The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-11-15
WHO WAS IN FAULT?

The missionaries have all be with
drawn from China. No denomination
remains to carry on a work which was
first instituted over $50 years ago by
that greatest of missionaries, Francis
Xavier who after his work in China
went to Japan in 1912, and established
the Christian religion there which
eventually was interdicted by the end
of the century, and from about 1911 was
quite swept out. But in China the mis-
siOnaries continued their work in spite
of persecution. The Roman Catholics
were followed by Protestant sects, and
much good was done by medical mis-
sionaries from Scotland and later from
the United States, the theory being that
to heal the body was a good way to get
to the higher healing of the soul.
At the present time it is and has been
common answer to the question, "who
is answerable for the trouble in China ?"
1.-The missionary" That the Chinese, in
the mass, do not like the missionaries
is true. The Chinese of the ruling class
es do not, because they see in Christian
ity the freeing of the minds of the peo-
pie from superstition. The divine ORR
gin of the imperial family and it's close
association with the celestial powers is
knocked into cooked hat by Christian
ity. The lower class Chinese object to
Christianity much as the lower classes
in Spain hate and despise protestant,
common Russian hates and persecu-
ties Jews, or the followers of Lord
George Gordon howled the cry mo Po-
| perry and burned down Roman Catho-
| lie chapels and the houses of Roman
| Catholic citizens of London not much
| more than a century ago.
| The aggresiveness of the powers in
occupying Chinese territory is much
more to be blamed for the Boxer up
rising than the work of the missionaries
Though that work was always carried
on al some risk, it was never the less
carried on for three centuries and a half
without any such complete uprising as
has occurred just recently. The "over-
land Chinese mail' in recent article
| expresses itself as follows:
That the Chinese object to the mis-
.
/ ness of the Western governments had
! probably quite as much and more to do
| with the rising of the Boxers. When.
FOR instance, the British assumed the
government of KoWlOn Hinterland. and
attempted to hoist the flag, did the
| Chlnese view that action with indiffe-
! renee! was it not rather. true that, in
/ lheli clumsy laundering way, they I'M
earthed old cannon dragged them up
/ 10 the hilltops, and opened a cannonada
on the British troops? But missionaries
/ were at work and had been for MANY
years in the same district and We're at
/ thelr posts al the time, and suffered no
( holestatlon. The man in search of
/ truth may ask again, Why is il that
TINS outbreak has followed so swiftly on
the loss of Chinese territory? 1t is only
a few years since Formosa KowIon
! Wel-hai-Wei and .Kiao-Cha were
/ taken from the Chinese In Picking the
! Boxers nave attacked foreigners OF all
! natlonalities, irrespective of their creed
OF procession. This should prove that,
! at Ieast, the missionary is not mainly
! responsible Tor though many missiona-
| RES We're massacred many others stin
lived unmolested in different parts OF
! the country after the masacres had
taken place and eventually Withdrew
without injury"
We seem we'll supplied with that sec-
ton OF the animal kingdom which has
injudicious and have trodden upon the
preJudices of many Chinese, but that
they actually caused the Boxer UPRISING
is b" no means proved nor is it proved
that they were a large factor in the
case. They suffered under the general
reaction against all things foreign.