Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1900-09-20
MISSIONARIES IN CHINA.
Almost Inseperable Obstacles to Their
Success.

At present there are nearly tnou-
sand American missionaries in China.
representing the different Protestant
churches of the United States They
follow actively their various branches
of the work in the different provinces
of the empire. Many of them, in intel
lectual and spiritual gifts, are far
above the average of our homework
ers. In their doings with the natives
they prove to be influenced by the
highest principles of goodwill and hu-
mainly as well as by Christian charity.
They are men and women of whom
America may well feel proud.
The home of the missionary is a
center of light for all the surrounding
districts. The children of the mission
schools and colleges see the home life
of the missionary families, learn the
meaning of the stars and stripes Of
the national flag, understand their
feeling of patriotism in its highest
sense, and delight to learn the history
of the country that has sent them so
much help from purely philanthropic
motives 1t is the spirit Of patriotism
that the Chinese need next to the spirit
of Christianity; and it is the American
missionary who is eminently qualified
to teach it to them even in the face OF
the corrupt government of China.
Some who criticise the labors OF
rissionaries depend only upon bare
statistics. They reckon up the number
of mission stations and church mem
bers with the number of years of work
and take these as the measure of use
fulness. Such people do not realize
the difficulties of the situation, which
make the results beyond the reach OF
arithmetical computation. The re
ligious beliefs, the customs and preju-
dices of the Chinese are entrenched
perstition. IL must be remembered
that China is the most ancient empire
in the world. Before the Jews became
a nation, say twenty-five centuries be-
fore Christ, Chinas civilization had
already reached high standard. Her
wealthy inhabitants wore silks and
satins while the Israelites were in
Egypt, and long centuries before
Greece and Rome were thought Of.
Her ethics, her laws and administra-
ton of government have come down
almost unchanged through all those
thousands of years. AS far back as
history goes the Chinese were gov
erned by almost the same form of pa
ternal or patriarchal government that
has stood mistaken amid the rise and
fall of western empires, and is still as
influential in its strength and vigor.
1t is this antiquity which the Chinese
fall back upon with so much pride that
stands in the way of their accepting
anything so modern as Christianity.
But in the consideration of the diff
ficulties the missionary has to encount
er there is not only the antiquity, but
also the enormous size of the nation
and the extent of country. Out of a
total of 100000 square miles the eigh
teen provinces, or China proper, con-
tain 100000 square miles. In the
middle of China is one of the greatest
and most densely populated plains in
the world, through which flow the yell
low river and the Yang-tse. This one
plain supports a population of t75,000.-
900, or nearly three times as rlany peo-
pie as inhabit the United States. The
emperor of China rules over one-tenth
of the surface of the habitable globe,
and nearly half of the population of
pie are not only immense and over
but strange, unique and
without analogy. The methods used
for preaching the gospel in our own
lands or among uncivilized races have
to be modified greatly, If not entirely
changed, when applied to the civiliza-
ton of China. The mass to be moved
is enormous, and the power applied
must be great in proportion.
added to this difficulty of the size
of the nation there is the completely Of
the language. The old saying that the
devil invented the Chinese characters
to keep Christianity out of China, ap
pears to have some show OF reason
when we find that in place of Chinese
alphabet there are tens of thousands Of
formidable hieroglyphics of pictorial
characters, and that each constitutes a
monosyllabic word. Further
more. this written language is to be
seen and not heard, to be read and not
spoken. Then there is the official or
court language used in the northern
and central provinces, with hundreds
OF different dialects spoken south Of
the Yang-tse. The missionary there
has therefore to learn the local dialect.
the court Language, and the written or
classical language. before he can
preach, read the translations OF the
scriptures. and carry on oral and writ