Mission and Revolution in Central Asia The MCCS Mission Work in Eastern Turkestan 1892-1938 by John Hultvall A translation by Birgitta Åhman into English of the original book, Mission och revolution i Centralasien, published by Gummessons, Stockholm, 1981, in the series STUDIA MISSIONALIA UPSALIENSIA XXXV. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by Ambassador Gunnar Jarring Preface by the author I. Eastern Turkestan – An Isolated Country and Yet a Meeting Place 1. A Geographical Survey 2. Different Ethnic Groups 3. Scenes from Everyday Life 4. A Brief Historical Survey 5. Religious Concepts among the Chinese Rulers 6. The Religion of the Masses 7. Eastern Turkestan Church History II. Exploring the Mission Field 1892 -1900. From N. F. Höijer to the Boxer Uprising 1. An Un-known Mission Field 2. Pioneers 3. Diffident Missionary Endeavours 4. Sven Hedin – a Critic and a Friend 5. Real Adversities III. The Foundation 1901 – 1912. From the Boxer Uprising to the Birth of the Republic. 1. New Missionaries Keep Coming to the Field in a Constant Stream 2. Mission Medical Care is Organized 3. The Chinese Branch of the Mission Develops 4. The Bible Dispute 5. Starting Children’s Homes 6. The Republican Frenzy Reaches Kashgar 7. The Results of the Founding Years IV. Stabilization 1912 – 1923. From Sjöholm’s Inspection Tour to the First Persecution. 1. The Inspection of 1913 2. The Eastern Turkestan Conference 3. The Schools – an Attempt to Reach Young People 4. The Literary Work Transgressing all Frontiers 5. The Church is Taking Roots 6. The First World War – Seen from a Distance 7. The Russian Revolution Had Far-Reaching Consequences for the Mission 8. Severe Blood Letting in the Missionary Group 9. Everyday Life of the Missionaries 10. For and Against the Eastern Turkestan Mission 11. The Persecution of 1923 V. “Fields Whitening to Harvest”. (1924-1932). From the reconstruction of the Church to an approaching revolution. 1. A Coming Storm 2. “Distressed, Tortured and in Pain” 3. To preach the Gospel 4. Between Colleagues Only 5. Renewal of Health Care Work 6. On the Brighter Side 7. A Spiritual Breakthrough – Some Underlying Causes VI. Phasing out. (1933 – 1938). From Ma Chung-yen to Sheng Shih-tsai. 1. The Muslim Revolution Reaches the Mission Field (1933 – 1934) 2. The Mission in the Storm 3. Interwar Years – Russian Years (1934 – 1936) 4. Reconstruction of the Mission 5. A Missionary’s Life – One of Many… 6. Guarded Optimism – in Spite of Everything 7. The New Testament in the Language of the People 8. Sheng Shih-tsai Strikes (1937 – 1938) 9. The Mission is Crushed 10. Separate Destructive Forces Sealed the Fate of the Mission VII. The Church of Christ in Sinkiang. 1. “Red Exodus” and “Sheng Shih-tsai’s Exodus” 2. “God’s Surprising Providence” 3. The Mission Continues in India 4. The Completion of the Bible Translation 5. Exploring Old Territory 6. Signs of Life from the Mission Field 7. The Mission’s Heritage Notes Bibliography Foreword by Ambassador Gunnar Jarring The history of Swedish Mission covers many years and many parts of the world that were thought to be inaccessible and unreachable. The work and living conditions of the missionaries have never been easy. Often the journey to the mission field was full of hardship. Living conditions were very primitive and the climate was often tiring and bothersome to many. Illnesses and diseases of varying kinds were a daily experience. In his historical account of the Mission’s history in Eastern Turkestan, fulfilling all the criteria mentioned above, John Hultvall describes in detail the work of the Swedish Mission in Central Asia which began in 1892 in the southwest part of the province of Xinjiang, China’s most westerly and inaccessible province. The work continued until 1938 when the last missionaries were forced to leave the country because of internal political turmoil. John Hultvall’s history of the Mission in Eastern Turkestan has been written with great insight on the basis of highly valuable sources with whose help he has been able to present an integrated picture of the unforgettable work of the Swedish Mission there. It was a difficult mission field, both physically and psychologically. The missionaries were confronted with a conservative, almost fanatical form of Islam. It would not be true to say that their work resulted in great numbers of people converting from Islam. Their main contribution was in meeting social needs in medical work, in education and giving general help. The Swedish missionaries were not only representatives of Christ but were serving the people in various ways. Their assistance provided technical help for an undeveloped country. Swedish Mission also made similar contributions in other parts of the world. In John Hultvall’s book we have a well documented description of the contribution to Central Asia by the Swedish Mission - a contribution which was also a cultural one to far away Central Asia. Gunnar Jarring Stockholm, September 1980 Preface by the Author 1981 Eastern Turkestan, or Sinkiang as the province is called today, is the very hub between the two eastern giants of today, the Soviet Union and China. At the end of the 19th century, this area was not just a political “hot spot”; it was also an area of confrontation between different religions. And in this meetings of religions, the Swedish Mission was involved for at that time the Mission Covenant Church, of Sweden (the MCCS), as sole mission society within a vast area, was carrying out an attempt of evangelical mission work among Turks and Chinese. Its main mission stations were built in Kashgar, in 1894, Jarkend, in 1896, Hancheng in 1908 and in Jengi-Hessar in 1912. This Swedish Mission attracted international attention. Dr John R. Mott’s comment on the Eastern Turkestan Mission reads, “If the door of Islam is not opened, Christianity cannot win the world.”1 And Dr Samuel Zwemer underlined the great importance of the Swedish Mission for the propagation of the Gospel in Asia, as it was so strategically located in Kashgar. He also stressed the fact that this particular mission society was the most successful one among orthodox Muslims that he knew of.2 After 45 years of hard work, however, this missionary effort came to a full stop in 1938 because of political upheavals. By the look of things, the end came as a failure, and “the most remarkable enterprise among many other missionary efforts” never had the time to develop into anything more than an attempt, a beginning. Behind my wish to put together some essential aspects of the Eastern Turkestan mission lies a long time interest in what is, in my opinion, a remarkable mission. For the last ten years – and more – all my spare time has been spent studying these highly interesting matters. This account is based mainly on a large collection of letters, sent to and from the missionaries in the area. I have also used the minutes from meetings and conferences both in Sweden and in Eastern Turkestan. Other non published material has been found in different archives such as the Mission Archives of Lidingö, those of the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden in Stockholm and of the British and Foreign Bible Society in London. Several missionaries, their children and close friends have on various occasions recounted memories and very willingly placed diaries, letters and other material not in print at my disposal. The printed material used includes a number of general works on the country, its people and religions, etc. Several Swedes are among the authors. During the 1970s, books by Jan Myrdal, Lars-Erik Nyman and Gunnar Jarring have been published. There are also documents and other publications written by missionaries and various Mission leaders. In many cases the story of a life-long missionary commitment lies behind these books. Other printed documents include annual reports, diaries, periodical reviews and newspapers. Unique printed material, such as the MCCS registers, mission station diaries, correspondence between stations and between the mission and local authorities, etc. were lost when the mission activities came to an end. As a precautionary measure, the missionaries burnt their archives before leaving the mission field. Thereby they wanted to remove everything that could possibly be used as evidence against the Asian Christians. They hoped that doing this they might be able to save their lives. How suspicious those in power were of everything printed or non printed, belonging to the Mission was experienced for instance by missionary Moen. At the time of his expulsion, Moen had a handwritten portion of the Bible in his pocket, the letters of Paul to Timothy. During a search this text was found and when the officer of the guard saw that it was “a letter”, it was immediately confiscated, with the 1 Folke, 1927 I, p. 84. 2 Folke, 1927, p. 27, 84, 87. Nyrén to Törnquist, January 27th, 1927. Andersson, 1948, p. 29. explanation, “I cannot allow you to travel with this letter.”3 How interesting and valuable these destroyed documents would have been for the understanding of the mission and the conditions of the missionaries is shown by a number of letters that were saved for posterity. They were written in Eastern Turkestan by various missionaries to Raquette, their colleague, and when he returned to his own country, in the beginning of the 1920s, he took these letters home with him. These letters contain a lot of details explaining the situation in the field. The source material may seem one-sided, since in most cases it was written by the missionaries themselves. As to the religious life of the people – in which area the mission came to play its main role - not much other material is however available.