The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1958-03-07
The Church In Formosa:
Chinese InteUectudls 'Ldte'
In Discovering Faith
BY Erik Won KuehneIf-L eddihn

American Catholics are constantly being told now,
at long last, the Church is making some Roadway
among the Chinese in still free Formosa, but when
| arrived in that embattled island | felt a certain
skepticism.
came to Taiwan (Formosa) as a simple tour
ist, armed with only some letters of recommends
ton from a Japanese friend but in a few hours |
realized that the reports were by no means exagger-
ated. One can almost speak of a miracle.
Nov, it is perfectly true that, owing to the ex-
polling of so many China missionaries the island of
Taiwan has a fair, though still insufficient number
of priests and missionaries. Yet, this is not by any
means an explanation for the avalanche of conver-
sions, each still preserving an individual character,
which never gives the impression of a headless mass
stampede.
Whereas in the old days in China a missionary
and a priest converted an average of "a persons a
year, the yearly average on Formosa is roughly four
times as much. Or: in 1856 no less than $1,000 For
mosans (mostly Chinese but also some ~aborgines of
Malay stock who were headhunters only one or two
generations ago. embraced the Faith. We still have
not the data for 1867, but this mark certainly has
been surpassed.
A radical change also took place in the types
of converts. In the old days the gross of them, on
the mainland, had been simple people, mostly peas
ants, since the main work of the missionaries was
carried out in rural areas. The big cities with their
corruption were often left out as "bottomless pits"
Today, on Formosa, unlike in Japan everybody
seems to be a potential convert the colonel, the
professor, the banker, the salesgirl, the peasant, the
retired" headhunter in the grim mountains. At a
farewell party given for me by the Director of the
National Library almost three quarters of the guests
were Catholics. (Among them only one European, an
Austrian Jesuit who spoke fluent Chinese.) The d-
rector had joined the Church only five years ago.
(The director of the Provincial Library is under in
struction.) !
Since the, Chinese are excellent ~linguists and,
unlike the Japanese, born extroverts, this was a won
derful party and not for a moment did | feel | was
sitting among "inscrutable Asiatics.' United. by
faith, culture, education, and a common political out
look we we're a thoroughly %congenial crowd.
Nobody knows why, at long last, the Church
among the Chinese extends by leaps and bounds.
Partly it is the Communist threat which is respon-
sible for this sudden change of heart. Still, this is
not the whole answer.
There, are deeper reasons. The old pagan faiths,
which have either the character of mere philoSo-
phies or sets of representations have been quietly
rotting away for some time. Especially the Chinese
intelectuals have been asking themselves why it
was barbaric Europe land America which developed
the sciences, free government, medical care, the
great PHILOSOPHERS and the thrilling turnover of ar
chitectural styles and schools of art; what was it
that gave Europe and America their originality and
dynamism, whereas in Asia the changes during the
last centuries were practically all due to influences
from the West, whether Christian or Marxist, demo-
cratic or totaltarian, whether concerned with the art
of writing a novel or of riding a bicycle.
Then, slowly. the Chinese discovered that the
thing which really made Western civilization tick
was its Christian, its Catholic heart not bust
ness, not manufacturing, not medicine, nor the con-
sular service. 1t was a late discovery because we
Westerners have terribly neglected the Asiatic stu
dents, usually the cream of their countries, who
studied. at our universities. The Communists (and
even the Masons) were quicker on the draw. Did
we ever invite them to our homes?
Did we lessen their loneliness so far away from
their families? We did nothing of the sort. The
missionaries had to make double efforts where all
failed and through the Grace of God the time has
come, at long last, when the ice is breaking - right
now, five minutes before twelve.