The National tribune., 1900-08-02
Missionary Work in China.
Prot. John Fruer in Ainslee's.

The religious beliefs, the customs and
prejudices of the Chinese are intrcnched
behind centuries upon centuries of super
stltion. 1t must be remembered that
China is the most ancient empire in the
world. Before the Jews became u nation,
say % centuries before Christ, China's
civilization had already reached Il high
standard. Her wealthy inhabitants wore
silks and satinS while the 1Sraelites Were
III Egypt and long centuries before Greece
and Rome were thought of. Her ethics,
her laws and administration of govern
ment have come down almost unchanged
through all those thousands of years. As
far back as history goes the Chinese were
governed by almost the same form of pa
tcrnal or patriarchal government that has
stood mistaken amid the rise and fall of
Western Empires, and is still as infiuen-
tial in its strength and vigOr. 1t is this
antiquity which the Chinese fall back up
on with so much pride that stands in the
way of their accepting anything so modern
as Christianity.
But in the consideration of the diIfi,
culties the missionary has to conquer
there is not only the antiquity, but also
the enormous size of the nation and the
extent of country. Out of total of 5,OO0,-
600 square miles the IS provinces, or
China proper, contain 100000 of square
miles. In the middle of China is one of
plains in the world, through which flow
the Yellow River and the Iang-tsc. This
one PLAIN supports population of no.
cOo,00O, or nearly three times as many
people 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 our plan
ct. Both the land and the people are not
only immense and overwhelming, but
strange, unique and without analogy.
Added to this difficulty of the size of
the nation there is the compleXity of the
language. The old saying that ''the devil
invented the Chinese characters to keep
Christianity out of China" appears to have
some show of reason when we find that
in place of Chinese alphabet there are
tens of thousands OF formidable hero
gyphics of pictorial characters, and that
each constitutes separate monOSyl!abic
word. Furthermore, this written language
is to be seen and not heard, to be read
and not spoken. Then there is the Off
clal or court language used in the north
ern and central provinces, with hundreds
of different dialects spoken south of the
Yang-tsc. The missionary there has there
fore to learn the local dialect. :lIa court
language, and tho written or classical Ian
guage. before he can preach, read the
translatiOns of the Scriptures, and carry
on oral and written interC purse with all
lile ulHtItHt clilHscS OI natives IlpeIS.
This alone is the work almost of life
time.
"Bnt when the missionary las over.
come these difficulties, which few succeed
in doing beyond n certain limited extent.
his task is only just begun. He has to
learn all that the ordinary Chinese know
from their classical and other books and
teachers, in order to meet then on their
own ground. Then he must begin to at
tack the sentiments the Chinauaa holds
most dear, and which are hallowad Ivy the
earliest associations and parental love.
These ancestral teachings and examples.
with his methods of religious worship, are
deeply imbedded in his inmost heart Ie:
the missionary has to Gask him to give up
many or most of them, and accept mtried
foreign dogmas and methods in their place
Is it any wonder that the conservative
principle in Chinese human nature rebels,
and that the Chinaman naturally is op-
posed to all missionary propagandism? 1t
is almost impossible to realize the i'm
mense sacrifice a Chinese, even of the
lower class, has to make when in the face
of the opposition and the contempt of his
family, his kinsman, his whole clan and
his friends, he determines to become
sincere Christian, and to follow the teach.
ings Of uncouth-looking strangers from
far-off lands who are popularly known rs
foreign devils.