The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-11-18
And When the Foreign Devil Fails
to Reply He Anwers Them Him
self in an Exasperating Way.
CONDUCT OF OUR MISSIONARIES
A WIDE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
PROFESSION AND PRACTICE.
Chinese View as to What the Allies
with the Yellow Heather.

! Special Correspondence of the Journal.
| PEKING. Sept. 20-I have been inter-
viewing Yang Szu again-or else he has
been interviewing me. 1t isn't easy to de-
eide exactly which happened. He asked
more questions than he answered, yet he
gave me many valuable ideas. The value
of the answers l gave to his questions is
| a matter of opinion. This letter will deal
only with the information that Yang gave
| to me.
| I hope you remember Yang. To me he
| is the most interesting Chinaman in Pc
| king. He is the banker whom / inter
viewed recently in your behalf On that
| occasion he gave cogent reasons why Uncle
| Sam might, in one way, be looked on as
responsible for the whole bloody muddle
| OF the Boxer uprising. Being a banker and
| a man of large trades and other money
! transactions, Yang has not a particle or
hatred for foreigners. provided their pres
| ence and operations result in putting
| money I'm his Golfers. He is impartial In
racial instincts, and knows that from the
outer world only can come the industrial
helps that China needs. Coming from the
province of Shan-Si, where China's bank
Il
Yang admires only the things that increase
wealth, and, as 1 told you in former
letter, Yang is wonderfully well informed
on the general trend Of affairs throughout
/ the world.
| ST am surprised over the conduct of your
missionaries" he remarked as we sat sip
ping tea in his little room back of his shop.
| What have the missionaries been doing
| now?" 1 wanted TO know.
'They are Christians. are they not?" he
| demanded.
ITO be sure"
| "Yet now they are crying for stern
| vengeance on China"
| "And why shouldn't they? Think Of the
outrages they have suffered at the hands
| of your mobs."
us that what the spirit of Christianity
means?" inquired Yang, holding his teacup
half way to his lips as he opened the oval
Sits over his eyes and took a longer look
at me than he usually does.
.'The spirit of Christianity I began.
| slowly.
..win you explain to me just what that
| spirit is?' he requested.
A HARD QUESTION.
That was a poser. 1 tried to think. Did
| he exoect me to repeat the Decalogue or
| what? 1t was embarrassing for me to sit
| there with the searching, cunning eyes of
that shrewd old yellow chap studying my
| face 1t was annoying that 1 couldn't
| think Just what to say. After an awkward
| pause on my part Yang began to explain
| slowly what he understood the Christian
| religion to mean. He said only two three
| hundred words, but he gave an analysis of
| the Christian creed better, I believe, than
| many a clergyman could do at home. 1t
was like slap in the face to have this yell
| low heather define the religious belief of
| civilization better than / could have done
| it myself.
"You have read a good deal?" / asked.
eyes, L always read when 1 have nothing
| better to do, and 1 have seen a Bible
| printed in Chinese that one of your mis-
| sionaries gave to neighbor of mine. Then,
| / have Travelled. 1 have been as far as
Hong Kong. you know. But let us speak
| of the missionaries who come from your
land. They are asking now for vengeance.
| Is that right? Your missionaries have
| preached to us the words that they read
from their Bible. They have taught us that
| nonresistance is Christian virtue
Eyes, until pillage, murder and worse
| make nonresistence crime" interjected.
But Yang Szu ignored this interruption,
and went
Your missionaries teach us that ali
truly good men will live in peace; that
| good men love their enemies: that they
forgive those who wrong them. We have
heard that your Christian Deity commands
all who love and follow Him to have moth
| ing to do with vengeance. but to leave it to
the Ruler of Heaven, who is sll-wise and
| knows what is really in mems hearts Is
| not that what your missionaries teach?"
YES" admitted; "but when such out
| RACES arc committed as have happened
here in China, 1t is more than flesh and
| blood can stand"
NEAT POINT.
"Hi! Then you have religion that is
| too good for you? One you cannot live UP
to? Am / right?'
| What was there to say?
yet" insnuated Yang, you send your
| missionaries over here to tell us that we
must obey teachings that are too hard for
| the foreign devil to follow.''
You are taking altogether too strict a
| view of the matter. You don't understand
the fine dividing lines that sometimes crop
| up between religion and the demands of
/ nations
/ purposely expressed this in an involved
| way. / knew Yang couldn't quite under
| stand me, and he prides himself on his
knowledge of English. he pondered over
| what had told him. instead OF asking me
| to explain. 1t gave me time to sip tea and
look up at the ceiling. But ii didn't take
him long to get his wind, and the next
| round was on.
1.-The Chinese love truth" he said,
smoothly.
The Chinese don't love anything of the
sort, except in the other man. AS a race
| they are the most talented liars in all
mankind. They have been developing the
art for more than four thousand years
II is simply impossible to beat the yellow
liar. But Yang had the floor
The Chinese love TRUTH he repeated
when man tells US something that we
find is not the truth, then despise him.
He can no longer hope for friendship from
US. He cannot expect TO deal with uz