BRITISH BAPTISTS IN CHINA 1845-1952 By the same Author: Wang .An Shih, A Chinese Statesman and Educationalist of the Sung Dynasty (2 vols.) Mo Ti, a Chinese Heretic China Among the Nations Teach Yourself Chinese BRITISH BAPTISTS IN CHINA 1845-1952 by H. R. WILLIAMSON, M.A.. B.D., D.Lit. Formerly General Foreign Secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society LONDON: THE CAREY KINGSGATE PRESS LIMITED The Carey Kingsgate Press Limited 6, Southampton Row, London, w.c:1. First published 1957 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY BBBNl!ZER BAYLIS AND SON, LID., THB TRINITY PRBSS, WORCESTER, AND LONDON CONTENTS CHAPTllll PAG.B Foreword . vii PART ONE THE MARCH OF EVENTS I. Our Missionary Heritage (A.D. 735-1860) l 2. _Pioneers at Shanghai, NankingandChefoo (1860-75) 20 3. Lengthening the Cords (1875-91). 37 4. Strengthening the Stakes (1875-1900) . 45 5. The Church Laid Waste (1900-02) 57 6. Repairing the Breaches and Restoring the Paths (1902-12) 72 7. All Things Become New (1912-25) 90 8. Perplexed-but not in Despair (1925-37) 121 9. Persecuted-but not Forsaken (1937-45) 154 rn. Cast Down-but not Destroyed (1946-52) 177 PART TWO DIVERSITIES OF OPERATIONS II. Preaching the Word . 199 12. Establishing the Church 212 13. Teaching Them All Things . 223 I4. Healing the Sick . 238 15. The Making of Books. 252 16. Doing Good 262 17. Governments and Helps 269 V Vl CONTENTS PART THREE THE REHEARSAL OF ALL THINGS 18. Observable Results 273 19. Difficulties Encountered 281 20. The Church in China Today 337 Select Bibliography 361 Appendix: List of B.M.S. Missionaries who served in China 363 Index 373 ILLUSTRATIONS Facing page I. The Nestorian Tablet at Hsi-An-Fu 54 2. The Gateway, Ch'ing-Chou-Fu 54 3. The Pioneers in Shansi 55 4. The Martyrs' Memorial, T'ai-Yuan-Fu, marking the place of imprisonment 55 5. Gospel Village Veterans 86 6. Timothy Richard and other Shantung Pioneers 86 7. The first Inter-Provincial Conference held at Ch'ing- Chou-Fu in 1912 87 8. A group of Shensi missionaries 87 9. A primary school at San-Yuan 214 10, Part of the Cheeloo University 214 II. The Whitewright Institute, Chi-Nan-Fu 215 12, C.L.S. Headquarters, Shanghai, in Timothy Richard's time 215 13. Evangelists preaching at a fair 246 14. A preaching hall at Tai-Chou 246 15. The first hospital at Ch'ing-Chou-Fu . 247 16. T'ai-Yuan-Fu Hospital for Men 247 17. Map of China FOREWORD THE main aim of this book is to provide a record of the work of British Baptists in China, particularly of those who served there under the auspices of the Baptist Missionary Society during the period 1860 to 1951. In the process of drafting, it soon became evident that if the things attempted and the progress achieved during those years were to be rightly assessed, the story must be told in its historical setting, and that the activities and experiences of our B.M.S. missionaries should be related to the progress of the Christian movement in China as a whole, due consideration being given to the difficulties encountered by missionaries and Chinese Christians during that time. The writer has endeavoured to be as factual and objective as possible in recounting these matters, but he is well aware that in a narrative of this kind errors and defects will be found, and that its tone and colour must inevitably reflect the experience and opinions of the narrator. Nevertheless, it is issued in the hope that the story of the B.M.S. share in the modern Protestant missionary movement in China, may not only be informative, but that it may inspire those who read it to gratitude and praise to God for all that He has wrought through the labours of His servants in that great far-eastern land. In conclusion, thanks are due to the officers and Headquarters' staff of the Society, especially the Rev. J. B. Middlebrook and the Rev. A. S. Clement, for much appreciated help in the planning and production of the book, and to many of my missionary col­ leagues for their valuable criticisms and suggestions. In this con­ nection I would particularly like to mention Mrs. T. W. Allen, Miss D. J. Curtis, Dr. W. S. Flowers, the Rev. A. J. Gamier, vii Vlll FOREWORD who also contributed the map, the Rev. H. H. Rowley and the Rev. F. S. Russell. H. R. WILLIAMSON Sutton, Surrey 9th September 1957 To the sacred memory of the Rev. T. W. and Mrs. Piggott and their son Wellesley who suffered martyrdom for Christ in T'ai-Yuan-Fu, Shansi on 9th July 1900 PART ONE THE MARCH OF EVENTS CHAPTER 1 OUR MISSIONARY HERITAGE (A.n. 735-1860) THE Baptist Missionary Society began work in China in 1860. But from the seventh century onwards prolonged though inter­ mittent efforts to evangelize the Chinese had been made by others. It will be useful, therefore, as a prelude to the story of B.M.S. work in China, to give a brief account of the more important of these earlier missionary enterprises to the people of that great and ancient land. I. THE FIRST NEST0RIAN MISSION, A.D. 63 5-845 The first Christian Mission to China of which there is certain knowledge was undertaken by a strong and zealous missionary branch of the Eastern Church which had numerous adherents in Assyria, Mesopotamia and other countries of central Asia east of the Euphrates. They were branded as Nestorians by the leaders of the Western Church after Nestorius, their reputed leader, had been condemned for heresy regarding the Nature of Christ by the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431. In China, however, their missionaries were known as preachers of the Luminous Religion (Ching Chiao) and the Church they founded was called by that name. There stands today in the city of Hsi-An-Fu, Shensi, a large stone monument which records the arrival in that city (then called Ch'ang-An) in A.D. 635, of missionaries from Syria led by one Alopen. The inscription on its face includes an outline of doctrine, a reference to the Scriptures, and recounts the history of the Mission to the date of the tablet's erection in A.D. 781. I 2 BRITISH BAPTrSTS IN CHINA It is evident from this, and contemporary Chinese records, that the Chinese emperor, T'ai-Tsung, of the illustrious T'ang dynasty, cordially welcomed these missionaries, and afforded them every facility for the translation of the Scriptures; that he himself studied these, and issued a decree that the new religion was to have free course throughout the empire. It is also clear that this Mission, although it met with persecution at intervals, achieved considerable success for a period of over two hundred years. Monasteries, traces of which have been found in fifteen widely separated places, were established in practically every province. And in 1908 a Christian manuscript in Chinese, of the eighth century, which includes a hymn to the Holy Trinity and a list of thirty-five Christian books, evidently ofNestorian origin, was discovered by Pelliot in a Buddhist grotto at Tun-Huang, in the north-west comer of Kansu province. In A.D. 845, however, the emperor, Wu-Tsung, who was an ardent Taoist, decreed that all monks and nuns of the Buddhist, Nestorian and Zoroastrian faiths should abandon their religious calling, and revert to civil life. According to Chinese records, 265,000 Buddhists and 3,000 leaders of other faiths, of whom a considerable proportion (possibly 2,000) were Nestorians {prob­ ably monks), were affected by this edict. The edict was followed by severe persecution of the followers of the three proscribed faiths, and it would seem that as a result the Nestorian Church lost its identity in China itself, for there are few if any living traces of it there during the next four centuries.1 There is evidence, however, of the survival ofNestorian Chris­ tianity in North Mongolia between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, in the existence of a Christian tribe, called the Keraits, who are known to have become Christian from the very early years of the eleventh century. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan conquered the Keraits and forthwith married his son Tuli to one of their Christian prin­ cesses. She became the mother of three Mongol rulers, one of l The whole subject is ably discussed by Mrs. C. E. Couling in Th Luminous Religion (Carey Press, 19.25), OUR MISSIONARY HERITAGE (A.D. 735-1860) 3 whom, Khublai Khan, became the first Mongol emperor of all China. Although he was an ardent Buddhist, he was tolerant of all religions, except Taoism. These factors contributed greatly to the revival of Christianity in China itself, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. 2. NESTORIAN AND FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OF THE MONGOL DYNASTY, A.D. 1260-1368 The Mongol rulers of China, being aliens themselves, were friendly towards other foreigners. The Nestorians gained a new lease of life under their regime. Cambulac (the modern Peking), the Mongol capital, was made the seat of a Nestorian metropoli­ tan, and the former bishopric of Ning-Hsia (a section of Inner Mongolia, north-west of Shensi) was revived. N estorians be­ came very influential both at court and in the provinces, some of them attaining to very high and important offices. There were many Christians of Nestorian origin also amongst the foreign soldiers and merchants who came in with the Mongol rulers.