Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-19
CHINA DOES NOT WANT THE MISSION
AIRY, BUT NEEDS HIM.

other is to discover a new and horrible
world Of corrupt imaginings.
The first day we landed in China we
saw some children having fine sport in
killing kitten by the gentle process OF
jumping upon 1t. The impression then
formed has been steadily deepened that
dumb creatures. but crueler to one an
other. The statement is almost warranted
that here is a nation without sense of
pity or sympathy. A roadside death Is
was cut clear in half by the swinging Of a
heavy steel plate against the hatchway OF
a shin at Tien-Tsin on which he was work.
Ing. his work fellows laughed heartily. =,
AS our ship was being warped into her
mornings at Shanghai a boatman fell over
board, and the crowd laughed. although
he spoiled the point of the joke by man
aging to scramble out. At an execution I
headless trunk of the victim, and laughing
merrily over his fate. One must hear on
the spot the unreportable fendishness Of
the. Chinese mobs toward massacred mis-
sionaries to realize the unfathomable
depths of Chinese cruelty. The gentleness
Of Jesus. who taught: BLESSED are the
merciful." is sadly needed in China.
n Il
The truth in the inward parts which il
supposed to accompany Christianity is ut
terly lacking in China. This is a nation of
liars. Not to lie Is considered foolishness.
There is nowhere the Anglo-Saxon as
sumption that the o-ner man is playing a
fair game; you simply have to match him
in guile or suffer. The inconvenience, the
annoyance, the evaporation of having to
live surrounded with consummate liars
must be experienced to be appreciated.
Take one of counties Incidents, as
illustrative: The fare from Chnkiang to
Marking by boat is 81. Upon buying my
return ticket was told by the official that
escorting me to the boat, missionary.
made 1t plain that he was no unposted
traveller, the man promptly and without
embarrassment accepted the right fare.
smp Lefty and open-heartedness in this land
of guile is a marvel of religions power.
Being liar, the Chinese Is also. logically,
thief. That steamship clerk thought no
than the viceroy thinks of squeezing the
public revenues. He would also doubtless
have worked of his counterfeit money In
change, had change been required. On that
very occasion I discovered, by the refusal
OF Chinese to accept 1t, that had one of
the innumerable counterfeit coins with
which the land is flooded. When threw
It into the the. river the surrounding Chinese
should be thrown after 1t, as a fool and a
mailman. Simple honesty in most matters
seems beyond the Chinese ken. although
they have scrupulousness about keeping
trusts. which has been frequently and just
ly praised.
4
One day a certain native pastor was
pointed out to me as a man who really
loved his wife. This was considered SO
rare as to be noteworthy. Marriage here is
matter of barter and convenience. Yes
terday dined with a progressive official
whose head wife sat at table with us, in
concession to western ways, while his three
subordinate wives stood around the room
pretty little slave girls waited on the table
The family feeling, or rather clan feeling
Is not based primarily on affection, but
mutual self-interest The quarrelsomeness
OF every resident. II any one thinks that
the ordinary Chinese woman especially
after she becomes mother-in-law, is a
crushed and down-trodden sister, he should
hear her in action for five minutes. No
| man is better able to look out for himself
than this same small-fo footed creature
The absence Of anything approaching the
home life known to America or Great
Britain Is conspicuous fact about China.
The cities are noisy. not with traffic. for
they have none, Of our ear-splitting west
ern Sort but with the perpetual and every
where-present sounds of sauabbiing and
strife. Here 1t Is every man for himself,
and the devil take the hindermost.' Only
yesterday as I rode along the street In
rickshaw l saw grown man trying to
steal bundle of old straw fuel from a
group of tots whose ages must have ranged
from four to eight. And the furious fash
ion in which they were Nosailing him show
ed how early young China learns to look
out for itself China Is synonym for
selfshness.
In all these observations 1 have not had
out of mind the virtues of the Chinese
their patience, their industry, their frugal
/, ity. the obedience to authority and their
respect for the established order. All these