preface since the days when those early apostolic herald s of the glad tidings brought home to the...

EMITH

O U R M IS S IONA R I ES

IN CHINQ

MRS . EMMA AyDERSQIiAND OTHER MISSIONA R IES IN T HE F l ELD

Behold, these shall com e from far : and . 10. these fromthe nort h and from the wes t : and these from the land of

S i n i m .

"

Isaiah 49 : 1 2 .

PA CIF IC PRE S S PU BLISHING A S S OCIA TION

MOUNTA I N V IEW , CAL I FORN IAKa n sas City. Mo . S t . Paul, M i n n . Po rt land . O re.

Brook fleld . I ll. C ris to bal. Cana l Zone

Copyri gh t , 1 920, byPacific Press Pub l is h i ng Ass n .

Moun ta i n View , Ca l i forn ia

Preface

S i nce the days when those early apostol i c herald sof the glad t id ings brought home to the churches of

Antioch and Jerusalem the reports of thei r conquests

among the heathen,the m i ss ion story has never fa i led

to enr ich the sp i r i tual l i fe of the church , and to i nsp i re

God ’s ch i ldren to respond to H i s cal l for workers .

M i ss ionary i nformation i s necessary to miss ionary

insp i rat ion . Our young pe0p1e, to whom the cal l s

from the reg ions beyond come with spec ial force to

day,need

.to l i ft up thei r eyes and look on the fields

Wh ite already to harvest . They need to study the great

m iss ion fields of the world,and to know how God i s

us ing persons l ike themselves to br ing the message of

H i s grace i nto the l i ves of those who sit i n darkness .

God has wonderful ly blessed the heralds of the ad

vent message in Ch ina s i nce they entered that great

country, only a few years ago . Thi s book i s not an

attempt to tel l the story of th i s work . I t i s merely a

ser i es of typ ical pen sketches , wh ich wi l l g ive the

reader a concrete i dea of our mi ss ionar i es at work .

We shal l see the i r su rround i ngs, understand the i r

methods, apprec iate the i r per i ls , and enter i nto the i r

j oy of see ing sou ls turned “ from darkness to l ight,and

from the power of Satan unto God .

”

Thi s book was prepared espec ial ly for the Sen iorM i ss ionary Volunteer Read ing Course . The stor ies

were so l ic i ted and ed i ted by Mrs . I . H . Evans , who

was office secretary of the M i ss i onary Volunteer De

partment, and who, with her husband , has s ince taken

up miss ion work i n the Far East . We owe a debt

of grati tude to M rs . Evans , and to ou r hard pressed

( 7 )

8 PREFACE

miss ionari es who have g iven us these stor ies out of

real l i fe .

I’

am sure I speak the sent iments of these workers

when I say that al l who have had any part i n the prepa

rat i on of th i s book w i l l feel abundantly repaid‘

if i t

shal l i nspi re others to vo l unteer for serv i ce in th i s

great needy field ; for

A mill ion a month in ChinaAre dying without God .

M . E . KERN .

CO NT E NT S

OPENING OF THE CH I N A MISS ION

BETHEL GIRLs ’ S CHOOL

THROUGH THE PADDY F IELDS

E NTER I NG S ZECH UAN PROV I N CE

E ARLY E XPER IENCES I N OLD CATHAY

THE MISS IONARY AT WORK

R EVOLUT IONARY EXPER IEN CES

BEG I N N I NGS AT AMOY

PRESS I N G TOWARD THE BORDER OF T IBET

F ROM MANY PENs

THE TEST OF F AITH

S CHOOL AROUN D A R I CE S IEVE

THE “F LAVOR” I N THE WORD

A G IRL I N CH I N A

R ET URN I N G FROM A PI LGR IMAGE

BEATEN BY A MOB ; Now AN E VANGEL IST

VAR IE D E XPER IENCES

THE CH I LDREN OF CH I N A

A V ILLAGE HOME NEAR S HANGHA I

A HEATHEN HOME I N S ZECH UAN

TEACH I NG THE GOSPEL TH ROUGH CHARACTERS

THE DRAGON F EST IVAL

MOKAN SHAN

L ITTLE F IVE ’s IMAGE

THE HOMES OF CH I NA

Illustration s

A S ection of the Great Wal l of China F rontispieceOutl ine Map of China 1 2

A G l impse of Hongkong and Its Beautiful Harbor 1 7

A ! Ia k Isha and Its Motor 1 9“Good Morning” 24

One of the Widest Streets in Kunshan 27

Grinding Mi l let A Typ ical Chinese Mi l l 29

Part of the Waterfront, S hanghai 33S oochow as S een from the Top of Poz i-tu Pagoda 35

The Rai lway S tation, Pek ing 4 1

Images in the Wa Lum Temp le, Canton 45

Mute E vidence of S uffering 49“S tanding on the Dragon” 53

Confucian Temp le of Learning 57

A Rescued Chinese Baby Outcast 60

S om e Hunan Bel ievers and one of the Miss 10nCottages, Changsha

Lung Wha Pagoda , Ten Mi les from ShanghaiAmerican Gunboat and Native Craft, ShanghaiNanking Wal l and Taip ing GateThe Tomb of a Wealthy OfiicialBaptism at Lohtsing, Kiangche M iss ion, 1 9 1 8A Barber P lying His Trade in the S treetA Bamboo Forest Where Wi ld Flowers Grow in

Abundance 87

A Busy Shoemaker 92

Former Taoist Priest, Now a Colporteur 93

A Grave Mound Near Shanghai 95

S tone Image of Turtle at the Nank ing Tombs 97

P lowing, Chinese Fashion 1 03

The Temp le on the Hil l, Wuchang 1 07

A Man of Learning 1 1 1

A Chinese Farmer, Content with Things as They Are 1 1 5

The B ird of the Coolie 1 1 8Rice Culture 1 23

A Great Saving of Precmus Energy 1 27

! ust a Common Stone Bridge 1 3 1

E conomy Rather than Comfort 1 35

Native Craft on the Han River at Hankow 1 39

E ntrance to a Temple at Kunshan 1 40

Rapids in the U pper Yangtze 1 45

Cargo Boat on the Han River 1 48

A Group of P i lgrim Guests at a Buddhist Temp le 1 53

A “Model” S chool in Foochow 1 57

Wal l One Thousand Years Old 1 59

Nanking Road 1 6 1

( 1 0)

ILLUSTRAT IONS

A Row of Chinese Clothing S toresA mong the Mat Sheds , HankowA long the Grand CanalPupi ls of a Honan Church SchoolA Chinese Sawm i l lA Funeral ProcessionA Poor Mother of China Offering Her Babies for SaleThe Temp le of Heaven , Pek ingPastor Liu and a Gospel V i l lage ConvertTwo Common Methods of Travel in ChinaPoverty NO Bar to HappinessCoolies in Summer DressA Camel Train by the Tartar Wal lA Merchant and His FamilyTomb of the First Manchu Em peror of ChinaRebel SoldiersA Part of the Hankow Iron and S teel WOI k s

One of the Smal ler Gates Of Pek ingRed Cross Hosp ital , ShanghaiA Prominent Chinese Official of Soochow About to

Board the TrainPastor Liu Djen BangRobber Chief ’s Name CardOutl ine Map of TungkwanImproving the Tim e in S imple StyleBrother and S ister Djou Wen HsuinBridge in the Grounds of the Summer PalaceYung Kung and Yung Wah

A Moso ShepherdA Native CarpenterAn O ld Buddhist PI IestChan Wan HeungThe Buttressed Wal ls Of Pek ingA Chinese Deed to M iss ion PropertyAl l AboardPorch of the Templ e Before the Tomb of ConfuciusAn Ancestral TabletMoving Tim e in ChinaChinese ! unks on the River Near S hanghaITwenty-E ight Chinese Charac tersDragons Seek ing to Swal low the MoonCanal Street . NantziangA String of House BoatsA Prim i tive Irrigating P lantStone Bridge Outs ide the West Gate , KadingFive Chinese B less ings

1 1

OUTL I NE MAP OF CH I NA , SHOW I NG ITS VAR IOUS PROV I NCES

Opening of the China MissionMR S . EMMA A NDERS ON

I t i s not my purpose here to Outl i ne a h i story of

the beg inn ings Of Seventh-day Adventi st mi ss ions i nCh ina

,but rather to narrate personal exper i ences i n

connect ion w i th the Open ing of th i s mi ss ion from the

t ime Of our leavi ng home, i n December, 1 901 , t i l l we

were fina l ly settled i n Ch ina proper i n Apri l of 1 903.

THE BEG INN ING OF A NEW ERA OF M ISSIONS

At th i s t ime,the world had suddenly aroused to a

new interest i n th i s vast and populous empi re, wh ich

through ages of human,history had l ived l argely to

i tself alone, separate from and qu i te i ndependent of“ the other half . ”

Nearly a hundred years had elapsed s ince RobertMorr i son arr ived i n Ch ina . Whi le the princ ipal Chri s

t i an denominat ions had formed miss ionary soc ieti es ,and planted miss ions i n var ious parts , st i l l the work

was go i ng far too s lowly to produce any defin ite im

press ion on the l i fe of the nation . Many t imes more

people were born every day into heathen homes than

even heard of the gospel i n that same time . That i s

to say, heathen i sm was i ncreas i ng many times faster

than the gospel was spread ing i n Ch ina .

Th i s was the cond it ion i n the autumn Of 1 899, when

news of a strange d i stu rbance i n a secret order known

as Boxers was flashed round the world . At first, the

movement was d i rected toward unseating the fore ign

Manchu dynasty, then ru l ing Ch ina ; but so sk i l l ful ly

d id those i n author i ty manage affa i rs, that i n a few

months i t had developed i nto an organ i zed movement

1 4 W ITH OU R M I SSIONARIES IN CH INA

for the exterminat ion of al l fore igners on thei r sa

cred so i l .

The aged and strong-minded empress, against whom

the attempt was at first undoubted ly a imed,herself

became an effect ive i nstrument i n d i recti ng the mur

derous blow that fel l w i th such dead ly weight upon

the miss ionar i es, men , women, and ch i ldren al ike .

There was mourn ing in every Chri sti an land,Where

were related the experi ences of suffer ing and sacr ifice

endured by miss i onar i es who had “ loved not the i r

l i ves unto the death .

” There was rej o i c ing, also, i n

every Chr i st i an heart that heard of the courage and

l oyalty Of native Chr ist ians who chose to suffer tortu re

and death rather than renounce al leg iance to the true

God and deny fa i th i n H i s dear Son .

Once again the blood Of martyrs became the seed

of the church . Aroused by th i s terr ible stroke fal len

on thei r far too s lender forces , miss ionary soc iet i es

planned to i ncrease greatly the number of thei r work

ers , and to prov i deat once better homes , schools, andother fac i l i t i es for work . New treaty pr ivi leges were

secured to the nat ions, by wh ich miss ionar i es were free

to go everywhere preach ing the Word . Thus the year

1 900, marked by persecut ion , bloodshed, and martyr

dom,stands out

,al so, as the dawn Of a new era Of

miss i ons i n Ch ina .

LEAVING HOME

I t was i n Apri l of the fo l lowing year that the Gen

eral Conference Of Seventh-day Advent i sts passed a

recommendati on advi s ing that Jacob N . Anderson

and wi fe, Of Wiscons i n , be i nvi ted to make Ch ina thei r

field of labor .

OPENING OF THE CH INA M ISSION 1 5

At th i s t ime, my s ister, Ida E . Thompson , was under

appoi ntment to Braz i l, at the expense of the Wiscons in

Conference . The appo intment was afterward trans

ferred to China, th i s conference st i l l conti nu ing her

support .

On Chri stmas eve of 1 901 , the Ch ina group Of three

adults and our four-year-Old son l eft our home en route

by way of Ch icago for San Franc i sco,from wh ich port

we were booked to sai l by the steamsh ip “America

Maru” to Hongkong .

TO the M i ss ion Board , accustomed to d ispatch i ng

workers to d istant lands, th i s i n i t ia l step to the i r en

trance into a great emp i re of soul s was

but a turn Of the wheel of progress by wh ich the th i rd

angel’

s message i s to be carr i ed to every nation , k in

dred , tongue, and people . But to th i s detached group

Of prospect ive miss ionari es,i t meant a complete revo

lution of l i fe’

s plans, such as scarcely can be real ized

t il l i t has been exper i enced .

Late i n the a fternoon Of a dul l December day , the

overland tra i n from Chicago stretched i ts length along

the shore of San Franc i sco Bay . The dark gray of the

sky overhead was reflected by the deeper gray of the

waves rol l ing sullenly below . A heavy fog hung

over the shore,r i s ing l ike a vast, uncerta i n shadow

b‘

efore u s . An awful sense Of i solat i on and lonel i ness

came over u s,with the thought that from that day ti l l

seas shal l be no more,thou sands Of miles Of ocean

depths l ike these would separate u s from home and

fri ends . Presently,however

,our engine thrust i tsel f

i nto the shadow . The fog seemed l i ft i ng, and we were

ushered i nto the l i fe and sti r Of a busy c i ty . Surely,we were not alone ; with u s was the promise, LO, I am

1 6 W ITH OU R M ISSIONA RIES I N CH INA

wi th you alway, and back of us was God ’s remnant

church , pledged to sacr ifice and to prayer t i l l“th i s

gospel of the k ingdom shal l be preached i n al l the

world for a w i tness unto al l nat ions; and then shal l

the end come .

”

ARRIVING IN HONGKONG

February 2, 1 902 , the

“America Maru dropped

anchor i n Hongkong harbor, not long before sunset

over the h i l ls of Tang . The ocean l iner had scarcely

swung taut on her cab les when she was surrounded

by a swarm Of sa i lboats, house boats, sampans, and

j unks, seemingly come up out of the sea . Staterooms,saloon

,and deck were wel l-n igh cleared of passengers

when we finally lowered ourselves and our hand lug

gage into a boat, and were rowed ashore, not i nto

Ch ina, but to Hongkong, a small i s land belongi ng to

Great Br ita i n,ly ing j ust off the southeast coast of

Ch ina .

No one met u s at the j etty, e ither ; and here, too,passengers and luggage had been cleared away, and

th i ngs were growing qu i et for the coming n ight, when

half a dozen coo l i es drawing j i nr iki shas came rattl i ng

up . My husband drew out from an ins ide pocket the

s l ip Of cardboard he had cheri shed j ealously the j our

ney through, and read,“A . La Rue

,3, Arsenal St .

”

The cool i es shook the i r heads . The address was read

agai n , slowly and d i st inctly .

“La LOO ?” “La LOO ?” the coo l i es quer i ed blankly .

Then the name of the street was repeated aga in and

again .

“A h ! H i !

”came in response from a new arr i val .

Dash ing i nto the crowd, he lowered h i s veh icle, loaded

1 8 W ITH OU R M ISS IONARIES IN CH INA

In the small passenger, and began stow i ng hand bag

gage about the ch i ld .

“Hi! Kwan Chang Kai!

” the coo l i e asserted .

“Kwan Chang Kai!

” echoed a dozen vo i ces,and as

many cool i es made a dash for a passenger or a p i ece

of l uggage .

M r . Anderson was not so sure . To our ears,there

was not the least resemblance In these words to the

address we were looking for . S O we managed to keep

to our feet, and reso l utely held on to our baggage .

Just then a Br it i sh seaman came up . Yes ; the

coo l i es were r ight . H e knew the place,and wou ld

h imself take the lead to Show the way .

“A l l the chaps

know Daddy La Rue, he exp la ined . In about twenty

minutes,ou r trai n of five one-man-power veh icl es

halted before a row of three-story bu i ld ings .“R ight away up these stai rs

,first floor,

1 door at your

left, d irected our gu ide . The gl immer Of a small wal l

lamp revealed the locat ion Of the door, a stranger to

lock and key . I t y i elded to l ight pressure , and we

found ourselves i ns ide a large, meagerly furn i shed

room . Oppos ite the door, a low fire smo ldered i n

the red br ick fireplace . The l ight of an Oil l amp on

the table left deep shadows in the far corners,and the

apparent s i ze of the room was further i ncreas ed by

the b lue-t inted, bare walls . Plenty of chai rs were set

about i n conven i ent places,and several stood around

the tab le,Where books , papers , and leaflets were la id

out i nv i t ingly . S tra ight-backed chai rs and armchai rs

they were, al l of them . There ,was not a rock ing-chai r

i n s ight .

1 In the E as t . s tories are des ig nated as ground floor, firs t floor, secondfloor. etc .

A ! I NR IK ISHA AN D ITS MOTOR

20 W ITH OU R M ISSIONARIES I N CH I NA

However, closer observat ion led to the conj ecture

that guests might be expected ; for toward the other

end Of the flat, a smal l i nclosure had been set up . The

low wal ls, constructed of Japanese screens , were j ust

tal ler than a woman ’ s head . Not altogether new, but

st i l l r ich i n des ign and beautifu l i n co l or, were these

wal ls that shut i n the l i ttle bedroom . Ins ide Were two

smal l beds, covered head and foot w ith new white

counterpanes . A b i t Of carpet lay between . Two

chai rs,and a washstand wi th utens i ls

,completed the

preparati ons .

Beyond the bedroom, at the extreme rear Of the

flat, was a t iny d in ing sect ion, with barely room to

admit of guests pass ing one at a t ime to seats around

the smal l table . Beyond the main bu i ld ing, across an

Open court, was the cookhouse .

“Where does the smoke go ?” we inqu i red later,on

being in i ti ated i nto the use Of the queer l i ttl e nat ive

stoves arranged on a ti le bench l ike so many crocks i n

a row .

“Oh never m ind the smoke !” our host repl i ed j ovi

al ly . I t goes up th i s b ig flue when the Wind i s r ight,or any place i t wants to when the wind i s wrong . You

wi ll get used to that .

There was ample t ime for these Observati ons , d i

rected by our seaman gu ide, as we waited the home

coming Of our host . In the meantime, other'

callers

came in , push ing Open the door as we had done— a

scarlet-coated mar ine, a bluej acket, severa l stokers,and one or two royal eng ineers , d ist ingu i shed by go ld

plated buttons . These were some of the “chaps from

the steamsh ip “Terr ible ,” come ashore to meet the

new American miss i onar ies .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

22 W ITH OU R M ISSIONARIES I N CH INA

had as compan ion Mr . O l sen , first Offi cer on the boat

by wh ich he had traveled to Ch ina, who had been con

verted on the voyage . At the t ime of our arr ival, our

aged brother had l ived i n Hongkong for th i rteen years,doing colporteur work

,and keep ing Open house to “the

boys” on shore . He made tr ips to Shanghai andJapan

,and south to S i ngapore, Borneo, Java, and Cey

lon , sel l i ng books on board vessels, and in harbors and

ports where the steamer chanced to cal l . H i s s imple

fai th and earnest miss ionary zeal won for h im many

friends among the seafar i ng men, who sometimes gave

h im free passage on thei r boats . Once he traveled as

far as Jerusalem and the Holy Land . Hundreds of

books bearing the th i rd angel ’ s message were thus

scattered i n various parts of the world .

S ix weeks after ou r arr ival,Brother La Rue was

taken ser iously i l l Of pneumon ia . Only a strong con

stitution ,preserved by str ictly temperate hab its, made

recovery poss ib le . He had an ardent des i re to l i ve

t i l l Jesus shou ld come ; but at the return Of the season

the fol lowing year, he suffered another attack of

pneumon i a with grave compl icat i ons“ A l l that ski l led

adv ice and loving care cou ld do avai led noth ing . The

vital forces were spent .“When I am done

,I want every cent to have been

invested i n th is cause, he used to say . A s the end

drew near, he made a formal g ift to the China M i ss i on

Of the sav ings Of his l i fet ime . Thi s accompl i shed,he

fel l asleep almost as one i n s lumber, Apr i l 26 , 1 903 .

OU R F IRST YEAR

TO us who had come ou t ful l Of enthus iasm for the

new undertak i ng,th i s first year seemed , at the t ime ,

to accomp l i sh l ittle . One of the fi rst and most d ifficu lt

OPEN ING OF THE CH INA M ISS ION 23

lessons for the new miss ionary to learn i s that the

East has a pace al l i ts own , and cannot be j ogged i nto

the Western trot by any amount of fuss ing .

Fo l low i ng Brother La Rue’ s rec overy from the first

i llness, we set about fitt ing up a home for ourselves ,where we cou ld have a few hours Of qu i et each day

for the study of the language . The ra i ny season was

short that year, and the hot season came on earl i er

and hotter than usual . The atmosphere'

was Oppres

s ive, with a mo i st heat that g ives the effect Of a pro

longed Turki sh bath . Bubon ic plague became almost

a scourge, and cholera carr i ed away more v ict ims than

for many years . In August,dengue fever became

ep idemic i n the colony . A l l fou r of us were down at

one t ime, with only a young Ch inese boy for help .

M i ss Thompson had been under the care of a phys ic ian

s ince the beginn i ng of the hot season , as a result Of

extreme seas ickness on the voyage .

We thought to better our cond i t ion by moving a

l i tt le farther back from the sea, to a more elevated

locat i on . Here a new enemy awa ited us . In the per

ennial l eafy branches of a g iant ban tree at the front

of the house,and h id ing in the underbrush on the

mounta i n at the rear, were swarms Of mosqu itoes .

Before danger was suspected , all the fami ly but one

had been inocu lated with germs of malar ia . As new

miss ionari es came out,they were warned aga inst tak

i ng any chances wi th the i ns i d ious mosqu i to ; but i n

sp i te of al l precauti ons , a large proportion Of mis

sionaries i n Ch ina have suffered more or less from

this nagging d isease .

Later we real ized more Of the real valu e Of th i s

first year's experi ence i n Hongkong . S ix men from the

24 W ITH OU R M ISSIONARIES IN CH INA

steamsh ip Terr ible, who had been study i ng w i th

Brother La Rue, were baptized soon after our arr ival .O thers became interested ; and in the course Of that

year,

. five or six more were baptized .

I n ternational Film“GOOD MORN I NG”

OPENING OF THE CH INA M ISSION 25

Two facts i n particu lar had influenced our M i ss ion

B oard to.

send i ts first i nstallment Of workers to Hong

kong . F i rst,Brother La Rue was there . I t would have

pained that loyal heart had he been asked to return

home ; but i t was certai n that i n the event of a cr i s i s

such as might be expected at his advanced age, he

ought not to be left dependent on the care'

of strangers .

S econd,the pol it ica l cond i t i on of Ch ina was st i l l un

settled . Hongkong be ing a Br it i sh c'

olony and wel l

garr i soned,there was l i ttle l ikel ihood that the Boxer

movement wou ld extend to the i s land i n case Of an

other upri s ing . Furthermore, many wel l estab l i shed

mi ss ionary soc i et i es had headquarters in Hongkong ,and i t was thought to be a favorab l e locati on from

which to study the prob l em Of carry i ng the th i rd

angel's message i nto al l Ch ina .

STUDY ING THE F IELD

From Hongkong,Mr . Anderson made a number of

tr ips i nto the i nter ior of the southern prov inces ,to Canton and its ne ighboring c i t i es and vi l lages ,

through Kwangtung to the borders Of Kwangs i .

I d ist i nctly remember my first v i s i t, i n company

with my husband,to an active m iss ion stat ion i n the

i nter ior . The miss i on was at Sh i u H ing, on the West

R i ve r,at the western border Of the prov ince Of Kwang

tung . That c i ty was a lead ing center for the manu

facture and export of floor mattings . Formerly i t

was the cap i ta l Of th i s provi nce . In that t ime ,

some three hundred years before our v is i t, the Jesu it

Recci, with h i s compan i ons , had appeared be fore the

gates,and asked permi ss i on to take up h i s abode there .

These Jesu its professed to have become so attached to

Ch ina and its people that the i r one des i re was to be

26 W ITH OU R M I SSIONARIES IN CH INA

al lowed to bu i ld a l ittle home in the ‘C i ty, where they

might l i ve and d i e i n th i s chosen land . Of course,later Operations revealed qu i te another purpose in

the i r com ing .

The miss ionary in charge was a young woman,daughter Of a miss ionary in Canton , who had i nvited

us to v i s i t herstat i on . Our steamer was late,and the

c i ty was shrouded i n darkness when we arr ived . But

the smal l nat iveboats came out as usual . One boat

Was d i st ingu ished by a brighter l ight than the others .As i t drew near, we saw a man standing on its deck

with a lantern i n h i s hand . Our quartermaster ha i led

h im, and a flow of words passed between them .

“They have come for you ,” the capta i n i nformed us .

That man w i th a fore ign lantern i s from the mis

s ion . He says he has been wait ing for you here the

past four hours .

We fol lowed the l ighted lantern through unevenly

paved streets . Here and there was a l ighted gambl ing

house or Op ium den ; otherwise the streets were dark

as m idn ight . There was l i ttle danger we should be

come separated from°

one another—the streets were

too narrow for that . We reached the miss ion house

about ten O’clock, and were cord i al ly rece ived by our

hostess and her Ch inese helpers, who had tea prepared

for us .

N ext morn ing, we Observed that we had occup i ed

the bedroom Of ou r hostess , i t be ing the only one in

the house . We not iced, also, that the house terminated

abruptly i n a flat roof,which apparently leaked in

places . Ou r hostess explained that her miss ionary

Soc i ety had la id the foundat i on for a comfortabl e two

story house,with deep , coo l ing verandas al l around ;

OPEN ING OF THE CH INA M ISSION 27

but when the bu i ld ing had reached the second floor, and

the i r i ntent ion became known,the ne ighbors Ob

jected . There was not another bu i ld ing so tal l i n al l

the c ity, they sa id— except the pawnshop , which , beinga place of general publ ic necess ity

,wou ld of course

not matter . Such a structure as these fore igners proposed wou ld d i sturb the equ i l ibr i um of wind and

water, and bring d isaster on the commun ity . A tem

porary roof was immed iately put on , and further

bu i ld ing operations were suspended .

In former t imes, when the preach ing of the gospel

i n Sh iu H ing was forb idden,and miss ionar ies were

not al lowed with i n its walls, Dr . Graves had crawled

i n , at n ight, under the gates . At r i sk Of h i s l i fe,he

ONE O I“ THE W I IIE S T STREETS IN KUN SHAN


ga ined entrance for the gospel, and laid the sp i r i tual

foundat ion for th i s mi ss i on . When that opportuni ty

had been s ecu red, the m iss ionari es sweetly put up w i th

the i nconven i ence to wh i ch the superst it ion Of thei r

ne ighbors subj ected them, rather than create prej ud ice

by ignor ing publ ic Op in ion .

B reakfast was not served t i l l n in e o ’clock that morn

ing , nor on any morn ing, i n fact . Thi s i s how that

happened : A poor peasant woman,having heard the

gospel, had a burn ing des i re to read the Scr ipturesfor hersel f, but cou ld not go to school, because her

help was needed i n the fields . She was fifty years of

age— and here let i t be remembered that between

three thousand and four thousand d ist inct characters

are used i n the Chinese New Testament . But she was

determined to try, and walked fou r m i les regularly

every morn ing to the miss ion . Arr ivi ng at s ix o ’c lock,she stud i ed for two hours , after which she returned

to do her duty i n her husband ’s fields .

From every excu rs ion i nto the i nter i or Of the coun

try,my husband returned with i ncreased respect for

the Ch inese race, and a clearer real ization Of the won

derful i nfluence the gospel has p ower to exert on the

l i ves Of men .

NECESSITY OF KNOW ING THE LANGUAGE

A Ch inese brother who had returned from the

Un ited States was very des i rous Of tak ing up some

s imple work i n h i s native vi l lage on the mainland Of

Ch ina . He requ i red no support for h imself, but re

quested a smal l a l lowance for the rental on a house to

be used by h im as a place i n wh ich to rece ive the people

and teach the Word . He brought with h im letters of


h igh commendati on from the brethren of the church

i n America, and we had every reason , even to the last,

to trust h im as a true d i sc iple of Chri st . In a short

t ime, however, he was i n al l sorts of troubl e, d i s

trusted by the author it i es, in d ifficulty over h i s lease ,on which the land lord determined to co l l ect a double

rent, s i nce the house was used as a schoo l by day and

a meet inghouse by n ight . The teacher he had engaged

complai ned of h i s smal l compensat ion . Our brother

argued that he was rece i vi ng the same amount he

formerly rece ived as teacher of the v i l lage school,and

should not expect more ; for,“See,

” sa i d he,

“how few

boys there are not more than five or s ix !”

Ah ,” retorted the teacher,

“how should I be able

to teach a good large school on a wage that affords me

but a half stomach ful l Of food ? ”

Speak ing through an i nterpreter, i t seemed qu iteimposs ib le to c lear th i ngs up to the sat i sfaction of the

native people .

In whatever d i rect i on we turned , and whatever we

attempted to do , we became more and more convinced

that no one could become a really strong, i ndependent

worker i n Ch ina unti l he had first learned theChineselanguage . He shou ld at the very least be able to use

i t freely i n conversat ion and i n publ i c address,and

shou ld know enough Of characters to enab le h im to

read theB ible understandingly and to keep in touch

with the l i fe of the people through thei r current

l i terature . Th i s was apparently the least the mis

sionary should do to put h imsel f on the plane where

eventual ly he might become “al l th ings to al l men .

”

We were to ld that ord inari ly i t requ i res from one to

two or even three years for a mi ss i onary to acqu i re

OPENING OF THE CH INA M ISSION 3 1

a pract ical work ing knowledge of the language, and

that he w i l l find room for improvement even to hoary

ha i rs . From the beg inn ing, the work i n Ch ina was

bu i lt on the nat ive foundati on . The new miss i onar i es

understood, before leav ing home, that thei r perma

nence i n the field would depend largely upon the i r

ab i l i ty to acqu i re the language Of the S ect ion of coun

try where they expected to labor ; and upon arr ival

i n the field, they immediately settled i nto th i s l i ne of

study .

RECRUITS ARRIVE

Edwin H . Wilbur, and h i s wife, n!e Haskel l , Of

Iowa, arr ived i n Hongkong at the close of October,1 902 . These were

.

the first re in forcements, and as i t

tu rn ed out, the first Seventh-day Adventi st mi ss ion

aries to enter real Ch ina . Mr . Wilbur was not robust ;but we igh ing the probab i l i ty that under natural con

ditions , a defect ive heart would wear as long i n China

as i n any land, he prepared to make the sacr ifice . H e

was a practi cal pr i nter, and both he and Mrs . Wilbur

had nearly completed a nurse ’s tra i n ing . Both were

enthus iast i c m i ss i onari es . With in a month after

land ing in the O r ient,they settled i n the c i ty Of Can

ton , and plunged into the study O f the Cantonese lan

guage . Here, i n stri ctly native surround ings , they

were ob l iged to supply the necess i t i es of everyday l i fe

through the med ium Of Chi nese words . From the

first, they made excel lent progress i n acqu i r ing the

language .

Through the kindness O f the Southern Bapti s t m i s

sionaries , from whom the i r house was rented , these

new workers were suppl i ed wi th a Chri st ian language

teacher, and with the regu lar service of a rel i able


water-carr i er . Th i s latte r was no smal l i tem,s ince

pure dri nk ing water was to be had only at mounta in

spr i ngs,several miles away . I t was carr ied i n buckets

at the end of a pol e on the shoulder of coo l i es . The

price was one hundred cash ( about five cents ) a bur

den . I f a cool i e chooses to save h imself the greater

part of th i s labor ious j ourney, he fi l l s h i s bucket at

a neighborhood wel l, or from a pool col l ected from a

recent ra i n . H e probably gets h i s cash ,” but some

one i s l iable to suffer from dr inking impure water .

ANOTHER VIEW OF THE F IELD

Early i n January, 1 903, E r ick Pilquist and h i s wife

were released from the B ri t i sh and Fore ign B ible SO

ciety, and connected with our Seventh-day Advent i stM i ss ion . Mr . Anderson was requested to go to Honan

,

and plan with them for a new miss i on stat ion in the

very heart of Ch ina, and I was inv i ted to go with h im .

From Hongkong, we traveled e ight hundred m i les

by steamer to Shanghai , thence by r iver steamer six

hundred mi les up the Yangtze R iver to Hankow . The

last one hundred mi les from Hankow was made over

the Belg ian Ra i lway to S i n Iang Ch i o, whence we weretransferred by whee lbarrows to San-l i-t i-eu . That i s ,our baggage was transferred . For when we saw the

kind of conveyance that had been prov ided , we our

selves suddenly preferred exerc i se .

The great Yangtze R i ver,with i ts tributari es, is

the natural h ighway Of Central China . At frequent

i ntervals, popu lous c it i es, outspread ing the i r walls,reach down to the water

’s edge, pouring into i ts vast

t ide of commerce products Of the ever-vi rg i n so i l, to

gether wi th the hand icraft of its ski l led workmen .


At i ts mouth, the stream i s so broad as to appear

l ike an arm Of the sea ; but as the steamer enters the

real channel, the stream is Seen to be comparat ivelyShal low . Once on the way up

,the steamer creaked

,

shuddered , and for an instant stood st i l l ; The ma

ch inery rattled helplessly . A moment Of i ntense ex

citement fo l lowed . Then the eng ines took a deep

breath , puffed heav i ly, and the vessel resumed her

course .“A lmost got fast, the capta in exp lained

,po int ing

to a yel lowish spot i n the water, where the stern Of

ou r sh ip had grazed the end of a sand bar .

Farther on, the bed grows narrower, ti l l from the

steamer ’s deck, by a id of a glass, v i ews may be had

Of the Yangtze Valley,one Of the densely popul ated

reg ions of the globe . Here rural V i l lage j o i ns rural

V i l lage, as closely as farmhouses adj o in one another i n

our M iddle West . These c i rcumstances again re

minded us of the impress ions made upon our minds by

a l ike dens i ty Of populat ion i n sect ions of the southern

provinces . The magn itude of any undertaking by

wh ich the gospel l ight shal l be caused‘

to sh i ne to every

kindred, tongue, and people of Ch ina seemed incom

prehens ible .

How SHALL THE WORK BE BEGUN ?

From that steamer on the Yangtze,ly ing before the

c i ty Of Hankow,imag inati on traveled southward e ight

hundred mi les to those c it i es and v i l lages of the south

ern provi nces . Before us another e ight hundred miles

stretched away to the fert i le western prov i nces, and

the borders Of Turkestan and T ibet were not yet ; to

the northward lay e ight hundred mi les of ferti le pla ins ,

36 W ITH OU R M ISSIONAR IES IN CH INA

wi th Mongol i a and Manchur ia st i l l beyond ; wh i le he

h ind us were the populous c it i es of the coast plai n .

A c i rcle with eight hundred mi les as i ts rad ius and

Hankow as i ts center barely incloses the heart of th i s

great country . Thi s i s the beg inn ing Of a real izat ion

of what i s meant by “China ’s

And everywhere — from heathen altars everywhere

r i ses the smoke of idolatrou s incense .’

In not one

i n forty Of the v i l lages of even th is best-worked por

t ion of Ch ina, the Yangtze Val ley, had the gospel beenprocla imed by any agent whatsoever ; and in al l the

vast area of Ch i na, the th i rd angel’s message had not

a herald . The quest i on then was not,How shal l the

work be done ? but, How shal l th i s work be begun ?

AN APPEAL TO THE GENE RAL CONFERENCE OF 1 903

During th i s vi s i t to Central Ch ina,Mr . Anderson

was so moved by China ’ s great need,and by the at

tract i on Of the wonderfu l gospel Opportun it i es she af

fords, that he wrote a long letter to the M i ss ion Board ,

setti ng forth the s ituat ion qu ite ful ly, and appeal ing

for workers and means . Thi s letter reached Oakland

at the Open ing Of the General Conference sess ion of

1 903 , and E lder W . A . Sp icer brought i ts contents tothe attent i on Of that body , thus

“We have j ust rece ived a letter from Brother J . N .

Anderson i n Ch ina . He is i n that l and Of 400,

We have half a dozen workers there ; and

Brother Anderson reports that he has made a j ourney

into the far i nter ior, to the provi nce of Honan , and

there he found S ix adult Ch inese ready for bapti sm .

They are men Of i ntel l igence, some of them being

ready to go out into the work for others . The first

38 W ITH OU R M ISS IONAR IES I N CH INA

a port ion of each per iod was d irected to i nd iv idual

dr i l l on tones, i n pronunciat ion , and i n wr i t ing charac

ters . Thi s man had been trai ned by miss ionar i es of

the Berl i n M i ss i on , with character i sti c thoroughness .

He knew h i s bus iness , and went stra ight to the po i nt .

TRIALS OF LANGUAGE STUDY

We had now been i n Hongkong a ful l year,and dur

I ng th i s t ime, had stud i ed with a teacher as a class

for two hours da i ly, when we had been able to do so .

But we were very d i ssati sfied w i th the results . I t

seemed to us we repeated the teacher ’s words exactly

as he pronounced them ; but after our best efforts,repeated over and over, he usually sa id,

“Lee-ta

diff’

ence, or a Chinese phrase wh ich meant,

“About

so, but wh i ch , as he pronounced i t rather i nd ist i nctly,sounded to us exactly l ike “Chop i t Off.

” Th i s was

usual ly taken as a s ignal to proceed . I suppose he

thought that what the “ l i ttle d ifference” real ly was

would dawn on the stup id brai ns Of the foreigners

somet ime, and wi th true O r i ental pat ience, he cou ld

afford to wai t for that dawn ing so long as h i s pay

came regularly .

When Mr . Wong took us i n hand , he got to the poi nt

at once,and we soon found out where i n that “ l i ttle

d ifference” lay . When he pronounced the word fan

i n an upper, even tone, i t meant come back . When

he sa id fan i n the lower-going tone, i t meant cooked

rice. In Ch inese, the tone i n wh ich a word i s pro

nounced has as much to do with i ts s ign ificance as

the vowel sound has to do with an Engl i sh word . One

might as wel l say“sheep” and mean ship , as to pro

nounce the syl lab l e fan without the proper tonal d i s

OPENING OF THE CH INA M ISSION 39

t inction . Some one has sa id, Chinese i s never spoken ,but always sung ;

” and so i t seemed to us as we

readj usted our vocabulary Of Ch inese words on the

proper scale of n ine pri nc ipal tones and several sec

ondary tones .

Thi s exper i ence taught us that the best language

teacher i s none too good . We learned, too, that the

more prec i se and exacting he i s, the fewer mistakes

one must un learn ; and that the royal way to get Ch i

nese i s to take i t through the pores that i s,to sweat

for i t . I t was a hard exper ience ; but we were happy

in i t, for i t was bri ng ing us nearer to the real Ch ina .

ENTERING REAL CH INA

For fou rteen months , we had camped on i ts borders ,wai t ing Opportun i ty to cross over into “the Flowery

Land," as the Ch inese have ever loved to cal l the i r

country . Th i s Opportun i ty came when , after a res i

dence Of five months i n Canton,Brother Wi lbur ’s

fami ly requ i red a change to more health fu l surround

ings . Accord ingly they returned to Hongkong, and

we moved to Canton .

The house that the Wi lburs had occup i ed was to be

our home . The bu i ld ing i tsel f was a gray-brick strue

ture of two stori es . The dwel l i ng was above , the lower

floor be ing intended for a chapel . But the chapel’

s

street door was shut , and padlocked with a heavy i ron

c lasp and staple . How thatO

empty room with its

closed door spurred us on to d i l igent study ! Here was

a place ready for the tel l ing Of the glad news Of sal

vation . Indeed,b ig Ch inese characters over the doo r

announced the place as l i teral ly the “Blessed Vo iceHal l . Many a passer-by read those words , tri ed the


lock, peered i n through the i ron-grated w i ndows , then

w i th a wonderi ng look up into the open veranda above,

went h i s way .

At the rear, connected w i th our house as part of

the premises , stands the old chapel . Thi s i s the spot

to wh ich Hung San Tsiien came for i nstruct ion i n the

B ible after those remarkable vi s i ons i n wh ich he be

lieved h imself to have been cal led to destroy ido l wor

sh ip Out of Ch ina . From th i s Old chape l, he went forth

on that m iss i on wh ich, from a small beg inn ing of re

form in h i s own fami ly and among h i s k insmen and

neighbors,later developed i nto the Ta ip i ng Rebell i on .

Though the but parti al l ight of the leader was later

greatly obscured by fanat ic i sm and error, yet through

th i s agency, there was cast i nto the rel ig ious l ife Of

the nat ion a leaven of truth wh ich has never ceased to

work . It was of i nterest to us that, fol lowing only

the Scr iptures as the i r gu ide, the Ta ip i ngs adopted“the Ten Heavenly Ru les” as the moral standard ofconduct

,observi ng “the seventh day as the day Of

worsh ip , and of pra i se to God .

” Our first smal l tra i n

i ng school for young men was after a'

t ime Opened i n

the “old chapel,

” where the Taip ing leader had been

taught .

AT HOME IN CH INA

Apr i l, 1 903, we reached the goal toward wh ich our

faces had been steadfastly set s ince we left home . We,

were i n Ch ina at last, located i n Canton, the great

metropol i s of South Ch ina,a c ity i n commerc ial and

pol it i cal importance second to none i n the land, unless

first place be conceded to Peking, the nati on’ s cap i tal .

As a Protestant m iss ion center, Canton i s parent Of al l .

42 W ITH OU R M ISS IONAR IES I N CH INA

With in these nat ive wal ls, and overflow ing on a ll i ts

s ides, i s a purely nat ive popu lat ion of two and one

hal f mil l i on souls . On every hand were s igns of that

suffer ing need wh ich had touched our hearts by hear

say in the homeland . How i nsufferably needy these

souls now appeared by actual contact ! That the so i l

of these s in-scarred pagan hearts was ready for the

seed, was apparent i n the cur i ous, fr i end ly faces that

gazed‘

after us whenever we went i nto the streets .

What a splend id place was th is i n wh ich to bury that“corn of wheat men cal l one ’s l i fe !

Bethe! Girls’

School

IDA E . THOMPS ON

The first Seventh-day Advent i st g irls ’ school i n

Ch ina was Opened in the c i ty of Canton in the spr ing

Of 1 904 . At first,i t was Sheltered i n a Ch inese pr ivate

dwel l ing house ; but later a group Of bu i ld ings erected

by the Southern Bapt i st M i ss ion for a boys ’ tra i n ing

school was purchased . The l i ttle day school,then

transferred to more commod ious quarters , became a

board ing school as well, and was chr i stened“Bethel

G i rls’ School . ” Thi s name was adopted i n compl iment

to my native state . I had come out to Ch in a from

Wiscons in , and was mainta i ned at the expense of that

conference . The Wiscons in Con ference had cal led

the i r i ntermed i ate schoo l “Bethel School so th i s

name was chosen for ou r m iss ion school . As ide from

th is , Bethel house Of God appealed to us as being

an appropriate t itle for a Chr ist ian school set i n the

midst of a great heathen c i ty .

I had been i n Ch ina almost two years , and my heart

was deeply sti rred by the deplorab l e Sp i ri tual con

d i tion of i ts women,for whose upl i ft the i r own peop l e

appeared to be do ing next to noth ing . Our work i n

Ch ina was i n i ts earl i es t beginn ings , and money for al l

purposes was scarce . TO help out, I had been teach ing

E nglish to wealthy Ch inese boys hal f a day , and study

ing Chinese under a teacher the remain ing hal f day

As I was now able to read a l i ttle, and to speak a l i ttle

more , i n Ch inese, I felt impel led to do someth ing for

these women,espec ial ly for the better c lass

,whom I

p iti ed most,because they were most help l ess , most

idle , and therefore most unhappy . In a letter to E lder

( 4 3 )


Wi l l iam Covert, for a number of years pres ident of my

home conference, I confided to h im th i s’

great des i re

of my heart .“If there were only a smal l sum of money

that could be used for the purpose,I certa in ly shou ld

undertake to open a gi rls ’ school ” I sa id .

GO AHEAD

In less t ime than i s usual ly requ ired for ma i l to

make that d i stance, half way round the world and

back, the reply came :“GO ahead, and open a g irls

’

school . Wiscons i n wi l l supply the means requ i red for

i ts maintenance .

” And so i t d id . Not for One yearonly, but for the first five years of its ex i stence, the

school was supported wholly by'

pr i vate gi fts . The

home people cal led Bethel G i rls ’ School “our n ight

schoo l, because i t worked wh i l e they s lept .

Now that means was at hand,I moved to Canton

,

th i s metropo l i s of South Ch ina having been selectedas the natural l ocat ion for the headquarters of our

work i n th i s sect ion . E lder J . N . Anderson and fami ly

had come up from Hongkong a few months earl i er .

THE NEED

Imagine yourself in a great c ity of two and a half

mi l l ions Of people . At least half of th i s popu lat ion i s

fem in ine ; for nature, apparently in resentment against

the teach ing of the Chinese sages, seems to have mul

tiplied the b i rth rate of the“ i nfer ior sex . In perhaps

half the homes of th i s c i ty,“wife” i s a word to be

used i n the plura l, and may include any number from

two to twenty . Not one woman i n a hundred can read

suffic i ently to gather i nformation from the pr i nted

page . Educat ion is den ied to women, for the reason

that to expend money i n th i s way i s thought to be


V i rtual ly g iving means to that other fami ly i nto wh ich

shew i l l be marri ed at an early age . At any rate,what

more i s to ibe expected of these i nfer ior be ings than

that they shall rear ch i ldren,and make garments and

shoes for the fami ly ? S i nce the Ch inese regard a

l i terary educat ion as wasted on womankind,the ma

jority of our neighbors i n Canton natural ly looked with

susp ic ion on the mot ives of fore igners who promoted

th i s i nnovation .

Under such c i rcumstances, the Open ing Of th i s first

schoo l was undertaken . A house was not eas i ly Obi

tained, as not every owner was wi ll i ng to rent to a

fore igner for such a purpose . Nor would eV-ery com

mun ity al low a g irl s ’ school to be Operated among them ,

for fear of i ts upsett ing the soc ial order and even

nature i tself . And not every Ch inese house could be

remodeled i nto su i tab l e quarters for such an under

tak ing . However,through the persever ing and per

suas ive efforts of our chapel boy, a place was finally

secured .

THE BUILD ING

The house selected faced a street of average width ,but i n fact so narrow that persons carry ing umbrellas ,or weari ng broad o i lsk i n hats on a ra iny day, were

ob l iged to t ip these shelters on edge i n pass ing one

another . A long the west s ide of the house ran another

such street . The windows, and al l other Open ingsexcept on e door i nto the street, opened upon a court

i n the center . There was one very favorable feature

about the place . On the east, an Open space about the

width Of the average American country road or c i ty

street led down to the bank of P earl R i ver, nearly two

BETHEL GIRLS ’ SCHOOL 47

blocks away . Through th i s Open space, the south wind,coo led and sweetened i n its passage over the stream

,

found i ts way into the court and c i rculated through

its l iv ing quarters . There was not a tree on the prem

ises, nor a foot of open ground connected with them ;but to the nat ive mind

,th i s mattered not

,for Ch inese

ch i ldren are sent to school to study,not to play .

GETT ING RID OF OLD D IRT

The next step was to put the place i n order . The

ins ide of the wal ls Of the house were of the same br ick

structure as was the outs ide, only the outs ide had been

troweled and fin i shed a l i ttl e more smoothly i n bu i ld

ing . The mud walls were soon h idden beneath a snowy

coat of l ime . Windows were c leaned,and one or two

new ones were put in,to admit more l ight and ai r .

The woodwork was freshly painted , and the t i le floors

were scrubbed t i l l the surface of each terra cotta

square appeared d i st i nctly outl ined by its wh ite

cement .

Numerous quest i ons were asked of the nat ive work

men as they passed back and forth , br ing ing in ma

terials and carry ing out rubb i sh . Many a pry ing

neighbor thrust h i s head in through the door as i t was

Opened , to see what was going on . When the work

was fini shed,a few potted palms and flowering plants

were set about the court and i n the windows: The

customary red S ign i n b lack i nk was tacked to the

street door,announc ing a free school for girls to be

opened in th is house on the twenty-fi fth o f May .

THE TEACHER ARR IVES

M i ss ionar i es Of other denominati ons , p i oneering the

way into China,had Often been ob l iged to beg in the i r


Schoo l work with heathen teachers . We were fortu

nate to secure the serv i c e of a young woman educated

i n the Bapti st M i ss ion Schoo l , and therefore a Chr i st ian

,though not of ou r fa ith . Two days before schoo l

was to Open , the teacher arr ived, accompan ied by

several Older women ; for no modest young woman

might appear i n pub l i c unattended . The small boys,

always on lookout duty at the street doors, shouted to

the women back in the cou rts,“A fine young lady is

pass ing !”

“Follow her ! See where she goes !” came the an

swer ; and the black eyes of the women , peer ing

through the cracks of the gate, followed her as far as

they could see . In th i s way,the arr ival of the teacher

became another means by wh ich the Open ing of the

new school was announced .

THE SCHOOLROOM

If you had seen that room as i t was prepared -ready

for school to beg in, you wou ld have thought i t d id not

look much l ike a school room ; for its furn i ture con

s i sted Of barely one desk and chai r, i ntended for the

teacher ’s u se,and a rather glossy- looking blackboard .

By the t ime the new teacher arr ived, five desks and

stools had been placed by prospect ive pup i ls . The day

before school was to Open, there was an almost con

tinuous stream of cal lers .“Who may come to th i s school ? May a g i rl come

who is not handsome, but wi shes to learn characters ?”

“Wi l l the gi rls who come here be taught to read the

characters Of our nat ive land,or on ly the fore ign lan

guage ? ”

“May slave g irls come to th i s school and learn to

read ? ”

BETHEL GIRLS ’ SCHOOL 49

Must g i rls who have bound feet , unb ind them be

fore they may be admitted ?

TO al l such quest ions , one answer was given . Any

girl who would conduct herself becomingly, and study

fa ithfu lly,and provide her own books and desk and

seat,wou ld be cheerful ly accepted . The schoo l would

be open for study every day in the week , but on the

seventh day would cont inue for a half day only . That

t ime would be spent i n s ing ing,and in read ing the

Holy Book .

EARLY MORN ING OF THE FIRST DAY

The dawn of that Open ing day found us not without

some fears and misg iv ings . But early, almost with

M UTE EV IDENCE OF THE SUFFER I NG CAUSED BY T I IE OLI )CUSTOM 0 1’ FOOT B I N D I NG


the r i s ing of the sun , the i ron knocker sounded through

the house : Bang ! Bang ! Clang !“Asham , Open door ! I have brought a table for the

l i ttl e daughter !her m istress’s ch i ld!. Pardon me, I

ought not to ask i t,but w i l l you help me let i t off my

shoulder ? Where shal l I place i t ? Here are her books .

Keep them safely for her . As she spoke, the servant

placed i n the doorkeeper ’s hands the prec ious bund l e,neatly wrapped i n a striped red and green s i lk hand

kerch i ef, and turned to go .“S i t and rest, please ; I wi l l go to fetch the ch i ld .

Walk slowly and well,” courteously returned the

woman at the door ; but real ly you must make haste,for these fore igners w i l l beg in exactly on t ime, at

e ight o ’c lock .

”

S O they came one after another— twenty-five desksof al l shapes and s izes and qual it i es, from poor p ine

tables on totter i ng legs to respectable teakwood ar

ticles with seats to match,and polished ebony sets .

Accord ing to my judgment, the by 1 9 feet i n

s ize ) was far too ful l, for the hot weather was already

upon us ; but th is was Egoo’

s first schoo l, and she was

too elated with the j oy and pr ide of her prospects to

al low any to be turned away . With wonderfu l in

genuity, she arranged the tables compactly, l eaving

only a narrow ai sle down the middle, and'

a narrower

space at the s ides,between the tables and the wal l .

Th i s was more as a precaution against ch i l l from the

porous br ick wal l s than to provi de a passageway .

How wi l l she be able to keep an eye on the i r do i ngsbeh ind those tables

,packed as they are ? was the

quest ion i n my mind . But Egoo knew better than I

how l i ttle watch ing those eager ch i ldren would requ i re .

BETHEL GIRLs’

SCHOOL 5 1

By seven O’

clock, the pup i ls began coming , some

carr i ed on the backs Of servants,others walking in

care of a relat ive or servant carry ing thei r books,

whi le a very few ventured i n a lone . Each presented

herself at the teacher’

s desk, and with a very low bow,

la i d on the table a l i ttle present,accord i ng as she was

able to afford, Of c0pper or s i lver co i ns snugly wrapped

in red paper .

At e ight o ’clock,the bel l was tapped

,although every

ch i ld was already s i tting qu i etly at her desk . The

teacher rose to open the school .“Ch i ldren , she sa id ,

“put your hands together, th i s

way . Now close your eyes t ightly— l et no one Open

them ti l l I b id you,for I am going to pray .

”

Not one of them knew what i t i s to pray ; but each

ch i ld , fol lowing the teacher’s movements , la i d her

palms together, and drew the slender brown hands to

her breast, closed her eyes, nor moved a muscle t i l l the

prayer was ended .

THE F IRST SONG

Open your eyes . Now we wi l l s i ng . Every eye

was on the teacher's l ips as she repeated a verse tran s

lated from Jesus Loves Me,Th i s I Know .

” When the

words had been learned, She l ed out i n s i ng ing . The

pupi ls were instructed to try to imitate her tones , and

to s ing,even though they d id not know the tune . P rob

ably not one of them had ever before made an attempt

Of th i s k i nd . Some craned thei r necks i n a strenuous

effort to reach the p itch,and others shrugged up the i r

shoulders and drew down thei r heads i n embarrass

ment . Some clenched the i r teeth i n fright at the i r

own vo ices,while others were so engrossed in attention


to the teacher that they stood with wide-Open mouths,forgett ing to make a sound . But that s inging was

fine ; for the sp i r i t of the whol e exerc i se spel led, I am

here to do my bes t.

The method of ass ign ing the lessons , and the study

per iod that fol lowed, were qu i te novel to me . One at a

t ime, the ch i ldren were called to the desk, and each

was taught how to salute the teacher, and to make a

proper and deferent i al bow . I t was Egoo’

s custom to

s i t qu ite mot ionless,without not i c ing the ch i ld i n the

least, t i l l th i s token of respect was paid . Then she

took up the book the ch i ld had . la id on her table,and

Opened i t at the place the Occ idental would suppose

to be the back page, but, true to the hab its of our an

tipodes, at what was real ly the first page of a Ch inese

book . Poi nting to the character at the upper r ight

hand corner Of the page, she read, fo l lowing w i th her

finger the perpend icu lar l i ne from top to bottom,paus

i ng after each word for the ch i ld to repeat it . The

process was cont inued ti l l the pup i l was able to read

the lesson .

ORDER IN THE SCHOOLROOM

Teacher, pardon me, but I know it now ; and w i th

a gracefu l bow,the g irl would go back to her seat, to

From ancient tim es down to the revolution a few yearsago , no one but a high oflicial , or a doctor of phi losophy,m ight stand upon the dragon . F or any one else to do som eant immediate death by beheading . It was bel ievedthat the dragon gave power and authority to oflicials ; andthe magistrates

,when address ing the peop le, stood upon

the dragon ’s head . Very learned men , when lecturing tostudents upon subjects of phi losophy, stood upon thedragon

’s head ; for it was believed that the dragon gaveknowledge and wisdom to men of learning .

54 W ITH OU R M ISS IONARIES I N CH INA

repeat aloud, over and over, the lesson she had been

taught,keep ing the p lace with her finger as the teacher

had done . Then another g i rl took her place at the

teacher ’s desk, and was put through a s imi lar dr i l l .

When a dozen pupi ls, each w i th a d ifferent l esson , had

got under way, those who began first felt obl iged to

ra i se the i r vo i ces i n order to hear themselves th i nk .

By the t ime work had been ass igned to the twenty-five,the schoolroom was a Babel of vo i ces .

Later the schoo l was graded and class ified w i th un i

form lessons . Thi s made less confus i on . Often one

ch i ld has the generalsh ip to assert a lead ing vo i ce ;then the others gradual ly fal l i nto l i ne, t i l l the whol e

may be heard repeati ng the lesson in concert . In t ime,one becomes accustomed to the di n , and senses the

dropp ing Off of a vo ice or two as perceptibly as an

eng ineer feels the fa i lure Of a part.of h is mach ine to

work smoothly . NO l esson was regarded as learned

t i l l i t could be repeated from memory . That first year,

the class i n B ib l e committed to memory the enti re

Gospel of Mark .

OPEN HOUSE

Our doorkeeper had orders to admit v i s itors at al l

reasonable hours,and to al low them ful l freedom about

the place,but always keep ing them under her eye .

Every part of the house, i nclud ing my own pr ivate

quarters,was held open to i nspect ion on request Of

vi s i tors . This was i n order to convince the nat ives

that we had no secret des igns upon the gi rls, and no

other mot ive than to be a benefit to them .

V i s i tors often walked about the place dur ing schoolhours

,making Observat ions on i ts app earance, on the

conduct Of the school, and concern ing the i nd i vi duals

BETHEL G IRLS ’ SCHOOL 55

i n charge . Taking in an impress ion from the wh ite

wal ls and the green palms , one remarks ,“How very clean and cool i t i s i n here !”

I t certa in ly i s a goodly place,” repl i es a compan ion .

Yours are very i ndustr i ous pup i ls , i ndeed ,” i s a

compl iment i ntended to attract the teacher ’s attention .

But the teacher pursues her teach ing , and the pup i ls

thei r study, exactly as i f no other persons were present .“Teacher, where do you l i ve ? Ah , she i s busy ! Ob

serve how steadfastly her heart i s set on teach ing

ch i ldren .

”

“Teacher,how much salary do you rece ive ?”

Teacher, how old i s the fore ign woman in charge

of th i s schoo l ?”

When the Ch inese teacher makes no reply,the v i s i

tor i s qu i te l ikely to approach . the foreigner herself .“That i s a durable garment you wear ; d id you make

i t yoursel f Awai t ing a reply, the quest ioner may

proc eed to examine the st itches , i n order to sat i sfy

hersel f of the foreigner’

s capab i l i t i es at sew ing .

“Ah,

i t i s only made on a mach ine !” she remarks depreciat

ingly.

“Are you marr i ed ? ” she i nqu i res . Then , musingly

Strange these fore ign women do up thei r hai r beforemarr iage ! Perhaps she i ntends never to marry .

"

A l l the i nformation gained by Observati on and in

terrogation w i l l be carr i ed home , and told in the wom

en's quarters . One can never know what avenues o f

usefulness may be Opened to the school through an

inqu is i t i ve V i s i tor .

FESTAL DAYS AND CUSTOMS

A Ch inese feast day i s attached to almost every

month of the year . As a ru le , the g i rls attended school


on feast days as at other t imes, but usual ly i n hol i day

att i re . On such occas ions, the schoo l room reminded

one of an old-fash ioned flower garden,w i th gay blos

soms of every co lor . I t was d i st i nctly understood that

ours was a Chr i st ian school, and absol utely w i thout

connect ion wi th the gods of the land ; but the soc ial

customs of some of these festa l seasons d id overflow to

the schoo l room . I refer parti cu larly to the custom of

send ing g ifts to fri ends at the t ime of the pr inc ipal

feasts . On these occas ions , a servant, or a member Of

the fam i ly when no servant was employed,was sent

from each fami ly represented i n the school , to br ing

congratu lat ions and a present to the teacher . These

g i fts cons i sted Of fru its , cakes , del icac i es, confections ,and roasts duck, ch icken , or pork . A smal l amount

of money accompan i ed these art icles , be ing wrapped

i n the customary red paper, and placed at the very bot

tom Of the receptacle . Often a l ive ch icken or duck

was included .

The teacher accepted these presents grac iously, and

j ud ic i ously selected the port ion she thought proper to

reta in . The remainder was replaced i n the carri er .

She kept the money altogether, a few copper p i eces

from her own pocket be ing wrapped in the same p iece

Of red paper, and sl ipped i nto one s ide of the carr i er,near the top . The bearer returned the carr i er, with

its remain ing contents , to her m istress, reserving to

herself only the red paper contai n ing the co ins , as a t ip .

These gi fts on occas i ons of fest ivals were i ntended

s imply as a token of apprec iat ion of the teacher’

s fa ith

fu l work . But i n the course of the year, they

amounted to a cons iderab l e and acceptable add i t ion to

her s lender.

wages .


A Sabbath sess i on,wh ich was real ly a prolonged

Sabbath schoo l conducted with one b ig class, was heldevery Sabbath forenoon . The ch i ldren could not read ;

and there were no Sabbath schoo l l essons i n Ch inese,

even had they been abl e to study them . No helps of

any k ind had yet been provided ; so we sang songs ,and told or read gospel stor i es . At the close, there

was g iven to each ch i ld a B ibl e p ictu re card out of the

stock sent to us by ch i ldren i n America . These bright

cards were very prec ious to the Chinese ch i ldren , who

Often l ingered after schoo l to hear to ld the stor i es

represented by the p ictures on thei r cards . When the

pup i ls had l earned to read,s imple lessons were pre

pared , and cop ies pri nted on a homemade hectograph

were g iven the g i rls to study .

As the confidence of our patrons was assured,our

Sabbath sess ion was merged with the regular Sabbathschoo l and service at the miss i on chapel . The pup i ls

met at the schoolhouse as u sual,and from there

marched i n a body to the chapel .

A NEW SCHOOL H OME

In 1 906, the Bapti st Academy bu i ld ing was pur

chased ; and from that t ime, Bethel G irl s’ School was

lodged i n its own home . That year,we Opened a schoo l

home, and took i n twenty board ing pupi ls . From th is

t ime, our work was much more effect ive, espec ial ly for

the g i rl s i n , the home, who were by th i s arrangement

completely separated from idol worsh ip as conti nual ly

pract iced i n the fami ly l i fe . Regu lar hours for fami lydevoti on were appo i nted . Fr iday even ing prayer

meetings were held, i n wh ich the pup i ls began to take

an act i ve part . One small room in the bu i ld ing was

BETHEL GIRLs’ SCHOOL 59

set apart as a prayer room . On ly one student was

supposed to enter at a t ime,except by spec ial permi s

s ion , when several might w i sh to pray together . Often

on my n ightly rounds to see that l ights were out and

that everyth ing was i n order for the n ight,I have

heard vo ices from that l i ttle room plead ing with a new

found Saviour for unconverted compan ions in Bethel

Schoo l . H e who hears i n secret gave Open reward .

One by one,those gi rls in the school home rose i n the

Fr iday even ing prayer services to confess the Saviour .

WORKING FOR OTHERS

A young people ’s meeting was held on Sabbath after

noon , conducted by the O lder g i rls of the home . There

was no manual , no outl i ne of study, no help of any

kind . These leaders were who l ly dependent on thei r

B ib l es for mater ial,and on thei r memor i es for coll ect

ing the helps . Native custom did not al low them to go

outs ide and i nvi te the women to come in to the i r meet

ing, but invi tat i ons were sent out through the ch i ldren

who came to school from thei r own homes . Often the

schoo l room was fi l led wi th women at the time of these

meetings,and B ibl e read ings prepared by the young

leaders themselves were g iven with clearness and con

vincing power .

The attendance i ncreased qu ite rap id ly , s i nce i n our

new quarters there was room for al l who came . In a

short t ime, we had an enrol lment of seventy pupi ls ,forty of whom l ived i n the home . I now had two

Chinese ass i stants,and

'

a woman to do the cook i ng for

the students i n the home and look after the care of

the place .

There was much to encourage us i n the progress o f

our pup i ls , but at t imes we were sorely d isappointed .


Early i n our experi ence, a very br ight, energetic gi rl

of fourteen years came into the school . She madewonderfu l progress i n her stud i es, and her heart was

ev i dently Open ing to impress ions Of the gospel . She

A RESCUED CH I NESE BABY OUTCAST A ND HER AMER I CA NFOSTER S ISTER

62 W ITH OU R M ISSIONAR IES I N CH INA

the law on guard . A neighbor woman expla i ned how,

two days before, a foreclosure had been made, and the

house and al l i t conta i ned of furn i ture,concub ines

,

and slaves had been se ized for debt . But that n ight,with po l i ce guard i ng the door i n front

,the women Of

the house— those gay, fr ivo lous women w i th bound

feet, whom I had thought so help less— had crept out

and cl imbed up the carved ladders to the roof . By the

ai d of the i r servants, they crawled from housetop to

housetop , carry ing the i r clothes i n bundles on thei r

backs, and made thei r escape out through the streets

of the c i ty to no one knew where . A’Muihad gone

w i th them .

HER F IRST STORY AND ITS EF FECT

The first mature woman to enrol l i n B ethel Schoo lstated frankly that her purpose was to learn to read,

so that she might be able to enterta in herself read i ng

novels . We showed her a book that conta ined a very

i nteresti ng story, and to ld her she might beg in her

study read i ng th i s story i f she l iked . The book was

the Gospel Accord ing tO . Luke. She appl i ed herself

d i l igently, and became intensely interested ; but be ing

unable to get on fast enough by hersel f, she put every

one under tr ibute to her Obj ect . At one t ime, i t was

to tel l the name of a character she had forgotten , or

to explai n i ts mean ing . At another t ime, she asked to

have the passage read and expla i ned, so that shemight

get the connect ion,and understand the story she was

so anx ious to hear . By the time she had fin ished Luke,the Scr iptures had become so sat i sfy ing to her hungrysou l

,that she had no des i re for novels . She was truly

converted,loosed her bound feet, and became a very

BETHEL G IRLS ’ SCHOOL 63

effect ive help i n the management of the school . Later

she became an active worker for the Lord as a B ib le

woman .

ANNA IN BETHEL SCHOOL

One Old woman came to the school after s ixty years

i n heathen i sm . Her hai r was white . NO one thought

she could learn to read, or that there was much hope

Of her becom ing a Chr i st i an . She was a confirmedtobacco user, and cont inued to pract ice the hab i ts ecretly

,a lthough She knew i t to be contrary to the

ru les .

One day th i s Old woman sat i n the schoolroom read

ing :“There was one Anna : she was of a great

age, which departed not from the temple, but

served God with fastings and prayers n ight and day .

And she coming i n that i nstant gave thanks l ikewise

unto the Lord, and spake of H im to al l them that looked

fOr redempt ion i n Jerusalem .

”

Tears fi l led her: eyes as she read . She stopped,and

cri ed aloud : “0 M i ss , I

'wi l l g ive up my evi l hab i t ! I

wil l be Anna i n Bethel School !”

The change had come, for l ight had shone i nto and

i lluminated her darkened sou l . The rema inder of her

l i fe was ded icated to lov ing service to H im who had

unloosed her bonds .

The world ’s great heart is aching, aching fiercely innight ;

And God alone can heal it, and God a lone give l ight ;And the men to bear the m essage and to preach the

ing Word ,Are you and I , my brothers , and al l others that have

heard .

Through the Paddy Fields

( E x trac ts f rom the D iary of a M is s ionary i n C h i na )C . P . L ILLI E

NOVEMBER 1 8, 1 91 3

After months Of steady rout ine work at the stat ion ,i t seems good to be on the road again . Evangel i st

Hwang and I l eft Changsha th i s morn ing by rai l , ar

r iv ing at G i u Djou,a d i stance Of one hundred l i ( about

th i rty-three Engl i sh m i les ) , by n ine o’clock .

To those i n the homeland,i t may st i l l seem strange

to assoc iate ra i l roads w i th Ch ina . And again,travel

i ng by rai l may seem too pleasant and easy to be a real

foreign miss ionary exper i ence . Well, th ings i n Ch ina

aren ’t al l hard and uncom rtable; far from it . The

princ ipal reason , however, that we enjoy the tra in , i s

because i t saves so much t ime . Though real ly not very

fast, i t i s qu i te swift compared with Ch inese convey

anecs . That br i ef hou r or two on the tra i n th i s morn

ing saves us a ful l day ’ s t ime .

Ra i lroads are play i ng such a b ig part i n the prophcey,

“Many shal l run to and fro, and knowledge shal l

be i ncreased” ! Ostens ibly they are bu i l t here i n Ch ina

for commerc ial purposes ; but we know that deeper

than the plans of men are the purposes of our God .

He is prov id i ng faci l i t i es, i n the great heathen lands ,for the rap id spread Of the message . I hope that

Hunan’

s hundreds of mi les Of ra i lroad wi l l speed i ly

become thousands .

Thi s was my first tra in r ide but one s ince we landed

i n Ch ina, j ust two years ago tod ay . Our tra i n sped

through paddy ( r ice ) fields , by big bury ing grounds ,past quaint temples and shri nes

,past b ig farmhouses ,

( 64 )


past l i ttle vi l lages of mud-bu i lt huts . I t was very

i nterest ing . The h i l ls are beautiful ly green yet, for

winter comes late i n Hunan ; but the fol i age Of the

trees i s beg inn ing to take on the t i nts Of autumn .

Luncheon, cons i st ing of a b ig bowl of r ice, was

served by the tra inmen to al l who cared for i t . When

al l who chose to do so had eaten , the attendants brought

hot towels,so that al l could mop thei r faces after thei r

meal . Thi s i s accord ing to Ch inese custom . Nearly

every one, whether partaking Of the r ice or not,accepted a towel . These towels were wrung out of

steaming hot water and handed out . Hav i ng been

used, they were p lunged into the water again , wrung

out, and handed to other guests . In th i s way, several

tens Of peop le were qu ickly served with three or four

towels and a s ingl e bucket Of water . We refra i n from

commenting upon the complex ion and Odor of the

towels .

We stopped in G iu Djou , a town on the Hs iang

K i ang, only long enough to secure passage on a boat

bound for Heng Shan . Thi s boat had brought down

a load Of coal to Changsha, and the owner was glad

enough to take some passengers on h i s way back . The

craft i s about th i rty feet long by six feet wide,w i th

a ho ld two and a half feet i n depth . The midd le part

i s roofed with a bamboo frame covered with bamboo

matti ng,and prov ides lodging accommodat ions for the

boatman and h i s fam i ly,h is two helpers , and the pas

sengers . Bes ides Hwang and me, there i s one other

passenger, a Ch inese .

We wanted to start immed iately ; and as there was

no w ind,the boat helpers commenced

“tracking

”; that

is , pul l ing the boat along the shore by means Of a long

LUNG WHA PAGODA , TEN M ILES FROM SHANGHA I( 67 )


rOpetied to the mast . By noon , some of the food that

I had brought from home was much apprec iated .

At a l i ttle p lace named LO Kou,the master of the

boat went ashore to buy r ice ; so I was glad to leave

my cramped quarters,and d i sembark on the back of

a boatman .

I entered the v i l lage temple,that be ing the most

i nteresti ng th ing in s ight . Like most such places,i t

was dark and d ingy ins ide,and the images looked

commonplace . My attention was espec i al ly attracted

by some b its of wood, po l i shed Smooth on one s ide and

carved on the other, that were ly ing before the altar .Da gua they are cal led .

I f any Of the vi l lage peopl e have a request to make

Of the god, .they come and use da gua. After rattl ing

Off a pet i t i on , they throw two of the wooden b its to the

ground . I f both fall and remain face down,the sup

pl iant tr i es again ; ,for the answer i s unfavorab le . If

both faces are up, the answer i s not very good ; so the

worsh iper usual ly keeps try ing unti l he gets one face

up and one face down . Then he departs sat i sfied .

One Of the boat master ’s ch i ldren was s ick to-day .

I d idn ’ t know what’

the trouble was, so I d idn’

t offer

any ass i stance, but I was i nterested i n the treatment

g iven . Thi s method, carry ing out the pr i nc iple Of

counter i rr itat ion,i s very common i n Ch ina . Some

times i t seems to g ive rel i ef .

The mother rubbed the baby ’s back with mo i stened

hand, then began to n ip the tender sk in sharply be

tween the first and second fingers . She n ipped in oneplace unti l there was an ugly red mark there, keep ing

on ti l l she had a row of such marks across the ch i ld’

s

back,then across the abdomen the same . The treat


was uneven , and I missed my comfortable mattress

at home . I l eft my camp cot at home th i s t ime, be

cause I can’

t s l eep warm on i t in col d weather . My

fellow passengers ro l led up i n thei r heavy padded

qu i lts, covered up the i r heads , and went sound ly to

sleep .

I t was so foggy early th i s morn ing that we could

not see the men who were pul l i ng the boat ; but the

fog l i fted about n ine O’clock

,and we are having a

beaut i fu l day,but no favor ing wind to speak of .

B oats of th i s s ize have two or three helpers . The

master of the boat steers . The rope by which the

boat i s pu lled along i s about three hundred feet i n

length . When the men dec ide to pu l l the boat i nstead

Of push ing i t with poles, they pole the boat vigorously

for a few minutes,then scramble out

,hasti ly p lay out

the ropes , and get to pul l ing, i f the current i s not too

swift, before the boat loses i ts momentum . I t i s an

i nterest ing Operat ion to watch . To make the work

eas ier, they attach cloth bands to the rope, which they

throw over th e Shou lder . The men do thei r work w i th

out much apparent effort, save that Shown by the for

ward incl in e Of the i r bod ies . ~ I suppose i t i s hard

enough .

One of the first th ings I saw th i s morn ing was an

immense raft of logs, on i ts way to market . These

dr i ft down the r iver hundreds of mi les . They are

steered by means of a huge oar at e ither end . Someof these rafts are so large'that many men are needed

to steer . They bu i ld houses upon the rafts, i n wh ich

to l i ve dur ing the tr ip . I f the cargo i s bamboo poles,

they usual ly employ themselves Spl itt ing some of them,

and making bamboo cables and other th ings for the


market, S O as not to lose any time . I t l ooks rather

start l ing to see logs enough to make a good-s ized v i l

lage floating down the r iver,w i th houses upon them,

and men and dogs mov i ng about and act i ng as i f they

had always l i ved there .

By and by my compan ions got up and made the i r

to i l et for the day. Thi s means,first

,a no i sy r i ns ing

of the mouth w i th water from the hand bas in ; then a

tongue scraper vigorously used ; then the face mopp'

ed

with a hot towel . ( The Ch inese do not use dry towels ,as Westerners do . ) The boatmen ’

s breakfast fo l lowed .

I ate home food , having brought enough for severalmeals .

When the boatmen anchored the boat to eat, I went

ashore, and walked about to get warm , for the morn

ing was ch i l ly . I gathered some of the wi ld Chrysan

themum s that grew i n profus ion on the banks . I took

a turn to-day po l i ng the boat, and found i t warm work .

One thing about these Ch inese boats 1 3 pleas ing .

They are very clean . Strange that in Ch ina, where

many‘

Of the houses are unspeakab ly d irty, these igmorant boatmen take great pr ide i n keep ing thei r boats

scrupulously clean !

We have seen many fish ing boats to-day, the men

not us i ng hook and l i ne, but nets . I Often th i nk, when

I see these s impl e fi shermen mend in‘

g thei r nets, or

letting them down for a draught, of our dear Sav iourand H i s assoc iat ion w i th the fishermen Of Gal i lee .

I am gett ing better acqua inted with the boat fami ly

to-day . I t cons i sts of a man and h i s wife,the i r two

plump l i ttle ch i ldren,and two helpers . The men are

al l very approachable. I don’

t understand thei r talk

very wel l ; but notwithstanding, we have had a so

THROUGH THE PADDY FIELDS 73

ciable t ime . One can get along without talk i ng much .

For instance, I asked the boat master how Old he was ,and he merely held up four fingers . That meant

,of

course, that he was forty years Of age .

The prow o f the boat is the fami ly altar . It can

properly be called such,for i t is the on ly place on the

boat where they worsh ip . Thi s fami ly have no images

on board . They say that the i r god i s wuh so buh dzai

dy ( omn ipresent ) so they don’

t need his image . How

ever, the i r patron sai nt ( the r iver god ) is to be found

i n some of the large temples . At Nan Yueh , I know,

spec ial devot i onal services areheld at t imes to secure

h i s favor . I have asked Hwang to Show me th i s par

ticular god when we get to a temple where they

have h im .

NOVEMBER 20

This morn ing,I tr i ed pu ll i ng on the rope, and found

i t a leg-ach ing bu s iness . It i s not such tame work ,

e i ther,as i t looks from the boat . There are h igh b luffs

here ; and once when the man at the helm suddenly

changed the course of the boat,to avo id runn ing into

a sand bank or a rock,I narrowly escaped be i ng pulled

over the bank . Thi s would have meant a tumb le O f

twenty or th i rty feet . By and by we arrived at a deep

gorge . I wondered how in the world I was ever to get

over that S ix- i nch-wide teetery pole bridge , and pull O II

the rope at the same time . The man for whom I was

subst i tut ing,seei ng my embarrassment, se ized the

rope and tripped b l i thely over O II h i s bare feet . As for

me,cross ing that l i ttl e ravi ne , figuratively speak i ng ,

made my hai r stand on end .

The fal l planting seems to be abou t done . The peas

and the hardy,frost-proof beans are already two or


three i nches h igh, and w i l l mature early i n the spring .

The turnips now coming up w i l l be i n market before

spr ing . The buckwheat i s yet unharvested, also some

late tobacco .

We feared that when we came to China, all the old

fami l i ar plants and flowers must be sacr ificed, and that

with Ch ina ’s teeming mi l l i ons, there wou ld not be room

enough for many flowers to grow. But God i s not so

part ia l to u s Western people as that . How happy we

were one day to find some dear homely dandel ion faces

smi l i ng up at us i n an Old temple yard ! Strange surroundings, i t seems, for ou r Old fr i ends ! There are

dainty wi ld roses i n the country i n the spr ing, p ink

ones and wh ite . One var i ety bl ooms i n great fragrant

wh ite clu sters . I saw them last spring trai l i ng from

a tree top, th i rty feet from the ground . I gathered

fal l asters th i s morn ing, j ust such as we gather by

the roads i des i n America ; and tea flowers, large, wh ite ,

and sweet . The tea plant blooms in the late fal l ; and

the seeds (which, by the way, have no commerc ial

value ) grow dur ing winter, and mature i n the spr ing .

I sn ’t that Odd ?

Tea leaves are p icked two or three t imes during the

spr ing and summer, and cured for market . There are

no tea plantations i n the immed iate neighborhood Of

Changsha ; so we have not had an opportun ity to watch

th i s interest i ng procedure .

Tod ay I asked my . fel low passengers what methods

the Ch inese have of prepari ng the leaves for market,and I wil l jot down the g i st Of what they said . Someparts Of thei r descr ipt i on certa inly wou ld not lead me

to crave tea as a beverage .


The tea leaves are p icked by women , and thrown

into b ig baskets . In thei r haste,however, some of the

leaves m iss the basket,and fal l to the ground , and

Often are not gathered up unt i l even ing . In the mean

t ime,these leaves form a carpet for the playground Of

naked ch i ldren , and bab ies whom the mothers cannot

leave at home, and numerous dogs .

The tea leaves thus gathered are placed i n b ig

earthen jars several feet in d iameter and about three

feet deep . Then a man gets in and treads the leaves

with h i s bare feet unt i l the j u ice beg ins to flow a l i ttle .

( Thi s i s one Of the tasks that the women escape, be

cause of the i r smal l bound feet . ) The leaves are

tramped down hard , covered over with any Old clothes

and bedd ing avai lable , and left to heat . Th i s may take

s ix hours or thereabouts . I f they fear that the color

wil l not be good — perhaps a b it yel low they some

t imes scrape the soot from the bottom Of the i r k itchen

utens i ls,and m ix with the leaves as they are tramped .

The tea, S O far prepared by the country folk, i s now

bought up by agents , and goes through other processes

before i t i s ready for market . I t i s dri ed over a coal

fire ; put through s i eves to sort i nto d ifferent grades ;winnowed to free from di rt ; dri ed some more ; then i t

i s packed into boxes for the foreign market .

There was a fine wind duri ng the middle of the day ,

which d i ed away toward n ight . However,by d int O f

push ing and pul l i ng,we arrived at Heng Shan at twi

l ight . The next th ing to do was to t ip the boatmen .

The tipp ing system i s wel l rooted here i n Ch ina . The

tip i s cal led wine money or tea money . I f you should

ever travel i n Ch ina,you wou ld have no occas i on to

worry lest you forget and leave a place without t ip


ping the help . You w i l l be saved that embarrass

ment . The men on our boat began talk ing w i ne money

before we had arr ived ; and when I gave them what

Hwang said'was about r ight, they made a great fuss .

If I had paid them double, the i r complai nt would have

been proportionately louder, as they wou ld have de

c ided that I was an easy mark . By add ing a few

Ooppers l i ttle by l ittle ( of course, Hwang had planned

for all th i s when he to l d me how much to g ive them ) ,we final ly got away . Cal l i ng a man to carry our lug

gage, we entered one Of the gates of the Old c i ty of

Heng Shan .

In America, what makes a c i ty i s the populat ion and

the form Of government . In Ch ina, str i ctly speaking,

NAN K I NG WALL AND TA IP I NG GATE

78 WITH OU R M IS SIONARIES I N CH INA

come up tri umphant i n the first resurrect ion . I t re

j o ices ou r hearts to see old Ch inese men and women

accepting th i s message . At our spr ing meeti ng,Pastor Cottrel l bapt ized an Old woman about e ighty

years Old, who had recently accepted Jesus as her Saviour. H er son bore her down to the water ’ s edge upon

h i s back, for the bank was steep . I t was a touch ing

s ight .

Another church member here i s qu i te o ld,and lives

i n wretched c i rcumstances ; i n fact, she has barely

enough to eat to “keep sou l and body together . This

s i ster l ives i n a house that i s hard ly fit for American

p igs . The gospel i s her al l . Sometimes she shows herrespect to the pastor when he vi s its Heng Shan

,by

br inging h im a l i ttl e present . When such a poor crea

ture br ings me a handkerch i ef fu l l Of eggs, or some

other l i ttl e g i ft, i t makes me feel somewhat as David

felt when h i s brave sold iers brought h im water from

the wel l of Beth lehem . I t i s almost too sacred to use .

NOVEMBER 2 1

Last n ight, w i th a l i ttle straw under my bedding, I

s lept fa i rly wel l ; and I got up thi s morn ing i n fine

tr im for a busy day . My room has a wooden floor and

a good table,so I am qu i te luxur iously housed .

I spent much Of the forenoon talki ng w i th our

church members and workers i n th i s place . One of

them has recently rece ived papers to sel l,and i

's do i ng

well . He is working with a sp i r i t that w i l l w i n sou ls

to Chr i st . A year ago he was making much trouble

for our evangel i st here ; but after a time, th i s message

got hold Of h i s heart, and every one testifies that he

i s a changed man . AS I l i stened to h im th i s morn ing,tel l i ng Of his experi ence, and looked down into h i s


beaming face,I felt more confidence than ever i n the

transforming power of the gospel .

A big funeral process ion passed by the chapel th i s

morn ing , escorted by bands Of Ch inese mus ic . The

immense coffin was borne by scores Of men , cool i es

cal led for the occas ion . In add it ion to the mus ic, the

affa i r was further enl ivened by a conti nual roar Of

firecrackers . Following the coffin were the mourners ,those Of more means rid ing in chai rs , the others strag

gl ing along beh ind on foot . A l l were draped i n coarse

white c loth , and there was much wai l ing and a great

d i splay Of handkerch iefs on the part Of the women .

As I stated before, -Heng Shan i s an Old, Old c ity .

I t has some good shops, but on the whole i s rather

squal i d, with narrow, roughly paved streets , and a

superabundance Of i l l fed dogs . I am almost tempted

to wish that the people of Heng Shan were as fond O f

dog meat as are those i n some other places i n Ch ina ;then perhaps there wou ld not be S O many Of the crea

tures i n evidence . A few months ago I was walki ng

outs ide Of th i s c ity, and came upon a fra i l l i ttle box ,which had been dug out of a fresh mound Of earth .

I t had been broken Open and was empty . I turned to

the nearest Ch inese quest ion ingly .

“Goa cha liao ,

” he

remarked i n a matter-of—fact way . Gou cha liao

the dogs have eaten ! Somet imes the l i ttle ones are

not buri ed at al l s imply thrown out for the dogs to

devour .

There i s a good market here . Food is plenti ful and

cheap . Eggs can be bought for n ine cash each . At

the present rate Of exchange, that wou ld amount to

about fou r cents a dozen,American money . I wish

some Of my fr i ends i n America cou ld buy eggs i n Heng

THROU GH THE PADDY F IELDS 8 1

Shan . P eanuts can be purchased at two or three cents

( gold ) a pound . Seven or e ight cents w i l l buy a fine

umbrel la . Of course, i t i s not such an umbrel la as

would be counted sty l i sh i n England or America . I t

Opens U p flat, and i s made of bamboo and oi led paper .

These umbrel las are painted red or blue or green,and

present a gay appearance . With good care, they w i l l

last a long t ime .

Thi s afternoon , we made a formal cal l on an Offi c ial

who has been very kind to us . Among other th ings ,i t i s h i s duty to look after the welfare of fore igners .

We also cal led on a Bapti st mi ss ionary who was a

fel low passenger on the “Ch iyo Maru” when we Came

to Ch ina . He greeted us courteously,and we passed a

pleasant hour together . We plan to have another meet

i ng th i s even ing .

NOVEMBER 22

Thi s has been a happy Sabbath day . Three men

fol lowed the Master i n the ord inance Of bapt i sm . We

have had pract ically an al l-day meeting . In the

morn ing meeting , Hwang presented the subj ect Of

bapti sm i n a clear, convinc i ng way . The Lord i s

espec ial ly ra i s i ng up men in these heathen lands to be

leaders Of the i r own people i n procla iming the last

message — men Of ab i l i ty and consecrat ion . Hwang

i s one of these . Seven years ago he was under the

bonds Of heathen i sm . H is text th i s morn ing was John

3 : 1 -8 ; and I have j otted down the substance Of what

he sa id i n h i s d i scourse" ‘N icodemus was a man who had watched Jesus

,and

become convinced that He was the Son of God . He had

made th is start toward bei ng a Chri stian, but he

needed repentance . Jesus told h im that he must be


born aga in , born Of water and Of the Spi r i t ; and he

marveled greatly .

“What does i t mean to be born Of water and the

Sp i r it ? P lease read Matt . 3 : 1 6 . As John was preach

ing the gospel of repentance and bapt iz ing, Jesus

came ; and He too was baptized with water . When

Jesus came up out of the water, the Spi r i t of God

rested upon H im . As the Sp ir it of God rested uponH im

,so i t wi l l rest upon every one who comes from

the water to l i ve a new l i fe i n Chr ist Jesus .

A preparat ion for bapti sm i s necessary. There

must be confess ion,and a turn ing away from sin .

Ps . 32 : 1 -5 . If we confess our s ins , God i s fai th fu l

and wi l l i ng to forg ive . Let us study careful ly the

two words hwciand gai. !Hweigai i s the Mandari n

express ion mean ing repentance ; hwei means regret,

gaimeans to reform ! The mouth may say the words

hweigaiwithout the heart’s exper ienc i ng real repent

ance . I t i s not enough S imply to hwei, but one must

gai. I t i s not enough s imply to deplore one ’s bad

hab i ts ; one must turn over a new leaf . Go ing down

i nto the water i n bapt i sm, is immers ion of the body .

Genu ine bapti sm must be that Of the heart . Is i t not

enough to con fess our S i ns and forsake them ? NO ;we must fol low the example that Jesus set.

“After Jesus ’ death, He was buri ed ; but on the

th i rd day,He came forth . Bapti sm i s a type Of 'that

death , bur ial , and resurrect i on . We ought to leave

our Old l i fe i n the watery grave .

“Because we have s i nned , we ought to d i e . God

saw us i n the bonds of sin , and sent H i s own Son tod i e i n our stead . When we accept Jesus

,our Old s ins

1 1 ,

BAPT ISM AT LOHTS ING, K I A NGCHE M ISS ION , 1 9 1 8

( 83 )

84 W ITH OU R M I SS IONAR I ES I N CH INA

are na i led to the cross . I f we S i n again , we cruc ify

Jesus afresh .

Evangel is t L i is a source of great amusement to me .

He has an extraord inary sense of humor for a Ch inese,is very eccentr ic

,and does many unexpected th ings .

For instance,when we were s i ng ing, i n th i s morn ing

service, Li suddenly stopped to rebuke some one i n the

aud ience who was out of order, then started i n again

S ing ing where he left Off. Of course, he Came i n half

a bar beh ind the rest of the s ingers , and fin i shed the

verse accord ingly . However,none Of the Ch inese

not iced .

Whi le we were quest ion ing cand idates for bapti sm

tod ay, one of the brethren referred to another brother

as too hu dzi Old whiskers . ( To be str ictly honest,I shou ld put a comma between Old and

In America,we should th ink th is rather rude ; but i n

th i s case , the speaker was very respectfu l . You see,

a father and his son were among those present . The

father was des ignated as lao because Of his r iper years ,and as a hu dzi becau se that was one of his d i st i n

guishing features . Whiskers are comparat ively rare

in Hunan , and are numbered among the bless ings .

Our test imony service tod ay was excel lent . Follow

ing th i s service, we Observed the ord inance of feet

wash ing , and partook Of the Lord’s Supper .

The bapt i smal service was peacefu l and qu i et . Th is

service always cal ls out a crowd Of curious spectators ;but tod ay they were qu ite respectfu l

,and I th ink

those bapt ized rece ived a great b less ing .

NOVEMBER 23

Th is has been another day marked by many pleas

ant experiences . I rece ived an Odd p resent from a


count very l i ttle i n Ch ina , i n such a case, except for

pol iteness ; but I really thought he wanted me to have

the set, so finally I accepted i t . The most i nterest ing

to i let art icles i n Ch ina are the back scratchers , con

s i st ing of a l i ttle i vory hand, . with a long handle , or

a narrow strip of bamboo curved and carved at one

end to represent a hand .

My fr i ends at home would be amused to see me

us i ng a Ch inese wooden comb . It happened that after

the bapt i sm yesterday , I crawled i nto a l i ttle covered

boat to put on some dry cloth i ng, and l eft my comb be

h ind in the boat . S O I secured the only th ing avai lable .

L i made a feast to-day for ten of h i s fr i ends , inc lud ing the Bapti st mi ss ionary , Hwang, and me . The

menu included beef,fish , goat flesh , and ch icken ; but

there was also celery , bean curd, and fru i ts , S O I got

through the meal without vi olat ing any vegetarian

pr inc iples , and had a plenty .

I am attai n ing some l i ttle knowledge of Ch inese

tab l e et iquette, and hence can d ine out with less em

barrassment than formerly .

As far as appearances i nd icate , there i s no endeavor

in Ch ina to get the h ighest place at feasts . Undoubt

edly the h igher place a man gets at tab l e, the better

pleased he is ; but outwardly he makes a great protest

when asked to “go up h igher . It takes some t ime to

get the guests seated . When a person has fin ished

eating , he holds h is chopst icks aloft, or waves them

about, as much as to say,

“ I am done ; please excuse

me .

” Sometimes he says ,“Man nwu dy chih

”

( eat

slowly ) ; and the other guests murmur, We are eat

ing a good deal . ” Th is done , i t i s qu ite proper here

THROUGH THE PADDY F IELDS 87

for one Who has fin i shed eati ng to leave the table .

One by one the guests get up and l eave . Of course,a l l th i s i s i n Hunan . I do not know what customs

Obtai n elsewhere .

A BAM BOO FOREST WHERE W ILD FLOWERS GROW IN ABUN DANCE


D inner over, we set out i nto the country to v is i t

some inqu i rers , and first cal led on Dr . LiaO . H e l ives

i n a rather attract ive l i ttle cottage, approached

through a bamboo grove . There were orange trees

i n the yard , and Shrubs Of var ious k inds . The doctor

was dry ing herbs , spread out on mats i n the yard .

The cottage i tself, though very humble, looked qu i te

tr im and t idy . Walls of mud,floor Of mud, thatch of

straw, windows Of paper, that descr ibes most Hu

nan country houses .

We had a good chat with the doctor brother, who

seems not to be so much of a quack as some Of h i s

fel low practit ioners . From what I have heard, I am

afra id that these Ch inese phys ic ians are a bad lot .

Certa i n i t is that the a i l ing Ch inese “suffer many

things Of many phys ic ians” and so pati ently ! A

Ch inese man wi l l stand and have a need le four or five

i nches long pushed through the muscles Of h is chest,up to the needle head , and not fl i nch .

Then we vi s ited a young man who is much perse

cuted by h i s fami ly because h i s godly l iv ing is a re

buke to them . After that we V i s i ted Brother L iu,who

is a wel l-to-do farmer, and has a b ig fami ly Of grown

sons . These have al l marri ed and settled down on the

Old farm , but none of them are Adventi sts . They en

tertained us very hosp i tab ly . Brother Liu l eaves the

management Of the farm to the young men,and i s one

Of our regular canvassers . He canvasses because he

loves to be do ing the Lord’

s work . We stayed unti l

even ing , and came home by torchl ight .

NOVEMBER 24

This morn ing , we left Heng Shan , paus ing first at

the chapel door , and with bowed heads ask ing for a


heavenly bened i ction to rest upon ou r brethren and

s i sters of that place,and for God ’s protect ing care to

be over us i n our j ourney . I l eft B rother Hwang here ,plann ing to j o i n h im later at Hen Djou . Li aecom

panied me on the road winding through the paddy

fields to Nan Yueh .

I walked, and L i was carr ied i n a chai r, much to

h i s mental d i scomfort . H e i s so stout that the walk

of ten mi les to Nan Yueh was more than he cou ld wel l

accompl i sh , but he thought that i t d idn’ t look wel l for

h im to r ide and the pastor to walk . I always walk

short d i s tances , partly to save money for the miss ion ,and partly for the pure love of walking, both Of wh ich

mot ives are myster ious to most of the Ch inese . The

heathen Ch inese th inks the fore igner ’s money i s un

l im ited ; and to walk when one can apparently r ide

j ust as wel l as not, i s very amus ing , from h is po i nt Of

View .

The Heng Shan Offic ial has i ns i sted that a sold ier

accompany me unt i l I arr ive at the next b ig c ity, not

that there i s any spec ial danger on the road , but be

cause it i s the custom at th i s place . S O I start Off

with a b ig sold ier at my back, a strapp ing six-footer,

armed with a b ig kn i fe, which he carr ies i n a sheath,a wicked looking thing . two feet long , and about four

i nches wide near the po i nt .

Two Of the young men from Heng Shan escorted me

a long d i stance on my way . I t troubled me much to

have them hang in the rear, at a respectfu l d i stance ,l ike servants . They ins i sted on keeping away beh ind

,

almost beyond speaking d i stance .

There i s a fa i rly good paved road,or rather path ,

l ead i ng from Heng Shan to Nan Yueh , the stone worn


smooth by the feet of travelers . Inasmuch as horses

are very l i ttle u sed i n th i s part Of China, the roads are

narrow, and the paved part i s usual ly j ust wide enough

for a man to walk i n . Sometimes two chai rs , meeting,

have great d ifficu lty i n getti ng by each other . These

path roads remind me Of a remark Of one Of our Ch i

nese preachers . Speaking of the road to des truct ion ,how smooth and wide i t i s , he said i t i s l ike a ma lu

( horse road ) . There came to my mind memor i es Of

some of the horse roads over wh ich I have traveled ;

and doubtless i f he had seen them,he would not have

used the express ion i n such an unqual ified sense . But

truly the Chinese roads are Often narrow . I was

greatly amused to see two men with huge hats trying

to pass each other to-day .

The most interest ing th ings on th is road are the

numerous v i l lage shri nes . One of these, wh ich I w i l l

br i efly descr ibe, i s perhaps e ight feet h igh and four

feet square,and i s wel l made of brick . The front i s

open . Ins ide, beh ind a wooden grate, are two l i ttl e

wooden idol s . Here the v i l lagers come to burn paper

and incense . Thi s parti cu lar Shrine had lately been

spr inkled with ch icken ’s blood , and then some of the

feathers had been stuck on . I . asked why the feathers

were used . The reasons g iven were that the use Of

feathers greatly honored the god ; also , as the feathers

trusted to the b lood in order to adhere to the shrine,

so the worsh ipers were thereby taught to trust i n h im,

to cl ing to h im for help . By the shri ne were two great

stone tab l ets . One was erected i n honor Of those who

repai red the road at such and such a t ime,with a long

l i st Of names aflixed ; the other was a warn ing i ssued

THROUGH THE PADDY FIELDS 9 1

to th i eves and robbers at a certa i n t ime not to prs c

t ice the i r depredat ions on that road .

About noon, we arr ived in Nan Yueh . Nan Yueh i s

only a V i l lage, nestl i ng down at the foot of a mountai n

range, but i t has one of the most noted temples i n

China. Truly Nan Yueh i s Satan ’ s seat for th i s sect ion of the world . From the eighth to the tenth month ,the roads leading h ither are fi l led with long co lumns

Of p i lgrims . Thousands arr ive dai ly,waving Smok

ing st i cks of i ncense, and S i nging thei r wei rd songs Ofl

praise.

We have only a l ittle company Of bel i evers i n th i s

place, and they are so glad to greet us when we‘

come !

After a warm welcome, we had a n ice d inner of r ice ,greens

,and bean curd . I feel qu ite at ease how, Scoop

i ng rice i nto my mouth wi th chopsticks .

D inner over,we started for the country , to see a

young man who l i ved two or three l i away . He wished

to be baptized at th i s t ime . The fami ly cons i sted Of

h im,h i s mother and wi fe , and one l i ttle boy , a fine

ch i ld . It was a pleasure to talk with the aged mother .

She has not yet accepted the message, but she l oves

Jesus , and we encouraged her to walk the way Of eter

nal l i fe . We were treated to peanuts , parched beans ,and squash seeds . I was hungry , and they tasted good .

The yearly i ncome derived by th is fami ly o f four from

thei r few ti ny fields, which i s al l they have to l ive on

and clothe themselves with,i s about twenty-five dol lars ,

American money .

Retu rn i ng to the vi l lage, we cal led at the home of ashoemaker . He i s a heathen , but h i s on ly son has se

cepted Chri st, and is~

now i n ou r trai n ing school at

Shangha i p repar ing for service .

92 W ITH OU R M ISSIONAR I ES IN CH INA

We spent the afternoon vi s i t ing with and encouragi ng the bel i evers . In the even ing

,we held a preach ing

service . The room was crowded, and the attent i on was

excellent . They expressed great pleasure l i sten i ng to

my broken Ch inese . How courteous they are ! I

imagine that i f a Ch inese spoke i n one Of our Ameri

can gather ings in such broken language, i t would be

hard work for us to restra i n our amusement .

Another of the students at our Shangha i school hasrelat ives here i n Nan Yueh . After the service to

n ight, one of them approached me and introduced h im

self . When he ment ioned h i s brother, I sa id ,“He is a

good man .

”

Oh,” he sa id, but formerly he wasn ’ t good , and

he went on to tel l what a bad case he was . “But after

he began to come to your chapel here, a change came

into h i s l i fe . S O th i s heathen bore a splend id test i

A B USY SHOEMAKER


mony to the power Of the gospel . God grant that th i s

man also, who i s convi cted Of h i s s infu lness,and testi

fies to the power of the gospel, may ful ly come out on

the Lord ’s s ide .

I have been writ ing with a crowd Of men and boys

around me, and many faces framed i n the Open win

dow, al l very cur ious to see the stranger ; but I am

qu ite accustomed to being stared at,and don ’t mind .

NOVEMBER 25

Last n ight, I went to bed with the solemn tones Of

a b ig temple bel l r inging in my ears ; and th i s morn i ng ,

before the l ight Of day , its deep intonati ons again re

minded me that I was in Nan Yueh .

V i s i tors came flocking i n th i s forenoon , many of

them from mere cur i os ity , some Of them to ask the

foreigner about the Western country . Among the

v is i tors was an intel l igent look ing Taoist pr i est . I

speak of him as i ntel l igent looking because so many

of these men are heavy featured and uncouth i n ap

pearance. We quest i oned seveI al cand idates for bap

tism . Four Of them were accepted .

I was thankfu l, on th is vi s i t, not to have to sleep i na room with a coffin

,as on a former occas ion . One part

Of th i s bu i ld ing i s rented to the miss ion ; i n the other

half, the land lord h imself res ides . When the fore ign

pastor comes , the landlord usual ly g ives up one of h is

rooms for a guest room . He has an aged mother . In

al l homes where there are elderly people , the i r coffins

are prepared early, i n ant ic ipation Of the i r death . The

Old woman who l ives here undoubtedly takes great

comfort when she looks at that b ig box, knowing that

her future rest ing place i s assured . Chinese coffins

TH ROUGH THE PADDY FIELDS 95

are not made Of boards, but Of blocks of wood , so they

are very heavy . Good ones are expens ive .

It sometimes happens that although the coflin has

already been prov i ded, there i s not money enough on

hand to pay for the funeral when death occurs ; for

good funerals cal l for a large amount Of money . There

are the pr i ests,and the paper house , and the paper

horse and cow,and the mus ic, the firecrackers , and

other th ings to arrange for . Somet imes the relat ives

want to bu ry thei r dead i n some d istant place, and

haven ’ t the ready money for the travel ing expense .

In such cases,the coffin is sealed , and left i n one of the

l i v ing rooms of the house,sometimes as l ong as Six

months,somet imes longer .

The hour came for bapt i sm , and we went outs ide the

vi l lage to a clear mounta in stream . It seems most

fitti ng to admin i ster th i s r i te in water pure and clear

A CRAVE MOUN D NEAR SHANGHA I , W ITH COFF I N S AN I IFUNERAL URN S


as crystal ; but i n many places i n Ch ina, we have tobaptize i n a muddy r iver .

Many v i l lagers fo l lowed us . After the usual hymn

and prayer,I stepped into the water . As I d id so, a

shout Of der i s ion went up from the crowd ; but as the

candi dates fo l lowed one by one, and were bu ri ed i n

bapti sm, a hush came over those assembled .

Then we gathered at the chapel for the celebrat i on

of the ord inances . I was very happy th i s afternoon

as one Of these new brethren tenderly laved my feet ,and I i n turn min i stered to h im .

S O far on th is v i s i t to Nan Yueh , I have not been to

see the b ig temple . I have been leav ing that for to

morrow . TO-morrow also I must get another V i ew

from that beaut i fu l mountai n top . Several Of the Ch i

nese brethren plan to go with me .

Early i n the morn ing, some l i ttl e boys came i n , and

I entertai ned them for a wh i l e . P resently I succeededi n turn ing thei r minds toward Jesus, and we had a

ch i ldren ’s meeti ng . How d id I enterta i n them ? — By

tel l ing them how we cal l our an imals and pets i n Amer

ica . Then I asked them how they cal l the i r cows,and

pigs,cats , etc . , and requested them to teach me . They

were tremendously amused at my efforts to imitate

them .

A young man came in to have a talk with me . I

l iked the frank way i n which he spoke of h is fau lts .

He sa id he wanted to overcome, and by and by be

baptized . A las , i t i s S O easy for these Ch inese to con

fess thei r s ins , and so hard to let go Of them !

NOVEMBER 26

Early th i s morn ing,I arose al l aglow with the pros

pect Of c l imbing the mounta in , but after wai ting sev


eral hours for a clear sky, gave up the idea . N ext I

must go to Hen Djou ; but s i nce i t i s a fu ll day’s trIp ,

I Wi l l stop here one more n ight . Putt ing up at n ighton the H en Djou road is very bad .

STONE IMAGE OF TURTLE A T THE NAN K I NG TOM BSBecause o f the turt le’

s lo n g l i fe. s to ne i mages o f t hat rep t i le have bo rnefo r cen tur ies the C h i nese reco rds o f departed p rinces and p r ies ts .


I have spent the day talking w i th i nqu i rers and

v i s i t ing temples . There are Several b ig temples here;but the largest, the far-famed Nan Yueh temple ded i

cated to the god Shang Dy , i s espec ial ly worth menti on .

The temple yard i s about five hundred feet long by

three hundred feet w i de . On ei ther s ide i s a colonnade

formed by two rows of b ig wooden p i l lars, extending

the ent ire length , and support ing a t i le roof .

enter ing the temple yard, the first th ing to v i s i t

enormous stone turtle,which i s supposed to protect

the place . Thi s turtl e i s magn ificently executed and

wonderfully l i fel ike . I t i s carved out of black marble

(made i n two sect ions ) , and smoothly pol i shed .

Rest ing on its back i s a tablet Of the same black

marble,twelve feet h igh , covered with inscr ipt ions .

Surmount ing the who l e i s a block Of gray gran ite,twelve feet long by four feet wide, embel l i shed w i th

scrol l work and dragons .'

Approach ing the temple, we came to two stone

houses , each with a b ig Open door, i nto which packages

of paper money are thrown to be burned . The money

thus used by the worsh ipers i s supposed to be trans

ferred to the sp i r i t world, so that the i r departed

fr i ends may have the wherewitha l to secure temporal

comforts . Of course, i t i s not real money that they

burn , j ust a cheap imitat ion . In the month of August,

when the p i lgr ims number thousands dai ly,these

stone houses become roar ing furnaces . I t wou ld be

interest ing to know how many tons Of paper are burned

here yearly . From a safe d i stance,the suppl iant

throws h is package Of paper i nto the flames,and then

kneel i ng again and aga in , bowing, touches the rough

pavement with h i s forehead .

THROUGH THE PADDY F IELDS 99

On h is way up the steps to the temple,the p i lgr im

pauses to pol i sh some coins on the surface Of a great

dragon . ( The l ikeness is carved i n has-rel i ef, on an

immense s lab Of white stone . ) The co i ns are taken

home, and ch i ldren wear them on the i r bod ies as

charms to protect them from d isease and danger .

The main temple i s a large structure . Includ i ng

the stone platform upon which i t stands , i t i s about

one hundred seventy-five feet long , and seventy feet

h igh . The g i lded t i le roof i s turned up at the corners

in real Ch inese fash ion . Under the roof is a broad

facade,decorated with dragons and fierce looking b i rds

,

al l done i n g i lt and green . The temple is supported by

huge gran ite p i l lars .

The stone platform i s surmounted by a stone fence ,

the panels of wh ich are wh ite stone ornamented with

exqu is i te carv ings,trees , flowers , b i rds , and an imals

stand ing out i n bas-rel i ef . Chinese art is not along

the same l i nes as ours . Looking at i t from the stand

po int Of the Occ idental , much Of the work of the

Ch inese art i sts i s very crude . They do not seem to

attempt accuracy of outl i ne and n icety of deta i l . How

ever, the effect i s somet imes magn ificent .

Outs ide the entrance Of the temple is an immense

brazen bas in,sa id to be for the god Shang Dy to wash

in . AS we were looking at i t, a process i on O f priests

came,escort ing a group Of pi lgr ims bearing incense

and prec i ous wood to burn before the altar i ns ide .

I t i s qu i et here to-day,and usual ly i s , except duri ng

the spec ial season Of worsh ip . Then dense crowds

surge through the gates,and the a i r is rent by the

shri ll cri es O f the worsh ipers . Aga in and aga i n the

1 00 W ITH OU R MISSIONAR IES IN CH INA

chant ari ses, ascr ib ing omn ipotence to that th ing made

by men’

s hands . To see and l i sten makes one ’s

heart ache .

Just i ns ide the temple, two big idols, about twenty

feet i n he ight, guard the place, each with a m ighty

battle-ax i n hand . Shang Dy stands beh ind an inclos

ure of wooden pales . H is upper part i s ve i led— onemust pay a fee and go ins ide i n order to look upon h is

face . His gorgeous sk i rts Of green and purple are al l

that can be seen from without . Before h im mi l l ions

have bowed i n reverence . TO his presence countless

ach ing hearts have come, seek i ng for help , Oh , so

va inly ! M i l l i ons of dol lars,some of them very hard

earned,have been expended . And st i l l the empty form

goes on .

There is a b ig barrel-shaped drum here, S ix and one

half feet i n d iameter a wonderfu l drum . The sl ight

est tap with a lead penc i l starts deep reverberati ons

that rumb le fo r a long t ime .

S O much for th i s temp l e ! F ive m i les away, at the

top Of the mounta in feet above sea l evel ) , stands

another,a very Old one, also ded icated to Shang Dy .

The steep ascent to the summit is made by stone steps,

not a few Of them cut out Of the so l i d rock . The vi ew

from the summit i s wonderfu l . A l l along the ascent

are temples , some large and some smal l . Here a person

may count gods by the thousand . Near the top i s a

Ch inese l ibrary , reported to be very, very Old . Getting

the bu i ld ing mater ial up that steep mounta in S ide

mu st have been a great feat . The temple at the sum

mit has an immense brazen burner, which i s sa id to

have taken three hundred cool ies to carry up .

1 02 W ITH OU R M ISSIONARIES IN CH INA

In the country, there are cattle to help out with the

plowing and the harrowing ; but al l the burdens that

have to be carr ied are committed to men . Sometimes

wheelbarrows are used,when the roads are good

enough . Remember, I am writ i ng of local cond i t i ons ,not Of Chinese cond i t ions i n general .

The most comical th ing I saw to-day was a smal l

boy watch ing the fami ly buffaloes as they browsed

near a field Of beans . I t was rai n i ng ; so the l i ttl e fel

low had perched on the back of a b ig buffalo,ra i sed

hi s umbrel la, and sat there as d ign ified i n appearance

as an emperor . These buffaloes (water cows the Ch i

nese call them ) , although so large, are very doc i le, and

a ch i ld can manage them read i ly . They are fine to use

when cult ivat ing the r ice fields . Thei r broad feet are

at home on land, i n mud, or i n water . A lthough so

heavy , they splash drowsi ly along , knee-deep in mud,with apparent ease and content . They are great swim

mers . On a hot summer day, they love to l i e i n a pool ,with only the head above the surface . They enj oy

plunging under,too .

NOVEMBER 28

I t was about eleven O’

clock'

when we arr ived at Hen

Djou . We ought to have reached here early i n the

even ing,but the cha i r cool i es were a d isappoi ntment .

They apparently d idn ’t care whether we got anywhere

or not . About dusk , we arr ived at the vi l lage of Dj ang

MO 8 2 . Hen Dj ou was sti l l ten mi les away, and the

cool i es refused to go any farther ; so we secured pas

sage On a smal l boat . The boatman rowed wel l , and

in due t ime we arr ived .

AS the c ity gates were already shut for the n ight,

there was noth i ng to do but S l eep outs ide . We had


some d ifficu lty find ing a lodg ing house ; bes ides, i t was

rather uncannygrop ing about the dark streets, and I

was j ust a b i t glad of the b ig so ld i er w i th h i s bigkn ife . After a wh i le, we found a place to s leep ; and

as Prov idence wou ld have i t, one Of our church mem

bers was stay i ng there that n ight . In the confus ion

occas ioned by our arr ival,he was awakened

,and recog

nizing my vo i ce, l eft h i s bed to greet me . A bed next

h i s was g iven me, and I had a pleasant chat with h im

before fall i ng asleep .

Early th is morn ing, we entered Hen Dj ou , and

found our way to the Seventh-day Advent i st chapel .Here I d i smissed my bodyguard . TO-day I have en

j oyed meeting again the few brethren and S i sters we

have here . Thus far the work i n Hen Djou has gone

S lowly ; but we have a stronger man here now,and

hope for better th i ngs .

Many Of ou r church members i n th i s place are named

Hwang, wh ich means yel low . Not a very i nsp i r ing

name i n Engl i sh , i s i t ? But yel low in Ch ina i s the

imper ial color, and Hwang i s a very common fami ly

name . Other common surnames are Li,mean ing

plum ; Djang, mean ing to grow ; and Wang, mean ing

k ing .

The weather i s cold and drizzly to-day, and I have

apprec iated the charcoal fire . I t i s qu ite cozy . These

charcoal fires are not healthful ; but i n wintert ime,they g ive these cheerless, dark Ch inese houses j ust a

suggest ion Of coz iness . There i s rarely a w i ndow

where the heal ing,cheer ing sunl ight can stream in .

Some of the Ch inese are fond Of plants and flowers,

but these are usual ly found in a court outs ide the

house .

1 06 W ITH OU R M ISSIONARIES I N CHINA

they accept as a matter Of course . Some Of them neverhave been comfortable, and don

’

t expect ever to be .

Often , when they are cold, they won’ t admit i t, that i s

such a tr ifl ing matter . I have heard a man whose

l imbs were shaking and teeth chatter ing with cold, de

c lare with all so l emn ity that he was very comfortable .

The l i ttle ch i ldren look comfortabl e to-day in the i r

padded cloth ing . The ti ny ones are about as wide as

long, j ust a chubby face peer i ng out Of a bundle .

Some brethren from a di stant place dropped in andpartook Of commun ion with us . We had a prec ious

season w i th the Lord .

I found one brother and h i s fami ly i n desperate

c ircumstances . The place they l ive i n i s indescr ibab ly

wretched , and they cont i nual ly suffer for the bare

necess it i es of l i fe . Thi s brother belongs to the Old

school Of Chinese scholars . He i s well educated ac

cord ing to the Old standards ; but with the i ncreas ing

use of the pri nt ing press, and the almost complete

revolut ion of the Ch inese educati onal system of late,

he i s pract ical ly useless .

When he came to the chapel to see .me, he looked

p i t i abl e . He wore a worn-out wai st and trousers , and

a fl imsy Old cotton sonza. ( The sonza corresponds to

our coat,and i s long enough to come down to the

ank les . ) I am dressed warmer than I ever dressed

for a New England winter, yet I suffer from the co ld .

Bes ides the two heavy su its of underwear that I am

wearing,I had another su i t with me . I clambered up

to the loft,got it out, and told the brother to put i t on .

When he next appeared, he had d iscarded part of h i s

former rags , as be ing out Of place with h i s new ap

1 08 W ITH OU R M ISSIONAR IES IN CH INA

pare!, and wore the American underwear, only partly

concea led by h i s Shabby Old sonza.

The brethren, suspect ing that I d idn’ t sleep wel l

last n ight, have brought me some Chinese covers ; so

I th ink I Shal l Sl eep better to-n ight .

NOVEMBER 30

The pr inc ipal bus iness tod ay was to look for a new

place to rent, as the chapel we are now us ing i s no

longer su itable . The Ch inese brethren thought that

i f I went along,perhaps the m ission could not rent to

such good advantage . I t i s marvelous how rents go

up when i t i s known that the prospect ive renter i s a

fore igner . The plan i s, therefore, for the fore igners

to keep in the background unt i l the amount of rent

wanted is talked through .

I looked at some more temples— a favor ite d iver

s ion . On a beauti fu l h i l ltop Outs ide the c i ty i s a temp leconta i n ing the most miscel laneous col lect ion of ido l s

I have ever seen . One god has forty-e ight arms ; one

has a black face ; the d i st ingu i sh ing feature of another

i s h i s exaggerated eyebrows ; st i ll another has a tr ipod

i n h i s hands .

There i s a bel l at th i s place wh ich ‘ i s said to have

fallen d i rect from heaven . There i s also a much treas

ured b lack stone, bel i eved to have come from the same

source . It has been imbedded i n the outer wal l Of the

temple . I f the v is i tor throws water upon the stone,

and then looks at i t from the proper angle,he sees

the c ity of Hen Dj ou mi rrored i n i ts surface . The reflection i s not now perfect, because the stone has not

always been careful ly guarded , and has been scratched

and defaced by rowd ies . However, i t i s a wonderfu l

stone .

1 1 0 W ITH OU R M ISSIONARIES IN CH INA

previous v i s i t to Hen Djou , th i s couple were very de

sirous Of being bapt ized ; but when we quest i oned them ,

we found that they were not keep ing the Sabbathperfectly , and needed further i nstruct ion i n other

matters . S O I promised them that i f on my retu rn

they had grown in grace , they might be bapt ized .

On our way, we met hundreds of farmers coming

in to market, not r id ing i n“democrat” wagons , but

walki ng with two b ig baskets of produce suspended

from a bar Of wood, or a sect i on Of a bamboo pole ,thrown across the shou lder . The loads were mostly

Of r ice, vegetables, and eggs . Two men were carry

i ng a p ig to market on a stretcher .

We enjoyed the walk . We lost our way once, but

retraced our steps,and final ly arr ived at our dest ina

t ion . Our brother i s a country schoo l-teacher ; and,as I expected

,on approach ing h i s place, we heard a

smal l babel Of voi ces, dron ing away at the i r tasks .

One l i ttle lad was rec it ing at the top Of h i s shr i ll vo ice .

In a smal l , dark hovel, Brother Dj u l ives and in

structs h i s ten smal l charges, giv ing them the rud i

ments Of an education . He teaches only two Of the“ three R

’

s ,” read ing and “r it i ng .

” “Rithmetic, or

the use of the abacus, they p ick up at home . I asked

the teacher to get the ch i ldren started again at the i r

tasks ; but he sa id that as long as I stayed , i t was

imposs ibl e . The good man’

s wi fe was not at home .

We sat a l i ttle wh i le,then came away

,Dj u assuri ng

us that they would both come to the chapel to service

on the morrow .

DECEMBER 2

The weather i s st i l l very bad . We vis i ted bel i evers

th i s morn ing,coming back to a fine d inner . Thi s

THROUGH THE PADDY FIELDS 1 1 1 .

afternoon, one man and one woman were baptized, and

received i nto church membersh ip . On‘

account Of the

i nclemency Of the weather, Mrs . Dj u,who i s Old and

feeb le, dec ided to wait unt i l another t ime .

A MAN OF LEARN IN G , A CLASS M UCH REVERE!) IN CH I N A

1 1 2 W ITH OU R M ISSIONAR IES IN CH INA

The water i n the r iver i s very low now . On the

beach , the water was too shal low for bapti sm ; S O we

al l boarded two b ig boats , and had them rowed out to

ward the middle Of the r iver, where the water was

wai st deep . We had no difliculty with the brother,but the s i ster had to be lowered i nto the r iver and

pul led up again . However,she went through the or

deal w ith good grace . The water was icy cold , and

I suffered ; but the brother and s i ster declared that

they d id not m ind the co ld , and I don’ t bel i eve that

they d id .

The Ch inese had a good laugh at my expense to-day .

It al l came because Of my curios ity . When I see any

th ing out of the ord i nary,I pers i stently i nqu i re unt i l

I understand what i t i s . Two or three t imes lately I

have seen what to me was an Obj ect of great mystery .

I t i s a smal l red package,i n shape l ike a brick, only

larger , suspended over the doors Of dwel l ing houses,outs ide .

Now I wondered what superst it ion cou ld poss ibly

be connected with th i s red package . Sometimes i n

Hunan we see a small looking-glass over a house door,placed there to keep the devi ls out . When a devi l

comes to the door to enter, he sees h i s own l ikeness in

the glas s , and , becoming fr ightened , turns back . I

thought th i s myster ious red package might also have

some charm about i t . Well,I found out that i t was

only a weight, connected with an apparatus for ra i s

i ng and loweri ng a b ig lamp that at n ight hangs

outs ide the door . The Ch inese greatly enj oyed my d i s

comfiture.

We haven ’ t found any place to rent yet . Most Of

those ava i lable are h igher than the miss ion can afford


apparently every other method they cou ld dev i se, made

as much Of a racket as poss ib le, to keep the death angel

from cla iming the s ick woman . I asked the chapel

boy later i f th i s performance had had the des ired

effect, and he sai d the woman was better .But as we left the chapel th i s morn ing, the i ntens ity

of the cr i es Of gri ef from sti l l another house to ld us

that there death had j ust cla imed its v i ct im . I t i s

common , when walking on the street, to hear the cr i es

Of those mourn ing thei r dead . To them, death i s so

terr ib le ; for they mourn as those who have no hOpe.

On reach ing the r iver, we found that the boat which

had been engaged for us was very comfortab l e . What

made i t S0 was the fact that i tWas part ial ly fi l led with

r ice . S leep ing on r ice i s luxur ious after rec l i n ing on

hard boards,I can assure you .

The weather i s dr izzly and ch i l ly yet . We haven ’t

seen the sun for a week . I settled mysel f down for a

good study Of Ch inese characters, with Hwang as my

tutor . He wi l l accompany me to the next two stat ions .

A Brother Dj ou is also go ing as far as Lei Yang with

us . Our next stopp ing place wi l l be Yen Djou,one

hundred and fifty l i by water from Hen Dj ou . There

we have a large company of bel i evers . I haven ’t Seen

much Of i nterest to-day . We are pass ing through a

comparat ively flat country— a country Of r ice fields

for the most part .

DECEMBER 4

We were overj oyed th i s morn ing to see the sun

again flood ing the earth wi th l ight . I had a thorough ly

enj oyab l e t ime, walk i ng along the path on the bluffs,or through the fields where the Ch inese farmers are

busy with thei r fal l work . In some places , the a i r was

THROUGH THE PADDY FIELDS 1 1 5

heavi ly perfumed with the fragrance Of the lovely

wi ld chrysanthemums . I passed through a fine oak

grove, and gathered acorns . The s ight Of me fr ight

ened some poor ch i ldren dreadful ly . I met them on

the steep r iver bank . One poor l i ttle fel low was almost

THE CH I NESE FARMER , CONTENT W ITH TH I NGS A S THEY A RE

paralyzed wi th fright . He kept fal l i ng, i n h i s efforts

to get away ; and I feared he would tumbl e down that

steep place into the r iver .

Many Ch inese parents coerce naughty ch i ld ren i nto

good behavior by threaten ing to cal l a fore ign dev i l

( foreigner ) . Once a refractory ch i ld was brought

scream ing to the door Of a chapel where I was stay ing ,

to scare h im into submi ss ion . Another time , as I was

pass ing through a smal l v i l lage , my attention was at


tracted to a t iny baby ly ing i n a basket . There were

probab ly twenty fl i es walk ing about on h i s tender face ,

and the l i ttle th ing was cry ing p iteously . I paused

a moment, wish ing I cou ld do someth ing for the ch i ld .

The young mother happened to look up , and saw a

fore igner who was susp ic iously i nterested in her baby .

With a cry in which fear and defiance were inter

mingled , she bounded to the cradle,clasped her baby

to her breast, and stood there glar ing at me l ike an

an imal at bay . Without doubt, when she saw my at

tention attracted to.her baby

,her mind reverted to

al l the Old stor ies she had heard when a ch i ld, Of for

e igners catch ing l i ttle ch i ldren and goug ing out the i r

eyes to make medic ine, etc .

Some of the Ch inese were reap ing buckwheat,pul l

i ng i t handful by handful ; some were d igging sweet

potatoes ; others .were plowing . I t is rather amus ing

to me to see a huge buffalo drawing a l ight wooden

plow that a twelve-year-Old boy could carry about

eas i ly . These plows look rather crude ; but they are

qu ite c l everly made after al l,and do good work i n the

soft, y ield ing so i l .

The boat came along rather slowly,*

so I d idn’ t wai t

for i t, but kept on walking, and arr ived at Yen Dj ou

chapel about three O’clock i n the afternoon .

Here I found a group Of bel i evers await ing our ar

r ival . They rushed i nto the chapel when they saw me

coming , and brought out great str ings Of firecrackers,

and set them Off . Thus I arr i ved i n the m idst Of a

tremendous uproar . Then hearty i nd ividual greet i ngs

were exchanged,after wh ich the Yen Dj ou fr iends a l l

hastened to prepare someth ing good for us to eat .

Hwang and Dj ou arrived soon after I d id .


ing about one hundred th i rty pounds Of coal to a load .

What a waste Of human energy ! I t would be i nterest

ing to compute how much coal these people ( there are

about a thousand carr iers here ) could move i n a day,compared with what a handfu l Of men with modern

conven i ences cou ld move .

Yen Dj ou is a market place . That i s to say, on cer

ta i n days,the country people for many miles around

flock here with produce to sel l . Manufacturers come

with the i r wares , smal l merchants come to sel l not ions

and sweetmeats,fakers br ing the i r wheels Of fortune .

Sometimes an acrobat d i splays his sk i l l . On these

days,Yen Dj ou i s a bustl ing and busy commun ity .

The curse o f the place is strong drink . The people

also smoke great quanti t i es Of tobacco, many of them

THE B IRD OF THE COOL IE HA S AN A IR I NG , THE SAME A S ITS

AR ISTOCRAT I C RELAT IVES

THROUGH THE PADDY F IELDS 1 1 9

usmg long bamboo p ipes , some Of wh ich are four

feet long .

This sect ion Of Hunan produces great quant it i es Of

cha Oil . China produces several k inds Of excel l ent

vegetable Oil, but cha Oil i s most common i n Hunan .

I t i s not sent to market i n casks , but i n baskets . Think

Of send ing cooking Oil to market i n baskets ! These

baskets are l i ned wi th paper espec ial ly prepared for

the pu rpose, and each one holds about a hundred

pounds of Oil .

Thi s morn ing, we examined cand idates for bapt i sm .

S ix were accepted and went forward in the r i te . Th i s

was the first t ime the inhab i tants of Yen Djou ever

witnessed a bapt i smal service,and the brethren were

baptized amid the j eers and r id icu le Of many of those

assembled . May God grant that some of those who

too day r id icu led, wil l yet fol low thei r Sav iour inbapti sm .

We hope to see some of the Yen Dj ou women ready

for bapti sm later . Because very few Of the women

can read,they are u sually more backward than the men

about accept ing the gospel . AS thei r husbands l ive

the gospel , and ou r evangel i sts’

wives labor with them

and influence them to attend preach ing services,the

honest-hearted wi l l gradually be gathered i nto the fold

Of Christ .

DECEMBER 6

I t was a very pleasant occas i on to-day, when those

bapti zed yesterday were rece ived i nto church member

sh ip,and we al l met around the Lord

’

s tabl e .

Many came to-day for med ic ine and advice . I have

been qu ite bu sy look i ng at bad eyes , dress i ng sores ,etc . I on ly wi sh I could do someth ing for them worth

1 20 W ITH OU R M ISSIONARIES I N CH INA

wh i le . The best I can do wi l l br ing only temporary

rel i ef .

Early th i s morn ing, I stro l led out of the v i l lage for

a l i ttl e qu iet t ime w i th God, and was a b i t vexed to be

fol lowed by some of the brethren . They sa i d they were

afra id I wou ld fal l i nto the hands Of the Catho l i cs . I

found a l ittle h i l lock,covered w i th Old trees, where

the heathen come to worsh ip . Stuck i nto the crev ices

Of trees and stones, were the oddest emblems of wor

sh ip imaginab le, the heads of fowls mounted on

bamboo st icks,and carefully ve i led with paper . The

sticks were decorated with str ips of wh ite paper and

red cloth . Th i s must b e a local custom , for I have not

seen i t elsewhere .

A poor Old man came into the chapel to-day, want

ing med ic ine . He was nearly bl ind from cataract . I

told h im that my eye medic ine would not do h i s eye

any good, but he ins i sted on having some . My heart

ached for th is Old man . Scarcely any one i n th is reg ion

has good eyes .

TO-day was market day here,and the country people

came i n large numbers . I was an obj ect of great

curios ity . AS I p icked my way through the crowd ,some of them good-naturedly pawed me over, as i f I

had been an Obj ect for sale in some cur ios i ty shop .

They wanted to see and feel my clothes,ask the pr ice

,

etc . I essayed to d istr ibute some l iterature,and do a

l i ttl e mi ss ionary work ; but most of these people under

stood hardly a word .

DECEMBER 7

TO-day was our cal l i ng day in Yen Dj ou . We d idn’t

have much t ime yesterday to vi s i t the bel i evers i n


After a walk Of five mi les, we arr ived about dark

at Dj ang LO Shu . We have no regu lar preacher here ;but the i nqu i rers in th i s ne ighborhood have rented a

house,and repa i red and whitewashed i t, so i t makes

a n ice place Of worship . A few men meet here on the

Sabbath for prayer and B ible study,and sometimes

one of our evangel i sts vi s i ts them . We held a meet ingwith some Of the inqu i rers who l i ve near, then , as we

were very t i red from the exert ions of the day, went

early to bed .

DECEMBER 8

We were fortunate enough to meet several more of

our farmer i nqu i rers th i s morn ing . As i t was market

day here, many Of them had come i n early with prod

uce . They pleaded most earnestly for a preacher, for

they are l ike sheep without a shepherd . I bel i eve

there i s mater i al enough in th i s country neighborhood

for a substant ia l church .

Djang LO Shu i s ord inari ly a qu iet l i ttl e place ; but

th is morn ing, i t i s al l a bustle . I am always i nterested

i n what the farmers haveto sel l . I saw some sweet

potatoes here, that were S imply enormous i n s i ze .

After d i nner, we called a man to carry our luggage,and walked on to Lei Yang, a d istance of twelve m i les .

I t was a pleasant walk, for the weather was fine . The

country is not SO beaut i ful as i n springtime and sum

mer, when the r ice fields are covered with grow ing,

l i ving green . The fields are dry now,but the country

i s st i l l attract ive .

Several Of the people we met on the road to-day took

me for a Cathol i c mi ss i onary who Often passes through

th i s reg ion . One Old man very devoutly knelt i n the

road to do me reverence . I made haste to tel l h im that

1 24 W ITH OU R M I SS IONARIE S IN CH INA

I was not the holy father he thought I was . I th ink

less of my newly acqu i red beard S ince th i s experi ence .

Most of the Catho l i c m i ss ionar i es i n China are heav i ly

wh iskered ; hence the m istake .

We arr ived at Le i Yang about n ightfal l, where we

rece ived a warm welcome . The fr i ends there had pre

pared a feast for us , to wh ich we d id ful l j u st i ce .

Lei Yang i s a beauti fu l l i ttle c i ty, as Ch inese c it i es

go . The houses are wel l made, of excel lent br ick, and

kept i n good repa i r . The Roman Cathol i cs have a

handsome church here .

A good number came to hear the Word th i s even i ng .

I don’

t try to preach much at Le i Yang . The peop le

here , espec ial ly the country people, speak pract ical ly

a d ifferent d ialect . When Brother Hwang talks with

the country people, he too needs an interpreter .

I t i s qu i te try ing to meet so many local d i al ects

when travel i ng about . I understand that i n some Of

the other provinces , there i s the same d ifficu lty . To

i l l ustrate : In the parts Of Hunan that I have v i s i ted,I have heard the Ch inese character for “man” pro

nounced reen , gine, yin , ween , zren , nyin , hsin ,and gun ,

with var i ati ons .

DECEMBER 9

A S i ster came i n tod ay, compla in i ng b itterly . In

her absence on Sabbath , when She came to attend serv

ice,her house was entered and robbed . She wanted

the miss ion to take the matter i n hand . We com

forted her the best we could,explai n ing to her the

proper relat ion between church and state, and that

i t wou ld not be best for the miss i on to do anyth ing

about the matter . There i s l i ttl e hope Of her gett ing


which grow here to perfect ion . They are a Sober, in

dustrious pe0p1e, and qu i te fr i endly to the gospel .

The oddest th ing I have seen i n Le i Yang i s a grove

outs ide the c ity wall, that i s u sed as a sort Of halfway

place for the dead . I f any one has a dead body that

i t i s not conven i ent to bury, and he doesn’ t care to

keep it i n the house, he may set i t out i n th is grove .

I th i nk that i s the idea . At any rate, there are a

number of occup ied coffins i n the grove .

DECEMBER 1 0

Those who have never l ived i n the East cannot ap

preciate what a b l ess i ng is Western promptness and

method . Yesterday I asked our peopl e here to order

a cha i r for me, so that I should have no d ifficulty

i n gett ing away from LeiYang very early th i s morn

ing . The brethren d i d the best they cou ld . Somechai r bearers were here at the chapel unti l late last

even ing , bargain ing . The brethren tr i ed to make a

barga in with them,but thought the i r rates unreason

able, S O i t took a long t ime to talk the matter through .

This morn ing , the chai r coo l i es came ; but after much

conversat ion , they dec ided that they d idn’t want to

make the tr ip anyway, the roads were so bad i n the

d i rect ion i n wh ich I wanted to go, etc . By th is t ime ,i t was late, and no other men were ava i lable . I d idn ’ t

leave Le i Yang unti l ten O’c lock, and then I walked .

Brother Hwang and I separated here, he return ing to

h is stat ion at Hen Dj ou , and I going on to Yu Hs i en ,where the next outstat i on i s .

My road to-day wound through the rice fields aga in,

now through the valleys , now around steep h i l ls i des,with level paddy fields on every hand . Wherever there

i s a spr ing or stream of water, the h i l l s ides are ter


raced . Where the h i l l s i de i s steep , the fields , Of course,are very narrow . For the most part, the country i n

th i s Le i Yang d i str i ct i s very ferti le, and pretty .

We d idn ’t make very good time . My carr i er was

S low, and my luggage i s heavy, so we walked only

twenty mi les . We arr ived at Sh i Dz i Ga i late i n theeven ing . We passed a place, to-day, where some

people were j ust fin ish i ng a funeral feast . As the

house was smal l,and the guests were many

,the tables

were set i n the narrow street . We could hard ly get

past the p lace .

The Ch inese Observe one funeral custom that i s very

amus ing . They make a b ig goose ( some cal l i t a swan )Of yel low paper . They are very clever at making thesepaper geese

,and the l ikeness i s excel l ent . They perch

the creature on a long pole above the house . I can ’ t

find out what s ign ificance th i s custom has . Some

say that the sp ir it takes i ts fl ight i nto the other world

on such a b i rd, and that a large paper, some feet in

l ength and breadth, is posted up on the outs ide wal l

Of the house, g iving notice Of the Sp i r i t’ s departure,

the route to be taken,etc . I suppose i t i s qu ite d i s

tress ing to the fami ly concerned ; but I must confess

that the s ight Of these geese perched on h igh im

presses me very cheerfully .

The people i n th i s part Of Hunan have a queer way

of stack ing straw . Instead Of stack ing i t on the

ground , they put i t up a tree, fasten ing i t by bundles

i n a c i rcl e to the trunk of the tree . The stacks are

much larger than one would th ink poss ible, and qu ite

shapely . A grove of p ine trees decorated i n th is man

ner i s a grotesque S ight .


orange-growing d i str i ct . I bought n ine b ig oranges

for five coppers . I thought of some Of our dear peopl e

at home, probably pay ing fifty cents a dozen ( those

who can afford to buy any ) , and w i shed they cou ld

share th i s treat wi th me . At noon, one of the chai r

bearers— in sp ite of the fact that I have been walk

i ng half the way— played out, dec lared that he was

exhausted, and would go no farther . I paid the men

for the d istance we had come, and fin i shed the j ourney

on foot, arriv i ng at Yu H s i en about an hour before

the Sabbath .

In the even ing, I preached to a good crowd, some

eager to l i sten to the Word, others merely cur ious to

hear a foreigner talk . I am wel l understood here .

DECEMBER 1 3 ( S ABBATH )

Thi s has been a blessed and very fu l l day . At every

outstat ion,I make a point of talk ing w i th al l the

church members ind iv idually as to the i r rel ig ious ex

perience; and on Sabbath days, there i s usual ly a

splend id Opportun i ty . Then I make suggest ions as to

the betterment of the Sabbath school,counsel with the

evangel i st, and usual ly conduct the ord inances and lead

out in a consecrati on serv ice .

The Lord has been b less i ng in th i s p lace Of late .

Formerly there was some dissens ion among the be

lievers , but all are un ited again . Four went forward

i n bapt i sm to- day, three of whom were s i sters . Then,for the S ixth t ime with i n a month, I had the pr iv i l ege

of meet ing with my Chinese brethren and s i sters

around the table Of our Lord .

About noon, twelve men , members of the only other

miss ion here, came to pay the i r respects . Our earnest

preacher,DzaO, took advantage Of the i r V i s i t to

1 32 W ITH OU R M I SS IONARIES IN CH INA

present to them some phases of the threefo ld message .

I f he mainta ins the same zeal and . tact that he d i s

played to-day,surely some of these people wi l l accept

the truth for th i s t ime . The other miss i onary soc iety

here felt very b itter when we entered th i s place to

labor,and they do what they can to h inder the i r people

from coming to us ; but i n t ime, the honest-hearted

wi ll be gathered out . We prefer, i n the miss ion field ,to carry the gospel first to those who have never heard

i t ; but we could no longer res i st the appeal made by

those i n th i s p lace who were i nterested i n the th ird

angel’

s message .

I am pleased with the s i sters who were bapt ized to

day . They look as if they would be a substant ial ad

d i t ion to our church . I t i s encourag ing that so soon

after the Open ing of our chapel here, three women

have accepted Jesus as the i r Saviour . They have un

bound the i r feet, d iscarded the i r earr i ngs and other

Ornaments , and seem to g ive ev idence Of a genu ine

change of heart .

D ECEMBER 1 4

I have been v i s i t i ng to-day with our evangel i st and

the bel i evers . Dzao has been an insp irat ion to me on

account Of h i s prayerfulness ; and some of the be

lievers have been so enthus iast ic i n the message,that

my soul has been fed .

At home, we have hard work to persuade our people

to enter the colporteur work ; but i n Hunan , we have

no troub l e on that score . E ven i f they have a good

means Of gett ing a l ivel ihood , many of them are eager

to be i n the Lord ’s work .

One brother s ixty years Old has been ask ing me i f

he can canvass for our l i terature . He is a mason , and

1 34 W ITH OU R MISSIONAR IES IN CH INA

prayer out there on the h i lltop, and came back feel i ng

refreshed and strengthened .

DECEMBER 1 6

I got an early start to day, and am fortunate to have

a man with a wheelbarrow to carry my baggage . I

wanted one for myself,as they are much cheaper than

chai rs ; but there was only one to be had . On my

former tr ip from Yu H s i en,I went by wheelbarrow .

The conveyances lack springs and back, otherw i s e they

wou ld be qu ite comfortable . They are d ifferent from

American wheelbarrows — the wheel i s much larger,and i s i n the middle Of the barrow .

The chai r cool i es were i ncl i ned to grumble,as usual ,

because I was so heavy ; but I got out several t imes and

walked , and we al l got through the day qu ite good

naturedly . At noon , I warmed up some of my roasted

sweet potatoes,and they tasted good . I gathered as

much hol ly tod ay as I can take home with me .

I saw a touch ing scene to-n ight, and one I shal l n ever

forget,— a b ig boy i n h i s teens caress i ng h i s Old

mother . I wou ldn ’ t have missed seeing i t for do l lars .

I t was encourag ing,for i t is a rare Sight i ndeed i n

Ch ina . I t made that old Chinese i nn look homel ike .

DECEMBER 1 7

To day has been much l ike yesterday, rather un

i nterest ing . Thi s must be because I am nearing the

end of my trip,for every day has its surpr i ses . At the

end Of'

two years’ res idence i n Ch ina, I am sti l l on

“enchanted ground .

”

One th ing that has come to me as a novelty i s that

the chestnuts here don ’ t wait for Jack Frost to Open

1 36 W ITH OU R M ISS IONAR IES IN CH INA

the bur ; they are two months ahead of h im . That,to

a New Englander, i s i ncomprehens ible .

But everyth ing i s d ifferent i n Ch ina . In rowing, the

Ch inese push instead Of pul l . When greeti ng the i r

fr i ends they shake the i r own hands i nstead Of the i r

fr i ends hands . They dress i n wh ite when they are

mourn ing thei r dead . They wr i te the i r books wrong

s i de before . Even the crows are d ifferent . Most of

these Hunan crows wear a great wh ite col lar . They

look as i f “Fairbanks twins had been here, and left

at the beg inn i ng of the i r work .

In the m iddle of the afternoon,ra in set i n, and i t

was b i tterly cold . The chai r bearers refused to go

any farther, and we had to put up for the n ight at an

i nn . I t was a typ ical country i nn , the house being

bu i lt out over the h ighway .

In the even ing, the Ch inese bu i lt a fire on the floor,and fed i t w i th straw unti l bedt ime . I t was very

smoky, but cheery nevertheless . S i tt ing i n the c i rcle,chatt ing with the Ch inese, I could almost imagine that

I was a Ch inese too . I tested a package of sweetmeats

that some of the peopl e i n Yu Hs i en had brought for

me . The flavor was susp ic iously like ‘

pork fat ; so I

d istr ibuted them among the Ch i nese,who were dc :

l ighted . I rather th ink that for once I was the “ l i on

of the oc cas ion .

”

I had been congratulat ing mysel f On having a n ice

room for the n ight ; but at bedtime, I found that the

door cou ld not be closed . However, there was no other

room ava i lable .

DECEMBER 1 8

Tod ay I have been i n a real flutter Of exc itement,

for I am neari ng home . We got started very early

Entering Szechuan Provin ce

F . A . A LLU M

Early i n the spr ing of 1 91 4 , M . C . Warren and I

left Shanghai to take the first tr ip made by Seventhday Advent i st m i ss ionar i es to the far d istant province

of Szechuan . We had before us more than two thou

sand miles Of travel, mostly by r iver boats a d i stance

that cou ld not be covered in less than two months . We

left Shangha i on March 3, and had a very pleasant

tr ip to Hankow . Whi le on the boat, I sold forty cop ies

Of ou r Ch inese S igns .

We were met at Hankow by Freder ick Lee and S . C .

White , and had a pleasant vi s i t with the brethren there .

On March 1 1 , we went from Hankow to Yencheng,Honan , by tra i n . The day we left Hankow,

the dai lypaper had an account of the k i l l i ng, by White Wo lf

’s

band of robbers , Of a Norwegian miss ionary, Dr . Fro

land . They also severely wounded another miss ionary

of the same mi ss ion . Th i s took place at Laohokau, i n

northern Hupeh .

However, we had a pleasant ahd safe j ourney to

Yencheng . We saw numerous bands‘

Of so ld i ers on

the i r way to fight White Wo lf and h i s robbers,who

are estimated to be about three thousand men . The

rai lway seemed careful ly guarded,and sold i ers were

stat ioned at nearly every bridge . Accord ing to the

reports Of nati ve Chri st i ans, condit ions have improved

i n eastern Honan ; but the western part, wh ich i s very

mountainous, i s st i l l i n the hands of the robbers .

Our Obj ect i n go ing to Honan was to select Ch inese

workers to go wi th u s to Szechuan . R . F . Cottrel l,

super intendent of the Central Ch ina M i ss ion,and h is

( 1 38 )

1 40 W ITH OU R M ISS IONAR IES IN CH INA

committee,generously allowed us perfect freedom to

Select any workers who were wi l l i ng to go. After an

earnest season of prayer with J . J . Westrup and the

Chinese members Of the Honan committee,two men

were chosen . Thei r names are Dj u Dz i Ih and Sh iYung Gwei. B oth men expressed the i r wi l l i ngness togo wherever God cal led them . One of these men had

to travel n i nety l i ( th i rty m i les ) on Fr iday to h i s

home to acquaint his wife with the suggest ion that

they now labor i n Szechuan . These devoted people

packed the i r belong ings Saturday n ight after sundown ,and on Sunday traveled n inety iito the ra i lway stationin order to take the tra i n next morn ing for Hankow .

ENTRANCE TO A TEM PLE A T KUN SHAN . A FAM ILY OF S I !

PERSONS MAKE THE IR HOME IN THE HOUSE BOAT

1 42 W ITH OUR M ISSIONA RIES IN CH INA

Before leavi ng Ichang, the boat people k i l led a fowl

and sp i l led the b lood on the front of the boat,and a lso

stuck some of the feathers on both s ides of the boat

at the front, and placed some on each s ide of the front

cab in,and also i n the m idd le . The capta i n ’s wife beat

a gong v igorously ; and at the same time, they burned

paper money and fired Off crackers . They reason that

i f they only burn paper money and do not fire Off

crackers, the gods wi l l not know that they are worsh ip

i ng them . The whole system of heathen worsh ip i s to

paci fy the ev i l sp i r i ts, wh ich are sa id to make thei r

home in the waters of the great Yangtze K i ang .

Our boat ascended the stream about one mi le, and

then we anchored, as the capta i n had not fin ished h is

preparations for the j ourney . As he wi l l not come

on board unti l sundown, we shal l remain at th i s place

over the Sabbath .

MARCH 28

Wespent a very pleasant Sabbath . In the morn ing,

we had Sabbath schoo l ; and afterward I Spoke to thecrew of our boat, who number e ighteen i n al l . I con

cluded my remarks with an appeal to them to g ive up

smoking and the dr ink ing Of wine . One man decided

right away that he wou ld not smoke any more,and

immediately threw hi s p ipe i nto the r iver . He has not

smoked s ince .MARCH 29

Leaving Ichang about 6 a . m . , we sai l ed almost due

north for about five mi les, and at th i s po i nt tu rned

west and entered the famous Ichang gorge . One who

has traveled i n nearly every part Of the world says Of

th i s gorge,

“I t looked as i f we were sa i l i ng through

a chain Of mounta i n lakes .

ENTER ING SZECHUAN PROVINCE 1 43

Having a favorable wind, we soon arr i ved at a place

ca lled Hwang Ling M i ao, th irty mi les from Ichang .

Here I took a,

p ictu re Of the many rope sheds . There

must be at least twenty mi les Of . rope for sale here .

These ropes are made out of bamboo,and are used for

hau l ing the boats up the rap ids .

About 7 p . m . ,we came to the first dangerous rap id,

cal led Ta Dung . We had already passed two rap ids

tod ay . I t took us over half an hour to pass th i s rap i d

and make three hundred feet up the r iver . We an

chored for the n ight above the rap id . In al l, we made

1 20 l i to day ( about forty mi les ) . Th i s i s splend id

for Ch ina . Truly God has been good to us .

MARCH 30

We left our anchorage above the Ta Dung rap id

about 6 a . In . A head wind was blowing, SO we made

s low progress . About 9 a . m .,we arr ived at a place

cal led Tung Ling Tan, where we stayed unti l 2 p . m .

A l i ttl e after th is hour,we slowly crossed the Tung

Ling rap id . Here the passage i s very dangerous , for

there are many rocks h idden in these whi rl i ng waters ,and r ight i n the m iddle Of the stream l ies an enormous

rock, which may be forty feet above the stream or as

much below it, accord ing to the cond i tion Of the r iver .

I t was here that the German steamer “Su i Hs iang”

was lost . S hestruck th is rock, and i n a few minutessank i n one hundred and fi fty feet Of water . Th irty

miss ionari es were on board ; but only one fore igner,the capta in

,l ost h i s l i fe . However, many Ch inese were

drown ed . Among these was the son Of a mandari n,who was retu rn ing to Wan Hs ien . His servant helped

h im into the red boat" ( the Ch inese l i feboat ) ; but

he, see ing no immed iate danger, foo l ishly retu rned to

1 44 W ITH OU R M ISS IONAR IES I N CH INA

the steamer to secure some valuab l es that were i n his

trunks . Before he could secure them, the vessel sank ,

and he was lost . Thus, on the one hand, .we see God

’

s

spec ia l protect ion over the miss ionar ies , and on the

other, the loss of l i fe of those who trusted i n uncer

ta i n r iches .

After ascend ing the Tung Ling rap id, we stayed

some t ime at the Tung Ling vi llage,and finally crossed

the first and second rap ids at Ts in Tan , and arr ived

at the th i rd rap i d about 6 p . m . Th i s rap id at low

water i s the most dangerous one on the r iver . Here

many boats are wrecked and many l ives lost . The loss

of l i fe would be greater but that the Ch inese have

stat ioned l i feboats at al l dangerous po i nts on the r iver .

We anchored below th is rap i d for the n ight ; for at

6 : 30 p . m . , there were no fewer than twelve boats

ahead of us,and each boat must wai t i ts turn to be

hau led up the rap id,as the passage i s not wide .

MARCH 3 1

We d id not try to cross the Ts in Tan rap id unt i l

3 : 1 5 p . m . When we d id try,I had about the most

thri l l ing and dangerous exper i ence I ever had in China .

Brother Warren had already safely gone up the rap i d

on another boat, and was on the shore taking p ictures

of our boat as i t ascended the rap id . Al l the Ch inese

Chri st i ans be ing on the shore,I was the only one Of

our party on board . We had seen a good many boats

go up safely,and therefore d id not th ink we Should

have much troub l e . But the capta i n was on Shore

d i rect ing the efforts of the fifty or s ixty trackers”

who were to pul l the boat up the rap id, and the p i lot

i n command made the mi stake of launch ing out too


water was qu ickly ba i led out, and the boat was beached .

During th i s t ime, I was working hard -to get our th ings

out of the hold of the boat, i n order that they shou ld

not be spo i led by the water . On the boat ’s reach ing

the shore,Brother Warren ass i sted me in th i s work .

One of my boxes Of books was damaged by water, and

our prov i s ions also suffered .

We real ized that God ’ s word was fulfi l l ed to us i n a

wonderfu l way in th i s exper ience . We had j ust read

at our noonday prayer meeting I sa. 43 : 2 :“When thou

passest through the waters, I wi ll be with thee ; and

through the r ivers, they shal l not overflow thee .

Surely th i s scr ipture was fulfi l led to us i n a l i teral

way . TO our heaven ly Father we Offer s incerest

thanks, for He heard our prayers .

Our B ib l e woman told me, after i t was all over, that

her twelve-year-Old boy cr ied b itterly when he saw the

danger I was i n, and then he prayed to the Lord to save

me . He I s a fine l i ttle fel low,and always g ives good

test imon i es i n our soc ial meet ings . At present, as we

have no cook with us, he is act ing as our cook, and i s

render ing good service .

APR IL 1

A s I write th i s, I am s itt i ng in a Ch inese i nn fac ing

the river . In the d istance I can see our boat,with the

Austral i an flag sti l l fly ing at the mast,and the Ch inese

flag at the stern . I am encourag ing the capta i n to

try aga in tod ay to cross the rap id . He,poor fel low

,

has had his many bags Of rice soaked,and is not feel

i ng any too happy about the matter ; and bes ides, what

is worse than al l, he says he has“ lost face .

” However,

I th ink he wi l l try aga in to-day . We are tak i ng our

goods off the boat and having them carr i ed above the

ENTERING SZECHUAN PROVINCE 1 47

rap id ; so i f the boat goes down th i s t ime, we and our

goods wi l l be safe .

TO-day no fewer than four boats have been wrecked

at th i s place,and one man lost h i s l i fe . The others

were saved by the l i feboats . In one case, they also

saved a dozen p igs, which were thrown into the r iver

when the boat was wrecked .

S ince wri t ing the above,I have helped the trackers

pul l ou r boat up the rap i d . We had more than S ixty

men on shore pu l l ing ; and with the men on the boat,there must have been over seventy engaged i n th i s

work . These men pul led l ike mules to get the boat up

the rag ing water . The wh ippers ( leaders Of the

trackers ) screamed , cu rsed, and struck the men in

order to make them pull harder . We had two long

bamboo towl ines attached to the boat . One Of these

l i nes was th i rty-six hundred feet long , and was se

cured to a stone p i l lar on the shore . The other was

more than one thousand feet long . Two safety l ines

were fastened to rocks nearer the boat . These emer

geney ropes save the boat from be i ng dashed on the

rocks i f the two towl ines part . The capta i n frant ical ly

shouted h i s commands to the fi rst wh ipper, and he i n

turn passed the command along to the next wh ipper,and final ly i t reached the men

,accompan ied with

curses and blows .

“ Some idea Of the force Of th i s enormous volume of

water may be g iven by menti on i ng the explo i ts Of the

steamsh ip ‘Pioneer,’ which on three consecuti ve oc

cas ions attacked th i s rap id !that i s, Yeh Tan rap id ,which i s not so fierce as the Ts i n Tan ! when at i ts

worst,and

,although steaming a good fourteen knots

an hour,fai led to pass . She was ob l iged to lay out a


long steel hawser and heave herself over by means of

her W i nd lass , the eng ines working at ful l speed at the

same t ime . Hard and heavy was the strain, gain ing

foo t by foot, with a tens i on on the hawser almost to

the breaking stra i n a ver itable battl e i t seemed w i th

the m ighty dragon Of the Yangtze .

”

Th i s g ives some idea Of the tremendous force of the

water at these rap ids . However, I am glad to say that

CARGO BOAT ON THE HA N R IVER

our boat crossed safely , and by 9 : 30 p . m . al l our

th i ngs were once more on board,and by 1 0: 3o

'we

went to bed . I was ti red, very t i red, and slept l ike a

ch i ld unt i l next morn ing .

APR IL 2We left Ts in Tan about 1 0 a . m . ; and, having a

strong, favorab le wind, we traveled fast . During the

day, we passed several rap ids, but they were not so

dangerous . At one place,our towl i ne broke , and we

dri fted downstream ; but as we were not i n a danger

ous place, no harm was done . Farther on we saw a

number Of wrecks . The poor boat people managed

1 50 W ITHOUR“MISSIONARIES IN CH INA

We arr ived at Kweichowfu about twelve O’clock .

A l i ttle below th i s c ity i s a celebrated br i ne wel l,on a

smal l i s land, or sand bank . The salt water i s d ipped

up i n buckets and empti ed i nto wooden troughs,through wh ich i t runs to large i ron pans . There

'

is

enough br ine to keep one hundred and twenty large

pans constantly i n use dur ing the season the wel l i s

worked . One author ity says that one mi l l ion five

hundred thousand pounds of salt are made here an

nually. Thi s i sland is above water only from January

to May , and the manufacture i s confined to those

months .

In the c ity Of Kweichow is a noted ROman Cathol ic

church wh ich i s sai d to date from 1 662 . Thi s shows

how early the papacy entered th i s part Of China .

APRIL 5

We stayed i n a small market town over Sabbath .

I t i s cal led An P i n,which means “rest” and “peace .

”

We had Sabbath school at 1 1 a . m ., and then organ

ized the first Sabbath schoo l i n Szechuan . We elected

M . C . Warren super i ntendent, and Dj u , our Ch i

nese evangel i st, secretary . After th i s , we entered the

town , and the evangel i st and I spoke to the crowd that

soon gathered . The people l i stened wel l, and our own

sou ls were refreshed as we told the story of the cross .

In the afternoon,I held a B ible study with a Chr ist ian

from another boat, which was detai ned by adverse

winds . We studi ed the three messages of Revelat ion 1 4 .

APRIL 6

We left An P in early Sunday morn ing ; and at 1 1

a . m .,we passed another rap id . We final ly anchored

below the S hintu Lung (New Dragon ) rap id, wh ich i s

ENTERING SZECHUAN PROVINCE 1 5 1

regarded as the worst rap id i n Szechuan,j ust as the

Ts in Tan is regarded as the worst i n Hupeh . Thi s

rap id const itutes the last formidable stepp ing stone,

dur ing low water, en route to Chungking .

“ It was formed by a landsl ip as recently as 1 896,when the whole s i de of a h i l l fal l i ng i nto the stream

reduced its breadth to less than a fourth of what i t

was previously, and produced th i s roar ing rap i d . A c

cord ing to Ch inese myths, the landsl ip wh ich produced

the rap id was caused by the fol lowing c i rcumstances :

The ovum of a dragon was depos ited in the bowels of

the earth at th i s part i cular spot,which in due course

became hatched out i n some myster ious manner . The

baby dragon grew and grew,but remained i n a dor

mant state unt i l qu i te ful l-grown , when, as i s the hab it

of the dragon, i t became active, and at first awaken

ing, shook down the h i l ls ide by a mighty effort, freed

itsel f from the bowels of the earth, and made i ts way

downstream to the sea ; hence the landsl ip , the rap id ,and i ts name .

”

APRIL 7

About 7 a . m . th is morn ing, we began to ascend the

Sh i n Lung rap id,which we passed i n half an hour .

Now we are over the worst of the rap ids ; i n fact, the

capta in tel ls us that the others are of no importance .

We are indeed glad , for we have seen no fewer than

th i rteen wrecks thus far . Nearly al l these were boats

that were go ing downstream . We had hoped to reach

Wan Hsien to-day , but the wind i s not favorable . We

have not made over twenty-six miles to-day .

APR IL 8We arr ived at Wan Hs i en about 1 2 : 30. Th is c ity

i s beaut i fu l ly s i tuated on the left bank of the Yangtze .

1 52 WITH OU R M ISSIONARIES IN CH INA

I t i s the finest c i ty we have yet seen i n Szechuan . At

n ine o ’clock i n the even i ng, we anchored at a smal l

p lace called Yang Ho Ci. We have made on ly th i rty

mi les to-day .

APRIL 9

About 5 p . m . to-day, we passed a place called Hs i

G ia i . Th i s i s a d istr ict that i s infested‘

with robbers,owing to the fact that four count i es meet here, and,as the mag i strate of one county has no j ur i sd i ct ionover the other count ies

,the robbers, when chased by

the pol ice, s imply cross to another county and are safe .

Such i s the system that Ch ina i s st i l l us ing .

We anchored about three m i les above Sh i Bao Dza i

( P rec ious S tone Refuge ) . Thi s i s a very i nterest ing

place, for here i s a mass ive rock, the top of wh ich i s

crowned with a ser i es of temples . The only way to

get to these templ es i s to cl imb the many fl ights of

steps i n the n ine-story wooden tower that reaches to

the top of the rock . Thi s i s the most str ik ing th ing

we have yet seen . The place was or ig inal ly one of the

c i t i es of refuge where the people cou ld h ide from any

danger that might threaten the commun ity .

We found, on cl imb ing th i s h i l l, that al l the ido l s i n

the temples had been thrown down and destroyed by

the sold i ers during the revolut i on . Whi le at th i s

p lace, our evangel i st sold twenty cop i es of the Ch i

nese paper .

APRIL 1 0

S i nce we left the Sh in Lung rap id,the r iver i s as

qu i et as a mountai n lake . Now and then there i s a

smal l rap id , but none that is dangerous . In many

places , we see Ch inese search ing for al luvial go ld, and

the r iver i s now cal led the G in Sha, or Golden Sands .

1 54 WITH OU R M ISSIONARIES IN CH INA

the pers i stence of the Ch inese pe0p1e, in find ing the

sou ls that are to our heaven ly Father more prec ious

than gold, which wi l l some day per i sh .

APRIL 1 1

Friday even ing,we anchored at a busy market town

cal led Gao Gi a Dj en . Here we stayed over Sabbath .

How thankful our weary trackers must be for the

Sabbath rest ! Friday even ing was spent i n a soc ial

meet ing held by our second evangel i st, Sh i Yung Gwei.He brought out some helpful thoughts i n the course of

h is remarks,and my sou l was st i rred as I l i stened to

his earnest prayers .

APR IL 1 2

To-day we had our Sabbath school on the boat, andthen entered

'

the market town, and from the steps of

an o ld temple now used as a schoo l,we spoke to more

than two hundred persons . The Lord gave us l iberty,and we had good attenti on . As the evangel i st was

speaking, I entered the school, and asked the teacher’s

permiss i on to speak to the students . This ,was g iven ,

and I found that there were forty boys and twenty

g i rls i n attendance . After conclud ing my remarks,I

asked them to repeat John 3 : 1 6 after me, which they

wi ll i ngly d id . May God ’s Sp i r i t care for the seeds of

truth sown i n these young hearts !

APRIL 1 3

We left our Sabbath rest i ng place early . Our

trackers are in fine sp i r i ts, and are the most wi l l i ng

lot of men I have ever had in Ch ina .

We hope to reach Chungk i ng th i s week . Then we

shal l get our mai l, and have a change in our d i et . Our

bread i s now seventeen days o ld . It has become moldy

ENTERING SZECHUAN PROVINCE 1 55

severa l times, . but we have held it over the fiame of.

the fire unti l the mold was burned off . Th i s was our

only method,for our oven di d not arr i ve i n Ichang In

t ime for us to br ing i t with us . We are also runn ingshort of " provis i ons . Yet we havenoth ing to complain

of . God.

has been very good to us .

.

We reached Feng'

Tu Hs ien about noon . A l ittle

below th is c ity i s a p icturesque mounta in some five

hundred feet h igh,which is l i teral ly covered to the

top with temples and large trees . We spent about an

hou r looking at the place . Some of these temples are

very o ld, and some of the monuments are sa id to have '

been erected more than a thousand years ago . There

are more than twenty large-s i zed temples on the moun

ta in . The gods of these temples are supposed to con

trol the fires of hel l . P erhaps i n the remote past th i s

place was vis i ted by an earthquake , which may account

for the idea that i t is the door to the lower reg ions .

A very pecul iar form of worsh ip is not iced i n one

temp le . There are n ine large serpents, carved out of

wood , and painted, hanging from the beams , that re.

ceive spec ial worsh ip .

The goddess of mercy i s shown in another temple ,with a thousand hands and eyes

,wh ich represent her

ab i l i ty to see and help those i n need . Here,and i n

other templ es , we see thousands o f carved feet sus

pended from the beams . These have been placed there

by women who are sa id to have been cured by the

goddess .

Before the k i ng o f Tartarus, Yen Lo Wang , werenumerou s representations o f eyes

,hands

,arms , feet ,

hearts,

- l ungs ,etc . , which had been placed there by

1 56 W ITH OUR M ISSIONARIES I N CH INA

those who had been healed i n any part icu lar organ by

h i s satan i c maj esty.

We final ly c l imbed to the top of the last temp le, and

there saw two celebrated worth i es of the Han dynasty

seated at a table play i ng chess . The story i s that one

of them gave the woodchopper boy, who i s i ntently

watch i ng the game, someth ing in the form of a date

stone,and the boy became obl i v ious to t ime, and

watched the game for over two hundred years . At

last, one of the worth ies touched the boy, and sug

gested that he return home . When he came to h imself,h i s clothes had rotted away, and h is hatchet was con

sumed with rust . And further, on return ing to h i s

home,he found that no one knew h im . Thus you see

that the Ch inese a lso have a R ip Van Winkle .

APRIL 1 4

We anchored to-n ight a l i ttle above Foochow .

APRIL 1 5

we anchored below the fine pagoda at Chang S O

Hs i en . A few miles below th i s c ity, we see a Ch inese

coal mi ne that i s worked accord i ng to Ch inese methods .

The Ch inese miners wear no cloth ing except a cap,to wh ich they attach a lamp . They have ears w i th

i ron wheels, but the cars run on wooden ra i ls . They

Obta in a good qual i ty of soft coal .

APRIL 1 6

At even ing, we reached a town cal led Mu Tung . We

are now with in th i rty m i les of our dest i nat ion .

APRI L 1 7

We arr ived at the custom stat i on, wh ich i s ten mi les

from Chungking,about 4 p . m . ; and by 6 : 30, we an

chored at Chungk ing . The long journey Of miles

1 58 W ITH OUR M ISSIONARIES IN CH INA

due to the fact that we havea God that is mightyto Save .

0

!May 1 -1 5 , 1 9 1 5, at the general meeting Of the As i

at i c D ivi s ion held i n Shanghai , Brother A l lum gave

the following br i ef report of our work in Chungking

from the arr ival Of our miss ionar i es t i l l that t ime : !

A fter our j ourney of three weeks i n the house boat,Brother Warren and I had to remain a further three

weeks on the boat under the frown ing walls of that

anc ient c i ty, wh ich looked so forb idd i ng to us as day

after day went by, and we st i l l fa i led to secure a su it

able bu i ld ing for our chapel . But final ly, i n answer to

earnest prayer,we were led i n a remarkable way to

secure a bu i ld ing near the Tung Yuen Gate,wh ich i s

the most important gate on the land s ide of the c ity .

I t opens to one of the largest and most i nterest ing

highways found in Ch ina . I t i s wide,well paved

,and

busy, and leads from Chungking , over mounta ins and

through val leys, to the cap ital Of the provi nce ,Chengtu, about five hundred mi les d i stant . Any one

coming into Chungk i ng from th i s h ighway must pass

our chapel door .

The pri nc ipal work conducted at th is stat ion is

evangel i st i c . We have also a smal l d ispensary,and a

n ight school was conducted for several months duri ng

the summer . A lthough we have been at work here only

a few months , the results are encourag ing . We now

have an organ ized Sabbath schoo l, which has grown

unt i l there are five regu lar c lasses , with an attendance

of about forty . We also have one school with e ight

students , and a church of ten members .

Early Experien ces in Old CathayFREDERICK LEE

A STORMY VOYAGE

The day had arrived on wh ich we were to embark

on the great ocean l iner for d istant Ch ina . The last

na i l had been dri ven i nto our boxes,the last purchase

made, the last trunk strapped, the last baggage man

pa id . Lonely thoughts compan ioned us as we passed

fam i l i ar places for the last -t ime,and sa id farewel l to

fr i ends and loved ones . Soon, too, the final good—bywas spoken , and as the shades of even ing were fall i ng

over the land we loved, ou r boat gl ided through the

harbor gate, and ou t onto the vast ocean beyond .

I t was a stormy voyage . L ike a toy in the hands of

a g iant, the sh ip was tossed about unt i l we feared i t

would part asunder . Giant waves reared the i r angry

crests,and dashed aga inst i ts s i des ; the wind whi stled

and shrieked l ike a l ivi ng th ing .

Two days , three days , the storm raged. We were

driven two hundred m i les out of our cou rse, and cou ld

make no headway . Down in the heart of that throb

b i ng boat we lay,long ing for land

,and despondently

counting Off the days and the m i les,whi le the Officers

took grave counsel together . I t seemed a quest i on

whether the old boat would weather the storm .

But at last the day came when we s ighted land, far

away on the d im horizon,l ike a bank of cloud . A l l day

long we stra ined our eyes to catch that vi ew, now ap

pearing , now fad ing away . That n ight, we went hap

pi ly to our berths,knowing that at break of day we

shou ld be safely anchored i n a harbor of Japan .

( 1 60)

1 62 W ITH OUR M ISSIONA RIES IN CH INA

Beauti fu l indeed was the scene that greeted our eyes

the next morn ing . In the d istance,above and beyond

the c i ty, rose the gracefu l outl i ne of Fuj i, looking j ust

as ornamental and unreal as i t appears on so many

Japanese screens and vases and d ishes . I ts tal l,snow

capped cone, ve i led with fieecy clouds , caught the first

rays of the morn ing sun, captivating us w i th i ts

splendor . As we stood on deck that calm,lovely morn

i ng,and gazed at th i s wonderfu l v i s ion

,the worry and

unrest and d i stress of past days rol led away,and our

hearts were at peace .

Soon the bustle of land ing began in earnest . Quaintl i ttle water craft swarmed about our boat ; and when

we reached the j etty , we began to real i ze that we were

indeed i n a d ifferent land . Such swarms of “Japs” !

And in what d ivers ified att i re !

After a few hours ’ rest, we took the boat aga in , and

continued our j ourney through the lovely Inland Sea,

one Of the world ’s beauty spots . Soon we were at the

gateway Of Ch ina, the busy c ity of Shanghai .

SO! OURN IN THE C ITY OF CONTRASTS

Our first three months in Ch ina were spent in Shanghai

,the gateway of the East . I t i s a c i ty of strange

contrasts,— a c ity where the Ch inese do most of the

work,and the European pockets most of the profits ;

where jinrikisha and wheelbarrow compete with street

car and tax icab ; where large Western stores look d i s

dainfully down on smal l nat ive shops . Here one meets

the nationals of every country of Europe and Of As i a,and may enter shops Of every country under heaven .

Here the i nland Ch inese come to l earn Of Western

ways,and after a longer or a shorter soj ourn , return

EAR LY EXPERIENCES IN OLD CATHAY 1 63

home to elaborate on the wonders of Europe and Amer

ica, of which to them Shanghai i s the pattern . Here

also come the E uropean and the American to “see

China” ; and having seen Shanghai , they return home,an author ity thereafter on

“th ings Chinese .

”

After spend ing three months studyi ng the Ch ineseand thei r language, we were asked to take up work in

northern Anhwe i . Feel ing that we too had learned

much whi le i n Shangha i,we took our departure ful l Of

confidence ; but we soon found that we had learned

l i ttle of real Ch ina i n that polyglot c i ty .

BEG INN ING THE ! OURNEY

The date Of our departure was set for March 1 ; and

many days prev iously , we were plann ing to that end .

A launch was h i red to tow the house boat,and a stock

of grocer i es and other necessary suppl i es was la id in .

Our party cons i sted Of my wife and me, and three

other Americans , the superi ntendent, the d i rector,and the surgeon , who were escort ing us on our

maiden trip i nter i or,” as the miss ionaries say. We

also had with us a Ch inese teacher, who was supposed

to help us over every l ingu ist ic d ifficu lty . Two of ou r

number cou ld speak Ch inese qu i te freely ; and we our

selves cou ld say ,“Chih gwo ban muh yn

? ” (“Have you

eaten your food “Niyao gigo tsien ? Na shih

tai do”

(“How much do you want ? Oh

,that i s too

and a few other necessary and unnecessary

phrases .

In the buoyancy of youth and the b l i ss o f ignorance,

we started out on ou r long tr ip . Though our way was

beset with uncerta i nt i es, we had no misg ivi ngs . No

palatial steamers carr i ed us by water, no smoothly

1 64 W ITH OUR M ISSIONAR IES IN CH INA

moving tra ins speeded us over the land, no homey

bungalow awaited us at the end of the journey .

Nevertheless,we looked forward with j oy to our new

work, far away from cr i t i cal eyes and di sturb ing at

tract ions .

The first stage Of the j ourney was to the c i ty of

Ch inki ang, on the Yangtze, at the entrance to the

Grand Canal . H ere we were to h i re a house boat,and

make other arrangements for the tr ip in land .

Before sett ing out, the party was d iv ided i nto three

groups . The first, cons i st ing of the d irector and the

Ch inese teacher, accompan i ed the launch to see that

i t arr ived safely at Chinkiang . Th i s group, which was

to steam up Soochow Creek,started first ; Mrs . Lee

and I took the large Yangtze R iver steamer to thesame port

,as the launch was too smal l to carry us

and our luggage ; and the super i ntendent and the

surgeon waited half a day longer, l eaving Shangha iby tra in .

Thus our race was planned , and to each group was

g iven the proper hand icap ; but i t was a case of the

last arr iv ing first, for the super intendent and the

surgeon were at the dock to meet us when we arr ived,

and we four were wait i ng when the launch party

landed . They had become stranded i n the mud,and

then wedged i n among a throng of boats,which

pressed on one another from shore to shore of the

l i ttle creek .

A LAND OF DARKNESS

Ch ina i s a land of i ntense n ight . With the go i ng

down of the sun,a black pal l seems to enshroud the

country,and a sense of i solat i on and lonel iness presses

upon the stranger . As our boat steamed on into the

1 66 W ITH OUR M ISSIONARIES IN CH INA

dusty wal ls,we came presently to the front of a Chi

nese hotel . The coo lies depos ited our goods upon the

floor ; and after the usual haggl ing over the pr ice,they d ispersed . The next th ing was to sort the lug

A ROW OF CH I NESE CLOTH I NG STORES

EARLY EXPERIENCE S I N OLD CATHAY 1 67

gage, find our fo ld ing cots,unro l l our bedd ing, and

try to make ourse lves comfortable for the n ight. Who

can censure us i f, wh i l e the s i ngsong girl” i n the

next room shr i lled her we ird d itt i es through the mid

n ight hours, we dreamed of the comfortable beds Of

home, c lean water for dr ink ing and bath ing,and

fami l iar faces to greet us with the return of day ?

Early i n the morn ing , we were awakened by the

hustl e and bustle of a large and act ive c i ty , and by

the shouts and noi ses ar i s ing from the crowded street

below . The clang-clang of the i tinerant restaurant

man , the t inkle-t inkle of the“salted peanuts” boy ,

and the lusty shouts of “R eh bing! R eh bing!

” from

the l i ttle lad sel l i ng hot b i scu its, al l came up to our

window,awaken ing us to the real it i es of our new

envi ronment .

Stepp ing to the window, and try i ng to p i erce its

gloomy face, we caught the first v iew of our surround

ings,which were anyth ing but i nsp i ri ng . Below us

lay the broad expanse Of the muddy Yangtze . A long

the edge were anchored boats and launches of every

descript ion , while far out i n the stream were two small

gunboats . Some d istance from the shore , too, along

s ide the float ing docks , lay two large river steamers ,belch ing forth smoke preparatory to steaming up the

r iver to Hankow, five hundred mi les away . A r ickety

l i ttle launch,crowded with cool i es

,cast off i ts l i ne, and

started on i ts per i lous way across the r iver, to the

mouth of the Grand Canal .

A long the shore,i n the murk and squalor o f cen

turies , were countless mat huts , i n wh ich witch- l ike

women fanned the Open fires , and grimy men sti rred

the noodles in the pot, and cursed the women because

1 70 W ITH OU R M ISSIONARIES IN .CH INA

We were perplexed ; but j ust as we were about to

g ive up hope Of secur ing a proper boat at a proper

pr ice, and were sorely troubled over the nonarr ival

of the launch,i n walked the d i rector

,as calm as i f

he had been on t ime instead of two days late .

Next day,the harangu ing over the pri ce of the

house boat began aga in ; but final ly the contract was

s igned,and the middleman who had helped us secure

i t was paid Off . I t was dark when our goods were

transferred to the boat, but we gave a s igh of rel i ef .

Surely now we were ready to start on the last lap Of

our j ourney !

But not without further troub le . Just as we were

settl ing down in peace,i n walked the ex-capta in and

veteran p i lot,and announced that the boat was too

heavi ly loaded . There was too much luggage and there

were too many passengers . He would not go ; we must

get another boat ; that was.

h i s u lt imatum . But our

pat i ence had reached i ts l imi t for that day ; and the

Old man , see ing we meant bus iness , backed away, and

left us to slumber .

We woke early,hear ing the rattl ing of chains as the

anchor was hoi sted, the splash ing of the p ike pole i n

the water as the boat was pushed about, and the“puff !

puff !” of the l ittl e launch, which was being attached

to the house boat . Soon we were gl id ing out over

Yangtze, heading for the mouth of the Grand Canal .We were off .

UP THE GRAND CANAL

Labor i ously the l i ttl e launch tugs our house boat upthe rushing waters Of the Grand Canal . No i s i ly we

steam past stately sa i lboats loaded with government

salt,past p icturesque v i l lages , past anc i ent wal ls in

EARLY EXPERIENCES IN OLD CATHAY

clos ing busy and crowded streets . Everywhere the“chug

‘

ehug”

Of the “fire-wheel boat cal ls attention

to the coming of the outland i sh men,who are never

sat i sfied with the calm, d ign ified pace Of the Or iental,

A LO NG THE GRAN D CANAL

but are ever ru shing on as fast as fire and smoke wi ll

carry them .

Throngs of men , women , and ch i ldren tumb l e out of

houses and huts , and stare open-mouthed as we pass .

I f we pause a moment at some busy mart or vi llage


wharf, crowds of tousle-headed, dul l-eyed, ragged and

d i rty Ch inese, with the i r character i st i c b land gaze,swarm about our boat, and peer i n through windows

and cracks to get a gl impse of the“most honorable

lady from the West, who dare not come out and

be seen .

NO matter how we may plead,caj ole

,threaten

,or

command, they cont i nue to stare . Sudden ly one of usmakes a qu ick move

,pul ls out a Small b lack box with

an“eye i n the center, and with i t looking them

straight i n the face, tel ls them he is go ing to take

the i r p icture i n that l i ttle box . How the crowd scat

ters, knocking over bab ies and young ch i ldren, who set

up a great howl ! No, i ndeed ! they w i l l not al low that

evi l eye to get ho ld of the i r souls,and impr i son them

in the box for the “outland i sh” man to do with as

he pleases !

Strange th ings have these natives heard Of the for

eign devi l s, that they dope tea with “Jesus med ic ine,”

which, when the people dri nk i t, somehow fi lls them

with that strange doctr ine ; that they go about co l lect

ing the eyes of l i ttle ch i ldren with wh ich to made

medic ine . NO wonder they rush Off i n every d irect ion ,fear ing lest th i s harmless camera be some new ar

rangement to entangle thei r sou ls i n the meshes of the

fore ign-doctr ine net .

TELLING THE GOSPEL STORY

At other.

t imes,we ask the people to come nearer,

and promise to tel l them a story . They gr in sheep

i sh ly,and come . The Ch inese story-tel ler i s a lead i ng

character i n nearly every countrys ide, and the people

1 74 W ITH OU R MISSIONARIES IN CH INA

Great was the exc i tement when the boat went s lowly

through the locks . Furiously the officer beat h i s cym

bal , loud ly the onlookers shouted, and v igorous ly the

women turned the windlasses . I t amused us not a

l ittle to see one of our number ( but wh ich one, I shall

not tel l ) keep his eyes glued to h i s book duri ng al l th i s

performance . F irecrackers were “go ing off” with in

a few feet of h im , the cymbals crashed over h is head,the people shouted themselves hoarse ; but he scarcely

l i fted h i s eyes .

LEFT BY THE LAUNCH

Next day, we left the swi ft waters Of the canal, and

entered a large lake . The water i n the r iver coming

from the lake was so swi ft that the launch could no

longer tow us . It therefore left us,and proceeded

ahead . We h ired about a dozen men to pu l l u s along

with a rope, which was fastened to the mast of our

boat . Thus slowly but surely we advanced , and at last

cast anchor in qu i et water . By th is t ime, i t was

qu ite dark .

The next morn ing,when we stepped out on the deck

to look for the launch,i t was nowhere to be seen . As

we were wondering what had become of i t, a man in

a smal l rowboat approached , and told us that the

launch was stuck in the mud about a mi le back,and

that even i f it cou ld be released,i t would be unsafe to

go on,as the r iver ahead was very shallow . Thi s was

the last we saw of the launch , and we were now left to

the mercy Of every unfavorabl e wind .

How MUCH FARTHER ?

On we struggled , sometimes wait i ng i n a dreary

harbor because of a h igh head wind,sometimes travel

EARLY EXPER IENCES IN OLD CATHAY 1 75

i ng at the rate of a mi le an hour,and more rarely at

the rate of fou r mi les an hour . As day succeeded day,

ou r pat i ence Was greatly tri ed . Every even ing,we

wou ld step up to the capta in,and ask

, Hwan yu gi

go 111 lou?”These were the first words we could speak

wi th any intel l igence, and they mean ,“How many l i

have we to go ?”A l i is a Ch inese m i le

,and i s only

one th i rd Of an Engl i sh m i le .

Very ind ifferently the capta i n'

would reply,There

are yet several tens, and we would know about as

much as we knew before . He never would tel l u s how

much longer he thought the voyage would take us .

Apparently as long as money was coming to h im , and

food to eat,he was content .

Each n ight, we cast anchor, usually near some

tumbl e-down vi l lage . And each morn ing , i f the wind

was favorable , we heard the ho i sting of the sa i l , and

then felt the gentle gl id ing O f the boat i n the water be

fore we were up . Living in the crowded quarters of that

house boat dur ing those long days was i ntensely try

i ng ; but l i ttle by l i ttl e, we approached our dest inat ion ,

and after fi fteen days of wait i ng , sai l ing , and towing ,we were near the smal l c i ty to wh ich we were go ing .

About the middle Of the forenoon, the capta i n an

nounced that we had but twenty mi les more to go , and

he thought we could make i t that day . However, at

sunset,we sti l l had some d i stance to travel , as the

stream had made a wide detou r . Two o f our company

left the boat at th i s po i nt, and went across country ,

and Mrs . Lee and I improved the time by“break ing up

housekeeping .

" We repacked our variou s belongings ,

ro l l ed up ou r bedd ing , and prepared to d i sembark .


St i l l we wa ited— hours, i t seemed to us — for theend Of the j ourney . About 1 0 p . m . , we heard the

sound of vo i ces,the rattle of chains

,and the splash

of the anchor fal l i ng into the water . Rush ing to thefront of the boat

,and peer ing into the darkness, we

saw the fl i cker ing lanterns of those who had come to

meet us . Then a fat,j ovial face was seen , and i n a

flash my hand was clasped, and I heard the welcome

sound Of the Ch inese Chr i st ian greet ing,

“Ping cm,

”

which means, Peace be with you .

”

Pastor Han and h i s flock , being to l d by the two who

had walked ahead that we were soon to arr ive,had

come down to the land ing to welcome us to our new

home .

A rrangements were qu ickly made, and we soon be

gan the march up the dark,narrow path lead ing to the

c i ty gate . When the gatekeeper was awakened, and

the gate Opened,we went on , the lanterns cast ing fan

tastic figures on the wal ls o f the l i ttle shops on each

s ide of the narrow, d ingy streets, and reveal ing

wretched Obj ects ly ing i n the doorways . It i s hardly

to be wondered at that the darkness got somewhat on

our nerves , and we were rel i eved when we arr ived at

G ospel Hal l,our future home .

Through a ser i es of courts and bu i ld ings , we were

led to the home of the Ch inese evangel i st, who l ived

i n the back of the h igh-walled compound ; and almost

at once many sh in ing-faced Ch inese stepped up to

greet us . A s i t was late,we were taken soon to the

house that was to be our new home .

A H OME FA R FROM HOM E

Left alone i n that strange house, my wife and I

l ooked i nto each other ’ s eyes , to d iscover, i f poss ible,

1 78 W ITH OU R M ISS IONARIES I N CH INA

the emot ion with in . We were both young,and natu

ral ly had h igh ideals of what a first home shou ld be

and how it should be arranged . We took the smal l

lamp, and arm in arm looked around to see what th i s

one-roomed home was l ike . The floor was made of

bricks la i d on the damp ground ; already i ts ch i l l was

creep ing up our l imbs . The walls were of mud, the

roof was of straw,and there were two open ings into

the room bes ides the door . These were supposed to be

windows,but they were S O heav i ly latt i ced and papered

that hardly any l ight and no a i r could penetrate them .

In one corner of the room stood a l i ttle, round, i ron

Ch inese stove,which had one hole i n the center, where

coal was to be burned . There was no place for a p ipe

to carry off the smoke . In another corner were twol ong benches , across wh ich we threw our spr ings and

mattress ; Together we knelt and asked God to bless

our new home,and then lay down to sleep

,

'

soon to

waken to a strange and d ifferent world .

FAREWELL

After two days, the fr i ends who had accompan ied

us departed, and we were left alone . We had been but

three months i n Ch ina, and now we were left to s ink

or swim, with no one who could understand a word of

Engl i sh to help us out of any d ifficulty i n wh ich we

might become i nvolved . Many weeks we l ived inou r

adobe hut, por ing over that d ifficult language, that we

might acqu ire enough of i t to speak with under

stand ing .

During those weeks,we endeavored to remodel a

Ch inese house i n the same compound,wh ich would be

more healthfu l for us to l ive i n . Ho l es were knocked

EARLY EXPER IENCES IN OLD CATHAY 1 79

i n the wal ls , and real glass windows were put i n . A

board floor was la id , and a bamboo ce i l i ng and par

t it ion were put up . The work progressed slowly, and

many t imes we became almost d i sheartened . Trees

must be cut down , then sawed into t imber w i th longhandsaws, after wh ich the boards must be dr ied and

fin ished before the work could be done .

The workmen were very s low . Often duri ng the day

they wou ld squat down and dri nk tea and chat, while

we, utterly helpless , fretted inwardly at the delay .

A s I look back to the time we spent i n those dark ,damp quarters, where day after day a lamp must be

kept burn ing in order that we might see to read or

write,I wonder at the fort itude and courage of my

uncompla in i ng wife . Week after week,she never

stepped foot outs i de the h igh walls that shut i n our

l i ttle courtyard from the outs ide world . Few were

the walks we took, for the crowds fol lowing us made i t

very unpleasant for a woman .

Sometimes we would go outs ide the c i ty wal ls andsearch for a qu iet nook or a grassy spot where we

could s i t and breathe the fresh a i r ; and find ing no such

place,we would rest awhi le on some grave mound

,the

only place we could find wi th even a spri nk l i ng O f sod .

THE REMODELED HOUSE

At last,the day came when we moved into our re

modeled home ; and a j oyfu l day i t was . The glass

windows and the rough board floors seemed the height

o f l uxu ry to us . But even here we found l i ttle pr ivacy ;for heads were l ikely to bob up at any moment, and

curi ous eyes peered i n at al l hours .

S lowly we were acqu i ring the language . N ight after

n ight,our Ch inese fri ends and neighbors crowded

1 80 W ITH OU R M ISSIONAR IES I N CH INA

about our doorstep, and talked with us , draw i ng out

al l our resources of understand ing and speech . Day

by day, the number of our sentences increased ; and

on every hand, we were receiv ing pra i se that we could

talk “j u st l ike the Ch inese .

” After two months more

of study, I dec ided to try to lead a meeting, and chose

the quarterly service . A l though the words were neces

sarily s imple, and the sentences short, we had a good

meeting . God saw fit to use an i nexper ienced instru

ment, and souls were touched . From that t ime, we

became bolder i n the language, and ventured to do

more and more ; and after a few more months , we

were i n act ive work, ho ld ing servi ces every day . Those

were happy days when we began work ing for the

Master i n Chi na .

During the same t ime,Mrs . Lee was making good

progress i n the language ; but her vocabulary led along

a l ine a l i ttle d ifferent from mine,cons i st ing as i t d id

Of the names of pots and kettles , soups and salads ,prices of sweet potatoes and peanuts , etc . Bes ides

th i s , she needed a l i ttle strong and forc ib l e language

with wh ich to awaken the sleepy and sh iftless cook .

Many were our perp lex it i es,i n thos e days, w i th

cooks and washerwomen . The cook would l et the soup

scorch , and the woman wou ld run off with the soap .

One day,after many exasperating exper iences, and

the d i sappearance of many articles , Mrs . LeeWent i ntothe k i tchen , and found i t fu l l o f smoke . By the stove

sat the boy cook, sound asleep, Wi th the d inner burni ng up as fast as poss ib le on the hot fire . That boy

lasted about five m inutes ; then we were looking for

another . The next appl icant was tr i ed for a ser i es of

days , and proved so much worse than the first,that we


forgave that repentant youth, and took h im back on

cond i t i on that he try to keep awake wh i le at work .

A CH R IST IAN FUNERAL

During those first months, many strange exper iences

came to us because of . our ignorance of the var ious

customs of the people . I was asked to conduct the

funeral serv ice Of themother of one of the new converts . She was a Chr i st ian ; and the son , the eldest ofthe fam i ly, des ired for her a Chri st i an burial . The

rest of the relat ives and fr i ends were heathen,and

were determined to have a heathen ceremony .

I told the son I could not conduct the serv ice i f any

heathen superst it ions werepract iced,and he prom

ised that none Shou ld be ; so final ly I consented . As I

l ed the service, read from the Gospel Of John , and

Offered prayer, the heathen fami ly, dressed in wh ite,the symbol Of mourn ing, stood al l about me . Then the

process ion was formed . I had not seen anyth ing that

looked out of the way, and felt that we were gett ing

along n icely .

My place i n the process ion was j ust beh ind the large

coffin,which was carr i ed along the narrow streets by

e ight men , the ch i ef mourners march ing ahead of i t .

Crowds of Ch inese stood i n the i r Shop doors and

watched us pass . With a sense Of d isqu iet, I Observed

that some smi led, looked at me, and then po i nted at

someth ing .

When we came to the c ity gate,the bearers set the

coffin down and rested . After go ing ahead to speak

to one of the mourners , I not iced, as I returned to

my pos it i on , someth ing on the front Of the coflin,and

go ing nearer , found some paper with ho l es punched in

EARLY EXPERIENCES IN OLD CATHAY 1 83

i t, some incense, and a bow l fi l l ed w i th food . I asked

what these th i ngs meant,and was aston i shed when

told that they were an offer ing to the dead . The rela

tives said the sou l Of the dead woman must have

money to spend and food to eat i n the place to wh ich

i t was go i ng !

Natural ly I was deeply chagri ned to reflec t that I ,the gospel pastor, had escorted a heathen funeral to

the grave, march ing through the crowded streets ,where everybody had seen . At once I declared that I

wou ld not take another step unti l the th ings were taken

away ; and , much embarrassed , the elder son stepped

up to remove them . Then another sa i d he wou ld take

them back home ; but instead , he sneaked them along ,I was told , and managed to place them on the ground

by the coffin when my attent ion was attracted else

where .IN THE M IDST OF FAM INE

During our first fal l and winter, we l ived amid ex

treme suffer ing . A great flood came rush ing down

over the lowlands bordering the Hwai R i ver i n theeastern part of the province , and spread ing out over

the extens ive wheat fields , ru ined untold quanti t i es of

food , and washed away thousands of homes . Winter

found hundreds of fami l i es homeless and without food .

These wandered abou t i n large compan ies , tak ing with

them the few remain ing fragments of home, and go ing

from town to town and from city to c ity begg ing for

help . Men , women , and ch i ldren went from shop to

shop and from home to home with the i r baskets and

bowls,ask ing for food of any k ind . What l i ttle flour

they cou ld secure was mixed with the ground bark of

trees and made into bread . Everywhere the fields


were covered with smoke-blackened hol es over which

had been p laced the i ron kettles where the peop le had

cooked the i r meager meals .

A FUNERAL PROCESS ION PASS I N G ’ THROUGH THE WEST GATEOF THE TARTAR C ITY , PEK I NG


the ferry ; and at last we j umped on, a lthough several

men held to our arms . For some t ime,they would not

l et the ferry go . F i nal ly a Ch inese fr i end who was

on the ferry told the men to let us alone and begone .

He argued with them determinedly, and after a wh i le,they angr i ly j umped Off the boat, and w i th threats

l et u s go .

During th i s t ime of famine, hundreds of fami l i es

turned beggars ; and as they became desperate, they

began to rob . Chi ldren and even men walki ng a long

the street, see ing a stack of bread i n front of some

bakeshop , wou ld step up as i f to buy, snatch a p i ece

of bread,and b i te into i t qu i ckly

,thus spo i l i ng i ts sal e .

A HOLDUP

The Offic ial s ordered these poor people to keep out of

the c it i es ; and the country roads became very unsafe,with thousands of hungry and desperate men and

women al l about . Late one afternoon , I took my l i ttle

mule to go for a r ide i nto the country, that be i ng the

on ly way to get rel i ef from the narrow,oppress ive

courtyards . Much as Mrs . Lee des i red to get a breath

of fresh ai r,i t was often impract icable . I rode some

d istance before I not i ced that i t was growing dusk ;then

,knowing the cond it ion Of the country, I turned

to hasten back . Soon I saw ahead of me, i n front of a

d i lap idated temple Open ing d i rectly off the road, two

susp ic ious look ing men po i nt i ng i n my d irect ion .

When they saw that they were observed,they im

med iately d isappeared with i n the temple .

There was noth ing for me to do but r ide on as

qu ickly as poss ib le . Just as I came abreast of the

temple, out sprang these men, caught hold of the mule,one on ei ther s i de, and angri ly demanded money . I


had noth ing but a few cash w i th me, and th i s I gave

them . They shook the mu le’

s head in anger, and

started to search me . S tr iking right and left w i th myl i ttle bamboo wh ip, I succeeded i n loosen ing thei r hold

on the fr ightened burro, which, find ing i tself released,shot forward and made hasty steps for home .

DEATH PREFERRED TO L IFE

In these months of famine, thousands d i ed of star

vat ion and famine fever, many fal l i ng by the ways ide

without burial . Women cast away the ir ch i ldren,or

d i sposed of them in some other way . One woman

smothered two children 'back Of ou r house . Another,

i n desperation,threw her ch i ld from the top of the

c ity wal l near our home .

Two hungry men were s leep i ng i n an o ld, fi lthy

temple . One awakened, and see ing the other asleep ,thought h im dead . Looking al l about to see i f any one

was near, he took out a kn i fe, and started to cut some

flesh from the man ’s exposed leg . With a yel l, the

man awoke, and the fr ightened would-be cann ibal fled

as fast as h i s legs wou ld carry h im . Frequent rumors

came to us from d i stant v i l lages of parents cooking

and eat ing thei r l i ttl e ones . Many t imes, mothers

asked us to buy the i r ch i ldren,Often for as l i ttle as a

do l lar ap i ece .

A s winter progressed and spring came on , the fam

ine became worse and worse . Those who had escaped

death were str i cken with famine fever, wh ich i n most

cases overcame its v i ct im i n less than s ix days . One

day, a wagonload of dead were taken from the c ity, and“

thrown into a large ho l e j ust outs ide the north gate .

Throughout the n ights,the moans and cr i es of l i ttle

TheMissionary at Work

F REDERICK LEE

COME

From di stant Shens i,far beyond the reach Of rai l

ways,came one day early i n 1 9 1 5 a letter tel l ing of

many who were i nterested i n the truth we love, and

Of some already keep ing the Sabbath . They had re

ceived th i s l ight from a faithfu l co lporteur who

had vis i ted thei r v i l lage and remained with them

many days .

The letter closed with the plea : Oh, pastor, we want

more help ; and unless we have it, perhaps the l i ttle

flock wi ll scatter ! Come, Oh ,come

,and vi s it us !”

SHENSI MENT IONED IN PROPHECY

Shens i i s the most i nterest i ng as wel l as the mostanc ient province of al l Ch ina . It i s cal led “the crad le

of the Ch inese race . Not only i s i t renowned in pro

fane h istory, but i t is also ment i oned i n the sacred

page .

‘

S even hundred years before Chr ist, I sa iah sa id,Behold , these shal l come from far : and, 10, these from

the north and from the west ; and these from the Land

of S inim . I sa. 49 : 1 2 . And it i s general ly agreed

that “the people of S i n im are the Sinese !Ch inese ! .

Chin was the name of a k ingdom of some importance

in Shens i , one of the western prov inces of the S i

nese land .

”

Accord ing to Ch inese chronology,the first k ing of

Ch in re igned 1 85 years before I sa iah wrote h is proph

ecy. I t is from th i s k i ngdom that Ch ina der ived i ts

name . S i an fu,the cap i tal Of Shens i , has been the

royal c ity of four great dynast i es : the Djou dynasty

( 1 90)

THE M ISSIONARY AT WORK 1 9 1

at the t ime of Samuel ; the Ch in dynasty ; the Handynasty at the t ime of Chr i st ; and the glor ious dynasty of Tang . Th i s c i ty i s sa i d to have been founded

by Wu Wang, the mart ia l king of the Dj ou dynasty,i n the twelfth century B . C.

,or about the t ime Of

Samuel . When I sa iah uttered h i s prophecy, the S inese country was no doubt a place Of fame .

The prophet, even at that early date, looked forward

to the consummation of the gospel i n al l the earth ; and

having seen i ts workings i n western and northern

lands,he turned to the east

,where h i s eyes fel l upon

the or iental ki ngdom of Ch in , wh ich is now the Ch i

nese province of Shens i . And, as he looked , he saw,

as i t were , l i tt le l ights burst ing forth i n the darkness ,and knew them to be the l ights Of the gospel Of the

k ingdom,Sh in ing forth from the hearts Of men and

women . Then he saw angels go ing forth i n the last

day to the four corners of the earth,glean ing its last

harvest . Some flew to the west, and others to the

north ; but st i l l others flew straight to th i s land , and

returned to the heavenly garner with the i r arms over

flowing with the golden gra i n they had gleaned .

A BIT OF H ISTORY

Shens i der i ves i ts name,

“West o f the Pass , fromthe fact that i t i s s i tuated to the west of the famous

pass of Tungkwan,near the bend o f the Yel low R i ver

where the three provinces of Shens i , Shans i , and HO

nan j o i n . I t has an area o f square m iles ,about equal to that Of England , Wales , and Scotland

comb i ned . I t al so has the same general shape ( that

of a cone ) as the i sl e of Bri ta in , i ts narrow peak

pierc ing the Great Wall and enteri ng into the sands


of Mongol i a, and i ts broad base rest ing upon the h igh

mounta ins separating the prov i nce from Szechuan .

Shens i i s d iv i ded exactly i n two by a wel l markedcha in Of mounta ins

,which has an alt i tude Of

feet . The northern val ley,or the S i an Plai n

,i s the

shape Of an oval . I t has about “ four thousand square

m i les ; and into th i s are crowded the cap ital, th i rty

four c it i es , and an average Of one market place to

every square mi le .

” In the center of th is plai n l i es

the stately c i ty of S i an, where many h i stor ic battles

have been fought,and through i t runs the anc ient

h ighway of i ntercourse with Western countr i es .

The whol e face Of the country i s covered with huge

grave mounds, the bur ial p laces of the great kings of

the East . Here l i e the remains Of Sh ih Hwang D i ,famous i n h istory for the destruct ion of al l the books

i n Ch ina, and cred ited with the bu i ld ing of the Great

Wal l . H i s grave mound covers many acres . In 1 900,S i anfu was a c ity Of refuge for the Ch inese court

when i t fled from Peking .

THE PEOPLE OF SHENSI

The popu lat ion of Shens i is on ly about e ight and

one half m i l l i ons . Thi s i s a very l ight populat ion i n

compari son with that of other Of Ch ina ’s provinces .

Honan , which has a smal ler area, has th i rty-five mi l

l ions ; and Shantung, with one quarter less area, has

th i rty-e ight mi l l i ons . Thi s smal l populat ion has re

sulted from the many rebel l i ons and famines through

wh ich the province has passed . Even to-day we see

the resu lts of these calamit i es .

Shens i was no doubt the first province Of al l Ch ina

to rece ive the gospel,probably as early as the fifth


century after Chr i st, and there are trad itions of

an earl i er date . In the Hal l of Anc ient Tablets i n

S ianfu , i n wh ich are preserved more than three hundred anc i ent s labs , there are two stone tablets bearing

the p icture of one“Thomas, who came from the west .

Whi le thetrad it ion of Thomas ’s tr ip to Ch ina i s notwel l founded, yet there is i n th i s celebrated museum

one s lab g iving pos it ive proof that at a very early

date Chr i st ian ity was widely known in the empi re,

and was i n favor at court . Thi s i s the Nestor ian

Tablet,beari ng a date equ ivalent to A . D. 78 1 .

The tab let records the travel s Of N estor ian m is

sionaries from Syr ia,who arr ived i n the empi re in

A . D. 635 . These men were ushered i nto the emperor’

s

presence, the s lab says, and“the sacred books were

translated i n the imper ial l ibrary . The sovere ign in

vestigated the subj ect i n h i s p rivate apartment . When

he became deeply impressed with the rect itude and

truth of the rel ig ion , he gave spec ial orders for i ts

d i sseminati on .

” The record further states that“whi le

th i s doctr i ne pervaded every channel, the state becameenriched , and tranqu i l l i ty abounded . Every c i ty was

ful l of churches,and the royal fami ly enj oyed luster

and happ iness .” Many of the phrases u sed on th i s

tab l et can apply only to the Christian . doctrine. When

th i s form of Chr i st i an i ty had become qu ite flourish

i ng, the Mohammedans entered the country, and ut

terly wiped i t out, so that later there were but few

traces of th is sect .

MODERN M ISSIONS

The part of Shens i i n wh ich we are most i nterested

i s the most famous part Of the provi nce, th e S i an

THE M ISSIONARY AT WORK 1 95

Pla in . The entry of the gospel i nto th i s reg ion i s

connected w i th an interest i ng immigrat i on of nat ive

Chri st ian s from the province of Shantung, mostly

members of the Engl i sh Bapti st Church .

I wi l l relate the story as to ld to me by one of the

leaders of th i s company,who , thus m igrat ing from

thei r homeland,were the first to br ing the l ight Of

the gospel to North Shens i . Thi s man was one Of

those who founded Gospel V i l lage , al l the membersof wh ich were Chr ist ians .

Over th i rty years ago, when famine was rag ing i n

Shantung, hundreds of persons emigrated to Shans iand Shens i . Pastor Liu , with a party of a hundred

of h i s ne ighbors and fri ends,started out with the i r

possess ions on the long j ourney of nearly one thou

sand mi les to the west . The women and the ch i ldren

rode i n the two-wheeled carts ; most of the t ime , the

men walked . When they had traveled for e ighteen

days,the i r money ran out, so they stopped for a time

i n Honan . Here they passed through many trial s,

O ften having hardly enough to eat . But Pastor Li u

was brave . He understood somewhat the use of for

eign med ic i nes , and the money he took in from doc

toring” pract ically supported most of the party for

a number of weeks .

After a time, they dec ided to settle i n Shans i . But

when they came to the Yel low R i ver, to cross overi nto that provi nce

,the Offic ial , for some reason or

other,would not permit them to pass . On the ir re

turn ing to the place where they had been stay ing ,

they heard that land was very cheap in Shens i , anddec ided to go there .


At first, they were too poor to buy land, even at one

dollar an acre, some of them l iv i ng i n a broken-down

temple and others i n caves . It was wh i l e they were

l i vi ng i n a fi lthy temple, that both Pastor Liu and

h i s mother became ser iously i l l, h i s mother dy ing in

a few days . But dur ing al l these tri als,the i r fa ith

i n God d id not waver .

After the party had acqu i red some property,they

founded a v i l lage, and cal led i t“Gospel V i l lage .

Here they establ i shed Chr istian schoo l s for the i r ch i l

dren , and from here they let the i r l ight sh i ne forth

i nto the country about them .

EXPERIENCES OF PASTOR LIU

I t i s i nterest ing to hear Old Pastor Li u relate some

of the exper iences they had when open ing chapels i n

var ious c it i es, and espec ial ly in S i anfu, the cap ital .

The difliculties were many, as the people were very

susp ic ious , although not ant i-fore ign . It was hard

for a fore igner to enter the c ity .

One day, Pastor Li u and one of the foreign mis

sionaries started off to vi s i t S ianfu . Knowing that

they would be h i ndered from go ing in i f the pol i ce

knew a fore igner was along, they stopped before com

ing to the c ity . The miss ionary took Off h i s coat, and

wrapp ing his head in a towel,told Mr . Liu to put on

h i s coat and to mount the i r horse . The foreigner,

l ead ing the horse, passed on i nto the c i ty without

be ing suspected,the po l i ce th i nk ing he was only a

cool i e . At th i s t ime,the miss ionary and Pastor Li u

remained several days , scattering tracts . Another

t ime when they were v is i t i ng the c ity , the people found


out who they were,and came in a mob , and with the

clash ing of gongs, drove them from the place .

Of course, i t was d ifficu lt to find any one who would

rent a place to them . And the Ofl‘icial requ i red some

person known in the c ity to be a “guarantee man

for them . They were acquainted w ith no one ; but

they dec ided to do al l the i r bus iness with one mer

chant,who at last became fr i endly . When they told

h im they were seek ing a place to rent, he let them

have one of h i s own houses , and also became thei r

guarantee man .

” The i r first strong footho ld was

secured i n 1 894 .

As we rode along one day i n our Chi nese cart over

the S i an Pla in , Pastor Li u sa id he had seen much

of the power of the evi l one . In h i s father’

s home,before they were Chr i sti ans

,i f at any t ime they

neglected to worsh ip the devi l,or cursed h im

,there

was trouble i n the house . Heavy stones or bricks

would fal l on the tabl e before wh ich they were s itt ing,or they wou ld hear a heavy tramp ing through the

house . Pastor Li u sa i d that th i s was a common oc

currence . No wonder, he sa id,

“that when one

knows noth ing Of the power of God, he fears and

serves -the dev i l . ” But after he had become a Chr i s

t ian , none of these th ings bothered h im, and he'hashad the pr iv i lege Of help i ng others break the bands

Of the ev i l one .

There was one woman who was espec ial ly possessed

of the dev i l ; but as she used th i s power to her own

advantage, she d id not care to break away from it .

She sa id the only person she feared was Pastor Li u .

One day , when th is woman was in one of her fits of

dev i l possess i on , a relat ive'

of hers, a heathen , came

200 W I'DH OU R M ISSIONARIES IN CH INA

to the pastor, and pleaded that he come and heal her .

O thers i n the chapel sa i d that the woman had great

power, and that i f he cou ld not cast out the evi l one,i t wou ld br ing the gospel i nto d i sgrace . But he an

swered them that i t was not he who was able to do

th i s great work, but God . He prayed earnestly for

the woman, and the evi l sp i r i t immed iately left her .

ANSWERING THE CALL

Many and vari ed are the cal l s for help which come

to the mi ss ionary . But the cal ls which must have

precedence over everyth ing else are those wh ich u rge

us to come to some vi l lage or c ity, near or far d i stant,to g ive i nstruct i on i n the truth to hunger i ng sou ls .

Often temporal labors i ntrude to h inder, or dangers

stand in the way ; but a true m iss ionary must be

ready,i f need be

,to give the truth at the peri l of

h i s l i fe .

The most arduous labors of the miss ionary are those

wh ich he performs in the slow and d ifficu lt work of

v i s i t i ng outstat ions,and answerIng the cal l s wh ich

come to h im from far-away places . If you want to

see the missionary at work, do not v i s i t h im at a

central stat ion,where he enj oys a few of the comforts

Of the homeland, but go with h im when he leaves al l

that beh ind,and travels long and ted ious hours by

mule cart,wheelbarrow

,sedan cha i r, house boat, etc . ,

to strange c it i es and vi l lages .

REVOLUT ION IN SHENSI

One year from the t ime I rece ived the letter men

tioned i n the first part Of th i s chapter, we planned

to v i s i t Shens i .


I t i s not far to the ra i lway stati on,and soon we

are there . All i s hu st le and fuss . Many sold i ers and

pol i ce are stand ing about . Our baggage i s thrown on

the scales , and we must pay for every ounce over

we ight . Soon the crowded tra i n pul l s i n , and therei s a grand scramb l e to find some way of gett ing on .

Without a“system ,

” th i s i s hard to do when travel ing

th i rd—class . Crowds are gett ing Off and on, and al l

have the i r arms ful l of baggage of every var i ety .

Boxes and su i t cases and hand bags bec ome entangled ,men and women become j ammed i n the doorway

,and

there i s much shouti ng .

We leave our baggage outs ide the trai n,with fr i ends

who have come with us, j ump on the train empty

handed, and rush to an Open window,through wh ich

our baggage i s tossed . Even then we are puzzled as

to where to put i t, and a port ion of i t i s dropped un

i ntent ionally i nto some one ’s lap , or i s p i led up i n the

a i sl e . We must get i t al l on before the trai n starts,

and natural ly we are anx i ous . When it i s stowed

away, we look around for a seat, and perhaps cannot

find one except on top of ou r baggage . Here in these

crowded cars are scores of unwashed Ch inese,packed

i n l ike bees i n a h ive, smoking, sp itt i ng,b lowing the

nose,p ick i ng l ively Obj ects runn ing about the i r bodies

,

laugh ing , j oking, talk ing loudly and having a general

good t ime, while r i d ing on the fire wagon .

”

Soon the conductor and h i s l i eutenants come edg ingthe i r way through the crowd . Qu i te a process i on they

make— two conductors , three pol icemen , and three

or more sold iers . The conductor punches the t ickets ,the pol i cemen peer beh ind the baggage on the shelf

above ou r heads for some one who may be tryi ng to

I n terna tio na l FilmPOVERTY NO BA R TO HAPP INESS


smuggle a r ide,and the sold i ers look severe to scare

those who th ink they can get a r ide without pay i ngthe fee . Away they go, one, two, three, i n al l the

d ign i ty the i r i l l fitt ing un i forms can g ive .

Once the po l ice d i scover a littl e boy rid ing behind

some baggage on the broad shelf . AS they roughly

pu l l h im down , the poor l i ttle fel low cr i es aloud, and

g ives a l l sorts Of excuses ; but Off he i s tumbled at the

next stat ion , whether far from home or near we know

not . Three hours we r ide on th i s crowded tra i n ,al ight ing final ly at a c i ty where we have an out

stat ion , and where we must change cars for thewest .

A T THE SABBATH HALL

Up the narrow and d i rty streets we go, search ing

for the l ittle street chapel . “Can you tel l u s where

the Sabbath Hall i s ?” we ask a shopkeeper .Oh , yes, he repl i es .

“GO east to the second street,

and then turn and go south, and you w i l l find i t near

the south gate .

”

With a deep bow, we thank h im and proceed . Ar

r iv ing at the chapel,the front of wh ich i s Open to

the street,we find a meeting go ing on . The evangel ist

i s loudly S ing ing , and thus attract ing a crowd, who

come in , sit down on the long benches provided for

them , and look at the wonderful p ictures on the wal ls .

Prayer i s Offered, whi le the heathen aud i ence look on

i n amazement . Soon the preacher i s deep i n h i s

sermon, tel l i ng the l i steners the uselessness Of an idol .“ I t cannot hear, see, talk , nor walk . The temple roof

sags down over its head , endangering the august one,but i t s i ts there helpless . The chai r on which the ido l

i s s i tting rots away, and i t fal l s i nd ifferently to the


gage Off to be weighed . The tra i n wa ited unti l every

p i ece was weighed, checked up, and put back . After

a wh i le, the agent came in with h is excess b i l l . A s

he was charging a two dol lar fine bes ides the excess ,we refused to pay . He argued with u s for an hour ;but we were determined , and sa i d we would talk with

the stat ion agent at the end of the l i ne . The baggage

man then left us, and deta i led a po l iceman to watch

us and our baggage to the end of the road, where he

took us and i t i n charge,and led us to the stat ion

agent . There we haggled and wrangled for half an

hour ; and when we saw there would be no relenting ,we pa id the unj ust charge and went away .

ONWARD BY FRE IGHT TRAIN AND MULE CART

N ext morn ing , we were ready to go on . We traveled

by fre ight trai n th i s t ime . I t was very slow, and took

from 7 a . m . unti l 2 p . m . to reach the end Of the l i ne,s ixty mi les away . Th i s was the terminus of al l ra i l

roads,so we had to look for other travel i ng conven

iences from there on . Arr iving at the Ch inese i nn

about the m iddle of the afternoon,we sent our Ch inese

fr i ends to look for a mule cart,by which conveyance

we must travel the next S ix or seven days .

Now a mule cart is ne ither the best nor the worst

Of the modes of travel i n the Or i ent . I t i s not so

good nor swi ft as the slow freight trai n, nor so bad

as the Wheelbarrow, on wh ich we have been pushed

many a mi le . Nevertheless , i t is bad enough , being

a heavy,

“bunglesome affa i r, on two huge wheels ,with a top

,wh ich i s l ike a dog kennel, d i rectly above

the axle . NO spri ngs are provided to absorb the

shocks that the traveler rece ives on the rough roads .

THE M ISSIONARY AT WORK 207

Apparently the Chinese, having no nerves, have never

thought of shock absorbers .

I t i s i ndeed a problem to secure one Of these carts ,

espec i al ly i f the mule dr iver knows that h i s prospec

t ive passenger i s anx ious to move . At first, he wi l l

ask pr ices enti rely beyond reason ; but after some

hours of wrangl ing,a pr ice i s fixed

,and a contract i s

made by wh ich he agrees to del iver u s to a certai n

v i l lage at a fixed pr ice,Of course expect ing that we

wi l l g ive h im a l ittle more at the end Of the l i ne . We

breathe a s igh Of rel i ef when these d iplomatic dispu

tations are over, and we are again on our way .

But never be too sure of a Ch inese carter . He has

tri cks you never dreamed of , and schemes you wi l l

never find out . We have learned , when he turns up

any of h i s excuses , and wi th a bland express ion says

that the cart i s too heav i ly loaded, and that he can

not go another step,to keep calm

,and tel l h im

,Buh

yao gin”

(“ I t makes no d ifference to us whether you

take us or then sit qu ietly, say ing noth ing .

Soon he wi l l beg in swearing a b l ue streak , and takingup h i s whip

,wi l l g ive the poor mu les a crack under

the h ind legs,and with a leap the an imals start off

at a gal lop . Soon,however, they settle down to a

more moderate pace,and we are go ing at the rate Of

about th i rty mi les a day .

NOT A PLEASURE TR I P

We have s ix “ stages ahead O f us, each one a long

day's j ou rney . We must ari se before dayl ight , rol l

up ou r bedd ing , fold up our cot, take a s i p of cereal

coffee and a few bites O f cracker,pack up our d ishes

,

and load the cart . As the fi rst t ints O f dawn are seen

208 W ITH OU R MISSIONARIE S I N CH INA

i n the east, we are travel i ng down the dark and lonely

road . We keep on the way unti l noon , at which time

the mules must be fed, and we too need someth ing

to eat .

We stop for an hour, off comes our lunch box , the

o i l stove is set up,the water i s soon bo i l i ng, and the

“d inner” of t inned mi lk, cracker crumbs , and cereal

coffee i s wa it ing to be eaten .

After d inner, we try to take a l i ttle rest ; but j ust

as we fal l asleep , a yel l from the carter announces

that we must be go ing . So on we go unti l even ing ,when we arr ive at a desol ate l i ttle vi l lage i n the foot

h i l l s, and turn into the muddy courtyard of a tumble

down inn . Being glad , after a hard day’

s r ide,to have

COOL IES IN SUM MER DRESS , SHANGHA I

2 1 0 W ITH OU R M I SS IONAR IES IN CH INA

Observing closely,we saw persons coming out of

the Open ings on the s ides of the plateaus . In other

places , clu sters Of trees h id the cave homes from view .

Intel l igent, k indly, and susceptib l e to the gospel are

these cave dwel lers . But they are poor, and unable to

afford homes bu i lt of straw, wood, or br ick . The cond it ion of the earth has helped these poverty-str icken

peop le . Caves can be eas i ly dug, and made i nto cozy

though dark homes . There are now some fami l ies of

Advent i sts who l ive i n such caves ; and they are as

earnest,and love th i s truth as s incerely

,as any of us .

The so i l here has a pecu l iar and very adhes ive for

mati on , cal led the loess format ion , being composed of

fine parti c les of sand,clay

,and l ime . There is one

stratum of th i s earth , often cons iderably more than a .

thousand feet th ick,which , because of the cohes ive

ness of the substance, i s very sol i d . If the outer

coati ng of an embankment i s scraped Off,the exposed

surface looks l ike a concrete wal l . However,when par

tic les or chunks are broken off, they are eas i ly crushed

to a very fine powder ; and th is , with the least wind, i s

carr i ed up i n dense clouds of dust and b lown away .

Natural ly th i s cond it i on has greatly affec ted the roads,which in th is terr itory are very O ld .

A GOOD ROA DS MOVEM ENT NEEDED

The traflic Of a thousand years,with the heavy cart

wheels grind ing a l i ttle of the surface so i l to powder

at every turn , the winds, and the rains , have through

the years worn the roadbeds away from th irty to fifty

feet below the surround ing terr i tory . In some places

where the route leads up the s ides of the plateau , we

traveled i n a cahon- l ike road a hundred feet deep . For

THE M ISSIONARY AT WORK 2 1 1

three days , at one t ime , we j ourneyed on these roads,i n most places hardly wide enough for two carts to

pass . For two.hours at one stretch , we rode along i n

the heavy clouds of dust st i rred up by the dozen or

more carts that were often ahead Of us, without com

ing out i nto the open . We donned our goggles, and

t i ed handkerch i efs over our noses and mouths ; but

st i l l the dust S i fted into our lungs .

After some t ime, we d iscovered a l i ttl e footpath

lead ing from the road away up the s ides to the top of

the cation , one hundred feet above us . Jump ing from

the cart, we hurr i ed up the path , and were surpri sed

at the change . Here was a h igh plateau,many mi les

wide, covered with fields Of waving green . The a i r

was clear, and the soft breezes were cool . What a

change one short moment of r i s ing above the dust and

darkness beneath had brought us ! We turned and

looked below, where , through the cloud of dust, we

cou ld see the long l i ne o f carts moving s lowly through

the deep lane ; and we dec ided to walk unt i l we were

ti red , at least . Many t imes the path led back to the

cahon below,but up again it wou ld tu rn to the fresh

a i r above .

WH EN TWO CARTS M EET

We had an amus i ng exper ience as we traveled along

these roads . One i s constantly afra id that a cart wi l l

swing around the bend of the road j us t ahead , and the

two wi ll meet i n some place where they cannot pass .

Hence the carters keep up an almost continual call .

Thi s cal l i s pecu l ia r to the carters on these roads , and“carri es for a long d istance .

We O ften wondered what would happen if two carts

should come together i n one o f these narrow passes ,

21 2 W ITH OU R M ISS IONAR I ES I N CH INA

for i t is almost imposs ibl e to back one of these

heavy Ch inese carts . A s i t happened,we were des

t i ned to have our cur ios i ty on th i s po int sat i sfied . We

were mov ing slowly along an uph i l l stretch,where

the road was very narrow and about forty feet deep ,when suddenly a cart came around the bend j ust

ahead . The two carts were blocked,there be i ng no

way for them to pass . Our carter,a veteran mule

dr iver, j umped down from h i s seat, and began belabor

i ng the other carter with invect ives . He said : “Now

you can find a way out . I wi l l not move a step . The

two “d iscussed” earnestly for several minutes ; but

our man,being more fluent of speech

,gained the vic

tory, and the newcomer unh itched h is forward mule ,l eavi ng the other on the shaft .

We wondered what was to be done . Surely there

was no way to back that cart uph i l l, and equal ly no

way to turn i t around . Imagine our surpr i se when the

man h itched the forward mule to the back of the

cart, and made i t pu l l the cart and the compan ion

mul e backward up the h i l l for some d istance, to aplace where our cart cou ld pass .

After travel i ng one h u n d r e d mi les along such

roads , th i s be i ng a three days ’ j ou rney , we came

down a deep and very long gu lch , which grew deeper

and darker as we descended, and led u s final ly to the

gate Of the border c i ty of Shens i . Th i s most interest

i ng town S i ts r ight in a pass lead ing to the Open pla ins

of the province . The mounta i ns h igh on’

the south

and the broad yel low r iver on the north g ive the c i ty

a most strateg ic s ituat ion . Many times s ince the

first revolut ion i n 1 9 1 1,i t has been captured and re

captured by organ ized armies and organ ized band its .

2 1 4 WITH OUR MISS IONARIES IN CH INA

southern half of the c ity i s ent i rely Chinese, the

northern half be ing d iv ided between the Mohammedan

quarter and the Tartar c ity . With in the Walls of theTartar c i ty i s another wal led space, which was the

royal c i ty of the Tang dynasty .

In th i s Tartar c i ty l ived about Manchus ; but

now the c i ty lay before u s i n ru ins . Dur ing the

Chinese revo lut ion of 1 9 1 1,pract ically forty thousand

of these Manchus were massacred, many fled,and now

the few remain ing are housed i n a bu i ld i ng i n the

center of the Tartar c i ty .

We also vi s i ted the Hal l of Tablets, where we saw

the famous Nestor ian Tablet, with many other anc i ent

S labs .

F IRST GENERAL MEET ING I N SHENSI

After remain i ng in S i anfu for two days , we re

turned to Gospel V i l lage and began meetings . We heldfour B ib l e stud ies a day , Dr . Selmon and I shari ng the

time equal ly . What an Opportun ity it was ! Here were

more than forty persons who had been Chri st ians for

many years , earnestly l i sten ing to the truths we had

to teach . Many t imes they excla imed that they had

never before heard such pla i n and conv inc ing teach ing .

Regular meet ings conti nued for n ine days . At the

end of that t ime,the brigands

,who had gained control

Of North Shens i , were neari ng the southern c i t i es, andplann ing raids upon them . For th i s reason , i t seemed

the part of wi sdom to leave,and we qu ickly made the

best arrangements we could under the c i rcumstances .

During the next few days,we learned a l i ttle more

deeply the mean ing of Paul ’ s phrase,“ i n per i l s

The story of our return journey , with its escapes and

del iverances, is told elsewhere i n these pages . They

2 1 6 WITH OU R M ISSIONARIES I N CH INA

proved anew to us that God wi l l fu lfi l l H i s promises to

H i s servants, and though trial s and dangers may be

encountered, those who are under H i s d irect ion wi ll be

protected by H im ti l l the i r work i s done .

THE STRATEG IC POSIT ION OF SHENSI

Shens i i s the strateg ic center from wh ich to Open up

the unentered fields to the west . When one talks of

taking the truth to Ch inese Turkestan , on the roof of

As i a, that seems l ike an inaccess ibl e summit, wh ich

we may never reach . But w i th the open ing of Shens i ,one has taken a long step toward th i s far-Off land .

There i s constant i ntercourse w i th these provi nces to

the west . Our cart driver has been to Lan-Chau , the

cap i tal of Kansu , many t imes , and he has also been to

Turkestan . A s I talked with h im regard ing the place,and he told me the d i stances

,i t seemed to me that al l

that was needed would be p l enty of pati ence and t ime,and we wou ld eas i ly get there . From S i anfu to LanChau i s a run of “e ighteen stages (

“stage” means one

day ) , and from Lan-Chau to Turkestan i s a run of

three e ighteen stages” ; or i n al l from S i anfu toTurkestan , i t wou ld take seventy-two days by cart .

We met a fore igner who had been al l through th i s

terr i tory .

But i f we have not the men to send to th i s d i stant

place, there is another agency that w i l l take the truth

an agency that i s j ust as sure and much qu icker .

Th i s i s the pr i nted page . When Shens i i s Opened,erelong~ Kansu wi l l have bel i evers ; and then comes

Turkestan , at the end of the earth . Here we shal l be

ab le to clasp hands with our Indian and Russ ianbrethren .

2 1 8 W ITH OU R M ISSIONA RIES IN CH INA

F i ery tr ials make go lden Chri st i ans,says D r . Cuy

ler ; and ground watered by martyrs’ blood Often bears

the greatest amount of fru i t .

In Ch ina,the efforts put forth by Seventh-day A d

ventist miss ionar i es have not been free from serious

tr ials , many t imes threaten ing thei r l ives . But the

angel of His presence has been grac iously near to de

l iver, whi le the truth of the say ing,“The hour of the

Christ ian’

s extremi ty is the hou r of Chri st ’s oppor

tun i ty,”has Often been put to

.

the test and proved

true . To His glory,by answered prayer and loving

protect i on , we wish to recal l some of these instances ,which , as we take the retrospect ive glance, have come

to stand out as h igh l ights i n m iss i onary exper i ence .

In order to ass i st the reader to Obta i n an intel l igent

i dea of the pol i t ical cond it ions “beh ind the scenes” i n

the events that fol low, i t has seemed fitt i ng to say a

few words‘

about the causes which led up to revo la~

tionary troubles .

H ISTOR ICAL SKETCH

For many years prior to 1 9 1 1 , there‘

had been more

or less fr i ct ion between the Northern and the Southern provi nces Of China . Kwangtung Province, whose

cap ital is Canton , ever the seat of hatred for the North ,had been forced to to lerate fore igners to some extent,and Western ideas i n educat ion and advancement were

slowly permeating the minds of the better classes .

Many of Canton ’s progress ive bus iness men were seek

ing wealth i n fore ign countr i es , Wh i le the i r promis ing

students rece ived a modern educat ion i n Amer ican or

European colleges . I t i s smal l wonder that al l these

i nfluences comb i ned to make the more enl ightened

Southerne’

r antagon ist i c to the sta i d and c i rcumscribed

REVOLUT IONARY EXPERIENCES 2 1 9

Northern government, which permitted l i ttle advance

ment in soc ial , pol i t ical , or commerc ial c i rcles .

Dur ing the extended regency Of the empress dowa

ger Ts i Hs i , occas ional though largely futi le efforts

were'

made by some Of the Southern party to bring

A M ERCHANT A ND H IS FAM I LY—ONCE CON S IDERED OF THE

LOWEST CLASS , NOW T I IE BACK BONE OF THE REPUBL I C

about reformation . Even the emperor Kuang Hsu ,contrary to the empress dowager's wishes , was in

fluenced by some of h i s Southern advi sers to enter

upon a course of such rad ical reform that the last

three and one half months o f h is absolu te sovere ignty


are known in h i story as the hundred days of reform .

For some of these bo ld proclamations,he afterward

pa id dearly, when the“old Buddha” ( as Empress

Dowager TsiHsii s often cal led ) marshaled the forces

of conservati sm , and effected a coup d’

e’

tat, forc ing h im

into seclus i on , and permitt ing h im to remain emperor

i n name only .

However, i t i s i nterest ing to note that th i s sp i ri t

of reform cou ld not long be suppressed . A lthough at

heart always conservat ive and Op p o s e d str ictly to

amel iorati on , yet i n order to regain the good wi l l of

fore igners fol lowing the Boxer upr i s ing of 1 900,the

empress dowager herself afterward actual ly approved

some of the very improvements for promulgat ion of

which the emperor Kuang Hsu had been so severely

pun i shed.

As years passed , the gu lf between the conserv at ive

North and the progress ive South was widen ing . A

revol ut i onary party had developed i n the South,which

was secretly organ iz ing its men and means , ready to

str ike the b low for republ i can i sm when the opportune

t ime shou ld arr ive . The dark n ight of despot i sm was

pass ing,while already above the horizon could be seen

the fa int gleams of democracy ’s l ight gl immer ing over

the h i l ls of the Far East .

THE OUTBREAK

I t was on a somber, ch i l ly autumn day in the early

part of October,1 9 1 1 , that after a few weeks

’

rest

and recuperat ion i n Shangha i,Pastor and Mrs . R . F .

Cottrel l arr ived i n Hankow,Hupeh , en route to the i r

home in Changsha,Hunan . The Seventh—day Advent

ist res ident miss ionari es then in Hankow were Dr .

and Mrs . A . G . Larson , and Mr . and Mrs . E sta M i l l er .

222 WITH OU R M ISSIONARIES IN CH INA

I t was with great antic ipat ion and pleasure that we

returned to Changsha,as we had heard from M r . and

Mrs . S . C . Harr i s, duri ng ou r absence, that the new

homes for workers were neari ng complet ion . We be

gan moving into and settl i ng them as soon as we re

turned, and were as happy as only those know how to

be who , after having l ived for months i n a dark Ch inese

house i n a Chinese c i ty, suddenly: find themselves i n a

comfortable home bu i lt out i n the open .

But our “nest making” was soon to be cut short . A

few days after our arr ival , rumors reached us of

trouble i n Hankow, rumors that were confirmed and

en larged upon as the days passed . Soon we learned

that a revolut ion was real ly tak ing p lace,and that

other c i ties were turn ing over to the republ ican party .

THE PEACEABLE CAPTURE OF CHANGSHA

We knew not what might take place at any t ime i n

Changsha, but the report was that the c ity was soon to

jo i n Hankow in the attempt to throw off the Manchu

yoke . The Br i t i sh consu l res id ing in Changsha sent

a not ice to al l European and American res idents Of

that port,stat ing that troub l e m ight break out at any

t ime,and that every fami ly shou ld keep some one on

the watch by n ight and day for certai n s ignals wh ich

were to be gi ven from the customs flagpole . In the

meant ime, most of the women and ch i ldren left the

c ity,and repa i red to the i s land upon which our cot

tages,together with three other fore ign houses, stood .

In antic ipat ion that there might be an anti -fore ign

demonstrat ion , a fortification of sandbags was thrown

up about one of the fore ign houses, and at the s ignal

above ment ioned , al l foreigners were to leave the c ity,and come with in easy access of th i s improvi sed fort .

224 W ITH OU R M ISS IONARIES IN CH INA

The expected cr i s i s came early Sunday morn ing , Oc

tober 22 . Two of the lead ing mi l i tary Offic ial s, and a

few so ld i ers who tr i ed to defend them, were ki l led .

C ivi l ru lers e i ther fled or declared for the revolut ion

ists . The Manchu fami l i es i n the c i ty were in great

terror, and e ither kept themselves i n h i d i ng or escaped

by n ight . For a few days , consu lar orders forbade

fore igners ’ enter ing the c ity,and the one hundred

Europeans and Amer icans of Changsha found tem

porary homes by crowd ing into the houses on the

i sland , or secur ing house boats ly i ng along the shore .

Our cottages accommodated twelve persons as ide from

those of ou r own miss ion .

In the meant ime, the date for our general meeting

arr ived,and, desp i te the pol i t i cal threaten ings , a

goodly number of bel i evers gathered i n Changsha . We

were able to ga in admittance to the c i ty and conduct

the meet ings most of the t ime ; but, owing to d i f

ferences between the revolut i onary l eaders, a fight

broke out, and al l fore igners who were i n the c i ty

again hastened out pel l-mell . However, the prov i nc ial

assemb ly that took charge of affai rs when the c ity

turned over to the new admin istrat ion , soon succeeded

i n establ i sh ing order . During th i s d i sturbance, the

c i ty gates were again closed,and we were unab l e to

enter the c i ty ; but as the nat ive evangel i sts at our

chapel fi l led i n the breach, the meet ings were not

seri ously i nterrupted . On the clos ing day, twelve re

ceived bapt i sm .

Large numbers of volunteer sold iers often l ined thestreets on the i r way to Hankow . I t came to be qu ite

common for Mr . Cottrel l to remark,“Well , to-day I


saw two or three thousand more so ldi ers go ing on

board boat for Hankow .

”

From the first outbreak, a real money pan ic began .

N early al l notes i ssued by e ither the imper i al or the

provinc ial government were regarded as worthless, or

unusable . Many banks fa i led,and al l others suspended

payment . Pract ical ly noth ing was cons idered good

except s i lver or copper co i ns, and these were almost

unobta inable . O f cou rse, th i s s ituat i on added to our

perplex i t i es .

With the war st i l l rag ing in Hankow,and the unrest

and trouble spread ing throughout Ch ina , the consu ls

dec ided to ask all women and ch i ldren to leave the in

terior, and go to some port c i ty , where they could be

properly protected . No one knew j ust what to expect,

as robbers and p i rates i nvariab ly take advantage of

such Opportun it i es for deeds of v iolence .

Brethren G ibson and Harr i s dec ided to accompany

thei r wives to Shangha i ; but as i t seemed necessary

for Mr . Cottrel l to remai n by the work i n Changsha ,I had planned to stay with h im . However, my trunk

was packed, so that i n case of sudden troub l e, I might

leave at any time .

The n ight on wh ich our frIends were to leave us was

a sad one . We accompan ied them to the steamer,

wh ich we found already crowded . Return ing homeabout m idn ight, we dec ided that i t was best for me to

go with the others . I t was nearly 3 a . m . when , my

preparat ions completed, I took one last l i nger ing look

at the new homes wh ich we had entered with such j oy

only one month before, and wh ich we now must leave

under cond it i ons of so great uncerta inty . But of

course the greatest tr ial was for me to leave my hus

REVOLUT IONARY EXPERIENCES 227

band i n Changsha, whi le I attempted to reach a p lace

of safety . N evertheless, as th i s seemed best, with an

uttered prayer, the good-bys were qu ickly said, and I

found myself alone on the deck, watch ing w i th tear

d immed eyes what otherwise might have been d ist inctly

seen i n the beauti fu l moonl ight, h i s l i ttle rowboat

fad ing away i n the d i stance, and then he was gone .

AM ID SHOT AND SHELL

Our tr ip to Hankow was made on schedu le t ime by

one o f the Japanese steamers,which carr i ed a few

large bu l let holes made by some sold iers who fired

when she refused to halt for them to search her pas

sengers on a former trip . A lthough the steamsh ip

company compel led all fore ign passengers to travel

first-c lass , we were ob l iged to put up with so i led l i nen

on ou r beds,and the tab l ec loth and the napkins bore

man i fest proof of the servants'statement that they

had been unabl e to have any laundry work done s i nce

the revolut ion began .

As we neared Hankow,all eyes were tu rned toward

the st i l l smok ing c i ty . Ever and anon could be heard

the d i st i nct booming o f cannon,wh ile the usual ly

crowded r iver front was almost dest i tute of boats , and

every face wore the troubl ed and anx ious look that

made us real ize we were i n the real war center o f the

revoluti on .

During the war thus far,no large merchant vessels

had ventu red up the river as far as Hankow, passen

gers for Shangha i be i ng conveyed by launches a few

mi les down the Yangtze Kiang to connect with regularr iver boats . Hence we expected that we shou ld not

have to remain withi n the danger l i ne more than a few

228 W ITH OU R M ISS IONARIES I N CH INA

hours at most . But what was our surpr i se to find that

i n order to remove to a place of safety a large cargo

of tea, the steamer that was to convey us to Shangha ihad ventured up into the harbor . With cross-r iver

bombardment above and below us, we went aboard th i s

steamer,were shown to our staterooms

,and wa ited

the t ime Of departure, wh ich we were to l d would be

that afternoon . But not having made up the cargo by

the spec ified t ime, we remained i n port overn ight and

unt i l afternoon of the fol lowing day,making in all

th i rty-six hours amid shot and shel l s

On the afternoon of our arr ival i n Hankow,we went

on Shore to not i fy the American consul general, Mr .

Greene, of the whereabouts of our Changsha workers .

In our walk along the bund ( or street on the water

front ) , i n many places we saw holes that had been

scooped out of the br ick walls by fly ing shel ls ; and on

one street corner, a crowd had gathered about a

Ch inese who had j ust been ki l led by a stray bul let,only

a few rods from where we were walk ing . We also

called at the post office to try to recover some of the

mi ss ing letters that had been accumu lat ing daringthe upr i s ing in Hankow .

Some miss ionary acqua intances from Changsha were

i nv i ted out to d inner by Hankow fr iends,and returned

to the boat qu i te exc i ted, late i n the even ing, say i ng

that as they stood talk i ng on thei r fr i ends ’ p iazza,a

bul let wh izzed between them . However, i t was most

remarkab le that not a foreigner was k i l led duri ng the

who l e s i ege i n Hankow .

A s the sun lowered i n the west, cannonad ing began

i n earnest . We sat out on the deck Of the steamer, and

watched such an imated and nerve-racking fireworks


as I trust I shal l never again be compel led to behold .

As the shadows deepened, more and more often we

wou ld see the d istant flash , then hear the report ; and

a swish i n the water near u s would tel l of a fal l ing

shel l . Sometimes a wh izz ing through the a i r j ust

over our heads sent us al l runn ing into the sa loon ,

which i n real i ty afforded no protect ion .

After an even ing of th i s experi ence, we real ized

more than ever that our only safety lay i n the hands

of H im whose bus iness had led us to th i s far country

amid such dangers ; and with His promise of“LO, I

am with you alway,” and the sweet assurances of

the n inety-first psalm, we lay down to rest . Again the

truth of the say ing that God ’s prom ises,l ike the

stars , Sh ine br ightest i n the darkest n ight,” was forc i

b ly brought to mind , and we were glad to cast our help

less selves upon them .

OTHER EXPER IENCES

Dur ing the day upon wh ich we were to leave Han

kow, there was cons i derable cannonad ing back and

forth across the r iver below us , and we began to won

der how our boat was go ing to be ab l e to pass safely

through the cross fire . But here again God protectedus ; and as the sold iers stopped fir ing to sup the i r after

noon tea,for such was sai d to be the i r custom,

our boat passed safely between the fort ifications . With

hearts ful l of thanksg iving that we were at last beyond

the danger l ine, we again began to breathe normal ly .

Sharing my stateroom on th i s tr ip, was a noted RedCross nurse , who had worked almost unceas i ngly

n ight and day s ince the war began , and was now on

her way to take a short rest . She told of several

REVOLUT IONARY EXPERIENCES 23 1

extraord inary exp er iences and narrow escapes from

death i n her work among the wounded . Another

passenger, a former Manchu offic ial , was travel ing in

cogn ito from far S zechuan , having saved h i s l i fe by

purport ing to be a spec ial l etter carr ier for fore igners ,on an important miss ion to Shanghai .

The remainder of our j ourney to Shangha i was

qu i te uneventful, except that at the d ifferent ports

along the Yangtze K i ang , we saw many warsh ips of

var ious nat ions .

As we reached Shangha i , a warm welcome was g ivenus by our fri ends

,who told u s that, with the exception

o f F . A . A l lum and Mr . Cottrel l,al l the mi ss ionar i es

from the inter ior had previously arr ived . Brother

A l l um followed i n a few weeks, and Mr . Cottrel l

reached Shangha i shortly before Chri stmas . One large

rented tenement afforded homes for five fami l i es,whi le

others found vacant rooms elsewhere ; and , by renting

some of the bare necess i t i es i n fu rn itu re, we were soon

ab l e to care for ourselves comfortab ly , making the

most of the priv i leges afforded u s o f together studying

the language and seek ing God .

Our workers from Cheo Ch ia K ’

o,Honan

,came to

Shangha i by way o f Pek i ng, thus travel i ng largely

outs ide the war area . O f the i r experi ences en route,

Mrs . O . A . Hall wr ites“A s ide from the tra inload a fter tra inload of sold iers ,

horses,and cannons that we saw, there was but l i ttle

by wh ich one would know that the country was i n a

state of revolution . I t tru ly seemed a remarkab l e

th ing that a country which had been for so many years

an empi re,shou ld so qu i etly and del iberately throw

off i ts yoke , and estab l i sh i ts new form o f government ."


Our workers i n Nank i ng Were not so fortunate,as

w i l l be seen from the following exper i ence , written by

Mrs . Freder ick Lee :“AS soon as we learned that fighting had begun in

Nanking,M r . Lee and I went to the American con

sulate for further i nformation . The consul i nformed

us that al l American women and ch i ldren must leave

at once for Shanghai . He urged that the men follow

as soon as poss ib le .

“We immed iately hurr ied home to ass i st i n moving

Dr . Kay , who was very i l l at the t ime . Ins ide of two

hours , al l had reached the consulate, and were ready

to start for the tra in . The consul headed our proces

s ion , which was escorted by S ixty Ameri can mar ines .

When we reached the c ity gates , permiss ion to pass

through was refused us , as a ru l ing had been made

that no one was to pass out or i n . An immense crowd

of anx ious Ch inese were stand ing there n ight and day ,vainly hop ing to get outs ide the c ity . However, by

some persuas ion on the part of the consu l , we were

permitted to leave . With great d ifficulty, the waiting

mob was held back unt i l the fore igners passed out .

Then the gates closed aga in .

“A l l along the way to Shangha i we passed com

panies of rebel sold iers march ing on to Nanking .

“M r . Lee remained beh ind to find a safer place to

store our goods,hop i ng to fol low me soon . During the

days he remained i n the c i ty, fight ing was going on

outs ide,whi le loot ing and k i l l ing went on ins ide at

an alarming rate . The c ity gates were st i l l c losed ;and with Mr . Lee, the quest ion was, How can I get

out ? The consu l told h im that i f he would be at a

certa i n smal l gate at a certa in t ime of day, he might

234 WITH OU R M ISSIONARIES IN CH INA

get out with some American sold i ers who were da i ly

carry ing mai l . He lost no t ime i n fo l low ing the con

sul’

s suggest ion , and we were soon together again i n

Shangha i , where we spent the next three months .“Shortly after our return to Nanking, some sold i ers

who had not rece ived the i r pay began loot ing . Other

sold i ers soon fired upon these,and the result was a real

battle . About twenty sold i ers were k i l led . Mr . Lee

and I chanced to be outs ide the c ity at that t ime, and

had to pass the battl e fields i n order to reach home . It

was a s icken ing s ight to see the dead and bleed ing

ly i ng in the streets . The fo l lowing Sabbath , our eyesbeheld a st i l l more horr i fy ing s ight— a basketfu l of

the heads of the looters . The next week, th i s was

qu ite common . Heads were d isplayed here and there,as upward of one thousand had been ki l led for loot

i ng . The reason for d isp l ay ing these heads was to

warn the beholders that persons committ i ng l ike cr imes

would be pun i shed i n l ike manner .

”

A l l through the revolut ion , God’s care was man ifest

i n a spec ial way for His own — not only for the

fore igners , but also for the Ch inese brethren and

s i sters . When the revolt was at i ts height, our

pri nc ipal mi ss ion station i n Honan being i n need of

s i lver,i t was necessary for some one to carry them

money . Evangel i st Li u Dj en Bang volunteered to make

the hazardous j ourney of more than seven hundred

miles overland from Shanghai to Cheo Chia K ’

o, walk

ing much of the way .

“God wi l l protect,” he sa id ; and

He d id protect H is fa i th ful servant .

For hold ing the s i lver dol lars that he was to carry,some of ou r fore ign s i sters i n Shangha i made l i ttle

cloth sacks , or pouches , which were sewed to a g i rd le

REVOLUT IONARY EXPERIENCE S 235

and worn around h i s wai st . A l l went wel l unt i l he

reached Cheng Yuan Gwan, where, without any reason

known to h im , he felt impressed to stop for two or

three days . When he resumed his j ourney, he found

that during the t ime he had been stepping, the so ld i ers

had been busy r idd ing the road over wh ich he must

pass of h ighway robbers . A lthough previously travel

ers — even school ch i ldren— had b e e n robbed o f

everyth i ng they possessed,i nc lud ing the cloth ing they

were, al l that now remained to test i fy of the fearful

deeds were the dead bod ies of the robbers scattered

along the road . Brother Liu,with several hundred

dol lars on h i s person , went safely on h i s way , and

completed the trip,thereby br ing ing the much-needed

funds to support the native workers whi le the foreign

brethren were forced to gather in Shangha i .

So many of ou r m iss ionari es be ing gathered i n

Shanghai , a cal l was made for a general meeting of the

Ch ina Un ion M i ss ion , to be held January 24 to Pebru

ary 1 0, 1 9 1 2 . A l l the fore ign workers i n that field

were present , together with representatives from Ko

rea , Japan , the S tra i ts Settlements, and the Ph i l ip

pi nes . During th i s meet ing, the Sp i r i t o f the Lo rd

was man i fest i n a marked degree ; and at i ts c lose ,cond i ti ons throughout the country had improved to

such an extent that nearly all ou r workers cou ld

safely return to the i r respect ive stati ons .

S I! HOURS OF PRAYER BR INGS DELIVERANCE IN

SOUTH CH INA

Some of our workers i n South Ch ina also had thri l l

i ng experi ences . We shal l let Ch inese Pastor Ang tel l

the story , as trans lated from h is own words

238 W ITH OU R M I SS IONAR IES IN CH INA

chi ldren asked what they should do i n case of trouble .

I rep l i ed,‘If they begin to fight

,you go downstai rs

and l i e down on the t i le floor .

’

!In Swatow, the houses

are made of soft concrete,the wal ls are about a foot

i n th ickness , and the ground story has very few

windows !“ In the course of a few days

,see ing that noth ing

had occurred , my wife and th i rd daughter went out

to see how other members of the miss ion were far ing .

But wh i le she was away, the battl e took place on the

street in front of the chapel . The five gi rls,obed ient

to myadvice, went downsta i rs, lay down close together

on the t i le floor, and prayed . When a bullet struck

the house, they were terror-str icken for a moment ;then they would calm themselves , and pray aga in .

Th i s s i tuat i on conti nued from three o ’c lock i n the

afternoon unt i l n i ne o’

clock at n ight . During th i s

t ime, several tens of so ld i ers were ki l led, and the house

was covered with bu l l et holes , many of which may sti l l

be seen .

“Our chapel has been moved to another locat ion,and

the g i rl s are much O lder ; but the exper i ence of that

afternoon i s st i l l fresh i n the i r memory . They be

l i eve and know that the words of the psalmist are t ue,‘The angel of the Lord encampeth round about t em

that fear H im , and del ivereth them .

’

A CH INESE CELEBRAT ION OF AMERICAN RECOGNITION

The revolut i on over, and republ ican i sm becoming

more and more an estab l i shed fact as the days passed

by,i t i s not strange that congratulat ions i n the form

of recogn it ion from other nat i ons should be proud ly

and grateful ly rece ived by the young Ch inese re

pub l i c .

REVOLUT IONARY EXPERIENCES 239

As Lhasa to Tibet, so Hunan to China, is an apt

s imi le portray ing the feel ing of Hunan toward thefore igner through a long course of years . Intel l igent

,

but haughty and conservat ive , her doors, unt i l twelve

years ago so successfu l ly closed to al l fore ign nations ,now vie with those of the other foremost of Ch ina ’ s

provi nces i n open ing to welcome al l who come to pro

mote and conserve her wel l-be ing . E spec ial ly was th is

A PROM I NENT CH I NESE OFF I C I AL O I“ SOOCHOW ABOUT TOBOARD T I IE TRA I N FOR S HA NGHA I

mani fest toward Americans i n 1 9 1 3 , i n the fest ivi t i es

fol lowing American recogn it i on of the Ch inese re

pubhc .

The first of the ser ies o f recept i ons accorded Ameri

cans in Changsha by the Ch inese , was announced soon

after the recogn i t ion was known i n Hunan ; but as i t

was g iven on Sabbath , we were not priv i leged to at

tend . On Friday of the week fol lowing , the Ameri

cans responded to the cord ial i ty o f the Ch inese by

240 W ITH OU R M ISSIONAR IES I N CH INA

g iv ing a recogn it ion tea to about seventy i nv ited

guests, among whom were included al l the ch ief men

i n governmental and po l i t ical c i rcles .

Th i s fete was held i n one of the fine,large private

res i dences owned by a wealthy Ch inese, with whichChangsha abounds . Walk i ng along the narrow,congested Ch inese street

,with noth ing in v iew but Shops

and h igh cement walls on e ither s ide,a stranger

"

would

hardly be prepared for the surpri se wh ich wou ld greet

h i s eyes i f he turned to enter,through the ord inary

looking gateway Off the street, the Chua Gardens .

Having passed the gate, we were conducted down

beaut i fu l walks,through a seeming lav ish

'

waste of

land devoted to the courts and fine gardens surround

i ng the owner ’ s home . These had been decorated for

the occas ion with American and Ch inese flags , bunt ing ,etc . ; wh i le at one end, i n an honored n iche , reposed

large portra i ts of P res idents Wi lson and Yuan Sh i Kaiamid the i r respective flags .

Professor B rownel l Gage,dean of Yale College i n

Ch ina, who was master of American ceremon ies for

the day, occup ied a seat at the left and head of the

room , whi le at his r ight sat Tan Tatu , governor of

Hunan Province . At the left of each of these gen

tlemen was arranged a long row of chai rs , i n wh ich

were seated other noted men,i nclud ing the ex-c iv i l

commiss ioner (who has also been the governor ’s

teacher ) , the provinc ial treasurer, the new c ivi l com

miss ioner,the pres ident of the provinc ial assemb ly ,

the heads of the two pol i t ica l part i es, and the head of

fore ign affai rs .

The Americans felt the presence of the governor i n

person to be a spec ial honor,as he usually sends h i s

242 W ITH OU R M I SS IONARIES IN CH INA

After the refreshments , Professor Gage cal led on

Several Ch inese and Americans for short speeches .

Governor Tan spoke very apprec iat ively not only of

America’

s recogn i t i on , but also of her fr i endly att i

tude toward China . H e referred to China ’s feel ing

toward Am er ica, under the figure of a ch i ld-student re

publ ic, des i rous of s itt ing at the feet of the world ’ s

greatest repub l i can teacher, to be taught Wi sdom byher . He extended a most hearty welcome to al l Ameri

cans l iv i ng in Hunan .

Dr . C . N . Dubbs , as the sen ior American res ident of

the c i ty, responded to the governor’s address . He men

tioned some of the unpleasantness that occurred when

he first arr ived i n Hunan , because he, not understand

i ng them,nor they h im, had not seen th ings as they

were . But he rej o i ced that the Hunanese now under

stood that miss ionari es had come among them, and

estab l i shed schools, hosp i tals, and chapels, not to act

as “sp i es for the i r government,to obta in Ch ina ’s

goodly land,

” or to store up mer i t” for themselves,

but to help rel i eve suffer i ng, make better c it izens of

the sons and daughters intrusted to the i r schoo l s,and

po int the peop l e to the true God, who ho lds i n H i s

hands the r i se and fal l of nat ions .

After several other short remarks by prominent

Ch inese,i nterspersed wi th such songs as The Battle

Hymn of the Repub l i c” a n d “M a r c h i n g Through

Georg ia,

” sung by an American,M r . Gage made the

conclud ing speech . He assured the governor that we

as Americans were glad to recogn ize China , not as a

ch i ld repub l i c,but as a s i ster, ful l-grown republ ic .

He spoke of some of the mistakes made by our nation

i n i ts early h istory,ment ion ing Patrick Henry ’s fears,

REVOLUT IONARY EXPER IENCES 243

and how Thomas Jefferson at first prophes i ed that i t

wou ld be utterly unsafe to vest i n the hands of one

man as much power as the pres ident was to rece ive .

Inc idental ly he noted the fact that when M r . Jefferson

became pres ident afterward , he was the first one to

exceed h i s authority i n mak ing the Lou i s i ana Pur

chase .

M r . Gage S i ncerely hoped that Ch ina would take

courage j ust now, when the launch i ng of the“sh ip Of

state” seemed so d ifficult, remembering and profit ing

by the.

mistakes of others . He was h ighly applauded

when he emphas ized the pr inc iple that “un ion is neces

sary to l iberty .

”

“ Such , he cont inued , i s the lesson I bel i eve

America has learned i n the hard school of exper ience .

Ou r separate commun it i es have been welded together

i n the burn ing forge of suffer ing . It i s the prayer of

America , as she welcomes you to the family of self

govern ing nat ions , that you may be spared her mis

takes,her losses , and her suffer ing .

He closed by say ing that he was su re he stated the

des i re o f not only al l the Americans present,but al so

the American nation , that“you and we , the great re

publ ic O f the East and the great republ i c o f the West ,may j oi n hands and work together

,so that, as L i ncoln

sa id,

‘G overnment of the pe0p 1e,by the people , and for

the people,shal l not peri sh from the earth .

’

SHENSI EXPER I ENCES IN THE ANT I -MONARCHYREVOLUT ION OF 1 9 1 6

B ut even i n the rapid ly moving twentieth centu ry ,

a repub l i c cannot be born i n a day , with no further an

noyances threaten ing . Ever and anon the Ch inese


monarch ial dragon l i fted h is sleepy head, and troubles

broke out i n vari ous places . Dr . Bertha Selmon descr ibes the harrowing experi ences of her husband when

he was caught in the throes of one of these m inor

revolut ions“The provi nce of Shens i i s s i tuated to the west of

the famous Tungkwan Pass . The name Shens i means‘West of the Passes,

’ and the province i s called the‘cradle of the Ch inese race .

’ Tungkwan i s a h igh

walled c ity,with only two gates . One Opens upon the

h ighway eastward to the ra i lway ; but between these

two po ints l i es three days of dusty travel i n the lowest

cafion road . The west gate of Tungkwan Opens out

on the pass i tsel f, toward the p la i n of North Shens iand the anci ent cap ital of Ch ina, S i anfu , the presentcap i tal of the prov i nce . S i anfu , the c ity of anc i entstone records , with i ts Nestor i an Tablet, has a h i story

al l i ts own .

“But i t i s about Tungkwan that ou r story l i es .

Tungkwan, with i ts h igh wal l, and i ts mounta i ns on

the north and south,has been the sceneof many battles .

Sometime in 1 9 1 5, a pri nted page had found i ts way

through the anc i ent pass, and to ld the story of the

coming K i ng . On Apr i l 2 1 , 1 9 1 6, four dusty travelers

fo l lowed the path of the pri nted messenger through the

east gate i nto the c i ty . They spent the Sabbath there,then passed on to Gospel V i l lage

,where the seeds of

truth had borne the i r fru i t . Pleasant days were spent

i n g ivi ng the bread of l i fe to those who al ready had

learned to ‘search the Scr iptures,’ and were hungry for

the help these messengers could g ive . Pastor Frederick

Lee, Dr . A . C . Selmon, and Pastor Liu Dj en Bang were

the messengers .

246 W ITH OU R M ISSIONAR I ES IN CH INA

As the happy days passed qu ickly, they gave l i ttle

thought to the gather ing cloud of trouble caused by

the movement on foot to change the new republ i c back

i nto a monarchy . Th i s was the s ignal for i ndependent

movements i n i nd iv idual prov i nces ; and Shens i, de

termined always to have a part i n Ch inese affai rs, had

declared against the monarchy . Sad to say, her owngovernment

,not too strong

,had al l i ed i tsel f w i th the

men of the mounta ins powerful band i t leaders and

thei r robber hordes .“On May 1 2 , Pastor Liu entered the west gate of

Tungkwan on foot,hastened to the telegraph office, and

wrote two messages to the w ives of the two fore ign

pastors , say ing that the men were i n the hands of

band its,and ask ing that the Un ited States consulate

be i nfo rm ed at once . He had one difi‘iculty: the man i n

the office wanted pay,as usual, i n advance ; but Pastor

Li u d id not have a cent of money .

Finally, however, he succeeded'

in persuad ing the

agent that the l i ves of fore igners were at stake, and

that the money would come later .“Just then , a cart rumb l ed along the street, and

Pastor Liu looked out to see h i s compan ions dr iv ing

down the narrow street . Less than five minutes after

ward, the man i n the telegraph office had fled,Tung

kwan was in the hands of the band i ts,and i n fifteen

minutes , al l the wi res were cut . If that message had

gone, anx ious days wou ld have passed before another

message could have been sent .“Twelve mi les west of Tungkwan, our party had met

a band of twenty-five mounted band i ts, who searched

the carts for ammun it ion, th ink ing the brethren might

have some connect ion with the government sold i ers .


They found no arms,sti l l they i ns i sted that Pastor

Lee ’s cook was a sol d i er i n d i sgu i se . One of the men

cocked h is r ifle to shoot the lad ; but one of the pastors

pushed i t as ide, and pl eaded h i s case so urgently thatthe bandits final ly al lowed the party to pass on .

Three mi les farther on , ou r workers met a second

band of robbers . We wi l l let D r . A . C . Selmon tel l therest of the story

“This band was made up Of a tougher lot of fel lows

than the first ones we met . They stopped the cart,and one of them leveled h i s r ifle on B rother Lee and

me, and made us get down out of the cart and stand to

one s ide . He vowed he wou ld pu t a hole through both

of u s i f we st i rred . Then he and another robber

searched each of us , and took our watches . One man

cl imbed i nto the cart,and began empty ing out our

goods , and taking everyth ing he des i red . A l l th is t ime,

Brother Lee and I were stand ing i n the road , whi le the

man who was coveri ng u s with h is r ifle revi led us with

everyth ing he cou ld th ink o f . Every now and then he

would bring h is r ifle up to shoot . He was a red-faced ,rough look ing spec imen , with a turban around h i s

head , and two s tr ings of cartridges across h i s shou l

ders . He acted l ike a d runken man . One of the ban

d its , upon ask ing me i f we had any s i lver , and notgett ing my rep ly as qu ickly as he des i red

,j umped down

from the cart , and struck me a coup l e o f b lows with a

large c lub .

“Finally a squad of armed band its came up and

j o ined the ones who were robb ing u s . They consulted

as to whether to shoot us or not,but final ly dec ided to

make u s go back to the west for a m i le or two , and turn

us ove r to the robber ch ie f, who was coming along .


One of thei r number was put i n charge of us . We did

not walk fast enough to su i t h im,and he to ld us to

move faster . Thus we marched along through the

street of that market place i n front of the fellow . The

i nhab itants were al l l i ned up on ei ther s ide,tak ing in

the Show . It was j ust about noon, and fearfully hot

and dusty .

“After go i ng about a mi le, we came up to where the

robber ch i ef and his bodyguard were hold ing a counci l

of war . We addressed h im i n the most pol i te Ch inese

we could command , and he to ld us to cl imb into h i s

cart . I cl imbed up by h i s S i de, and Brother Lee got up

on the car t of h i s aide. The ch ief was a tough spec i

men , bl ind in one eye, and with two b ig army p istols

stuck i n h i s belt, and surrounded by as typ ical a set

of ‘rough necks ’ as the ‘Wild West’ ever produced .

He sa id he would protect us ; but we were not sure j ust

what he meant to protect us from . I entered into

conversation with h im ; and as soon as he found out

that we were from the sect ion where the troub l e

started,and knew the c i rcumstances and leaders i n

the movement, he began to talk qu i te freely .

“ I asked h im what obj ect they had in robb ing and

wanting to shoot miss i onari es pass i ng through that

sect ion . He sai d his men were a hard lot to handle,and they d id not recogn ize us . He was sorry we had

been handled so roughly . He sa id they were fighting

aga inst the regu lar army, and they thought we were

connected with the army in some way .

“N eedless to say, I d id not argue with h im as to

what they thought or what I thought, but tr ied in

every way poss ib le to i ngrat iate us with h im . Finally

I asked i f he would be wil l ing to return our watches .


bottom is j ust wide enough for one cart,and the s ides

are l ike wal ls , almost perpend i cu lar, r i s ing in p laces

to a height of one hundred and fifty feet,you can see

that a man in a cart cannot have much cho i ce as to the

road he takes .

“Natural ly enough,we proceeded w i th al l haste to

Tungkwan . The gates were closed and locked ; but by

push ing my card through a crev i ce, and te l l ing the

sold i ers who we were, we persuaded them to l et us

through . We knew that the place would soon be at

tacked by the robbers ; and S i nce there were only about

two hundred regular so ld i ers there,we felt sure they

would retreat without making much of a fight . We

wanted to push on to the cast at once,and cross

through the mounta i n pass and get i nto Honan .

“But the road to thewest of Tungkwan i s over a foot

wider than to the east,consequently at th i s place i t

was necessary to change the axle on our cart before we

cou ld proceed . So we drove up to an inn , and dumped

off our stuff . There was a pan ic i n the place, for the

peop l e knew they would soon be at themercy of therobbers . Everyth ing was shut, and we had d ifficu lty i n

find ing a carpenter to change our axle . Whi le we were

at work chang ing i t,we heard fir ing at the west gate,

and knew that the robbers were attacking i t . As soon

as the fir ing began,people took to thei r heels , and so

there was noth ing for us to do but to wai t i n the

inn , and trust the Lord to del iver us again .

“ I shou ld mention that as soon as we entered Tung

kwan , and reported to the sold iers that we had met the

robbers,the defenders of the c i ty gathered up bag and

baggage and made a bee l i ne for the east gate, leav i ng

the c i ty enti rely without protect ion . In fifteen minutes

REVOLUT IONARY EX PER IENCES 25 1

after the sold iers had marched out of the east gate,the robbers were fir ing on the west gate . Evidently

they had accompl ices i n the c ity,for i t was only a

matter of a few minutes unti l we saw them runn ing in

through the gate . S ome were afoot, and str ipped to

the wai st,with long cartr idge belts around thei r

necks ; but most Of them were mounted . A l l wore

wh ite turbans ; and in add it ion to r ifles , some carr i ed

kn ives . They fired promiscuously , and shot many

people , and in a very short t ime had ful l possess ion Of

the c ity . They set a guard at the east gate , and any

one try i ng to get out was rel i eved of everyth ing he

had except the c lothes on h i s back .

OUTL I NE MA P O F TUNGKWAN A ND IT S ENV IRON S


We saw that there was no hope of our runn ing the

gauntlet of the band of plunderers who were stationed

at the east gate ; and as there was no Other way to

get out,we s imply wa ited . I t was dusk by th i s t ime,

and every one was keyed up to a h igh p itch of anx i ety ,because they were absolutely certai n that loot ing wou ld

soon beg in .

“We were i n a b ig inn , with th i rty or forty rooms ,and fine furn i sh i ngs for a Ch inese i nn ; but there was

not a sou l i n i t save Brother Lee,Pastor L iu , our cook ,

and me al l those in charge had fled . There could be

no doubt that the robbers would beg in loot ing as soon

as they had eaten ; so we began to plan on what to do,for we knew that when loot ing began , the robber ch i efwould be as powerless to control h i s men as he would

be to govern the w i nd .

“Feel ing sure that the guard stat i oned on the c ity

wal l wou ld come down to share i n the plunder, we de

c i ded that as soon as we heard fir ing,which would

necessar i ly accompany the loot i ng,we would j ump

down from the back wal l of the i nn , and make a run on

the c i ty wal l . We had already p icked out some of the

th ings that would be most needed i n our wander ings

through the mounta ins , and each man had made up a

smal l bundle,which he could carry on h i s back . We

had also found a long rope'

ih the i nn ; and th i s we

planned to fasten at the top of the wal l , and sl ide down

on the outs ide, a d i stance of over fifty feet .“Whi le we waited, expect ing at any minute to hear

shooti ng, suddenly there came a crash of thunder, and

i t began to ra i n very hard,and i t ra ined from about

half past ten that n ight unti l dayl ight next morn ing .

The day of mi racles i s not past . We know the Lord

254 W ITH OU R M ISS IONAR IES IN CH INA

sa id,‘We cleaned them up yesterday ; l et them go .

’

At th i s , the crowd stepped back, and we drove out .

We d i d not take the troub l e to tel l that looter that

after they cleaned us out,we got part of our stuff

back .

“We got out of the c ity and across the pass,and saw

no more of the robbers ; but al l along the road, we

came up with peopl e who had been robbed of every

th i ng they possessed, down to the few hundred cash

they were carry ing for road expenses . And to the

east of Tungkwan the offic ials,at a d istance of as much

as s ixty and e ighty Engl i sh mi les , were send ing the i r

fam i l i es and thei r valuables on'

farther east, for fear

the robber band would push on east i nto Honan .

”

Such was the story as i t came to the ears of the

waiti ng ones at home .

Mrs . Selmon adds“Glad ? Yes , we are glad that our times are i n His

hands,and that unt i l our work is fin i shed

,we may

trust our al l i n the care of H im who cares for us,and

for al l H i s messengers .

”

IT INERAT ING EXPERIENCES

Revo lut ions are not the only tr ials i n wh ich the m issionaries are made to feel the need of God

’ s spec ial

protect ing care . M r . Cottrel l thus descr ibes some of

the d ifficu lt i es encountered i n an ord inary i tinerary

among the outstat ions of Central Ch ina“On a ra iny day i n October, 1 9 1 2 , Brother Hwang

and I started from Changsha,Hunan

,to v i s i t the-com

pany at Liu Yang,a c ity of some forty thousand in

hab i tants,i n the mounta i n region to the eastward two

days ’ j ou rney by sedan chai r . On the fi rst day of the


trip , mud and ra i n caused s low progress , and at last

we found lodg ing for the n ight i n a l i ttl e V i l lage i nn .

The second day ’ s j ourney was uneventful unt i l l ate

i n the afternoon . Then,whi le we were cross ing a

mounta in range, the cool i e who was carry ing my fo ld

ing cot, bedd ing , and food box l ingered beh ind, and

without be ing noticed,took a s ide path and ran away

with my belong ings . Long we waited for h im to

catch up with us , the chai r bearers meanwh i le assur

i ng me that theft among the regi stered and bonded

coo l i es of the transportation company was pract ically

unheard of . Nevertheless , we saw no more of h im ,

and final ly continued our j ourney to L iu Yang,reach

ing our l i ttle chapel i n the c ity at a late hour i n the

even ing . The theft was reported to the c ity authori

t i es,and search ing parti es were at once organ ized ;

but though they spent severa l days search ing for the

rascal,the i r efforts were fru itless .

“During the week that fol lowed,I ate Chinese food

i n Ch inese style , and s lept on native beds having only

native bedd ing . I also d i scovered how much troub l e

we fore igners usual ly are to ou rselves ; for the only

art icl e o f cloth ing necessary to remove on ret i ri ng at

n ight was my hat, and sometimes my shoes . Only

once i n th is t ime d id I remove my cloth ing,and that

was i n preparat ion for the bapti smal service , when I

borrowed a compl ete outfit o f native weari ng apparel

for the occas i on .

“But the Lord gave us a prec i ous t ime with thecompany at L i u Yang . A three days

’

meeting was held,

most of those i n attendance be ing from the surround

i ng country and vi l lages . So hungry were they for

the bread of l i fe , that we greatly enj oyed the priv i lege


of break i ng i t to them. On Sabbath afternoon,fol

low ing bapt i sm,a church of fourteen members was or

ganized, and the ord inances were celebrated .

“Return ing to Changsha by sedan chai r, we remainedbut two n ights

,when

,with Evangel i st Hwang , Evangel

ist and Mrs . Djang , and two colporteurs , I started on

a tr ip to the westward, th i s t ime travel i ng on a crowded

steam launch for e ighteen hours . Our first Obj ect ive

was Iyang , where we held meet ings for .a number of

days , solemn ized bapt i sm ,and organ ized a church of

over twenty members . From th i s place , we j ourneyed

by smal l nat ive boat,and planned onreach ing the Tung

Ting Lake to cross to the northern s ide by steamer .

But we found that some days previously, di sbanded

sold iers, after rai s ing a d i sturbance i n the town, had

commandeered the steamer, and no one knew when to

expect its return .

IM PROV I NG THE T IME IN S IMPLE STYLE


my goods that had been found,together with th irty

str ings of cash ( about ten do l lars i n Un ited S tates

currency ) . In an accompany ing letter,he expressed

h i s regret for the unfortunate inc ident,and the hope

that the part ial rest itut ion might be acceptable . ”

SAVED FROM A MOB

The c i rcumstances under wh ich an outstat ion had

been establ i shed at Hwa Yung ( referred to above by

Pastor Cottrel l ) are i n themselves interest ing evidences

of an al l-See ing and protect ing Gu ide .

For many years, the Cathol i c M i ss ion had been the

only Chri st i an representat ive the d i str i ct about Hwa

Yung knew . Twice Protestant miss ions had endeav

ored to estab l i sh an outstat ion ; but in each case, they

had been dr i ven out by the Catho l i c adherents, who

contended that prior i ty i n occupat ion gave them un

d i sputed and exclus ive r ights to the place .

However, the pr inted page of truth had reached

some honest-hearted persons ; and as these stud ied,thei r zeal led them to prov ide a chap

‘

el,and i nv i te us

to send an evangel i st .

In June, 1 9 1 2 , Mr . Cottrel l and I made our first vi s i t

to Hwa Yung, and were entertai ned i n the chapel com

pound . A s I was the first wh ite woman who had ever

v i s i ted the i r town,the people flocked in from mi les

about, the young,the old

,the lame

,the nearly bl ind,

the s ick , and the strong, al l wanting to see the for

eign woman Many cher i shed the hope that we

could cure the i r d i seases .

We spent two very busy days , teach ing the pe0p1e,vis i t ing at the ir homes

,and doing what we cou ld to

rel i eve the i r suffer ings . On Sunday morn ing, the last

BROTHER AND S ISTER D! OU WEN HS U IN

( 259 )


day of our stay, M r . Cottrel l was j ust open ing the

eleven o ’c lock service , when a man came runn ing i n,shouti ng : “The Cathol i cs are coming ! The Cathol i cs

are coming !” The large chapel doors were qu ickly

closed and barr icaded, wh i le at the same t ime Mr .

Cottrel l gave h i s card to one of our Ch inese bel i evers,who escaped

,unknown to the Cathol i cs, through the

back door,and ran d i rectly to the Ch inese magistrate

with a request for one hundred sold iers to come at once

and protect the chapel .

The hoot ing, yel l i ng mob outs ide were try ing to gain

entrance, and at last succeeded i n push ing open the

front doors . Then our fr i ends caught up chairs ,benches

,and p i eces of lumber

,with wh ich to defend

themselves . Mr . Cottrel l went to the doors, and urged

the people not to use viol ence ; but one . tal l young .

man , who had prev ious ly been i n the magi strate’s em

ploy, turned and sa id :“Pastor, do you suppos e we are

going to let those fel lows i n to destroy'this place and

ki l l u s al l ? Never ! We wi l l fight first .”

So our fr i ends stood the i r ground at the door . Later,when i t seemed the surg ing mob outs ide would cer

tainly break in , we asked Evangel i st Hwang i f he

wou ld dare attempt to address and reason with the

crowd . He at once responded,and thus a few more

minutes of t ime were gained . Then a few of the

Catho l i cs broke through past the guard at the doors ,and began break ing up lamps, benches, etc . A real iza

t ion of the danger by wh ich we were surrounded drove

us to God ; and wh i l e M r . Cottrel l stood on guard, I

was i n a back room plead ing for God’s protecti on .

Soon the mob was completely surpri sed to see a company Of sold i ers come runn ing down the narrow street,


The pu l l at the oar of duty i s often a long and

ted ious one . The flesh grows weary and the sp i r i t

fa ints when the waves smi te the bow and h inder our

headway . Impat i ent and d iscouraged, we sometimes

threaten to throw down the oars and ‘l et her dr i ft . ’

But the vo ice of the d ivine Helmsman utters the k ind

but strong rebuke,‘

O ye of l i ttl e fa i th, wherefore do

ye doubt ?’ And before we are aware,the bow str ikes

the strand,and we are at the very land wh ither the

blessed P i lot was gu id ing us .

DOES IT PAY ?

Fr i ends, does i t pay to launch and support the mis

sionary enterpr i se ? Does i t pay to pu l l hard at the

oar when the waves of str i fe and tr ial h inder our

progress ? Ask the native Chri sti an who formerly

bowed down to wood and stone . Ask the p ioneer mis

sionary who has passed through many hardsh ips for

the cross of Chr i st . A sk the fathers and mothers‘

who

have g iven the i r sons and daughters to the Lord for

work in foreign lands . Ask the great Pr ince of mis

sionaries , who left His home in glory to y i eld H i s l i fe

upon the cross . And from one and al l wi l l come the

chorus , We have seen the travai l of our sou ls, and are

wel l sat i sfied .

Beginnings at Am oy

MRS . W . C . HA N KI N S

In the l i ttle,humble

,mud-daubed cottage, there i s

j oy and rej o ic ing ; for at last a baby boy has come to

take up h i s abode with h i s happy Ch inese parents .

They have but recently begun to lose fa ith i n the

gods of the i r forefathers , to whom they had knelt

reverently i n prayer so many t imes i n days gone by .

Had they not a glass case set up in thei r central

guest room , i n wh ich they kept the i r household

gods ? and had they not, every morn ing and even ing ,

set before these revered rel ics the burn ing incense

sticks,with the smoke of which they were wont to send

up the i r fervent pet i ti ons to the father of heaven for

protecti on from evi l i nfluences,wicked sp i r its

,and in

j u ry from thei r enemies,as wel l as for help to obta i n

a better l ivel ihood ?

And the poor l i ttl e heathen mother how earnestly

she had pleaded with the goddess of heaven to grant

her eager petit ions for a son ! Day a fter day the in

cense had bu rned before the plac i d faces o f the earthen

images of the father and mother of heaven , but no son

had come to rejo ice the hearts of the young parents .

True , they had two l ittle g i rls ; but the m in ister before

the heathen gods had confidently averred that unless

one of these l i ttle g i rl babes was given over to the i r

ido l worsh ip,the gods would never grant thei r peti

t i ons . So the older o f the l i ttle g i rls was taken away

from the sorrowing mother,and only l i ttl e Chrysanthe

mum was left to toddle abou t i n her lonely play .

But now a ray o f l ight has begun to sh i ne i nto the

l i ttle home . Word has come to them of a new God , one

( 263 )


of whom they had never heard before,one who so loved

thiS'world that He gave H i s only-begotten Son to come

and l ive i n i t as a man, and teach the way of l i fe to

the poor'

people of the earth .

What a marvelous story !

Then , too, th i s God was not pleased to have the earth

people bow down and pray to gods of wood and stone ;for they were not true

,but only false gods .

What strange th ing was th i s ?

Surely i t were better to study more about th i s Godi n the heavens, who was even sai d to have made the

sun and the moon and the stars, the earth and the sea

and the sky, and al l that i s i n the earth, and the

people also .

The Ch inese father and mother talk i t over and

reason about i t from al l s ides . I f God made us,then

we are H i s ch i ldren , and we should obey and worsh ipH im , they say. So after hear i ng and study i ng more inthe wonderfu l Book th i s new God has g iven, they de ~

c ide to put away the images Of wood and stone, be

fore wh ich they have been bowing,and turn to the God

who has so much power . And new l i ttl e Chrysanthe

mum wi l l not be lonely any longer ; for G ift Come wi ll

soon be old enough to tumb l e about on the Old earthen

floor as happ i ly as she herself .

With what love was the G ift from heaven care

ful ly tra ined i n the new-found teach ings of the all

powerfu l God and His dear Son ! As Chrysanthemum

and G ift sat on thei r l i ttle stoo l s, with thei r bowls of

r ice and chopst i cks placed before them on the l i ttle

square table,they were taught to bow thei r heads

reverently and thank God for the good food He had

g iven to them .


Th i s ceremony became an important part of the

meal ; and unless the l i ttle heads were first bowed i n

prayer, and the bless ing of God was asked upon the

food, the l ittle ones would not eat . At n ight, the

prayers were offered l ik e i ncense before thethrone,ere

the l i ttle ones were put to the i r rest . Thus the father

and the mother strove careful ly to tra i n the G ift and

Chrysanthemum .

Very soon the fa i thfulness of these newly madeChr ist i an parents was rewarded .

One even ing, four years after the b i rth of the l i ttle

son,he was missed from h i s accustomed place . Then

the parents began search ing through the neighborhood,

but no trace of the l i ttle boy cou ld they find . In vain

Chrysanthemum cal led her l i ttle brother, for he was

nowhere near .

What should the poor parents do ? Was i t poss ibl e

that the i r God would desert them now, after He had

been so kind to them al l these years ? — for another

son had come to gladden thei r hearts“

, and they felt

that they had indeed rece ived the grace of God .

Ne ighbors and fr i ends j o ined i n the search , for al l

knew and loved the br ight l i ttl e fel low,who, with h i s

sweet baby ways,had endeared h imsel f to many hearts .

So the news of the loss of G ift went out al l over thecountry . The father went to the foreign teachers to

ask for thei r a id,st i l l no trace of the ch i l d was found .

In the meantime,the sorrowing parents pleaded with

thei r God for help ; and He who never s lumbers nor

s leeps,rewarded H is servants accord ing to the i r fa ith

and Obed i ence . A s the father j ourneyed from town to

town and from vi l lage to vi l lage in h i s search for the i r

BEG INN INGS AT AMOY 267

treasure, a‘

man met h im who began ply ing h im with

questions . He said“Are you a bel i ever i n th i s Jesus rel ig ion ?”

When he was answered i n the affirmative,he con

tinued,“Do you and your ch i ldren kneel down and shut

your eyes when you talk to your God ? ”

Aga in the father answered,“Yes .

The quest ions were continued : Do you al l shut

you r eyes and talk to your God before you eat your

rice ? "

When he rece ived an affirm ative reply, the man

eagerly i nformed the wonder ing and sorrowing father

that he had seen a l i ttle boy of that descr ipt ion who

was very qu ick and br ight, and who always bent h i s

head down , shut h i s eyes, and talked to a Jesus God

before he would eat h i s r i ce,no matter how hungry he

might be,and th i s i n sp ite of the fact that those with

whom he l i ved tr ied to persuade him not to do so . He

added that the ch i ld’

s hab i t was the marvel o f al l the

heathen peop le around .

With th is meager i nformation,the father made an

immed iate invest igati on ; and soon the l i ttle G i ft wasretu rned to the overjoyed parents . How great was

the i r happiness can be imagined !

But now the message of the th i rd angel i s gradually

neari ng the home o f l i ttl e G i ft and Chrysanthemum .

When i t comes , the i nterest of the parents i s qu ick ly

aroused , and a fter thorough cons iderati on , they gladly

rece ive i t .

Then how to tel l the good news to fr i ends and

neighbors becomes an absorb i ng thought i n the heart

of the father . After much prayer and some d i scu ss ion

wi th the l i ttle mother, he dec ides to give the best years


of h i s l i fe to the work of help ing to teach th is wonder

fu l message to h i s own people .

Little ones have been added to the home,and now

there has come the imperat ive need that G ift and the

younger ch i ldren rece ive a good education,so that they

too may help to carry th i s great truth to those in

darkness .

After consultat ion with the foreign pastors and the

Ch inese evangel i st, a smal l schoo l was Opened i n the

c i ty of Amoy . Th i s was for the educat ion of the g irl s,and was i n charge of Mrs . B . L . Anderson ; whi le one

for the education of the boys, i n charge of Pastor B . L .

Anderson , was opened on the i sland of Kulangsu.

In the meant ime, Chrysanthemum, whose educat ion

had been begun some t ime before i n a Chr i st ian schoo l,

was near i ng the t ime of her graduat ion,and had be

come wel l able to fi l l the place of teacher to her younger

s i sters arid to any others who might w i sh to attend the

schooL

The very first day, there were fou r l i ttle g i rls i n at

tendance . The young teacher, Chrysanthemum,en

tered upon her duti es w i th great anx i ety to do her

very best for the pup i l s sent to her for i nstruct ion .

Soon more l i ttle g i rls came to th i s school ; and by the

close of the school year, there were eleven i n at

tendance .

Here the Word of God was every day read and

taught ; and i ts teach ings were a surpri se to those

ch i ldren,some of whom had never heard the wondrous

story of a Saviour ’s love, and that He was the Creatorof the world

,the sun ,

the moon, and the stars, and

every l iv ing creature .


One th ing that espec i al ly i nterested them was the

thought that none of those gods before whom they had

been bu rn i ng i ncense every n ight and morn ing , and to

whom they and thei r relat ives had offered numberless

pet i t i ons, was the God who had made al l th ings . Thei r

gods were not l ike th i s God who loved even a poor l i ttle

ignorant g i rl,but were gods who had to be pro

pitiated with al l sorts of da inty foods, i ncense, and

fine-sounding prayers, or they would become angry and

destroy the i r worsh ipers . Then , too, the i r gods caused

al l sorts of terr ib l e ep idemics , storms, and d i sasters ,to take revenge upon the i r helples s vict ims .

Yes, truly, th i s new God was a strange one, Whonoticed i f even a l ittle sparrow fel l to the ground .

The foreIgn lady’

who was in charge o f the schoo l

came and told them of the wonderfu l love of Jesus

how H e loved the l ittle ch i ldren , held them in H is arms ,and blessed them . Surely i t was better to love and

Obey such a God .

The l i ttl e g i rls went home with themarvelous stor i es .One l i ttle ch i ld

,having heard that God created the

world and al l the people i n i t,and that H e was not

pleased to have H is ch i ldren worsh ip the graven

images,went home to her parents and pleaded with

them to take down thei r heathen gods . When the t ime

came for the worsh ip Of these worthless rel i cs , she sa i d

she dared not worsh ip them,for i t would make her dear

Lord sad and ashamed of her .

’

So i n sp ite of persua

s ions and pun i shments,the l i ttl e g i rl stood fa ithfu l to

her beloved Saviour .

A s the news of th i s schoo l was spread throughout

that sect i on of the c i ty, the attendance was i ncreased

to th i rty, then forty, then seventy .

BEGINN INGS AT AMOY 27 1

The mothers and relat ives of these g ir ls were v i s i ted

by the Chi nese teachers and the foreign lad i es, and

some were persuaded to attend the Sabbath services .

For those who were afrai d to l eave home,meeti ngs

were held i n thei r homes .

Many times,the mothers and fr i ends of the l i ttle

g i rls conversed together about the school, and the

great benefit i t had been to the i r g i rls ; how kind and

obed ient they had become s ince they had gone to hear

about the new God . Thus l ights were l ighted i n hun

dreds of homes . Dur ing the ten years that th i s

school has been open,nearly a thousand g i rls have

there i n rece ived i nstruct ion i n the truths of God ’s

Word,and as many homes have heard the story of a

Saviour's love .

Some of these g i rls have i n turn become teachers i nour schools , who are wi l l i ng to bear burdens i n the

cause of the Saviou r they love . Some have marr ied

Adventi s t young men,and are help i ng to hold up the

l ight of truth before the i r ne ighbors and fri ends by

thei r humb l e Chri stian behav ior .

In one large heathen fami ly,there was a young man

who had heard the truth at the chapel near the school .

Later he marri ed one of ou r most earnest Chri stian

gi rls from the school , and they erected the fami ly altar

of worsh ip to the only true G od,and in that heathen

home held up the l ight of truth .

One day,the scourge of smallpox came into the i r

communi ty,and three o f the young ch i ld ren o f the

elder brother were brought near death’

s door . The

mother was determined to cal l on the idols and inqu i re

of them ; but these two consecrated young peop l e , i n

fa ith bel i eving the promi se of ou r Saviou r to two who


are agreed as touch ing anyth ing , that i f they ask i n

fa ith, they shal l rece ive, pleaded with God for help ,and at last persuaded the mother to let them cal l the

Chri st ian pastor i n to pray for them .

The pastor called the church together for fast ing

and prayer i n behalf of these three heathen ch i ldren ,that God ’ s power and glory might be made man i fest .

God heard those tr i ed and praying ones,and the

ch i ldren were healed . Th i s is but one of the many in

stances of how God i s us ing every means to glor i fy H i s

name among the heathen .

Gift was the Chr i st i an pastor cal led i n to pray for

the ch i ldren .

Chrysanthemum, who has now a home of her own ,with l i ttl e ones and her home burdens

,st i l l spends

hours dur ing the day in v i s i t i ng the homes of her

former pup i ls,and teach ing those of the i r relat ives

who wi l l hear the word of l i fe .


But I must admit it was a faith amidst a darkness sothick and b lack that I could not enjoy the sunshine . E vening found me sti l l alone with God, just as I had been thenight before .

”

A MOSO SHEPHERD , FROM A SEM I -T I BETAN TR I BE

PRESSING TOWARD THE BORDER or T IBET 275

Mrs . Rijnhart could get no news of her lost companion ,and could only turn back alone .

More recently there are signs of a weakening of theage

- long res istance . Meanwhile , at several points , miss ionoutposts have been p lanted am ong the T ibetans in WestChina , along the borderlands . The province of Szechuan ,China

,is mainly T ibetan west of Tatsienlu . In fact, the

old border of T ibet reached to Tats ienlu , which was thefrontier trading station between China and Tibet .Now our own outpost in West China is Tats ienlu , and

we are at last among the Tibetans . A few years ago M issionaries Warren , A ndrews , and B landford made a touron foot to spy out the land in western Szechuan . Theywent as far as Tatsienlu . When the p lan of a Tibetan mission was later proposed , Dr. and Mrs . ! . N . Andrewsvolunteered to p ioneer the way . They had been located inChungk ing, on the Yangtze , in dispensary and evangel isticwork . Their route lay up the Yangtze , by boat, to its junction with the M in River, thence up the M in to K iatingfu ,thence overland to Tats ienlu . In the fol lowing letter ,written to our Shanghai office , Dr. A ndrews described thejourney . E ditor .

Our boat was large and roomy , both to carry our

many th ings and to make the summer travel i ng as

comfortab le as poss ibl e . We were very comfortab l e

during most o f the tr ip by boat .

We were towed upstream by ten men , who usual ly

worked long hours ; but the boat was heavi ly loaded ,

the current swi ft i n many places,and frequent c ross

i ng of the wide r iver would carry u s long d istances

downstream . A l l together,progress was s low . Fi fteen

days ( i nc lud ing Sabbath stops ) brought us to Su i fu .

Thi s sect i on o f the Yangtze has no h igh gorges l ike

those below Chungk i ng, but the green h i l ls and many

towns and V i l lages along i ts banks are nevertheless

i nterest ing and beaut i fu l . Several po ints we watched

for were p laces where one year before,on a trip i nto

Yunnan and Kweichow , E lder Warren and I had been

shot at or made to stop by robbers who held the ri ver .


Thi s t ime,these poi nts were qu i et, and we ne i ther

met nor heard of any robbers i n that sect ion . At

Su i fu , we turned up the r iver M i n, smal ler than theYangtze, but sw i ft and with many turns . Our first

day upon i t proved too much for our towl ine, wh ich

broke,the boat turn ing around and around

,and float

i ng back to the b igger r iver and nearly out of s ight

of Su i fu before be ing brought to a step .

The M i n K i ang had much Of i nterest for us . We

were to l d that j ust back from the banks, much op ium

i s grown, notwithstanding the law proh ib its poppy

cu lt ivat ion . I t is done a b i t under cover . A l so on some

i slands i n the r iver i t i s grown,though because of the

late season , we saw none on th i s tr ip . The effects of

i ts cheapness were seen i n the workmen everywhere,though not t i l l later were we brought up against the

fu l l effects of th i s drug on the poor people .

The water was h igh , at one po int cover i ng a house

where our carpenter brother, who accompan ies us , had

stayed overn ight a few months before when canvass

i ng . Several wrecked j unks lay along‘

the banks,where

the swift current and abrupt turns had thrown them

aga inst rocks . On Thursday, the twenty-fourth day of

our tr ip , we packed what loose th ings we could spare ,and prepared to arr ive at K iat ingfu e i ther that n ight

or the next day . There our j ourney by water would

end . We were count ing the l i !a l i is one th i rd of a

m i le! remain ing of our boat tr ip 30 l i , 25 II, 20 l i

when the boat j olted a b i t . We hardly noti ced i t ; but

the men opened the holds and found water pouri ng in .

We had struck a rock , and our boat was s ink i ng . We

got a few th ings to the deck floor, and cal led for

boats to help us ; but very soon we rested on the bot


we had h i red set out for K i at ingfu i n the ra in . We

had a can of peaches and some condensed m i lk, to a id

our lunch , and had a pleasant twenty l i on top of our

wet boxes,a matt ing coveri ng us to keep out the ra in .

About two o’

clock, we reached K i at ingfu . Soon wehad two rooms i n a hotel . They were dark rooms, but

became qu i te l ight when our clothesl i nes,weighted

with our wet th ings,pulled out part of the wall , which

Opened into a l i tt le court . By sundown,we had nearly

al l ou r clothes hung out . The next week was spent i n

hang ing out more th ings, open ing up books (wh ich

were covered th ickly with mold , as most of them had

now had two r iver soakings ) , and wip i ng metal ware .

The d ispensary supp l i es were general ly i ntact, our

drugs having been put i nto bottles for such an emer

gency. Our stores of sugar and flour d id not come

through so well .

We were very glad to be at hand when such a th ing

happened , i f i t had to come . Being able to take th ings

i n hand at once, we real ly lost but l ittle . We thought

how much less wou ld have been lost i n our wreck two

years ago on the lower Yangtze, i f we cou ld haveopened the goods up and cared for them at the

” t ime

rather than not see them (as i t then happened ) t i l l two

months after the acc ident occurred .

From K i at ingfu , we had planned to raft our goods

to Yachowfu,the usual method , we go ing by land

to awai t the goods at that place . But the r iver was

h igh , and no rafts dared start out ; and also, we d idn’t

feel l ike trust ing our goods out of our s ight after the

exper i ence we had j ust had . So we had al l our goods

taken by road . I t made a great caravan s ixty-n ine

cool i es and an escort of twelve sold iers .

PRESSING TOWARD THE BORDER OF TIBET 279

Our fi rst day out showed how really the Lord wasdi rect ing in delay ing us those few days at K i ati ngfu .

Just a few days before , during the t ime we were i n the

hotel,the r iver up wh ich we were fol lowing had sud

denly r i sen one day, r i s ing s ixteen or e ighteen feet,and coveri ng al l the roads ful ly five feet . The water

went down in about two days . I f we had been caught

out along th i s road at that t ime, our company and

goods would have fared very badly indeed .

I t was here that the experience with the hotels

began . Some were almost comfortable . Some were

j ust d irty holes,next to p igpens

,which we paid forty

cash !four cents ! a fami ly for— and felt they were

dear at that . At some places , the people were helpfu l ,and seemed glad to have u s come to thei r i nns ; but

usual ly no one wanted to let us i n,fearing the re

spons ib i l i ty of so large a company . I t ra ined a good

deal these few days . The walk ing was not at al l good .

We had a quant ity of o i led s i lk,and kept most of our

goods fa i rly dry . We fol lowed along the river bank

for five day s , cross i ng and recross i ng once or twice a

day in smal l boats . I enj oyed the walk very much ;but because o f one or two very hot days

, I took a sedan

cha i r from Yachowfu.

The respons ib i l i ty o f keep i ng track of al l these

men rested with the fi rm with wh ich we dealt i n h i r

ing the carr iers . However, the care o f the goods was

enti rely ours , as a cool i e's idea of adequate care fu lness

i s very,very smal l . A few l i ttle matters l ike open ing

up our O i lc loth wrapp i ng around bedd ing to pu t i n the

corn stolen along the road , or putti ng a bunch o f fi lthy

clothes in ou r food box to protect them from the ra in,

seemed to them enti rely proper .


The scenery was beaut i fu l— and we d id enj oy

i t immensely .

We reached Yachow Thursday morn ing, found a

n ice new hotel, and settled for the Sabbath . . Friday

we barga ined with a lilang (“strength and

we put i n a long day Sunday weigh ing up loads for

seventy-seven men . Because of the h igh mounta in

passes ahead, the men are very careful , on th i s stage,to keep to the i r fixed l im it of weight for each load, and

we had to add several men to the previous number .

Yachow is the farthest po i nt west for navigat ion on

these r ivers . Because of great rap ids and fal ls , even

rafts do not go farther than th is p lace . It i s a large

c i ty . The Bapti sts have a stat ion here . A good hos

p ital is conducted by them ; but j ust at present, i t i s

closed for lack of a doctor . The c i ty has been can

vassed on two occas ions by our colporteurs , with

good success .

I t was Monday noon‘

( July 2 1 ) before we cou ld

get our new company on the move . We had a cl imb

immediately outs ide the c i ty, following up a rush ing

stream into the mounta ins . We made only forty l i

th i s day . The second day, after the men“ate” thei r

op i um ( some of them eat i t several t imes a day ) , we

started again,and cl imbed aga in . The road crossed

and recrossed the roaring stream , going up and up .

We walked some d istance, but i t soon began to rain .

That i t ra ins here almost continuously, the rank yege

tation clearly shows . Wherever poss ib le, corn and r ice

are ra i sed ; and bamboo is qu i te plenti fu l . The road

became steeper and steeper,t i l l at about five O

’

clock

we reached the top of th i s h ighest pass on the road,about feet h igh . The ra in stopped j ust before


angles to the main road, to go around a gully or l i ttle

stream runn ing in . In the afternoon , the tra i l became

steeper and steeper, t i l l at 30 we z igzagged up a

th i rty degree i ncl i ne and were real ly at the top . A

snow-capped peak showed itsel f among the c louds.far

to the west . The rol l i ng clouds below and around us

and the great mountai ns i n al l d i rect ions were a won

derful s ight .

But the W i nd was cold , and we started down toward

the val ley . A steep drop for hours took us through

wild brush,with strawberri es and raspberr ies , and

through l ittle towns surrounded by Opi um poppy fields

i n fu l l b loom which have done the i r worst for a sh ift

less populat ion . A sold i er guard in rags pres ided over

the trade,some with no hats or guns , but extract ing

what money they could from the people for thei r

prec ious weed . The Old- t ime pun ishments be ing st i l l

carried out, one poor man whose op i um appet ite had

dr iven h im to th i eving,swung in the doorway of the

yamen,hung up by h i s wr i sts t i ed beh ind h im .

We were pleased to meet i n one v i l lage some mem

bers of the Lolo tr ibes who had come to market . The

Lolo country is to the southward, st i l l i naccess ibl e onaccount of the fierce Oppos i t ion of i ts people to any

travelers . One Lolo tr ibesman whom we saw could

speak good Ch inese,and we hasti ly held a preach ing

service for his benefit . We were happy to see the

i nterest he seemed to man i fest . These were the first

of these people I had seen i n Szechuan , and doubtless

they were the first to hear our message .

Throughout the tr ip , we were so sorry for the

coo l i es along the road,hundreds —thousands— Of

them struggl ing along a few steps at a t ime under

PRESSING TOWARD THE BORDER OF T IBET 283

great loads Of tea for Tibet . They earn j ust enough

to buy the coarse corn cakes, the only art icle of d iet

here, and to supply the i r Op ium . Little boys beg in

with what they can carry, gett ing thei r backs tough

ened wh i l e young, for the long road that ends on ly

when,a mere skeleton remain ing , and no money for

Op ium ,the i r days come to an end . One poor man I

A N OLD B UDDH IST PRIE ST TAPPING A STRANGE F l S l l -MO U THE ID

GONG FOR THE TEM PLE SERVICES


heard complain ing of the high cost of keep ing suppl i ed

with straw sandals ( at one or two cents a pai r !)h is whol e l iv ing go i ng into opium .

From the foot of th i s mounta in , we turn to the

r ight ( northwest ) up a great canon , wh ich we fo l l ow

for nearly two days . The r iver here i s a large stream ,

which finds i ts way to K i at ingfu . Our road i s some

t imes h igh above it on rocky cl iffs, and aga in down near

the level of the water . Th is sect ion grows l i ttle useful

vegetati on , the h i l ls be ing sandy and the road li ned

with cactus . Twenty miles from our j ourney ’s end ,we turn to the left up a roar ing r i ver

,which i s one

cont i nuous dash ing waterfal l for the whol e s ixty l i of

our last day . We cl imb up and up cont inuously, spend

i ng one n ight w i thout our food boxes or bedding, i n a

l i ttle room with one bed, whi le the cold wind howled

outs ide . In the morn ing, the W i nd st i l l blew hard ;but the sun was bright, and in two hours we came in

s ight Of th i s l ittle’

town of Tats i enlu,toward wh ich we

had looked for so l ong .

The members of the Ch ina Inland M i ss i on here

met us most cord i al ly . They had rented rooms for us

i n a Ch inese house, and had them cleaned and papered ,to make us comfortab le on our arr ival . We felt very

gratefu l, at the end of fifty-two days on the road, to

meet th is very kind recept ion . It was a great bless ing

that we found immed iate shelter for ourselves and

goods . Thi s smal l c i ty has not the conven iences of

larger places i n Ch ina ; but we have a n ice l i ttle bu i ld

i ng and compound , are gett i ng settled and having fur

niture made, and hope soon to be work ing i n earnest

for the long neglected T ibetan people we find here .

Tatsienlu, A ugust 24 , 1 91 9 .


most d istress ing manner . What would the rel ig ion of

Jesus Chri st do for th i s poor woman, who had al l her

days been su rrounded by heathen i sm and its customs ?

Would her experi ence stand the test ?

The ch i ld was bur ied before n i ne o ’clock the next

morn ing , and th is sad young mother soon after pre

sented herself s i lently among the candidates for bap

tism . The test had been a severe one,but Jesus had

been sufficient and had comforted her heart . Her

calm , peacefu l demeanor as she entered the bapti smal

waters was regarded by al l her fr i ends as a mi racle

of the Lord’

s grace , and test ified more loud ly than

could many sermons to the peace and comfort found

i n Chr ist , and to the power of His grace , even amid

heathen surroundings , to transform the l i fe .

Schoo l A round a Rice Sieve

H U NG H E I Y ING

Whi le v i s i t i ng among the country vi l lages back in

the i nter ior from my home,I was surpr i sed to find the

ch i ldren i n one v i l lage i ntel l igent in B ible knowledge .

They seemed to know about the B ib le characters , and

could answer read i ly a great many quest i ons . Th i s

was very strange i ndeed , for the women and even many

of the men d id not know how to read . Where, then ,

had these ch i ldren learned ?

I asked i f they had a school i n the i r v i l lage . No ,

there was no school there . A chapel , then ? — No,

there was no chapel i n that part . Where, then , have

you learned these th ings ? One boy answered that a

FROM MANY PENS 287

certa in man in the v i l lage taught the boys a l i ttle every

even ing .

I made i t i n my way to search out th i s man, and

th i s i s what I saw : He .was a farmer, and l ived i n a

l i ttl e mud-brick house with a straw roof and no floor .

He was a poor man , too, for he must pay a h igh rent

on the fields he t i lled . But every day, after the eve

n ing meal was fin i shed , he gathered i nto h i s l i ttle home

hi s own ch i ldren , and as many others as were w i ll i ng

and free to come . The big r ice s i eve was turned over

on the bottom of a gra i n basket, and the ch i ldren

clustered around i t for the i r lesson . Thi s was the ir

table , and the pla in farmer was the i r teacher . The

school went merr i ly on for an hour or more,the teacher

naming the characters,and the ch i ldren

,al l together,

repeating them after h im . Afterward each ch i ld took

turn i n read ing by h imself, after which the i r teacher

spent a few minutes expla in ing the mean ing of what

had been stud i ed .

The table was then i nverted,and became a r ice

s i eve aga in , and the teacher was transformed i nto the

farm er .“Come , ch i ldren , we must work the harder

now to make up for the t ime spent i n read ing . A l l

hands move fast . The ch i ldren flew to the i r work

with the same wi l l i ng sp i r i t they had shown i n the i r

study

These peop l e were too poor to spare the ch i ldren

from work during the daytime,too poor to help sup

port a school , or even to afford a table upon wh ich to

lay the i r books ; but earnestness and zeal made up for

the lack of these th ings , and etern i ty alone wi l l reveal

the i nfluence of that fa i thfu l farmer and h i s schoo l

around the ri ce s i eve .

The “F lavor in . theWord

MR S . MYRT IE COTTRELI .

One of our evangel i sts was lately i n a place i n Honan

where‘

he could get no water except i n a heathe’

n

temple . As he went for i t,he found h imself i n the

hands of a band Of robbers .“Who are you ? ” they demanded .

H e told them .

“Are you from the church i n Cheo Chia K

’

O ?” they

asked .

“Yes, he repl i ed

Oh,”they said, that i s a good church ! They do

good and help people .

They gave h im water, and he went on h i s way re

joicing that the work done had g iven the stat ion a

good name even among the robbers .

WHAT THE BL IND WOMAN SAW

In South Ch ina, one Of our workers bapt ized a bl i nd

woman who was s ixty-two years Of age . As she stood

for about twenty minutes answering the quest ions as

to why she wanted to be a Chri st ian, God’ s Sp i r i t came

in and melted hearts . Tears dampened every eye be

fore she sat down . Not one quest ion d id she fa i l to

answer, and intell igently , too .

“She sa id she could not see us, and had never seen

the B ible, and could not read a word of i t, even i f she

had her eyes ight,but was happy that she could see as

far i nto the kingdom by the eyes of fa ith as any one

of us . She sa id that some day she should be ab l e to

see Jesus,and that when He gave her eyes to see, she

wanted H im to be the fi rst one upon Whom they should

look , then next she wanted to see the man who had

( 288 )


unti l vacat ion t ime, when Pastor Wi lbur and h is fami ly

went to Macou for a vacat ion . They l ived next door’

to us . We often heard them s ing ing hymns and pray

ing to God . They were very kind to us,and when

they had t ime, they came over and ta lked with us

about the B ible . I was very glad to hear about the

B ible, but my father d i d not l ike i t so wel l, as he said

that Mr . Wilbur d id as the Jews . Pastor Wilbur asked

me to attend the Sabbath school ; so every week, I

heard about the B ib l e and l earn ed to pray to God .

“My father d id not l ike to have me attend the

meet i ngs, but later I went to Canton to Bethel G i rls’

Schoo l , and was baptized when I was seventeen yearsof age . One month after I was baptized, I was taken

s ick,and my mother came to the schoo l and took me

home ; but wh i le I was home, I conti nually prayed to

God j ust the same . When my folks saw me pray,they

became angry . One day, when we were having our

d inner, I prayed to thank GOd first . When they saw

me do th i s, they threw the food on my head .

“ I am very sorry that my fami ly do not know God .

I am w i sh ing al l the t ime for an Opportunity to tel l

them more about the B ible and God . I thank God be

cause He blessed me and keeps me well .“I have been here i n schoo l nearly three years, and I

hope that a l l the brothers and s i sters w i l l pray for me

that I may learn to preach the B ible truths to other

pe0p1e, and I pray that God wi l l bless al l the brothers

and s i sters t i l l Jesus comes back to th i s earth .

”

Not ice,i f you wi l l , the family thought, that we are

al l “brothers and s i sters” to these Ch inese people, and

as such should pray for them as they are pray ing

for us .

CHAN WAN HEUNG

Returning from a Pilgrimage

B ERNHA RD P ETERS EN

Only a few days ago we were v i s i ted by a very de

vout Buddh ist by the name Of Li,who was return ing

from a p i lgr image to the wel l-known ho ly mounta in ,Wu Tai Shan , i n the v ic i n ity of Peking.

‘

There are

many who go to th i s mounta i n annual ly to worsh ip .

I t i s sa id to take several years to reach the place, i f

the regular rules are fo l lowed, one of wh ich i s to make

a bow for every step , even when pass ing a stream . If

one makes such a p i lgr image to th i s mounta i n, he is

supposed to Obta i n eternal bless ings .

Th i s man Li had spent seven days on the mounta in ,worsh ip ing every day, when , on account Of a false

alarm,he was d irected homeward . One day after he

had reached Mukden and was walking down the street,he passed our chapel , and being attracted by the s ign

hang ing outs ide the door, went i n , des i r ing to make

invest igation . He sat down and stud i ed w i th the evan

gelist, and became very much interested i n the B ible .

He excla imed several t imes : Thi s i s surely the true

doctr i ne . I never heard anyth ing l ike i t before .”

When he left, he purchased several books, say ing that

he was go ing to study deeper'

into these truths . There

are many l ike h im, s i tting i n heathen darkness, only

wa it ing for some one to d i rect them to the true path .

Beaten by a Mob ; NOW an E vangelist

R . F . COTTRELL

In the early summer of 1 9 1 2 , Mrs . Cottrel l and the

wr i ter responded to an invi tat ion to v i s i t Hwa Yung,a smal l c ity i n northern Hunan . We conducted a three

( 292 )


days ’ meet ing i n a hal l that had been fitted up as a

chapel by the i nqu i rers . Large numbers attended the

serv ices,and everyth ing passed Off without unusual

occurrence unti l Sunday morn ing,when Mr . Djou

’

s

younger son , a boy of some s ixteen years, came run

n ing into the chapel,h i s clothes smeared w i th mud ,

tel l ing us that he had been caught,beaten, and kicked

about i n the street by a mob .

S i nce that day in June,a growing church has been

organ ized i n Hwa Yung ; and from that place, several

workers have gone forth i nto the Lord ’ s v i neyard .

Among these i s Dj ou Wen Hsuen— the son of

Mr . Djou , who first Opened h i s home to a pass ing co l

porteur— the boy who was beaten on that Sundaymorn ing .

Brother Dj ou Wen Hsuen spent cons iderable t ime

i n sel l i ng l i terature . He also spent two years at the

Ch ina M i ss ion Tra in ing School i n Shanghai . H i s

present p lace of labor i s not i n h i s nat i ve Hunan , but

i n the southernmost prefectu re of K i angs i , where, with

h i s w i fe, he i s located, and i s i n charge of a flourish

i ng i nterest . Heaven i s smi l i ng upon the efforts put

forth at Kanchau, K i angs i . A l ready about twenty of

the company at that place have been baptized, and some

very intel l igent young people from thei r number are

attend ing the Shangha i school .

Varied E xperiences

S . A . NA CEL

THE WATCHMAN WHO QU ITDuring the greater part of 1 9 1 5, I was . alone i n Wai

Chow— the only white person i n the country— my

wi fe hav ing returned to the Un ited States on furlough .

FROM MANY PENS 295

We are always having more or less troub l e from rob

bers and p irates i n the Hakka field, but that per iod

was worse than usual . A lmost every n ight,I was

awakened by cr ies, shout ing , shooting, etc . , i n v i l lages

round about, which were being attacked by robbers .

Though we l ive j ust outs ide the Li ttl e East Gate, the

parents were afra id to send thei r ch i ldren out to school

for fear of the i r be ing kidnaped . I thought to help

matters by h i r ing a watchman to remain on duty al l

n ight . In Ch ina,a watchman beats h i s drum at short

i nterval s— perhaps to g ive intruders fa i r warni ng

that he i s near, perhaps to l et h i s master know that

he i s not asleep . Thi s man beat the drum only one

n ight . The next morn ing, he came to me in great

exc itement,and sa i d he would not dare to come aga in ,

because he heard three devi ls cry ing al l that n ight .

He never retu rned, though I expla i ned that he heard

only the w ind blowing i n the bamboo .

TWO FUNERALS

Two funeral s I have conducted Of late have had

some th ings , at least, qu ite out of the ord inary . In

Ch ina , those who can afford to do so, get the i r coffins

years before death ; and in many homes, one may see

them stored away ready for use . Not long ago I was

vi s it ing one Of ou r outstat ions , and arr ived at the place

on the very morn ing one of ou r bel i evers d ied . H i s

wi fe came to me in great sorrow,say ing the man had

been too poor to buy a coffin,bu t i f I would assure her

neighbor that I would provide another, she could bor

row a coffi n for th i s occas i on . I told her I would stand

good for i t, so the man was buri ed i n a borrowed

coffin . The other sermon , l preached i n a magi strate’

s


yamen , or rather, i n the j a i l part of the yamen . One

of our brethren had been put i n the pri son because of

a fam i ly feud in which he was not concerned,and had

d ied there . I took advantage of the occas ion to tel l

the Offi c ials and the sold i ers of the t ime now right

upon us when al l must g ive account Of thei r act ions to

the coming K i ng . A s I spoke of j udgment come, I

thought Of Pau l before Fel ix, and I have reason to

bel i eve that some “ trembled .

”

DRIVEN FROM HOME

Whi le I was home on furlough in 1 9 1 6 one of our

Ch inese preachers d i ed . Shortly before his death, h i s

g i rl -wife gave b i rth to a baby girl . She was dr ivenfrom home by h i s heathen parents

,who said her hus

band had d ied because her baby was a g irl instead of

a boy . She has now placed the l ittle one i n a Chr i s

t ian home, and she i s i n Canton B ethe l G i rl s’ School ,

studyi ng to be a B ib l e woman .

Twice during our absence,Wai Chow was sur

rounded by rebel so ld i ers . Our homes were r ight i n

the fir ing l ine,and two cannon bal ls went through the

roofs of our m iss i on homes , and hundreds of r ifle bal ls

were imbedded i n the wal ls . We feel i ndeed thankfu l

to retu rn, and find noth ing miss ing . The fai thfu l

Ch inese caretaker,with God ’ s bless ing, kept every

th ing securely .

RIVER P IRATES

During'

the years I have worked in China, I have

had several exper i ences with Ch inese p i rates on the

East R i ver . One such exper i ence occurred j ust after

the close of our general meeting i n the spring of 1 91 5 .

I was retu rn ing to Wa i Chow from Shangha i . In

298 WI'I H OU R MI SSIONARIES IN CH INA

bluff on our part . Shortly they sa id, I f you are

go i ng on , l et us off . Th is we were only too happy

to do, and hurr ied away as qu ickly as poss ib le .

My first experi ence with r iver p i rates occurred

shortly after I went to Ch ina . We arr ived November

1 4 , 1 909, and stayed three months i n Shanghai ; thenwe left for our field of labor— the Hakka land Of

South Ch ina . (Not be ing able to rent any Ch inese

houses i n Wai Chow, we were kept out of the field un

t i l the money arr ived with which to buy land and

bu i ld our mi ss ion homes . We have the first houses

bu i lt from the large fund rai sed a few years ago for

that purpose . ) In the winter of 1 9 1 1 , I started from

Wai Chow to go to Canton for an order of fre ight

from the Un ited States . On my return tr ip up the

r iver with th i s freight, I passed through my hardest

experi ence with r iver p i rates .

Two other m iss i onar i es— Germans of the Berl i n

M i ss ion — were the only fore igners bes ides me onboard the sh ip . We were making good t ime, and I was

anx ious to get home, for I knew that the women of the

stat ion were alone . I t was almost noon . The three

Of us were walki ng the deck,when crack ! crack ! crack !

came the report Of many guns . R ifle bal l s wh izzed al labout us . One of the Germans was h i t i n the head at

the first shot, and dropped on the deck . Though fortu

nately not h it, I al so dropped flat . The robbers kept on

shooting unti l the boat stopped . We were i n a very

narrow place i n the r iver . When the shoot ing ceased,I looked up , and saw the robbers l i ned up and down the

bank of the r iver for, I should say, a half mi le . They

had been h idden i n the r ice fields along the shore .

Now they were shouting orders l ike madmen ; and as

FROM MANY PENS 299

we moved over near the shore, they came out— or

rather part Of them in smal l boats , and boarded our

sh ip . The rest stood watch on shore . I had never

seen such wicked looking men before, nor have I s ince .

The th i eves began loot ing the boat . Immediately I

went down to my cab in . Presently one b ig fel low

A CH INESE DEED TO M ISSION PROPERTY

opened my cab i n door, and po inted a gun at me . I

cou ld not understand Ch inese very wel l then , but I

tr i ed to Obey qu ickly . One after another came , and

they kept me with my hands i n the a i r for more than

an hour . Sometimes they wou ld cock the i r guns , and

I felt that my end had come . Each crowd stripped

me down a l i ttle c loser . They took my watch , money ,overcoat

,undercoat

,shoes

,hat, bedd ing , baggage ,

everyth ing but my B ibl e , which I had been read ing .

300 WITH OU R M I SS IONARIES IN CH INA

F inal ly they left . I ordered the boat to return at ‘

once to Canton with the wounded miss ionary,and d id

what I could for h im on the way . He had me write

what he supposed was his last letter to h is fami ly,but

he recovered i n the hosp ital . I was later paid for my

loss i n ful l by the Ch inese government . These th ings

have grown more common to us s ince ; but I confess

that at the t ime, the ep i sode made‘

a great impress ion

on my nerves at least .

Shortly after that, there was a battle one n ight i nfront of our house, between sold iers and robbers ; and

a l i ttl e later, another all around our house . We are

i ndeed thankfu l for a loving Father ’s constant care .

The Children of China

ADELAI DE B EE E VANSTo tel l al l that there i s to tel l about the ch i ldren of

Ch ina would take a whole l i ttle l ibrary of books , and

very interest ing books they wou ld be, too .

There are so many ch i ldren i n Ch i na ! Every year,hundreds of thousands of them d ie— no one knows

how many ; st i l l there are m i l l ions left , ch i ldren of

wel l-to—do parents,whose fathers and mothers l ove them

and are proud of them ; ch i ldren of poorer homes, who

work i n l i ttle shops or are apprenticed to some trade ;ch i ldren of the coo l i e class

,who Wi l l grow up to l ives

of poverty and b itter to i l ; c i ty ch i ldren , play ing in the

streets and al leys ; r iver ch i ldren , l iv ing i n house boats

the year round,and

,when the tide i s low, p icking up

the refuse on the s l imy r iver bed ; country ch i ldren,spend ing thei r l i ves from babyhood to Old age i n some

smal l,hedge- i nclosed v i l l age, going out to the fields


to beg on the streets , and th i s is a s ight to sadden

the heart .

S O many ch i ldren — some with fa i rer sk i ns than

others,and b ig dark eyes that look so so lemnly at the

foreigner ; others with smal ler eyes, twinkl i ng with

m isch i ef,or smi l i ng i n fr i endly response to a cheerfu l

greet i ng ; glad ch i ldren , sad ch i ldren , clean ch i ldren

( a few ) , and d i rty ch i ldren ; and most to be p it i ed of

all,perhaps

,the poor l i ttle s lave ch i ldren uncombed ,

uncared for,utterly unloved

,and made to to i l from

morn ing t i l l n ight .

In the warm weather, many l ittle ones are frequently

b i tten by mosqu itoes and other pests,

’

and the ever

present germs find a ready lodg ing place i n thei r ten

der sk ins , with the resul t that terr ible sores Often

disfigure the l i ttle brown faces and bodi es . Frequently

the whole head i s covered with dreadfu l sores , which ,i f they heal , l eave scars where the hai r never grows .

With the custom Of cutt i ng the ha i r,which has now

come into vogue, there wil l , we hope, be fewer l i ttle

boys thus d i sfigured .

The ch i ldren of Ch i na love br ight colors , and on the

great New Year ’s hol iday,they are clad i n the

br ightest and gayest garments the i r parents can prO

cure . The boys wear short j ackets , and long trousers

reach ing to the ankles . The l i ttle g i rls wear trousers ,too , shaped a l i ttle d ifferently from those worn by the

boys , and sometimes tr immed around the bottom:

Thei r j ackets are longer than those worn by boys . In

the winter, people who can afford i t buy cotton to pad

thei r ch i ldren ’ s clothes . Often the l i ttle ones wear so

many of these wadded garments that they can hardly

walk . People who have more money get fur- l ined

FROM MANY PENS 303

coats for the i r ch i ldren , and these are l ight i n we ight

and very warm and comfortable .

Even the bab ies wear l i ttle trousers and j ackets .

When they are very t iny,they are wrapped up snugly,

with thei r arms folded down by the i r s ides . A young

Ch inese g i rl told me that the reason for th i s was that

i f the arms were not thus held down , the bab i es would

grow up to be no isy and rough,

“arms al l wav ing

around”

; but i f the arms were t ied down for a l i ttle

wh i le, the bab i es would be qu i et and sedate ch i ldren

when they were Older . H owever th is may be, i t i s un

den iably true that the ch i ldren Of China are, as a ru le,far more qu i et than American ch i ldren .

Just the other day, I received a p icture Of a dear

l i ttle Ch inese baby . H i s father and mother are Chri s

t ians , and they keep the baby clean , and w i l l do all

they can to bri ng h im up wel l . He i s a l i ttle better

baby of new China, and looks plump enough and

bright enough to deserve a medal .

Chinese parents have many customs in regard to

naming the i r ch i ldren . Sometimes those who are verypoor do not name them, even the boys , at al l ; again ,they cal l them by names that have a bad mean ing .

One l i ttle lad who came to the m iss ion schoo l i n Honan

had always been cal led by a name that means Beans ;and one of h i s first requests on h i s arr i val was that

now he might have a schoo l name . Other parents g ive

the i r ch i ldren names that have good mean ings . Wong

Foh Sang i s one l i ttle boy ’s name . H i s father's name

i s Wong S i en Sen , or M r . Wong . F ah means happ i

ness , and S ang means l i fe ; so th i s boy’

s name i s real ly

Happy Li fe Wong . Mr . Lee, a Christian Ch i nese man

i n Shangha i , cal l s h i s l i ttle son Kao Wang,which

304 WITH OU R M I SSIONARIES IN CH I NA

means H igh Hope . A l i ttl e g i rl may be called by a

name mean ing someth ing as sweet as Spring Fragranee, or Pleasant Morn i ng, or Happy Moonl ight .

Many Ch inese fathers and mothers love the i r ch i l

dren dearly, and ho ld them in the i r arms for hours at

a t ime when they are smal l,play ing w i th them , and

carry ing them up and down the road i n the even ing

when the day ’ s work i s over . O ften a poor Ch inese

mother, with bound feet, goes staggering along carry

ing her seven-year-old son,who su rely looks much

more able to trot along on h i s own sturdy l i ttl e l egs

than h is mother does to carry h im .

Sometimes the mothers br i ng thei r plump,smi l i ng

bab i es to the miss ion compound , and Offer to g ive them

to the women of the compound to br ing up . Thi s i s

only when the parents are poor ; when they have money

to care for the i r ch i ldren and educate them, they prize

them highly . One day,I met a proud grandfather w i th

tw i n grandsons about twelve years old . Pretty young

sters they were, comparat ively clean , and very bright

eyed . The o l d man could speak a l i ttle Engl i sh, and he

told me w i th pride that the boys were go ing to school

they would have an educat ion “That i s the great

th ing,” he sa id . More and more, too, the g i rls of the

better classes are going to school , and learn ing how to

help the ch i ldren Of the i r own land .

Ch ina does not have such schoo l s as there are i n

Chri st i an lands . Only a very few out of the m i l l ions

of ch i ldren can go to school at al l . Some learn only afew characters ; others go longer, and learn a l i ttle

more . Those who have Opportun i ty to continue the ir

stud i es, Often prove excel lent students ; and i n some

l ines , they part icu larly excel .

306 WITH OU R M I SSIONARIES IN CH I NA

A l l the other boys and girls, except Chen S ing Chao,were too fr ightened to know what to do

, so they al l

ran away . She, tak ing a stone, broke the jar, and

saved her playmate ’s l i fe by l ett ing the water escape .

Every one who heard of the c i rcumstance admired the

gi rl’

s uncommon wisdom and presence Of mind .

”

PORCH OF THE TEMPLE BE FORE THE TOM B OF CONFUCIU S A T

CH IFU , H I S B IRTH PLACE

There i s much that I shou ld l ike to tel l you about

the ch i ldren of China ; but as I sa id at first, i t would

take many books to tel l you al l about them . There is

one th ing,however, that I shou ld l ike to have you re

member, they are just like the children in your own

land in manyways . They l ike sweetmeats , and games,and pretty clothes ; they have bod ies that suffer pain ;they have hearts that know what i t i s to be lonely and

FROM MANY PENS 307

sad ; and they love those who love them and are ki nd

to them .

But i n th i s they are d ifferent : They do not know the

gospel story . Shou ld we not be wi l l i ng to deny ourselves a few Of the good th ings we enj oy, i n order to

send teachers to tel l them about the Saviour,and to

teach them to read the B ib l e and other good books ?

A Vil lage Home Near S hanghai

ADELA IDE BEE E VANS

I t i s Sabbath afternoon i n early spr ing, and we wi l l

take a l i ttl e strol l through the fields that l i e east of our

miss ion stat i on . We walk s ingle fi le along the narrow

path , or two by two over some wider footpath . By and

by we reach a l i ttle v i l lage, and the ch i ldren cal l out

the i r none too compl imentary greet ings . We pause to

look ins ide a humb le home, the one room Of which i s

qu ite Open to our gaze . The floor is Of earth,and

covered with l i tter ; ch ickens run i n and out ; al l the

household furn i ture , i nclud i ng an outworn cradle, i s

j umbl ed together without any attempt at order . The

nearest approach to adornment i s the crude tab l e on

the wal l that faces the street . On it are a few cheap

ornaments and i ncense j ars , and above i t hang the

ancestra l tab lets . An Old, o ld grandmother i s sp i nn ing

cotton thread ; and a baby i s hang ing by its arms i n the“baby tender,

" which looks more l ike a large,old

fash ioned wooden churn than anyth ing else . About

halfway down , the churn i s parti tioned , so there may

be a place for the baby to s i t, without fall ing over,and later to stand up in

,clutch ing the edges with h is

fingers .

308 WITH OU R M I SS IONAR IES IN CH INA

A hopeless home ; for its members have never heard

the gospel . But the entrance Of the Word w i l l g ive

l ight, and bring an infin ite change .for the better,even

i n such homes of penury as th i s .

ONE OF THE M ULTITUDE OF ANCE STRAL TABLETS

3 1 0 WITH OU R M I SSIONARIES IN CH INA

l eaves , c igarettes , grass shoes , straw hats, str ing, eggs ,p ipe l ighters , and var ious other Odds and ends . The

old man and his son attend to any early customers,

whi le the daughter-ia-law prepares the breakfast of

r ice and a bowl or two of rel i sh .

MOVING TIME IN CH INA

After breakfast,the morn ing ’s housework is soon

fini shed . There are on ly s ix bowls and four pairs of

chopst icks to wash ; then the large r ice cooker i s

scrubbed with a brush made of spl i t bamboo , the earth

floor is swept i n the center, and the chai rs are w iped

off . I f the weather i s fine,the mother may do any

wash ing that is waiti ng . As the few p ieces are mostly

coarse blu e cloth,they need no bo i l ing or b lu ing, and

FROM MANY PENS 3 1 1

water stra i ned from the r ice is used to st iffen any that

need starch ing . The wash ing must be strung on

bamboo poles across the front of the shOp , as th i s

home , l ike the maj or ity of homes i n th i s c i ty, has no

courtyard , and the only outlet i s on the street . Her

househo l d dut i es done, she then helps i n the shop, ar

rang in'g peanuts i n handfu ls , peel i ng and quarter ing

pomeloes , weavi ng grass shoes , or braid ing straw hats .

She has also to care for the smal l boy . Any spare

minutes are used i n sewing and embroidery ; for she

must make shoes,stock ings , and hats for the fami ly ,

as wel l as cut and make the i r garments, and pad com

forts for the wi nter . Not many i dle moments are hers ,although many of her less industr ious neighbors v i s i t

and goss ip over the i r need lework .

The Old man attends to the spr inkl ing of the tobacco

leaves on the stand by fi l l ing h i s mouth with water

and ej ect ing i t over the leaves ; then he neatly p i les the

boxes of c igarettes and matches,h i s shak ing hands

find ing i t no smal l task to get the boxes j ust where he

wants them . He then s i ts down to h is str ing-making

stand,which i s about four feet h igh

,w i th Six bamboo

p ins around the top , and one reel Of cotton suspended

from each p in . He throws one reel across another, and

keeps cross ing the reel s i n turn , the fin ished str ing

being S im i lar to the tubu lar cord we used to make in

ou r younger days by kn i tt ing on four p ins i n a spoo l .

He makes three or fou r yards of th i s i n a day,and i t

sel ls for about one cent gold a yard . But he i s happy

do ing h i s share toward the support of the fami ly . H is

son earns about ten cents a day as a sedan cha i r bearer .

Because of the i r d i l igence and economy , th i s fami ly

are ab le to go over the days” withou t actual want .

3 1 2 WITH OU R M I SSIONARIES IN CH INA

They are a poor fam ily,but there are thousands Of

poorer ones i n th i s c ity . Th i s fami ly i s hardly repre

sentative of those around ; for in the surrounding

homes,gambl ing

,wine drink ing , and quarrel i ng are

part Of the dai ly l i fe, whi le the women spend a large

part of the i r t ime goss ip i ng with the i r ne ighbors .

We find that the i nhab i tants of Szechuan are most

superst i t ious , and have a deep-rooted fai th i n the i r

i dol worsh ip . I f Pau l had come to th i s field, he might

wel l have said “I perce ive that i n all th i ngs ye are too

superst i t i ous . Thei r worsh ip for the most part i s

for mundane purposes , and seldom for moral or sp i r i t

ual development . Once a month the fami ly descr ibed

above “l ight several candles and smal l st i cks of incense,

CH INESE ! UNK S ON THE RIVER NEAR SHANGHAI

3 1 4 WITH OU R M I SS IONARIE S IN CH I NA

From F u Hsi, the first of the five monarchs , who ,accord ing to Ch inese r e c o r d s , l i v e d nearly three

thousand years before Chr ist, the Ch inese date the

ceremony Of marr iage, the slaying of an imals for

cloth i ng, writ i ng , and the commencement Of l earn ing,

also music . I t i s stated,too, on h igh author ity, that

at that t ime, the Ch inese d id not worsh ip i dols, but

that they worsh iped the one true God,i dol worsh ip

be ing introduced at a much later per iod . Certai n i t is

that the Ch inese characters g ive abundant ev idence

that they are not of satan i c or ig in,but that

,on the

contrary,God has not left H imself without a witness

even in th i s anc ient language .

With these thoughts i n mind,let us now proceed

to examine that wonderfu l word,“r ighteousness .

R ighteousness by fa ith is the fundamental thought ofthe gospel ; for without i t, no man can see God . The

Ch inese character for r ighteousness” ( see F ig . 1 ) i s

made up Of two characters . The first of these i s the

rad ical of the character, and i s the word for“sheep”

( see F ig . The second word is‘

placed under the

Sheep” character, and i s the character for the pro

noun “ I” or “me” ( see Fig . Thus “r ighteousness”

i n the Ch inese language l i teral ly means,I under the

sheep, or lamb ( see F ig . Thi s thought read i ly

suggests that beaut i fu l text, Behold the Lamb of

God , which taketh away the sin of the world” ( or,personal ly , my sin ) . John 1 : 29 . See also I sa. 53 : 7 .

A further lesson can be learned from the pos i t ion

these two words occupy to make up the character“r ighteousness . The prec i se order must be maintained ; for i f the pronoun

“ I” were placed on top of

the word “ sheep,

” no Ch inese would read that word as


r ighteousness . In fact, to h im,i t wou ld have no

mean ing at al l . In l ike manner, no Chri st i an w i l l ever

be taken,or read ( for we are the on ly B ibles some

people wi l l ever read ) , for a true Chri st ian , who does

not exalt the Lamb of God, putt ing“I”or “self” out

of s ight,or under the “Lamb .

” In other words,“He

must i ncrease, but I must decrease”( John 3 :

and then “I !Chr i st! , i f I be l i fted up , wil l draw

al l men unto Me .

” John

Another character wh ich shows that the word

sheep ,” when assoc iated with other characters , usual ly

has a good mean ing, i s the word for“good

”

( see Fig .

Thi s word i s made up of two characters . The

top one i s “sheep” ( see F ig . and under the “sheep”

character i s the character for “words ( see Fig . 6 )Thus a good man i s one who is lambl ike i n h is

bearing, and his words are i n harmony with his lamb

l ike character . Thi s i s in d ist inct contrast to the

figure used i n Rev . which is understood to

represent apostasy , and is a sheep speaking with the

vo ice of the dragon .

Those who understand the prophecy of Rev . 1 3 : 1 1

as apply ing i n a part icu lar way to the Un ited States

Of America wi l l be su rpri sed to know that the character

which has been selected to represent that country i n

Ch inese i s the character met, which means“good

”

( Fig . Thi s i s made up of two characters . One i s

the word sheep ( see F ig . and the other,which

i s placed under the word “sheep,i s the character for

“great

"

( see F ig . Thus the character that stands

for America i n Ch inese means l i teral ly “a great

sheep ,

"

and thus reveals the peace fu l nature o f the

pr inc ip l es on wh ich the American repub l ic was founded .

3 1 6 WITH OU R M I SS IONARIES IN CH I NA

To represent the idea Of falseness ( see Fig .

the Ch inese use a character wh ich has on one S ide the

word for “man” ( see F ig . and on the other S ide

the word for “sheep” ( see F ig . Thus, for a man

to pretend to be a sheep when he i s not really so

harmless , i s the Ch inese i dea Of falseness or pretense .

I t makes one th i nk Of the Saviour ’s words about thewo l f i n sheep ’s cloth ing .

Let u s now examine the words for Ho ly Sp i r i t .These are important words ; for i t i s only through the

mighty agency of the Holy Sp i r it that s in can be overcome and the s infu l man become righteous .

The word “holy” ( see F i g . 1 3 ) i s made up of three

d i st i nct characters . The first i s the word for ear”

( see F ig . 1 4 ) the second, the word for“mouth

( see F ig . 1 5 ) and the th i rd, accord i ng to the anc i ent

form of writ ing , i s the character for“hand ( see F ig .

An intel l igent Chinese teacher who i s not a

Chri st ian told me that the mean ing of th is comb ina

ti on of characters i s that a man who i s truly “ho ly”

i s one whose ear hears only that wh ich i s good, whose

mouth speaks on ly that wh ich i s good,and whose hand

does only that wh ich i s good . What better defin it ion

of ho l i ness can be found anywhere ? TO l i sten to truth

is not enough , to preach truth is not enough ; we must

be doers Of the Word .

The word sp i r i t” ( see F ig . 1 7 ) has for its rad ical

the character for “ra in” ( see Fig . 1 8 ) and under the“ rai n” character, the word for

“mouth” ( see F ig . 1 9 )i s wr itten thr ice ; under these three mouths , the word“work” ( see F ig . 20) is written ; and final ly, to com

plete the word, the character for man ( see F ig . 2 1 )i s used twice . Thus the word “

Spi r i t” i n the Ch inese

3 1 8 WITH OU R M I SS IONARIES IN CH INA

contai ns a st i rr ing lesson to those who are acqua inted

with the B ib le and understand the Operations of the

Holy Sp i r i t . Accord ing to the B ible,the people of God

are to look for a spec i al outpouring Of the Ho ly Sp i r it,before the end of the world comes, to r ipen the harvest .

Thi s i s termed the “ latter ra in .

”

The rad i cal of the

character, being“ra in, can be used to i nd icate the

source and the abundance of the supply . The three

mouths also s ign i fy the'abundance of the g ift, and sug

gest the recept ive att i tude that the Chr ist ian should

mainta i n . The word “work” denotes that when the

Sp i ri t i s rece ived in al l i ts fu llness,i t w i l l do i ts work .

And the Obj ect of the work i t does i t clearly shown in

the word for “man , which i s wr itten twice, thus sug

gesting that the Holy Sp i r i t wi l l do i ts work not only

upon the outer man , but also upon the i nner man , and

the whol e man wi l l become ho ly i n the sense g iven

above .

The character for peace i s a very suggest ive one

( see Fig . The radical i s the word for “roof

( see Fig . Under the “roof” i s the word for

woman ( see F ig . Thus, accord ing to the

Chinese idea, peace can be maintained on ly when the

woman attends str i ctly to home dut i es . Th i s i s in

keep ing with Paul’

s advice that the young women be

di screet, chaste, keepers at home,good, that the

Word of God be not blasphemed .

” Titus 2 : 5 . It also

suggests that woman amid the many duti es of the

home can have the peace of God ab i d ing i n her heart,

and thus keep the peace Of the home .

The word home” ( see F ig . 2 5 ) i s very dear to the

heart Of the Occ idental . In the Ch inese, the top part

of th i s character is“ roof” ( see Fig . and under


the roof character is the word for p igs ( see F i g .

the idea being that the home that i s wel l suppl i ed

with p igs i s the i deal home . The wr iter has seen as

many as a dozen p igs quartered i n the same house w i th

the fami ly .

The character hung,wh ich means a great no i se

( see F ig . i s made up of the character for “cart

( see F ig . 29 ) used thr ice . Three Ch inese carts on a

Ch inese road do i ndeed make a dreadfu l no i s e, for they

have no spri ngs .

The idea Of “br ightness ( see F ig . 30) i s made clear

by first wr it ing the character for “sun ( see F ig .

and then plac i ng th e word for “moon” ( see F ig . 32 )alongs ide it, the i nference be ing that i f the sun and

the moon were both sh in ing at the same time, i t wou ld

be very br ight i ndeed .

The word wickedness ( see F ig . 33 ) has for its

rad ical the word “heart” ( see F i g . thus clearly

i nd icat i ng the source of al l wickedness . Above the

word “heart i s wr i tten the character ya,which i s de

fined in the d ict i onary as ugly,i nfer ior

,secondary ( see

Fig . Thus wickedness i s l i teral ly an “ugly heart .

In conclus i on , l et us examine the word s in” ( see

F ig . Th i s word i s composed of two very signifi

cant characters . The rad ical i s the word for “net”

( see F ig . Under the net i s wr i tten another

character, which i s defined as“wrong ( see Fig .

Thus we learn that by continu ing i n wrong,we fal l

i nto Satan’

s “net” and are bound . What a warn ing

of the power of s i n i s conta ined i n th i s character !

The Dragon Fes tival

F . E . STAFFORD

In May, 1 9 1 4 , we set up a tent made of mats and

bamboo po l es i n the town of Nantziang,about twelve

mi les from Shanghai,and held a profitable ser ies of

gospel meet ings . The last week for the meet ings was

the t ime of the annual dragon fest ival, the fifth day

Of the fifth moon .

Hundreds of the country people came from mi les

around to Nantziang to see the dragon boats ; and be

i ng i n town, they natu ral ly came to the b ig tent to see

what was go ing on . S O the attendance at the meetings

was a record one r ight up to the last day .

Thi s dragon boat fest ival i s supposed to have orig i

nated some years ago,when one Of the court

counselors, named Chu Yuan , i ncurred the d ispleasure

Of the emperor, and was commanded to go to the r iver

and fish for the moon , wh ich was a pol ite way of ask

i ng h im to commit su ic ide . When he went to Obey the

emperor ’ s command, he of course fell i nto the water

and was drowned .

After a t ime,Chu Yuan ’s wise counsels were greatly

missed . The emp ire rap idly decl i ned i n power, and

eventual ly passed to a new dynasty . The former

counselor was then remembered,and greatly honored

for h i s fidel i ty to the emperor ’s commands ; and the

people al l over the emp ire were ordered to prepare

boats and search the rivers for his sp i r i t on the ann i

versary of his death .

From that t ime ti l l now,the boats have gone out

every year . The people have forgotten what they are

hunting for,and the day has become a mere hol i day .

The boats i n use at the present t ime are made with a

( 320)


dragon’

s head at the prow, and the other end proj ects

h igh i n the a i r, l ike the dragon’s ta i l st i cking up out Of

the water . The boats themselves are painted i n

var iegated co lors, and decorated w i th many beauti fu l

CANAL STREET, NANTZIA NG

FROM MANY PENS 323

flags and embro idered S i lk streamers . A band of

Ch inese mus ic ians i s seated ins i de each boat, wh ich i s

paddled up and down the canals , whirl ing and tw i st ingl ike a dragon .

In some of the larger cities,~ there are costly boats .

It i s cla imed that the people i n Wus ih spend one thou

sand do l lars to fi t out one boat . In some places, they

have many boats, and they race, and carry on imitat ion

warfare . They go so fast that the men who are

paddl ing seem to l ose the i r senses , and work them

selves up i nto a frenzy, so tha t the boats often

col l ide, and somet imes s ink, and many persons are

drown ed . For th i s reason , the dragon boat races have

been proh ib i ted of late years i n such places as

Shangha i and Hongkong .

During the t ime of the 1 9 1 4 fest ival,a boat loaded

with spectators was overturned at Nantziang,and two

l i ttle ch i ldren were drowned . The water was not very

deep , and they might have been saved i f any one had

tr ied ; but accord ing to long establ i shed custom,no ef

fort i s made to save any who may fal l i nto the water

on th i s day . They are regarded as a sacr ifice to the

dragon , and to rescue them wou ld be to i ncu r h is d is

pleasu re and bring worse misfortune upon the rescuers .

MokanshanF . E . S TA Pl’u ltli

There are two ways of reach ing Mokan shan . from

Shangha i . One way i s to go i n a house boat al l the

way to the foot of the mounta ins . Th i s requ i res two

days , but i s a very conven i ent way to travel when

much baggage i s to be taken,as the house boat can


store away a great amount Of luggage and prov is ions .

The other way i s to make the first part Of the

j ourney by ra i l . One taking th is route,and leavi ng

Shanghai at noon comes by even ing to Hangchow, the

C ity of Heaven , with its p icturesque surround ings

A STRING OF HOUSE BOATS ON SOOCHOW CREEK , IN SHANGHAIA Party O f M i ss io naries R eady to S tart for Mokan s han

and beauti fu l West Lake . A common proverb says“Above i s heaven . Below are Soochow and Hangchow .

Another says that to be happy, one Should be born in

Soochow,l i ve i n Hangchow

,and d ie i n Canton ; for i n

the first are the handsomest people,i n the second the

costl i est luxuri es, and i n the th i rd the best coffins .

The d istr i ct through which we pass i s one of Ch ina’

s.

greatest s i lk-produc ing centers ; and for m i les and

326 WITH OU R M I SSIONARIES IN CH INA

The boat is propel led by a scul l, which also acts as

a rudder in the hands of the exper i enced boatman .

In the case of large house boats , they are usual ly

h itched to a steam launch,or pull ed along with a tow

rope by cool i es walk ing on the bank .

On either bank are seen the fami l iar chain and paddle

pumps,wh ich are the main rel iance of the farmers

for i rr igation Of thei r r ice fields . Some are dr iven bythe pat i ent buffalo

,b l i ndfolded

,trudging round a never

end ing c i rcle, whi le to others i s g iven the necessary

A PR IM ITIVE IRR IGATING PLANT

FROM MANY PENS 327

impulse by men,women , or ch i ldren , cl imb ing the

sp i ndles arranged about the dr iv ing-shaft .

A lternat ing with the pumps are huge s tand d ip

nets,so large that i t i s qu ite a task for one man to

Operate the bamboo po l e wh ich l i fts them . I t would

seem that a few of them would clean up al l the fish in

the canals .

Occas ional ly we pass a smal l boat with its crew of

b lack fish ing cormorants . These b i rds are about the

s ize of a large ch icken,and they stand on the edge of

the boat, looking very wise, with thei r attent ion fixed

on the water . Every l i ttl e wh i l e one wi l l d ive , and

come up with a fish i n i ts mouth . The fish is promptly

depos ited i n the bottom Of the boat, and the b i rd is

then ready for another d ive .

Some of the most i nterest ing s ights on the canalsare the arched br idges under wh ich we pass . These

arches , common al l over Ch ina, c ircular i n form ,and

with no prominent keystone, are i n many cases fine

examples of the stonemason ’s ski l l . Some of them

have stood now for hundreds of years,and seem to

be good for many more .

Travel ing al l n ight i n the house boat,early i n the

morn ing we reach S anjapoo, the end of the canal ;whi le d i rectly before us i s Mokanshan

,tower i ng two

thousand feet above u s , the houses at the top being

pla in ly v i s ib l e, but appeari ng as t iny wh ite stars in

the reflecti on Of the morn ing sun .

Here begins the real c l imb i ng . Our baggage i s al l

g iven over to the care of Ch inese cool i es,each cool i e

tak ing from one hundred and fifty to two hundred

pounds , which he fasten s on both ends Of a bamboo

pole , and swings the pole over h i s shoulder .


Then , securing sedan chai rs for ourselves, we be

g in the cl imb . The chai rs are very l ight,bei ng made

of W IIIOW ’ or bamboo, and rest on two bamboo poles .

The poles have a crossbar at each end, and these rest

upon the shou lders of the cool i es,two coo l i es bei ng

STONE BRIDGE OUTSIDE THE WE ST GATE ,KAD ING

enough for a person weigh ing a hundred and fifty

pounds . Heavy persons Often have three or four

cool i es .

The sensat i on of th i s r ide i s both exh i larating and

del ightfu l . At every step,the bamboo poles spring ,

and we go l i teral ly bounci ng up the h i l l . At times ,

the path i s very steep and rugged, and the cool i es

must step careful ly or we would go tumb l i ng down on


for the eyes . Th i s is a place Where tense nerves re

lax,and ti red bodi es find rest and recuperation , an

atmosphere that encourages qu iet commun ion with

God and nature .

Litt le Five’

s Image

C . P . L I LL I E

Recently I spent the Sabbath at a v i l lage in thenortheastern part of Shantung, China . The season

was dry,the crops were suffer ing severely, and the

peop l e were compla i n ing b i tterly .

“We have been

pray ing for rai n d ai ly,” they sa id, but i t does not

come,and our crops are dry ing up .

“

Why does not T ien

Has Ye !lord of heaven! send rain ?”

The occas ion brought to my mind a s imple l i ttle

story to l d by my language teacher . He says the tale

i s true,and the i nc ident happened near h i s home .

About fifteen years ago,i n a l i ttle country v i l lage i n

Shantung, l i ved a fam i ly by the name of Djang . In

fact,almost every one that l ived there was named

Djang, so the place was cal led Dj ang V i l lage .Thi s parti cu lar Mr . Djang and h i s fami ly kept a

l i ttle shop where paper houses , horses , cows, and serv

ants were made, to be burned at funeral s . To make

these wonderfu l creations of paper and bamboo takes

long,weary hours ; but they

“go up i n smoke” i n a

very short t ime . The Ch inese th ink that by being

burned , these arti cles are wafted i nto the sp i r i t world ,there to min ister to the comfort of the departed .

No vi l lage of any s ize i n China wou ld be complete

without i ts shop where these paper th i ngs are made .

FROM MANY PENS 33 1

S ometimes the propr ietor of the shop sel ls coffins

also . I met a Chinese a few weeks ago, who was

doctor,undertaker, and dealer i n funeral trapp ings,

all at the same t ime . Rather a susp ic ious comb i nat ionOf affa i rs , i t seemed to me !

To return to the subj ect : M r . Djang had five sons .

I do not know how many daughters , because I d id not

ask espec ial ly,and in China, when you ask for the

number of ch i ldren i n the family,girls are not in

c luded i n the answer unless your i nqu iry i s qu ite

spec ific .

One of Mr . Djang’

s sons i s the hero of th i s story .

He was cal led Little F ive, after the way boys are men

tioned i n th i s country accord ing to the order of the i r

com ing . I suppos e h i s father and mother cal led h im

Littl e Dog, or someth ing l ike that ; for he was only a

smal l boy, and had not rece ived a real name yet .

One day, Little F ive was out in search of some way

to amuse h imsel f, and came to the almost dr ied-up bed

of a pond . He saw great poss ib i l i t i es i n the mo i st clay

that was there , and an idea occurred'

to h im . He would

make an image out of the c lay , and cal l i t the Lung

Wang , or dragon k ing .

S O he set to work to fash ion the image . Being a

clever boy,he d id h i s work wel l . After the image had

stood i n the hot sun for some t ime and become qu ite

hard,he pasted yellow paper on i ts forehead and

checks , i n im i tat ion Of the g i lded faces of the i dols i n

the temples . The Lung Wang was complete .

The Lung Wang, or dragon k ing Of the Chinese , i s

the god o f ra i n .

’

In nearly every V i l lage i n dry Shan

tung,there i s a temple ded icated to th i s ra i n god . I f


the season i s dry, the people always appeal to Lung

Wang to help them .

Sometimes, i n Case Of extreme drought, they form aprocess ion to escort the image through the v i l lages .

As the escort ing party, heralded by the beati ng of

drums and the clang ing of cymbals, enters a v i l lage

street, al l the people uncover thei r heads . And as the

image passes by each house, some of the inmates rush

out wi th water and dash i t upon the image,or more

frequently on the men who bear i t . O ther ceremon i es

are connected with the occas ion .

Littl e F ive had Observed such a demon‘

strat ion some

prev ious year . He knew that the crops were suffer ing .

H e h imself had made a ra i n god,and wou ld take in

hand the matter of making spec ial appeal for ra in .

He gathered h i s comrades together,and they escorted

the l i ttl e clay image through the v i l lage streets,as

nearly as they could after the fash ion Of the i r elders .

I t was fun .

The vi l lage people pa id l itt le attent ion to the ch i ld i sh

prank . They were probably too busy moan ing about

the i r parched fields . No one honored the image that

L ittle F ive had made, by throwing water upon it . I

th ink Li ttle F ive took care that h i s comrades d idn’t

throw water ; for h i s image was made of clay, and not

Of wood , l ike the regular ra i n god Of the v i l lage .

That n ight,i t ra i ned . I t was a fine ra in, and came

j ust i n t ime to save the crops . In the midst of general

rej oic ing,some one suggested that Litt le F i ve ’s image,

which had been borne through the streets, was the

cause of the ra infal l . The idea, once'

broached , imme

diately found favor . One and al l declared that Little


As a matter of fact, nearly every one of these bless

i ngs i s sadly lack ing i n most househo lds . The Ch inese

people do not know that the gospel Of Jesus Chri st i s

the source of every bless i ng . Only the Saviou r cansupply thei r needs . Honest hearts are wait i ng to hear

the story Of Jesus ’ love .

F IVE CH INE SE BLE SS INGS

preface since the days when those early apostolic herald s of the glad tidings brought home to the...

Documents