MISSION WORK IN CHINA.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 147, 9 May 1901, Page 1

MISSION WORK IN CHINA.

■The following. Protest from *% Chinaman'” : anpoa mi In the London Daily Mail of Sept: 21 id. 1900. The thoughts of aa educated Chinaman ou a. subject of such vita importance to hie country oiunc-t f.ni to be of great inter. To {.he Editor of the “ Daily Mail.” In your issue ot the 14to instant w»e printed an article by Julian RaVplj, entitle 1. *• All the Tr mble in China.” Mr Ralnh’s article is devoted to what he culls t h;* i mti'anco on 1 superstition oj iha Chinese as a n ■lion He speaks of little bre stwork .of two or three feet long, and three four inches high, with beer bo*.ties siuck iu it, muzzle out,ward,’‘|as “ iiuing ali hit is required,*' and ■■£ other device* that a e thought by him to be n«ed for k i -ping away devils, spirits, etc. After speaking of the evident stupid! y of such d wiis and spirits, ho sirs; “ I 'he devils coma blowing along, and are just about to alight, on th-; vo .f, wh-n they see one of these mock forte.” (i t further speaks ot “a uttle -brick stvuctnrerected in front of oar dmrs, which is also efficacious i.i katpi 1 < a way demons, etc. ,? Admitting all tils to ba true, whai redly does it ad a n .uni to ? There are in China very many ignorant people. That g'>oa without saying. But is'npti tlie rant , true of every country in thewo- Id ? Chin?. has a pepnVion—according to Eugene .Shane, one «.I the most truthful writers you have—of over 500.000,000

psoplo, or, s iy. pine times as many ns the United States of \merioa. It is said tlui.' America spends annually 3200,000,00$ dollars propitiating their gods and devils. Ido net hesitate to say that the Chinese are able to do the same thing just as rffectively, for a very much .larger population, at less than half this rum. M -ay of the Homan Catholic cathedrals that o n e finds in Europe and An erica coat at least £1,000,00$ sterling. None of them are -more effective in warding off devils than the simple little “fort” that the Chinaman ie sud to build pn the top of his house,, winch is only “ three feet long and throe or four inches high.”

The hmixiensive “beer bottles” are, just a« good for keeping off devils as the largest b-.lis erected in any tower. If any one has any doubt of this, we Odn i men would ask for a competitive tri d, with plenty of Chinamen to back the 11 beer bottles” against the belle. Then, attain, as to the pile of bricks of exceedingly’, modest'dimensions. Thif has ' been louhd to be quite effective. ''‘i*i£ arid Vtiri ms other little devices which come,ofthe ignersrii;.lyhriid superstitious Chinese employ will be found q lite eg effective, as the more elaborate, anff eertai ly more eosTy, paraphernalia »>ad in Europe and America for the sain*' purpose.

Much sp 'd bag been made in England and America of the Chines prayi ig machines that one finds in Tibet. Many years aa;o it was discovered that if one wrote his praper and placed it in a tea cup, and gave it one turn it was just ae goed as repeating the prayer orally. Ten turns were equal to ten prayers. ’This wa- alss found to bi? true, nc

matter to what extent the apparatus war increased in size, or the number of prayers added to itsc at the present time they put 1,900,000 prayers written on thir. paper in a large vessel mounted on a pivot. On giving the vessel one turn it is gislers 1,000,000 prayers, each, of which is just as effective as any other prayer, bhould anyone doubt this, ohibonge them to a competition. If your missionaries can show us any devices in Europe which are more efficacious in keeping off devils,or cheaper or more expedient in propitiating deitiec by prayers than those that exist among ouc ignorant people to day. then, and riot till then, will it bs time for you tt send your missionaries and the superstitions which you doubtless think are.new

to t.'hina. All our superstitious practices arj among the Taoists and the Buddhists. The learned, the literary and the officiaj? classes are Confuciana, and CmfuciuE : has taught us to respect ouc ancestore and leave the gods alone. Confuciuf. teaches us to have nothing whatsoever to do wi h anyone who pretends to have any intercourse with the -supernatural We do not believe in any of the angelp and demons which ar? 60 common to aS other systems, and it has often b.ep 5 said of us that, because we do not believe in these supernatural beings, our systeip is not a religion at all. Winn the first Jesuit missionarief went to China they did not attempt tp meddle with the institutions of our country, they talk mathematics, astroo; omy, and other philosophical subjects. They were well .made : .thent selves very popular with our Emperor, But so soon as they commenced theij [ attacks on the institutions of thp country, they were ordered to quit. What we require in China is scientific men—men educated in .some of thp concrete sciences that we do not understand ourselves to the same extent they are under*tood in England. Wp> ; do not object to your doctors. Wp • admire their skill. We do not object jjatoyyour , Neither do wit: object to any of your scientific men, ep long as they do not interfere with o\xfi i exv-ding institutions.' The whole cauqp of the present trouble in .China is because we have among us- ah Ignorant. asf: superstltutious olasa of. people —Buddhists—who have a religion almost iden^p'

al with the Christian religion, and whi ire very jealous of others who bringing in what they consider a coni peting faith. They feel exactly th same as people would in this country i the Buddhists should come over her and attempt to supplant the Catholic and Protestants. But what exasp<r»t« us Chinese more than anything else i the immunity which the so-called cod verts have from the action of the. law i their own country. Suppose a Chinese priest should com to England, and it should be known tha every burglar, pickpocket and thief j London, by becoming a Buddhist, woul become exempt from arrest by the polio Suppose that the introduction of a re fai’h into England should give t] criminal classes license to ply their trai in London with complete immunity fcq the action of the laws. Would tl English people submit to such a state affairs ? And what is true of the Engli is true of all other nations. Why, the should we Chinese bo an exception the rule? Our civilisation is the old in the world ; it enables more me t live on a square mile of ground in cofort than any other civilisation cv evolved Before the misdonaries visit our country i here was much less criij in proper!ion to the population tl{ even in Protestant Prussia, whici regarded as the most moral of Europe countries. Our kind of civi isation may difi from that of Europe, bat if suits better. We do not care to throw it ov unless something butler ca-n be p, duced, something really better wh, viewed from our own standpoint. Ce tainly our religious beliefs are quit? reasonable and respectable as thos other nations, and if age should be c~i sidered as one of the factors of rsspso ability, our own systems must be ini nitely more respectable than the nt faith*, some of which a.e only about or 400 years old. 1 Is there any reason why the Chmpl should not be allowed to enjoy their oni religion in their own country in thj own way ? Cmifuoius taught that J should do to odiers as wo would hail them do untou l , and I believe this h|i been introduced into the Ohrisdl religi-.n, and is generally known as ti “ Golden Rule.” Certainly, the EnglJ would not like to have us interfere will any of their many religions or tions. They would not like us to e%i our Taoist or Buddhist priests to lis! country to attack the modern faiths! the English people. If wo should fol our priests upon England we should! , doing to the English what we would J like them to do unto us. Converse! ' the English, in forcing their prieets up! l us, are doing unto us what they woJI not like to have others do unto the! Consequently, they are not only breakii j one of the fundamental principles of thli own faith, but of our faith also. I j It will be quite impossible to b<l peace in China so long as foreign missfj aries are allowed to interfere with jl institutions of the country, an I Government at Pekin oan’ be stmi 1 enough toprotect unpopular tnißßionv,"| ’ throughout so vast an empire. Wo mi . net be able to keep these missionarl out of China, because we are not a figtfl nig nation. Anything will be betti than the missionaries. /| Peace, prosperity and healthy cosi merce will be impossible until tii missionary shall have been eliminatJ from our local problem. Recall mis.donaries and all will go well.—l aJ etc., | Ivan Chen.l