A visit to the Peoples Republic of China


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A VISIT TO THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Rev. TnedeJildz A. 1\c.Guajte, C.M.

pn.eAe.nted by

THE CENTER FOR APPLIED RESEARCH
IN THE APOSTOLATE

(CAR A)

Uanck 17, 1976

JU-p cK-<L



The SIC News Service graciously gave me permission

to o4 e the. copyrighted articles published

herein. The editors o f the. Slew* Service

issued this explanatory note,

:

"Father Frederick McGuire, a
farmer missionary In China and
now Development Director far
the. Center far Applied Research
in the. Apostolate (CARA) began
a three-week visit to the
Peoples Republic of China on
February 3 . Father McGuire,
coho a peaks Chinese, coill visit
6 even northern cities and
the countryside surrounding
them. He is travelling under
the auspices of the District
of Columbia chapter of the
U.S. - Chines e Peoples Friend-
ship Association."

I am grateful to the NC News Service far permis-

sion to publish those dispatches in this farm,

to CARA who gave me a leave of) absence and to

the U.S. -Chinese Peoples Friendship Association

far obtaining permission far me to visit the

Peoples Republic of China.

Frederick A. McGuire, C.M.

OeacTdlfSed



WASHINGTON (NC) I am going back. This time it

will be as a tourist, not as a missionary. The

Peoples Republic of China has granted me a visa

to spend three weeks visiting seven northern

Chinese cities and the countryside surrounding

them.

In the latter part of 1932 a dream of

many years became a reality when I stepped ashore

in Shanghai. My first return to the United States

was on April 15, 19^5, the day Franklin D.

Roosevelt was buried. The intervening years were

spent in the southern part of Kiangsi Province.

It was there that I learned to respect and admire

the Chinese people. Their love of family, their

sense of humor, their ability to suffer without

complaint, their industriousness and many other

admirable qualities endeared them to me.

While organizing relief in the devastated

areas during 19^2 and 19^3, I could not but be

impressed with their courage in the face of

1



adversity. I have never met a people I admired

more. After World War II, while directing the

Catholic Welfare Committee of China out of

Shanghai, my opinion of the Chinese people

was strengthened.

Now I am privileged to return. The

situation will be very different. No longer do

the Western powers dominate the economy of China.

Under a communist regime the Catholic Church is

dormant. Objective observers from the West

report that the people as a whole have sufficient

food and clothing, are decently housed, enjoy

access to basic education, receive free medical

care and unselfishly labor for the common good.

How has this been accomplished is the

question I ask myself. During my brief visit, I

shall endeavor to find an answer to this question.

And after my return, I shall report to the people

of the United States through NC News.

2



If l praise certain accomplishments, there will be

some who will say that I am "soft 11 on communism.

That f must chance. Every effort will be made

to give an objective view. The fact that I

speak Chinese gives me an advantage over most

tourists. Wish me well.

PEKING, CHINA (NC) I am trying to gather my

thoughts and emotions together as I write this

report

.

The sun was shining as we stepped off

Japan Airlines Flight 005 at the International

Airport. Very few people were in evidence and

we passed through Quarantine and Customs with a

minimum of bureaucratic procedure. Representa-

tives of the Peking International Travel Service

were at hand to speed our journey into the city.

Courtesy was the watchword all along the

way. The treel ined road emphasized the importance



attached to reforestation. Comfortable rooms with

all modern conveniences were assigned to us in

the extensive Peking Hotel only a few minutes walk

from the ancient Imperial City and the vast Tien

An Men Square, which can accommodate a half million

people.

Friday morning, February 6, we began

our introduction to the New Society which is

modern China.

Reaching back into history, we first

toured the beautiful Forbidden City of the

Emperiors, now a museum. Inevitably I thought

of Father Matteo Ricci, the Italian Jesuit

missionary who patiently worked his way into this

palace through 16 years of effort. I walked

the paths he trod in the 17th century and looked

upon the ornaments of gold, jade and crystal which

must have dazzled his eyes.

4



The genius of the Chinese people is

seen here in undiluted form. Little wonder that

the tales of Marco Polo titilated the imagination

of Europeans.

The Empire is gone, the Kuomingtang has

been replaced by a Marxist socialist government,

but essentially the Chinese people have not

changed

.

This was admirably demonstrated when we

visited a children's nursery in the afternoon.

The Chinese people have always manifested a deep

love for their children.

In the new economy, the government

believes that women as well as men must contribute

to the productive capabilities of the nation.

Men and women stand side by side in the factories.

China rates herself as a Third World country, a

developing nation, striving to overcome centuries

of underdevelopment.

5



When the mother is not in the home, some-

one must be found to substitute for her, to care

for the children. Therefore, the nursery school.

Here we found 1 78 children ranging from

three to six years of age. Nowhere could you

find a more joyous group of youngsters. There

was discipline tempered with understanding love.

This particular school was a Monday to

Friday boarding institution. The children were

not forcibly separated from their working parents

in order to indoctrinate them in the Marxist

ideology. They were well fed, carefully taught

in accordance with their intellectual capabilities

and given physical exercises which made them

healthy, smiling individuals. Their dances and

gymnastics delighted all of us.

The evening brought a special treat for

me. Back in 1938, while pastor of Yutu in

Kiangsi Province, I had a visitor. It was

6



Mr. Rewi Alley, a New Zealander who had been

chief of factory inspection in Shanghai.

He conceived the idea of starting small

cooperative industries in the interior to re-

place in some small way the industrial areas

taken over by the invading Japanese. This seemed

to me a most reasonable idea and I became an

unofficial advisor to the Chinese Industrial

Cooperatives and Rewi Alley.

He was not a religious man, but one

who truly loved the poor and the suffering. I

admired his sel f-sacr i f i ci ng spirit.

In 1943, he went to the far northwest

of China to establish a school to train young

men for the task of bringing China out of its

age-long technological backwardness. He con-

tinued his work after 1949 under the new regime.

On this February 6, 1976, after a lapse

of 33 years, we were reunited. The government

7



of the Peoples Republic of China has pensioned

him and he lives in retirement in Peking. At 79,

he is as enthusiastic in his fight for social

justice as when I first met him in 193?.

JL J- JL JL JL J- JL J- J- JL

PEKING, CHINA (NC) Have you ever visited the

Amish country in the vicinity of Lancaster, Pa.?

There you will see this religious group,

sometimes called the "plain people." Living a

communal life, divorced from all the consumerism

excesses which bedevil our present existence. I

was reminded of the Amish when I spent a morning

in a typical Chinese commune.

Are we frightened by the word "commune"?

If so, pick up the Bible and turn to the Acts of

the Apostles. Read carefully and thoughtfully.

Early Christian living was communal. The

religious orders and congregations were based on

this same concept of unselfishness and common

8



shari ng.

Is the profit motive of the individual

to be preferred to this way of life? Forget for

a moment the atheism which underlies the

communist state of today and ask yourself if the

economics of the First World of developed

capitalist nations serves man and his needs as

well as the manner of life adopted by the early

Ch r i s t i ans

.

Now that brings me back to the experience

of this morning. On the outskirts of Peking

I visited the South Garden Commune where 41,000

people live and work.

This is a cooperative enterprise in the

true sense of the word. Everyone has a voice in

its operation. It is not only an agricultural

cooperative, but an industrial cooperative as well.

In the area of agriculture, it has

increased its productive capacity 300 percent

9



since its inception in 1968. With its vegetables

it helps to feed the teeming population of Peking.

I'ts eight local factories produce insect-

icides, fertilizer, farm machinery, milling

machines and small tractors.

Every child in the commune is guaranteed

a primary and secondary education.

The living quarters are simple and not

much different from the adobe homes I knew in

Kiangsi some 40 years ago. But everyone has

warm clothes to protect against the biting cold

of the Peking winter.

Creature comforts are few and far between.

It is a Spartan-like life but the life of the

Chinese farmer has been so for centuries. These

people are justifiably proud of what they have

accomplished through their own efforts.

Everyone I saw was healthy. Simple

10



medical care is available to all. The children

are inoculated against small-pox, diptheria,

typhoid and tetanus. The so-called "bare-foot"

doctors, mostly women, go from settlement to

settlement to serve the medical needs of the

people. The major emphasis is on preventive

med icine.

The name of Chairman Mao comes up in

every conversation. Again and again, one hears

repeated the phrase: "Moral, intellectual and

physical development for all."

When one asks how this cooperative spirit

came about, the answer is always the same: "We

are following the directives of Chairman Mao and

carrying out the revolutionary movement which will

establish a truly socialist society."

It is not possible in a few days to grasp

all that has happened here in the past 25 years,

but one thing is quite evident: for the most part,



the Chinese people like it.

PEKING, CHINA (NC) Sunday morning, February 8,

in Peking was an experience of sadness.

At eight o'clock our group departed for

a trip to the Great Wall. I remained behind,

knowing that this would be my only opportunity

to attend Mass in the Peoples Republic of China.

1 could offer Mass quietly in my hotel room, but

in all the vast reaches of China, Mass is offered

in only one church — the Cathedral of the

Immaculate Conception in Peking — and that only

once on Sunday.

Inevitably my thoughts went back to

the history of the Church in China. Here in

this city lived and died so many of the early

Jesuit missionaries led by Father Matteo Ricci

and Father Adam Schall. Here too my own

Vincentian confreres preached the Gospel

12



to the poor beginning in 1792.

Thirty years ago Sunday was not only a

holiday as it is today, but for thousands it was

a holy day. The several churches were filled

with chanting worshippers. All that is gone.

At 9:20 a.m., I entered the church and

found a Chinese priest reciting his breviary in

the rear of the church. Having introduced myself

in Chinese I took my place in the second pew from

the altar.

Promptly at 9 : 30 a.m. Mass began. The

once familiar Latin Mass with the priest facing

the wall, not the people, emphasized the liturgi-

cal changes of the past ten years.

I looked back of me and saw not more than

30 people in attendance. Most of these were

foreigners like myself. There may have been six

of seven Chinese present. Of these, only two.

13



a middle-aged man and woman, received Holy

Communion. There was no sermon and there were

no announcements.

After Mass, in the rear of the church,

I had a chance to converse briefly with the two

Chinese priests, the celebrant and a younger

priest who had acted as server. All the time a

representative of the Peking International Travel

Service was at my side.

I learned that there are 18 priests in

the Peking area. There are no public Masses

during the week. I was asked if I did not see

tremendous progress under the leadership of

Chairman Mao and I could respond that I had

observed great material progress.

My guide took a picture of us three

priests and I bade farewell to these good men

who, it seemed to me, were the last vestiges of

a once flourishing Catholicity.



The Constitution of the Peoples Republic

of China guarantees "freedom to believe in religion,

freedom not to believe in religion and freedom to

propagate atheism." Note that the external prac-

tice of religion is not guaranteed. Note also

that one can propagate atheism, but freedom to

propagate religion is not given in the Constitu-

tion.

It is little wonder then that so few

Catholics attend Mass. I can only surmise that

the two priests I met are engaged in some form

of productive labor.

Somehow, in God's good time, a change

for the better will come about. One helpful step

would be the normalization of relations between

our government and the Peoples Republic of China.

Then, perhaps, we could open up a dialogue that

would lead to a lifting of the existing repression.

15



TSINAN, CHINA (NC) To feed, clothe and house

800 million people is a gargantuan task.

To provide jobs for every able-bodied

man and woman while keeping inflation completely

under control seems an impossibility, but it is

happening in the Peoples Pvepublic of China. It

could only be done in a fully planned society and

at a sacrifice of many individual freedoms.

The revolution here is an ongoing thing.

It is not a revolution where guns dominate the

picture. It is a revolution wherein the old

ideas are destroyed by means of a constant

hammering home of the Marxist ideology as inter-

preted by Communist party chairman, Mao Tse-tung.

Every segment of society is undergoing

instruction in socialist principles. In each

factory, commune and neighborhood group, the

16



dominant force is the Revol ut i ona ry Committee.

Everyone, from the child in kindergarten to the

highest official in the Communist party's central

committee must spend several hours a week in

study of Marxist teachings.

None of the media of communication is

neglected in the educational process. Four-

year olds charmingly chant the statements of

Chairman Mao. Songs of the revolution are the

material for all theatrical performances. News-

papers, magazines, radio and television are

propaganda organs.

Does all of this cause the people un-

happiness? I have seen no sign that it does.

China has pulled herself up by her

bootstraps. Acknowledging as she does her poverty

and lack of technological advance, stating very

frankly that she is a Third World, a developing,

country, she nevertheless takes great pride in

17



the advances made In agriculture, education and

med i cal a i d to al 1 .

Each year, the grain crops increase.

Every child may receive at least five years of

schooling. Illiteracy has all but been eliminated.

The peasant in the countryside is

inoculated against those diseases, once endemic,

which formerly took a staggering toll of lives.

The aged are cared for adequately in institutions

supported by the state.

The same smiling faces I knew in the old

days are here. It all calls for sacrifies; life

is not easy. There are few amenities, but again

there is no misery. This is indeed for most a

spartan existence, but hope shines in the eyes

of all.

18



WU HSI, CHINA (NC) Four days ago, after an

eleven-hour train ride, we arrived in Nanking.

My last visit to that city was on

Christmas Eve, 19^8. I had flown up from Shanghai

to offer the Midnight Mass for the remnant of the

U.S. Military Advisory Group.

The late Cardinal Antonio Riberi, then

internuncio to China, and Monsignor Martin

Gilligan of Cincinnati were my hosts.

The general evacuation had already begun.

There was no panic in the city, but there was a

defeatist attitude. The heavy fog which en-

shrouded the city bespoke the gloom which meant

the fall of the city to the onrushing communist

armies

.

A whole generation has passed. A new

and exciting vitality has enwrapped Nanking.

19



Schools and hospitals have increased four and

five-fold. Factories in great variety belch

forth smoke in all directions. Progress,

material progress is the watchword.

China is trying to catch up with the

developed world. To do so calls for the combined

efforts of every man, woman and child. Drudgery

in a combined effort is essential to this task.

It is an accepted fact. Life is not easy for

anyone.

Officials of the bureaucracy must spend

time working beside the lowly peasant. Somehow,

in some way, these millions go forward in a truly

cooperat i ve spirit.

During the eleven-hour train ride from

Tsinan to Nanking, we saw thousands of peasants

bringing stones in barrows to terrace the hills

so that rice paddies might be formed. This

massive effort was creating productive capabilities.

20



The creation of the new is paralleled

by the disappearance of the old. Things that were

in China in the old days no longer exist.

Prostitution has virtually disappeared

in the Peoples Republic of China. If it exists

at all it is hidden from the sight of the

visiting foreigner.

Woman is a worker, not a plaything for

man. The feminine figure is not used to persuade

the unwary buyer to purchase goods he does not

need. Nowhere in advertisements will you see the

scantily clad feminine form.

Moreover, divorce is frowned upon and,

we are told, is comparatively rare.

The day of bargaining in shops is gone.

There is one price and one price only. The shop-

keeper would not think of short-changing the

customer. A receipt is always given for any

purchase.

21



One may walk the streets at any hour of

the day or night without fear of attack. The

rare crime meets with immediate punishment; no

weeks or months awaiting trail.

And nowhere does one find a beggar. Those

who for one reason or another cannot work are

cared for by the state. I visited a home for the

aged run by the state. The old people were cheer-

ful, well-fed and received medical care as needed.

What a joy it is to reside in a hotel

and not fear for your personal belongings. On

leaving my room, I never lock my door. Not

a thing is misplaced, not to say removed. Here

in Wu Hs
i ,

there is no door key. When one

sleeps the door is latched from inside. At all

other times it remains open.

In the old days every city teemed w i th

rickshas. No more. In more than two weeks here,

l have not seen a single ricksha and no more than

a few dozen pedicabs. Communist party chairman

22



Mao Tse-tung decreed many years ago that It was

beneath the dignity of man to pull another man

in a ricksha.

Finally, the ever-present, scrofulous

mongrel dog is no longer part of the China scene.

In the cities, dogs are not permitted because they

are a danger to health. In the countryside a few

remain, but I have not seen a dozen.

What does all this mean? For one thing,

it means that many of our so-called Christian

virtues are being observed by a Marxist society.

If one disregards the atheism of Marx

and considers only the communal principle, one

might readily come to the conclusion that the

present regime is ideal for this people.

The generation of young people today

knows little or nothing of the great contributions

made by the Christian missionaries. They are

not even curious about such matters. They believe

23



in themselves and their ability to create a

new socialist society.

The big question for us Christians is:

What can we offer this new society?

WASHINGTON (NC) A week ago, I returned to

Washington after spending 22 days in seven cities

of the Peoples Republic of China.

During these past seven days, I have

given much thought to what I saw and heard during

that exciting tour. This final piece is an

attempt to share with our readers my reaction to

a unique experience.

First of all let me express my thoughts

on the situation of the Catholic Church in China.

In a dispatch from Peking, I told of attending

Mass in the cathedral there and of my meeting with

two Chinese priests.

lb



It should be stressed that I always

identified myself as a Catholic priest. Not once

did our guides, changing in each city, show any

curiosity about religion. I could only conclude

that they were entirely satisfied with their way

of life as dictated by Marxist socialism.

They steadfastly practice virtues which

we call Christian. Service to the community is

held in high esteem. Divorce is frowned upon and

is rare in practice. Public prostitution is non-

existent. Stealing is outlawed. I never saw a

man raise his hand against another man. None

of this has come about in the name of religion.

As I walked alone through the streets

of the cities visited, I came upon the large

churches built before 1949. Some were locked,

windows broken; others were being used for secular

purposes

.

At no time did the Catholic population

exceed one half of one percent of the total

25



population. Why then these large churches? What

did they convey to the great mass of people who

lived in degrading misery?

I see no immediate possibility of the

missionaries' return. If there does come a time

when China opens its doors to Christian mission-

aries then those who enter must be men and women

who will work with their hands for the common good

of the nation.

Much has been written about the commune

system and much false information has been given.

In reality the commune in China is a

massive cooperative enterprise involving as many

as 60,000 people. Families are not separated;

home life continues as before. Men and women

working side by side in the fields and in the

small factories have increased production, through

their common efforts, by 200 and 300 percent.

26



The drive against illiteracy has been

most successful. One result is the proliferation

of book stores which are constantly crowded with

buyers. Five years of schooling are assured for

every child and the majority of the children also

receive a secondary school education.

Moreover, political education is part

and parcel of every Chinese life. On the average

everyone receives two hours a week of socialist

i ndoctri nation.

Four years ago, Mr. Nixon promised that

the United States would move rapidly towards

normalization of relations with the Peoples

Republic of China. This promise has not been

kept and the Chinese people are understandably

distressed by this. They want the United States

as a friend. I know that I personally received

nothing but a warm and friendly welcome.







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