences, 
 or whatever the uncertainties concerning the future we found no bit- 
 terness of resentment against the Chinese people. Our second stop 
 was about noon, on another island which was occupied by a small 
 fishing village, and where we had some good Chinese food for which 
 Foochow is famous. Our third stop was half-way to Foochow at 
 the campus of Fukien Christian University, the beautiful new build- 
 ings with Chinese architecture which we had seen on their high promon- 
 tory long before we reached the landing place. After a brief stop we 
 started off again toward our destination, the large island of Nan Tai 
 in the Min River, opposite the old walled city of Foochow. 
 
 Just as our launch got out into mid-stream, some one spied a fa- 
 miliar Chinese figure hurrying along the bank, and we turned back 
 to pick up Ding Nguong Lung, teacher at the university and pastor 
 of our fine congregation at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, in the 
 city of Foochow. It was our first meeting with the man whose life 
 has been threatened, against whom proclamations have been posted, 
 and who recently had to flee into the country and remain in hiding 
 after an anti-foreign mob had broken into his home, searching for him, 
 stealing some of his private possessions and badly frightening his wife 
 and children. Less than thirty-five years of age, this young preacher, 
 with the best training of Syracuse and Columbia universities to his credit, 
 has gone into his pulpit Sunday after Sunday in the face of hy.sterical 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 9 
 
 opposition in the non-Christian community and preached a social gospel 
 that demanded the application of the principles of Jesus to the present 
 difficulties in China. He is a marked man, marked as a target for 
 those who are out to “get” anyone who holds an opinion different from 
 their own, and marked for a place of prophetic leadership in the future 
 Church of China. 
 
 Our chief topic of conversation on the launch was whether or 
 not the Christian institutions ought to register under the educational 
 requirements of the new government, and we found that in the Foo- 
 chow community this was the subject of greatest moment not only to 
 the missionary leaders of our Methodist institutions, but to the Chinese 
 pastors, the Chinese staffs of those institutions, and above all to the 
 students. This question has become one of those concrete issues 
 which determine in times of transition whether one is “for” or “against” 
 a, regime. 
 
 The conditions under which a school is permitted to register, 
 briefly, are (i) a Chinese president; (2) a Chinese board of managers; 
 (3) voluntary religious instruction; and (4) party education for the 
 Kuomintang to be carried on within the school.* There would be 
 little or no question about the acceptance of these condition, were there 
 not a number of extremely irritating and almost preposterous “riders” 
 attached to these national requirements by the local extremist admin- 
 istration. The total number of regulations in Fukien province has 
 grown to seventeen, and school administrators quite naturally wonder 
 how many more may be saddled upon them if they quiescently accept 
 without protest restrictions which in effect will choke off religious 
 liberty and academic freedom. 
 
 Our going to Foochow was of the greatest significance for the 
 Christian community just at this point. We were able on several occa- 
 sions to show them that there were far larger issues confronting them 
 than whether or not the Christian schools should register. They must 
 make sure that in the principles of this new nationalist government 
 the right of private education is maintained, that religious liberty is 
 guaranteed, that academic freedom is not denied, and that the govern- 
 ment actually became what it purported to be, representative of the 
 people. 
 
 The number of junks and house-boats in the river increased; 
 launches and tugs dodged here and there in the traffic, the smell of 
 fish and river shipping became more acute, the houses at the water 
 front crowded upon each other taking up every available foot of light 
 and space: we had arrived at Foochow. Up the river a short distance 
 from our landing place on Nan Tai stretched the stone spans of the 
 picturesque bridge of Ten Thousand Ages, uniting the land on which 
 we were disembarking with the mainland and Foochow. Traffic was 
 too thick for us to get to the dock itself ; we tied up as close as we 
 could, and still had to clamber over two good-sized native boats to get 
 
 * For full text of registration conditions pertaining in Fukien in April, 1927, see 
 Exhibit B, page 38, 
 
lO 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 to terra firma. Then through the narrow streets of a native bazaar 
 at the water front, up a series of stone steps to the high ridge of the 
 island where the principal foreign residences and institutions are 
 located. Most of the men were without their wives in the missionary- 
 community, and the Wiants were practically the only ones equipped to 
 take care of guests, so we not only took up our abode with them, but 
 their home was used for several of the receptions and missionary gath- 
 erings held during our stay. The weather was cool and delightful, 
 much like the early spring in America, a welcome contrast to the heat 
 we had endured through Malaysia and the Philippines. The weather 
 made a remarkable difference, for we found ourselves at once with 
 more energy and ability to go through long hours of sustained effort. 
 
 No program that we have been asked to follow anywhere was better 
 laid out than the one for our eight days in Foochow. It began at 8 
 o’clock on Friday night, April 22, the day of our arrival, with an in- 
 formal conference between a few of the Chinese Christian leaders and 
 the missionaries of the Board of Foreign Missions. At this meeting, 
 the missionaries and Chinese proposed the major topics which they 
 would like to have considered during our visit to Foochow, as well as 
 specific questions they wanted answered.* Into the atmosphere of 
 gloom and concern over their own affairs in Foochow and Fukien, we 
 at once injected a little optimism by relating the situation we had 
 found in India, in Malaysia, particularly Java and Sumatra, and in 
 the Philippine Islands where people are all astir, showing signs of new 
 life and new hope, confronting the Christian enterprise with new prob- 
 lems in every country, just as they are doing in China. We told them 
 also the thrilling story of the work of the Rhenish Mission among the 
 Battaks in North Sumatra, where, in sixty years of concentrated effort, 
 they have transformed a population of savage cannibals into a law- 
 abiding Christian community of churches and schools, that represents 
 one of the most inspiring victories of Christian Missions in the whole 
 world. It is good to remember at times that, in the face of insuperable 
 obstacles, great things have been wrought through the Gospel of Christ 
 in Asia, and even greater things can yet be done. 
 
 From eight to twelve on Saturday morning, we made a tour of 
 the Christian institutions in Nan Tai. In order that we might get a 
 bird’s-eye view of the layout, we were taken to the fire tower on the 
 top of the hill of the Fox Devil’s Spirit. We saw the thirty mile long 
 island of Nan Tai, a huge elbow in the Min River high and rocky at 
 the point where we stood, sloping to rice fields and Chinese villages 
 both before and behind. It was to this high and desolate eminence 
 that the “foreign barbarians” were consigned by the arrogant Manchus 
 in the days when the Honorable John Company was trying to extend 
 its business from India to China. In those days there was only a small 
 fishing village at the Nan Tai end of the bridge of Ten Thousand Ages, 
 with other native villages in the rice growing section of the island. The 
 foreigners took the unpromising, rocky high ground, transformed it into 
 
 For complete list, see Exhibit C, page 43. 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 II 
 
 a city of pleasant streets and substantial buildings, and, today, the 
 property is the most valuable of anything in that region. From our emi- 
 nence we could see the bridge running from Nan Tai to the mainland, 
 resting midway upon a small, thickly congested island in the river. 
 Along the shore line on the mainland was a thickly populated section 
 at the water front, then a narrow carriage road of high ground extend- 
 ing across rice fields to the old walled city of Foochow, which is still, 
 today, the social and political center for the Chinese life of Fukien 
 province. The White Pagoda stood out clear against the horizon, 
 marking the right extremity of the wall, and to the left we could 
 see the dark prominence of Black Rock Hill with the wall circling its 
 base. Each landmark in’ the old city seemed to mark the site of a 
 Christian missionary organization. Near the White Pagoda, we were 
 told, lay Foochow College and the hospital of the American Board, and 
 way to the north, in the shadow of the Drum Tower, just visible, the 
 Church Missionary Society had its headquarters. Conspicuous in the 
 foreground on the water front was the splendid four-story brick build- 
 ing of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and not far away, the 
 new cathedral (Chinese) of the Church of England. 
 
 We set out more closely to visit the Christian institutions on the 
 island of Nan Tai, particularly those under the auspices of our own 
 Church. We climbed down again through the trap-door of the fire 
 tower, passed several small altars at the foot, dedicated to the malig- 
 nant spirit of the fox-devil, with a Chinese inscription over one altar 
 equivalent to our “Ask and it shall be given you” ; scrambled among 
 the gravestones which mark every hillside in China; and walked along 
 the gravel path to the former headquarters of the Methodist Publishing 
 House. The Press has been consolidated with the Interdenomina- 
 tional Publishing House in Shanghai long ago, and all that is left is a 
 small stationery and office-supply store. Some of the former press 
 rooms and offices are now the draughting rooms and headquarters for 
 the Fukien Construction Bureau, an efficient organization with two 
 missionary architects and engineers, and a staff of Chinese assistants 
 who design and build not only for our own Church but for other de- 
 nominations and for the general public. We visited the Church of the 
 Heavenly Rest, built adjacent to a Buddhist monastery which bears 
 that name, and which was famous, in 1897, when the church was 
 erected ; but the fame of the monastery is a thing of the past and the 
 church has appropriated its lustre. There are four or five substan- 
 tial missionary residences on the compound of the Board of Foreign 
 Missions adjacent to the church. On our way to the Anglo-Chinese 
 College we passed the stone structure of the Church of England. 
 Anglo-Chinese College, the pioneer of English education for the whole 
 of China, has long outgrown its old quarters. Three beautiful new 
 buildings have been erected on one of the highest spots on Nan Tai, 
 and they stand out clearly against the horizon as a substantial tribute 
 to Christian education. In former days, boys came to this institution 
 from many parts of China, and from Chinese communities in Malaysia, 
 the Philippines and Burma, With its primary and middle schools, it 
 
12 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 is a first-class preparatory school, fitting boys to enter Fukien Christian 
 University. 
 
 Hwa Nan (South China) College is the girls’ institution of colle- 
 giate grade, maintained by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, 
 just across the road from Anglo-Chinese College. At Hwa Nan, under 
 the leadership of Dr. Ida Belle Lewis, the foreign and Chinese staff 
 are graduating an unusually high type of Chinese young women. It 
 was interesting to find that nearly every member of the staff, including 
 the president, wears her hair bobbed, and a number of the Chinese girls 
 have followed suit. We stopped, also, at the Union Bible Training 
 School, and at the Woolston Memorial Hospital of the Woman’s For- 
 eign Missionary Society, closed for lack of a doctor. 
 
 Immediately after lunch, we met the staff of the Anglo-Chinese 
 College, chiefly Chinese, to hear them speak frankly on the question of 
 registration. It was evident from the many angles at which the sub- 
 ject was presented, that these men were unanimous in their desire to 
 have the college register, and some of them were pretty outspoken in 
 their demands that the Church in America relinquish control, but con- 
 tinue to support its educational institutions in China. That evening, 
 there was another gathering at the Wiant home, this time including the 
 entire foreign staffs of the Board and the Society in Foochow. 
 
 On Sunday morning, there was a conference with the men on the 
 subject of personnel in the Mission, concerning the future place of the 
 missionary, especially in terms of the actual need of the field. At its 
 close, we were taken to one of the smaller Chinese churches on Nan 
 Tai and returned in time to hear the sermon of Pastor Ding and par- 
 ticipate in the annual thank-offering of the Chinese Woman’s Home 
 Missionary Society. They put it across with the enthusiasm of 
 women the world over, and counted over four hundred dollars (Mex) 
 into the coffers of their Society for work in other parts of China. This 
 was in the Church of the Heavenly Rest, known in Chinese as Tieng 
 Ang Dong. Sunday evening, and in fact every spare hour, was filled 
 by conferences with individual missionaries and Chinese Christian 
 leaders. 
 
 An outstanding impression of our work in Foochow, and one that 
 offers great promise for the future, is the high quality of Chinese 
 leadership. In the Foochow Conference, there are several men who 
 have taken their M.A. degrees in the best schools in America. 
 Two of them are preachers of outstanding ability, and perhaps half 
 a dozen, both men and women, are teachers in our Christian schools. 
 The high places they hold and the devotion they are giving to the 
 Church in no small measure are due to the willingness of the foreign 
 staff to stand aside and place responsibility upon the Chinese leaders. 
 The fellowship among the missionaries, and between the two racial 
 groups is truly an inspiration. Foochow is our earliest station in China, 
 and for seventy-five years concentrated work has been done over a 
 limited area. The density of the Christian population in Fukien is 
 greater than anywhere else in China. 
 
 On Monday morning, April 25, we had breakfast at the Middle 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 13 
 
 School for Chinese girls, of which Miss Florence Plumb is principal. 
 She told us of the remarkable changes in Chinese womanhood during 
 the past twenty-six years. The entire morning was given up to chapel 
 addresses in our various schools. Important interviews were had with 
 Mr. Munson, of the Foochow Y. M. C. A., Mr. Price, the American 
 Consul, and others. 
 
 Monday afternoon was filled with intimate personal conferences 
 with Chinese and Americans, conferences that cannot be over-estimated 
 for their value at getting to the heart of the prevailing state of affairs 
 by the question and answer method. Late in the afternoon, another 
 prolonged session was held with the missionaries of the Board on the 
 subject of personnel, when the report of the committee was made in 
 which the missionary staff for the next few years was realigned, so as 
 to do with six less missionaries in the Foochow Conference, and thus 
 bring the staff of Americans within the available budget. The men in 
 Foochow are clearer in their own thinking about the future place of the 
 missionary as a helper of the Chinese than we have found anywhere 
 in our travels. 
 
 The five evenings, Monday to Friday, were filled with dinners 
 which mark late hours well spent in memorable gatherings. 
 
 Dinner Number One. This was held at the fine Women’s Bible 
 Training School, Nan Tai, and was attended by 120 Chinese Christian 
 and missionary friends in honor of our visit to Foochow. It was a gala 
 event of the first order, a Chinese feast with the proverbial nineteen 
 courses, and excellent after-dinner speeches by the Chinese, that for- 
 ever put the quietus on the Western belief that the Chinese have no sense 
 of humor. In the welcome address by Mr. Hu, the speaker said his 
 first impressions of the Corresponding Secretary were of a laughing 
 Buddha, good-natured, smiling, with big ears, and bringing with him 
 the money bags ! He had purposely offered to carry Mrs. Diffen- 
 dorfer’s purse on her arrival to gauge its weight; he found it quite 
 light, but trusted it was filled with checks and money orders. Only 
 one who has carried around a pocketful of Mexican dollars in Chinese 
 silver, or a bag full of Chinese “cash” can appreciate the tonnage. Mrs. 
 Diffendorfer, the speaker said, he had thought must surely be the 
 wife of a commissioner, she looked so distinguished. He found on 
 closer examination, however, that she was a hard-working woman, for 
 her face was full of lines. To call one aged is the height of respect 
 in China, but the speaker’s inverted compliments in English simply 
 made his speech all the funnier. My come-back was interpreted by the 
 Chinese district superintendent. Rev. Wong Gang Huo, an M. A. from 
 Cornell College, and it was a masterpiece of another sort, as he made 
 my speech his own and kept the crowd in constant roars of laughter. 
 As an expression of fellowship and interracial friendship, the dinner 
 was one of the most successful we have ever attended. The keynote 
 of the evening was the sense of deep and abiding fellowship which ex- 
 ists among those who are brothers in Christ, a fellowship that tran- 
 scends all the barriers of nationality, race or time. 
 
 Dinner Number Two. This was held at the Hwa Nan College 
 
14 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 on Tuesday evening, and was scheduled for seven-thirty. We sat down 
 to the table at nine-thirty and continued to sit until midnight. This 
 dinner was a sacrifice upon the altar of shirt-sleeve diplomacy. The 
 guests of honor were the military and political leaders of the Kuomin- 
 tang government in Fukien Province. Principal among them was 
 General Chang, the commander of the military forces for Fukien Prov- 
 ince, the chairman of the Administrative Council, together with nu- 
 merous smaller officers, aides-de-camp, ex-bandits, the Commissioner 
 of Education, and gentry. Every man who had a right to military 
 escort brought along a bodyguard, and the entrance to Hwa Nan was 
 filled with Chinese soldiers armed to the teeth. All of the talk was 
 through interpreters, with most of the arrangements cared for by the 
 Hwa Nan staff and some of our Chinese Christians. As an occasion 
 for breaking down unfriendliness and suspicion between the govern- 
 ment and the Christian community in Foochow, it was memorable, and 
 a lot of water was poured on the Christian wheel despite the strain of 
 the evening’s proceedings. They kept faith with their party training 
 and lectured us at length on the three principles of Sun Yat Sen, na- 
 tional unity, economic reconstruction, and democratic government. Our 
 side replied by reminding the government that it should guarantee 
 religious freedom, academic freedom, and the safety of life and prop- 
 erty. We were assured, in terms that made everybody happy, that 
 the government intended to do all these things, but at the present time 
 was hampered in doing so by the presence of a radical element with 
 whom they found it difficult at times to cope. Good feeling predomi- 
 nated, and at the close of the evening, the general arose in a burst of 
 enthusiasm and invited us all to come to dinner as his guests the follow- 
 ing night at the Y. M. C. A. ! 
 
 Dinner Number Three. The return engagement was as big a 
 hit as the dinner at Hwa Nan. There were more of us present, includ- 
 ing one more of “them,” the number one man of the entire Fukien 
 government, so far as a commission form of government can have a 
 number one man, the chairman of the Political Council. It wasn’t so 
 much of a strain as the evening before; we seemed to be old friends. 
 
 There was a great crowd of us present ; a number of other mis- 
 sionaries had taken advantage of the general’s all inclusive invitation, 
 and the total group at the Y. M. C. A. must have^ numbered fifty peo- 
 ple. We were the center of attraction, also, for a crowd of onlookers, 
 both civilians and military, who stood around in the “Y” halls frankly 
 curious about all the hilarity. After the chairman had made his address 
 of welcome, stressing the desire of the new government for friendship 
 between the United States and China, and lecturing us further on the 
 three principles of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, and we had replied, the opportu- 
 nity was given for any to speak who wanted to — a sort of Methodist 
 testimony meeting. Dr. Ida Belle Lewis, daughter of the late Bishop 
 Lewis, and now president of the Hwa Nan College, was the first to 
 put in her testimony for friendliness to China. Lucy Wong, one of 
 the teachers at Hwa Nan, an up-to-date young Chinese with an Amer- 
 ican education, arose and said that she was a graduate of Hwa Nan 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 15 
 
 College, and a Christian. She and her students believed in the principles 
 of the Kuomintang, but they objected to having the Bible taken out of 
 the curriculum. It was a straight from the shoulder speech in Manda- 
 rin, and must have struck the new government a bit queer, coming 
 from a woman, so rarely heard in the life of China in the past, and 
 from one whose life had been in jeopardy many times in recent weeks. 
 Ralph Ward felt called upon to liven things a bit, so he arose to sug- 
 gest that all the visitors arise and sing to the time-honored tune, “Glory, 
 Glory, Hallelujah, the Kuomintang Is Here !” Not to be outdone, the 
 chairman of the Political Council arose and led all the Chinese in a 
 Chinese yell, “Long live America! Yea! Long live China! Yea! Long 
 live the Kuomintang! Yea!” 
 
 When we left, late at night, and a knot of us assembled at the 
 foot of the Bridge of Ten Thousand Ages, the young Chinese who had 
 a,cted as the go-between in making arrangements for the dinner, David 
 Hung, another American graduate, said to us, “In their speeches they 
 said the Kuomintang was bringing to the people of China national 
 unity, food to eat, work to do ; all of them material needs. The spiritual 
 need they cannot meet ; it remains for us as Christians to fill that need.” 
 
 Dinner Number Four. On a hill higher than all the hills in 
 Nan Tai perches a group of buildings known as Miss Lambert’s 
 School. Miss Lambert is an English missionary, an unusual person 
 who has been in China thirty-eight years, and has passed unruffled 
 through twenty or more revolutions and the counter-marching of armies 
 for a quarter of a century, quietly conducting her girls’ school, turning 
 back a stream of educated women into the Chinese community. Her 
 home was the center, on Thursday evening, of a dinner given by the 
 Fukien Christian Federation, which is the provincial branch of the 
 National Christian Council. The chairman of the Federation is a capa- 
 ble Chinese man, concerning whom Bishop Hind, of the Church of 
 England, said as we were walking home together, “I’m going to try 
 to have him elected bishop at the diocesan meeting next week.” A pre- 
 cise young Chinese, graduate of Syracuse, who interpreted in beautiful 
 English, was pointed out to us as the young Church of England chap- 
 lain who had been stripped of most of his clothes, crowned with a dunce 
 cap, and paraded through the streets of Foochow as a running dog of 
 the imperialists by a group of hot-headed students and teachers who 
 were demanding the immediate turning over of Mission schools to gov- 
 ernment. The Sunday after that incident happened, he went into his 
 pulpit and preached with more directness and fire than ever before, 
 and to the biggest congregation he ever had. 
 
 The most wonderful thing that is happening in China today is 
 these incidents of loyalty and suffering on the part of Chinese Chris- 
 tians. They, and not the foreigners, are bearing the real brunt of the 
 anti-Christian movement in China, for there are few among them who 
 can flee to the foreign concessions for protection. Another outstand- 
 ing personality in this gathering was our own Methodist, Mr. Hu Ing 
 Huan, who is executive secretary of the Fukien Christian Federation. 
 One of our missionaries in referring to him said he was more like 
 
i6 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 an efficient American secretarial executive than any other Chinese he 
 knew. 
 
 Into this group of upstanding, self-reliant Chinese leaders was 
 projected the voice of self-relinquishment from a man of gray hairs, 
 who had given his life to China. Dr. Beard, of the American Board in 
 Foochow, arose to bid good-bye to his colleagues, announcing to them 
 that as a result of the actions taken in conference just a few days 
 previous, the American Board Mission in Foochow had been dissolved 
 into the United Christian Church of South China, and that at the close 
 of his furlough, if he were to return to China, it would be at the invi- 
 tation of the Church in China, and not at the behest of the Board in 
 America. There were smiles of appreciation on the faces of the Chi- 
 nese in our group. The day has come when they are willing, and 
 in many cases ready, to assume a large share of the responsibility for 
 the direction of the Christian movement in China. It is an inspiration 
 to see a man like Dr. Beard, who has given his life in order that that 
 day might come, willingly step aside and let his mantle fall upon an- 
 other, and, better still, to say that he is willing to carry on as guide, 
 philosopher, and friend to the Christian Church in China, if it wishes 
 to have him. One saw symbolized in Dr. Beard that night at Miss 
 Lambert’s one of the aims of the modern missionary movement. 
 
 Dinner Number Five. We officially “left” Foochow on Friday 
 morning, bade good-bye to all the friends, and amid a burst of Chinese 
 fire-crackers were off in a launch down river to spend the day with Dr. 
 John Gowdy at Fukien Christian University, half way to Pagoda 
 Anchorage. We got there shortly before noon, and the students were 
 assembled for the weekly University convocation. We had been adver- 
 tised on several posters which the boys had put up in the halls as “A 
 Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions, who favors registration.” 
 Apparently our attitude as it had been expressed at Foochow on the 
 matter of the registration of Christian schools had preceded us. As 
 it happened nothing was said to the men in conversation on the subject 
 of registration, the word was not even used. The students were given 
 a straight talk on the kind of leadership which China needed for the 
 new day, and were called upon, as college men, to prepare themselves 
 to meet the country’s needs. That evening at Dr. Gowdy’s home, the 
 entire senior class was in to dinner, about ten or a dozen boys, and 
 we got a vivid “cross-section” of the mind of the Chinese student. 
 The question was asked as to what each was going to do upon gradu- 
 ation, and when none was planning to enter the ministry, some one 
 asked, “Why not?” That precipitated a deluge of criticism upon all 
 existing institutions, with apparently only one solution : Chinese na- 
 tionalism— with a more or less serious feeling among the men, that they 
 could serve China better through the present-day political movement 
 than in any other way. It was certainly illuminating, if superficial. 
 
 We left about nine o’clock that evening, in a launch with a crowd 
 who had come down by surprise from Foochow, and took up our cabin 
 space in the heavily laden and congested Japanese packet, Fukuken 
 Maru, headed for Shanghai. 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 17 
 
 In Shanghai 
 
 Our first day in Shanghai was given to Bishop Brown and the 
 missionaries of the Foochow area, who had been evacuated to Shang- 
 hai. (See Exhibit D, page 43.) The next day was given to con- 
 ferences with the Central and West China missionaries, especially for 
 the study of the problems of missionary personnel. On the third day 
 we began our formal conferences with the entire group, with an agenda 
 which was the result of our discussions of the two days previous. (See 
 Exhibit E, page 44.) 
 
 A Findings Committee put into form the results of our discus- 
 sions. The statement, Exhibit F, page 45, was finally adopted by the 
 entire group on the forenoon of the day of our departure from 
 Shanghai. 
 
 In addition to these formal conferences, every other minute of 
 •our time in Shanghai was given to interviews with the leaders of the 
 National Christian Council, both foreigners and Chinese, the Young 
 Women’s Christian Association, the Young Men’s Christian Association, 
 and with missionaries of other denominations. An interview was also 
 held with Mr. Sterling Fessenden, Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal 
 Council. While it was understood that stenographic notes were made 
 of his version of the defense of Shanghai (see Exhibit G, page 49), it 
 needs to be said, in all fairness, that Mr. Fessenden has had no oppor- 
 tunity to read the statement. We also interviewed Mr. J. B. Powell, 
 editor of The China Weekly Review, whose knowledge of Chinese 
 affairs is broad and accurate, and whose judgments are independent, 
 liberal, and constructive. A statement by Putnam Weale at a noonday 
 luncheon of the American Women’s Club was an appeal for armed 
 intervention. He tried to secure the sympathetic help of the club 
 women of America to influence public opinion in the United States to 
 support his policy for armed intervention in China. 
 
 It must be remembered that there had passed through Shanghai 
 missionaries from the Yangtze valley on their way to Korea, Japan, 
 and America, and it was estimated that there were at that time 1,500 
 missionaries temporarily in Shanghai. This group included not only 
 those from West China who had come out early in the year, but also 
 those from the Kiangsi Conference, and later the group from Nanking. 
 Some of those in Shanghai had passed through difficult experiences at 
 the hands of the military and unfriendly civilians in the interior. Their 
 immediate interest was in the stations left behind, and the status of their 
 work. Their attention was being given to the reports coming through 
 by messenger, by belated mail, or by telegram of the military occupancy 
 of this, that, or the other station, the closing of schools, the personal 
 experiences and dangers of the Chinese Christians. It was very ap- 
 parent that the missionaries in Shanghai were too close to the experi- 
 ences of the previous weeks to be able to think into the future, and 
 to realize fully the significance of present events for the Christian 
 movement. Naturally, it was a group that was confused, somewhat 
 discouraged, although many were able to look upon their experiences 
 
i8 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 as incidents in the larger movements manifesting themselves now in the 
 Chinese revolution. A great assembly of the missionaries was held in 
 Shanghai each week. On May 4, in Martyrs’ Hall, the meeting was 
 addressed by Dr. Henry T. Hodgkin, a secretary of the National Chris- 
 tian Council of China, on Prophets and the Purpose of God. The state- 
 ment seemed so significant for the occasion and audience that a digest 
 is reprinted from stenographic notes as Exhibit H, page 51. 
 
 Later, Dr. C. Y. Cheng, a secretarial colleague of Dr. Hodgkin in 
 the National Christian Council, addressed the group in Martyrs’ Hall 
 on Some Problems Confronting the Christian Movement in China. 
 This address clearly sums up the attitude of the ablest Chinese Chris- 
 tians on the bearing of the present events in China on the Christian 
 movement. The full text is found on page 53 as Exhibit I. 
 
 In Peking 
 
 After a day in Tientsin, spent largely in studying our property 
 situation, we went to Peking and began a series of conferences with 
 missionaries and Chinese leaders from West China, and the Shantung 
 and North China Conferences. 
 
 At the time of our visit. North China was just being threatened 
 by a serious northern advance of the nationalist armies. In the North 
 China Conference, a staggering financial situation confronted us which 
 would have been a live issue in normal times, but which was accentuated 
 by the possibility of the North going through some of the same expe- 
 riences as the rest of China. Most of our time in Peking was given to 
 this most perplexing question. The treasurer’s statement showed that 
 the Conference was in debt over $500,000 Mex. Some of this was on 
 the missionary budget, a part consisted of accumulated deficits on the 
 work budget for the last fifteen years, a large item was on the East 
 City property, taken by us in our adjustment with Peking University. 
 
 This discussion brought out the further fact that the educational 
 endowment funds of the North China Conference had been invested in 
 Peking real estate, and were already showing signs of uncertain in- 
 come. 
 
 We conferred two days with Bishop Grose and the North China 
 missionaries of the Board on these financial problems, and had a day 
 or more of conference with all the missionaries, including the Woman’s 
 Foreign Missionary Society representatives, on some of the more gen- 
 eral problems. The docket for these discussions is found in Exhibit J, 
 page 62, and shows what the group considered to be of the most 
 importance among the issues which we face in North China today. It 
 will be observed that there is a striking similarity to the problems in 
 other parts of China, even though the approach and the circumstances 
 were somewhat different. Two days were given to a meeting of the 
 regular Field Finance Committee, of which a majority is Chinese. We 
 also saw the first meeting which had ever been held in North China 
 between the Field Reference Committee of the Woman’s Foreign Mis- 
 sionary Society, and the Field Finance Committee of the Board of For- 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 19 
 
 eign Missions. This joint conference was found necessary in view of 
 the common problems which the Board and the Society are now fac- 
 ing in regard to personnel, property and relations to the Chinese. 
 
 In addition to these formal conferences on our own problems, we 
 were able, in Peking, to spend a day at Yenching University, and later 
 to meet the University’s committee on re-organization growing out of 
 the demands for registration and the nationalistic sentiment. We inter- 
 viewed United States Minister MacMurray, Dr. C. C. Wong, who is 
 Postmaster-General of the Peking Government and one of our most 
 prominent Methodist laymen, and Dr. W. W. Yen, formerly the Prime 
 Minister of the Peking Government. We attended a luncheon at Dr. 
 Koo’s residence, the house in which Sun Yat Sen died during his visit 
 to Peking, in 1925, where we met a number of distinguished guests 
 and foreign visitors, including Dr. Manley O. Hudson, of Harvard 
 yniversity ; Mr. S. Padoux, French Adviser to the Peking Govern- 
 ment ; Dr. Y. W. Kwo, professor of law at Yenching University ; Mr. 
 Frank B. Riley, of the London Times; Dr. Lo Wen Kan, Minister of 
 Justice ; Dr. Lucius Porter, of Yenching University ; Dr. R. O. Bevan, 
 and Bishop Grose. 
 
 There was time also for interviews with the secretaries of the 
 Young Men’s Christian Association and missionary leaders of other 
 denominations ; for a special luncheon with representative Chinese 
 in the city; for addresses to the students of the Peking Theological 
 Seminary, the Academy, the Mary Porter Gamewell school ; and for 
 many hours spent in private conference with Bishop Grose. 
 
 CHINA’S REAL REVOLUTION 
 
 As we left China on a three-day sea voyage to Japan we thought 
 and prayed over these experiences and have written down the impres- 
 sions of the momentous events that are not only shaking China, but 
 producing rumbles in every country in the Far East. 
 
 The first and foremost fact is the reality of the revolution. 
 
 The forces operating among the Chinese are striving after nation- 
 hood, which is more pro-Chinese than anti- foreign ; the desire for 
 national unity ; aspiration for complete political autonomy ; the desire 
 for equality among the nations ; a sense of unfair treatment of China 
 from the Treaty Powers; a desire to be rid of the fighting war lord 
 factions ; and the belief in a great future for China, which amounts 
 almost to a religious fervor. 
 
 These forces are producing profound changes in China’s social 
 structure, her economic life, her educational procedure, and her political 
 organization. 
 
 In her social life, the family system, with obedience from the sons 
 demanded by the father, and from the wives by the mother-in-law, is 
 beginning to give way to the independent family unit. The concubine 
 system, which probably grew out of the traditional desire for a son in 
 every family, will slowly disappear. Pre-arranged marriages, with no 
 acquaintance, courtship and consent between the bride and bridegroom 
 
20 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 are giving way to love making on the part of youth, although the pro- 
 Chinese spirit of the present is still retaining the gorgeous wedding 
 processions, presents, and feasts. One of the most noticeable aspects 
 of the new social life is the freedom, initiative, and independence of 
 the new Chinese woman. There are the beginnings today in China 
 of a real feminist movement. 
 
 Economically, the biggest factor is the coming of modern indus- 
 try and the replacing of the old labor guilds and apprentice system by 
 modern, organized labor unions. The organization of peasants’ unions 
 is scattering discontent throughout the agricultural regions. The urge 
 for economic reconstruction lies in the desperate poverty of the masses 
 of the people, with all forms of labor underpaid. Food, clothing, and 
 shelter are the demands of these millions. 
 
 In educational circles, there is an almost universal conviction that 
 the Chinese must control the schools in China, with curriculum and 
 methods of instruction adapted to the needs of Chinese life : a movement 
 that finds expression in various demands for the legal .registration of 
 schools, with more or less stringent regulations added by national, 
 provincial, and local governments. 
 
 Politically, there is widespread dissatisfaction with one-man or 
 autocratic government, whether it be by a benevolent emperor or by a 
 rapacious and decapitating war lord. There is also recognition that 
 the country is not ready for the exercise of the full franchise, which 
 lies at the basis of all popular, democratic government. The nationalist 
 government, therefore, has developed a commission form of govern- 
 ment, in which the political council is the highest official body in the 
 nation, in the province, the county, and the municipality. The chair- 
 man of this council would correspond to our president, governor, mayor 
 or alderman. Each commissioner on these councils is responsible for a 
 certain department of government, and may have a commission of his 
 own made up of the members of sub-departments under him. There is 
 an attempt to make a budget, to pay ordinary salaries, and to collect 
 and disperse taxes for the common welfare, the results of which are 
 apparent particularly in Canton and the Kwangtung Province. 
 
 Whether in the conservative north, or in radical Hankow, or in 
 moderate Nanking, or Canton, as affecting the military situation, the 
 revolutionary factors just mentioned have deep hold upon the majority 
 of thinking Chinese. They have taken root among the students of 
 China, especially the returned students, among the laboring men, and 
 more recently among the farmers. 
 
 While the revolution of 1911, arising in the south under the lead- 
 ership of Sun Yat Sen, was directed particularly against the old Man- 
 chu regime, its more positive side had its basis in the three principles 
 which are now animating the Kuomintang, namely, national unity, eco- 
 nomic independence, and democratic government. The present revolu- 
 tion in China is different from all those that have preceded it in Chinese 
 history. A statement, agreed to by practically every one with whom 
 we discussed the subject, is that the basis of the present nationalist 
 uprising does not rest upon the victories of contending factions and 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 rival war lords, but in a political and social doctrine. Every recruiting 
 camp and every training school and officers’ training college, and every 
 army is a school for the study of these political doctrines and their rela- 
 tion to the future of China. Quantities of literature have been printed, 
 and a party organization has been outlined with the minutest detail. 
 After the contending armies of the nationalist movement have passed 
 through a province, there follows, immediately, a political organization 
 set up on the new lines, each member of which has had his training 
 in the principles of Kuomintang. As we have heard these men give 
 their greetings, present their compliments, send messages to America, 
 and justify their position among their own people, we have observed an 
 almost naive and simple trust in what this new doctrine will do for the 
 reconstruction of China. This is at once the strength of the revolu- 
 tion and its weakness. It is our judgment that whatever the success of 
 the various contending factions now in China, the more fundamental 
 revolution in China will go on, probably with success and possibly 
 here and there with dismal failure, especially if China’s economic re- 
 sources continue to be destroyed through the devastations of warring 
 factions. 
 
 The hopeful factor in the revolution, as viewed from without, is 
 the deep conviction on the part of influential, well-to-do, well educated 
 Chinese in all parts of China that the revolution cannot and must not 
 fail. 
 
 From the Chinese point of view, which in the last analysis is the 
 point of view we have to reckon with, the revolution seems to me to 
 consist in this : — The Chinese are a people with a strong sense of their 
 own inherent worth, coming down through the years from the philos- 
 ophy of the Middle Kingdom, a people “Exalted to Heaven,’’ with an 
 ethical code exalting “the superior man,’’ which has been the bulwark 
 of Chinese unity as against foreign aggression of every kind, for cen- 
 turies and centuries. 
 
 Along with this tradition, is the culture of the superior man almost 
 exclusively within the simple family circle, a series of social relation- 
 ships which have been perfected and taught and accepted for genera- 
 tions, without question. Suddenly, through contacts with the modern 
 world, these people have come to see that their country was gradually 
 being penetrated by foreign commerce and business protected by for- 
 eign governments, with her modern education fostered by almost every 
 nation of the world and in almost every language of the world — ^Japan- 
 ese, German, Norwegian, English, Italian, French, some of the schools 
 having a foreign language as their medium of instruction — her new re- 
 ligion expressed in churches and institutions of foreign origin, not only 
 the denominational but often the individual buildings having foreign 
 names. 
 
 These people, finding their training in the simple social life of the 
 family and the clan, with no organization comparable to their modern 
 educational, social, commercial, and religious contacts, have' finally de- 
 termined that their social organization must be revamped, their eco- 
 nomic life reconstructed, their political unity established, their traditions 
 
22 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 as a peaceful people without an army set aside, in order that they may 
 come into full nationhood, respected by the rest of the world. 
 
 One of the tragic things in the history of the Far East is the fact 
 that when the United States, Great Britain, and France, with their 
 traditional love of freedom, independence, and democracy, had an oppor- 
 tunity to strengthen the nationalist movement in China during its early 
 days, through recognition, friendly contacts, advice, education in polit- 
 ical organization, methods of popular education and propaganda, as well 
 as in finance — a small price to pay for the attainment of a self-conscious 
 sister nation on the other side of the Pacific — a deaf ear was turned. 
 It was then that the Chinese leaders turned toward Russia, to a people 
 who had liberated themselves from the worst absolutist government 
 that the modern world has ever known. The thread of sympathy, 
 slender enough at first, was strengthened and twisted into a cord which 
 was at once mutually helpful, but which may become for China a 
 strangling noose. The Russians were evidently eager enough to extend 
 a helping hand, for it gave them much needed opportunity for com- 
 mercial expansion. The Chinese, on the other hand, gained political 
 prestige and technical organization. 
 
 On the much mooted question as to the extent and effectiveness of 
 Russian influence in China, little is gained by over-estimating it on the 
 one hand, or by belittling it on the other. Russia was wise enough to 
 take advantage of the China situation at the right moment. The Rus- 
 sians won the confidence of the people of China in 1923 when they 
 formally gave up their extra-territorial rights in China and accepted 
 China as an equal among the nations. Russia withdrew her minister 
 from China and sent a full fledged ambassador, with one stroke winning 
 the gratitude of China and placing the Russian legation at the head of 
 all other legations in Peking. Russian military officers brought disci- 
 pline, modern tactics, organization, and strategy to the Chinese armies. 
 Russian political advisers brought party organization and produced 
 an effective method for securing loyalty to the principles of Kuomin- 
 tang. 
 
 The Kuomintang, started by Dr. Sun forty years ago, has been 
 the most active military and political agency in the development of the 
 revolution. Kuomintang principles are at the heart of the Nationalist 
 movement, whether actually admitted or not, in every section of China. 
 Today, one joins Kuomintang by answering a series of questions on an 
 application blank, which is sent to party headquarters, and, when ac- 
 cepted, a membership card is given. (See Exhibit K, page 64.) 
 
 Local party groups are then formed for the securing of new mem- 
 bers, for the education of members in the party principles, and for 
 carrying out such purposes for the development of the party as may be 
 agreed upon. Kuomintang groups are found in our schools and hos- 
 pitals, among students, servants, and staffs, in our churches, among 
 both laymen and preachers, in labor unions, among farmers, and among 
 ricksha coolies. 
 
 Russia, no doubt, was responsible for the plan of party education 
 in the schools, including instruction in party principles, and the weekly 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 23 
 
 observance of the Sun Yat Sen memorial. The latter is one of those 
 strokes of genius for the visualizing of a great movement around an 
 individual, a factor in all democratic countries. All will agree that it 
 was Russia who furnished the technique, the method, the writers, and 
 the organization of nationalist propaganda, both in China and abroad, 
 probably the greatest exhibition of propaganda in the modern world 
 since the Great War. From Russia also came hundreds of thousands 
 of rubles for the definite support of army officials, political leaders, 
 and propagandists. 
 
 It is not surprising, therefore, that the extremists, the radical com- 
 munists, should take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity for 
 the promulgation of their own doctrines in a market that was wide 
 open. That this was done, there is evidence sufficient and complete. 
 Gradually there appeared in this great patriotic movement the perni- 
 cious doctrine of class conflict, anti-religious sentiment, with the intro- 
 duction of the principle of the destruction of the existing economic 
 order, with its slogans of “Down with imperialism,” “Down with capi- 
 talism,” “Down with the foreigners,” “Down with religion,” “Down 
 with the missionary,” carried far and wide in pamphlets, books, news- 
 papers, bulletins, and posters, making an effort to break down Chinese 
 traditional social organization, the sanctity of her family life, the mod- 
 esty of her womanhood, and the traditional friendliness between em- 
 ployers and employees. 
 
 In striking contrast to Russia’s position stands the attitude of the 
 Great Powers toward China. Granting a long list of manifest provoca- 
 tions, failures, and weaknesses which the world well knows, it must be 
 admitted that the so-called Treaty Powers, consciously or unconsciously, 
 were, from the beginning, out of an age of exploration, discovery, 
 colonization, the establishment of trade and dominion, heading straight 
 into a policy for the partition of China, and, having failed in that, the 
 establishment of spheres of influences, and, failing in that, of peaceful 
 penetration of a resourceful country with a peaceable people, unac- 
 quainted through centuries of preferred isolation with the ways of 
 Western nations. In these adjustments, all sorts of peculiar provisions 
 have been made, such as concessions, settlements, extra-territorial priv- 
 ileges, unilateral treaties, and the foreign control of customs and salt 
 revenues. It may well be argued that these special arrangements were 
 found necessary in dealing with a people of China’s traditions and lack 
 of experience in modern political and commercial life. This, however, 
 does not modify or lessen the effect which this treatment has had upon 
 China. This latter fact needs now to be taken into account. These 
 policies, when backed up by force displayed through the years among 
 a peaceable people, without modern armies for the protection of proper- 
 ties and human lives, have furnished the soil in which the seeds of the 
 revolution were planted. 
 
 And more recently, the demands from both within and without 
 China for the Powers to adopt a strong policy of armed intervention are 
 furnishing today the surest weapons for the radical propagandist. We, 
 Westerners, may justify such policies in all good conscience, believing 
 
24 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 that they may be the best thing for China, but we ought not to blink 
 at the plain facts of the effect they are having upon the Chinese, them- 
 selves. The educated Chinese know perfectly well that all over the 
 world, commerce, science, and religion run tremendous risks among 
 unstable governments, savage peoples, warring factions, and racial or 
 national prejudices. They ask the simple question, “Why do the for- 
 eigners stay here?” Again, it may well be argued that such a question 
 is naive and does not take into account the interdependence of the 
 modern world, and the inevitable mingling of the people of the world in 
 commerce, education, and culture. But such a feeling on our part 
 does not modify the views which the Chinese are now taking of the mat- 
 ter, and it is these attitudes and sets of mind and points of view and 
 inner convictions among the Chinese that constitute for us the greatest 
 factors in the present situation. 
 
 WHAT DOES THE PRESENT SITUATION MEAN FOR 
 THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT IN CHINA? 
 
 I. Missionary Personnel 
 
 This question is raised, not with the hope that any final answer 
 can be given or ought to be attempted. The outcome of the present 
 tendencies in China is so uncertain that it is probably a truism to say 
 that we can do little or nothing more than to think through our prob- 
 lems as they arise, meeting the issues from time to time. This un- 
 certainty of the future, however, should not prevent us from recording 
 our judgment and taking such actions as are clear at the present time. 
 Indeed, only in such a process will we be able, at this distance, to keep 
 abreast of the rapidly moving events which are modifying so funda- 
 mentally the social and political structure of China. 
 
 The Board of Foreign Missions last year appropriated $475,565 
 for China. Of this amount $296,905 is for the missionary budget, 
 which includes the salaries, allowances, furlough travel, medical costs, 
 itinerating and other expenses, of 332 missionaries, the number in 
 China when these appropriations were made in November, 1926. From 
 the total amount, $178,660 is the work budget, which is used for our 
 schools, hospitals, and the salaries or part salaries of Chinese district 
 superintendents, ministers, evangelists, and other workers. During 
 the year 1926, the Chinese themselves gave for all purposes $87,096. 
 Last year, 22 per cent of our total appropriations went to China. It 
 will be recalled when our reduced income of 1924 compelled a reduction 
 of one fourth of our appropriations that the missionaries and the 
 Chinese in China, by desperate and heroic measures of self-sacrifice, 
 endeavored to provide for their work without very materially reducing 
 the personnel. Thus, they did not make the readjustment in personnel 
 which occurred in other fields, a fact which must be taken into account 
 as we consider the future of our missionary program. 
 
 As we face up to our future missionary policy in China, the fol- 
 lowing facts must be kept in mind. 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 25 
 
 I. At the present time, 115 of the missionaries in active service 
 in China last year when our appropriations were made are now in 
 America; ii are in nearby countries; 22 are in Shanghai; and as far as 
 we know, 68 are at their stations. This so-called evacuation presents 
 many problems. Probably the time has not yet come when the wisdom 
 or the unwisdom of the evacuation order can be justly reviewed. There 
 is certainly a diversity of opinion regarding it among missionaries, 
 business men, and consular agents. Minister MacMurray, in Peking, 
 anticipated many criticisms and recriminations with reference to the 
 general evacuation, but was himself clear in his justification of 
 the step, even though the impression which he left upon me as to the 
 motives behind the order is not at all clear. Consul Price, in Foochow, 
 who had one of the most difficult situations to face, is tire son of a mis- 
 sionary from Burma, is a deeply spiritual man, and is not only sympa- 
 thetic but openly supports the missionary program, and sees in the rapid 
 extension of the Christian movement of a definite evangelistic sort the 
 only hope for the future of China. Mr. Price has filed with me a 
 carefully prepared statement of the policy of our government as he 
 understood it and attempted to carry it out in the Consular District un- 
 der his care. (See Exhibit L, page 65.) 
 
 It is interesting to observe that when the United States destroyer 
 was driving full speed ahead to Manila, with a grovtp of frantic and 
 terrified men, women, and children from Foochow, the British Consul 
 in Foochow was distressed almost to obstinacy over the order which 
 he had received to withdraw all British subjects from the interior of 
 Fukien province to Foochow, and himself issued the order against his 
 own best judgment. When we arrived in Foochow, we found the 
 British residents from the interior in the city itself, and they had re- 
 mained there throughout all of the days when our American citizens 
 were in the Philippine Islands. 
 
 Whatever may be the pros and cons of the wisdom of the evacu- 
 ation order, it is the fact of the evacuation which has brought forward 
 several very concrete issues. The first and foremost is the additional 
 expense, including transportation, extra living costs, and in some cases 
 medical service and clothes, and the personal necessities of living. In 
 these items, there is not included the loss of missionary residences, the 
 libraries and instruments, but only those additional expenses to the mis- 
 sionaries themselves due to the evacuation order. The situation was 
 so desperate in Shanghai and the missionaries were raising so many 
 questions about the attitude of the Board toward them, that a letter 
 was written to the office of the Board asking that the Board give formal 
 assurance to the missionaries that these additional costs would be re- 
 funded to them, and that copies of this letter be mailed to all the mis- 
 sionaries in China who were affected. In this letter no promise was 
 given, knowing well that this is a matter for the Board itself to de- 
 cide, but we did agree to bring the matter to your attention with all the 
 strength at our command. We urge, therefore, that if it has not al- 
 ready been done the Board take some official action assuring our mis- 
 sionaries that these personal losses will be made good, and set in motion 
 
26 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 those processes for the determining of the items and the filing of the 
 claims. The latter has already partially been done by Treasurer Main 
 in Shanghai, but needs to be more systematically cared for over China 
 as a whole. 
 
 As to the effect of the evacuation upon both the Christian and the 
 non-Christian community in China, no action of this Board can possibly 
 overcome the misunderstandings, the deep questionings on the part of 
 the Chinese Christians, the sarcastic and sometimes diabolical reactions 
 of the anti-Christian leaders, and the unsatisfied longings of our Chinese 
 Christians for the return of those who have shared in the building up 
 of the Christian Church in China through all these years. 
 
 2. Since so many of our missionaries are now away from their 
 posts, naturally one of our greatest problems is the conditions under 
 which they may return. We raise very definitely for the consideration 
 of the Board the possibility and desirability of not returning our mis- 
 sionaries to China for the time being, and possibly withdrawing those 
 who are now there, with rare exceptions. This policy is proposed aside 
 from any bearing which safety of life and property may have upon the 
 question. Many of our missionaries feel that this policy would prevent 
 any complications, due to the policy of the United States government 
 to protect its citizens and their property, and to secure indemnification 
 in the case of loss. 
 
 In the decision of such an important issue, we must not be unduly 
 influenced by the sentiments expressed by leaders in our Chinese Chris- 
 tian community who for personal and other reasons may be urging 
 their missionary friends to return. This is only natural, but of neces- 
 sity must have a very limited bearing upon the policy as a whole. It 
 would be natural, of course, for those Chinese Christians who are de- 
 pendent upon the missionaries for their financial support to be eager for 
 their return. As bearing upon this policy, we would call to the atten- 
 tion of the Board a statement which the missionaries of the American 
 Board in North China sent to the Congregational Churches in America 
 after a meeting in Tientsin, on April 11-12, 1927. (See page 68, 
 Exhibit M.) 
 
 3. A fact of equal significance, which our missionaries appreciate, 
 is the spirit in which any who go back should return to their work. The 
 evacuation established Chinese leadership in hospitals, schools, and 
 evangelistic work. In some districts, the choosing of responsible Chi- 
 nese for places of leadership was a matter of but a few hours, especially 
 in those instances where missionaries had been far sighted and were 
 working definitely toward this end. In other cases it was hastily done, 
 but everywhere it is trying and proving the mettle of the Chinese to 
 handle our Church institutions and affairs under difficult circumstances. 
 Thus, without any credit to ourselves, Chinese leadership has been es- 
 tablished as one of the accompaniments of the Chinese revolution. 
 Our missionaries are keen to feel that when they return their expressed 
 attitude toward the Chinese who are now carrying the burden of our 
 work is even more important than all of their previous missionary expe- 
 rience. Whatever may be our general policy regarding the return of 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 27 
 
 missionaries to China, the missionaries themselves will certainly see to 
 it that the gains that have been made in the sense of responsibility and 
 leadership for the Christian movement in China among the Chinese 
 will not only not be lost, but will be greatly strengthened and set for- 
 ward toward the new day. 
 
 It is equally true that the missionaries of the future will and 
 should go to China on such terms as the Chinese themselves desire. 
 Already many of our missionaries feel that this is the only basis on 
 which they will return to their posts. There may be some missionaries 
 who, under these conditions, would feel that they could serve the Church 
 better somewhere else than on the foreign field, in which case we should 
 have all respect for their judgment, involving such sacrifice of their 
 life purpose. 
 
 Missionaries who are unwilling to go to China in these days with- 
 out the protection of their lives and property by American gunboats 
 , should remain in America, and the Board should refuse to send out 
 any whose safety must depend on foreign military and naval forces. 
 It would be better not to return a single missionary to China for a 
 period of years than to send out a host under the old conditions. 
 
 4. Under all these conditions, what then is the place and function 
 of the missionary in China for the future? No question was discussed 
 more fully and freely by missionaries and Chinese in separate and joint 
 conferences during our visit to China. These questions came first on 
 every agenda. Several things are clear. Any attempt to determine 
 the number, kind, and location of missionaries to China in the future 
 from New York would set the Chinese Church back a generation. 
 Heretofore, we have been accustomed to making our missionary pro- 
 gram by such studies as surveys, in which the Missionary Board or 
 a group of Boards have attempted to outline where work should be 
 opened, what kind of work should be done, what the qualifications and 
 training of the missionaries should be, a programizing process that has 
 been almost perfected in its technique. Such a policy must now be 
 abandoned by us. Through all these years, we have now raised up a 
 group of Chinese leaders who are probably better qualified to determine 
 these issues than even the missionaries of long experience. We must 
 now ask our Chinese brethren how best we can serve them and help 
 them to train their ministry, to strengthen their churches, to mark out 
 new lines of work, and to open up new fields of endeavor. Even in 
 those cases where, through lack of experience and knowledge, the Chi- 
 nese may not see all the opportunities now open to them, our approach 
 in such cases must be through suggestion and helpful counsel rather 
 than through any formal programizing of our own. Under such condi- 
 tions, if they desire help from us (which they will desire increasingly), 
 we should give that help, to quote Frank Cartwright, “to the utmost 
 limit of our resources in men and money.” 
 
 Mr. Cartwright’s answer to the question, “Should missionaries stay 
 in China?” published in The Christian Advocate of June 23, 1927, was 
 discussed by us in China at length, and it has our hearty endorsement. 
 His answer is as follows : 
 
28 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 “What about the future? First, within the bounds of our present 
 Conferences. Missionary work in such regions should be left entirely 
 to the control of the Chinese Church. If they want continued help 
 from American preachers, we should give that help to the utmost limit 
 of our resources in men and money. I believe that they will ask for 
 continued missionary help as: (a) ‘Liaison officers,’ who, by word of 
 mouth or by letters, interpret the Chinese Church and its needs to the 
 constituency in America; (b) As evangelistic helpers, men and women 
 who will assist the district superintendents, preachers, and Bible women 
 in their difficult and I'arely inspired tasks; (c) As occasional visitors; 
 as ‘experts,’ if you please, men and women who will come from foreign 
 lands after years of experience and will advise with groups of Chinese 
 workers. However, if any Conference feels that it can get along better 
 without the presence of the missionary, we should, with good grace and 
 in real rejoicing, retire from that field, conscious that the missionary 
 aim has been reached. 
 
 “But there are wide areas outside the bounds of any Methodist 
 Conference. These areas are not only far from Methodist influences, 
 but many are not touched by any Christian force. Can we not, should 
 we not, as Missions go to those regions? 
 
 “It is conceded that we could go there independently and could do 
 much good. Very likely many missionaries and some Societies will 
 decide to do so. 
 
 “But klethodism must not do this. We can and should let the 
 Chinese Church know that we are willing and eager to do continued 
 pioneer missionary work, but only on their invitation. When there were 
 no Christians in China, our spiritual forefathers came and worked 
 against great opposition to establish a Church. But there is a Church 
 now. It has numerical strength. Capable leaders have been developed. 
 That Church surely should be consulted before our Board opens pioneer 
 work in China hereafter.” 
 
 5. Will the Chinese Want Us? If our experience in Japan with 
 the independent Japan Methodist Church means anything, there will be 
 first a period of readjustment between the missionaries and the nation- 
 als, in which the latter will take their rightful place of leadership and 
 the missionaries will become their helpers. Then following this, a 
 sense of increased responsibility on the part of the nationals, and a 
 new understanding of the problems which the small and inadequate 
 Christian group face in the evangelization of their country. Then they 
 will turn to us for help and ask that missionaries who can fit into their 
 situation of need be sent to them. When such urgent calls come, the 
 churches in America will have before them one of the greatest opportu- 
 nities they have ever faced, and a real test of their genuine missionary 
 spirit. 
 
 II. The Chinese Church 
 
 It is recognized, at the outset, that there are problems and policies 
 regarding the Church in China that belong to our general ecclesiastical 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 29 
 
 leaders and agencies, and are not within the authority of the Board 
 of Foreign Missions. On the other hand, as long as the sum of $178,- 
 000 is being appropriated annually by this Board for the support of 
 Chinese work, and as long as it is the definite purpose of the Board 
 to establish in China a self-supporting, self-directing, and self-propa- 
 gating Church, we, as a Board, have the right to consider whether or not 
 we are achieving our aims, and whether or not our appropriations are 
 being wisely used. How far then are we succeeding in building up a 
 Chinese Church? 
 
 1. In the very nature of the case, evangelistic missionary work 
 had to be opened up by foreigners. From the Chinese point of view, the 
 missionary is sent from abroad, is paid from abroad, and brings with 
 him a new message and a strange plan for the organization of a reli- 
 gious society. His message is new, and one of the chief problems 
 of the missionary is to share with the Chinese those elements of Chris- 
 tian experience which are universal, and to divest the Gospel and the 
 Christ from being considered the exclusive possession of the West. 
 Thus, in a most fundamental way, the missionary enterprise is handi- 
 capped at the point of making the message of the organized society 
 of Christians known as the Church to take hold and become what we 
 call “indigenous.” 
 
 Then, during all these years of pioneering, each missionary group 
 has been putting up its own denominational machinery, in the process 
 of which, probably of necessity, the Chinese accepted foreign support 
 for positions in a foreign organization. Our goal then, inevitably, was 
 to make this procedure efficient. As it worked out, a foreigner with a 
 foreign plan and foreign money, himself constantly growing in his own 
 conceptions of his task, was continually educating and inspiring the 
 Chinese to catch up. Our query is, on such a basis, will he ever catch 
 up? 
 
 2. Thus we find in China, today, the outward workings of a full 
 fledged Church : bishops. General Conference delegates. Central Con- 
 ference, Annual Conferences, District Conferences, district superin- 
 tendents, Quarterly Conferences, committees, and general boards and 
 officers — always reflecting in China our own attempts to perfect this 
 organization without sufficient regard to the foundations in Chinese 
 life and experience, and- social structure, and certainly without consult- 
 ing the Chinese as to whether or not such a plan gives them the best 
 opportunity for the expression of their organized Christian life. 
 
 Inexperience, lack of training, and our own zeal and temperament 
 possibly made necessary this particular approach to the establishing of 
 the Christian movement in a foreign country. Certainly, we Method- 
 ists are not peculiar in this regard. We have all followed this procedure. 
 With us as Methodists, however, the very efficiency of our organiza- 
 tion and what we call our connectional life constitute for us a particu- 
 lar problem in this regard. 
 
 3. Our missionaries were constantly opening their hearts to me in 
 personal conferences, saying that our present emphasis on making 
 our complicated organization succeed was resulting in an unbalanced 
 
30 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 missionary objective. They, themselves, are feeling that, as mission- 
 aries, they are giving entirely too much time to administrative matters, 
 and some of them feel that they have lost their true missionary pur- 
 pose. They are longing for some plan by which, in cooperation with 
 and under the direction of the Chinese, they can be set free to experi- 
 ment in new lines of work, to strengthen the churches, to open up new 
 fields of endeavor. 
 
 As long as this Church organization is supported by foreign money 
 exclusively, the Chinese, of course, will accept it. As far as I could 
 discover, all of our district superintendents in China are Chinese, the 
 missionaries taking the position of district missionaries. These Chinese 
 district superintendents are practically supported by our missionary 
 funds. They look to the Mission for their standardized salaries, and 
 have consequently less points of contact and sense of responsibility 
 with their Chinese churches than they might otherwise have. It may 
 be said that this is necessary in a stage in a growing young Church, 
 and that the time may come when the Chinese will be able to support, 
 not only their ministry, but also their district superintendents and their 
 bishops. When that time comes, we must be prepared to have them 
 express their judgment as to whether they desire to spend their money 
 for these officers. Indeed, at the present time, it is to be doubted 
 whether the Chinese Church would have a paid district superinten- 
 dency at all, if they had to support it. 
 
 4. As to Chinese bishops, all of the groups in Foochow, Shang- 
 hai, and Peking with whom this matter was discussed were unanimous 
 that the time has come when the Church in China should have Chinese 
 episcopal supervision. It would be fatal, however, for us to think of a 
 Chinese bishop as a general superintendent, elected by the General 
 Conference, and supported by foreign money. It would be equally 
 fatal to try to unite the Chinese on one bishop for the North, the West, 
 the South, and Central China. Chinese episcopal supervision, it is 
 agreed by all, should begin with some modified form of the episcopacy 
 in one or more of these limited areas, a man chosen by the Chinese 
 themselves and supported by them with salaries and duties fixed in their 
 own legal conferences. 
 
 In other words the beginnings of a Christian Church in a non- 
 Christian country should be simple in organization, adapted to the 
 genius of the people, a natural and normal expression of their own 
 desires, and above everything else there should be plenty of allowance 
 for such modification and natural growth as is possible among the 
 people themselves. 
 
 5. In China, as in India, the Philippine Islands and Korea, there 
 repeatedly came up for discussion the question of the adaptation of our 
 Church organization so as greatly to reduce its overhead expense with 
 a larger emphasis upon an unpaid ministry. It will be seen, at once, 
 that such a program has a direct bearing upon our problem of self- 
 support and upon the appropriations from this Board, for what we 
 call the work budget. The point I desire to make here is, that it is 
 hardly fair for us to insist that the Chinese should support an over- 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 31 
 
 head Church organization which they, themselves, had no part in form- 
 ing, and it is equally clear that as long as that organization is com- 
 pletely financed from abroad, it will not really take hold in the life and 
 consciousness of the Chinese people. Our problem, therefore, seems 
 to be to permit, by General Conference action and by constitutional 
 methods, such adaptations of our temporal economy as will give to us 
 a Church in China that is a true expression of the genius of the Chinese 
 people. Incidentally, probably no man in the world would have seen 
 this more clearly and have adopted it more eagerly than John Wesley 
 himself. The privileges that the Methodists had, when they established 
 their organization in America in their first General Conference, ought 
 to be as eagerly granted by us to the Methodists of other countries. 
 
 This raises the question as to the relation of our Chinese Method- 
 ism to church unity and a National Church in China, and to our inter- 
 national Methodism. As in India, so in China, we found that our 
 national Christian leaders and our missionaries have not yet found 
 their minds on this matter. In speaking to the question, we acknowl- 
 edged at all times that in the last analysis the nationals would decide 
 this matter for themselves. On the other hand, it was pointed out 
 to them, as faithfully as possible, what was involved in the withdrawal 
 of our foreign churches from our international organization. We also 
 brought to their attention, that a National Church did not necessarily 
 mean a United National Church. It was more likely to mean uniformity 
 and a deadening conformity to the nationalist spirit, in a day when, 
 more than ever before, we needed the international outlook, contacts, 
 and organization. Very much depends in this matter on the attitude 
 of the churches in America in the next few years. Lack of confidence 
 in the future of China, withdrawal of support from our Chinese Chris- 
 tians at the present time, regardless of what modifications may be 
 made in our missionary approach and in our Church organization, and 
 -especially any evidence that we are not standing by our Chinese Chris- 
 tians to the limit, in these days of terrible testing, will be interpreted 
 by some Chinese as reason for strengthening the National Church 
 movement. 
 
 III. Christian Education in China 
 
 There is no more important and no more difficult problem which 
 we have to face in China, today, than that of our Christian schools. 
 The day schools, the middle schools, the boarding schools, the colleges, 
 our theological training schools, and our great union universities are 
 all facing a new situation in education and new relationships to govern- 
 ment. The whole issue is made very concrete around the question of 
 registration. 
 
 We certainly must recognize the right of China to determine her 
 own general educational policies. The aims, content of instruction, and 
 educational methods must be her own. She has also the right to relate 
 the education of her youth to her own national life, and to make every 
 school a center of patriotic instruction, quite as much so as we do in 
 America, especially among our foreign speaking peoples. 
 
32 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 The Chinese recognize that the only hope of unifying their country 
 lies in an educational system that is definitely Chinese, with coiumon 
 ideals and common goals of instruction for the country. It is well known 
 that China’s modern education began in Mission schools, in which educa- 
 tion was conducted by American, English, Scotch, Irish, Scandinavians, 
 Germans, French, Italians, Russians, Japanese, and possibly others. It 
 must also be kept in mind that, for over a quarter of a century, China 
 has been sending her most capable sons and daughters for their college 
 and university and technical training, in numbers into the thousands, 
 to Japan, America, England, Germany, France, and Russia. The de- 
 mands for a national educational policy in China have come from this 
 group, known in China as the “returned students.” 
 
 It must also be kept in mind that the registration of schools, with 
 government curricula and supervision, has arisen in the Chinese 
 National Educational Association, and is not a product of Kuomintang, 
 Russian radicalism, or the parties of the present revolution. We prob- 
 ably would have been required to meet this educational situation, even 
 though the present revolution had not occurred. The Peking govern- 
 ment has long since demanded the registration of our schools in North 
 China, and most of them have met the situation. 
 
 To be sure, the new Nationalist Government, especially under the 
 influence of radical elements, is taking advantage of registration to 
 force, not only the nationalization of the schools, but also is imposing 
 conditions which may be intended to make it impossible for private edu- 
 cation to exist, and for Christian schools to carry on with a definite 
 Christian purpose. It remains to be seen whether these conditions will 
 prevail. 
 
 The Christian Church will have no difficulty in accepting Chinese 
 leadership and administration for their schools. They will also accept ' 
 patriotic education as having a rightful place in a Christian school, 
 whether or not the form of government under which we conduct our 
 schools is different from our own. We will also be willing to put chapel 
 attendance, Bible study, and other methods of religious education on a 
 voluntary basis. If our experience in India with the conscience clause, 
 and in Japan with these limitations in registration means anything, we 
 have nothing to fear except, possibly, some temporary embarrassment 
 due to the present war psychology and with the present strong propa- 
 ganda against religion of any kind, and especially against Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 This antagonism, in our judgment, is a passing phase in China’s 
 life, just as the acute discussions on the conscience clause in India were 
 a passing phase. In Japan, while compulsory chapel attendance is im- 
 possible in registered schools, chapel is made so attractive and is so 
 much a part of the organized life of the school that the boys and girls 
 take it for granted and attend almost lOO per cent. 
 
 What our Chinese Christians are standing out for, with their own 
 government officials, is the right of private education to exist, with the 
 principle of religious liberty fully guaranteed, and with non-interference 
 in academic freedom assured, a struggle which by no means is yet set- 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 33 
 
 tied, but which is an inevitable conflict and which in the end may greatly 
 strengthen the position of the Christian schools. 
 
 The present difficulty in registration is with the continual shifting 
 of the conditions of registration, and the multiplicity of demands and 
 limitations due to the uncertain and unstable political situation. Out- 
 advice in China was that we should not register except under conditions 
 which would guarantee to us the Christian purpose of our schools, guar- 
 anteeing to our Chinese Christians full religious liberty and to our 
 schools academic freedom, but, at the same time, with unquestionable 
 patriotic loyalty to China, with the schools properly supervised by the 
 Chinese government. If these conditions did not exist and there was 
 likelihood of our closing our schools, we then recommended registra- 
 tion in preference to closing, in order to take the chance, as registered 
 schools, to help modify the restrictions. We kept reminding our lead- 
 ers that if conditions prevailed which would make it impossible for us 
 to keep our schools open, those conditions would arise out of a situation 
 which would tend to drive Christian schools out of China altogether. 
 
 The problems of our schools in China are not confined to those 
 of registration and government supervision. If Christian education 
 is to be maintained, it must be upon the basis that the best education 
 possible is given in an atmosphere thoroughly Christian, and with defi- 
 nite Bible instruction and Christian training. In order to do this our 
 schools can no longer be left to the uncertainties of annual appropria- 
 tions from a fluctuating income. This problem is particularly acute 
 with our middle schools. No subject was more thoroughly considered 
 in our conference in Shanghai than the desperate need of our middle 
 schools, and in the findings of that conference there are definite recom- 
 mendations. 
 
 Here is one of the greatest challenges that we have to our Church 
 in America, where there is now a deeper appreciation of our Church 
 schools and a greater willingness to supply them with adequate build- 
 ings, equipment, and endowment than ever before in our history. The 
 endowment of our schools in China in the sum total is too meager for 
 mention. In America, our schools are maintained by tuition fees, the 
 income from endowment, and by special current subscriptions, and by 
 appropriations from the general educational funds of the Church 
 through the Board of Education. In China, our schools are maintained 
 on the fees and the appropriations of the Board of Foreign Missions, 
 which appropriations are to the schools in China what the appropria- 
 tions of the Board of Education are to the current expenses of the 
 Church schools in America. This means that the schools are too large, 
 are understafifed, are ill equipped, and have a constant fight to keep 
 open from year to year. 
 
 This is one of our biggest missionary opportunities in China today. 
 We should decide, which will not be difficult, which of these schools 
 should permanently survive, and then ask the Church to provide an 
 adequate endowment and equipment fund to enable them to serve effec- 
 tively the present day, this being a necessary condition to enable the 
 Chinese, in the future, to control and support their schools, themselves. 
 
34 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 China’s problem is only a reflection of similar situations in Japan, 
 Korea, Malaysia, India, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. 
 
 IV. Medical Work 
 
 Aside from the problems which will arise in connection with indi- 
 vidual hospitals, some of which are very important, it is clear that our 
 medical work will be increasingly in the hands of Chinese superinten- 
 dents and physicians. 
 
 Peking Union Medical College is probably the finest institution of 
 its kind in the world. It is giving the Chinese a medical training and 
 equipment second to none. The Chinese, with their aptitude for ac- 
 curate scholarship, their deft and sensitive fingers and hands under 
 perfect control, and their never ending patience, are endowed with gifts 
 which help to make them capable surgeons and doctors. 
 
 Peking Union Medical College has a very definite policy of devo- 
 lution. It provides that all professional positions shall be among the 
 first to be turned over to the Chinese, and every foreign doctor has a 
 definite program of training a Chinese to take his own department or 
 work. In some cases, the time schedule is actually set so that the for- 
 eign doctor knows when his time is up and when he must give way to a 
 capable. Chinese successor, and be retained only as a helper under Chi- 
 nese supervision. The next step is to turn over the administrative work 
 to the Chinese, and in this there is the same program. The last stage 
 in devolution is the turning over of the financial support of the institu- 
 tion. One is impressed at Peking Union Medical College by the fact 
 that this program is all understood definitely, is planned for, and is 
 being gradually realized. I asked one of our own cooperating physi- 
 cians who is soon to go on furlough, whether he would be returning 
 to Peking Union Medical College. He said he was not sure, but he 
 had been invited back for another four years, and if he came that 
 would be as long as he could stay, for at the end of that time it was 
 expected that he would have a thoroughly equipped Chinese doctor to 
 head his department, as a specialist in tuberculosis. 
 
 Since our largest medical work as a Board is in China, it will be 
 seen that the situation which we now confront will have a direct bearing 
 upon our sending of foreign doctors to China. No one would mean to 
 intimate that no additional foreign doctors are needed. The Chinese, 
 themselves, will call for such help and we should be ready to respond. 
 
 V. Property Problems 
 
 Our property problems apparently divide themselves into three 
 groups : first, the Chinese churches and parsonages ; second, institu- 
 tions, educational, medical, etc. ; third, missionary residences. 
 
 I. After carefully studying and discussing the policy of the Young 
 Men’s Christian Association and the Young Women’s Christian Asso- 
 ciation in China, our conference groups in Foochow, Shanghai, and 
 Peking were all unanimous in recommending that steps be taken to turn 
 our church property over to some responsible Chinese holding body or 
 bodies. A necessary condition, of course, is a responsible government. 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 35 
 
 under which some holding body can be incorporated or registered, to 
 which the church property and parsonages can be deeded. The Young 
 Men’s Christian Association has a national holding body which owns 
 all but a few local Association buildings, and some of these are now in 
 process of being turned over. A few Y.M.C.A. buildings remain in 
 foreign settlements or concessions, and therefore are outside the juris- 
 diction of a Chinese holding body. Our groups debated whether or not 
 the Annual Conferences should be incorporated, or whether some hold- 
 ing body for all China should be organized. The Chinese feel the 
 necessity for some such policy, but all agree that a plan should be 
 found that will protect the property from any unscrupulous or unsym- 
 pathetic local governments. 
 
 The general feeling is that an Executive Board, possibly the China 
 section of the Executive Board of the Eastern Asia Central Confer- 
 ence, should be incorporated for the purpose of holding the property 
 of Chinese churches and parsonages. We recommend that a commission 
 be constituted in China, or that we petition the Central Conference of 
 Eastern Asia to take the necessary steps to create such a holding body. 
 It may take years to perfect the arrangements, but it is none too early 
 to begin this important step. We will need to remind ourselves that 
 it is just as important for the property which the Chinese, themselves, 
 will own and maintain in the future, as it is for the property which 
 has been purchased and maintained by the Board’s appropriations 
 and whose titles are now in our name. 
 
 2. As to educational institutions and hospitals, it seems clear, 
 that in ways which the new registration laws will demand, each institu- 
 tion must be considered by itself, and that probably Chinese boards 
 of managers must be created with whom the Board of Foreign Mis- 
 sions and Boards of Trustees in America can negotiate for any proper- 
 ties involved. 
 
 3. It would seem wise for us to treat separately the missionary 
 residences and compounds. In every missionary center, sometimes on 
 the very best possible building locations, we have large foreign resi- 
 dences for our missionaries, which will be of doubtful value to the 
 Chinese in the future. Most notable of all is the large, much dis- 
 cussed compound in Peking, which already is furnishing a difficult 
 problem with which to deal. As long as the Board is responsible for 
 sending and keeping missionaries in China, these residences are the 
 responsibility of the Board. If missionaries are no longer needed in 
 any centers and are transferred to other centers, we should be perfectly 
 free to transfer with them their residences. 
 
 Some of the missionary residences are very large. Most of them 
 are in excellent condition. They were built in the days when a few 
 thousand dollars would erect and furnish a house costing from five to 
 ten times that sum in America. Some of them are a burden to our 
 missionaries to maintain, and we may have requests to make over some 
 of the residences into duplex houses, or first and second floor apart- 
 ments. 
 
 4. It is agreed by all that now is no time for any building opera- 
 
36 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 tions of any sort in China, but, rather, a time of careful conservation 
 of all of our property interests, and of study for its wise use and care. 
 
 5. The acute financial situation in a number of our Annual Con- 
 ferences will lead to some very definite recommendations for the dis- 
 posal of certain pieces of property, in order to write off these obliga- 
 tions, and further aid the current budget through savings in interest 
 on accumulated deficits. Our ability to negotiate such transactions will 
 depend in a measure on political conditions, but there are situations 
 where these conditions are not factors where we should give considera- 
 tion to the definite proposals, as they are presented. 
 
 6. One of the most important property problems which the Board 
 needs to consider is our policy with reference to Board property looted, 
 stolen, and destroyed in the process of present war conditions. On the 
 advice of the Embassy in Peking, the American consuls in China are 
 asking all Americans to file statements of all losses due to these causes. 
 This is being done as rapidly as possible. The Board must decide 
 whether or not it will seek indemnity from the Chinese for such prop- 
 erty destroyed. If any responsible Chinese government offers to restore 
 such property that is one possibility. It is quite a different policy for 
 our Board to file its claims and be included in the demands which our 
 government may make upon the Chinese for the restitution of destroyed 
 property. Already, other Christian groups in China have openly de- 
 clared that they will not accept such indemnity, and we understand that 
 the International Committee of the Young Men’s Christian Association 
 has sent formal notice to the State Department in Washington, and 
 through them to the American Minister in Peking, that they would not 
 ask indemnity for any destroyed Y.M.C.A. property in China. Our 
 recommendation is that this Board now send official word to the State 
 Department that we will ask no property indemnities. 
 
 VI. Standing the Test 
 
 This is the day of the Christian movement in China. The Chinese 
 Church is being tried as by fire, is being purged and is standing the 
 test. The strength of the foundations of the years is now being 
 revealed. “The foundation is laid, namely Jesus Christ, and no one 
 can lay any other. On that foundation any one may build gold, silver, 
 precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, but in every case the nature of his 
 work will come out.” Those few who have looked upon material things 
 — -property, buildings, equipment, organization, statistics and the like — 
 as the outward signs of Christian triumphs, may find themselves per- 
 plexed, discouraged and possibly disillusioned, but the hosts who have 
 been planning, working, praying and hoping for signs of spiritual 
 reality in Chinese Christians, for an awakening sense of. responsibility 
 and initiative in the Chinese Church and for evidences that Jesus 
 Christ is at home in China will rejoice and be heartened. They will 
 work and give with a new, determined purpose that Jesus Christ may 
 become fully known to this great people. 
 
 Respectfully submitted. 
 
 At Sea, June 28 to July 12, 1927 Ralph E- Diffendorfer. 
 
Exhibit “A” 
 
 INTERVIEW WITH DR. CHUN OF CANTON 
 
 “In 1911, Dr. Sun Yat Sen successfully established the Republic of China 
 in the first revolution. At that time, Yuan Shai Kai was the only opposing 
 factor, in the Manchu regime. In the fall of 1911, Dr. Sun was elected pro- 
 visional president of the Chinese Republic. He came to office on January 
 1, 1912. Yuan Shai Kai promised Dr. Sun to dethrone the Emperor of the 
 Manchu dynasty if Dr. Sun would resign the presidency in favor of Yuan 
 Shai Kai. Dr. Sun favored the proposition if Yuan would be true to the 
 Republic of China. Dr. Sun resigned in favor of Yuan. Yuan took the 
 power and made himself the Emperor of China, calling it the Yuan dynasty. 
 He overthrew the Republic. Dr. Sun started another revolution to over- 
 throw Yuan because he was not true to the Republic. Yuan’s dynasty was 
 destroyed in the same year by Sun’s forces. All the revolutions of China 
 have started in Canton. However, Dr. Sun did not get the supreme power. 
 A military man controlled the northern country because he had helped Sun 
 in the overthrow. 
 
 “Then Sun began to formulate another revolution. He sought the help 
 of any foreign power who would come to his aid. His first approach was to 
 the English. The British merchants of Hongkong supplied money and guns. 
 In 1920, when Sun’s forces were defeated in Canton, Great Britain changed 
 her policy and no longer gave Sun any assistance, because they thought that 
 Sun would never come into power again. That was the turning point in 
 British policy. They prohibited Sun from landing in Canton. He then 
 began to seek the help of Lenin in Soviet Russia in 1921. From that time 
 on, Russian agents and officers were sent to China. Borodin was sent by 
 Lenin. 
 
 “The aims of Soviet Russia in China have been first to use China as an 
 instrument against England, and second to spread the doctrine of world 
 revolution. 
 
 “The Kuomintang was started by Dr. Sun, 40 years ago. Soviet Russia 
 at first limited its activities to Canton. They agitated among the laboring 
 classes, and among the students. The common people and those with little 
 sense were the easiest to excite. Students and laborers have been the 
 weapons of the Kuomintang during the last few years. The Kuomintang 
 had no army of its own in the beginning. Gen. Ch'iang Kai Shek, the com- 
 mander-m-chief of the nationalist army, was a favorite young friend of Dr. 
 
 ^ _Chiang is only 41 years of age at the present time. After the death 
 of Dr. Sun two years ago, he took the lead in military affairs in the Southern 
 army. _ Upon the death of Dr. Sun, the Kuomintang split into the right and 
 left wings. The left wing favors communism, and the right wing upholds 
 the three principles of Dr. Sun Yat Sen. 
 
 “Chiang never put himself into either party. Russia helped him in his 
 northern expedition The left wing has divided again into moderates and 
 extremists. The extremists stand for taking over the concessions aTd the 
 custom houses by force. The moderates desire the same ends, but Sot bv 
 ^e use of force. Chiang desires to use negotiations, alone, with the Powers 
 The extremists had agreed that on a certain day in the month of Ipr?l 
 they would plunge into the concessions and custom houses and seize them 
 
 found this out and about 2 a. m. on the 14th he f-aptured 
 all the extremists he could find.” ’ oapturea 
 
 As to the effect of the nationalist movement upon the Christians of 
 China, our young friend continued: '-nristians ot 
 
 threw stones and beat their drums to in- 
 meetings. Students and laboring men did this The na 
 tionalmt movement will separate the real Christians from the unmanly 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 38 
 
 Christians. After the foreign support of the Church has been compelled to 
 withdraw, the Chinese Christians are learning to stand on their own feet. 
 Most of the churches in Canton have become self-supporting in the last few 
 years. 
 
 “There is an independent South China Methodist Conference. In that 
 Conference, are 15 churches and several missions. They use the Methodist 
 Discipline. The Conference extends through Kwantung Province. There 
 are about 50 Christian churches of different denominations in Canton. There 
 is a large Roman Catholic Cathedral. 
 
 “85 per cent to 90 per cent of the Chinese people in America come from 
 a little section of four counties in Kwantung Province, near Canton. Canton 
 came in contact early with foreign influence. Canton is the first Chinese 
 city to take modern ideas.” 
 
 Exhibit B 
 
 REGISTRATION CONDITIONS IN FUKIEN PROVINCE 
 April, 1927 
 
 To Fukien Christian University; 
 
 In reply we beg to inform you that matters having to do with the regis- 
 tration of schools and other necessary things have been especially prepared 
 and expressed in the form of regulations. It will be necessary for you to 
 carry out these instructions. We now herewith send you the various kinds 
 of regulations under separate cover. Please note and act accordingly. 
 
 From The Educational Bureau of Fukien Political Commission. 
 Enclosures under separate cover. 
 
 A copy of the regulations for private schools. 
 
 A copy of the regulations for the establishing of the Board of Managers 
 of private schools. 
 
 A copy of the regulations for the registration of schools. 
 
 A copy of the rules for the partynization of education. 
 
 A copy of the rules for the weekly memorial service. 
 
 April, 1927. 
 
 Regitl,\tions for Private Schools 
 
 (Passed by the Educational Administrative Committee at its 39th meeting 
 and promulgated on October 18, 1926.) 
 
 Art. I. The term Private School means any school that is established 
 by private persons or any private legal body. Schools established bv 
 foreigners and churches belong to this category. 
 
 Art. II. Private schools shall be under the supervision and direction of 
 the Educational Administrative Office. 
 
 Art. III. The name of a private school shall clearly and faithfully indi- 
 cate the kind of the school. It shall be, furthermore, prefixed with two 
 words, “Private Establishment.” 
 
 Art. IV. The founders of a private school shall select persons to be or- 
 ganized as its Board of Managers and to have the whole responsibility for 
 managing the school. There is a set of regulations for the establishment of 
 the Board of Managers. 
 
 Art. V. The establishment and change of a private school shall have the 
 permission of the Office in Charge of the Educational Administration through 
 the petition of its Board of Managers. 
 
 closing up of a private school shall be done through the 
 Managers for permission from the Administrative 
 property and other belongings of the 
 school shall be liquidated together with Government representation. 
 
 President of a private school shall be wholly (completely) 
 responsible to its Board of Managers for the administration of the school. 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 39 
 
 Officers and teachers of the school are to be appointed and dismissed by the 
 Pr6si(i6iit. 
 
 Art. Vlli. No foreigner shall be eligible for presidency of a private 
 school. Under conditions foreigners may he engaged as advisers. 
 
 Art. IX. The organization, courses of studies, teaching schedule and 
 other matters of a private school shall be based on the Existing Educational 
 Ordins-HCGS 
 
 Art. X. There shall be no required religious courses in any private school. 
 There also shall be no religious propaganda in the classes. 
 
 Art. XI. If there shall be religious services in a private school no com- 
 pulsory attendance shall be allowed. 
 
 Art. XII. The school affairs, teaching affairs, and other matters of a 
 private school shall he reported from time to time to the Educational Ad- 
 ministrative Office according to its orders. 
 
 Art. XIII. When a private school shall be found to be badly managed or 
 to he in violation of ordinances the Government may dissolve it. 
 
 Art. XIV. Any private school that has not registered shall register 
 within a time limit after the proclamation of the present regulations. 
 
 ' Art XV. These regulations go into effect from the date of public proc- 
 lamation. 
 
 Regulations for Private Schools for Board of Managers 
 
 (Passed by the Educational Administrative Committee at its 40th Meeting 
 and promulgated on October 18, 1926.) 
 
 I. In a private school the Board of Managers shall represent the 
 founders in the management of the school. The establishment of the Board 
 of Managers must he according to the following items, to he reported by the 
 founders to the educational administrative office for approval. 
 
 (1) Purpose. 
 
 (2) Name. 
 
 (3) Location of Board of Managers’ office. 
 
 (4) Rules for the organization and power of the Board of Managers. 
 
 (5) Rules for the big meeting of the Founders and the meetings of 
 the Board of Managers. 
 
 (6) Regulations about property, funds and other income. 
 
 In the case of middle or lower grade schools application must be made 
 by the Board of Managers to the city or district educational bureau to be for- 
 warded to the provincial educational office. In the case of a university or 
 specialized college the Board of Managers shall apply through the provincial 
 educational office to he forwarded to the national educational administrative 
 committee. In forwarding the educational office must make investigation 
 and send detailed comments for consideration of the national educational 
 administrative committee. Any school which has been approved by the 
 provincial educational office for registration must, through its Board of 
 Managers, apply to the national educational administrative committee, by 
 the provincial educational office, for future reference. 
 
 II. After being granted permission to establish the school according to 
 Article I the Board of Managers shall within a, month give answers to the 
 following items to the educational administrative office of the province for 
 registration. After permission is given for registration the answers to the 
 following shall be tiled in tbe office of the Board of Managers and in the 
 local educational administrative office. 
 
 (1) Name. 
 
 (2) Location of Managers’ Office. 
 
 (3) Date for permission of establishment. 
 
 /r\ ^®tailed list of property, funds and other sources of income 
 (5) Names, home addresses, professions and local addresses of mem- 
 bers of Board of Managers. 
 
 ho U,® changes in the above paragraphs 2. 4. and 5. they must 
 
 be reported within seven days to the educational administrative office of the 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 province and also to the office of the Board of Managers and to the local 
 
 educational administrative office. _ _ ^ r,f the 
 
 III. The following are the principles in regard to the power o t 
 Board of Managers, with the exceptions permitted by the educational ad- 
 ministrative office of the province under special conditions. 
 
 (1) The fnancial responsibility of the Board of Managers. 
 
 (a) Plan for finance. 
 
 (b) Approval of budgeting and auditing. 
 
 (c) Care of the property. 
 
 (d) Supervision of finance. 
 
 (e) Other financial affairs. 
 
 (2) The Board of Managers will select a president for school aa- 
 ministration with full responsibility. The board shall not have 
 any direct participation in administration. The president-ffiect 
 shall have the approval of the educational administrative office. 
 The board may change the president when he does not meet the 
 
 requirements of his position. 
 
 IV. The Board of Managers may employ officers or employees to do the 
 work of their office according to their own rules. 
 
 V. When necessary, the educational administrative office may investigate 
 the affairs and finances of the Board of Managers. 
 
 VI. If the school should close the Managers must report within seven 
 days to the educational administrative office for the clearing up of the 
 property affairs. When everything is settled a report must be made to the 
 educational administrative office. 
 
 VII. If the school is dissolved the Board of Managers may petition the 
 educational administrative office for permission to give the property for some 
 other educational enterprise. 
 
 VIII. If the school is dissolved and if the property has no owner, then 
 
 the educational administrative office m.ay take it over. 
 
 IX. If there should be debts an appeal can be made to a court of justice 
 for settlement. 
 
 X. If the Board of Managers wish to dissolve their organization, then 
 they must appeal to the educational administrative office for permission. If 
 their registration is withdrawn they would automatically dissolve. 
 
 XI. The Board of Managers cannot dissolve the school without the per- 
 mission of the educational administrative office. 
 
 XII. The Board of Managers shall make a report within thirty days after 
 the close of the fiscal year of the following matters, together with a .list of 
 property to the educational administrative office and to the office of the Board 
 of Managers and to the office of the local educational administrative office. 
 
 (1) Administrative affairs of the school. 
 
 (2) Important events of the year. 
 
 (3) Amount of income and expenditure, itemized. 
 
 XIII. No foreigner can be a member of the Board of Managers, but under 
 special conditions foreigners may serve on the board, but the natives must 
 have a majority. A foreigner cannot be chairman of the board. 
 
 XIV. These regulations will apply as soon as they are proclaimed. 
 
 Regul.stions fok Regi.str.^tiox of Schools 
 
 (Passed by the Educational Administrative Committee at its 39th Meeting 
 and proclaimed October 18, 1926.) 
 
 1. To establish a school, with the exception of special regulations, regis- 
 tration must be applied for to the educational administrative office, in the 
 case of a public school by the person in charge and in the case of a private 
 school by the Board of Managers. 
 
 In applying for registration a school must present a petition and accom- 
 panying documents. Middle and lower grade schools with the exception of 
 
41 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 cii'hnols pstablished by the government, must apply to the city or district edn- 
 ciril Sau A petitilii to te lorwarcletl W tho provincial edocalloiial 
 office In case of a university and special colleges, except those nationally 
 established, application must be through the provincial educational bureau 
 to be forwarded to the educational administrative committee of the people s 
 government. There must be a detailed investigation and comments for- 
 warded with the application. , , i 
 
 Any school whose registration has been approved by the provincial educa- 
 tional office must send on its petition to the national educational administra- 
 tion committee for reference. 
 
 2. Before applying for registration, established schools must meet the 
 following conditions: 
 
 (a) Funds. . 
 
 (1) There must be sufficient property or income the proceeds ot 
 which shall meet the current expenses ot the school. 
 
 (2) Or there must be some other definite source of income sufficient 
 
 to meet the current expenses. 
 
 (3) Or if there is no property or definite sources of income, then 
 some other sources are necessary to supply enough money to 
 meet expenses. 
 
 (b) Ectuipment. 
 
 There shall be suitable school grounds and buildings and athletic 
 
 grounds and school and teaching equipment. 
 
 (c) Teachers and officers. 
 
 Teachers and officers must have proper qualifications. No foreigner 
 may be the president. 
 
 3. Schools when applying for registration must answer the following- 
 questions and provide a map of the school property with explanations. 
 
 (1) Name of school, both Chinese and foreign, if such. 
 
 (2) Kind of school. 
 
 (3) Location. 
 
 (4) Course of study. 
 
 (5) List of teachers and officers of the school. 
 
 (6) List of students. 
 
 (7) Funds and methods of maintaining. 
 
 (8) List of text books and reference books. 
 
 (9) Teaching and athletic equipment and specimens. 
 
 4. When the educational administrative office finds that a registered 
 school is not well managed or has poor records, it may withdraw the registra- 
 tion. 
 
 5. If a registered school wishes to close or change it must petition the 
 educational administrative office for permission. 
 
 6. After receiving permission to be established a school must apply for 
 registration within three months. 
 
 7. If a school is not registered its students and graduation requirements 
 cannot be recognized. 
 
 8. These regulations go into effect on the date of their proclamation. 
 
 Ten Items of Temporary Practical Applicatioiy for Partynized Educa- 
 tion BY the Bureau of Education of the Commission of Political Affairs 
 OF Fukien. 
 
 1. Every school shall hold a weekly memorial service to Dr. Sun Yat 
 Sen on Monday. (Order of Service and Regulations enclosed herewith in 
 separate copies.) 
 
 2. Every school shall have one hour’s course on the Three People’s 
 Principles each week. The teacher of this course is to be engaged by the 
 •school, and confirmed by the Bureau (of Education). 
 
 3. Text books in each school shall be examined on the principle that they 
 shall not be inconsistent with the Party principles. 
 
42 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 4. Every school must post the news about the progress of the Revolution- 
 ary ai-rny: slogans, publicity works, and pictorial papers. 
 
 5. Every school must provide various literature on Partynized Education 
 for reference readings for its teachers and students. There shall also be 
 organized a book store for the purpose of introducing publications relating 
 to the Party. 
 
 6. Every school must from lime to time engage scholars who are versed 
 in the Three People’s Principles to give public lectures on the Party prin- 
 ciples; the people of the locality shall be welcome to attend. There shall 
 also be provisions to promote interest in attendance but they shall not be 
 inconsistent with the idea of propagating the Party ideals. 
 
 7. The Boy Scouts of every school shall be uniformly changed into the 
 Party Boy Scouts. (The Oath and Regulations of the Party Boy Scouts are 
 enclosed herewith in separate copies.) 
 
 8. Each school shall utilize every celebration gathering to effect Party 
 Propaganda according to the publicity principles of the Party. 
 
 9. There shall be regular investigations into any anti-party principle 
 propaganda by the teachers and officers of every school. When it is dis- 
 covered there shall be immediate prohibition, or punishment and dismissal. 
 
 10. There shall be sent forth special persons who are well versed in the 
 partynized education to every school and church school to carefully observe 
 whether or not they are conducted strictly according to the principles. 
 
 REGUI.ATIONS OF THE WeEICLY MEMORIAL SERVICE 
 
 Art. 1. This Society for the purpose of permanently remembering our 
 Last Chief; and for making all of our comrades affected by his spirit of 
 strife and sacrifice for all the people; inspired by his personality of wisdom, 
 love and courage, and determined to continue on striving for carrying through 
 his principles; especially decides to have all organizations of the People”s 
 Party of China as well as the agencies under the People’s Government and 
 all military groups observe a weekly memorial service. 
 
 Art. 2. The Weekly Memorial Service shall take place on each Monday 
 morning any time from 9 to 12. The period of service shall not be over one 
 hour. The time may be changed according to special conditions. 
 
 Art. 3. The Chairman of the service shall be a regular committee man in 
 the case of the various classes of the People’s Party of China, and the highest 
 officer in charge in case of the government agencies and military groups of 
 the locality. 
 
 Art. 4. Order of Service; 
 
 (1) Congregation standing. 
 
 (2) Three bows before Last Chief’s Picture. 
 
 (3) Chairman reading Last Chief’s Will, congregation following. 
 
 (4) Three minutes’ meditation with lowering heads before the Last 
 Chief’s Picture. 
 
 (5) Speech or Report on Politics. 
 
 (6) End of Service. 
 
 Art. 5. The Central Executive Committee will distribute hand bills in 
 the form of the party certificate, each with a picture of Last Chief, his will, 
 mottoes, and these regulations, for all to follow. 
 
 Art. 6. Should there be discovery of non-energetic execution of the 
 Memorial Service or secret connivance in evading it by open pretensions, the 
 responsible regular committee man or the officer in charge shall be besides 
 being dismissed given other treatment. 
 
 Art. 7. All members of the People’s Party of China who must attend the 
 service in accordance with their professions or other relations, must gather 
 together before the Memorial Service begins. They shall not be absent con- 
 secutively for three times; there will be punishment for such a violation. 
 
 Art. 8. These regulations go into effect on the day when they are passed 
 by the Central Executive Committee. 
 
 Note: These regulations apply to all the organizations and militarv 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 43 
 
 groups, hence it is provided that the service be presided over by the highest 
 officer of the locality. Now that these regulations are applied to the school, 
 the principal of the school shall be the presiding officer. 
 
 Decoratiojm of Memorial Service Hall 
 
 In the Service Hall: 
 
 In the middle — Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s Picture. 
 
 Above the picture — National and Party Flags. 
 
 On both sides of the Picture: 
 
 “The Revolution is not yet a success.’’ 
 
 “Comrades must fight on.” 
 
 Below — Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s Last Will. 
 
 Platform. 
 
 Pillars and walls of Hall decorated with the various slogans of the Party. 
 
 ExMMt G. 
 
 Major Issues in China 
 As Suggested By Missionaries in Foochow 
 
 1. The place of the missionary in the China of tomorrow. 
 
 2. The registration of schools. 
 
 3. The development of an indigenous Chinese Church. 
 
 4. The church and its relation to community life. 
 
 5. The relation of the missionary to the new movements in China. 
 
 6. How can America be kept informed correctly on the situation in 
 China? 
 
 7. What is to be the future policy of the Board of Foreign Missions 
 toward China? 
 
 8. The holding of property in China. 
 
 9. The hospital situation in Foochow. 
 
 10. What are to be the relative emphases on different phases of Chris- 
 tian work in China? 
 
 11. List and define the factors or tendencies that are now actually affect- 
 ing our Christian work. 
 
 12. The problem of self-support. 
 
 13. The education in America of Chinese workers for the Christian 
 ministry in China. 
 
 14. Emergency budget due to the various evacuations. 
 
 15. The future ratio of missionaries to the operating budget. 
 
 ExMMt D. 
 
 SUGGESTED AGENDA 
 For Discussion in Shanghai, May 5, 1927 
 
 1. Devotions. 
 
 2. Statement of results desired. 
 
 3. The Missionaries. 
 
 (1) Emergency financial needs due to evacuation. 
 
 (2) How long should missionaries be kept waiting for settled condi- 
 tions? 
 
 (3) How far shall consular advice be considered in return of mis- 
 sionaries to stations? 
 
 (4) What should be our advice to missionaries who have returned 
 to America? 
 
 (5) What factors should determine their return to China? 
 
 (6) How long may the Board and the Society be expected to provide 
 for them? 
 
44 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 (7) Should definite plans be made to reduce missionary personnel? 
 
 4. The Church. 
 
 (1) snail we continue undimiuished support of the Chinese Church, 
 irrespective of failure of self support? 
 
 (2) Shall we make effort to eliminate ineffective workers? 
 
 (3) Shall we encourage the movement toward an independent 
 Church? 
 
 (4) Should we encourage the election of Chinese bishops? On what 
 basis? 
 
 5. Education. 
 
 (1) What minimum of religious work shall we require, to justify 
 opening of schools and use of missionary money? 
 
 (2) Shall we allow a faculty, or any member, to be appointed by Na- 
 tionalists? Shall we permit Nationalist control of subject 
 matter in any given course? Shall we permit the appointment 
 by the Nationalists of a “proctor”? Shall we permit student 
 interference in choice of faculty or principal? 
 
 (3) If schools are taken over by Nationalists and all religious work 
 eliminated, should missionaries return if invited? 
 
 (4) Should registration be postponed in hope of more liberal terms? 
 
 (5) Should we have a Board or Boards of Trustees in America for 
 Middle Schools to hold endowment funds? 
 
 (6) Should we, if unable to carry on Christian educational work in 
 China, attempt to establish schools outside for students who 
 wish such schools? 
 
 (7) Shall we continue grants to students? If so, on what basis? 
 
 6. Property. 
 
 (1) Shall we transfer church property as soon as possible to the 
 Chinese Church? How? 
 
 (2) Should school and hospital property be transferred with church 
 property? 
 
 (3) Shall we accept reparations for destroyed property? 
 
 (4) Shall we finish buildings in process of building? 
 
 (5) Under what conditions shall we begin to build those buildings 
 for which money is provided? 
 
 7. Finance. 
 
 (1) On what basis should the estimates for 1928 be made? 
 
 (2) How will the present conditions affect designated gifts? And 
 how will this affect our appropriations for 1928? 
 
 (3) Should there be a central publicity agency for this country, or 
 should each mission carry on its own publicity measures in 
 America? Relation of publicity to designated gifts. 
 
 Exhibit E. 
 
 SUGGESTED AGENDA FOR FUKIEN AREA GROUP MEETING 
 Shanghai, May 4, 1927. 
 
 1. General statement. Bishop Wallace E. Brown. 
 
 2. Impressions from Foochow and objects that we would like to attain 
 in this meeting. Dr. Ralph E. Diffendorfer. 
 
 3. Reports from the Fukien Conferences. 
 
 4. Discussion: 
 
 Missionary personnel. 
 
 (1) Should all missionaries, now absent from their posts, go back 
 upon consular permission, or should the Chinese be asked to 
 exercise their judgment in the matter? 
 
 (2) What stability should be attained in Chinese affairs before 
 missionaries are returned from the United States? 
 
45 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 (3) How far should we go, at present, in seeking Chinese coopera- 
 tion in our policy as to missionary personnel • 
 
 (4) If definite action has not already been taken in Foochow, what 
 steps, if any, should he taken in reducing personnel? 
 
 fSl What will he the attitude of the Board in continuing salaries 
 to missionaries who have accepted government appointment, 
 and who continue work in property taken over by the National 
 ist government? 
 
 Properf?/.^^^ policy is to be followed in the holding of property? Will 
 the Board continue to hold its property or will steps be taken 
 to hand it over to the Chinese? 
 
 (2) What is the attitude toward building projects? 
 
 (a) Now under way? 
 
 (b) For w'hich funds are on hand? 
 
 (c) Contemplated for the future? 
 
 FtTldTlCCt 
 
 (1) On what basis should the estimates for 1928 be made? 
 
 (2) How will the present conditions affect designated gifts? And 
 how will this affect our appropriations for 1928? 
 
 (3) Should there be a central publicity agency for this country, or 
 should each mission carry on its own publicity work in the 
 United States? Relation of publicity to designated gifts. 
 
 Changing conditions and future policies. 
 
 (1) Registration and our educational policy. 
 
 (2) Changing stress in missionary work caused by national control 
 of educational and medical work. 
 
 (3) What qualifications should be sought among prospective mis- 
 sionaries? Any that are different from the past? Any 
 different balance of qualities? 
 
 (4) What is the next step in further transfer of authority and 
 responsibility to the Chinese? 
 
 (5) Should we, as missionaries, be actively for, passive to, or actively 
 against Methodist participation in the proposed Chinese National 
 Christian Church? 
 
 Exhibit F. 
 
 FINDINGS OF A GROUP OF BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES OF THE 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, FIFTY-FOUR IN NUMBER, 
 WITH DR. AND MRS. DIFFENDORFER. 
 
 Shanghai, May, 5, 6, 10, 1927. 
 
 A Democratic World Church 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Church, unique among all Protestant churches, 
 holds in one organic fellowship the peoples of many races and nations. In 
 its General and Central Conferences these races and nations sit in fellowship 
 as children of one Father. This world-wide character of our Church, be- 
 cause of its connectional form of organization, offers an opportunity for 
 the further development of this fellowship, and provides the means lor dis- 
 cussion and development of a common mind and a common purpose among 
 all the peoples of the world. It is our conviction therefore that the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church has a distinct contribution to make towards the Christian- 
 ization of international contacts. 
 
 Missionary Aim 
 
 We wish to call attention to this statement of the missionary aim: 
 
 “The supreme and controlling aim of foreign missions is to make the 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 46 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ known to all men as their Divine Saviour, to pervade 
 them to become His disciples, to gather these disciples into Christian 
 Churches which shall be self-propagating, self-supporting and self-governing, 
 and to cooperate as long as necessary with these Churches in the evangelizing 
 of their countrymen, and in bringing to bear on all human life the spirit 
 and principles of Christ.” 
 
 In accordance with the above declaration as to the character of the 
 Church to which we belong and the missionary aim, we join in the follow- 
 ing statement relative to a variety of subjects that have to do with the 
 problems immediately confronting our Chinese brethren, the Church in 
 America, and ourselves. 
 
 Indigenous Control 
 
 The Discipline of our Church gives evidence that the General Conference 
 early recognized the right of the growing Church in every land to indigenous 
 control. Increasing provision has been made for the exercising of this right, 
 through the organization of Central Conferences with gradually augmented 
 powers. 
 
 We believe that in China the time has come when the Central Conference 
 should be given such additional powers as will give it full administrative 
 control. To this end we would recommend the following proposals. 
 
 1. Bishops and the Central Conference. 
 
 We favor the revision of the Discipline in such a way that the Central 
 Conference may elect its own Bishops, have power to fix their salary and 
 determine their number and place of residence. We ask the Executive Board 
 of the Central Conference of Eastern Asia, at an early date, to study the ques- 
 tion and to prepare a concrete detailed plan to be presented to the Church 
 through Annual, Central, and General Conference. 
 
 2. Special Session of Central Conference for Election of Chinese Bishops. 
 
 As soon as possible after legislation has been approved by the General 
 
 Conference authorizing election of Bishops by the Central Conference, we 
 believe that a special session of the Central Conference should he called for 
 such election. 
 
 3. Transfer of Church Property to the Chinese Church. 
 
 We believe that local church property in China should be transferred 
 to a Chinese organization as soon as the same may he arranged. To this 
 end we advise the incorporation of the China Section of the Executive Board 
 of the Central Conference of Eastern Asia, and the transfer to it as soon as 
 this is accomplished, of all title to local church properties by the Board of 
 Foreign Missions. The Executive Board should arrange for such petitions 
 to the Central Conference, the General Conference and the Board of Foreign 
 Missions as may be needed for changes in Disciplinary provision and for the 
 transfer of local church property. 
 
 Right of Self Determination 
 
 We recognize that, ultimately, the Chinese will decide for themselves as 
 to whether or not they will find the best expression of their Christian ex- 
 perience in organized church life by associating themselves with this world 
 organization, but we hope that every opportunity may be given for the 
 fullest discussion and comprehension on the part of the Chinese of what is 
 involved in this relationship before action is taken. 
 
 Self-Support 
 
 Chinese church leaders recognize the importance of self-support, and we 
 are confident they will, of their own accord, increase the proportion of 
 self-support as rapidly as possible until entire self-dependence is reached. 
 We suggest that stress be laid upon voluntary service, intensive evangelism. 
 
47 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 sacrificial giving, and the whole message of Christian stewardship. A Pro- 
 gram of gradual reduction of foreign subsidy to churches already organized 
 should be planned, the Board of Foreign Missions and the Finance Com- 
 mittees cooperating therein, so that in individual churches there may be as 
 rapid advance to full self-support as possible. Thus, increasingly, funds of 
 the Board may he made available for further extension of Christian activity 
 to the hundreds of thousands of cities, towns and villages which have no 
 church organization and where the Gospel is seldom if ever preached. Witii 
 these methods our faith sees a self-reliant, self-supporting Church as an 
 accomplishment of the near future, and sees a constant increase in missionary 
 spirit and activity. 
 
 CONTINTTED SUPPORT FROM ABROAD 
 
 An entirely new set of conditions, stressful in the extreme, confront the 
 Chinese Church today. In addition to the multitudes of imevangelized and 
 the needs of our educational institutions, there are, especially, the distress 
 and losses incident to famine, banditry and civil war; the lack of employ- 
 ment, the burdensome taxation and military levies facing our Chinese Chris- 
 tians. These make it impossible for them to meet these emergent demands 
 and carry their own current expenses. It is therefore imperative that the 
 cooperation of the American Church should be continued in full measure. 
 
 Unified World Organization 
 
 In order to relieve the General Conference of administrative matters 
 that relate only to the American section of the Church, we believe the time 
 has come for the organization of a Central Conference in the United States 
 to deal with the great mass of material which concerns only the Church in 
 the United States, and which now consumes such a large proportion of the 
 General Conference session. In this way, the General Conference would be 
 free to deal manfully with those phases of organized church life that have 
 to do with the visible expression of a world-wide sweep of love, fellowship 
 and cooperation in building the Kingdom of God on earth. 
 
 Education — ^Suppoet of Middle Schools 
 As to the importance of the middle schools, and as to the necessity of 
 Mission support for these schools, we would call attention to the following 
 paragraphs from the Report of the China Educational Commission; 
 
 “The Christian middle schools are at this stage the most vital part 
 of the whole Christian enterprise. They influence young people at the time 
 when they are making life decisions, choosing vocations, fixing personal 
 habits and social attitudes, beginning to form permanent attachments to 
 friends, masters, school, and church, and accepting or rejecting Christian- 
 ity. They touch the great middle classes of society among which the 
 Church is now growing and gaining its greatest strength. They do not 
 produce the foremost leaders, but furnish the body of sturdy supporters of 
 Christian society. 
 
 It is not, however, likely that the Church itself 
 
 can soon undertake the main support of this grade of school. Therefore 
 the Missions should consider the support of their middle schools one of 
 the first and largest items on their budgets. In some Missions this may 
 mean closing primary schools or withdrawing from college work or 
 definitely uniting with other Missions to make the middle school work 
 strong.” 
 
 In the matter of self-support, we believe that educational institutions 
 should^ be considered apart from the organized church. Generally speaking, 
 our middle schools have made great advances during the last few years in 
 the matter of increased fees, as in other things, so that students in our 
 schools are now generally paying for their education fully as much as stu- 
 dents in church schools in America, when the cost of living is taken into 
 account. 
 
48 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 War, revolutions and famine have, for the time being, reduced enroll- 
 ment in some centers so that, under these conditions, increased income from 
 abroad is necessary if our middle schools are not to be discontinued in the 
 same way as have most of our day schools. 
 
 Even in America, educational institutions are not expected to suppoit 
 themselves from student fees or local contributions, but are dependent upon 
 large endowment funds. No argument need to be made in stating that 
 similar conditions prevail in China and in larger measure. The resources 
 of the Chinese Church are overstrained in bringing the evangelistic work to 
 self-support. The middle schools can expect little or nothing for endow- 
 ment from Chinese sources. The middle schools must continue to look to 
 America for funds for upkeep and endowment. 
 
 A Boakd of Trustees in America 
 
 In some instances boards of trustees in America have been organized 
 for middle schools, but it is obvious that, were all of our middle schools to 
 thus organize, there would be an undesirable multiplicity of such boards. It 
 is our judgment, therefore, that there should be organized in America one 
 board of trustees for our middle schools in China, the primary object of 
 which would be the holding in trust and the proper administration of endow- 
 ment funds for our middle schools individually and collectively, entirely 
 apart from the Board of Foreign Missions; and holding in these matters the 
 same relationship as do the boards of trustees of the union universities. It 
 is our judgment that this board should be constituted in America, because 
 of the unsettled state of affairs in China and the general insecurity of in- 
 vestments here, and also because the Chinese Church has not yet available 
 sufficient personnel experience in the handling of large financial matters. 
 
 Should it not be found practical to develop this plan in -the very near 
 future, some other means must be found for increased support for these 
 schools, or the early closing of some of our best schools will be forced upon us. 
 
 Christian Schools and the Government 
 
 We recognize the right of a government to control its educational insti- 
 tutions. In establishing educational institutions in China, it has been our 
 purpose to give opportunities for expression of patriotic aims and of national 
 consciousness. We have sought to make the education we offer both Chris- 
 tian and patriotically Chinese. We have emphasized above the importance 
 of education in the life of the Church. In scientific educational work, the 
 student desires and should be given the opportunity for thoroughgoing, un- 
 biased investigation of all those forces and factors entering into and holding 
 civilization. On the basis of Christlike character, alone, can there be good 
 will among men that will make a true democracy possible ; on that basis alone, 
 can there be that mutual sympathy among nations and races whereby peace 
 on earth may become a reality. The building of this character is the greatest 
 contribution that the Church can make to China and to the world. We 
 earnestly hope that in all regulations put forth by the government, there 
 may be no limitations placed upon the full development and use of these 
 essential elements of culture. 
 
 Minimum Requirements 
 
 We again state our willingness to meet the requirements of the govern- 
 ment so long as religious liberty is recognized. Therefore, we recommend 
 as the minimum of religious work offered in schools of middle school or 
 college grade, justifying Mission support: 
 
 1. Elective courses in religious education shall be offered. 
 
 2. Voluntary attendance at religious services shall be permitted. 
 
 The School Staff 
 
 The efficiency of our schools in producing character is determined by 
 the degree in which character is possessed by the staff of the school. In 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 49 
 
 making up and recruiting a school staff, the responsible authorities of the 
 school should select from candidates of adequate scholastic attainments those 
 whose lives and characters give the best evidence of being able to inspire 
 and aid students to the attainment of Christlike life. 
 
 Government Registration 
 
 We are in favor of registration of our schools with the government, as 
 soon as it can be accomplished without seriously compromising their Chris- 
 tian character. 
 
 In view of the fact that the regulations concerning registration of Chris- 
 tian schools in various provinces and lesser districts under Nationalist 
 control vary greatly, we recommend that our institutions delay registration 
 with the government until the government has become more stable and 
 "uniform in its requirements. This recommendation is made only in view 
 of the circumstances immediately confronting us. 
 
 Advice to Missionaries 
 
 T It is our clear conviction that the right of the individual conscience 
 to determine personal action on debatable issues should be carefully 
 respected. We also recognize the moral obligation carefully to consider the 
 ethical consequences of an act under varying circumstances, whether those 
 consequences concern international relationships, the fundamental welfare 
 of those whom we have come to serve, or that of our fellow missionaries. 
 The decision having been made, it becomes us to manifest in Christian love 
 our commendation of those who, having been guided by the same principles, 
 have arrived at different conclusions as to their personal duty, and who are 
 ready to make great sacrifices in accordance with their decision. 
 
 2. It is our judgment that as many as possibly can, should remain in or 
 near China, and, by relating themselves to other work or to study, with the 
 Board’s or Society’s support, be ready for possible early return. 
 
 3. That those who feel, from circumstances of their own determination, 
 under the conviction that they should return to America, either temporarily 
 or permanently, ought to be permitted to do so with our full approval, and 
 the approval of the regularly constituted authorities. 
 
 4. With regard to the time and conditions of return to our stations or 
 elsewhere in China, we are convinced that the following principles should 
 obtain : 
 
 (a) We should await such a change in conditions as shall make practi- 
 cally inoperative the factors which determined our withdrawal in 
 the first instance. 
 
 (b) "We should expect much progress in self-dependence and self-deter- 
 mination, due to readjustments and constructive experimentation 
 on the part of those Chinese co-laborers who have been compelled 
 by circumstances to take over our work. When we return, there 
 should be such adjustments in appointments and such sympathetic 
 approach, as carefully to conserve every gain in Chinese leadership 
 brought about by the stimulus of these emergent conditions. 
 
 In view of the present developments of the Church in China and of 
 Chinese consciousness as regards the return of missionaries to their fields 
 of labor, we rejoice that in the establishment of our Church in China, in 
 which we have membership, full provision is made in our normal procedure 
 for the expression of the desires of the Chinese. 
 
 Exhihit G 
 
 INTERVIEW WITH MR. STERLING FESSENDEN, CHAIRMAN MUNICI- 
 PAL COUNCIL, SHANGHAI 
 
 (All will recognize the significance of a statement from a man in Mr. 
 Fessenden’s position. By agreement, stenographic notes were made of the 
 interview, but it has been impossible for Mr. Fessenden to read these notes.) 
 
50 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 “The reason why the British defense force is in Shanghai is not due en- 
 tirely to Shanghai itself or to the great financial interests which the British 
 have here, but because the British Government is convinced that Soviet Rus- 
 sia, acting through the illiterate classes of China, is trying to strike a ter- 
 rible blow at Great Britain. Silas Strawn placed the illiteracy of China at 
 ninety-seven per cent. Russia realizes that if she can drive the British out of 
 China by agitation, it would be a terrible loss of prestige for all white races 
 in Asia and a terrific reaction would come in India. Shanghai is the key- 
 stone position. The nationalist leaders made a desperate attempt to take 
 Shanghai and are now bitter against the foreigners. For the mere protec- 
 tion of Shanghai, the British Government would not send troops. 
 
 “All classes of Chinese were determined to down Shanghai. In 1925, I 
 sent a request to fifty managers of the leading commercial houses to tell them 
 what we were facing. After the shooting on May 30, 1925, came a tremendous 
 internal upheaval, with a strike of the water and light employees. We sur- 
 vived that. The southern army got here in March, 1927. There were two 
 Chinese armies fighting on the borders of the city, both of them hostile and 
 anti-foreign, incited by the radical element. 
 
 “I called together the consular representatives of America, Great Britain, 
 Japan, France, and Italy. If it had not been for British troops at that time, 
 Shanghai would have gone down in a welter of blood. On March 21 there 
 were 1,500 marines in the harbor. With the aid of wire barricades, we de- 
 termined to hold the city. The British troops were quartered inside the city. 
 
 “The only way to defend Shanghai was to make the military line outside 
 the city itself. I arranged with the British that, on my call, they would man 
 that boundary. The British troops manned the barricades. The American 
 marines would not take their places because of orders from Washington: 
 ‘We will not permit the armed forces of the United States to oppose any 
 regular troops of China, whether southern or northern.’ If worst came to 
 worst, American troops could be used to protect American lives.” 
 
 “There were 10,000 British troops, 2,000 volunteers, 2,500 police, 1,500 
 American marines, together with Dutch, Spanish, and French marines. Even 
 then we had to abandon one salient. North and south were fighting, two 
 great armies. The moderate wing and the radical wing of the nationalists 
 outside were determined to get to Shanghai, and inside was a great mob of 
 workmen, laborers, and civilians sympathetic with the southern army. At 
 that time there were, at least, 30,000 foreign troops, but they were holding 
 the line against a great horde from two armies with a great mob of radical 
 civilians. If the line had broken, there would have been terrible loss of 
 foreign life.” 
 
 Mr. Fessenden spoke frequently of the “legitimate aspirations of China.” 
 “The trouble,” he continued, “is the appalling ignorance of China. Ideas 
 have been put into their minds by the Russians. There is a latent hatred of 
 the foreigner, which in normal times is suppressed. When unusual conditions 
 arise, that is unleashed. That is the appalling danger.” 
 
 When asked if that hatred was found among the educated Chinese and 
 business men, Mr. Fessenden replied, “No, not at all. But that class which is 
 the largest element in China has been played upon and aroused. These mobs 
 are like wild beasts, foaming at the mouth. They are just as bad to their 
 own people.” 
 
 Continuing, he said, “We are all sympathetic, in principle, with the 
 Chinese idea that under extraterritoriality China is not on a plane of equality 
 with the other nations of the world. We can sympathize to a certain extent 
 with their desire to put China on a plane of equality. But what we resist 
 is their method. They want to accomplish by force overnight what would 
 really take China years to accomplish. All this propaganda about China 
 having no say in governing Shanghai is a misrepresentation. In the first 
 place, the only reason that foreigners were given extraterritoriality is 
 because the Chinese have no conception of law and justice as we understand 
 it. They are back in the prehistoric days. All that the Chinese have got 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 SI 
 
 to-day in the way of education, hospitals and sanitation has come from the 
 foreigner and through their contact with the foreigner. The Chinese villages 
 have not changed in 5,000 years. With the advent of the missionary and the 
 business man these schools and institutions were established. Chinese stu- 
 dents in America are made a fuss over. Even with Western education they 
 are not received on a basis of eauality. They want to do by sudden change 
 what ought to be done by evolution. Here is .a city which has brought hun- 
 dreds of thousands employment, and which has given safety to many. They 
 would kick us all out to-morrow if they could. Three members of the 
 Shanghai municipal council (out of fifteen) could now be Chinese, but the 
 Chinese want a majority. 
 
 “This city represents an enormous investment. It has a bonded indebted- 
 ness of thirty million dollars gold. We welcome Chinese representation on 
 the Council, but they must accept our proposition. America only has two 
 representatives, Japan has two. All we want is reasonable security. There 
 is no one Chinese city in the whole country that is decently administered. 
 The Chinese official from the highest to the lowest looks upon a government 
 position as a thing from which he can acquire a private fortune, not only 
 for himself but for all his relatives and friends. If the Chinese could admin- 
 ister Shanghai or China, extraterritoriality would pass. Japan had extrater- 
 ritoriality until 1895, and then it was no longer needed.” 
 
 As to the way out of the present situation and whether there is a chance 
 for the moderate wing to win out, Mr. Fessenden stated that he once thought 
 so. “Now,” he continued, “tfiey are so torn up internally, among themselves, 
 that I cannot be sure but that the whole nationalist movement will fail and 
 the northern group win out as far south as Shanghai. Within the next two 
 or three weeks (stated in early May, 1927) the northern troops will be back 
 again. 
 
 Exhibit H. 
 
 PROPHETS AND THE PURPOSE OF GOD 
 
 (Address by Dr. Henry T. Hodgkin, in Martyrs’ Memorial Hall, 
 Shanghai, May 4, 1927.) 
 
 The prophet is one who builds upon ultimate principles. He speaks not 
 because any organization has told him to do so, but because he cannot keep 
 silent. His authority is not that of the great men of the past, but that of an 
 inward voice, which he knows is the voice of God. He is both an interpreter 
 and a maker of history. He aims to change the whole current and trend of 
 men’s lives. His supreme end is to create a supreme organism animated by 
 one spirit, the spirit of God himself. 
 
 It is men and women of this type that China needs far more than she 
 needs statesmen and politicians. What good can the leaders in political life 
 do unless there are stirrings in the hearts of the people out of a prophetic 
 message from the living God? 
 
 If China needs prophets, what about ourselves? Six points in regard 
 to the prophet and the purpose of God: 
 
 1. The prophet is one who is convinced that there is a divine purpose 
 in human history. Sometimes the Church has not seen truly enough where 
 God works. Because some of the results of modern science have the ap- 
 pearance of coming into conflict with some religious convictions, the Church 
 has not clearly enough recognized the large elements of divine working in 
 this great movement of science which is seeking to understand this creation. 
 If we believe that Jesus Christ is the truth, we must believe that the passion 
 for the truth is a divine gift to the world. The prophet is one who, seeing 
 
52 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 the divine purpose, is thereby lifted above minor things, above the intrigues 
 and jealousies of the world round about him. He lives in the sphere in 
 which God works, and therefore has a message for the world. 
 
 2. The prophet is one who sees his own nation in its relatio’n to the 
 purpose of God. To interpret China’s place in the world truly, we must 
 see it in relation to the purpose of God. The prophet is the true friend of 
 his nation. He is not one who says, “My country right or wrong.” The 
 nation has a place in God’s purpose if it fulfills God’s will, if it is honest 
 in its public life, if it will put aside mobocracy and deceit. 
 
 3. The prophet sees that all nations are included in the purpose of God. 
 Some of the finest fruits or flowers in the prophetic treatment are in Isaiah 
 19, when the prophet breaks forth on the universal note. 
 
 4. The prophet sees that the fulfillment of God’s purpose involves suffer- 
 ing. This conception came to the great prophets through their own ex- 
 periences and the experiences of the nations to which they belonged. It 
 came to Jeremiah through long suffering and almost death. Isaiah 53 is a 
 picture of suffering raised to its highest point. God’s purpose was to come 
 to mankind through vicarious suffering, and it required the death of Jesus 
 Christ to make it live for the world. 
 
 5. The prophet is one who sees that God’s purpose must prevail. He 
 does not base his hope of the future upon endless calculation of possibilities. 
 He has a certainty that does not fall down in the face of disappointment. 
 His faith does not fail even though the immediate present may seem dark. 
 Was not that spirit most of all exemplified wfien through the Garden of 
 Gethsemane and the Cross itself there stepped the Redeemer of Mankind, 
 who saw the glory that was to be revealed? 
 
 6. The prophet sees himself as having a part in working out the purpose 
 of God. He has found that he has a relation to God, and it humbles him. 
 Still through that moment of humility there is born the conviction which 
 nothing can shake that he has a particular place of his own which it is up 
 to him to fulfill in God’s universe. It means that he is prepared to nerve 
 himself for every effort to stand when every friend forsakes him, prepared 
 to meet all the shafts which may be hurled at him, prepared to meet the 
 shock when hopes fall, prepared to make his prayer life strong and active 
 because God has put his huger upon him. With great humility, but with 
 great courage and faith, he moves forward to obey. Paul: “Therefore, King 
 Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” 
 
 What about it when we think of our own particular problem in China 
 today? 
 
 Isaiah 49: The picture of a prophet’s experience. He is one who feels 
 that God has chosen him. “I have labored in vain and have spent my 
 strength in naught but that .... surely my judgment is of the Lord, 
 
 I am recompensed of my God.” The divine answer: “1 will also give thee as 
 a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of 
 the earth.” He finds that God trusts him and calls him to a larger work 
 than he ever dreamed of, to a task larger than he had ever dreamed of, at 
 the very moment when he was on the point of lying down. There comes to 
 him the challenge to rise and do something greater. 
 
 We are being summoned through this hour of difficulty to be men and 
 women whom God can use for his larger service. In the light of this fact, 
 iet us turn back to see the six points as they concern ourselves. 
 
 1. There is a purpose of God in human history for our Chinese prophets 
 as well as for ourselves. Let us get a new conviction of God as moving in 
 the midst of his church, and transmit that conviction to those who are feel- 
 ing the terrible stress and the temptation which comes to let down. Let us 
 get a new hold today on a sense of God’s purpose, and if our lives shall 
 radiate that sense there is not anything we may not be able to do. 
 
 2. There is a special place for China among the nations. Many are not 
 looking wistfully back into the past, but they are looking forward with hope. 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 53 
 
 some at least with idealism which is pure and sincere and splendid, some 
 with a power of endurance and hope that means something for the future. 
 Is it not for us to believe in the China that is to be! If there are darker 
 days to come, fresh disillusionments, still we shall be there believing that 
 the best is truest. 
 
 3. Let us remember that all nations are included in God’s purpose. 
 Over against hatred, let us lift up the universal love of God. Can we each of 
 us in ourselves be the meeting point of at least two nations? Can we remind 
 ourselves of the phrase in Ephesians: “He is the Christ of Peace who has 
 broken down the middle wall of partition”? 
 
 4. The purpose must be reached through suffering. Is there danger that 
 we think sometimes just a little too much of our own suffering and what 
 we have lost? What have we bought with the cost? Let us hope we have 
 not bought disillusionment, resentment, or despair. Let us hope we bought 
 in the hour of suffering what the prophets bought while they were exiles in 
 a foreign land. Let us get something that will give us fresh power to enter 
 into the love of our Lord. 
 
 5. What are the prevailing forces in China today? Are they the forces 
 of violence and ill will? Are they the forces which seem almost irresponsible 
 as they sweep into the life of the nation? Are they only to be met by similar 
 forces? It may be, for some of us at any rate, to show in our own personalities 
 something of that kind of life which God expects of us. Perhaps it is a 
 bigger thing than we ever thought of when God called us first to come to 
 China. Perhaps there is something deeper than we thought we should ever 
 have to pay. 
 
 6. I suppose every one of us can get back to some period in his life when 
 he was so conscious of God’s call to come out to China that he was conscious 
 of a power lifting him up. Perhaps today the same great guide of our life 
 is calling us to some great place in his purpose. Perhaps we are called not 
 so much to administer and to lead, but to listen with the deeper understand- 
 ing, quietly, patiently, to serve, to enter into the bitterness of other people’s 
 experiences, to take the lessons which come to us in such a spirit that the 
 spirit of the Lord Christ is illuminated in us, to keep our faith bright through 
 the darkest hours. Are these some of the calls which come to us? Is it 
 perhaps now that in the time of enforced absence from loved work and 
 workers we are being summoned by a fresh call? Let us use this time 
 in quiet, humble thought. Let God’s purpose be felt in every fiber of our 
 being as we have never felt it. We are not blind to the facts— a thousand 
 facts that would disappoint us and crush us— but the supreme fact is God. 
 If we are^ so conscious of God that we have something of the prophetic fire 
 burning in us, we will not run away from the facts. Look beyond the 
 present, dream dreams. That is what it means to be a missionary these days. 
 
 Isaiah 60: Arise and shine, for thy light has come. 
 
 Exhibit I 
 
 SOME PROBLEMS CONFRONTING THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT IN 
 CHINA AS SEEN BY A CHINESE CHRISTIAN 
 
 (An address delivered to a group of missionaries in Martyrs’ Memorial Hall 
 by C. Y. Cheng, D.D., Secretary National Christian Council, Shanghai.) 
 
 Preliminary Considerations 
 
 I feel highly honored by being asked to address this important audience 
 on the subject of ‘Some Problems Confronting the Christian Movement in 
 China as Seen by a Chinese Christian.” I propose to give a Chinese view of 
 each of the following questions: Have the Chinese people pinned too much 
 faith on the pationalist movement? Has the anti-Christian movement been 
 
54 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 too favorably considered by Chinese Christians? Is religious liberty being 
 violated? Is the registration of Christian schools right and beneficial? Is 
 the enforcement of party education in schools acceptable? How do Chinese 
 Christians interpret the recent evacuation of missionaries from their posts? 
 How is the Nanking incident regarded by Chinese Christians? Has the mis- 
 sionary enterprise succeeded or is it likely to succeed? What change, if any, 
 is necessary in the work of Missions in China? Should Christianity speak on 
 political matters? Has organized Christianity been unduly criticized by 
 Chinese Christians? Is religious controversy unprofitable and harmful? Who 
 are our worst enemies? Is there sufficient indication of a bright future for 
 the Christian movement in China? 
 
 You will notice that these are all large questions, an adequate dealing of 
 which requires separate treatment. I have, however, put them together in 
 order that we may get a bird’s-eye view of the situation as a whole. Under 
 the limited time at our disposal, it is necessary to give in a very brief way 
 an interpretation of these problems from a Chinese point of view. Further, I 
 think we are still too close to these events that have been and are taking 
 place to be able to see them in their true perspective. I have come with an 
 open mind, willing to be convinced of a different interpretation and to seek 
 for further truth. I shall be more than happy, if you will kindly allow me 
 to benefit by your wisdom and experience in these matters. 
 
 One other word I wish to say before I start, namely. I am here represent- 
 ing no organization of any kind nor do I claim to speak for the entire Chinese 
 Church. I am here only as a Chinese Christian, comparing notes with his 
 fellow Christians of the West. I heartily invite your frank and candid 
 criticism of my views regarding these matters, if such criticism is given in 
 the spirit of Christian love. With your permission I now proceed to consider 
 with you the questions proposed. 
 
 Have the Chinese People Pinni:d Too Much Faith on the Nationalist 
 
 Moi'ement? 
 
 At least two kinds of views are being held by people in regard to this 
 movement, namely, the extreme and the moderate. There are those who put 
 all their faith in the movement and those who do not believe in it at all. 
 Upon such extreme views we need make no comment just now. There are, 
 however, many who see both the good and the bad in the movement, recog- 
 nizing its possibilities as well as its dangers. Now the question is, which side 
 weighs more heavily in our valuation of the movement, the brighter or the 
 darker, since both are present? It is quite certain that most of the more 
 thoughtful and intelligent people in China are watching this movement with 
 the greatest interest, sympathy, expectation and hopefulness. China has 
 suffered so much in these years, the heart of the people is reaching its break- 
 ing point in longing for a modern Moses to deliver the nation out of the 
 oppression of Egypt to the land of promise. With the coming of the national- 
 ist movement, people are watching it with all eagerness and enthusiasm, 
 believing that through it, the salvation of the nation is to be realized. For 
 this movement is not a mere political one — it touches upon the entire life of 
 the nation, political, economic, social, moral, and religious. It is not only 
 arousing the consciousness of the few in high places, but it is penetrating to 
 people in all walks of life; even the less educated masses have felt the thrill 
 of this great movement. We believe such aspirations are legitimate and neces- 
 sary if China is to advance and grow at all. 
 
 But at the same time we cannot minimize, much less ignore, the ghastly 
 side of the destructive and dangerous element in this otherwise wholesome 
 and promising movement of the Chinese people. Bolshevik influence has 
 already done a great deal of harm to China; it will do even greater harm if 
 unchecked. The Chinese people are more than glad to find that both the 
 Southern and Northern governments are taking definite measures against this 
 sinister monster that seeks to pull down and to destroy. The innocent people 
 who are in its iron grip in Central China are longing and praying for deliver- 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 55 
 
 ance from their agonizing suffering. The whole thing is contrary to the tradi- 
 tions and temperament of the Chinese people. While all this is true, the 
 whole movement should not he condemned because of its undesirable elements. 
 That would be suicidal. 
 
 The situation is capable of being interpreted and viewed from the more 
 gloomy side, for even the less radical part of the movement is far from per- 
 fection. Defects and shortcomings are traceable in more places than one. 
 But we maintain that with all its imperfections, it has furnished us sufficient 
 inspiration and incentive to justify our high hopes that through the instru- 
 mentality of the People’s Movement the future development of the Chinese 
 nation will be furthered. 
 
 Has the Anti-Cheistiaiv Movi';ment Been Too Favorably Considered by 
 
 Chinese Christians? 
 
 As we all know, anti-Christian propaganda is not an organization but a 
 movement. Because of this fact it is spreading very widely in the country 
 and is very difficult to get hold of. Every one is at liberty to express his 
 opinion and offer his criticism in whatever way he pleases. This makes it 
 hard to secure a definite and clear view of the platform upon which they 
 stand. All sorts of criticisms, attacks, charges, accusations, have been made 
 against the Christian religion. Some are the result of prejudice, some of mis- 
 understanding; some are worth careful consideration, while others are of no 
 value at all. 
 
 Besides those accusations that can be nailed as the result of prejudice and 
 misunderstanding, however, there is much in what these people say that is 
 true. Since we believe in truth we cannot and must not ignore, at least, this 
 part of the contribution of the anti-Christian movement. It must not be 
 regarded as a sign of disloyalty to the Christian faith when we are ready to 
 listen and accept this part of the criticism of the opposing forces. 
 
 We further believe that there are not a few who criticize the Christian 
 religion who are in real earnest in seeking after truth and light, and to such 
 we are ready to extend the right hand of fellowship, for we too are seeking 
 further light and truth which we believe are best revealed in the person of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 However, we are not ready to regard this movement as a friend of the 
 Christian religion in a sweeping way. Toward those who have for their 
 purpose the destruction of Christianity and the nullification of its work we 
 shall forever stand in direct and uncompromising opposition. To meet 
 prejudice with patience and forbearance? Yes. To meet misunderstanding 
 with explanation and correction? Yes. To meet truth with ready sympathy 
 and acceptance? Yes. But to identify the Christian movement with men 
 who are unsympathetic and hostile to it? Never! 
 
 Is Religious Liberty Being Violated? 
 
 Since the agreements reached between the Chinese government and West- 
 ern nations, by which the former should protect those who propagate or 
 follow the Christian religion in China, Chinese Christians have enjoyed reli- 
 gious toleration by virtue of such treaties. Not until the formation of the 
 new republic, in 1911, was religious freedom granted in both the national 
 and provincial constitutions. Technically speaking, Chinese Christians are 
 now doubly protected by both Chinese constitutions and foreign treaties. In 
 the national and provincial constitutions and those of the Kuomintang Party, 
 religious liberty is clearly stated and recognized. 
 
 We think the granting of such religious freedom in the constitution is 
 needed anjl important, not only because Christian people require such pro- 
 tection, but also because it is the duty of the government to look after the 
 rights of the people and safeguard their interests. This is specially needed, 
 because there is a growing feeling among Chinese Christians that they should 
 not be protected by the Toleration Clauses in the so-called “Unequal Treaties,” 
 as these treaties were made under unhappy circumstances. 
 
56 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 At present, Christianity is meeting with a great deal of opposition by 
 the various forces that have no use for religion in general, or Christianity 
 in particular. Much of this criticism and argument, these charges and accusa- 
 tions, can hardly be regarded as a violation of religious liberty. If Chris- 
 tians have the freedom to believe, others have also the freedom to disbelieve; 
 if we are at liberty to embrace Christianity, others also are at liberty to 
 adopt other religious faiths. But religious toleration is in danger of being 
 violated when one religion is more favorably placed than other religions, as 
 in the attempt made some years ago to establish Confucianism as the State 
 Religion, or when specific religious practices and exercises are interfered 
 with or forbidden, as is happening in many cases at the present time in 
 provinces south of the Yangtze River. For religious liberty means at least 
 two things — freedom and equality — freedom for people to adopt or propagate 
 their own religion, so long as there is nothing in it contrary to the interests 
 of the community, and equal treatment of all religious bodies by the govern- 
 ment. If, as we Chinese Christians hope and believe, the true principles of 
 the Republic prevail, we do not question the ultimate establishment of these 
 rights. Nevertheless, we realize that the power of the authorities to carry 
 out this provision is not now sufficient and, in the meantime, there is perse- 
 cution and danger to the Christian Church. 
 
 As the country is still in the midst of a severe political struggle and mili- 
 tary conflict, and as religious liberty is fully recognized in the constitutions 
 of the national and provincial governments, we may reasonably expect that 
 in a more settled condition this matter will be adequately dealt with and fully 
 enforced. For the time being we have to suffer some inconveniences and dis- 
 comforts which are by no means confined to Christian people. But we believe 
 it is the duty of the Christian Church to make a study of the situation in this 
 connection and to make an effort to see that this rightful liberty is safe- 
 guarded, not for themselves alone but in relation to all religions. 
 
 With regard to the freedom of missionaries in China to propagate the 
 Christian faith in the future, we hope they will seek to dissociate themselves 
 from the worn out treaties, and to support the making of new ones based on 
 the principles of reciprocity, equality, and good will to the satisfaction and 
 benefit of both parties. In truth, there is little in the so-called Toleration 
 Clauses that can be regarded as objectionable: what makes them the target 
 of criticism is their association with out-of-date treaties. They are a good 
 thing in a bad place. 
 
 Is THE Registration of Christian Schools Right and Beneficial? 
 
 As citizens of China we think we should comply with the requirement 
 of the government with regard to the registration of our schools. We would 
 even go further and say that not only our schools should be registered in the 
 government but also our churches and other Christian institutions as well. 
 And this for two reasons: first, Chinese Christians must be loyal to their gov- 
 ernment and submit to its ruling; secondly, the Christian movement must 
 be recognized by the government as a lawful and legitimate organization 
 and entitled to its protection. The Chinese Christian Church of Peking, 
 with which your present speaker was connected, was duly registered in the 
 Ministry of the Interior as far back as 1912, the second year of the republic. 
 A very kind reply was received from the ministry advising us “to follow the 
 footsteps of the first two Chinese Christians, Tsai and Liang by name, bap- 
 tized by Doctor Morrison over a century ago, to lead the Chinese people to 
 come to the Saviour.” Very good advice, given by the president of the Min- 
 istry of the Interior! 
 
 However, our present problems are more with the restrictions that have 
 been attached to the registration than with the registration itself. Both the 
 southern and the northern governments have attached many strings to the 
 registration of Christian schools and such registration is required. With 
 most of the restrictions we have little or no quarrel. In regard to the matter 
 of religious instruction in our schools we have not yet reached a general 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 57 
 
 agreement. Some feel that if religious instruction is not permitted in our 
 schools, the real purpose of Christian education is practically lost; others feel, 
 however, that educational work should be done for the sake of education 
 and not to proselytize. It is more hy Christian influence, they hold, than by 
 religious exercises, that students are to be attracted to Christ. Such limita- 
 tions, therefore, in no serious way curtail the usefulness of the educational 
 work of the Christian Church. We readily agree that both views are well 
 taken. Setting before the students a Christ-like life is, of course, a much 
 harder task to perform than giving religious instruction and performing 
 religious exercises. 
 
 In our judgment, if Christian schools are permitted to give religious 
 teaching freely and to conduct religious worship — well and good. Few 
 Christian educators would suggest the removal of them. But, since volun- 
 tary religious- teaching and worship alone are permitted by the government 
 under whose direction our work is to be carried on, there are the two courses 
 open to us — to close our schools or to work under this limitation and make 
 the best of it. We think the latter is the wiser course. This will put our 
 work to a more severe test, hut if it come out well, it will have an even 
 greater and more lasting result. Under such circumstances, the securing of 
 a teaching staff which truly represents the spirit of Christ becomes a great 
 and yet more urgent necessity. If such suggestions are acceptable to insti- 
 tutions under the Chinese Church, they can also be applied in a general way 
 to the schools of the Missions. 
 
 Is THE Enforcement of Party Education in Christian Schools Acceptable? 
 
 The Kuomintang is leaving no stone unturned in converting people to 
 an allegiance to the “Three Principles” stated by its leader. Doctor Sun. 
 From the point of view of the nationalists, we can readily see the desirability 
 of spreading this message to the whole nation, and the advantage for the 
 future success of the nationalist movement in enforcing in all schools what 
 is termed party education. This is particularly needed at the pTesent 
 juncture when these party ideals are not yet fully understood and accepted by 
 the entire people. We must say that the amount of devotion and enthusiasm 
 shown by the party command both our admiration and sympathy. 
 
 We are, however, less sure whether the enforcement of party education 
 in all schools is to remain as a permanent part of education. We are not so 
 sure that the field of education should be exploited by a political party; we 
 are not so sure that school children or young students are fitted to play the 
 game of party politics; we are not so sure that one political party can perma- 
 nently hold the entire field. We are not so sure that the teaching of these 
 principles in the hands of non-Christians may not be made, in places, the 
 ground for an attack upon the Church or the occasion for inculcating ideas 
 which are contrary to Christ’s. Should any rivals enter the field, complica- 
 tions in the educational world will be serious and difficult to solve. 
 
 How Do Chinese Christians Interpret the Recent Evacuation of 
 Missionaries From Their Posts? 
 
 The recent unexpected evacuation of missionaries from the interior has 
 a few parallel cases in other countries, though the circumstances under which 
 the evacuation took place are different. At times, evacuation was made un- 
 avoidable because of severe religious persecution; or because of definite 
 orders from the government under which the missionaries work. The pres- 
 ent evacuation is made by order of these governments, based upon a certain 
 interpretation of the situation. This assumes that conditions may arise to 
 justify such a course and after the Nanking incident much weight is given 
 to this view. 
 
 The evacuation is capable of different interpretations in the minds of 
 the average Chinese Christians. With their inadequate understanding of the 
 significance of the sudden turn of affairs and of the necessity of this un- 
 expected exodus, many are staggered and perplexed to know what to think 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 SB 
 
 or say. Not a few are influenced, less by this uniform evacuation by order 
 of government than by stories of missionaries remaining in the work even 
 to the point of sacrifice. Moreover, this evacuation of missionaries has re- 
 sulted in Chinese Christians at short notice taking on much responsibility, 
 in some cases, unfamiliar responsibilities. We shall hear later reports of 
 both successes and failures, of encouraging and disappointing results. Again, 
 we shall soon face the problem of the return of missionaries to their former 
 place of trust. It is not too soon for Mission administrators and authorities 
 to begin to consider this problem. 
 
 We are very sorry that our missionary friends have been placed in such 
 a situation; we understand that many have not accepted this sudden change 
 with any satisfaction and, indeed, it has greatly disturbed their plans and 
 programs. It humbles us to think that China is considered a land not safe 
 for our foreign friends to live in, and that prompt departure from the 
 country should seem to be a necessity. 
 
 Now, how are we to interpret this spectacle? Do we see any purpose in 
 this turn of events? A lady missionary believes that there is a twofold 
 purpose of God in this unexpected change: first, to deliver the Chinese Chris- 
 tians from depending too much upon the help of their missionary friends and 
 to develop native talent and initiative; secondly, to save the missionary 
 worker from putting too much trust in his organizing, administrative and 
 directing ability and to have more confidence in his Chinese fellow workers. 
 If recent events will fulfill this twofold purpose, we have ample reason to 
 give thanks to the Almighty for this great blessing in disguise. 
 
 How Is THE Nanking Incident Regarded by Chinese Christians? 
 
 All right thinking Chinese regret most deeply the unhappy affair which 
 happened in Nanking and nearby cities, where missionaries, together with 
 some Chinese Christians and other foreigners, were so badly treated by the 
 revolutionary troops and local bad characters. We are ashamed that such a 
 thing has happened to our missionary friends who were so full of sympathy 
 with the aspirations of the Chinese people. This incident was a blow not only 
 to our foreign friends, but also to the Chinese people, excepting, of course, 
 those, probably from up river, who staged this sinister movement largely for 
 political purposes. 
 
 We wish to express our deep sense of admiration for the Christ-like 
 spirit manifested by the friends of Nanking. We wish further to say that 
 we are quite at one with them in making a truthful statement about what 
 they had experienced in that dark day, even though such statement might be 
 to China’s hurt. We say this because it is our conviction that, if China is to 
 rise and advance at all, her national aspirations must have truth as their 
 foundation; otherwise no amount of revolution can effect real transformation. 
 
 We wish also to be permitted to state that, during the present political 
 struggle and military operations, it is an open secret that the men who are 
 seeking to shape the destiny of the nation have their hands more than full 
 in keeping good discipline in the fighting forces; in directing the activities 
 of the People’s Party; in adjustments between the old order and the new; 
 above all, in experimenting and testing the new government. These and 
 many other things constitute a task by no means easy, especially when the 
 opposing forces are still uncurbed. This is not to justify the ugly things done 
 in Nanking, not in the least. It rather shows what an extra amount of the 
 Christian virtue of patience is required in considering the affairs of to-day if 
 we are really interested in, and have sympathy with, the national aspirations 
 of the Chinese people. 
 
 Has the Missionary Enterprise Succeeded or Is It Likely to Succeed? 
 
 We make no apology when we say that neither is organized Christianity 
 perfect nor are all missionaries saints. It does not take much trouble to 
 prove this to be true. There is still much in the Christian Church that is un- 
 suitable, uncongenial, unacceptable and out-of-date. There are still many men 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 59 
 
 and women who do not reveal the attractiveness and beauty of Jesus Christ 
 and who are more a hindrance than a help to the Christian cause. Indeed 
 there is much room for improvement in both the work and the workers. 
 
 But, at the same time, we cannot be blind to the manifold blessings that 
 have come to us through the lives and work of the missionaries in China. In 
 the lives of not a few we do see the reproduction of the Master. Many 
 Chinese Christians will forever bless God for the lives of such missionary 
 men and women. 
 
 Some of the outstanding missionary achievements are monumental wit- 
 nesses in China which cannot possibly be gainsaid or denied: the introduc- 
 tion to the Chinese people of the world’s Saviour and Friend; the enlighten- 
 ment of the ignorant; the uplift of the oppressed; the healing of the sick; 
 the education pf the young; the improvement of social conditions; the culti- 
 vation of cultural intercourse; in a hundred and one ways China has been 
 served and helped by the missionary body which is the best friend of the 
 Chinese people. It is true that the missionary has not yet reached his ideal, 
 for the ideal is high; but the measure of success attained is sufficient to 
 indicate a future of great usefulness. 
 
 Allow me to go one step further: the success of the Christian religion 
 will be doubled or tripled when certain delects and shortcomings are re- 
 moved. Indeed there is no reason to think that the bottom of Christianity 
 is dropping out or that its days in China are numbered. Let us trace the rain- 
 bow through the rain; let us ride forth in faith till we enter upon a yet 
 greater day! 
 
 What Change, If Any, Is Necessaky in the Work of Missions in China? 
 
 That China needs Jesus Christ and his message of love we are convinced. 
 But the presentation of that message needs to be reconsidered from time to 
 time in order to meet the requirements of the day. With the very rapid 
 change of events in China, it is essential that such an evaluation should be 
 made. If the Christian Church is to perform its task with freedom, certain 
 obstacles must be removed. These obstacles are blocking the way to progress. 
 There are certain problems now engaging the attention of Christian leaders, 
 both Chinese and missionary, namely, such questions as church independence, 
 church union, devolution of foreign missions, developing the indigenous 
 church, co-operative activities, etc. Why independence? Because there is the 
 obstacle of dependence. MTiy union? Because there is division. Why devo- 
 lution? Because there is the need for it. Why an indigenous church? Be- 
 cause the church is still a foreign institution. When we have solved these 
 problems, the Christian Church will have a better chance to go forward and 
 accomplish its task of introducing men to God and God to men through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 In order to remove these obstacles and enable the Christian Church to 
 move more rapidly forward in performing its task, we would venture to sug- 
 gest that foreign missions should. In future, consider the work more in 
 terms of a Christian fellowship, sharing with the Chinese Church its suc- 
 cesses and failures, joys and sorrows, ups and downs. Let us, in this great 
 fellowship, work together for the solution of these urgent and vital problems 
 that are confronting us, the removal of the foreign stigma upon the religion 
 of Christ; the development of a Christian Church that is really of the people, 
 for the people and by the people; the linking together of the various divisions 
 in the Christian Church; the cultivation of the spiritual experiences of the 
 Chinese Christians; the enlargement of the religious outlook of Christian 
 people so that it penetrates all departments of life, personal, social, national 
 and racial. 
 
 Let the relationship between Church and Mission never be based on 
 dollars and cents; employer and employed; giving and receiving. Let it be 
 a great Christian fellowship, sharing each other’s experiences, problems, 
 sufferings, hopes. We believe such a change of attitude will, in some measure 
 at least, help forward the progress of the Christian movement in China. 
 
6o 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 Should Christlanity Have Any Voice in Matters Political? 
 
 Probably there is general agreement among Christian people, that the 
 individual Christian cannot and should not be indifferent to the political 
 development of his country. As a citizen of a nation, he has a duty to per- 
 form in helping forward the work of the nation and to see that the govern- 
 ment is performing its task faithfully and honestly. Such a duty is in no 
 sense contrary to his being a follower of Jesus Christ. But as to the Chris- 
 tian Church, it is undesirable that it should identify itself with party politics, 
 for the simple reason that the work of the Church is for. everybody and must 
 not be limited to any particular political organization or party. History has 
 abundant proof that when the Church allied itself with the government, the 
 result was none too happy. In fact a great deal of harm was done to both 
 government and Church. We believe there is a general agreement on these 
 two points, namely, that individual Christians may interest themselves in 
 politics but, tnat the Christian Church must refrain from doing so. 
 
 In our midst there are people who feel that under no circumstances 
 should a Christian Church or organization express itself in regard to political 
 affairs. Others, however, feel that, under certain conditions, Christian bodies 
 should express themselves in regard to political matters, especially when a 
 moral issue is involved and when the Christian Church is affected by the 
 problem. Ordinarily, the Church takes no part in party politics, but when a 
 moral issue and the work of the Christian Church are involved in such 
 matters, her voice should be raised. No Christian is willing to admit that, 
 while the principles of Christianity can be applied to the personal, family 
 and social life, yet the political sphere is forbidden ground upon which 
 Christianity cannot trespass. That would be saying that the principles of 
 Jesus cannot be applied in this field. Many of the Old Testament prophets 
 were men who voiced the will of God regarding the national destiny of the 
 Hebrew people. They were essentially great figures in national affairs. In 
 the present struggle for China’s national existence, we do need such strong 
 men, like the prophets of old, to put China’s house in order, and we have no 
 reason to think that Christian men cannot be such prophets. May not the 
 Church, too, on occasion, lift up her prophetic voice and speak clearly on 
 great public questions? To sum up, the Christian Church is neither a run- 
 ning dog of the political machine nor an institution that lives in water-tight 
 compartments. It is not easy to draw the line. Discrimination and care 
 must be exercised in dealing with such matters. 
 
 Has Organized Christianity Been Unduly Criticized by Chinese 
 
 Christians? 
 
 The so-called Renaissance movement of a few years ago has distinctly 
 left its legacy to the young people of China, namely, the spirit of criticism. 
 They put a question mark to almost everything in life, traditional, customary, 
 ethical, moral, social, political, religious and what not. They take nothing 
 for granted; every thing must be scrutinized and studied. This critical spirit 
 has also found its way to the Christian Church. So not a few young and 
 thoughtful Christians in China have been studying the practices, traditions, 
 teachings, rituals, methods of the Christian Church with this critical spirit 
 of the time. 
 
 This spirit of criticism has annoyed some and staggered others. People 
 feel uncertain as to the direction in which they are going. They also feel 
 that Christianity is being pulled to pieces not only by the hostile world out- 
 side, but also by some people within. This fear is not altogether imaginary, 
 because we do find that various motives have lain behind this spirit of criti- 
 cism. Indeed there are some who rather delight in finding out the failings of 
 the Christian movement. They are happier to dwell upon the shortcomings 
 of the Church than upon its achievements. These failings do not seem 
 to hurt their sense of loyalty to Jesus Christ. They rather like to think of 
 the Christian movement in terms of its darker side. With such people. 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 6i 
 
 indeed, we have no sympathy. We are sorry that criticism has been used 
 as a kind of weapon to deliver blows upon the Christian Church in which 
 they claim fellowship. 
 
 Apart from this undesirable attitude shown by some, we rather think 
 the exercise of this critical faculty in regard to matters religious has been 
 more beneficial than harmful. Notwithstanding the many half-baked ideas 
 that have been expressed, the immature judgments that have been stated, 
 the blunders and mistakes that have been made, we are of opinion that this 
 critical study of organized Christianity has helped many to a better under- 
 standing and greater appreciation of the work of the Christian Church. In 
 not a few cases the Church has been helped by these criticisms. This spirit 
 of criticism is, we believe, far better than the former attitude of indifference 
 to the work of the Chprch, or the habit of swallowing everything that is 
 given by other^ without proper mastication. 
 
 Is Religious Controversy Undesirable and Harmful? 
 
 Many people dislike the word “controversy,” thinking it is something 
 disagreeable, unfriendly and antagonistic. But we think otherwise. In prac- 
 tically nothing do we think alike. How can we expect that we should in 
 matters of religion. It is an impossibility. Progress can only be achieved 
 when we differ, and our differences open the way to greater light and deeper 
 truth. Even in our own thinking there is frequent change. We are often 
 inconsistent. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Often it shows that our 
 mind is growing. We think controversy rather a helpful element than a 
 hindering one. Religious controversy often means a real blessing to both 
 parties, so that men are enabled to see not only one side but both sides of 
 the shield. 
 
 But, if such a religious controversy is to be made really beneficial and 
 helpful, there is one condition that must be strictly observed, otherwise it 
 does more harm than good. The one condition that is absolutely essential is 
 what we call “Christian sportsmanship,” which is another way of saying the 
 love-spirit of Jesus Christ. If we cannot keep up that love-spirit, we are tread- 
 ing on dangerous ground when we enter upon such controversy. We do not 
 pray for the removal of religious disagreement, for we do. not think it helps 
 matters if we all think alike. But we do earnestly pray that the spirit which 
 was in Christ Jesus may bring us to the state in which we can safely engage 
 in such religious controversy. We are not qualified to enter upon this field 
 of Christian activities, if we do not possess the virtue of Christian sports- 
 manship. By this love-spirit or the absence of it, we will be judged. 
 
 Who Are Olti Worst Enemies? 
 
 That we have many enemies is a fact that calls for no argument. We 
 think the anti-Christian movement that seeks for the destruction of Chris- 
 tianity is an enemy. The communistic teachings that have nothing to do 
 with religion and are hostile particularly to Christianity are an enemy. The 
 materialistic and atheistic views of life, which believe that there is no need 
 of a God in this scientific age and would have nothing to do with the spread- 
 ing of religion, may also be regarded as our enemies. The personal, social, 
 national and racial sins of various kinds that are working directly in oppo- 
 sition to the work of the Christian religion are certainly the enemies of 
 Christianity. All these can be found in China to-day. So the Christian 
 Church is face to face with many strong opposing forces. It is like a spir- 
 itual tug of war and the decisive hour has not yet come. 
 
 But these are forces from without and are comparatively easy to deal 
 with. We have enemies worse than all of these. At present there is a good 
 deal of trouble in China. Many Christian people have suffered much, but we 
 are unhappy to say, in quite a few cases the troubles they have met were 
 caused, not so much by the outside forces, but by the dissatisfied and dis- 
 contented people within the Christian Church. I need hardly illustrate this 
 point. It is familiar to us all. Suffice it to say that the enemies within are 
 
62 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 worse than those without. Furthermore, we have our worst enemies often 
 within ourselves — the spirit of narrow nationalism, of social distinctions, of 
 unfairness, of inconsideration, of impatience, of despair, of unpreparedness, 
 of uncharitableness, that have revealed themselves in word and deed, are 
 surely the worst enemies we have to face. We can never hope to overcome the 
 evil forces without, if we cannot clear ourselves of these forces of darkness 
 within us. 
 
 Are There Sufficient Indications of a Bright Future foe the Christian 
 
 Movement in China? 
 
 Yes, there are. Let us briefly mention a few of them. We must recog- 
 nize, in the first place, that, while there has been such a political upheaval 
 during the past few years, the essential character of the Chinese people 
 remains practically the same. We see the great waves and billows that are 
 surging on the surface of the sea, but there is still that essential calm under- 
 neath. It is reasonable to hope that, when the passing cloud has blown over, 
 the bright sky will again appear on the horizon. 
 
 Again, in this national movement of the Chinese people, with all the 
 undesirable things that have alarmed us, we see the signs of life and that 
 life will surely grow. The sick man is beginning to recover from his illness. 
 The sleeping lion is beginning to awake. These signs of life are seen, not so 
 much in the political changes, but in the growing national consciousness of 
 the people which clearly indicates a great future for the work of the Chris- 
 tian enterprise. 
 
 Surely the seed of the Christian Church planted in China years ago is 
 breaking through the earth and sending up its sprouts. To be sure, there 
 are still many signs of youth, but we are sure that since there is life there 
 must be growth. For the nurturing of such a young Church, for the assist- 
 ing of such a forward movement, for the establishing of such a Christian 
 fellowship between the East and the West, in a hundred ways the Christian 
 missionary can be of invaluable service. We might go on mentioning other 
 indications, but we can feel sufficiently sure that we may look upon the future 
 work of the Christian movement with assurance and encouragement. 
 
 Exhibit J. 
 
 SUGGESTED AGENDA 
 For Discussion, Peking, May 17-18, 1927. 
 
 I. Property 
 
 1 . Shall property in China continue to be vested in the Board at New 
 York, or shall we begin to turn it over to the Church in China? 
 
 (a) The question of deeds and titles, and the stamping of deeds. 
 
 2. What about the protection of property? 
 
 3. What is to be done about obligations on property? 
 
 4. What is meant by property transfer? To what forms of property does 
 this apply? What is to be the disposition of properties held in China by the 
 Board and the Society for revenue purposes? 
 
 II. Missionary Personnel 
 
 1. What provision shall be made for missionaries who are on forced 
 leave of absence from their stations? How shall they be occupied until their 
 return ? 
 
 2. What provisions shall be made for the return of missionaries who 
 may be specially needed, and under what conditions will they return? 
 
 3. What voice shall be given to the Chinese in the determining or in- 
 fluencing of the recall of missionaries to the field, who have gone to America 
 on furlough or for other causes? 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 63 
 
 4. What is the place of the missionary in the future program of the 
 Christian movement in China? 
 
 5. Has the time come for a radical reduction in the missionary staff? 
 What are the factors? 
 
 6. Is the salary support of missionaries in China adequate? 
 
 7. What are the factors to be taken into account in the selection and 
 training of new missionaries? 
 
 8. Shall the missionary budget be subject to redistribution on the field 
 by either missionary or joint groups, or shall the Board be entirely respon- 
 sible for the determination of that budget? 
 
 9. Shall the locgl Chinese group be given a voice in the determining of 
 the appointments of missionaries on the field? If so, how? 
 
 III. Missionary Policy 
 
 1. What forms of missionary work at the present time should be em- 
 phasized? 
 
 2. What is the method by which our major missionary policies in China 
 are to be studied and evaluated in the future? The time for such an evalua- 
 tion, if it is found necessary? 
 
 3. What shall be the policy on the field with regard to cooperation be- 
 tween the Society and the Board? 
 
 4. What place do funds from America have, in the future, in the develop- 
 ment of church and institutional life in China? What is to be the form of 
 administration of finances from abroad? 
 
 5. To what extent, and how rapidly, shall there be a change in our ad- 
 ministrative policy? 
 
 6. If it is desirable to transfer the administration of the Church in China 
 to Chinese, what course shall be followed to bring that about? 
 
 7. In view of the present situation, ought we to consider complete with- 
 drawal from certain fields of work in China? On what basis? 
 
 8. What is to be our future policy with regard to concentration of effort 
 as over against expansion? 
 
 9. What is to be the place of religious education in our future program? 
 
 a — Through the churches, 
 h — Through Christian schools, 
 c — Through government schools. 
 
 IV. The Church In China 
 
 1. Are we to pursue the policy of establishing the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church in China as a part of our international organization, or are we to 
 work for the development of an independent Church in China? 
 
 2. Has the time come for the election of Chinese to the episcopal office? 
 What is the course to be followed? 
 
 3. Under our present organization, how far are the Chinese able to ex- 
 press themselves in the development of their own forms of religious expres- 
 sion and church organization? 
 
 4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Church in China, as 
 we view them? 
 
 5. How can the development of responsible group action in the Church 
 be secured? 
 
 6. Shall the present relationship between the Board and the Church in 
 China be continued, or shall some such change be made as has come about, 
 for example, in Japan? 
 
 7. What needs to be done for the securing and training of an adequate 
 ministry for the Church? 
 
 V. Education 
 
 1. What is to be our policy with reference to the registration of Christian 
 schools? 
 
 2. Are educationists in China free to experiment? Is there need for 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 64 
 
 experimental work in education? If so, in what directions? Has our edu- 
 cation become standardized? 
 
 3. Is the religious life and atmosphere of our schools satisfactory? 
 What is suggested? 
 
 4. What is to be the financial basis for our schools in the future? 
 
 5. What lines of educational work should we undertake? 
 
 a — Normal education? 
 b — ^Schools for nurses? 
 
 VI. Geotiral 
 
 1. What are the present tendencies in Chinese national life which are 
 actually affecting the Christian movement? 
 
 2. What is to be the future of our medical work? 
 
 3. Shall we proceed with the present plans for holding a Central Con- 
 ference for Eastern Asia at Seoul, Korea, in November, 1927? If not, what 
 other plans shall be made? Shall China return to the organization of a 
 Central Conference for China only? 
 
 4. What steps shall be taken to secure the adequate representation of 
 educational and hospital work on the field finance committees? 
 
 Exhibit K. 
 
 WHAT IS INVOLVED IN JOINING THE KUOMINTANG PARTY? 
 
 (Information furnished by a group of senior students from Fukien Christian 
 University at dinner in the home of President Gowdy.) 
 
 I. A list of questions must he answered to determine what your belief 
 is with reference to the party. These questions are as follows: 
 
 1. What is your attitude toward Kuomintang? 
 
 2. What do you understand about the principles of Kuomintang? 
 
 3. What do you know about the present situation in China? 
 
 4. What do you know about the present world situation? 
 
 5. What work will you do for Kuomintang? 
 
 II. A list of personal questions must also be answered, as follows: 
 
 1. What is the economic condition of your family, i. e., are you able to 
 devote your time to the service of the party? 
 
 2. Are there others dependent upon you for support? 
 
 3. What is your previous education? 
 
 4. What is your income? 
 
 5. How much do you spend? 
 
 This list of questions must be answered and sent in to the Central Com- 
 mittee. The application must be seconded by two members of the party. 
 The applications must be written in duplicate. One is sent in with a photo- 
 graph of the applicant, and the other is kept by the applicant. If the appli- 
 cant is accepted, he is furnished with a certificate of membership in the 
 party. 
 
 III. Duties of members. 
 
 1. The payment of monthly dues is required, on a graduated scale. Stu- 
 dents pay two dimes (Mex.) a month. If a member fails to pay his dues 
 for three months, his membership is revoked. 
 
 2. A member must be present at every meeting, unless he presents his 
 excuse to the committee beforehand. If he is absent without letting the 
 committee know, three times in succession, his membership is forfeited. 
 The meetings are held locally. 
 
 3. Five members constitute a minimum for the organization of a local 
 group. Five local groups constitute a district organization. 
 
 . ^ representative committee, an executive committee, and a 
 
 Judicial committee in each group. 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 65 
 
 Exhibit L. 
 
 LETTER FROM ERNEST B. PRICE 
 
 American Consular Service 
 
 Foochow, China, April 28, 1927. 
 
 Dr. Ralph E. Diffendorfer, 
 
 Secretary, Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 Foochow, China. 
 
 My Dear Dr. Diffendorfer: 
 
 With the thought that it might be useful to you to have in writing some 
 of the observations I made in our verbal conversation of yesterday, I should 
 like to summarize briefly certain of the ideas then expressed. Naturally, the 
 present letter will touch only on matters affecting the Consulate officially. 
 
 The Evacuation of American Citizens 
 
 It is understood, of course, at the outset, that the points of view of an 
 American Consul who advises Americans to leave his district and of the 
 persons who accept the advice may not coincide. In short, the reasons why 
 the Consul gives the advice may be quite different from the reasons why 
 an individual American accepts it. I should like to give, briefly, first my 
 own point of view, and second that of at least some of those who accepted 
 my advice to leave. 
 
 One of the principal duties of an American Consul anywhere is the 
 protection of Americans and their interests within his district. On the 
 other hand, even in China, where the American Government enjoys the priv- 
 ilege of judicial jurisdiction over its nationals, the American Government 
 looks primarily to the Chinese Government for the protection of Americans 
 and their interests in China, tience, so long as the Chinese Government, or 
 a de facto local Government, displays the willingness and the ability to 
 protect Americans and their interests, the American Government relies upon 
 it to do so. Whenever the Chinese Government shows itself either unwilling 
 or unable to extend protection, then the American Government must choose 
 either to interpose its own protection or to advise Americans to leave. It 
 has been sufficiently obvious, I think, that the American Government has 
 chosen the latter course in China during the events of the past few months. 
 Whether or not an individual citizen agrees with such a course is beside 
 the point, so far as an American consular officer is concerned. A Consul does 
 not make national policies; he follows them. 
 
 The events of January 14th to 17th of this year, with which you are 
 familiar, convinced me as American Consul that the persons who, at the 
 time, held the actual power in this region were not only unwilling to protect 
 American life and property but were definitely committed to a policy of 
 driving out at least a certain group of Americans and of seizing their 
 properties. It was my duty to apprehend whether such a policy would en- 
 danger American lives, for only danger to life itself could justify me — in 
 the absence of an announced policy of the American Government to withdraw 
 all Americans from Nationalist-controlled territories — in advising Americans 
 to leave this district. I would state here, frankly, that considerations of 
 policy, for example whether the evacuation of a considerable group of 
 Americans would help bring about a change in control or policy on the 
 part of the local de facto authorities, held no place in forming my decision, 
 which was based solely on the conviction that actual danger to American 
 life existed. In my conversations with Americans gathered in conference 
 at the Consulate I sought to make this point clear. It is as well to record 
 here my conviction, however, that the evacuation of Americans did con- 
 siderably help bring about a change in control and in policy of the local 
 de facto authorities. It might be well further to record, at this point, that 
 I am credibly informed that the man who unquestionably engineered the 
 
66 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 Foochow affair of January 16th also engineered the Nanking affair of 
 March 24th, which, as you know, was considerably worse. I am convinced 
 that this man and his agents sought to bring about, in Foochow, precisely 
 what they succeeded in bringing about in Nanking, and that their purpose 
 was largely thwarted here by reason of the wholesale evacuation of Ameri- 
 cans. 
 
 With the departure from this region of the worst elements employed 
 by these men, it was then my duty to ascertain whether danger to American 
 life still existed. As you know, in the latter part of March I informed 
 Americans that I would sanction their return, believing that danger to life, 
 locally, within certain specified areas, had passed, but my sanction was dis- 
 approved by the Legation. The subsequent occurrence of the Nanking 
 and other incidents caused the Legatioir to issue me instructions to con- 
 centrate Americans still left in the district at a point suitable for evacua- 
 tion by American naval vessels. In response to inquiries, those instructions 
 have been repeated. 
 
 As the situation now stands, therefore, I must consider that my 
 superior officers regard the conditions on the Yangtze as offering the pos- 
 sibility of trouble of such magnitude as to make the complete evacuation 
 of Americans from all Nationalist-controlled territories advisable. In con- 
 sonance with these instructions, therefore, I have asked Americans in this 
 district so to reduce their numbers as to make prompt evacuation on an 
 American destroyer possible, and to concentrate on the Island of Nantai. 
 In justice to those whose duties required them to remain until the last, I 
 also urged all non-essential persons to leave. 
 
 Such has been my official point of view. Regarding the point of view 
 of those who accepted my advice, you doubtless know better than I, but I 
 believe the majority belief was that it was the duty of Americans to take 
 such action as would eliminate the necessity of intervention in the affairs 
 of China by the American Government. Apropos of such an attitude, there 
 is room for speculation as to different action our Government might have 
 found itself able to take, following the Nanking affair, had not an American 
 citizen — one who had been advised to leave but did not — been killed. 
 
 While the present position of this Consulate, on the question of further 
 evacuation or the return of those who have left, is one where it must 
 await further instructions, which will presumably be based on developments 
 elsewhere in China, I should like, before leaving this question, to give you 
 a brief glimpse into the present actual situation locally, even under the 
 so-called “Moderate regime.” I can do no better than send you, as en- 
 closures to this letter, copies of an exchange of notes between this office 
 and the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs. The facts, as shown in that 
 correspondence and which will subsist, are that the authorities have not 
 made and decline to make any restitution for past outrages; they have not 
 only not returned but have continued to seize Arnerican private property; 
 they have declined to give any guarantees of religious liberty or of protec- 
 tion for American missionary schools; they have declined to recognize exist- 
 ing treaty agreements between China and the United States. Thus, should 
 Americans decide to return, under existing conditions, they must expect to 
 be liable to forcible seizure of their properties; to a denial of the privilege 
 of teaching the Christian religion; and to carry on without any charter 
 or privilege other than the caprice of a constantly changing governmental 
 personnel. Your Society must itself decide whether funds contributed for 
 the propagation of the Christian religion can attain their object under such 
 conditions. That is a matter outside my official province. I can only tell 
 you what conditions actually are, in addition to telling you what my present 
 instructions are. 
 
 The Protection of American Interests 
 
 As previously stated, the American Government looks to the Chinese 
 Government — and this includes any local de facto Government — for the 
 primary protection of its citizens in China, and of their interests. I believe 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 67 
 
 I have made it siifHciently clear that, at least at present, the American Gov- 
 ernment is not disposed to attempt to protect its citizens in this district by 
 force, and that it is at least extremely doubtful whether the de facto Govern- 
 ment in this region is either willing or able to protect Americans and their 
 interests. Not only is there not yet stability in the struggle between 
 opposing forces within the Nationalist Government, but also there is un- 
 questionably current throughout all parties a belief that certain forms of 
 foreign enterprise in China conflict with fundamental tenets of the National- 
 ist faith. One of these forms is private educational enterprise. Whether 
 or not your Society decides to place its properties and funds under the 
 control of Chinese organizations is a purely private matter and outside my 
 jurisdiction, but I wish to state as clearly as possible what I consider would 
 be the actual legal status of such enterprises as are put under the control 
 of persons or organizations not American. Presumably, the transfer of 
 control would involve either the gift or the temporary and restricted use of 
 certain real properties, such as school buildings. In either case, your 
 Society would lose the right to American consular interposition on behalf 
 of the organization, as such, and, even in the case of properties rented or 
 loaned, it would be extremely difficult for the Consulate, once such arrange- 
 ment were made, to interpose to protect your owner’s interest. I believe 
 that, so long as the property were not in actual danger of destruction or 
 injury, you would have no right to request the interposition of the Consulate 
 except for the ejection of the lessees for non-fulfillment of contract. For 
 example, should the organization as such — as, let us say, Anglo-Chinese 
 College under Chinese management and control — offend the law, it would 
 be the Chinese Government that would hear the case, and Chinese law 
 applied. A case of that sort has already occurred, in which the British 
 Consul complained to the local authorities — on my denial of jurisdiction— 
 against the behavior of certain of the students. In prosecuting such a case, 
 the local authorities would have the right, I think, without consulting me, 
 to enter any of the Anglo-Chinese properties, and take any action short of 
 damaging or destroying the property in seeking out the offenders and punish- 
 ing them. While such action was not taken, it is clear that conditions 
 might well arise where one political faction might utilize such a complaint 
 to work off a grudge against another faction, or where a group determined 
 on closing out the school would utilize the opportunity for doing so. 
 
 In short, the situation would be simply that, whereas institutions which 
 formerly were American could and did invoke consular aid in many of 
 their problems, they could not do so after control has passed to Chinese. 
 You could only invoke consular aid, as the owner of the property for the 
 ejection of the lessees for breach of contract. It must be obvious that such 
 ejection, even granting the sympathetic cooperation of the local authorities, 
 would be extremely difficult to effect. 
 
 Relations With de facto Authorities 
 
 I should like to add a word, in closing, on this subject. The treaties 
 between China and the United States are valid and part of the law of each 
 country. It is not within the legal competence of any American citizen to 
 break those treaties. One of the provisions of the treaties — which, I might 
 add, is part of usual international practice^ — is that an American citizen 
 can communicate with the local authorities only through his Consul. Such 
 a provision has its obvious virtue in limiting the relationship of States to 
 certain accredited representatives, and also in obviating the creation of 
 conflicting policies in such relationship. There is a reasonable limit, of 
 course, within which this provision applies, but common sense should indi- 
 cate what questions it would be advisable to refer or leave in the hands of 
 accredited representatives. I shall raise only one. If and when your 
 Society decides to transfer any of its agencies from the status of an Ameri- 
 can to a Chinese status, particularly when such transfer involves jurisdic- 
 tion over physical properties, I would suggest that the Consulate be oflicially 
 informed, and that the notification to the local Chinese authorities be left 
 
68 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 to the Consul. It takes a skilled acrobat to ride two horses; and in inter- 
 national relations the feat is impossible. Your agencies cannot have a dual 
 status; they cannot be both American and Chinese. They must choose which 
 they will be; and I suggest it is both just and in reasonable conformity with 
 the treaties that the Consulate be the first to be informed of any change 
 in status. 
 
 I fear this letter is over-long, but I felt you would like to have as care- 
 ful a description as possible of the attitude of the Consulate toward some 
 of the aspects of the present situation. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 Ernest B. Price, 
 American Consul. 
 
 Exhibit il. 
 
 A STATEMENT TO THE AMERICAN BOARD AND TO THE CONGREGA- 
 TIONAL CHURCHES IN AMERICA 
 
 Most of the missionaries, of the North China Mission, with the exception 
 of those located in Peking and Tunghsien, are now in Tientsin or on their 
 way to places outside the country, summoned on consular advice and that 
 of our General Secretary. An informal meeting of the available members 
 of the Mission then in Tientsin was held April 11-13. Thirty-two were 
 present, the following statement was adopted, one voting in the negative 
 and one refraining from voting. 
 
 I. The Be.\ring of the International Situation on Our Policy 
 a. Those of us who have already withdrawn from our stations have 
 been influenced by some or all of the following considerations: 
 
 1. The Trend of Mission Thinking. For several years, the trend 
 of opinion and feeling in our Mission, like that in the American Board, 
 has been sympathetic toward the national aspirations of China and 
 against foreign military pressure being used in China in this time of 
 struggle and difficulty, although a few members of the Mission may 
 even yet feel that the expression of our attitude should be left to our 
 governmental authorities. As early as 1922, a group of twenty-four 
 in our Mission began serious study of our relations to the international 
 problems, and after repeated revisions of statements, which only a part 
 of the group signed, a final statement was signed by all in March, 1924, 
 and was sent to the American Minister in Peking. In part it read as 
 follows; “We express our earnest desire that no form of military 
 pressure, especially not foreign military force, be exerted to protect us 
 or our property .... no punitive expedition be sent out and no 
 indemnity be exacted. We take this stand believing that the way to 
 establish righteousness and peace is through suffering wrong without 
 retaliation and through bringing the spirit of good will to bear on all 
 persons under all circumstances .... In signing this statement, we 
 are all agreed in declaring against the use of armed foreign force and 
 diplomatic threats or indemnities collected by our government.” 
 
 Though this position was not supported by the Mission as a whole, 
 after the May, 1925, incident in Shanghai, the sentiment in favor of a 
 more general expression of our attitude grew rapidly, and during the 
 autumn of that year, the statement given below was signed by a large 
 majority of the Mission and in December was sent to the American 
 Board in Boston. Additional signatures were obtained early in 1926, so 
 that it was signed by 111 members of the North China Mission, all but 
 six or seven then on the field who had been in China as long as a year: 
 
 “We, the undersigned, conceive it to be part of our task, while in 
 China, to help to create and develop mutual understanding between 
 the various races which come into contact with one another, to try 
 to remove causes of international friction, and to stand for the highest 
 type of international justice. 
 
THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 69 
 
 “Finding, in the treaties between our country and China, clauses 
 which we believe hinder the realization of these aims, we desire to take 
 a definite stand in regard to them. We do this in full loyalty to our 
 own government, with a desire to see expressed in China the principles 
 of honor and fair-play which we believe to be characteristic of the best 
 nationals of our own lands. 
 
 “We therefore state it to be our purpose to use such influence as 
 we have, both with our governments and our Mission Boards, toward 
 securing as speedily as the necessary adjustments can be made, the 
 modification of'’ all treaties which infringe on the sovereignty or hinder 
 the progress of China, and to urge that immediate steps be taken which 
 will lead to restoring full tariff autonomy and the withdrawal of the 
 privileges of extra-territoriality granted to foreign residents. 
 
 “Our sense of responsibility is deepened by the conviction that 
 for Christian missions and missionaries longer to work under special 
 rights and privileges, granted in the toleration clauses of the treaties, 
 is not in accord with Christian principles, and we therefore wish to 
 urge our governments to take decisive steps toward their early removal.” 
 In February, 1926, conviction in the Mission was still stronger, and 
 106 members out of a total of 114 who are American citizens (the two Swiss 
 nationals also signing) sent a cable to the American Board endorsing a 
 cable which had just been sent by the Executive Committee of the National 
 Christian Council, expressing the desire to place Chinese-American relations 
 on a “cordial, reciprocal, equal basis” by immediately negotiating a new 
 treaty, and to avoid as much as possible military measures during negotia- 
 tions. Recent events have made temporary withdrawal from China the 
 only logical outcome of this attitude and of our deepening convictions. 
 
 2 . The attitude of the American Government toward Protection. 
 While this feeling has been growing in the Mission, the State Depart- 
 ment at Washington and diplomatic circles in China have alike insisted 
 that the duty of the American Government to protect its citizens and 
 their property and to secure indemnification in case of loss is absolute, 
 at least to the extent of their ability, and in no wise affected by the 
 geographical situation of the citizens or by their own desires not to be 
 protected. To remain in China in the face of uncertainty as to develop- 
 ments means, therefore, to run the risk of involving the governments of 
 China and the United States in diplomatic or military complications. 
 
 3. In most of the stations, upon receipt of advice from the consul, 
 the missionaries consulted with the best-informed Chinese associates to 
 ascertain their attitude toward their remaining or withdrawing. It 
 was then uncertain what action our government might take with regard 
 to the Nanking incident, but it was, in general, the judgment of the 
 Chinese consulted that in case of disturbance or crisis, the presence of 
 foreigners would prove more of an embarrassment than an aid, although 
 there was question in some stations as to whether such disturbances 
 were imminent in that locality. Most missionaries would have felt it 
 their duty to remain in their stations, in spite of personal danger and 
 consular orders, if they had believed that thereby they could render 
 service in encouraging their associates and carrying on the work that 
 would counter-balance risk of personal danger, involving international 
 complications in the event that anything -happened to them. 
 
 b. In view of the situation as described above and the cabled advice of 
 the American Board, it was decided on April 11 that all whose furloughs 
 were not already voted should withdraw to Korea and await developments, 
 but this action will be referred for consideration to the Council which is 
 meeting April 20. 
 
 1. In taking this action, all but three of our members present 
 voted for this policy from a deep conviction that our best service to 
 China and the cause of Christianity in China can be rendered only by 
 withdrawal for a time from the country, thereby lessening to that 
 extent the responsibility of our government for the protection of mis- 
 
70 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA 
 
 sionaries and the liability that our presence will create ill-will and 
 provoke other unfortunate incidents with international complications. 
 We feel that our continued presence endangers the ultimate attainment, 
 through a remaking of the national life^ of the peace and welfare of 
 China, and delays the day when China shall have won her full place 
 in the family of nations on a basis of self-respecting sovereignty. We 
 express our willingness to return and share with our Chinese co-workers 
 the joys and hardships of the period of reconstruction, but we at present 
 strongly feel that the work of foreign missionaries in China will, in 
 its largest implications, be futile until we are freed from the incubus 
 of extra-territoriality and the toleration clauses in the treaties. 
 
 2. A second group in the Mission feels that, even though remaining 
 in the work may lead to later dipKomatic complications between China 
 and America, there will be no possibility of American armed interven- 
 tion in their behalf because of their distance from treaty ports, and 
 the help and encouragement they can render to the Chinese Church in 
 the present crisis seem to them to outbalance in importance the 'avoid- 
 ance of possible causes of international complications. 
 
 3. For as long a period as may be d.esired by the Chinese churches, 
 we feel it necessary to maintain the financial and business services now 
 rendered by the business office, whether by the presence in Tientsin of 
 one of the missionaries or by other suitable arrangements, but this 
 whole auestion is being left to the Council. 
 
 II. Tiif: Be.^ring of Our Action on the Chinese Church 
 
 In the minds of many of us, there is also a feeling that such a with- 
 drawal will have more than a negative value. For five years, the anti-Chris- 
 tian movement has based its animosity on the supposed foreign and im- 
 perialistic elements in Christianity in China. For a longer period, the 
 movement for an indigenous Church has felt itself hampered by what has 
 seemed, in some Churches and Missions far more than in others, a reluctance 
 to hand over a due share of responsibility to the Chinese Church and to 
 local boards of managers of institutions. By the developments of the last 
 few months, several conservative Missions have been forced in a few days 
 or weeks to give into the inexperienced hands of their Chinese associates 
 responsibilities which up to this time have been almost entirely borne by 
 foreign missionaries. In the North China Congregational Union, the pro- 
 gressive evolution of fifteen years has given us in every station a group of 
 experienced Chinese leaders, to whom we are now passing over the full 
 responsibility for the work in church, school and hospital. Because this is 
 being done in a spirit of confidence on our part, and with consecration and 
 a deep sense of the responsibilities involved on the part of our Chinese 
 associates, we look forward with faith and hope to the future development 
 of these churches and institutions, in the confident expectation that those 
 of us, whose further aid as advisers and helpers may still be desired by the 
 Chinese Church, will be on a far more natural basis and in a position to 
 render far more effectual aid than ever in the past. 
 
 III. The Bearing of Our Action on the American Board Support of 
 
 THE Work 
 
 With confidence in our Chinese associates growing out of our years of 
 fellowship in Christian labor with them, we believe that it is even more 
 than in the past the duty and privilege of the American Board and the 
 Congregational churches to continue sympathy, prayer, and financial and 
 other assistance to the churches in China, regardless of whether there are 
 American representatives associated in the administration or not. This 
 will be of high value in demonstrating that our Christian thinking and love 
 have transcended the barriers of race and nationality in our common 
 devotion to Christ and His Church in all the world.