MfcY \ 7 1993 BY 3315" Historical Sketch li!^ IT)i$$ion$ in Siam Seventh Edition RCVISCD BY The Rev. A. M/iLLARo Coopci UNOCM THE CARC OF THE Board of Foreign n)j$$ion$ of the ^Prcsbvtcrian Church in rhc U. $. /I. The Uloman'i foreign misiioitdry Society of the Presbyteridn Church. lUitheripoon Buildiny, Philadelphia : : 1915 ;aB:^r:r;--. MAR 19 ]9.|3 Historical Sketch of the Missions in Siam. Note.— The materials for this Historical Sketch have been compiled trom so many sources that in many cases it has not seemed necessary or teasible to use quotation marks, or name the source. Special elTort has been made, however, in this revised edition, to verify each statement and ehmniate anythmg maccurate, doubtful or out of date. THE LAND. The territory of Siam is shaped something Hke GEOGRAPHY, a hatchet, with the long, narrow Malay penin- sula for a handle. It is situated in the heart of the Indo-Chinese peninsula, which forms the extreme southeastern corner of Asia. British and French possessions have now been extended till they meet on the north, thus separating Siam from its old neighbor, China. On the west, Siam is bounded by British Burma and the Indian Ocean; on the south by the Federated Malay States (British), the Gulf of Siam, and French Cambodia; and on the east by the great Me Kong River, which forms the boundary between French Indo-China (formerly the Kingdom of Annam) and the still independent Kingdom of Siam. A long, high mountain range extends all along the western frontier, from the far north down through the Malay penin- sula. The extreme northern province, Monton Payap, is hilly throughout, but especially in the Chieng Mai region, where some peaks are over six thousand feet high. Eastern Siam is mostly a plateau, with an elevation of a few hundred feet; and central Siam a low-lying plain, which slopes very gently south-southeast to the Gulf of Siam. In the basin of each of the four great rivers which rise in the north — the Me Ping, Me Wang, Me Yome and Nan — is. a wide, level, fertile plain, encircled by hills. At Pak- nampo, in the heart of Siam, these four streams unite to form Siam's chief river, the Chow Phya, commonly known o Europeans as the Menam, "Mother of Waters," though 34-^^ 4 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF mc nam in Siamese means simply river, and is not a proper name at all. Thirty miles south of Paknampo, this stream divides again, its overflow forming the headwaters of the Tacheen River, and through these two roughly parallel channels, with mouths twenty miles apart, flows through a rich alluvial plain, one hundred and twenty miles farther to the sea. Farther west are the next greatest river, the Me Klong, on the banks of which are Ratburee and several other large towns, and the smaller Petchaburee River, which bears the name of the chief town on its banks. All these rivers deposit large quantities of silt, and have formed banks so much above the general level that during Hood season the country farther back is inundated, in some places to a depth of six feet. This silt is rapidly extending the coast line into the shallow Gulf of Siam, and obstructs the mouth of each river with great sand bars. Even at high- est tide, no ship drawing fifteen feet of water can cross the Chow Phya bar, so that part of the heavy cargoes to or from Bangkok must be transferred to lighters. Were this bar dredged out, Bangkok would rank as one of the finest harbors in the world. The Siamese are an amphibious race, children often learn- ing to swim almost as soon as to walk. They are the finest watermen in the world, and proficient boat-builders, though much of this building is now done by the ubiquitous Chinese. The chief routes of trade and travel are the rivers and intersecting canals, which form a network all over' lower Siam, and the villages cluster along the banks. Overland roads better than rough cart tracks are very few. The eastern (Nan) branch of the Chow Phya is navigable for steam launches all the way to the Lao border at Uteradit ; but the western (Raheng) branch is too shallow, and ob- structed by numerous sandbars. As the traveler nears the Lao border, steep hills close in upon the river banks, affording picturesque scenery, but obstructing travel by swift and sometimes dangerous rapids. The most difficult rapids of all are in the course of the Me THE MISSIONS IN SIAM. r Ping, below Chieng Mai. where there are more than thirty to be passed. This isolation of the Lao territory, however will soon be ended by the completion of the rai way from' Bangkok through Pitsanuloke, which is expected by L7 to reach its terminus at Chieng Mai. ^ J / ^^ CLIMATF n 'f T''"^ T'""'' ""^ ^^'^^>' '^^"^ ^^ f'-o"^ May to CLIMATE. October inclusive. The average annual rainfall is abundant, varying in different parts of the coun- try trom four feet to eight feet. Lying wholly m the tropics, 'between 5° and 21° of north latitude, with large bodies of water on three sides, Siam en- joys a very equable climate-seldom colder than so° F or hotter than 100° in the shade. Many newcomers from Europe or America find the climate very trying, some of the most prevalent diseases being cholera, dysentery, malarial and typhoid fevers, liver trou- bles, small-pox and tuberculosis. Yet such as acclimate favorably during the first two or three years, and are tem- perate and prudent in their habits, may reasonably hope to enjoy health and vigor for a long term of service The records show that thirty-three of our Presbyterian mission- aries and SIX missionaries of other societies have already rounded out a quarter-century in Siam; and eight of these— Dr. and Mrs. Dean, Mrs. Bradley, Dr. and Mrs. E P Dun- lap, Dr. Wilson, and Dr. and Mrs. McGilvary-have been able to live in Siam for periods ranging from forty up to fifty-five years. Of the thirty-three Presbyterians, four have entered mto rest, but the other twenty-nine are all looking forward to a still longer term of service in Siam. AiMTn/TAT ^^^^^ "'°^^ important domestic animals of Siam AKIMALS. are elephants (employed chiefiy in the teak indus- try of the north), water buffaloes and bullocks (used in farm work or for food, but the cows not milked) ponies (never used in farm work, but chiefly for riding) dogs' swine, ducks, and fowls. The chief wild animals include the tiger, leopard, bear, rhinoceros, monkey, gibbon and deer. Pythons grow to thirty feet long. There are forty-four ^^ D HISTOKICAL SKETCH OF •non-poisonous species of snakes, and twelve poisonous species the hooded cobra being the most common. ReptiHan Me includes the crocodile, the chameleon, gecko and other lizards, and turtles, large and small. The country swarms with insects. Fish are abundant, and there are many kinds of birds. The famous ''white elephant," so-called, which is really a pinkish brown albino, though not actually worshipped, is held in high esteem, and appears on the Siamese flag as the national emblem, just as we use the eagle, or Britons the lion. ppnn.TPTc ^^^ tropical sun, copious rains, and rich allu- FKODUCTS. vial soil, Combine to make Siam a garden spot of foliage, flowers and fruit. Rice is the staple food and chief export, the value exported being fourfold greater than all other exports combined. The first mill for hulling this nee was built in 1858. Bangkok has now twenty- six large rice mills, all but four of then owned and worked by Chinese. Next in value to rice as an export comes teak lumber Siam yields also many other valuable kinds of wood, such as rosewood, ebony, oak and pine. Other leading exports are tin, dried fish, bullocks, hides and horns, white pepper, silks, cotton, stick lac, and edible birds' nests. The chief products, not exported but all used at home, are bamboo, tropical fruits, maize, palm or cane sugar, betel (areca) nut, and tobacco. The chief imports include cotton and silk goods, opium and h.iuors, sugar, kerosene oil, tinned provisions, machinery, hardware, and gunny-bags. Siam has much undeveloped mineral wealth; INDUSTRIES, but mining industry has thus far been seri- ously hampered by scarcity of laborers that could be depended on for hard and steady work, and by lack of facilities for transport. There are no coal mines and no extensive manufactures. Siam is a country that raises hogs in abundance, yet imports all its cured hams and bacon ; that exports live bullocks, yet imports its tinned beef from THE MISSIONS IN SIAM. n Chicago; that exports raw cotton, yet miports cotton goods back from Europe; a country where the best brands of coffee, though grown in nearby Java, can be obtained only by way of distant London. Such typical facts illustrate both the necessity and future promise of industrial development. Tin mining is the chief industry of the extreme south- and lumbering, mostly carried on by British capital and Burmese labor, of the extreme north. Siam produces and exports more teak than any other country in the world, Burma ranking second. Central Siam is a land of small farmers and gar- deners, with few cities or large towns. The average farm is only about seventeen acres. Present methods of cultiva- tion are primitive and crude; but the efforts of the govern- ment to extend the irrigation system and introduce improved methods of farming, will doubtless make it possible for Siam to support many times the present population. THE PEOPLE. According to the conclusions of such RACES AND TONGUES, specialists in archaeology as Dr. Frankfurter and the late Col. Gerini, the whole Indo-Chinese peninsula was peopled in prehistoric times by successive waves of overland migration from the highlands of Tibet and Southwestern China, southward to the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Siam. The earliest wave was probably a Negritic race, the frag- ments of which now appear in various rude hill tribes. Next came the "Proto-Malays," a Mongolian race, who were driven on by later invaders to the islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where, mingling with the aborigines, they gave rise to the various Malay groups. In the twelfth cen- tury A. D., they recrossed to the Malay Peninsula, and are still numerous in Southern Siam. Then followed a double wave of Mons or Peguans in the west, and Cambodians in the east. A highly civilized Cau- casian race, immigrants by sea from India, mingling with this Cambodian stock, founded a great kingdom, which flourished •• ^. 8 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF , from the seventh century, and in the famous ruins of Angkor has left evidences of marvelous architectural and artistic skill. Later came two successive waves of the great "Tai" race- first the Siamese and then the kindred Lao, often incorrectly spelled Laos. Modern scholars have traced back the name "Siam" for one thousand years, and identify it with the oiher form, "Shan." TENTATIVE DIAGRAM OF THE TAI OR SHAN RACE. i (Prepared by Rev. John H. Freeman, in consultation with i Dr. W. C. Dodd.) : . • Eastern Tai. I. Illiterate or Non-Buddhist Tai. c ^fi^^^^u- ^'Ooo-ooa Found mainly in the ancestral home of the race ' , bouth Chma and Tonkin.) ill White and Black Tai— Tonkin and S. E. Yunnan. (b) Tai llio — Tonkin and Kwangsi. (c) Tai Chawng— Kwangsi, Kwangtung, Kweichau. (d) Tai Loong— Eastern Yunnan. (e) Tai Yai— E. Yunnan, W. Kwangsi, S. W. Kweichau. ■ 2. Literate or Buddhist Tai. (6,000,000. Found along both banks of the MeKong or Cambodia I D y^"*; ^^^"^ T'dhiu m Western Yunnan, south and eastward through { ^."tish and l^rench territory, and throughout northern and eastern j Siam.) I (a) Tai Niia and Lem— S. W. Yunnan. } (b) Tai Kun— Keng Tung State and Northern Siam. ' r,< X^'. Lu— Sipsong Punna, Keng Tung, and North Siam. (d) Tai Yuen— North Siam. (e) Tai Lao— Eastern Siam and French Laos. 3. Siamese Pro pet. (4,000,000. Special field of South Siam Mission.) Western Tai, or Western Shan. The special field of the American Baptist Shan Mission. Mainly west of the Salween River. Data at hand insufficient to estimate their number. Great traders, and so found at trading centres east of the Salween and down into Siam, but nowhere forming a large percentage of the population in these districts. "Although the exploring work of the (North Siam) Mission has brought our missionaries into intimate touch with almost all the sections of the Tai race, our organized work thus far THE MISSIONS IN SIAM. has been directed mainly to the Yuen, Lii and Kun, who form together scarcely one-fourth of the 12,000,000 Tai for whom we plead." "Both in China and Indo-China, the Tai people have an honorable history, that far antedates that of the Anglo-Saxon. Inscriptions discovered in Lampoon Province show that in the days of Wycliffe and Chaucer, a civilization little inferior to that of to-day existed in Siam." (Freeman.) "The Siamese and the Lao tongues," says Dr. McGilvary, "are two closely related branches of the same linguistic stock! The idiom and the great body of common words are nearly the same, differing chiefly in accent and intonation. Siamese IS the speech of the ruling race throughout the kingdom; and It was easy to foresee that the local dialect of the northern provinces must eventually give way before it, especially for all official and literary purposes. The chief obstacle has been the wholly different character. Were the two alike in this respect, there is no doubt that the standard form of speech would take the place of the dialectical almost without notice." The Laocien dialect of Eastern Siam, both spoken and written, is intermediate between the other two. All three dialects as spoken are mutually intelligible in the main, though each has borrowed from India a peculiar alphabet of Its own. They are all tonal like the Chinese, but show no affinity to the Mon-Annam or Malayan lingaiistic groups. Those whom we call Siamese always call themselves "Tai,' meaning Franks or free people. The oldest inscription using the Siamese language was found at Sukotai, where King Phra Ruang in 1250 A. D. established the capital of the first independent Siamese State. Just a century later, King Utong moved his capital far down the Chow Phya River to Ayuthia, within sixty miles in an airline from the Gulf. That date, 1350 A. D., marks both the beginning of authentic Siamese history, and the end of Cambodian supremacy in the Chow Phya region. The long rivalry between the waning power of Cambodia and the growing power of Siam ended with the passing of the rem- nant of Cambodia under French control in 1863; but many f''^,. ^O HISTORICAL SKETCH OF traces of Cambodian influence still appear in Siamese customs and religious rites. The Yuen Tai,. or Lao, are a less cultured branch of the same race, physcally taller and stronger and more vigorous in character. ^ Still more recent immigrants from, China, with their Simo- Chinese offspring, though reported in the census as Siamese, and no longer enumerated separately, are very numerous and influential. To quote again from Dr. Brown: "The Chinese are adding a more virile strain. The king himself is said to be part Chinese. As in the Philippine Islands, the Chinese almost absolutely control the trade of the kingdom, and establish themselves more permanently than in America. They are to be found in all our schools, hospitals and churches. The blending of the two races is such — practi- cally every Chinese having a Siamese wife and half-caste children— that it would be quite impracticable to separate them in mission work." Such infusion of fresh northern blood is a very important providential agency for counteracting the natural tendency of the human race gradually to deteriorate in any tropical climate. The best national types are evolved by the blending of diverse though not incompatible races. The American Indian is not the ideal American; nor was there ever, perhaps, a more truly representative Siamese than the honored and lamented Rev. Boon Boon-Itt, whose ancestors were all originally either Cambodian or Chinese. The modern Siamese, like modern Americans, are among the most composite peoples on earth. To the chief racial elements — Chinese, Cambodian and Tai — there is added a strain from every other Indo-Chinese stock — Annamese, Bur- mese, Karen, Peguan and Malay. There are also Moham- medans from India and Ceylon, Japanese, and at least two thousand representatives of the white races of Europe and America. In ability to assimilate and unify such a medley of races and tongues, Siam compares not unfavorably with the United States. The recent census shows a population of 8,150,000. THE MISSIONS IN CIAM. II The Siamese people generally are less bound CHARACTER, by prejudice and ancient custom than the pure- blooded Chinese, more courteous and agree- able in manners, more docile and readily influenced, whether to good or evil. They are submissive to authority, respect- ful to parents, extremely fond of children, given to hospi- tality, and very generous in helping those in need. Grada- tions of rank and social position are sharply defined, but the caste system is unknown. Women, though regarded as lacking in merit and inferior to men, enjoy equal property rights, and in general far better treatment and more freedom and inHuence than in most heathen lands. Mentally, the Siamese excel in memory but not in close reasoning. They are bright, but rather superficial. They are excessively fond of amusement, and seem never to "put away childish things," but waste much time in holidays and sports. Though lacking in endurance for severe and long- sustained effort, physical or mental, they apply themselves at times with great energy and enthusiasm. And much of the indolence with which they are often reproached is merely a natural consequence of unsanitary conditions, which breed hookworm and other enervating diseases, of present indus- trial conditions, or of Buddhist teaching and ideals. "There is no occasion to struggle for existence in Siam," says Dr. Brown; "and it is therefore not surprising that peo- ple take life easily I marvel not that the people are so backward, but that they are so forward, and that I find them making modern improvements which cannot be paral- leled in any Asiatic country I have visited, except Japan." Morally, the Siamese, like other heathen people in every land, are commonly untruthful and unchaste. IDivorce and remarriage of both parties are of frequent occurrence. Poly- gamy is sanctioned both by law and usage, though common only among the higher classes. The habits of chewing the betel or areca palm nut, prac- ticed by both sexes, and of cigarette smoking by men and boys down to a very tender age, are well-nigh universal. In- temperance is prevalent, and opium smoking still more so. J2 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF But the characteristic national vice is gambling. In recent years the government has closed all the large gambling halls except some in Bangkok, but many other forms of betting and gambling, such as games of cards or dice, fish-fights and cock-fights, are still licensed, and yield a large revenue to the public treasury. The government of Siam is a hereditary GOVERNMENT, monarchy, the succession being determined either by the king during his lifetime, or at his death by the "Senabodi" (Council of Princes), but usually passing to the eldest son that can claim full royal blood on both sides. Though in theory an absolute monarch, the king, since 1895, has voluntarily shared executive powers with the "Senabodi," a Cabinet or Privy Council, mostly chosen from princes of the blood royal, and shared legislative powers with a larger Council of State (which includes the members of the smaller Council), to whose judgment His Majesty commonly defers. He has also committed supreme judicial powers to a "Dika Court," which acts in the king's name, but with whose decisions he does not interfere. Outside the royal family are several lower grades of nobility, but not hereditary. The kingdom comprises eighteen "Montons" (Provinces), each governed by a Royal High Commissioner. All high officials are appointed by the King, Minister or High Commissioner on their merits, so that, with education and ability, young men of very humble birth often rise to high position. Local officials of the two lowest grades, "Kanman" and "Village Headman," are chosen or changed at the will of their neighbors. Such a blending of monarchic, aristocratic and democratic features of government seems admirably suited to the present needs of Siam. Wiiiliwkat««a»ii|lM THE MISSIONS IN SIAM. 13 POLITICAL HISTORY. During the period from A. D. 1350 to 1767, thirtv-six ^5iamese kings in succession reigned in Ayuthia. This period was one of frequent warfare among the rival kingdoms of Indo-China, with varying fortunes, though in the main Siam fully held her own, During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Siam opened the door for conmiercial relations with the Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch and French in turn. The most noted man of this period was Constance Phaul- con, an adventurer from the Greek Island of Cephalonia, who by his ability and address repaired his ruined fortunes.' and finally rose to be the favorite and Prime Minister of the King of Siam. But his intrigues in the interest of France and the jealousy of the Siamese nobles, led to his violent death in 1688, when the leader of the anti-foreign party, Opra Pit Rachard, seized the throne, founding a new dynasty. Tlie foreigners themselves were chiefly responsible for this anti- foreign reaction, which was provoked by their abuse of Siamese confidence and hospitality, and their mutual rivalries and intrigues against each other and against the Siamese government. In 1767, Burmese invaders, after two years' siege, took Ayuthia. pursued, discovered and put to death the fugitive king, thus ending his dynasty. But after a few years of dis- order, General Tak Sin, an able young Simo-Chinese, rallied and united the Siamese forces, drove out the Burmese in- vaders, and took the throne. Ilie Siamese Civil Era dates from April ist, 1782, when the Prime Minister, General Chakkri, a full-blooded Siamese, put to death Tak Sin, who is said to have become mentally unbalanced, ruling oppressively, and fancying himself a god. Chakkri seized the throne for himself as King Yaut Fa, founder of the present (Mahachakkri) dynasty, and moved the seat of government down to Bangkok. This new city, only twelve miles in an airline, or thirty by the winding river, from the sea, thus grew to be the metropolis and great sea- port of Siam, with a population of 630,000, though Ayuthia, with 200,000, still ranks next. i ' 14 JIISTCiRICAL SKETCH OF At the death of King Phra Qiom Klao, son of King Yaut Fa, Prince Mongkut, son of the First Queen, was by Siamese custom his rightful successor; but an elder half-brother by a queen of lower rank, intrigued successfully to secure his own election by the Senabodi. Prince Mongkut prudently eliminated himself from the sphere of political rivalry by taking orders in a monastery, where he was granted the dig- nity of High Priest of Siam. It was during the long reign ot this King Prawat Tong, 1824-51, that Protestant mission- aries first arrived in Siam. This forceful ruler in 1828 com- pleted the subjugation of all the Lao chiefs by establishing Siamese supremacy over Luang Prabang and' Wieng Chan. But his violent anti-foreign policy had brought Siam to the verge of war with England, when the crisis was averted only by his mortal illness. The Senabodi, no longer subservient t© a dying king, refused to confirm the succession to his son. He died cursing them in helpless rage, and they at once offered his brother, Mongkut. the throne, April, 185 1. This new King, Maha Mongkut, was a raan of^tudious tastes and habits, a patron of science and education. He promptly reversed the policy of his immediate predecessors, by ratifying treaties of amity and commerce with the leading Western nations. His son, King Chulalongkorn, whose early education had for some years been entrusted to an English governess, showed himself still more enlightened and progressive. His long reign, from 1S68 to 1910, was an age of notable im- provements and reforms. PTe visited all the leading capitals of Europe, being the first Siamese King to travel abroad. He abolished debt-slavery, gradually but completely, and greatly mitigated the burdensome corvee system of forced labor for the government. He celebrated each royal birth- day by opening a fine new bridge somewhere in the capital. During this reign, Bangkok quite outgrew the old title, "Venice of the East," for besides the numerous canals and floating houses, a much greater city has been built on solid ground, with three hundred miles of good macadamized streets, fine public buildings, several electric tramway lines, THE MISSIONS IN SIAM. 15 and electric lights. Bangkok boasts six hundred and fifty registered automobiles, and is buying more annually than any other city of the Far East. Cable communication was estab- lished in 1883, and in 1885 Siam joined the Postal Union. The first short railway line was opened in 1893; but seven hundred miles had been completed by 1912, of which all but sixty-five miles was owned and operated by the government The last annual report of the Railway Department showed that not one passenger had been seriously injured throughout the year, and the trafiic was yielding a fair profit on the money invested in construction. The small national debt, which does not exceed one year's revenue, was contracted only to hasten further railway construction. Government paper money, redeemable at any provincial treasury, was first issued in 1901. The circulation has steadily increased to over 30,000,000 ticals (the tical is worth about thirty-eight cents). The metric system has been introduced, and a new decimal coinage. Every department of public service has been re- organized and greatly improved. A new penal code was promulgated in 1908. In 1912 there were in Bangkok eight thousand telephone wires, and in the whole kingdom one hundred and forty tele- graph stations, six thousand miles of telegraph wires, and two hundred and twenty post ofiices. Public works for sup plying Bangkok with pure filtered drinking water were com- pleted in 1914. The total imports in 1900 were valued at $12,000,000, and exports at $15,000,000. The average for four recent years— 1909-1913— had increased to $27,000,000 for imports, and $35,000,000 for exports. The public revenue, meanwhile, increased from $11,000,000 (in 1902-1903) to $25,000,000. Thus within a single decade, revenues, imports and exports, have all doubled, with the balance of trade steadily in favor of Siam. So many Europeans are employed in public service that motives of convenience have led even this Buddhist govern- ment to make Sunday, instead of their own sacred day, the legal holiday, when most public ofiices are closed. i6 HISTOKICAL SKETCH OF At the accession of King Chulalongkorn, feudal conditions still prevailed in Siam. Each peasant sought the protection of some influential patron in exchange for personal service, not daring to trust the law and the courts for impartial jus- tice. The Malay Chief of the far South, or the Lao "Chow" of the far North, was a local despot, yielding scarcely more than nominal allegiance to the absent King of Siam. But the railway, steam launch, telegraph and postal service, liave now made an effective central government possible, and a wise policy has gradually, but surely and effectively, estab- lished its supremacy throughout the kingdom. The govern- ment is now consununating this tendency toward national unity by requiring the Siamese dialect to be taught exclu- sively in the public schools throughout the kingdom. During the latter part of his otherwise prosperous reign. King Chulalongkorn was forced to yield various large slices of territory to both his powerful neighbors, France and England. However, Siam retains full independence, which in 1896 France and England pledged each other to respect, with about two hundred thousand square miles of territory still left to her, which is larger than either Japan or the British Isles, and equal m area to the whole of France. Under the old treaties with Siam, as formerly in japan, each Western nation claimed extra-territorial jurisdiction over its own subjects. But by recent treaties, France has agreed to waive such authority over her Asiatic proteges in Siam, and England and Denmark over all their citizens, even white men, though with some reservations, notably the pro- vision that European defendants are entitled to trial in a special court where European judges in Siamese employ will have the decisive voice. The young King Maha Vajiravudh (pronounced Wajira- woot), who studied in England 1893- 1902, and succeeded to the throne at the death of his royal father in 1910, continues a similar liberal and progressive policy. THE MISSIONS IN SIAM. RELIGIONS OF SIAM. 17 The religions now dominant are Demon Worship DEMON in the most northern province, Monton Payap, WORSHIP, the home of the Lao race; and Buddhism in the other seventeen provinces. The following para- graph is condensed from Freeman's "Oriental Land of the Free:" "Buddhism, the nominal religion of the Lao, absolutely forbids any worship of the evil spirits. 'He who makes the spirits great, that man is outside the religion of Gautama.' These are quoted as the words of the Buddha himself. Yet all the Lao people worship the spirits, and the Buddhist monks themselves are very often the leaders in this worship. Why has Buddhism failed to drive out the demon worship that here, as all over Asia, preceded it? First, because spirit worship has always entered more deeply into the life and soul of the Lao people than Buddhism. Their sense of the presence and influence of the unseen has only been dulled, never removed, by Buddhist teachings. Second, because the Buddha gave to his followers no refuge or strength that could deliver them from the fear of the unseen. "Yet even demon worship may be a school-master to lead to Christ, for it has served to keep alive a realization that man is dependent. There is everywhere prevalent a sense of dependence on unseen spiritual powers, wholly foreign to the self-dependence, the atheism, of Buddhism. A God who created all and has power to deliver from evil spirits, meets the need and longing of their hearts. Marfy of our Christian people have thus been first drawn to Christ." The people of Siam were converted to Buddhism BUDDHISM, by foreign missionaries from India in prehistoric times, but probably during the seventh century of our Christian era. By this time Christian missionaries had carried the Gospel to the far north and west of Europe; but they missed a great opportunity in allowing Buddhism to forestall them in the Far East. Knowing nothing of Christ, and finding the teachings of Buddha truer and better i8 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF than their primitive faith, the people of Siam accepted the best rehgion they knew, and have since adhered to it tena- ciously through more than a thousand years. This history proves that religiously the Siamese are no fickle race; yet neither are they hopelessly conservative. Where Buddhist missionaries succeeded by peaceful influences, without force or compulsion, in thus converting a whole nation, Qiristian missionaries need not fail. Though Buddhists, so-called, are numerous in many other lands, only the people of Siam, Burma and Ceylon still adhere to "orthodox Buddhism," and since the passing of Ceylon and Burma under a Christian government, the King of Siam is the only independent Buddhist sovereign on earth, the official Head of Buddhism, and sworn Defender of the Faith. He appoints all the chief ecclesiastical dignitaries, and all monks throughout the kingdom are under control of the State through its xMinistry of Public Worship. Though all religions are tolerated. Buddhism has the advantage of special favor and patronage as the established religion of the State. As Dr. Brown reports: "Siam is the centre and stronghold of orthodox Buddhism. The shaven-headed monks are in evidence everywhere. The temples are more numerous and expensive than those of any other land I have visited. Many of them literally blaze with overlaid gold and imbedded precious stones. Statues of Buddha are simply innumerable." Buddhism seems to have originated about the fifth century B. C, in an age which also witnessed the teaching of Con- fucius among the Chinese, and of Pythagoras among the Greeks — a time of mental quickening and enlargement of thought all over the earth. Its founder is commonly known by the title "Buddha," that is, "The Enlightened One;" and by his family name, Gotama. He has left an impression by his character and teachings rarely equalled among men. Nothing, however, was committed to writing by Gotama or his early disciples. Christians revere as their sacred book the Bible; Mohannnedans the Koran; Buddhists the "Tripi- takas" (Three Baskets). But the very oldest Buddhist scrij)- tures date only from the time of King Asoka, about 250 B. C, THE MISSIONS IN f.IAM. 19 while large portions of the Tripitakas were doubtless added later, both before and since our Christian era. Thus the earliest records of Ijuddhism bring us no nearer to its founder than the early Christian fathers to the time of Christ, and' with no means of testing their accuracy, as. Protestants test the fathers by comparison with the New Testament. Hence our knowledge of the biography or teachings of Gotama is both meagre and uncertain m comparison with our knowl- edge of Mohammed or of Christ. Furthermore, the Tripitakas, though held authoritative, and published by the late King of Siam in thirty-nine hand- some volumes, are scarcely read by any one, not even by the monks. The typical Buddhist derives his creed from oral teaching, or at most from reading a few modern Bud- dhist tracts. This makes it hard to define just what Bud- dhism really is, for even in the most orthodox Buddhist coun- tries, like Siam, one finds no little unconscious divergence between the sacred books and the current popular belief and practice. For instance, modern Siamese worship the images of Buddha; they seek to make merit for the benefit of others, living or dead; they believe in their own personal identity, and expect rewards or punishment in a future life. Many even believe in a Creator, and other doctrines absorbed from Christian books and teaching. They are imbibing in large measure the spirit of a modern age of progress, aspiration, and striving after better conditions, personal and social. Yet in all these points their thinking and actions are incon- sistent with the authoritative doctrines and ideals of primitive Buddhism. Some day they may suddenly come to realize with a shock of surprise how far they are but nominal adhe- rents of a crumbHng and obsolete faith. Buddhism, as defined in its own scriptures, "teaches of no God above and no soul within us. Its followers have in their language no exact equivalent for that which we call God, and the very idea of such a Being does not exist in Buddhism. The Buddha himself was not a god, but a man; and each man must work out his own destiny for himself, with no aid from any higher power. 20 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF Buddliism has, therefore, logically, no room for prayer or religious worship in any form. The nearest approach to this is ^m the form of inward meditation or of paying outward honors 'to the memory of Gotama by carrying flowers to his monu- ment. When Buddhists wish to find any outlet for the religious instinct, they must go outside of Buddhism to seek it. They crave some object of worship, and since Gotama has given them none, they addict themselves to some form of devil- worship or witchcraft by way of addition to his system. They do also say prayers, which are in some cases the real cry of the soul toward some one or some thing for help. Usually, however, the "prayer" which they repeat is not so much in the form of an appeal to any living hearer, as in that of a charm or incantation; the mere repetition of the words being supposed to have magical power in itself. In such ways as this Buddhism has come to receive an enormous mass of addi- tions, many of which are directly opposed to its original teachings. Gotama taught that there is no such thing as soul or spirit in man himself; that a man is only a body, with certain facul- ties added to it, all of which scatter into nothingness when the body dissolves. One feature of Buddhism, therefore, is its denial of all spirituality, divine or human. A second feature is its assertion, as the positive facts upon which it builds, of two most remarkable ideas. One of these is the doctrine of transmigration. This belief is held by a great part of the human race as the only explanation for the perplexing inequalities of earthly experience. It teaches that the cause of every joy or sorrow is to be found in the conduct of the man himself, if not in this life, then in some of his previous lives. As the usual emblem of Christianity is the cross, so that of Buddhism is the wheel — chosen as such from its suggestion' of endless rotation. Buddhism, however, which denies the existence of the soul, is obliged to teach transmigration in a very strange form. According to this, although you go to nothingness when you die, yet a new person is sure to be produced at that moment, who is considered to be practically the same as yourself. THE MISSIONS IN SIAM. 21 because he begins existence with all your merits and demerits exactly, and it is to your thirst for life that he owes his being, ^et as it is acknowledged that you are not conscious of producing him, and he is not conscious of any relation with you, it is hard to see how men can accept in such a form this doctrine of "Karma." Practically its believers are apt to forget their denial of the soul, and speak as if it did exist and goes at death into a new body. This new birth may not be into the form of a man, but into that of a beast of the earth, a devil in some hell, or an angel in some heaven. Buddhism not only teaches the existence of hells and heavens, but fixes their exact size and position, so that any acquaint- ance with astronomy is enough to prove the falsity of its declarations on that point. It is further taught that each of these future lives must come to an end, for all things above and below are continually changing places with each other, as they ever have done and ever will do. There is, therefore, no real satisfaction even in the prospect of a heavenly life, since it must in time change, and probably for the worse. In close connection, then, with this fundamental idea of Buddhism, namely, transmigration, is the other idea, that all life, present or future, is essentially so transitory, disappoint- ing and miserable, that the greatest of blessings would be the power to cease from the weary round entirely and for- ever. Practically its votaries have before their minds a life in some delightful heaven, secured against any following evil by passing instead into calm, unending slumber. This condi- tion is marked by the perception of life's illusiveness, with freedom from all resulting lusts and passions; and this ensures that when the life you are then living shall close, no new being will be formed in your place, because your thirst for living is at last extinguished. While it is true, then, that this condition of heavenly calm or Nirvana (called in Siamese "Nippan") is represented as eminently attractive, yet its dis- tinguishing benefit lies in the fact that when it ends, that which follows is not a new birth, but an eternal freedom from all life. This is in its essence a doctrine of despair, even thougli the annihilation of life is called by the softer name 22 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF of endless slumber, and attention is mainly fixed on the joys of Nirvana which precede that slumber. Tlie third chief feature of Buddhism is its description of the "Noble Path" — the way by which a man is to reach the desired goal. Having (i) denied the existence of God and the soul, and (2) asserted the existence of transmigration and of an essential misery in all life, from which Nirvana is the only deliverance, it proceeds (3) to tell how Nirvana may be reached. It is by means of persevering meditation upon the hollowness of life, together with the practice of control over self and beneficence to others. Many of the rules given for this end have in them a moral truth and beauty which is remarkable. The opposition to caste and to extending reli- gion by force of arms, the freedom given to women and the mildness of manners cherished among all, are most com- mendable. But as there is no love to any God in all this, neither is there any beneficence toward men which is other than negative and selfish. The self-annihilation which is emphasized is sought simply as a means of finally escaping from misery by escaping from existence, after tasting what- ever sensual enjoyment may come within reach on the way. The chief aim of every zealous Buddhist is to "make merit." For a man, the most etificient means is to join the order of monks, commonly but less correctly called priests. In modern times very few remain for life in the "wat" (monas- tery) ; but every man from the King down is expected to take his turn once at least. A woman's best hope for future happiness is to have many sons, who can thus "make merit" for their mother, as well as themselves. The very few nuns are aged widows, to whom the temple serves as a form of almshouse. Boys under twenty cannot be full-Hedged monks, but enter the temples in great numbers as novitiates. Without count- ing these novitiates, the latest official report shows about 100,000 monks in the Kingdom of Siam, nearly all of them able-bodied young men, whom the women, who are the chief merit-makers, are feeding and supporting in idleness. The priests are clad in yellow robes, each suit consisting of seven pieces. The wearing of these patched garments is THE MISSIONS IN SIAM. 23 in imitation of Gotama, who is said to have adopted the yellow garb worn in his time by robbers, so that the world would cease to praise him. At daybreak the thoroughfares, canals and rivers of Siam are thronged with monks collecting their day's food from the people, each carrying a rice-pot suspended from the shoulder, and a bag hanging on the arm, to receive rice, fish or fruits. They never ask for alms nor return thanks, but take their stand at a house and wait in silence until the inmates bring the food, worship them, and then place the gift in the pot or bag. The people consider that the priests have conferred a great favor on them by receiving the food. The stricter "Tammayoot" order of monks was established by King Maha Mongkut, with the aim of restoring the ancient discipline; but the easy-going majority prefer the laxer discipline of the "Mahanikai" order. The practical conduct both of monks and laity is far below even their own Buddhist standard. Tliey live as the heathen did whom Paul describes in his letters to the Romans and Corinthians. The great distinction, after all, between other religions and Christianity, is not merely that they present lower standards, but that they do not offer at all that grace and strength whereby men are enabled to rise toward the standard. Bud- dhism makes no such offer, and has no such conception. It fixes the mind upon the evils and miseries of life, which it is exhorted by its own power to shun, and not upon the posi- tive holiness and blessedness of a Divine Saviour, whose grace can lift the soul toward the glory which it sees in Him. "We should not hastily assume that Buddhism in Siam is a waning force, or that the friendliness of officials is indicative of a disposition CO accept the Gospel. The mental attitude which looks upon Christian- ity with good-natured indifTerence is as hard to overcome as that which regards all religions as equally true or equally false. "A languid indifference is the special obstacle to mission work. This is partly due to a tropical climate, but natural physical and mental sloth is greatly intcnsilied by the teaching of Buddhism. Buddha held that man ihould be neutral in all things, avoid extremes, and neither love nor hate. Activity is evil; passiveness is virtue. "Such spongy material is harder to break than a rock — like the southern forts of i)almetto logs : the bullets buried themselves without shattering the logs, so that the more lead was fired into them, the more impregnable they became." (Condensed from Dr. Brown's Report.) 24 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CHRISTIANITY IN SIAM. ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS. Long before the beginning of Protestant effort, French Catholics had, as early as 1662, established the first Christian mission in Siam, during the reign of the liberal-minded and famous Siamese King Narai. The grand embassy of 1673 from Louis XIV of France was accompanied by a consider- able number of Jesuit priests. In 1780 a royal decree ban- ished all Catholic foreign missionaries from the kingdom, and they did not return in any considerable numbers or for permanent residence until 1830, when Bishop Pallegoix was appointed to resume the interrupted work. Their work is now under the direction of two bishops, one in Bangkok and another for the Lao. Dififerent methods, both of securing and of reckoning adherents, hinder any fair comparison between statistics of Protestant and Catholic work. But it is probably not wide of the mark to state that they have more European workers than all Protestant mis- sions combined; more stations and places of worship, includ- ing four substantial brick churches in Bangkok and a stately cathedral; more schools, with four thousand pupils; and a membership threefold greater than the Protestants. They are more disposed than Protestants to concentrate special effort in the centres of political power. For example, they have a large hospital, supported largely by non-Catholic donors, in Bangkok, where we have none, but attempt no medical work in the interior, where there is greatest lack of such service. They provide for their adherents some devotional books in Romanized Siamese, but do not teach the Siamese alpha- bet, so that few Catholics can read ordinary Siamese books, nor can ordinary Siamese read Catholic books. ' They are not seen, like Protestant workers, showing Bible pictures, and publishing the Gospel story to such groups of heathen as can be gathered in market chapels, temples, wayside rest houses, and open-air meetings, nor distributing Scriptures THE MISSIONS IN SIAM. '■5 or Christian tracts in heathen communities. Their favorite poHcy is to segregate their adherents in separate communi- ties, under their special protection and control, and thus indoctrinate parents and children in their faith and forms of worship. Their policy appeals strongly to a certain class, who are anxiously seeking protection in law-suits or other forms of aid in temporal affairs, but alienates others. Most of the converts they gain are not Siamese, but Chinese or Eurasians. Just as the Lao make more offerings to propitiate the demons they fear than the Buddha they revere, so it is, w) doubt, less from confidence and good-will than State policy, that the French Catholics succeed in obtaining more favor- able concessions in the matter of holding property, and larger donations and grants from the Siamese officials, than do the Protestants. But the prevalent conviction that, unlike the American missionaries, they are in very close alliance with a foreign government, makes them generally distrusted, dis- liked and secretly feared. Yet, with all their faults and limitations, Catholic missions have doubtless been the providential means of leading many to a knowledge of the essentials of Christian truth, and to a saving faith in the true God. BEGINNINGS OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS. The very first Protestant missionary effort PATHFINDERS, for the Siamese on record was made by a woman who never saw Siam. Mrs. Ann Haseltine Judson, the young wife of Dr. Adoniram Judson, became so deeply interested in the numerous Siamese colony she found at Rangoon that in April, 1818, she wrote to a friend: "I have attended to the Siamese language for about a year and a half, and with the assistance of my teacher, have translated the Burman catechism, a tract containing an abstract of Christianity, and the Gospel of Matthew, into that language."' Some of this manuscript was probably never printed; but her Siamese version of her husband's Burman [; 26 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF I. catechism was published in 1819 by the Baptist Press at |; Serampore, India. [ Not till August, 1828, did the first Protestant missionaries I land in Siam. These were an Eng-lishman, Rev. Jacob I Tomlin, of the London Missionary Society, and a German, '1 Dr. Carl Gutzlaff, who had severed his previous brief con- I nection with the Netherlands Missionary Society, and came ; to Bangkok independently at his own charges. Both these I men traveled widely in the Far East, laboring in many dif- ferent fields, but everywhere with special reference to the I Chinese dispersion, as China itself was not yet open to the ; Gospel. Each made two visits to Bangkok, not only giving free medical treatment to crowds of patients, and freely dis- tributing many Chinese tracts and Scriptures, but diligently studying Siamese, and making a beginning, as best they could, in translation of the New Testament, and preparing a \ Christian tract in that tongue. 1 After his marriage in Singapore to Miss Maria Newell, of the London Missionary Society, Dr. Gutzlaff in 1830 returned I to Bangkok with his bride, the first pioneer of woman's work j for Christ in Siam. But in June, 183 1, after burying both i wife and babe, and himself very ill, Dr. Gutzlaff left Siam, ' never to return. After a notable career in China, he died i there in August, 185 1. Failing health likewise compelled the return of Mr. Tomlin to Singapore in January, 1832. The first American missionary was Rev. David Abeel, of the American Board, which at that time was still supported by Presbyterians jointly with Congregationalists and others. . Mr. Abeel was another zealous worker of rather roving habits. He seems never to have settled down long in any field; but he twice visited Bangkok, first arriving from Can- ton in June, 1831, and being compelled by ill health to take his final departure in November, 1832. Despite all hindrances, reverses and seeming failure, the observations and appeals of these three missionary prospec- tors soon bore fruit in the more permanent occupation of the field by three American missionary societies. W• "0^6 ' Van Vranken, Miss E.-iQOO Vmccm, Rev. nowcll..i903- ..^rRe'r('c^-a).iB..-.^^ ^W^ te Mrs (Chin^ :w:;le:^"A-(China).iB.9-i90. .Warner Miss Antoin- ettc (Japan) ^° White, Rev. Henry 902_ White, Mrs. ••••-^••^gg-ion « Wilson, Rev. J ^.7^- 066.1876 « Wilson, Mrs. Kate...^6i»7 Wilson, Miss Margaret. 1895-190. nVishard, Miss Florence (Mrs. Al^-^t Fulton, ^^^^_^gg^ Yatcs, Rev. William.... 1909 1913 56 UISTOt^lCAL SKKTCil OF BOOKS OF REFERENCE. ■ Kiicyclopcedia Brilannica, art. Sia>n. All Oriental Laiitl of the Free. Freeman. lyio. Presbyterian Board of Publication. The Kingdom of Siam. Carter. 1004. Putnam Sons. Christ and Ihuldha. Cushing. 1907. American Baptist Pub. Society. Nearer and i^arthcr East ; Chapter V, on Siam. Dr. Arthur J. Brown. 1908. 35 cents. The White Elephant (bi-montlily ). 25 cents a year. 405 West Adams Street, Eairrield, Iowa. Educational Series, Siam. 3 cents. Philadelphia. 1915. Aledical Mission. Series, Siam. 3 cents. Philadelphia. 1914. Itinerating in Siam. Dr. E. P. Dunlap. 1907. 3 cents. Board of I'oreign Missions, New York. Work among Lepers. J. W. McKean, M.D. 1910. Boon Itt in Siam. Dr. J. A. Eakin. Philadelphia. 6 cents. Call to Siam. Mrs. Julia Cole. Chicago. 1908. 2 cents. Siam; Questions and Answers for Bauds. Philadelphia. 1915. 5 cts. Lotus Laud. Thompson. 1906. Lippincntt Co., Philadelphia. A Half Century among the Siamese and Lao. Dr. McGilvary. 1912. Revell Co. $2.00. The Laos of North Siam. Mrs. Curtis. 1903. $1.25. Laos Folklore. Miss Fleeson. 1899. Around the World Series of Missions. Bradt Party, 1912. Chapters VII-LK. Missionary Press Co. $1.50. Miracles of Missions. First Series, No. IV. Dr. Arthur Pierson. Funk & Wagnalls. The Light of Asia and the Light of the World. Dr. S. H. Kellogg. 1885. MaciMillaii & Co. Siam and Laos. 1884. Presbyterian Board of Publication. $1.85. Siam the Heart of Farther India. Miss M. L. Cort. 1886. Randolph Co. $1.75. Siam : Its Government, Manners and Customs. Dr. N. A. McDonald. 1884. $1.25. NoTii. — The above list has been carefully selected, after wide reading, with a view to include only publications of real value. But for busy people who cannot read all, the compiler specially recommends the works listed above the line, as up to date and important. \ \ %iiiii I .i. ... Histori'cai sketch of the missions in Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00044 9019 DATE DUE ^52-; ly^a^ HIGHSMITH #45230