Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/chinamissionofmeOObowe Rev. STEPHEN LIVINGSTON BALDWIN, D.D THE CHINA MISSION OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH By The Rev. ARTHUR J. BOWEN MISSIONARY, NANKING, CHINA Published by the OPEN DOOR EMERGENCY COMMISSION 150 Fieth Avenue, New York Price, E'ive Cents T ue Rev. Stephen Livingston Baldwin, D.D., was bom in Somerville, N. J., January 11, 1835, and died at Brooklyn, N. Y., July 28, 1!)03. His long period of service as a missionary in China, from 1859 to 1880, gave him an intimate ac- quaintance with the entire course of development of the China Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church, while it also furnished him with an almost iineipialed store of touching and inspiring missionary experiences. He became “Leader Baldwin,” be- loved of the Chinese the world over as their truest friend. The foreign field will probably never have a more devoted, competent and sympathetic living link with the missionary agencies at home than ex- isted in the years from 1888 to the close of his excep- tionally useful life, during wdiich Dr. Baldwin was the Recording Secretary of the Missionary Society. Modest, dignified, vivacious, unseltish, equable, able, the influence of his pure and chivalrous personality will long continue as a benediction with the great cause he so deeply loved. “ St. Steplien lent to thee his radiant name. Thou hast returned it with a stainless fame ; True Christian knight, without reproach or fear— In love a saint, in faith and hope a seer.” CHINA MISSION A PICTURE OF THE MISSION FIELD The area of China, if the view is limited to its eighteen pro'vinces, is one-half as large as all of Europe, or as large as the United States east of the Mississippi, with Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa added. Extending 1,474 Area miles from north to south, and 1,355 miles from east to west, it takes twice as long to go from Shanghai to Chung-king in Szechuen as it does to go from Shanghai to America. Broadly speaking, the country may be described as a series of great basins sloping from the lofty mountain ranges on its western borders to the eastern coast. Three great rivers, the Yellow, the Yang-tsze and the West Three flow entirely across this portion of the empire from River west to east. Innumerable smaller rivers and canals Basins traverse the land, much the same as do the railroads in the United States, and answer in some measure the same purposes as do our swifter means of communication. Most of the mountains lie to the south of the Yang-tsze and to the west of Hankow. To the north of this river and extending almost to Peking, 700 miles, with a varying width of 150 to 500 miles, is the Great Plain. The The Great masses of the population are in this plain, along Plain the river courses, and in the multitude of smaller plains and valleys between the mountain ranges. While it is true in a sense that China is crowded, still there are millions of acres of available land lying waste. Probably twice the present population could be supported within China not , its borders if western thrift and science Over-Populated were emploj’ed in reclaiming baiTen up- lands and developing lands now cultivated. Upon landing in Shanghai, the new missionary is im- pressed with the European character of the prospect that opens before him. He sees a harbor crowded with launches, schooners, merchantmen and gunboats from all Shanghai countries. He walks on broad, paved, well-kept streets ; b}’^ gardens, green and brilliant with semi- tropical plants and shrubs. He sees business houses three and four stories high stretching for two miles in the dis- THE YANG-TSZE. FKOG ROCK, PO-YANG LAKE. tance. Behind them are series of flats, or more pretentious dwellings, with their neatly kept lawns, stables, and liveried servants. In short, he finds a modern city, with its gas, electric lights, water works, public halls, and all that is needed for physical comfort. But let him leave this metropolis and ascend the great river. Then things foreign soon disappear. If he will leave his steamer, take a small native boat, ‘ ‘ manned” by the entire family of the captain, and push up one of the small rivers, he will get into pui-ely native surroundings, in Up the which the great majority of missionaries labor. Yang-Tsze Even in the port cities they do their work in the 8 native part, whicli is essentially the same as a native city in the interior. As j'et, the larger cities only are occupied for residence centers. Here thei’e will be, as a rule, not less than two or three families, with no other foreigners nearer than a several days’ journey. The streets of - native cities are from eight to fifteen feet wide, usually paved, but always in the worst of repair. The sewers are only two or three feet under the pavement in a covered drain which frequently chokes up or An Interior gets broken and exudes its contents over the road. City The shops, with the whole front thrown open in the daytime, are at once the place of business and the residence. The many highly colored signboards, the displayed goods, an incessant stream of people, all com- bine to give the streets an animated appearance. Here one meets the coolie with his bamboo pole over his shoulder carrying his load attached to its ends. Traveling bakers, confectioners, shoemakers, blacksmiths, and all the other petty traders sit by the road or jostle along the narrow way. Officials on horseback or in sedan chairs, preceded by lictors with spears, red umbrella, and placards, hurry along, brush- ing everybody aside. The houses are usually only one story high, with tile roof, no windows opening on the street, but each having an open court in the center. The floors are brick or the bare earth, to foreigners cold and cheerless in the The Missionary extreme. Picture the missionary, now trained Preaching for his work, and having his chapel on such a street and in such a building. When he wishes to preach he throws the outer door open. The passers by crowd in, attracted by the singing or the presence of a foreigner, or by some one discoursing, and never being unduly pressed for time, they pause to see what is going on. Some sit down on the benches provided, others push forward as near the speaker as possible. Often they inter- rupt him with questions, sometimes pertinent to the sub- ject, more often relating to his dress, his name, his country, or the amount of his salary. The majority listen respect- 9 fully for a time, then quietly make their way out, while others press in. Consequently by the time the speaker has eoncluded his address, perhaps two-thirds of his original audience have left. There will always be a few, however, who will remain throughout, wdio will listen intently, and will be interested. These may be taken into a private room and instructed more fully. Of those who remain only for a short time, probably most go away with some new idea. Then the missionary wishes to visit his day-school, which is usually connected wnth the chapel. Here are thirtj^ or forty boys from eight to sixteeen years of age studying CLASSROOr IN BOYS’ SCHOOL. at the top their voices, each oblivious of the other. The Day- The teacher sits at his desk hearing the pupils repeat School from memory pages of their books, or correcting their essays, answering questions and explaining the Bible or the Chinese classics, and attending to the many other incidental duties. Going out on the street in this way to his chapel, the mis- sionary is brought in contact with many diseases, and with the unspeakable filth, ignorance and vice that heathenism has inherited throughout the ages. Yet with it all there are many bright spots. He has seen not a few acts Light Amid of kindness and of love. He has noted and Heathenism received many happy smiles. Some soul-tortured 10 face has lit up with new hope and higher longings. God’s power to save and bless has'not been withheld. When one goes into the country, he must either walk or take a donkey or a boat. He usually finds the latter the most satisfactory, as he thus gets some time for study, provides his own “hotel,” and escapes many T ravel and physical hardships, chiefly those connected with Contact with the inns. Having reached a central country the People station he leaves his boat and goes to his street chapel or a friendly tea shop. There he preaches, sells the Scriptures, and drinks a few cups of tea while talking personally to those who are interested. He is always sure of an audience even in a small village. Should it be a market day, he can go from one tea house to another with- out speaking twice to the same people. During the day he will often speak in several villages, as they are usually not more than two or three miles apart. As a rule, he finds the country people more ready to accept the gospel, more simple minded, and more devoted, faithful Christians. RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS AND IDEAS Confucianism, while not properly a religion, but rather an ethical and political sys- tem, still takes its place and performs, largely, the func- tions of a real religion. It finds outward expression in one or more im- Confucianist posing temples in System and each of the larger Temples cities. These tem- ples contain no idols and are empty for the most part, displaying only the tablet of Confucius and those of his more illustrious fol- 11 IMAGE OP CONFUCIUS. lowers. The common people have no access to them, as they are held sacred to the Emperor and to his representatives, the officials. While Confucianism, which existed long before Confu- cius, has given China her high standard of morality and her most lofty ethical teachings, it has not given her the power to be morally strong or to obey the most Practical obvious ethical precepts. Morality and relig- Moral Motive ion in China are as far apart as heaven and Weak earth. According to Confucianism, the high- est good is the temporal well-being of the community, and no doubt this fact is largely responsible for the lack of spiritual insight and for the intense mater- ialism ingrained into Chinese character. Its ideal of one’s relation to the unseen might be expre.ssed in the formula, “Respect the gods, but have as little to do with them as possible.’’ If China has a national religion, it is properly Ancestral Wor-ship. Prayers are made at Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist temples, but only on special occasions and for tem- poral blessings, such as for rain, for sons, for suc- Ancestral cess in some undertaking; that is, for something Worship relating to this life. Ancestral worship, on the contrary, is constant, is actuated, more or less, by the better feelings, and does not seek, primarily, a temporal reward. Its outward expression consists of a tablet, on which are the deceased parents’ and ancestors' names, in a shrine in some prominent place in the home. Before this tablet food is deposited at stated intervals, prayers are of- fered, prostrations are made, and incense is daily burned. At the grave the worship consists of prostrations, placing food and wine for the spirit of the dead, and burning paper money for his use in the other world. Each clan has its ancestral temple, which is the rallying place for all who belong to that family or clan. In these temples, as in the homes, images are not used, but the slips of wood on which the names are written are supposed to be the homes of the spirits of the departed. 1-2 Among the most powerful effects of ancestral worship is the perpetuating of family and clan ties and of giving the clan an enormous influence over every member belonging to it. For this reason it forms one of the most Makes powerful agencies in China for resisting the gos- Clan Ties pel. It takes remarkable strength of conviction Powerful and will powder to overcome the accumulated in- fluences of former generations of one’s relatives as well as the opposition of those still living. Ancestral worship has fastened upon 400,000,000 people a most subtle form of idolatry. Few of the men of China will defend the idolatry of Buddhism and Taoism, but all will uphold an- cestral wmrship, as it does not appeal to them as being idol- atry. It has, therefore, contributed much to the darkening of men’s minds to the nature and the destiny of the human soul and to a spiritual conception of God. So true is this that he who gave it a new life and name, Confucius, had no word to express the reality of the soul and the realms of the spirit. Ancestral worship perpetuates geomancy, div- ination, and a multi- tude of other super- stitions, wdiile caus- ing also a very large and useless expend i ture of hard-earned money. Mohamme- dans in China do not allow followers of their faith topractice ancestral worship. Buddhist and Ta oist temples and shrines deck the face of the country, as do the .schoolhouses in the United States, only they are much more numerous than GREAT BELL TEMPLE, 3S"EAR PEKING. 13 Buddhist are our public-school buildings. Busy streets, and Taoist quiet lanes, sequestered valleys, high mountain Shrines tops — “hills and groves and the high places” — are all chosen as sites. The larger establish- ments often support two or three hundred priests and own many large tracts of land. Their buildings are relatively well kept up, though perhaps not so well as the Confucian temples and ancestral halls. Buddhism and Taoism perpetuate the grossest forms of idolatry. The chief duties of the priests are to conduct FUXEKAL PROCESSION ENTERING RESTORED ASBURY CHURCH, PEKING. funeral services and to act as assistants to those who come to the temple to worship. They live an indolent and Their often profligate life. The majority of them are ig- Priests norant and unable to read their books, though there are not a few who are saints and scholars in the best sense of those terms. Still they are parasites, and are rec- ognized as such even while tolerated and supported. Dr. Morrison says, “ Buddliism in China is derided by the learned, laughed at by the profligate, yet followed by all.” The influence of Buddhism and Taoism on life tends to 14 confirm ignorance, and vice, and superstition, and to hinder true and right thinking. Belief in their tenets is not deep and vital. The worshiper performs the rites in a Human listle.ss and half-hearted manner, and will often Heart stop in the midst to talk to you on any irrelevant Cravings subject. One is led to believe that these religions exist in China because of the failure of their great men and their sages to teach anything definite about the soul and the future life. The little these faiths have been able to teach, while confused and full of vagaries, has found the human heart longing and thirsting for spiritual food. For this reason the gospel of Jesus Christ will be able to supplant these fal.se beliefs in China, for it has an answer to the cry of the human spirit for light and comfort. A strange effect of the religious conditions in China is the mixture of all beliefs and practices, resulting, no doubt, from vagueness and lack of authoritative teaching. The Confucianist, the Buddhist, the Taoist is not exclu- Mixed sively of one religion. The religion of a Chinaman Beliefs may be and usually is a mixture of all these systems, and that without any wrench to his theology or to his logic. He shares the beliefs and engages in the practices of each upon occasion, though he may deride them in time of prosperity and safety. This attitude of mind constitutes a grave danger to Christianity among the Chinese. It makes it very easy for them to embrace a new religion while still clinging to and practicing the old. Buddhism has thus been received, absorbed, and reproduced. If the Chinese can accept Christianity as co-ordinate with their own religion, it will be an easy matter and will also soon be changed into the shadow of its former self. But it is not being so preached and it is not being so accepted. HISTORY OF CHINA MISSIONS IN GENERAL Leaving out of account the traditions of the Apostle Thomas and .the other earlj* founders of the Church, the Nestorians seem to have the honor of first attempting to plant Christianity in China. They began work Early about 500 a.d. and for six or seven hundred }"ears Nestorian had great influence, even having many converts in Missions the imperial household. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, in 1368, nothing seems to be known of them. Their disappearance may be accounted for bj' tlie terrible wars and slaughters that took place in time of Genghis Kahn and his de- scendants, by the rise of the Moslems, which cut them entirely olf from the mother church, and by the loss of their original purity and zeal for teaching and diffusing the Bible, when their numbers became great and their political power considerable. The history of Roman Catholic missions in China, which began in 1288, is valuable to all who wish to understand more perfectly mission work among the Chinese. This must be omitted, with the statement that the number of Cliinese Roman Catliolics is given by most authori- Roman ties as about one million. It seems that no great Catholic outward or moral changes are demanded of these Work converts, as is sought in the case of Protestant HUOXZE ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS, PKKfNO. 16T4. Ill believers. The weakness of Catholicism in China is its similarity to Buddhism and other heathen religions. Its strength is perhaps largely political, and it certainly is not a spiritual and regenerating power. Protestant missions were started by the now great London Missionary Society. Robert Morrison was its first missionary. Unable to get passage from England direct, he sailed by way of the United States, landing in Protestant Canton in 1807. Here he lived in close retirement Missions for nearly a year, when he was compelled, along Begun with the other foreigners, to move to the island of Macao. Endowed with rare linguistic gifts, he gained a mastery of the language, and, with the aid of Milne, entered upon the immense task of translating the Bible, which was completed in 1818. A dictionary of the language was published about the same time. Hence, his labors were of the most lasting character, and of the great- est importance to all other missionaries who were to follow him. Although he early began a Sabbath service in his own rooms, it never expanded into a public congregation during his twenty-seven years of labor. The Morrison’s first convert was gained in 1814. When Morrison Preparatory died in 1834, only three other missionaries had Work come to his help, and the prospect of direct evangelistic work was nearly as dark as when he landed. The church formed in 1836 contained only three converts. However, it should be noted that much addi- tional preparatory work had been going on among the Chinese in the settlements to the south of China. At the close of the pioneer period, in 1842, only four cities, Canton, 1807; Macao, 1808; Hongkong, 1841; Amoy, 1842, had been entered. Not more than twenty missionaries, including wives, were working in and for China Close of the Only two provinces, outside of the settlements Early Period in the south, had been touched, and only six converts had been won to Christ. The Treaty of Nanking in 1842 marks the beginning of a brighter day. By the provisions of this treaty five cities. IT Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai, were opened to foreign trade and residence. Missionaries Day Slowly were not slow to enter these centers of influence Dawns and to prepare for still wider flelds that soon were to be opened. Traditional hatred had not grown less, but had been rather augmented by the war and by the forcing of opium upon the country, as well as by the humiliation of being compelled to admit the despised for- eigners on anj' terms. It is not surprising, therefore, that at the close of this second period, or in 1860, there were less than one thousand communicants. Still, fifteen addi- tional societies had entered the field, and the missionary force had increased to 160, including wives and unmarried women, working in four provinces. The next marked manifestation of God’s providence for Cliina is shown in the Treaty of Tientsin, agreed to in 1858, but not ratified until two years later. By this treaty, pro- vision was made whereby foreigners could travel T reaty of by passport anywhere in China, and protection was Tientsin guaranteed to natives in accepting and propagating Christianity. To a certain limited extent, this threw the whole country open, while it put Christianity on a decidedly new basis; the right to accept or to reject the Gospel could now become a matter of conscience. That the privileges granted were promptly embraced is shown by the report of the Shanghai Conference held in 1877. At this conference 120 men and women representing 20 societies gathered to discuss the work of missions in China. Their watchword seems to have been “Co-operation.” D. Willard Lyon says, ‘ ‘ We are surely not wrong in counting such a conference as this one which was held in 1877 one of the greatest events in the conquest of China for Christ.” It appears that there were then 473 missionaries in China — three times as many as in 1860. The communicants had in- creased from 1,000 to over 13,000. However, only nine of the eighteen provinces had been entered, and only six of these nine, or the coast provinces, were in anj" sense occupied. 18 Up to 1870 woman’s work had not received special atten- tion, but in 1877 one-eighth of all the missionaries were un- married women. In the earlier stages, also, the people were afraid to go to the hospitals, and pupils had to be New supported in order to be induced to enter foreign Agencies schools. Large hospitals and large schools were impossible. But from about 1877 medical missions became more prominent and were of the greatest value in DR. ANNA D. GLOSS, IN HER DISPENSARY. opening up the interior provinces. From that date also began a larger and more thorough educational work. Former translations of the Scriptures had been revised, and new and better translations were being made. Special societies for Bible distribution had begun their work, and tract societies were undertaking a more thorough dissemination of relig- ious truths. 19 20 BUILDINGS OF NANKING UNIVKKSITY. From tlie records of the Missionary Conference held in Slianghai in 1890, it appears that 1,296 missionaries, repre- senting 41 societies, were engaged in seventeen of the eighteen provinces. The communicants had increased to Summary of over 37,000, while the native ordained helpers had Progress grown from 73 in 1877 to 211 in 1890. Ten years later, in 1900, the total number of missionaries had become 2,785, with 6,388 native workers of both sexes; the number of communicants had risen to 112,808, and 68 mis- sionary societies occupied the eighteen provinces. Twenty- seven per cent, of the foreign force were the wives of mis- sionaries, and twenty-nine percent, were unmarried women, a significant fact when we recall that women alone have access to the inner courts of the homes, and that the home is “ the cradle of the race.” We should remember that with this numerical growth, missionary effectiveness, improvement in means and meth- ods, a better understanding of the problems before the mis- sionary, and a deeper knowledge of the Chinese as a race, have all likewise grown. Not only so, but the native Church has steadily increased in self-support, in its benevolences, and in its spiritual grasp of Christianity. The purpose of the missionary is more fully understood by the masses of the peo- ple, and bigotry and hatred have largely given place to re- spect and confidence. METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS It is a significant fact that the missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church in China had their incentive in a college. According to a statement of Dr. John M. Reid in 3Iissio)is and Missionarij Society of Methodist Episcopal Methodist Church, the Missionar}' Lyceum of Wesleyan Uni- Work versify, Middletown, Conn., first proposed that the Church send missionaries and a press to China. This was in 1835, and although committees were at once appointed and much needed preliminary work done, it was not until 1846 that the Missionary Society put China in its list of foreign missions and made an appropriation for the 21 work. The amount first set apart was $3,000, which was to cover the support, outfit, and traveling expenses of two missionaries. The first man appointed was Judson Dwight Collins, a graduate of the first class of the State University of Michi- gan. He had felt especially called to China, but when he first applied to be sent out was told that our Church First had no work there and that it would probably be some Men time before funds could be raised and admission opened. Sent [His response was, “ Engage me a place before the mast, and my own strong arms will pull me to China and will support me there.” Not long after this the way opened up and he was appointed. Moses C. White was the otlier man chosen. They sailed for China from Boston, April 15, 1847. After a journey of four months they landed in Macao, and on September 4 reached their intended station, Foochow. This place had been chosen because it was thought to be the only one still (unoccupied of the five cities then open, but later it was found that the American Board had recently opened work there. Our missionaries received a hearty welcome by the brethren of that Board and were given every help possible. A favorable site outside the city, on an island, was soon chosen and immediately made ready for occupancy. The first real work, however, was to learn the language. While they were doing that interest was being awakened Use of by a careful and successful use of a small stock Medicines of medicines that they had brought with them, and Tracts From the older missionaries in the south they had also secured a large supply of tracts, which were early distributed. So great was the need and demand for literature that the recpiest for a press was among the first that these two pioneers sent to the Board. In October of the same j'ear the Rev. Harry Hickok and wife and the Rev. Robert S. Maclay sailed from New York to reinforce the in- fant mission. They arrived in April, 1848, but Mr. Hickok had scarcely reached the field when, because of sickness, he was compelled to return home early in 1849. The Rev. J. W. 23 Wiley, afterwards Bishop Wiley, with Mrs. Wiley, arrived in 1851. The first boys’ school was opened in February, 1848, with eight boys in attendance, and a girls’ school started at the same time had ten pupils. The following month the first Sunday-school was organized. For several years Schools and evangelistic work was carried on chiefly in the the First tea shops and in the open streets, though a small Churches place to be used for tract distribution had been rented. It was not till 1855 that the first church — “The Church of the True God” — was erected on land purchased outside the south gate of the city. The follow- ing year another church was built near the foreign resi- dences, there being at that time a considerable foreign community which desired a place where regular English services could be held. It was not till a number of years after this that a per- manent situation was se- cured within the walls of the native city. During these first years there were many discourage- ments and checks to progress. The foreigner was regarded as an intruder, and in various annoying ways it was made known that he and his Faith religion were not wanted. Moreover, in 1851 Mr. Amid Collins had to return home, where he died the follow- Trials ing year. Soon after Mr. White was compelled to leave the field owing to the sickness of his wife. Then the Tai-ping rebellion drove all the others of our mission except Dr. and Mrs. Wiley to Hongkong for safety. But only a few months elapsed before Mrs. Wiley died, and ere long MOSES C. WHITE. Dr. Wiley had to return to the United States. At this time, when all work was at a standstill and when death and dis- ease had wrought such havoc, the Board with sublime faith said, “Let us hold fast our faith in the Cliina Mission and trust in God.” In 1855 the Rev. Erastus Wentworth and the Rev. Otis Gibson, both married, were sent out to take the places of those who had fallen. Two years after this, or in 1857, the first convert was gained, after ten years of seed-sowing. This man. Ting An, was forty-seven years of age, with five children and many relatives. Fortunately, his family did not oppose The him in his new-found belief, and it was not long Work before his wife and two children were baptized. Organized From this time the work began to be more pros- perous. Thirteen adults and three infants were bap- tized during the year, and in 1858 the entire organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church in China was completed with members, probationers, class meetings, quarterly meetings and other features of permanent occupancy and work. The following year began the expansion that has since reached to West China and to North China. An appoint- ment fifteen miles to the northwest of Foochow was made and thirteen inquirers enrolled. Six natives Native Helpers were licensed as exhorters. Inquirers and and New converts began to multiply. Encouraged by Recruits the successes, the Board sent out additional workers. Dr. Stephen L. Baldwin and three unmarried women arrived in 1858, and the Rev. Carlos R. Martin the following year. These missionary women were the forerunners of the many now scattered throughout China, doing a great work that they only can perform. The first annual meeting, held in 1862, shows that there were six male and eight female missionaries, eleven Chinese helpers, thirty-two baptized members, and mission property to the value of §30,115. Three lines of work were First being vigorously followed. Direct evangelistic Annual preaching was the chief work. In addition to the Meeting regular service held in the several chapels in the 20 city, circuits wei'e formed extending out into the country some thirty miles, chiefly to the north and north- west. Educational work embraced a boys’ school, a girls’ school, several day-schools and Sabbath-schools. All in- struction was of course in the most elementary subjects. The third line of work was that of the printing press. This embraced translation work, writing of tracts, together with Bible and tract distribution. In 1867 Dr. Baldwin reported 887,490 pages printed. The Rev. Nathan Sites had taken up his residence in an out-station twenty-five miles from the city, and was itiner- ating as far as Yen-ping (long bing), 150 miles up the Min River. In 1867 there were 450 members reported. Expansion and the names of the Revs Virgil C. Hart, Lucius N. Wheeler, Elbert S. Todd and Hiram H. Lowry were added to the mission. This year marks an important epoch in the history of the work. The Mission Board deter- mined to push out into other provinces. Accordingly, the Rev. Virgil C. Hart and the Rev. Elbert S. Todd were sent to Kiu-kiang, about four hundred miles northwest of Foo- chow on the Yang-tsze River, some five hundred miles from its mouth. This place is at the northern en- Central trance of the great Kiang province, at the China Mission southern entrance of the Hupei province, and Begun at the western entrance of the Nganhwei province. Not less than 85,000,000 souls that were wholly ignorant of Christ were in the three provinces immediately about this center. Such was the field and such the beginning of the Central China Mission. The following year was no less important, for it was then decided to open work at Peking, the capital of the em- pire. The faith and enthusiasm of the young mission at Foochow were irresistible, and ai’e inspiring to Peking think of even now. The vigorous life-blood of and early Methodism was in their veins. Personal North China danger, privations, and hardships seem only to have spurred them on. Dr. Maclay and the Rev. Hiram H. Lowry were appointed to the “ Peking Circuit.” Later, however, the Rev. Lucius N. Wheeler was substituted for Dr. Maclay, because the health of the former demanded the change to the better climate of the north. Mr. Wheeler and his family arrived in Peking in March, 1869. His only son died soon after their arrival, overcome by the hardships of the then difficult journey. Mr. Lowr}' and family joined them about a month later. Here, as at Kiu-kiang, a new language, the Mandarin, had to be learned. In the course of a year an excellent situation was secured just inside one RECONSTRUCTED HOPKINS HOSPITAL, PEKING. of the gates of the city, near the quarters of the foreign legations. Since then, and especially after the Boxer up- rising in 1900, this original site has been materially en- larged. In 1871 the first public Methodist service was held in the capital. In 1869 Bishop Kingsley divided the whole work into three missions, — the Foochow, the Central China, and the North China. Realizing that these fields were too large for the force then at hand, tlie missionaries asked the From Board to send out six additional men. These were 1869 readily sent, the Revs. Franklin Ohlinger and Nathan to 1877 J. Plumb to Foochow, John Ing and Henry H. Hall to Kiu-kiang, and George R. Davis and Leander W. Pil- cher to Peking. In 1873 these were increased by fifteen more missionaries, including women, and by seven others the following year. For the year 1877 the statistics of the three missions are given as follows; North China, 5 missionaries, o assistant missionaries, 4 missionaries of the Woman’s Foreign Mis- sionary Society, 7 native preachers, and .59 members. Cen- tral China had 5 missionaries, 3 assistant missionaries, and 2 missionaries of the Women’s Board, with 3 native helpers and 31 members. The Foochow Mission was at that time organized into a Conference. There were 5 missionaries, 5 assistant missionaries, 3 missionaries of the Women s Board, 76 native preachers, and 1,241 members. With this brief outline of the founding and early history of the mission, let us survey the work as now arranged. The North China Mission was organized into a Conference in 1893. The West China Mission was begun in 1881 and the Hing hua Mission was separated from the Foochow Con- ference in 1896. At the present time the Foochow and Hing hua work theoretically includes all of the Fukien province, which contains not less than 15,000,000 people, but in reality not much more than about one-half of the province Present is touched by the work of our mission, though Arrangement this portion is the most fertile and the most of Field. populous, and embraces much more than one- half of the people. Broadly speaking, this ter- ritory is within a radius of 294 miles of Foochow. The Cen- tral China Mission includes work in part of the Kiangsu, the Nganhwei, the Kiangsi, and the Hupei provinces. Be- ginning at Chin-kiang, 130 miles from Shanghai, it extends fifty miles up the Grand Canal and three hundred miles up the Yang-tsze, with an average width of perhaps fifty miles, but with a break of about sixty miles between Wu-hu and 29 Kiu-kiaDg. From this point it extends southward into the Kiangsi province some two hundred miles. It will be seen that it covers an immense territory as well as a rich and populous one, being in the valley of the Yang-tsze and of the Kan rivers. The West China Mission is confined to the central part of the Szechuen province, an exceeding- ly populous and fertile district about 150 miles long by 100 miles wide, with as yet only a few, comparatively, of the large cities touched. The North China Conference ter- ritory includes “the provinces of Shantung and Honan and all China north of them,” according to the Missionary Re- ports, but as }"et work is confined mostly to the northern, eastern and southeastern part of Chili, with a small part of northwestern Shantung province included. The missionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church in China in 1902 numbered 148, including wives and workers of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, and of Summary these 45 were in the Foochow Conference, 12 in the Hing-hua Mission, 38 in the Central China Mission, 25 in the West China Mission, and 28 in the North China Conference. Of native preachers there were 269, and of church members 11,566. In the Foochow Conference the output of the printing press has grown, till in 1900 it furnished 24,031,545 pages of literature. The original boys’ school has become the Anglo- Chinese College, with over 300 students, and in Foochow addition there are four high schools in the terri- Conference tory and one theological school, all doing excel- lent work. Medical work includes three hospi- tals, one under the parent Board and two under the Wo- man’s Foreign Missionar\’ Society. An additional hospital under the parent Board is in course of construction. In these hospitals skilled native physicians of both sexes, trained in Western methods and practice, co-operate with the medical missionaries. Day-school work has been largel}' devel- oped. there being over 200 such schools, with over 5,000 boj'S in attendance. These schools are supported partly from local sources and partly by special gifts from the .30 homelands. Being the oldest mission, there are moie native ordained preachers and more converts than in the other missions, and among them are many of the third gen- eration. These invariably prove more intelligent, more steadfast and more conscientious Christians, in short, better grounded in the faith in every respect. DR. HU-KING ENG, FOOCHOW. In the Hing-hua Mission the work consists largely of the evangelistic work, though there is a small press, a boys’ school, an orphanage and a theological school. In both of these missions in the south there are many dialect.<=, 31 Hing-hua the people of one district being unable to under- Mission stand the inhabitants of adjoining districts. Hence, there are certain limitations and hindrances which are experienced by none of the other missions in the terri- tory in which the Mandarin is used and understood, from the Yang tsze to the Great Wall on the north and to the borders of Tibet on the west. The Centi-al China Mission now has work in all the large cities on the Yang-tsze between Shanghai and Hankow with but one exception, the provincial capital of Nganhwei, Ngan-king. It also occupies the capital of Kiangsi. In CHUNG KING INSTITUTE. OK BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL. Central addition to evangelistic work, two large hospitals, China one university, and one college are supported. In Mission the hospital in 1900 there were treated some 27,000 patients, and the school enrolled about 250 students. Each center has several day-schools, but as a rule such schools ai'e opened only where they can have the closest foreign supervision. The university has college, theological, medical and preparatory departments. The work of the West China Mission is also West China largely evangelistic, though there are three boys’ Mission high schools and a hospital that is doing especially good work in breaking down prejudice and is opening up the surrounding country to the gospel. The recent disturbances in North China resulted indhe 32 destruction of most of our mission property there and in the total disorganization of all lines of mission work. Before the work was destroyed a most excellent educa- North China tional and evangelistic work was carried on. In Conference addition to the Peking University there were some six high schools closely affiliated with the university. The university suppoi'ted college, theological, medical, industrial, and preparatory departments. The evangelistic work had been made especially strong by the fact that the large majority of the graduates of the univer- sity had been led to enter the ministry, notwithstanding the fact that many lucrative positions in the Customs and Lega- tions were open and inviting their services. Practically all the buildings destroyed in the uprising in 1900 have been re- constructed. Larger plans are on foot for even a broader and more thorough work, and it will not be many years before the work will far exceed that which was in progress in 1900. In 1902 the Missionary Society appropriated §126,630 for its work in China, and there was collected locally from Support all sources for the work §18,907. Self-support is grow- ing year by year, though it will be many years before the China Mission can be independent of help from the home churches. Perhaps the most distinctive recent forward step in the China Mission was the projecting of the Methodist publishing house at Shanghai, being a joint enterprise inaugurated by the Board of Managers of the Missionary Society Joint of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Book Publishing Committee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, House South. An act of incorporation was secured under the title of “The Methodist Publishing House in China,” and a board of directors elected. As chairman of the board, and by recpiest of that body. Dr. Homer Eaton visited China in 1903, to superintend the opening of the new and important enterprise. The purpose is to co-operate in the development of a great publishing plant which shall serve the whole empire and do the work for both the great branches of Methodism. Other mission presses maintained by either Church will be related to this publishing house as branches. At the same time Dr. Eaton officially visited and inspected the work in North and Central China and at Foochow. Before closing this brief statement, special mention must be made of God’s protection and watch-care over His repre- sentatives in the Methodist Episcopal Church in China. There have been many times of unrest and many Wonderful riots. More than once the missionaries have been Protection driven out of their stations to seek shelter in Slianghai or Japan, but as far as can be learned no foreign missionary of our Board has suffered death at the hands of a Chinese mob. In 1870 twenty-two foreigners were killed in Tientsin and our missionaries were shut up in Peking. Not one was injured. In the Ku-cheng massacres in 189.1 our missionaries escaped. Not less than three or four times has our mission been driven out of AVest China, each time escaping not only the mobs but the danger of the rapids of the upper Yang-tsze. In 1900, from June 20 to August 14, most of our North China Mission forces were shut up in the heart of Peking, besieged by shot and shell and fire. The world had given them up as lost, but in some marvelous w’ay, while all other missions in the north lost heavily, our missionaries escaped. In this terrible crisis of missionary development in the empire, the representatives of the Methodist Episcopal Mis- sion proved themselves among the most efficient in respond- ing to the new and imperative demands for prompt. Brave and wise and courageous action. AVithout doubt tlie Forceful successful maintenance of the long defense by the Action beleaguered company in the British legation quar- ters at Peking was more owing to Dr. Frank D. Gamewell than to any other individual, and what he and other members of our mission force did during those awful days adds undying luster to the record of our China Mission. The native members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in China have repeatedly showui their courage and fidelity to Christ, even to the point of suffering martyrdom, before 34 Native the widespread baptism of blood in 1900 took place. Chinese As a recent instance, the first martyr to the Christian Martyrs faith in West China was Tang Hsi I, the talented Chinese medical student who in 1898 gave up his life that Christian work might be opened in Kiang-peh; Krorn ChinifHe Ilf rues, Ileadlaiul. By ])eriiiissiim of Katon & Mains. TOU LIEN-MING. and among the latest deaths for the cause of Clirist were those of June, 1903, when our greatly esteemed native pastor, Chu Ts’en yuen, and six of tlie members of his church were killed in the same province of Szechuen. 35 But it was left for the closing year of the nineteenth century to give to the world the spectacle of hundreds and thousands of men, women and children, native Five hundred Chinese Christians, bearing witness to their from our Lord bj" calmly meeting death in its most ago- Field nizing forms, and taking their place in numbers and heroism beside the martjTs under Diocletian at the end of the first century. From the ranks of our China Mission membership over five hundred are known to have thus been slain. Among these were Chen Ta-yung, the faithful gatekeeper and devoted soul-winner, who, with his wife and youngest daughter, thirteen years of age, was hacked to pieces on the borders of Mongolia; Lin Ming-Ch’in, whose Eminent exhortations to his enemies were not silenced till Examples his tongue was cut out; Tou Lien-ming, the Spirit- baptized Peking Cniversity student, equally brave in his last words of earnest address to the brutal Boxers; and Liu Wen-lan, the noble Chinese woman teacher, who without a tremor offered her head to the sword, after en- couraging seventeen of her girls and others on the way to the place of martyrdom. A new roll of witnesses could be prepared, matching that in the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, of Cliinese Methodist Episcopal Christians, who have shown how the followers of Jesus can die to-day because of their love for Him. And al- The ready it is evident that the sacrifice of many precious Coming lives of foreign missionaries and their children, and Harvest of native converts, will soon yield a wonderful har- vest in the profound impression produced on the Chinese race and the multitudes it will bring to the saving power of the gospel. // SPECIAL IMPRESSIONS Probably the first thing in China that would impress the student of Protestant missions would be tlie evident i)er- manency of tlie work. He would see brick buildings, large, well constructed, and commodious. He would note 36 The Solid that strategic centers had been chosen and com- Structure pounds advantageously situated, which, while not large, were made attractive with trees, shrubs, and flowers. All the outward appearances would lead him to conclude that the missionaries were here to staj', that their propertj' had not been built and laid out to meet transient needs simply. He who thinks at first that the missionary en - BEFORE ANjU AFTER BOXERISM. vironment is too suggestive of comfort will, after being on the streets or in the country, where he encounters the sights, sounds and smells, and, in addition, is almost crushed with the misery and hopelessness, of a heathen land, come to know the wisdom and value of having at least one bright spot amid that which otherwise would stifle or depress. 37 The careful observer would likewise be impressed with the fact that all approved missionary methods were being applied to the needs of China. Something commensurate with the force available is being done for nearly Range of every class of people. There are missions and spe- Agencies cial work for the highest as well as for the lowest classes. Orphanages are established. The blind have schools. The poor have their bodies treated in the hospitals and dispensaries and their souls cared for in the chapels. Street preaching, street chapels, institutional churches, gospel boats, gospel carts, all find a large field. Industrial schools have been opened to a slight extent. Universities, colleges, high schools, grammar schools, da}'- schools, night-schools, and kindergartens are in full opera- tion. The Young Men’s Christian Association has entei’ed the field and finds a most encouraging reception and unlim- ited opportunities. Bible and tract societies, colportage associations, translation bureaus, Bible revision committees, together with numerous papers and periodicals, are putting an immen.se amount of the best reading matter into the hands of the people. The greatly varied experiences that crowd upon the av- erage missionary in the course of a week would be noted. It is not unlikely that he will have several I’egular classes of some sort to teach, several services to conduct, cases Varied of sudden sickness to treat, discipline to administer. Duties disputes to settle, something to write or to translate, a complex work to organize, and with it all to keep a firm hand and a watchful eye upon every detail. Large demands are made on his time, also, bj' the curious, the op- pressed, the “man with an axe to grind.” and the official friends, in addition to those of his own dock. As time is valued but slightly by the Oriental, it soon becomes a bur- den to regulate one’s social duties. On every side it would be seen that the present force of missionaries is far too small to do adequately even the work undertaken, while it would be just as apparent that contraction or closing up of an}- work once well begun would be disastrous even if possible. 38 The student of [missions would [ be impressed with the character of those engaged in the work. The large majority of American missionaries are college bred. Out of twenty- one missionaries working in a typical center re- Personnel cently, all but one were college graduates. Joy, of the hope, energy, perseverance, optimism mark the Missionaries average missionary. Limited to a pitiful amount MISSIONARIE.S AXD 1)1{. HOMER EATON AT SACRED TURTLE AND SHAFT, RUDDHTST TEMPLE. of money for his work, he is accomplishing vastly more than the Church has a right to expect. Moreover, the mission- aries are among the best-informed persons in the empire, not only concerning the manners and customs of the peo- ple, their mode of thought, their virtues and their vices, but also concerning the import of political movements and the real animus of people and officials towards the foreign na- 30 tions. It was tlie missionary wlio repeatedly warned the foreign ministers at Peking of their danger and exposed the designs of a plotting government months before the recent upheaval. A student of missions could not fail to be impressed with From Cfihicsr I/rrvta, Ueuillaml. By permission of Fatoii iSi Mains. C'lIEN TA-YUNG, THE MAUTYR. the substantial advance already made in China. In the many larger centers he would find large and intelligent congrega- tions of Christians, the regular Sabbath attendance in many single churches ranging from three hundred to twelve him ■10 Advances dred, as at Foochow. The service is conducted Made much the same as a service in a home church, and the singing, especially in those churches connected with the schools, compares favorably with that of any country. The large districts carefully divided into circuits, the regular itineraries, the large numbers of the people under constant Christian influence in churches, schools and hospitals, together with the many agencies at work, show that the hundred years of effort have received nothing less than God’s special blessing to be able to show the results which are now manifest. And this would be seen nowhere more clearly than in the character of the converts. The gospel of Christ is as pow- erful to save the people of China as it is to save those of America— a fact sometimes doubted in the home- Converts lands and even by Christians. There is a striking similarity of Christian experience and saving grace among Chinese and among Anglo-Saxons. Deliverance from sin, the peace that passeth understanding, joy in Christ’s service, longings to he kept pure and to grow in grace, de- sire for the salvation of friends, relatives, and countrymen, are the constant burden of prayer and testimony meetings. Most strongly would it be impressed upon the mind of the observer that China’s salvation can come alone from Jesus Christ. The only light that shines out of the dark- ness, that offers any solution of the problem of how “ China’s to enlighten and ennoble this great people, comes Only from the Word that is being preached and the truth Hope ” that is being exemplified by the followers of Christ. The native religions have proved themselves utterly powerless to raise the Chinese out of themselves. Human life is debased to such an extent that the dead appear to rule the conscience and actions of the living. The student would feel that the people are so bound in the chains of superstition that they cannot reach up to God, but grope in black darkness, with hands stretched forward, but with eyes ever looking backward. Only the Supreme Helper can avail to bring them liberty and life. ^ 41 DIFFICULTIES The first difficulty that should be mentioned is the deep- seated, traditional hatred of foreigners. Such is the preju- dice and suspicion with which foreigners are regarded that it extends to the religion which they come to Chinese preach. The Chinaman hates the gospel before he Antipathy .hears it, not because of what it is in itself, but because it is foreign. His patriotism, if he has an3', takes the form of contempt and hatred of all that lies outside of his own country. ENTRANCE TO EXAJIINATION BOOTHS, NANKING. Moreover, in China the missionary is confronted with a civilization that ages have developed, and with a literature of vast extent. He sees a social system peculiar to itself, exercising a rigid control over four hundred mil- lion souls (407,253,029, figures of 1903). Of these Strength of things a native of China is naturallj' proud. They Native have been worked out by his race alone, superior Institutions to all others, and are the exclusive possession of ■12 his nation. Why should he, the favored of heaven, now turn to an inferior people for something he feels is not needed ? Much of our civilization and most of our customs are either absurd or objectionable to him. To obtain, there- fore, an effective vantage ground, to disarm prejudice against ourselves and our message, needs sense, discern- ment, and all the graces promised in God’s Word. Large- ness of mind and capacity to respect that which is honored by one’s hearers, to recognize and give them credit for all that is good in their religion, their customs and their civili- zation, alone can help to bridge over the natural barriers of mind and temperament that exist. Closely associated with this difficulty is that of the native and the foreigner rightly understanding each other. Not only is the language in itself peculiarly difficult for a foreigner to master and use intelligibly, but it is also Lack of sadly deficient in terms expressive of spiritual truths Ideas in and of the higher moral and intellectual concepts. Common To make known, therefore, the best things that the missionary has to give, he must create a new vocabu- lary, and develop not only tbe vehicle for expressing it, but also the mind of his hearer so that he may grasp it. The Chinese are slow to receive new ideas, and, until a degree of development has taken place, we should not be greatlj’ dis- appointed if converts do not measure up to all our standards of spiritual discipleship. Another more subtle difficulty, affecting the progress of true Christianity, is that the foreigner is popularly supposed to be rich, and to have, if need arises, the power of his government at his command. A Chinaman’s highest am- bition is to acquire office. With money he can obtain official position and power, and can lord it over his less fortunate countrymen. He can have good food, good clothes, and .sons may elaborate the worsliip at his grave when he is dead. The missionary is constantly lielping, financially, the poor and suffering. His expenses for living are vastly in excess of' those! of the native. He never seems to be under the necessity-[of_ borrowing. The'pfiicial is on his side in all 43 44 O’HEN TA-YUNO’S (JUANnnilLDRKN cases of dispute or litigation, and 'so' [the foreigner and his church are apt to be regarded as unlimited in matters of mone}' and influence. There is, therefore, a temptation to make friends with the former and seek admittance into the latter for purely selflsh purposes. While those who come into the church with these motives and remain for any length of time are, doubtless, compara- tively few, still the majority of converts so far have Danger of come from the lower middle classes, and the popular Wrong opinion of those above them is that they are in the Motives church for temporal ends. An appeal to the official class meets a barrier of pride and self-sufficienc}', which can be overcome only by a consistent and godly life on the part of the church members. A more inherent difficulty is the lack of moral character. With all her greatness, the reason why China is yet so weak is to be found in this fundamental defect. It is exhibited in all departments of public and private life Life from the lowest coolie to the highest official. Without The former requires only the slightest motive to Moral basis falsify, and is constantly sharpening his wits to cheat and deceive. The latter buys and sells office, enriches himself from public and all other moneys that pass through his hands, oppresses and taxes all those under his power, and makes it impossible for justice to be obtained — all without the slightest compunctions of con- science. Sin as we understand it is hardly recognized, and, as long as it can be concealed, gives no concern to the sinner. Unfair advantage has often been taken of China by so- called Christian nations. Wars have been forced upon her; hard bargains have been driven; rich districts have been seized. Many of the lives of merchants, government em- ployees, soldiers, sailors, and travelers, as seen by the Chinese, are selfish and immoral in the extreme. All these things tend to confirm the strong prejudice against things foreign, while the missionary and his message are put in a position to be doubted and derided. It may be true that only ten per cent, of the men and only one per cent, of the Examples which women can read or write, and they maj’ be Misrepresent slow to grasp new ideas, j’et it is equally Christianity -true that they can readily understand a living illustration. It is a deep reproach to our boasted civilization that it presents so much that can- not appeal to the Chinese as having any advantage over their own institutions and life. // AN APPEAL When we recall the fact that China has isolated herself from the world for ages, that anj’ changes in her require stupendous effort and years of time, that the surroundings and atmosphere in which Christianity has had to The Divine develop are wholly heathen, that the number of Working missionaries sent to China has been, relatively. Manifest very few, even at present not more than one for every 130,000 souls, we are convinced that God has been working mightily to bring about the measure of success which has been attained. It has been less than one hundred years since the first missionary arrived in China. For fifty years work was re- stricted to a few open ports. Now foreigners can travel or reside in any part of the empire, though it is only recently that Hunan, so long closed to them, has been opened. The prayers of the Christian world have been answered most marvelously in unlocking the closed dooi's of this great em- pire to the missionary of the cross. The time is one of imperative urgency and grave crisis. Signs of awakening out of the torpor and exclusiveness that have so long marked the Middle Kingdom are to be seen on all sides. Science, learning, appliances and in- A Time of ventions are being eagerly sought after. At the Great Crisis reopening of the reconstructed American Board and Promise buildings in Peking, General Ma, who commanded the Chinese troops at the siege of Tientsin, dined with Minister Conger and the missionaries. In the vast crowd of thousands present at the festivites were many former members and several officers of the Boxer organiza- 46 tion, but all parties appeared to rejoice that the terrible passions of two years before belonged now to the dead past. The new treaty provisions are likely to grant to merchants and other foreigners freedom of residence anywhere in the interior for business purposes. This change will mean a large influx of exploiters and adventurers, as well as re- liable business men. If the gospel can go before these men, or even with them, it will mean much for China. U. S. MINISTER CONGER, PRESIDENT SHEFFIELD AND GENERAL MA. The imperial government is establishing schools, and in- dividuals are seeking tutors and instructors for private schools and for families. It is now the high privilege of the Christian Church to supply this demand. If not sup- plied soon it will be in the hands of the ag- The Educator nostic or the unbeliever. Such a door of oppor- and T eacher tunity, probably, has never befoi'e been placed 47 before the young Christian college man as that which the educational situation in China now urges him to enter. The call of God from China must come with special im- l^erativeness to the theological student and to the minister of the gospel. Here are presented a nation unsaved, a mes- sage that can save, specific orders to speak it The Appeal from Him who died to make that salvation to the Minister possible, large audiences always eager to listen, and, for one who devotes his life and energies to the work, whole prefects and provinces as pos sible fields for Christian conquest. May God burn upon our souls the fact that the very existence of the Church dep)ends upon its response to the urgency of such a situation, and kindle an irresistible desire and purpose to bring the gospel to this great people for their individual salvation and for their national deliverance and fulness of life. y LITERATURE Among recent books of fresh and varied interest, from the point of view of the missionary, are the works by Kev. Arthur H. Smith, D.D., Village Life in China, $2.00; Chi- nese Characteristics, $2.00; China in Convulsion, 2 vols. , $5.00 net; and Chinese Heroes, by Isaac T. Headland, D.D., $1 00 net. Dawn on the Hills of T’ang, by Mr. Harlan P. Beach, cloth 50 cents net, paper 35 cents net, is a remark- ably helpful descriptive and missionary hand-book. See also -his Princely Men in the Heavenly Kingdom, cloth 50 cents net, paper 35 cents net, the Epworth League Mission Study text book for 1903-4, and Chapter XI, “China and Its Dependencies,” in his Geography and Atlas of Protestant Missions, Vol. I. The most complete and authoritative survey of the country as a whole is that by Dr. S. Wells Williams, The Middle Kingdom, revised edition, 2 vols., $9.00. These and any other missionary books desired can be obtained, through the pastor, of the Methodist Book Concern. 48