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TER ea bret thee Sats mae Hh ryan Poe PerE bidet HAE Hi bid phi ‘4 a] CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE WASON CHINESE COLLECTION _ Cornell University Library . BV 3400.B57 TT, 3 1924 007 590 684 ech REPORT ON A SECOND VISIT TO China, Japan and Korea 1909 WITH A DISCUSSION OF SOME PROBLEMS OF MISSION WORK BY ARTHUR JUDSON BROWN Secretary of the Board To the Board and the Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. A. PRINTED BUT NOT PUBLISHED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY The Board of Foreign Missions Of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. A i 156 Fifth Ave., New York REPORT ON A SECOND VISIT TO (China, Japan and Korea 1909 WITH A DISCUSSION OF SOME PROBLEMS OF MISSION WORK BY ARTHUR JUDSON BROWN Secretary of the Board To the Board and the Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. A. PRINTED BUT.NOT PUBLISHED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY The Board of Foreign Missions Of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. 156 Fifth Ave., New York CONTENTS PAGES (Dhé: Journey cic acdeiemmaus tsa wesw pewter eneorieuenie eooweuts emis 3-6 Scope and Method of Inquiry ......... Sainirhioed Mea aaws Maasai 6-12 Fundamental Distinctions ......... 0.0. c ccc cee eee cette eee eens 12-15 Japan and the Japanese ...............00000e 12, 15-21, 27-30, 103-104 Missions in, Japan sciscewanorscners cre v saoee rere we cea ease ee Bas 21-30 Cooperation with the Church of Christ in Japan................ 30-34 The Native Church and Native Christians. ...30-54, 54-63, 87-95, 113-119 Korea and: the: IOreais: saccc ie telaws wienterrmalvie arastnnn ogwlmleaies 14-15, 63-69 The Japanese 1171 Korea) 2nccuccacoorearss cas sanoeeseawene ands 69-84 Missionaries and the Japanese ............ cee eeee eee erence 80-83, 92 IMSS1OMS: 11 ROOT EAs oc. x aces tatters: bars leprae svar ienai ae wveieiolasintelet aurea IIQ-123 The: Future ..2ccac.s vases uedvenerth tar teereeeeoenesese 123-128 SPECIAL PROBLEMS. Cooperation with the Native Church. .......... 0... .c cece eeeeee 30-34 Missionary Membership in Field Presbyteries ................ 128-132 Application of the Gospel to Social Conditions ................. 132-137 Relations of the Board and the Missions—Criticisms—Special GEES cores eae sa gen al parca tog i gal cuore ose aout eke Guana Selly Steines 137-147 Field Supervision of Mission: Work. Mission Organization—Executive Committees—The China Council, Women Voting ............. ccc cee cece eens 147-161 Where Money Is Most Needed........ 2.0.00. cece eee ees 161-171 Salaries and Travel, 161-162; Reinforcements, 162-163; Property, 163-167; Current work and salaries of native workers, 167-171; Increased cost of living, 168-171. Schools for Missionaries’ Children ............. 0. ccc cece eee I7I-177 Furloughs and Terms of Service .........0. eee c cece cence cence 177-182 Outfit for New Missionaries .............ccc cee ee cee eeeeceeee 182-183 Doctrinal Soundness of Candidates ............. cece eee eens 183-184 EGUCALIOR ccechioticcwawten shisha teeta neato par ieauaanudeyemace 184-207 Need and policy, 184-186; In Japan, 186-187; In Korea, 187-193; In China, 193-207. Students in Government Colleges ........... 00. c cece eee eee 207-209 Conchasion) ..\..cc524...caxeaswriedewmetoiaee nes 60d tacking grec. 209-210 REPORT ON A SECOND VISIT TO China, Japan and Korea, 1909 With a Discussion of Some Problems of Mission Work BY ARTHUR JUDSON BROWN Secretary of the Board I present herewith to the Board and the Missions a report on mv second visit to China, Japan and Korea, in accordance with the Board’s action of March Ist, 1909, as follows: “Secretary Arthur J. Brown was appointed to-represent the Board at the Quarter Centennial of Protestant Missions in Korea next Sep- tember, under the offer of Mr. Lewis H. Severance to pay the expenses involved, referred to in the Board’s action of Nov. 16th, 1908. In view of the importance of the questions that.are pending, not only in Korea but in Japan and China, and the fact that Dr. Brown can visit these countries in connection with his Korea tour, the Board instructed him to plan for two weeks in Japan, four weeks in Korea, and four weeks in China, making a total absence from. New York of about four and a half months. While leaving Dr. Brown large discretion as to the way in which he can spend his time to the best advantage, the Board sug- gested that in Japan emphasis be placed upon a conference with repre- sentatives of both the East and West Japan Missions at Karuizawa, and with the leaders of the Japanese churches at Tokyo; that in Korea, while brief stops be made at other stations that are on or near the rail- road, emphasis be given to conferences at Seoul and Pyeng Yang; and that in China emphasis should be placed upon a joint conference of the East and West Shantung Missions at such point as may be mutually agreed upon, a conference with the North China Mission in Peking, and that a conference be held at Shanghai with all the members of the Central China Mission who may be conveniently available, and that the Hanan, Hunan, South China and Kiang-an Missions be requested to appoint two delegates each to this conference; the necessary expenses of stich delegates to be met by the Board unless the Missions can pro- vide them under their appropriations.” The Korea Missions afterwards abandoned the plan for a united observance of the quarter centennial of their work 5 but the Board felt that the main reasons for a secretarial visit to 2 the Far East were independent of this change and the tour was therefore carried out as planned. The kindness of Mr. Severance in providing for the expenses of my journey, including the conferences and related official du- ties, was generously supplemented by a personal gift from Mr. and Mrs. John S. Kennedy in order that Mrs. Brown might ac- company me. It was a deep sorrow to learn near the conclu- sion of the trip that Mr. Kennedy had passed away. It would not be proper for me in this report to attempt to state all that the loss of such a man means to the Church at large or to those of us who were close to ‘him in the circle of intimate friendship. He was a man of remarkable ability and force of character, a Christian of eminent faith and consecration, and a philanthro- pist of world-wide vision. His bequests inaugurate a new era in giving, not only by their princely munificence but by their freedom from all personal conditions. Mr. Kennedy, realizing that he had not had opportunity. personally to visit and study all our work on the field, was wise enough and great enough to leave to the expert and responsible administrators of the enter- prise which he aided the decision as to how his money could be used to the best advantage. THE JOURNEY. We left New York July 27th, proceeding by rail to San Fran- cisco and thence by steamer to Japan, arriving at Yokohama August 22nd. We spent fifteen days in Japan. As the country is not large and as the railway service is excellent, considerable ground was covered within this period. We went directly to Karuizawa, where the East and West Japan Missions had arranged to hold their annual meetings and where we also found The Council of Missions Co-operating with the Church of Christ. Many missionaries of other Societies were also present, as Karuizawa is a mountain summer resort to which large numbers of missionaries go for their vacations. There was said to be a missionary community of 800 at the time we were there. Three full days, and I might almost add nights, were devoted to conferences with the Council of Missions, our own East and West Japan Missions and representative mis- sionaries of other communions. Leaving Karuizawa, we stopped for a day at Nikko to see the temples and shrines which are so characteristic of Japan, and then we visited in turn Tokyo, Tsu, Yamada, Kyoto and Osaka. A day in Tokyo was devoted to a conference with Japanese leaders of the Church of Christ in eastern Japan, and another day in Osaka to a conference with Japanese leaders of western Japan. I secured valuable information on many questions at these conferences. Our fifteen days in Japan ended at Shim- onoseki, where we took the steamer across the Korea Strait and arrived at Fusan, Korea, September 6th. We spent twenty-five days in Korea, travelling the entire length of the country from Fusan to Wi-ju, and visiting all the stations of the Mission except Kang Kai, which is so far from the railway that nearly a month would have been required for a visit. The Korea Mission and the General Council representing the four Presbyterian bodies operating in Korea were as- sembled at Pyeng Yang, and several days were spent in confer- ences with these important bodies. Conferences were also held with the missionaries of the various stations, as we visited them after the adjournment of the Mission meeting, and at each place we also met the Korean Christians and their leaders. October Ist, we arrived at An-tung on the Yalu River, and took the light, narrow gauge railway, built by the Japanese dur- ing the Russia-Japan War, to Mukden. This journey of 188 miles occupied two days, as the road was poorly aiid hastily constructed during the. war and the trains make only about seven or eight miles an hour and stop for the night at a half- way station. In spite of the discomforts of the trip, the jour- 4 ney was an interesting one, not only because of its scenic beau- ties, but because the line follows for a considerable part of the way the route of Russian retreat and Japanese advance. A brief visit to the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian Stations at Mukden, the ancient capital of Manchuria, was followed by visits to our recently established stations at Dalny, now known as Dairen, and Port Arthur, where we conferred with the missionaries re- garding the problems of our mission work and opportunity among the Japanese in lower Manchuria. We then travelled by railway via New Chwang to Peking, where conferences were held with the North China Mission and with representative leaders of the Chinese Churclies. Then we visited the other two stations of our North China Mission, Paoting-fu and Shunte-fu, proceeding south by rail to Hankow, where we were most hospitably received by the missionaries of that great center of population and influence. Hankow is the heart of middle China and my regret that we have no station there is mitigated by the knowledge that the cause of Christ is ably represented by a splendid body of missionaries of severai other Societies, British and American. A delightful ride of a day and two nights down the Yang- tsze River in a comfortable steamer brought us to Nanking. The new and well equipped railway from Nanking to Shanghai runs via Soochow, so that after our visit to the excellent mis- sion work in the former capital and now vice-regal city, we were able to reach Soochow in five and a half hours. When we resumed our journey, two and a quarter hours brought us to Shanghai, where eight days were spent, chiefly in conferences with the large number of missionaries and Chinese ministers and elders. The Central China Mission was, of course, present in force, and there were also delegates from the Kiang-an, Hunan, Hainan and South China Missions, making this confer- ence a broadly representative one. The conference with the Chinese leaders was also largely attended. From Shanghai we proceeded by steamer to Tsing-tau, a stormy trip lengthening the usual voyage of thirty-two hours to forty-six. Two weeks were spent in the great Province of Shantung, half of this time being devoted to conferences with the East and West Shantung Missions and the Chinese leaders assembled at Wei-hsien, our largest station in China and the seat of the Arts College of the Shantung Christian University. Then we visited the union Theological College and Normal School of the Shantung Christian University at the English Baptist Station of Tsing-chou-fu. After this we went on to Tsinan-fu, the capital of this populous and influential Province, where the joint work of Presbyterians and English Baptists pre- 5 sents features of extraordinary interest. It seemed strange to return from Tsinan-fu to Tsing-tau in one day in a comfortable railway cat and to eat an excellent beefsteak dinner cook- ed on the train and served in our compartment, when only eight years before, I had plodded for ten days in a mule-litter to cover the same distance. Tsing-tau thas become one of the handsomest modern cities in the Far East, and our station is developing a good work. Twenty hours by steamer should have landed us at Chefoo, but one of the sudden gales, for which these seas are notorious, sprung up. Our steamer anchored a mile out in the open road- stead, and we were lowered by ropes into the small, flat-bottom- ed sculling boats called sampans, which rose and fell fifteen to twenty feet and pitched and rolled and slammed against one an- other and the steamer’s side in a most interesting way. How- ever, we finally got ashore without mishap, and were amazed at the growth of the city since our former visit. From Chefoo, twenty-three hours over a smooth sea brought us to the famous, or infamous, Taku Bar, where we lay twelve hours lightering our load and waiting for high tide, so that it was one o'clock the next day when we reached Tien-tsin. Train connections enabled us to spend another day with our mission- aries in Peking before starting for home. Leaving the capital Monday at 7:20 P. M., and changing cars at Mukdei, Chang- chun and Harbin in Manchuria and at Irkutsk in Siberia, we arrived in Moscow the second Friday morning. The journey through Siberia, Russia and Germany, while extremely inter- esting to us and abounding in impressions of which I may write separately, was uneventful from the view-point of this report, and we reached New York December 2ist, after an absence of five months lacking six days. The fact that such a trip around the world, with fifteen days in Japan, twenty-five in Korea and fifty-six in China, was pos- sible within the limits of a five months’ absence from New York is a striking illustration of modern facilities for travel; and it appears almost startling when we remember that mission- aries in China who are now living, like the Rev. Dr. Hunter Corbett, were a longer time in reaching their fields a generation ago than we spent on our entire journey. Their haidships in wretchedly uncomfortable sailing vessels were great, but ours were not warth mentioning. The most trying experience of the entire world circuit was caused by the sultry July heat in trav- elling from New York to San Francisco. The strain of the trip was due to the conferences, addresses and other work which I had to do, rather than to anything incident to the tour itself. We returned with abundant reason for gratitude to God who 6 watched over us on our journeyings, so that we suffered neither illness nor accident. We only regret that the necessary limits of the tour made it impracticable to visit again the other Mis- sions in Asia which were included in our longer tour in I9oI and 1902. SCOPE AND METHOD OF INQUIRY. The modern foreign missionary enterprise is highly com- plex. It includes not only the immediate proclamation of the Gospel, but all the varied forms of work which are involved in the establishment and development of a Christian Church and the practical outworkings of the Gospel in human society. It is trite to say that our work is conducted along four lines, evangelistic, educational, medical and literary ; but each of these represents many kinds of effort and institutions of different kinds. Moreover, the foreign missionary enterprise is affected by the political, social and intellectual changes which are taking place in the Far East and it is in turn influencing those changes. Indeed, this enterprise has been one of the potent factors in creating the extraordinary situation which exists today. No one can understand modern Missions without understanding, to some extent at least, the peoples among whom missionary work is conducted—their traditions, social customs, religious beliefs, the attitude of officials, the new forces which are oper- ating upon them, and the wide variety of problems and rela- tions which are involved. An undertaking which proposes to reconstruct the character of enormous and alien populations, and which involves the transformation of society and a new di- rection of human life inevitably raises problems more profound and complicated than any other known to man. Accordingly, I sought information not only from mission- aries of our own and other Boards, but from native Christians, consuls, business men, officials, educators, and in geueral from anyone and everyone whom I could meet. These interviews were with men of all classes and conditions, from Prince Ito of Japan, and my long interview with him in Tokyo was probably one of the last interviews he had with a foreigner before his la- mented assassination, down through officials of various grades —governors, commissioners, army officers, teachers, residents, to common peasants. The following considerations were emphasized at all of ‘the conferences: First. That I came not as a teacher but as a student. I ad- mitted that I had some opinions on assorted subjects; but that my object in visiting Asia was not to promulgate them, but Ze rather to ascertain the opinions of those who are on the field, mindful of Bacon’s aphorism: “He that questioneth much shall learn much.” Second. That all the policies and methods of the Board are subject to change, if conditions render change advisable. The work is not conducted in the interest of Manual regulations, but Manual regulations are in the interests of the work. When the Board makes a ruling, it is because the information before it at the time leads it to believe that a certain decision is the wis- est one; but if later information shows that a different course is advisable, the Board will unhesitatingly modify or reverse its former action. Third. That I desired discussion of the large and permanent aspects of the work as distinguished from the small and tem- porary ones. Particular questions of detail could be handled by correspondence, but questions of policy needed careful and united study. I urged that we face the basal questions of pol- icies, methods and conditions, frankly note defects and failures both in the Board and in the Missions, and consider what im- provements might be made. I wished to confer also about the anxious problems resulting from the growing Asiatic spirit of self-consciousness and independence and the vast intellectual, social, commercial and political changes which are so swiftly taking place. This is a period of transition. What does it in- volve? Are we meeting it wisely? What should the mission- aries do? What should the Board and the Home Church do? Surely Christ’s question: “Can ye not discern the signs of the time?” was never more pertinent and peremptory. While there were some questions which should be discussed by ourselves as Presbyterians, there were others, including some of the larger ones, which are common to the work of all evangelical bodies. I coveted the broader outlook and the ampler wisdom which would be afforded by a general assem- blage of men and women of different churches and national- ities. I therefore asked for union conferences to which mis- sionaries of all communions might be invited. Questions of comity and co-operation are assuming larger proportions both at home and abroad. Foreign missionary workers are leading in the effort to bring the people of God together, and I was eager to get into closer touch with movements which command my strong sympathies and hearty support. Many missionaries suggested that I give them some idea in advance of the topics which I desired to have discussed in the conferences. I recognized the reasonableness of this sugges- tion and drew up the following rough outline of questions upon which I sought opinions: 8 I, THE NATIVE CHURCH. 1. What is your opinion as to the fitness of the Native Church for a larger measure of self-government? 2. What steps ought to be taken to develop more fully the qualities which are essential to proper self-government? 3. Do our present methods give sufficient scope to the Na- tive Church? 4. Are our present methods likely to attract a high class of natives to enter the ministry? 5. Is your aim to establish a self-supporting, self-propagat- ing and self-governing Native Church really dominating your policy and methods? 6. Are you working harmoniously with the Native Church ? 7. To what extent are you teaching thé Native Church the distinctive tenets of Presbyterianism as distinguished from those tenets which are the common belief of evangelical Chris- tians ? 8. Are our Western creeds and forms of government the best for the Native Church? 9. What are the essential elements of a creed and policy which the Native Church shows signs of emphasizing? 10. Should the. direct giving of the Gospel to the unevan- gelized be more largely done by native Christians so that mis- sionaries shall more and more become organizers and trainers of native evangelists and other leaders? 11. Should missionaries be members of the Native Church and its judicatories and should native leaders be members of the Mission? II. THE MISSION. 1. Is the present Mission organization sufficiently effective? 2. How is the plan of an Executive Committee working and is any development of the plan advisable? 3. Is it desirable to set apart an experienced member of the Mission as Chairman of the Mission Executive Committee, free him from local station work and charge him with such general duties for the whole mission as may be assigned him. 4. Where do you most need more money? (a) Salaries, (b) children’s allowances, (c) home allowances, (d) property, (e) reinforcements, (f) current work. 5. Would you prefer a system of graded salaries for mis- sionaries, i. €., a minimum salary for the first term, a larger salary for the second term, and a maximum salary for the third and subsequent terms? 9 6. Has the Mission any definite policy and method for se- curing a more adequate supply of native ministers, evangelists and teachers? Are our schools sufficiently emphasizing this need, and are they succeeding? 7. What is your policy regarding the employment of non- Christian teachers in mission schools? How many such teach- ers are you employing? 8. What specific rules have you regarding the relation of missionaries to consular and diplomatic officials and interfer- ence of missionaries in native courts in behalf of native Chris- tians ? 9g. What specific regulations have you regarding: (a) Fees in hospitals and dispensaries ? (b) Tuition or other fees in schools? (c) Grants in aid to native congregations? 10. Can you improve your annual and statistical reports and quarterly letters so that they will be more helpful to the Board in increasing the interest of the home Church? 11. How can the Missions co-operate more effectively with the increasing numbers of ministers and laymen who are visit- ing the foreign field? ill, THE BOARD, 1. Is the present policy too paternal? 2. What classes of questions should the Mission settle for themselves which they now refer to the Board? 3. Shall the Board rescind the first section of Paragraph 49 of the Manual, reduce the regular appropriations at the be- ginning of the fiscal year to a sum equal to estimated undesig- nated gifts, and then appropriate special object gifts as extras as the Board receives them? 4. Should the Board, if able to do so, send out large rein- forcements, or should it send a comparatively small number of picked men and women? 5. Should reinforcements be sent when the money is not in sight for houses and for the advanced work which the new mis- sionaries would represent? 6. What have you to suggest to the Board regarding the training of candidates for missionary appointment and the con- ferences which the Board holds with newly appointed mission- aries? 7. What are the defects in the Board’s policy and methods, apart from those involved in preceding questions, and what im- provements do you suggest? 10 IV. UNION AND COMITY. 1. What plans for closer federation are in progress? _ 2. How can comity and co-operation be more effectively promoted so that duplication may be avoided and men and money used to the best advantage? 3. How is union in educational, medical and literary work progressing? 4. Should there be union schools for the education of the children of missionaries, and if so, where, how conducted, and how supported? 5. Should hostels for women students be established at the large educational centres? V. OTHER QUESTIONS. 1. How is your work being affected by the rapidly chang- ing social, political, commercial and intellectual conditions in Asia and the growing spirit of Asiatic independence and self- consciousness ? 2. What is the solution of the problem of the increased cost of living both at home and abroad? 3. Can the medical work be more largely supported locally, not only by the fees of patients but by contributions of people of the city in which the work is situated, so as to liberate pres- ent appropriations for other work? 4. Should larger effort be made to endow our institutions for higher education, so as to liberate the appropriations now made for them for other work and at the same time give these institutions a more adequate and stable support? 5. What suggestions have you to maké as to the service which the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh can ren- der the work on the field? 6. Do you desire any changes in the furlough and term of service regulations ? 7. What is the duty of the missionary enterprise regarding the application of the Gospel of Christ to social conditions? 8. Should such application be made by the Church itself as an integral part of its duty and work, or should it be made by societies separately organized? 9. How far can the undenominational and interdenomina- tional agencies of Europe and America be helpful by organiz- ing auxiliaries in Asia? io. Are the spiritual character and objects of mission work kept sufficiently in mind? 11. Do the spirit of prayer, of brotherly love and of humble and trustful reliance upon God, and the presence and guidance of Christ sufficiently characterize our work? II 12, What is there that hinders a larger manifestation of the power of God in our work? We did not attempt to cover every one of these questions in each conference. Selections were made, usually by a commit- tee of missionaries who often added questions on special topics which they wished to have discussed. Experienced mission- aries were chosen to preside over the conferences with mission- aries, and native Christian leaders to preside over the confer- ences with the native ministers and elders.. These couferences, carefully planned and wisely conducted by the devoted workers on the field, pervaded by the spirit of humble reliance upon God, and marked by a willingness to put aside pride of position and prejudice of will and to receive what God might reveal to us, did much to clarify our ideas, to fix more firmly in cur minds the great aims which we are seeking to attain, and to help to improve the methods by which we seek them. It is of the ut- most importance that the Board, the Missions and the Native Church should understand one another and work to a common end, and how can we do this unless we take counsel together, have the mind of Christ, and are obedient to His leadership? The opportunity which these conferences afforded the mis- sionaries and the native pastors and elders for a free expression of their views was very valuable to me. The information that I gathered from the discussion of these and other questions was abundant; far more abundant, indeed, than it will be possible for me to indicate within the limits of this report. Adequate treatment of some of the subjects would require lengthy mono- graphs. It should be borne in mind that this Report is intended for the Board and the Missions, and not for the general public. It would be impracticable to include there all the material that I gathered, or to discuss all the questions which the Far East presents today. Accounts of mission work are presented with fullness of detail in other publications which are easily access- ible. Much that I have to say on many phases of the Far East- ern situation in its political, intellectual, economic and religious aspects, I hope to put in a revised and enlarged edition of my book on China (‘““New Forces in Old China”) and in a new volume which I am preparing on Korea and Japan. The pres- ent Report therefore deals chiefly and in rather a tentative way with problems and phases of the situation which more immedi- ately affect our missionary work and relationships, and the ab- sence of fuller discussions of certain interesting and important topics’ should not lead the reader to feel that they have been overlooked. Nor should any conclusions on the subjects which I do discuss be understood as committing either the Board or 12 the Missions. My report is to them, and it states my own in- terpretation of what I saw and heard and my judgment there- on. The Board will not see it until it is in print. I may only add that it appears wise to omit from this printed report many questions of detail which relate to special needs and difficulties in particular stations. Much time was necessar- ily devoted to questions of this sort; but some of them are con- fidential in character, and as far as they require consideration by the Board they may be more wisely handled separately in connection with the regular meetings of the Board. I have al- ready made some recommendations regarding property and reinforcements in various places, and intend to make others from time to time. FUNDAMENTAL DISTINCTIONS. The dominant problems of Japan, Korea and China differ widely. There are, of course, many things in common in these lands. Missionaries of the same ability and devotion are preach- ing the Gospel, conducting schools and hospitais, planting churches, training native workers, and faithfully discharging the other duties incident to foreign missionary work. There are some respects, too, in which the general transformation that is taking place in the Far East raises questions of common char- acter which affect all our stations. Nevertheless, there are cer- tain psychological distinctions which must be borne in mind if the local problems of these three countries are to be rightly understood. The key idea of Japan is solidarity. The individual is noth- ing; the nation is everything. The Japanese people move as a unit in politics, in war, in commerce and in the activities of their daily lives. Baron Kikuchi, President of the Imperial University at Kyoto, in a recent address emphasized the unity of the nation through a traditional succession of twenty-five unbroken centuries of a single dynasty in relation to a people who regard it with profound veneration. No one can under- stand the Japanese who does not perceive this remarkable one- ness. No one can really influence them who fails to recognize this historic relation of modern Japan to ancestral Japan, the relation of the ancestors of the people to the ancestors of the Imperial House. It is not simply the relation of present Japan to its ancestors, but of many centuries of Japanese to many centuries of Imperial Rulers. It is the solidarity of a nation persisting through the ages, a solemn, mystical and yet tremen- dously real and vital fact. What we do in Japan we must do without cutting the roots of this relationship to the mighty past. The submergence of the individual in the mass, the knitting of 13 the entire body of the people into one communalistic system, has no parallel in history unless it be among the ancient Peruvians. This may be partly due to the fact that feudalism continued in Japan until a later period than in any other nation, having been abolished indeed only a few decades ago. But while feudalism has disappeared as a political system, it has really been merged into the larger and more absolute feudalism of the State, one vast system having taken the place of several smaller ones. The key idea of China is just the opposite of this; it is indi- vidualism. There is a conspicuous absence of centralization. The Emperor is traditionally venerated as the Son of Heaven; but the people regard him as an alien Manchu and they chafe under his rule. The nation is honey-combed with anti-dynastic societies which are continually plotting the overthrow of the Manchus and the re-establishment of a Chinese dynasty. This individualism extends to local affairs. It is a general rule that Chinese officials shall not hold office in their home cities and that they shall be shifted every few years. The result is that the average official is a stranger to the people whom he rules. They care nothing for him, knowing that his stay will be brief, that he will get all he can out of them, and then go somewhere else. Thus there is none of that sense of national unity which is so evident in Japan. The people of the South know little and care less about the people of the North. The inhabitants of Szechuan are almost as far removed in sympathy from those of Fuh-kien as Russians from British. If a war breaks out, the nation as a whole is indifferent; it is simply a matter for the Peking officials and the governors of the Provinces attacked. Probably many of the Chinese people never knew that there was a war between China and Japan in 1894, and those who did know cared little more than if the war had been between Ger- many and Japan. Ifa foreign Power were to obtain possession of a Japanese port, it would not be able to hire a coolie in all Japan to fortify it; but when the Germans seized Kiao-chou Bay, although the Province of Shantung was thrown into great alarm, the German Admiral had no difficulty in employing thousands of Chinese to make the German position impregnable against the Chinese. In like manner the Russians, when they took Port Arthur under an agreement which they extorted from the Chinese, found it easy to employ sixty thousand coolies to construct their defenses, while the foreign legations in Peking fortified themselves by the aid of Chinese laborers within rifle shot of the Imperial Palace. China is a loose aggregation of units rather than a solidified nation. The Governors and Vice- roys are virtually independent rulers who have their own mints, their own military force, and who do about as they please as 14 long as they send tribute to Peking. The Japanese Government directs its individual subjects and supports them in their enter- prises ; but the Government of China is less particular in this re- spect. It is every man for himself. Perhaps this is due in part to the density of population which makes the struggle for exist- ence fiercer than anywhere else and develops a callous selfish- ness as well as a spirit of self-reliance. This individualism is one of the reasons why the present transformation in China is beset by such uncertainties. The new influences which are at work are affecting the essential genius of Chinese life. They are revolutionizing fundamental thoughts and relationships. Railways and telegraphs are making possible intercommunica- tion anda knowledge of other parts of the Empire and are tend- ing to develop a consciousness of unity which have never exist- ed before. What the immediate result will be it is difficult to forecast. The individualism of the Chinese, however, affords more hope for the ultimate outcome than in Japan. The reform now in progress in China is essentially a movement of the people. The Government is not leading it, is indeed far behind. A popular movement on so vast a scale will probably prove as irresistible as the similar movement was in Europe. It will mean that the new order, when once established, will be firmly based on the consent of the nation. In Japan, on the other hand, the Government is leading the reform, and the masses of the people are far in the rear. History shows that such a situation is not altogether reassuring. It is a great thing for new ideas to have the prestige of official leadership; but a great population of common people has an inertia which is hard to move, while the death of an Emperor or changes in the Cabinet might at any time result in an alteration of policy. The attitude of the present Government and the large number of men in the upper classes who have caught the spirit of the mod- ern world encourage the hope that no reaction will set in; but if it ever should come, the solidarity of the nation will make it a serious matter. The key idea of Korea is not so easily stated in one word. We might call it subjectivity. The people are less virile, less ambitious, less independent in spirit. They revere their Em- peror in a general sort of way, but with little of that passionate devotion which characterizes the Japanese. Any Japanese will gladly give his life for his Emperor. Indeed he is eager to do so, and this is one reason why Japan is such a formidable mili- tary power. The entire nation fights, and fights to the death for the Emperor whom it loves and worships. Such a senti- ment is utterly foreign to the Chinese mind. The Korean occu- 15 pies rather a middle position in this respect. Some Korean offi- cials committed suicide when their Emperor was humiliated ; but that spirit does not characterize the people as a whole. Even in the most patriotic Korean, the feeling is rather one of wounded national pride because a foreigner rules, than of spe- cial attachment to the Emperor. The Korean has so long been oppressed, he feels so helpless between the mighty nations about him, that he has settled into almost apathetic despair. The decisive methods of the Japanese are doing much to stir the Koreans out of this apathy, but it still prevails to a marked de- gree. The Korean temperament, too, is more emotional than that of the Japanese or Chinese. It is comparatively easy to reach his heart and to arouse his sympathies. This is one rea- son why Christianity has made more rapid progress in Korea than in either China or Japan. There is little of the virile am- bition of the Japanese, little of the self-satisfied superiority of the Chinese. The influences that hold men back from the Gos- pel are far less strong in Korea than in China or Japan. It might reasonably be expected therefore that a given expenditure of money and a given force of missionaries would achieve re- sults more quickly in Korea than among the neighboring na- tions. There are of course other and more important reasons for evangelistic success in Korea; but this temperamental con- dition is a differentiating factor. National ambitions also differ. The desire of the Japanese is to be the leading Power in the Far East; the desire of the Chinese is to be let alone; the desire of the Koreans just now is for independence. It is pathetic to see them flock to the Sal- vation Army officers who have recently gone to Korea. They feel, in a half childish way, that the drums and fifes and mili- tary imagery mean something which will help them against the common enemy. I am aware of the limitations of the distinctions which have been indicated. It would be easy to specify exceptions in each country, but I am now considering the peoples as a whole, and these fundamental distinctions run deep and affect many prob- lems of mission work. JAPAN. THE PROBLEM OF MISSIONARY RELATIONSHIP TO AN IMPERIAL NATION AND A SELF-GOVERNING NATIVE CHURCH. Japan is in some respects one of the most attractive countries in the world. One who has visited it can never forget the charm of its hospitality, the neatness of the homes and villages, and the courageous energy with which the people are grappling with their new and difficult problems. Evidences of the new life B 16 which is stirring the nation are apparent on every hand. Tokyo, the intellectual and political centre of the nation, has become one of the influential cities of the world. Osaka is the centre of the new industrial Japan and there the commercial and manufacturing enterprises of the country may be seen on a large scale. The occasional traveler too often neglects this city, which is one of the most distinctive cities of modern Japan. Kyoto continues to be the artistic and Buddhistic heart of Japan. One does not expect to see much change in the sacred Shinto city of Yamada, or the shrines and temples of scenic and historic Nikko; but even there the traveler finds indications of progress. The new highway, three miles in length, connecting the two Shinto shrines at Yamada, is not surpassed by any road in Europe. Everywhere the traveler is charmed by the beauty of the scenery. There is no more attractive country in the world than this land of mountains and valleys, of streams and gardens. A journey through Japan is a succession of delights to the lover of nature, and even the humid heat of a Japanese August cari be uncomplainingly borne when one can look upon scenes worth going far to see. The contrast between the Japan of today and the Japan which I found nine years ago is not so immediately apparent as one might imagine. Visibly there is comparatively little change. The charm of Japanese scenery is still unmarred, save in a few places, by the crass materialism which in America lines our railways with huge signs advertising cathartics, bile beans, soothing syrup, and pink pills for pale people. Japanese archi- tecture is the same, save that here and there a new public build- ing is of foreign style. Increasing numbers of educated men wear European dress; but the native garments still predominate on the streets. The railway service is excellent ;:but the jin- rickisha still awaits the traveler at every station, and the bare- legged runner swiftly draws him over the smooth streets and between the long rows of narrow shops with their picturesque signs. The visitor can easily find external signs of changing conditions if he looks for them; and in some instances they ob- trude themselves. Nevertheless, Japan, to the eye, is still Japan —the most beautiful land of northern Asia. But as one moves among the people, he becomes conscious of subtler changes. Nine years ago, I found a militant Japan. The people had not recovered from their rage and chagrin over Russia’s seizure of Port Arthur and Manchuria, thus depriving them of the hard-won fruits of the China-Japan War of 1894. The nation was thinking of revenge. It realized too that Rus- sian aggressions must result in war. It was therefore drilling soldiers, building warships and accumulating military stores. 17 The Japan of to-day is not less militant than the Japan of former years. It understands perfectly that the Russians will not permanently acquiesce in the stinging defeat which was in- flicted upon them. The Japanese know that the Koreans hate them and that the Chinese are jealous of them. They know, too, that many foreigners throughout the Far East aie suspici- ous of them. They discern, moreover, that the position which they have now won in the world in general and in the Far East in particular is one which can be held only by mililary force. The Japanese, therefore, are maintaining their army and navy at a high stage of efficiency. They do not need as large a stand- ing army as some other nations, for in Japan practically every able-bodied man receives military training, and after his return to civil life, is amenable to his country’s call at any tine. One hears many stories to the effect that enormous stores of muni- tions of war are being accumulated. It is difficult to tell how far this is true; but no one doubts that the Japanese are keeping themselves in first-class military condition, just as the British, the Germans and the French are keeping themselves, and as a strong party wishes to keep the United States. All this is na~- tural as conditions now are. But Japan, while not less military, is more commercial than formerly. It understands that war is costly business. It spent $585,000,000 in the Russia-Japan War, and the nation is stag- gering under the enormous debt of $1,125,153,411, or $21.50 per capita. People have to pay from twenty to thirty per cent. of their incomes for taxes and a Tokyo paper (the Kokumin Shimfun) says that “the heavy debts of Japan are inore than the nation can endure.” Japan realizes that its material re- sources are greatly inferior to those of most other first-class powers, and that the position and ambitions of the nation re- quire wealth as well as an army and navy. The Japanese cannot get this wealth by agriculture; for not only is Japan a comparatively small country territorially, but only about twelve per cent. of its area is easily susceptible of cultivation. It is a land of hills and mountains. The valleys are usually rich, but they are not extensive, and there are no vast stretches of rich prairie soil like those in Manchuria and the western part of the United States. So the Japanese have entered upon a period of commercial and industrial development. They have studied to good effect the example of England and are trying to make themselves a manufacturing people. Trade is being fostered on a large scale. Factories, the best modern machinery, extensive shipping inter- ests, and great business enterprises testify to the zeal with which the Japanese are entering the sphere of commercial activ- 18 ity. When one considers the contempt with which trade was re- garded by feudal Japan only a few decades ago, he is amazed by the skill and persistence with which the new Japan is striv- ing for the mastery in the markets of the world. It is not easy for the white races to compete with them. The Japanese al- ready lead in the trade of the Pacific Ocean, and dominate that of Korea and Manchuria. They are competing with foreign and Chinese steamship lines on the Yang-tsze River to Hankow, planting their colonies in every port city of the Far East, and running their steamships to America, India and Australia. The advantages of Japan in this commercial rivalry are short haul, cheap labor, control of transportation lines both by land and sea, an-l government subsidies. Several of the great enter- prises of modern Japan are controlled either directly or indi- rectly by the Government. In some instances, the Government owns them outright; in other instances high officials and mem- bers of the Imperial family are heavy stockholders. The Finan- cial and Economic Annual issued by the Government states that in 1905, out of a total of 4,783 miles, the State owned and oper- ated 1,531 miles of railway. By the railway nationalization law and the railway purchase law, passed in March, 1906, the Gov- ernment acquired ownership and control of all the lines in the country, with the exception of a few of relatively little import- ance. Its holdings now represent about ninety per cent. of the total mileage. Payment for the lines purchased is to be made by public loan bonds aggregating nearly $250,000,000. The Japanese people are moving as a unit in the furtherance of their commercial ambitions. The business man does not have to fight alone for foreign trade, as the American tradesman must. He has the backing of the nation. Allied industries support him. Shipping companies give him every possible advantage. He is, to use an American term, a part of an immense “trust,” only the trust is a government instead of a corporation. I heard much criticism of Japanese commercial methods. European and American business men spoke with great bitter- ness of their unfairness. They alleged that Japanese firms ob- tain railway rebates; that transportation lines are so managed that Japanese firms have their freight promptly forwarded while foreign firms are subject to ruinous delays; that foreign labels and trade-marks are placed upon inferior goods, so that it is difficult to sell a genuine brand to an Asiatic, as the latter believes that he can get the same brand from a Japanese at a lower price. They also alleged that foreign traders in Manchuria are compelled to pay full duties upon all goods, but that the Japanese, through their absolute control of the only railway, are able to evade the customs. It was said that of twelve mil- 19 lion dollars’ worth of Japanese goods which went into Dairen last year, only three million dollars’ worth paid duty. For a long time, Japanese goods were poured into Manchuria at An- tung on the Yalu River. Then foreign Powers encouraged the Chinese to place an inspector of the Imperial Chinese Customs at An-tung. The Japanese could not oppose this, but they did their best to have a Japanese inspector chosen. An American in the Customs Service, however, was appointed. [His experi- ence in endeavoring to enforce the laws against the Japanese would make interesting reading, if it is ever published. The rage and chagrin of European and American business men in the Far East can better be imagined than described. A Jisgusted foreigner declared to me that there is not a white man in the Far East, except those who are in the employ of the Japanese, who are friendly toward them, and that their domi- nant characteristics are “conceit and deceit.” He denied not onlyethe honesty but even the courage of the Japanese, insisting that the capture of Port Arthur was not due to the bravery of the assailants, but to the incompetence of the defenders. He said that the Russian soldiers were as heroic as any in the world; but that their officers were drunkards and debauchees, and that the War Department, which should have sustained them, was rotten with corruption. He stated that at the battle of Liao Yang, both Russian and Japanese Generals gave the or- der for retreat at about the same time, each feeling that the battle was lost; but that the Russian regiments received their order first, and that as the Japanese saw them retreat, they moved forward. He held that the anti-Japanese agitation in the public schools of San Francisco was secretly fomented and made an international incident by the Japanese themselves, in order to divert attention from what they were doing in Man- churia ; and more to the same effect. I have cited these opinions as they are illustrative of many that I heard in the Far East. I need hardly say that I regard them as unjust. Their very bitterness indicates the prejudice which gave some of them birth and added exaggeration to others. Even if they are all true, the Japanese are simply doing what it is notorious that some American corporations have been doing for years. Rebates, adulteration, evasion of customs, short weight, unfair crushing of competitors, and kindred methods, are not so unfamiliar to Americans that they need lift hands of holy horror when they hear about them in Asia. The fact is that the white trader has had, until recently, his own way in the Far East. He has cajoled and bullied and 20 threatened and bribed the Asiatic to his heart’s content and his pocket’s enrichment. He has dominated the markets, charged what prices he pleased, and reaped enormous profits. When he has gotten into trouble with local authorities, he has called upon his Government to help him out of the scrape. The story of the dealing of western nations in Asia includes some of the most disgraceful incidents in history. Now, for the first time, the white man finds himself face to face with an Asiatic who can beat him at his own game. The Japanese are commercially ambitious and want those rich mar- kets for themselves. They are going after them and getting them. It is rather late in the day for white men to go into par- oxysms of grief and indignation over commercial methods which they themselves have long practiced. I do not mean to be understood as excusing such methods in the Japanese or anyone else. I am simply calling attention to the fact that the Japanese are a strong, alert, aggressive and ambitious people, who have precisely those ambitions for su- premacy which characterize white men. The Japanese are developing almost as much of a colonizing spirit as the Chinese. Like the latter, they are seeking distant lands, and like them, too, they are succeeding in them. The pres- sure of population in Japan has already been noted. The Em- pire had 37,017,362 inhabitants in 1883 ; 39,607,254 in 1888; 41, 388,313 in 1893; 43,763,855 in 1898; 46,732,807 in 1903; 48, 649,583 in 1906; and it now has 50,370,000 exclusive of For- mosa and Korea. The cost of living is rising. The init of soil productiveness has been reached and Japan has to import food for her people. Last year she purchased abroad 4,206,418 pi- culs of rice, chiefly from China, Siam and Burma, and 4,294,- 267 piculs of beans, the latter largely from Manchuria. She bought flour in the United States to make bread for her troops during the war, and her imports of this staple in the following year cost her $1,819,166. It will readily be understood that pos- session of Formosa, Korea and Lower Manchuria and a strong navy mean the very life of the nation. Japan’s new and rapidly enlarging foreign trade also involves the residence in other lands of some of her subjects. I have referred elsewhere in this report to the large Japanese popula- tion in Korea, Manchuria and the ports of China. Everyone knows about the large Japanese population in Formosa and the Hawaiian Islands. The following figures regarding the Japan- ese population in the United States have been furnished me by the Japanese Consul General in New York: 21 Under the Consulate General at New York: (comprising the 17 States of Maine, New Hampshire, Ver- mont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida; District of Columbia.) 0.0.0... ...cccccceee cee eee 3,469 Under the Consulate at Chicago: (comprising the 20 States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wis- consin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and In- Giany WErritOr ys, I ess sei a asaylqnes tie coeddd Wosisooes aesls aad hu bGokveraincen es 2,334 Under the Consulate General at San Francisco: (comprising the four States of California, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and two territories of New Mexico and Arizona)... 44,883 Under the Consulate at Portland: CState of OF On)). aan Socne geae a4 ceed alowauaiid ws cere ea ees 3,403 Under the Consulate at Seattle: (comprising the States of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Wash- ingtonand: Alaska): a S 3% bu ‘3 ° oO a () < a 6 ° 5 & oO [<2] a 231 20 3 5 0) 2] i] 4 2 | ge | ge | 2s wa ae BS pa s2| 10) (3 = | 2a | Bu | 3a ae) io 21) £ | 3] SB] Se ot] 127, 17 < on. | SB) Be a 41) 14 g | 2* | gt | 3 236, 76) 286, 50} “2 15} 530] 210, & 40| 932) 347} ® | 6,800] 2,344] 4,800 170] 2,079] 1,153] 9 7,500} 2,800} 5,200) 230) 2,804 841] ‘4 9,634] 3,426) 6,500) 255| 3,690, 1,086 13,569] 4,000! 9,114! 270) 4,793! 1,263 13,694} 4,480] 10,865 295| 5,481] 970 16,333] 5,986] 13,836 302) 6,491] 1,436 22/662} 6,197] 15,306 353| 7.916] 1.876] 486] 23.3561 6,295| 16,869 329] 9,756] 2, 410] 30,386| 7,320, 22,121 480} 21546] 2'811] 1,059) 44,587] 11,025| 35,262] 619| 5,153) 3,421] 1,009] 54,987| 16,721) 46,235] 787) 91654| 5.423] 2.078] 73,844] 19,336] 58.308 965|25,057| 6,532] 3,163| 96,443] 23,885| 72.676 86 The statistician of the Mission, Mr. Clark, summarizes the - most important items as follows: Twenty-five years ago, not one Christian; now 100,000 in our Church alone, of whom 25,057 are full communicant members. Last year in eleven months, 6,522 were baptized, a net in- crease of 27 per cent. The average net increase for thirteen years is 38 per cent. In eleven months of last year, the Church raised for all pur- poses Yen 162,150.34. Last year, in our 591 Church primary schools, 10,916 boys and 2,511 girls were studying. Three hundred and seven Korean Christian workers on sal- ary, 246 or 80 per cent. of whom are paid by the Cliurch, Including school teachers, of the 1,152 employees of the Church, 94 per cent. are supported without any foreign funds. Bible Study Classes were held at 800 different places with a total enrollment of 50,000, making one-half of our adherents attending such classes. The Rev. Dr. H. G. Underwood, of Seoul, places the number of Christians in the whole country at 200,000. This figure must include catechumens; but these are really Christians in the sense in which the term is used in western lands. While our mission work is far the largest in Korca, that of other Boards is also being greatly blessed. The Rev. D. A. Bunker, of the Methodist Church, recently wrote to a friend: “Work along all lines goes forward rapidly, so fast that we can hardly keep within sight of the van. It is a great oppor- tunity for winning souls for Christ in this land, and we are all on the run to keep pace with the work we have in hand. The people of the Church of which I have charge in the city are carrying on home mission work in over 140 villages outside this city wall. Every Sunday, the members and the workers they have enlisted carry on regular .preaching in eleven mis- sion chapels. “Last Sunday, I was at one of these chapels and received twenty-three probationers. The native pastor and myself are out among these chapels more than half our Sundays. At every chapel, there are candidates for baptism or full membership or probationship awaiting us. A few Sundays ago, at one chapel, I baptized six persons the average age of whom was above seventy. One husband was seventy-nine and his wife seventy-six. As result of revival meetings which the members of my Church have been carrying on for the past ten days, 611 new names have been added to the list of believers. Other churches are no whit behind in bringing in new believers.” 87 And these Korean Christians give and pray and study their Bibles and seek the conversion of others. Though they are among the most poverty-stricken people in the world, those in connection with our Mission support in full 588 of their pri- mary schools and 965 of their regular congregations. Their contributions for all purposes, including hospital fees, have increased as follows: (one yen equals 50 cents). TQO2 ih 2vawaoreiatasaraes yen 5,470.48 LQO3 2 vacnouw sa memos aK ee “6,583.30 TOGA sect il Gapee pcnlecein gle eee A “9,962.11 TOOS) cada: lneseuiawy Mineteate tow Us * 17,882.69 TOO g Aid. s qantas ve Msg Sete agg “ 33,349.89 1007), va. e en geeatned eee enas “49,189.73 1908) 4 sccww ene RPS w NE SEES “77,335.80 LOO oa diiweRescans inaewaw eatels “ 94,811.02 The wage of a Korean laborer is about twenty cents a day, as compared with $1.50 or $2.00 in the United States. Imagine then the significance of gifts in a single year aggregating yen 94,811.02, or sixty-four cents for every dollar given by the Board. A visitor interested in Sunday-school work was troubled be- cause he found what seemed to be a small proportion of chil- dren in the Sunday-schools. The fact was that the whole con- gregation of each group of believers was in Sunday-school studying the Word of God. Practically all the boys and girls were there; but scattered through the great assemblages with their parents, they were not so readily noticed by an American to whom a Sunday-school meant a gathering of children with only a handful of adults. Korea has the best kind of Sunday- schools, for they are congregational Bible schools. As for prayer, there is a family altar in every home and no meal is eaten without asking the blessing of God. The prayer meeting, like the Sunday-school, brings together all who are physically able to come. The Pyeng Yang prayer meeting has been often cescribed ; it is the largest in the world. ! attended the prayer meeting in the Yun Mot Kol Church in Seoul, It was a dark, rainy night. A Korean was to lead, and the people did not know that a traveler from the West would be present; but I found about 1,000 Christians assembled. No visitor, however distinguished, would bring out 1,200 American church members on prayer meeting night in any city in the United States, but 1,200 people packed the Syen Chyun Church the evening we spent there. It is worth going far to hear those Korean Christians pray. They bow with their faces to the floor and utter petitions as those who know what it is to have daily audience with God. This spirit of prayer and Bible study 88 pervades their daily lives. The Rev. F. S. Miller writes from our recently established station at Chung Ju: “We are in a mountain village in a rocky gully at the foot of Yellow Crane Mountain. These people appreciate the light and joy it brings into their dark homes. They have time to think and pray and study during the winter. They appreciate our visits, too. The little bands of Christians scattered through the mountains have a common bond of union with each other and with the great Church out in ca world, a bond that gives them a new vision, a new life. “Dr, Purviance is leveling off the south end of the hill, on whieh our station stands, for a hospital. As I walked over the site the other day, T noticed a niche in the bank and that it contained four Testaments and hymn books. Where in America do you find a band of workers taking Testaments and hymn books to work with them, I thought. Then I remembered how I had found one of my coolies on the top of a pass, resting by the side of his load and learning to read out of a copy of Mark’s Gospel. That was last year; this year when I came back from America, I heard him offer a helpful prayer in prayer-meeting, and. he is only about one year old in his Christian life. “As I stood thinking these things over, the men came around the bank, laid down their shovels and picks and asked me to lead their ‘rest time prayer meeting.’ Perhaps only half of them were Chris- tians, but all sat in respectful silence and bowed their heads in prayer. Not a few of those who are Christians were led to Christ when we erected our building two or three years ago.” An interesting phase of the evangelistic situation in Korea is the willingness of the churches to consider their. responsi- bilities toward others. Training classes have become a con- spicuous feature of the Korean work. They assemble the lead- ing Christians from a wide station area for. devout study and prayer. Beginning with one class of seven men in 1891, the classes have increased in numbers until in 1909, 743 classes enrolled 30,500 men and 11,334 women, a total of 42,812. Aliowing for individuals who attended more than one class, about thirty-nine per cent. of the Christians were in al least one class last year. All expenses are met by the Koreans themselves, who often come from considerable distances. It is not uncommon for men to walk two hundred miles to these classes, and in some instances they have come from an even greater distance. These men and women go back to their vil- lages to speak of Christ to their unconverted neighbors. The following extracts from recent letters from Dr. W. O. Johnson of Taiku, and the Rev. W. L. Swallen of Pyeng Yang, are samples of scores that I might cite from my regu- lar correspondence. The former writes: ‘‘The men’s class which has just closed was attended by 500 men. They came from all parts of the Province, and studied well. The spirit was fine. 250 men pledged enough days of preaching to equal the work of one man for nine years, and a large body of men 89 pledged themselves to begin each day with the petition to the Lord: ‘What wilt Thou have me do today?" Mr. Swallen writes: “Since you were with us here at Pyeng Yang, I have been over my field and visited every Church. Things are in good condition. The Church is waking up to a strenuous effort to take the Gospel to every house and every man and woman this year. I baptized 619 adults and 51 chil- dren. At a circuit class which I held for a week, 250 were present, all staying till the close of the last session. One evening was given to the subject of personal work, and an opportunity for pledging a number of days’ work during the year resulted im an aggregate of 2,700 days of preaching pledged. The helpers who had no time of their own to give pledged each a half month's salary. When these return to their churches, many more days of preaching to unbelievers will be pledged by those who were r.ot at the class. ‘An ox-load of 4,000 copies of Mark’s Gospel was sent to me during the class, and in less than half an hour they were ali gone. I had not sufficient to supply the demand. These Gos- pels are purchased by the Christians and given gratis to such as promise to read it. On returning home, I presented the sub- ject of personal work to my South Gate Church in the city, and two extra evangelists were provided for the year. I have a map of my territory made and every house is marked. The Gospel is going to reach every Korean this year.” Another and later letter includes the following: “I have just returned from a class at Syen Chyun where there were 1,400 present. 3,300 copies of Mark’s Gospel were purchased by the Christians to give away in their preaching to unbelievers. Af- ter an address on the subject of tithing, several hundred de- cided hereaiter to give the tenth to the Lord. At the close of a sermon on Rom, 12: 1-2, over 400 stood up and solemnly dedicated themselves wholly to the Lord. I never was in a more blessed meeting.’ From every part of the country come in good reports of what the Lord is doing. A colporteur, while coming into the city from ten miles out, counted 400 men who had received a Gospel. Men coming in from churches where they were having a week of Bible study say that the churches are crowded with new believers. In some instances, the con- gregations are coubled and people are standing outside the doors listening to the Gospel.” Nor is the thought of the Korean Christians confined to their immecliate neighborhoods. One of the seven men ordained September-17, 1907, Yi i Poung, was set aside as a mission- ary to the island of Quelpart, the Church to provide his ex- penses and support. It is interesting to note that this first Ko- go rean missionary was a man who stoned Dr. Moffett on the streets of Pyeng Yang nineteen years ago. Korean Christians are now earnestly considering whether they ought tu assist in the evangelization of the Chinese, particularly those who are on their northern border in Manchuria. Mr. Miller says that one day he happene:l to hear a Korean praying in church, and this was the petition: “O Lord, we are a despised people, the weakest nation on the earth. But thou art a God who choosest the despised things. Wilt thou use this nation to show forth Thy glory in Asia.” Mr. Miller adds: “We believe that prayer is being answered before our eyes. If the poor in spirit, the weak, they that mourn, and the peacemakers are blessed be- yond the self-satisfied, the proud and exultant, then Korea is blessed of God. To the fleshly man, Korea is a decadent na- tion; to the spiritual man she is a nation being born in a day.” The last mails bring an account of the plans of the mission- aries represented in the General Council of Missions to seek to lead a million people to Christ during the coming year, Dr. Underwood writes: “It was found that a million this year would mean that each member of the Church, counting the enrolled catechumenate as members, would have to go out and win one soul a month during the twelve months. You can see how easy it would be if each will do his work. We are now trying to get each one to start. The Methodist Conference was a most enthusiastic one. The 159 men who were present pledged some 3,000 days during the next three months. At Chai Ryung, to which I was asked to go, the training class, when the matter was presented to them, pledged during the next three months over 5,000 days. We have secured from the British and For- eign Bible Society a special copy of Mark, that is being printed in large quantities. These will be sold to Christians who will take them and with a word of prayer and advice give them to their heathen friends. The Society first ordered 100,000, and then cabled to make it 200,000, Finding their orders were nearly 300,000, have made,it 400,000. We expect consider- ably over a million of these Gospels will be distributed during the year, and a cletermined effort will be made to see that every household in Korea during this year hears the story of Christ in an intelligent manner. The whole country will be districted, and in some way or other every house will be reached.” It is in my heart to write more at length regarding the details of the wonderful work of God in Korea; but all this has been done with fullness and vividness of detail in a pamphlet of 140 pages entitled ‘““Quarto-Centennial Papers Read Before the Korea Mission at the Annual Meeting in Pyeng Yang, August 27th, 1909.” It would extend my report to unreasonable length QI if I were to include that story, and it would be a pity to weaken its effect by simply giving extracts from it here. I wish that it might be read in connection with this report, so that every reader of my words will get the wide vision and inspiring ac- count of the wonder-working of God in this little country. I have heard the criticism that the alleged progress in Korea is simply a mass movement of peasants which is largely emo- tional in character and with no sufficient basis in education. The sense of national weakness and helplessness, the heavy consciousness of woe and oppression incline the Koreans to follow the leadership of missionaries. Will their Christianity be as virile and permanent as that of the slower and more ten- acious Chinese and the more philosophical and mystical East Indian? The Koreans are turning to God from the depths of utter worldly despair, accepting the Gospel as their only hope and help in this world. Will they give it the same supremacy in their lives when their worldly conditions improve and life has in it more of the opportunities and ambitions which characterize other peoples? I do not share these forebodings. It is true that the Koreans are coming to the Church in large numbers; but it 1s not true that they are received in a mass. Missionaries deal with each individual separately, carefully examining him and testing him as a catechumen for an average period of a year. He is not enrolled as a communicant until he shows reasonable familiar- ity with the Bible, maintains family prayers, contributes in pro- portion to his means, and lives a consistent Christian life. If membership in American churches were confined to Christians of that type, would the enrollment be as large as it is now? It is true also that there is a large emotional element in Ko- rean Christianity ; but why should we distrust the work on that account? The heart is quite as likely to be right as the head. Repentance, faith and devotion which enlist the profoundest emotions of the soul are surely not to be slighted. Love is the strongest and most lasting of human passions; and when it is centered in Christ, it affords firm foundation for the Chris- tian life. The Japanese can war, the Chinese can work, and the Korean can love. There is room for them all in the large plan of the universal God. But it is not true that Korean converts are not grounded in the faith and that they are not receiving an education. I have already referred to the congregational Bible schools every Sun- day, and to the Bible Training Classes which are held at all the stations. These special means of instruction are supplemented by preaching services and by daily study in the homes. If there are any other Christians in the world who are more familiar g2 with the Scriptures than the Korean Christians, I have not had the pleasure of meeting them. I refer elsewhere to the schools for general education and to the need of better equipment for them ; but iet it be noted here that almost every group of Chris- tians in the country maintains a primary school, that our sta- tions are as well equipped with boarding schools as the average stations in other fields, and that a college has already been started. Political conditions have undoubtedly made the progress of the Gospel more easy than in some other lands. The Christian movement, however, attained large proportions before the Japanese occupation and while the Koreans were under their own Government. Since the Japanese occupation, missionaries and Korean Christian leaders have been indefatigable in insisting upon the separation of the Church from poli- tics. Attempts to use the mission work in the interests of a revolutionary propaganda have been strongly resist- ed. In some instances, congregations and Young Men’s Christian Associations have ‘been disbanded on that ac- count. The only Christian agency in Korea whose numbers are materially imcrease by political feeling is the Salvation Army. The military organization, equipment and methods of the Army naturally mislead many of the simpler-minded Koreans. As the Salvation Army officers do not yet know the Korean lan- guage, and are therefore obliged to preach through hired inter- preters with no means of knowing how accurate the interpreta- tion is, they are being deceived by apparent results which I fear will not endure. No Presbyterian missionary would be allowed to engage in independent evangelistic work and to re- port large numbers of converts within a few months after his arrival in the country. The Salvation Army is doing good work in some other places in Asia, and its officers will learn ere long that it is wise to move more cautiously in Korea than they have yet done. Taking Korean Christians as a whole, the facts which have been stated regarding their giving, their study of the Bible, their zeal for the conversion of others, and the consistency of their daily lives, should protect them against the chaige of be- ing unintelligent and merely emotional Christians. Their con- fession of heinous sins during the intensity of revivals has been cited as evidence that their Christianity is shallow. It is odd that any one should draw such a conclusion. The Spirit of God led those poor Koreans to confess to the very sins which are notoriously not wanting among those who are called Chris- tians in Europe and America. It ill becomes travelers from countries where such sins are not confessed until investigations 93 expose them to criticise Christians in Korea who have the grace to confess them voluntarily. For myself, I cannot withhold the tribute of my confidence and love for these Korean Christians. As I met theni in vari- ous parts of the country, in villages and cities, churches and homes, I was profoundly impressed by their sincerity and de- votion. We arrived at Chai Ryung about dark Saturday even- ing, after a journey of five hours in chairs from the railway station. As I was tired and dusty, I did not expect to meet the Christians that evening. Learning, however, that many of them had assembled in the church, I went over, and during the meeting, asked them to tell me in their own way what they found in Christ that lead them to love and serve Him. One after another those men rose and answered my question. I jotted down their replies, and find the following in my notes: “Deliverance from sin,” “forgiveness,” “peace,” “guidance,” “strength,” “power to do,” “joy,” “comfort,” ‘eternal life.” Surely these earnest Koreans have found something of value in Christ. As we bowed together in a closing prayer, my heart went out to them as to those who, with fewer advantages than I had enjoyed, have nevertheless learned more than I of the deep things of God. We are not doing too much, as some allege, for the evangeli- zation of Korea. Grant that it is weak and obscure from the viewpoint of the world. Is it not of the very essence of the religion of Christ that we should go out to the poor and weak? What right have we to assume that those who appear to be so lowly will not be of future worth and influence? Histor- ically, the two most powerful and aggressive religions of the world did not emanate from the stronger nations. Moham- medanism was born in barren and insignificant Arabia; Chris- tianity sprang from subject and helpless Palestine. The Ko- reans are no more contemptible in the eyes of the world today than the Christians of the first century were to the haughty Romans. But God chose the Jews as the people through whom to manifest His power to the world. May He not be choosing the humble Koreans for like spiritual purposes in the Far East? Their very political impotence, the absence of worldly ambi- tions to divert their minds, the fact that they are not under the weight of an established non-Christian faith, make them all the more accessible to the Gospel message and all the more free to declare it to others. Once again it is true that ‘‘God chose the weak things of the world that He might put to shame the things that are strong; and the things that are despised did God choose, . . . that He might bring to nought the things that are; that no flesh should glory before God.” 94 The problem of relationship to the Native Church, which has become so prominent in Japan and China, can hardly be said to exist in Korea. The problem here is the antithesis of the problem in Japan. We are dealing, not with a self-governing Church, but with one which gladly accepts foreign leadership. There is probably no other place in the world where missionary supremacy is more absolute, nor is there any other where na- tive Christians look up to the missionary with greater confi- dence and affection. The relationship is not so much that of friend to friend as of child to parent. The temperament and peculiar situation of the Korean people will probably mean a long continuance of these conditions. The Church, however, is becoming well established. The Mission was late in consummating the formal organization of the Church, for reasons which I set forth in my report on my visit in 1901. Since then notable advance has been made. Sep- tember 17, 1907, was a memorable day, for it wittessed the solemn constitution of the Presbytery of Korea in accordance with authority given by the General Assemblies of the four Presbyterian Churches whose Missions are united in the Gen- eral Council: Presbyterian North, Presbyterian South, Cana- dian Presbyterian and Australian Presbyterian. The Rev. Samuel A. Moffett, D.D., was chosen Moderator. “The Presbytery at its organization consisted of 33 foreign missionaries and representative elders from 36 organized churches, two other churches with elders not being represented. The Presbytery made its first work the examination of the seven men who had finished the theological course of five years. At an impressive service that evening, these men were or- dained the first Presbyterian ministers of the Korean Church.” The Presbytery then had ecclesiastical jurisdiction over a church with 17,890 communicants, 21,482 catechumens, 38 or- ganized churches, 984 churches not all fully organized, adher- ents numbering 69,098, and 402 day schools with 8,611 pupils. The Presbytery adopted its own Confession of Faith and Form of Government. The former is the same as that which was adopted by the Presbyterian Church in India at its organization in 1904, with the addition of the Shorter Catechism as the Catechism of the Church. The Form of Government follows largely that alopted in India, but introducing several features which are an outgrowth of our already developed policy in Korea. Few other churches in history have enrolled so many members during the first few years of their existence, and few today have brighter prospects. It is ungenerous and indicative of a lack of faith in both humanity and God to take a pessimis- tic view of its future. Let us rather be led to new devotion by 95 the modern manifestation of that child-like faith which the Master himself pronounced a condition of entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. CHINA. Tue ProBLem oF NEW LIFE IN AN OLD Empire. Much has been written about the awakening of China, but it is difficult to comprehend the stupendous transformation that is . taking place. When a people numbering nearly a third of the human race and occupying a tenth of the habitable globe begin to move, one may ask with a wonder not unmixed with awe: Whither? The Boxer uprising of 1900 marked the transition between the old and the new. China now welcomes = reorgan- ization of methods which she then fanatically resisted. Knowl- edge anc inventions, which western nations obtained by degrees and which they could therefore gradually assimilate, have pour- ed into China all at once in a surging flood, and the people are naturally bewildered. Hustory affords no parallel to the situa- tion, unless it may be in the upheaval of mediaeval society which followed the Crusades. That upheaval resulted in the rise of modern Europe, and it may well be that the vaster transforma- tion which is now taking place in China will issue in a new Asia. A few facts will illustrate the startling changes in this ancient Empire. In 1876, China had only fourteen miles of railway; in 188: there were 144 miles; in 1889, 566; and now there are 6,300, while additional lines have been surveyed. A dozen years ago, the telegraph service connected only a few cities near the coast, and the telephone was unknown. Now, 40,000 miles of wire reach all the principal centers of population, and hundreds of yamens are equipped with telephones. The postal system, which was established twelve years ago, has made rapid growth. The number of pieces handled has increased as follows: 1904, 66,- 000,000 ; 1905, 76,500,000; 1906, 113,000,000; 1907, 168,000,- 000; 1908, 252,000,000. The number of post offices increased from 2,803 in 1907 to 3,493 in 1908. The postal routes now in operation cover no less than 88,000 miles. Prior to the Boxer uprising, there was no vernacular press, except a few small publications in Peking and one or two port cities. News was communicated by word of mouth or by pla- cards posted on walls. Over 200 Chinese newspapers are now published, and their circulation is large and rapidly growing. The official class, which at first paid little attention to them, has recently awzkened to the influence which they are exerting, and within the last year a number of the more influential journals have been bought up or subsidized by men connected with the G 96 provincial governments. This may not prove to be a wholesome change, for these journals were actively promulgating reform. Their future utterances will probably be more carefully guard- ed. The Chinese, who invented the art of printing by movable type five hundred years before it was known in Europe, are freely using the improved methods of western nations and job presses are springing up all over the Empire. I may note here that these native presses are seriously affecting our Mission Press in Shanghai. Its facilities have been greatly enlarged. since my former visit in 1901. The office, salesroom and store- room remain at the old location in the heart of the city. The new manufacturing plant several miles away was being started in the midst of an uninhabited swamp when I saw the place before. It now includes handsome buildings with modern machinery; but instead of being out in the country, it is in the centre of a fine residence sec- tion of Shanghai, so rapid has been the growth of the city in that direction. The Board is aware that the Central China Mis- sion, at its meeting in 1908, gave careful consideration to the new problems which are affecting the Press, and that the Mis- sion proposed a plan of reorganization which was afterward approved by the Board. There are still questions, however, which need consideration and which the new China Commission might well consider. They are not peculiar to our Press, but affect to a greater or less degree the presses of other Boards in the Far East. The Chinese and Japanese have developed mark- ed facility for job printing. Mission presses cannot compete with them on an even financial basis, and this for three reasons: First, the native press does not have expensive foreign super- vision ; second, it employs cheaper labor ; third, it does not have to do the unprofitable work which every mission press is com- pelled to do. The latter must produce tracts and periodicals for use in Christian work, some of which have to be given away or sold belcw cost, while some of the books that are required cannot now be sold in sufficient quantities to be commercially profitable. The time has not yet come when we can dispense with our Press or limit the scope of its operations. It is an enormous influence for good in China, an indispensable part of our missionary equipment; but each year its position becomes more difficult. Its chief competitor is “The Commercial Press, Limited,’ of Shanghai. This Press was started twelve years ago by Chris- tian Chinese, who had learned the trade while employed by our Mission Press. After a time, these young and ambitious Chinese naturally wanted to go into business for themselves. They : 97 therefore left our employ and opened a small job printing shop near by. By skill and diligence, their business soon increased. When the new government system of education was adopted and foreign text-books were called for, the managers were en- terprising enough to foresee the opportunity. They enlarged their plant and began to turn out the desired books. Today, this Press is the largest in all Asia, employing over one thousand hands, all of them Chinese except about a dozen Japanese. It is equipped with the latest and best German, English and Amer- ican machinery. It has a capital of $1,000,000, one-third of which is held by Japanese and two-thirds by Chinese It uses not only Chinese paper, but stock imported from Ausiria, Swe- den, England and Japan, chiefly from Austria and Sweden. It has opened twenty branch presses in various cities of China. It is managed on the co-operative plan, sharing profits with its employees. The net profits are divided into twenty parts. Five of these are distributed among the employees, ten go to the share-holders, three to the reserve fund, and two to the schools of children of employees, to sick and injured employees and the widows and orphans of those who have died. The net profits distributed in these ways last year were $200,000 Mex. It is gratifying to know, not only that the managers of this great institution are Christian men, but that of the three foun- ders and present managers, one is the son-in-law and the other two are sons of the first pupil of our boarding school at Ning- po. The head of every important department, except one, is a Christian, and sixty per cent. of the men who are in responsible positions are Christians. This Press now issues most of the text-books used in the Government schools and a large propor- tion of the bank notes which are in circulation. It would be small and narrow indeed to begrudge the success of such an institution or lament that it makes the position of our own Press more difficult. One of the remarkable events in China is the beginning of constitutional government. September 20, 1907, an imperial edict provided for the establishment of a National Assembly of ministers at Peking to consider questions affecting the interests of the State. Ten days later, another edict ordered the ap- pointment of town councils and local representatives ; and Octo- ber 18, a third edict directed the establishment of Provincial Assemblies. It will thus be seen that China is providing for a graded system of representative bodies from town councils to Provincial and National Assemblies, the members of the Na- tional Assembly at Peking being selected by the Provincial As- semblies. The qualifications for membership are partly prop- erty and partly educational. Any male who has property 98 amounting to 5,000 taels, or who holds a degree under the old examination system, or who has been graduated from a gov- ernment middle or high school, may be chosen. October 14, 1909, was a memorable day in the history of China, for it signalized the opening of the first of the Provincial Assemblies. All of the vernacular papers gave the event large space, and two appeared with their first pages printed in ver- million to commemorate the auspicious occasion. These Assemblies were of varying qualities. It would not have been reasonable to expect that the first popular bodies dn an ancient nation would be characterized by eminent wisdom or unity. Some of the assemblies did little that was of value. Others addressed themselves seriously to the task before them, and in many there were individual members who showed ability and courage. All things must have a beginning and pass through a period of development. The Chinese Provincial As- semblies are not likely to be exceptions to a rule which western nations have conspicuously illustrated. But the movement is full of hope for the future of China. It is certain to stimulate new ideas which, once promulgated, are not likely to be for- gotten. The language is being adapted to the changing conditions. A young missionary writes: ‘There are six of us studying Chinese together. Our teachers tell us that we must pay more attention than is usually given to the new words now coming into use. I do not mean the host of scientific terms being turn- ed into Chinese; but the miscellaneous phrases coined chiefly since 1900 to meet the needs of the new style of thought. These expressions have gained currency mainly through the news- papers, and so we go to the newspapers to find them, rather than to the sinologues whose vocabularies were acquired in ante-Boxer days. There is one new word that everybody glibly recites to the inquiring newcomer; it is the word for an ideal, meaning literally, ‘the thing you have your eye on.’ A fit com- panion to this is a new way of speaking of a man’s purpose in life; ‘his magnetic needle points in such and such a direction.” A group of new expressions with the following meanings: society, reform, the public good, constitutional government, protection of life, taking the initiative, removing obstructions, to volunteer one’s services, indicate the direction in which the winds of thought are blowing in China. The newspapers now have a word meaning rotten which they apply freely to manda- rins, to the army, to schools and to things in general. Freedom of religion is another new phrase in Chinese; so is a term mean- ing to educate as distinguished from to instruct. The use of the latter was illustrated by a distinguished Chinese (not a 99 Christian) when he declared that the Y. M. C. A. school in Tien-tsin was better than the Confucian schools, becatise it edu- cates its pupils, developing them both in morals and kiowledge ; whereas the Ghinese practice is to hand out chunks of learning and ethical advice for the pupils to swallow or not as they choose.” The new life that is stirring the people affects women as well as men.