Sketch of the History of Protestant Missions in China
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CONTENTS . E = AKING VEN S TH E POCH M E T , ERIO D O F R ARA ION P P EP T , PERIO D O F N RANCE E T , PERIO D O F OCCUPATION O F CO AST E PROV INC S, V P RIO D F = O RA ION AND O F O CCU . E O CO PE T PATION F NLAND ROV INC S 30 O I P E , I PERIO D O F E! TENSION AND V ELO M N 34 V . DE P E T , NOTE. This b o o klet has b een prepared primarily fo r the u se o f Mie sio nary Classes stu dying u nder the direc tio n o f the Edu c atio nal D epartm ent o f the Stu dent V o lu nteer Mo vem ent fo r F o reign Mi i n It m er r f intere t t m n thers ss o s. ay h o wev p o ve o s o a y o ’ i n r n f r in e iz ati n wh o are pray ng a d wo ki g o Ch a s evang l o . SKETCH O F THE HISTORY O F PROTES I TANT MISSIONS IN CH NA. c h flakin ents . l. The Epo g Ev s c um Clo ed . At the opening of this century China was as effectually closed to Protestant missionary effort c ou ld it as human power close , nor did there seem to be any immediate probability of a change favorable r i to the int oduct on of Christianity . Centuries of isolation had deprived the Chinese of any apprec ia tion of the value of contact with Western nations . Consummate selb c oneeit kept them from seeking to learn of those who knew more . Furthermore, the examples of the Christianity of the West which the Chinese saw illustrated in the lives of many of the American and European men of commerce tended in i no way to increase their admiration for Christ anity, and left them perfectly satisfied with their o wn relig o ions . Not nly did these obstacles appear when first in Robert Morrison landed China, but the very nature of Christianity itself was such as to make its o a introduction a m st radic l change , for by it the very foundations of China ’s government and social life a i were thre tened . Had Christ anity been able to enter China as a fourth religion , and take its place on w ordinate i a plane with Confucianism , Buddh sm o MISSIONS IN CH INA a eu and Taoism , she might have hoped for ready trance ; but being a religion which can tolerate no a o equal , claiming Christ who is the nly Savior of Wo r a o the l¢ and c rrying a Bible which is the nly i revealed written word of God , Christian ty could expect nothing but the greatest opposition . o c o u d Clearly then , nly men of faith l God only c ou ld o en h‘ dw m ’ p ‘ predict that the rusty hinges of China s massive doors should ever swing open to receive the ’ Christ ; and in God s providence the men who first i i stepped upon Ch nese soil in th s century , to lay the foundations for the propagation of Christianity , were min n l pre w e t y men of mighty faith . But even such men did not and could not predict the way in which On these doors would be opened . ly God knew . His servants cou ld o nly wait and watch for the leading of His hand . We who are privileged to live in the e ook closing decade of the c ntury , as we l back upon u the wonderf l way in which China has been opened, can truly exclaim , “ e in a m steri o u s Go d m o v s y way, ” er to rf rm H is wo nd s pe o . Four great events mark the history of Fm"WWWW. missions in China . Two of them refer u e fi o rt to the opening of the co ntry to missionary , and the other two bear upon the better and more thorough preparation of the missionaries themselves o h n to do thWe great w rk of reaching C i a for Christ . Opiu m ar. The first of these events which God used to break the bars of seclusion that imprisoned MIM ONS IN CH IN A 4 h first E a d C ina was the war with ngl n . Through her merchants , Great Britain was sending to China in vast quantities the vile drug, opium . Some of Chi ’ na s keenest and most fars sighted statesmen saw clearly that opium meant the m in of that great i nation . Consequently, with true patriot sm , they bent their energies upon the work of prohibiting its a i import tion . In desperat on large cargoes of the iez E a d s ed . drug were and thrown overboard ngl n , h incensed at this act, which on the part of the C inese selfs def n was merely in e se , opened a war in 1 839 to f a ra c orce Chin to legalize the iniquitous t fi . Much E a c i blood was shed , and ngl nd came forth vi tor ous . s TM 0, The re ult was the forming of the Treaty m , fi ° N of anking, which required China to give an indemnity of to cede the Island r of Hong Kong to her Majesty, and to p otect the tr fi c im rtation a in opium , as well as the m of other a commodities . But God m de the wrath of man to praise him by guiding the minds that formed the treaty to throw open five of the great seaport citi es of and China to foreign trade residence, and thus to h mo C ristianity . Canton , A y, Foochow, Ningpo and 1 842 ac c essi l Shanghai , in , became entirely b e to for ei n and r t g nations, Ch is ianity was able to enter and influ enc e lay foundations in these great centers of . “ had Slwllfl : IH a m Previous to this year , trade been Tu b snfi e ranc e r r carried on by , and t ade s ma were subjected to ny restrictions . Foreigners 8 MISSIONS I! CH INA and e f a e shore , were r garded as an in erior r ce of barb aw l A e rians vassals . ft r the treaty , the Chinese were obliged to regard and treat with foreigners more on terms of equality . A new impulse was given to and o trade, Protestant as well as R man Catholic i c m ssionaries, under the prote tion of this treaty, five s entered the ports , built house and chapels , e stablished schools , and engaged in public preach “ “ ing . As Dr . Williams has said, Looked at in any e point of view, political , commercial , moral, or int l lectual , it will always be considered as one of the o turning points in the hist ry of mankind, involving ' the welfare of all nations in its wide z reac hing c onse ” qu e nc es ? The same author states in another place i an n the sign fic c e of this war a d. its consequences in very striking language - “ This war was extraordinary c hiefl in its origin , as growing y out of a commercial misunderstanding ; remarkable in its course as being waged between strength and weakness , conscious superiority and ignorant pride ; melancholy in its end as forcing the weaker to pay for the opium within its n its borders agai st all laws, thus paralyzing the little moral power its feeble government could exert to protect its subjects ; and momentous in its results as a i introducing, on a basis of acknowledged oblig t ons, on ez half of the world to the other , without any arro m gant de ands from the victors, or humiliating con ‘ ’ n n the Chine e 1 . Nevins Chi a a d s , p . 30 ' ' Wam s idd e Kin do m V ol. II . 650. 1 illi M l g , , p H ISSIONS IN CH IN A 9 cessions from the vanquished . It was a turning “ point in the national life of the Chinese race . " rr W A ow u . But the country as a whole was not yet opened . There was need for another providential influ enc e or movement which would completely open d up the doors of the whole nation . This secon e oc h z makin first and p g event, like the , was a war, a Its e war with the same nation as before . cause se ms “ A P i r 1 858 : W. trivial , as Dr . Mart n w ote in The quarrel originated in an occurrence of the most trivi al its character, and has grown to present magnitude by a concatenation of events which no human power e . could have arranged, or human sagacity for seen It presents a striking instance of what is so often notic ed in the co urse of history— God accomplishing His great and wise purposes by allowing man to pursue ” ' tifiable s a u n us .