REPORTS ON DEPUTATION OF AUSTRALIAN CHURCHMEN TO MAINLAND CHINA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Australian Churchmen Visit “Liberated” China 1

The Church, the Politics, the Life of Red China 3

China: “More and More Lovely Every Day” 6

China: Religion's Carefully Charted Path 9

Jackpot Question: Why Was China's Door Closed 12

“The Americans, of Course, Used Germ Warefare 15

How Much Longer for the Reign of Peiping? 18

How the Church in China Trains Its People 21

BY

Alfred Francis James Managing Director Reprinted by the China Committee of the Division of Anglican News Service Foreign Missions through courtesy of the Episcopal Sydney, Australia Churchnews, 110 North Adams Street, Richmond, Va.

FAR EASTERN OFFICE DIVISION OF FOREIGN MISSIONS National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.

156 Fifth Avenue, New York 10, New York Render Unfo God'

Australian Churchmen Visit Liberated' China

An eight-member delegation of Our fears were allayed when we presence was likely to embarrass the of Anglican churchmen from Aus- were met at Shanghai railway station Church in China. tralia entered China last month for by the Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Chen dismissed the sugges- a 10,000-mile look-see tour behind T. C. Chen, and a welcoming party tion. which the Bamboo Curtain. This was the included other Chinese bish- “Before liberation,” he said, “I ops, clergy, lay first time since 1949 that a repre- and people. would not have dared even to meet sentative group of religious leaders A cortege of sleek limousines took you at the railway station. from outside the Iron Curtain had us to the King Kong Hotel in the for- “In a situation like this, it would visited Red China. The delegation mer French Concession. not have been safe. included Archbishop Mowll of Syd- Only the Primate and your corre- “But everything is changed now. ney; Canon Herbert Arrowsmith of spondent had any definite requests You will find that the student demon- the British and Foreign Bible Society; for places to visit. His Grace natural- strators are quite orderly, and very Canon Marcus Loane, principal of ly wished to re-visit Western China, proper in their approach. If they Moore Theological College in Syd- where he was a bishop of the Sheng knew who you were, they would treat ney; Dr. Geoffrey Cranswick, Bishop King Hui before he went to Sydney. you with every courtesy.” of Tasmania; Dr. Jcmes Housden, Your correspondent was interested in One refrains from comment, save Bishop of Rockhampton; Dr. W. H. the diocese of Yunkwei, which has to observe that “spontaneous” demon- Moline, Archbishop of Perth, and been without a bishop since Bishop strations of the current type do make Alfred Francis James, managing di- Hwang Kuei-Yuan left it in about for physical comfort, however dull rector of the Anglican News Service. 1950 and went abroad. they may seem by comparison with On these pages, ECnews presents We had driven from the hotel to those of other days. the compound of the Presiding the first of several exclusive dis- Bishop The next day, a Sunday, was a patches from Mr. James. thi'ough the middle of a student dem- memorable occasion in the story of onstration against the “wicked Brit- the Anglican Communion. It was the ish and French imperialists” who first time since “Liberation” that an SHANGHAI, November, 1956 were so brutally attacking the poor official group of visitors from outside A somewhat apprehensive Austral- Egyptians, with whose peaceful na- China had taken part in the worship ian Anglican delegation to the Chi- tional aspirations and determination of the Chinese Church. nese Episcopal Church reached here to rid themselves of the shackles of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Shanghai, last month by train after a two-day foreign domination there is universal has now been set apart as the national journey from Canton. Your corre- sympathy in China—including, it cathedral of the Chung Hua Sheng spondent’s portable radio had kept us seems, the Christian churches here. Kung Hui. It was formerly the Eng- in touch with developments in the In view of the international situa- lish center in Shanghai. The central Middle East, and we had learned of tion, the Primate told the Presiding offices of the Sheng Kung Hui are in nation-wide Chinese enthusiasm for Bishop that the delegation would of the Church House building which ad- the cause of Egypt. course retrace its way at once if its joins the cathedral. Half of it is used

Bishops and clergy after the service in Holy Trinity Cathedral, Shanghai. (L. to R.) three Chinese clergy; Canon M. L. Loane; Bishop Chang Kwang-Hsu (Michael Chang) of Fuhkien; Archbishop Moline of Perth; Canon H. M. Arrowsmith; Bishop Ting Kwang-Hsun of Chekiang; Bishop Housden of Rockhampton; Bishop Cranswick of Tasmania; Archbishop Mowll of Sydney; Presiding Bishop Chen Chien-Tsun (Robin Chen) of Wan-Gan; Bishop Shen Tze-Kau, formerly Bishop of Shensi and now a professor at the Nanking Union Theological Seminary; Bishop Cheng Chien-Tsun, assistant bishop of Honan and General Secretary to the Standing Committee of the CHSKH; Bishop Mao Keh-Tsung of Kiangsu, and four Chinese priests.

1 for government offices—the entire God, or are they not? structure was so used at one stage, “Christ spoke little in regard to after it had been taken over to satisfy social conditions, although he was retrospective “taxes” imposed by the vividly conscious of them. He evaded Communist regime shortly after “Lib- political questions. He did not con- eration.” Finding it quite impossible, demn, as our Gospel for this 23rd like most industrial concerns, to pay Sunday after Trinity reminds us. the “taxes”, the Church here simply “Everyone who accepts the advan- handed the building over, and was tages of the rule of the State is bound subsequently rewarded by being al- to discharge his just obligations to lowed to use part of the structure for the State, but ‘render unto God the its own purposes without charge. things that are God’s’. If we seek first The morning’s service of Thanks- the Kingdom of God and His right- giving for the coming of our delega- eousness, then everyone else will re- tion was set in a Eucharist at which ceive his due,” the Archbishop said. the Primate of Australia preached. “If the Church had been more The capacity of the cathedral, we faithful in her witness; if Christ’s were told, is just over 600. There were teaching on brotherhood had been ap- no seats left, and small groups of Chi- plied more adequately, would we have Bishop Housden of nv./v:khampton chats nese worshippers stood here and social injustice and war in the world with Bishop Michael Chang. Left back- there. Many of them followed in the today? If His example of service had ground is Archbishop Mowll of Sydney, wake of the procession, having waited been followed more faithfully, would Australia. outside to see us enter. we have the selfishness of our modern life? Our failure in carrying out the Christ than we had seen at the morn- A ‘Moving Spiritual Experience’ task entrusted to us is due to those, ing Eucharist. The quality of the service, which in every land, who call themselves “There have been many changes in was fully choral, left an extraordi- Christians but to whom the Kingdom China, and in the Chinese Church,” he narily vivid impression with the dele- of God has become little more than an said. “But I hope we have not forgoL gation. It is not hard for anyone with abstract phrase.” ten our tradition of showing respect a little experience to detect anything In the evening we survived the and honour to our guests. in the way of a false or superficial ordeal of a dinner of 13 courses given “Although we sometimes fail to

note in a service of this kind : not us by the Standing Committee of the understand the needs of our guests, even the formal beauty of our liturgy General Synod of the Sheng Kung I do assure you that we make a very can hide insincerity from the prac- Hui at the Ho Ping (Peace) Hotel. sincere effort to do so. ticed eye. In a speech of welcome to the Dele- “I say this because many visitors, Your correspondent can only record gation on behalf of the Chinese when they return home, say that the that the delegation unanimously re- Church, the Presiding Bishop said Church itself in China has not yet garded this morning’s service as a that he could not imagine a better been liberated. deeply moving spiritual experience. way of expressing our fellowship in “The fact is, of course, that the The only extra-liturgical note was Church here is still in a period of a short welcoming address from the reconstruction. We realize that the Alfred Francis James, the author of Presiding Bishop. Otherwise, the C.H.S.K.F. is a relatively young service followed the pattern of the this article, was able to confirm branch of the Anglican Communion. 1662 Book of Common Prayer. last month that the Rt. Rev. Kimber We need very much the advice and the We were struck by the zest of the Den, former Bishop of Chekiang, help of others, and we believe that congregational hymn singing, and by had been released from a four-year your visit will be of great value to us. the w'ay they sang the rest of the prison term and is now living in “In the past few years, our church service. It was obvious that no at- Hangchow. Presiding Bishop Chen has made significant progress in self- tempt was being made to put on a of the Holy Catholic Church in China support, self-government and self- show to impress us. The congregation said he was "still in the dark" as to propagation ; but we realize there are clearly sang and behaved as it nor- why Bishop Kimber Den was im- still many defects in our work. We ask mally did. prisoned. "All in all," Mr. James you, as you go about during the next Archbishop Mowll preached on reported, "the Chinese are vague few weeks, not to hesitate to tell us Philippians 1 :3-5—“I thank my God and apparently unconcerned over what our defects are. We know it is . . . for your fellowship in the Gospel.” the question of what the bishop did only by being humble, listening to the Bishop Mao interpreted. and whether he had any kind of a advice of others that, under the guid- “We have already been much im- trial." His release creates a peculiar ance of the Holy Spirit, we can pro- pressed by the achievements of the problem. During his imprisonment. gress. China of today,” he said. Bishop Ting Huan Tsung (H. T. Ting) “Last, we welcome you not only to “Conditions have been greatly was elected to Kimber Den's place. do you honor and for the help you changed to remove many inequalities When his release was confirmed. will give us, but because we realize under which people lived. Yet let us Bishop Ting offered to resign, but your visit will enable us all to tackle not forget the specific task of the Presiding Bishop Chen refused to the common task of building up our Christian Church. accept the offer. The Presiding Bish- own churches and building up love “Is Christ’s Gospel to the whole op said the problem demanded solu- and friendship between our people human family, or only to a chosen tian, but he has not indicated as yet and countries. I believe that, through few? Are the kingdoms of this world how he will approach it. your visit, we are going to understand ever to become the Kingdom of our each other better.”

2 Etting Galloitay

Second In An Exclusive Series:

The Church, the Politics, the Life of Red Chino

What occurs inside Red China? Chino, although three ore current- gious: It was political. The barrier was

Is there a major nation anywhere ly doing so.) On these pages, £C- raised, and the visit arranged, by the more shut off from the outside news presents the second in o Church in China with the cordial approval world? Very few Westerners hove series of reports from Francis of the Chinese Government which, through been permitted on extensive tour James, managing director of the its Bureau of Religious Affairs, gave gen- behind the Bamboo Curtain, and Anglican News Service in Sydney, erous help without which the invitation even fewer hove emerged with un- Australia, who, with seven Austral- itself, and the itinerary, would have been distorted views. (The U.S. State De- ian churchmen, has recently re- impossible.

partment, for example, has refused turned from a 15,000-mile tour of The plain fact is that the Church in to allow American newsmen to visit the Chinese mainland. China functions within the framework of a political system entirely different from ours. It seems to me quite impossible to

Before onr delegation left Australia to Certainly, we were a fairly representa- understand how the CHSKH is organized, visit the Church in China, a great deal was tive group of .Australian Anglicans, led and how it functions, without constant made of the fact that this was a "purely by our Primate. Certainly, our main ob- reference to Chinese politics and recent religious’’ vi>it. with “no political signifi- jects were to re-establisb contact with the history— any more than it is possible to cance.’ Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui (the Holy understand why some English bishops sit The Primate of .Australia and some Catholic Church in China), and to learn in the Lords while no Australian or .Ameri- other members of mir delegation labored what we could of its life and worship at can bishop is a Senator. ibe ])oint. all levels. (The Presiding Bishop of the Church in I did not. and do not. subscribe myself But the barrier wbicb bad separated us China, by tbe way. happens to be what we to tbis view. for some years past was in no way reli- might call an M.P. or a Congressman).

3 pointed and awkward one’s questions, the

better every Chinese I met seemed to like

it. I was encouraged and sustained in this attitude by five outstanding Chinese bish-

ops, of whom I shall write in detail in later articles.

The first of them, dear old Bishop T. K. .Shell, took my hand within a day of our arrival in Shanghai and said, “I hear that you have a lot of questions to ask. You must be very frank about everything. Do not be afraid. You will find many things you do not like or understand. If you speak the truth in love you will find everything open to you here.” To refrain from asking what might be “awkward” or “embarrassing” questions, especially when they involve a political element, seemed to me not politeness, or tact, but dishonesty with an element of cowardice.

Map by Sam Robinson, staff artist

Inside Red China: Superimposed on this map are seven members of the Australian The Bonds of Anglicanism church delegation who returned in December from a 15,000-mile tour behind the This torn world and the condition of Bamboo Curtain. By the numbers they are: (1) The Most Rev. R. W. H. Moline, the the Church of God in it are in too grave Archbishop of Perth; (2) Mrs. Mowll, wife of the Primate;. (3) the Most Rev. H. W. a state for any good to come of pusilla- K. Mowll, Primate of Australia; (4) the Rt. Rev. G. F. Cranswick, the Bishop of Tas- nimity when Christian meets Christian. mania; (5) the Rt. Rev. J. A. G. Housden, Bishop of Rockhampton; (6) Canon M. L. If the bonds which unite us Anglicans Loane; and Canon H. M. Arrowsmith. in Christ are so tenuous that they cannot survive the stresses of national and politi- If any further evidence of the fatuity of work which we found everywhere can only cal differences, then the ethos of the ignoring the “political” nature of the visit be understood in the light of recent Chi- Church of England is just not worth is needed, it lies in this fact : Most of the nese history. bothering about. delegation’s time was spent in sightseeing This does not mean that the visitor from At least three of the other members of and in visits to schools, hospitals, jails, outside should accept and approve the po- the delegation shared this general view. factories, co-operatives, political institu- litical system which grips China today, as All the Chinese told us they agreed. And tions and the like. one notorious English ecclesiastical eccen- on this basis we asked each other ques- These had nothing at all to do with the tric does. Nor does it involve, necessarily, tions, cleared up misunderstandings, Church of China as such. approval of some of the ways in which the found the precise grounds on which we They had, however, everything to do Chinese Church gives its support to that differed, and then agreed to continue dif- with the new Chinese political system. political system. fering— for the time being. This system is in practice approved and The Chinese themselves did not expect Let me end this preliminary article with supported at most points by the CHSKH us to approve their political system in an illustration of how frankness pays, and and all other Chinese Christians, for rea- toto. On the contrary, they welcomed all with brief answers to some questions uni- sons which will appear in later articles. the criticism and discussion to which it versally asked outside China. Our hosts of the CHSKH made this quite gave rise, if only because it gave them an The Bishop of North China (Pekin) is clear at all times, and they took it for opportunity to put their own views before the Rt. Rev. Hsien-yang granted that we would be as interested in us and to explain how and why they came Lin (Timothy Lin). He speaks perfect English. the political system as we were with the to give it their support.

Church which functioned within it. Finally, if any good is to come of the I think it is essential to say all this, be- sustained effort which must be made to ‘My Dear Chap’ cause many criticisms of tbe Chinese understand the CHSKH in its political Well, a few years ago a well-known Church, which would be well founded and economic context, eliminating one’s Melbourne priest. Canon F. E. Maynard, were they leveled at the Church in Aus- own Western prejudices as much as possi- called on the bishop on his way back from tralia, for example, become pointless, and ble, then it is essential to be quite open a journey through Soviet Russia. Canon unfair, if they ignore the differences in with one’s Chinese fellow-Christians about Maynard was accompanied by a young our political systems. the things over which we obviously dis- woman who was acting as his guide and The attitude and activities of the Chi- agree. interpreter. nese Church concerning schools and hos- Everyone who knows them would agree the mystification, the pitals, towards evangelization, and to- that the Chinese are among the most cour- To canon’s bishop wards the use of "bacteriological warfare" teous people in the world. In times gone conducted the whole interview in Chinese, through the interpreter, although it was by the United States in Korea, for exam- by. it is said, this involved an element of obvious ple, can be neither understood nor as- insincerity, and some of our delegation that he understood every word spoken in English. sessed in a vacuum. They must be judged believed this still to be the case and acted against the local political background. accordingly. Canon Maynard, whose political views

Similarly, the almost uniformly unfa- I can only record, for my own part, that are not exactly conservative, and who was vorable recollections of former missionary the more bluntly one spoke, and the more after all persona grata with the Chinese

4 Government, did not quite know what to Church in China, sunk its identity make of this. in some kind of pan -Protestant The almost universal interpretation movement like the Three Self placed on the incident was that the bishop Movement? was afraid to reveal his knowledge of Eng- A. No. More than any other Christian lish because this might have brought him body in China, it has maintained its purity under suspicion or because the interpreter of doctrine and worship. It has become might have “denounced” him. more Anglican than it ever was before. As soon as I had come to know the As far as we could see, it manifests more bishop well enough, therefore— and he is essential unity in itself, and bothers less

the most friendly of men— I took him aside about differences, in churchmanship. than

and asked him about it all. any other branch of the .Anglican Com- “My dear chap,” he said, “they’ve got munion.

it all quite wrong. “Don’t you see, one really must observe Q. Does it play any significant part certain standards of politeness? I remem- in the movement towards Christian ber very well when Canon Maynard came re-union in China? The author: No sooner hod Francis James

along, and I was delighted to see him. But A. Yes. It plays proportionately to its returned from Chino than he was hos- as you say, he wasn’t alone. He brought membership a more significant part than pitalized in Sydney, Australia, with an this young interpreter along with him— any other Christian body. eye condition. The affliction dotes back

I believe from the British Embassy—and to his war-time military service. she made the introductions and started the Q. Is it free to preach Christianity, conversation, so I naturally spoke in to proselytise? Chinese. A. Yes, but only within the limits im- point in this article. These, our brothers posed by the State. It is less free in some “Of course I understood him. I would in Christ, have been almost completely cut ways than the Church in England or much have preferred to speak English my- off from the thought of the Church in the America; but the restrictions are not irk- self. But hang it all, I couldn’t very well West for many years. They are starved for some, and certainly do not inhibit active put the young woman out of countenance, news and views. If evangelism. you who read these could I?” lines have a friend in China, then write to As simple as that. But what a monu- Q. Is the Church free to publish him—now. If you can send religious books, mental amount of nonsense has been hooks and other literature? pamphlets, newspapers, then send them. talked outside China about this trifling A. Yes. They can publish whatever they The Church in China today is now suffi- incident. like. The only restriction is imposed by ciently independent, national, self-sup- Finally, although they will be given finance. porting to be able to afford contacts with more detail later on, here are brief an- the West on a scale psychologically im- swers to some questions. Q. Can Chinese Anglicans and possible during recent years when mis- other Christians now receive hooks sionary work was equated in all Chinese Q. Has the Chung Hua Sheng and letters from the West? minds with “imperialism.” They will wel- Kung Hui, the Holy Catholic A. Yes. And here is the most important come all you send them.

5 A Special Report

China: 'More and More Lovely Every Day'

The Three-Self Movement May Spell Liberation to the

Chinese, But There Is One Over-Riding Fact: The Move-

ment Exists Mainly Because the Government Says It Can

".Moreover, owing to the shortsighted-

ness and habit of dependence on t,he part The following article on church of us Chinese colleagues and church mem- conditions in Communist China is bers. the Church lost the independence the third in a series by Francis which it ought rightly to possess, and con- James, managing director of the sequently had to suffer many handicaps. Anglican News Service in Syd- "For instance, our acceptance of West- ney, Australia. With seven Aus- ern ways of thought and life created a bar- tralian Anglican churchmen, Mr. rier between the Church and the people of James traveled 15,000 miles China in general, making it hard for the through China last fall. light of the glorious Gospel of Christ’s re- demption of the world to shine forth with much brightness.

"In the inner life of the Church itself The first article in this series made the there have also been revealed many dark point that no assessment of the work of spots, such as the lack of unity and fellow- the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui. the Holy ship among its various parts.” Catholic Church in China, could be made A little later, the Pastoral says: without taking into account the social and "For the cleansing of the Church, self- piditical environment in which its mem- administration in Church affairs, self-sup- bers live today. port in Church finance, and self-propaga- This involves, in turn, an appreciation tion of the Gospel are a timely demand.'’ of what the C.H.S.K.H. itself has to say All this is revealing enough, as explain- about its attitude, first, to the Chinese ing why—apart altogether from the inter- Government; second, to governments and national situation— the C.H.S.K.H. was Christian bodies outside China. content for a period to withdraw after 1950 The most important and succinct state- from contact with the outside world while ment on these two matters is contained in the Pastoral Letter of the Chinese bishops, it readjusted itself to the autonomy so issued in May, 1956. Within three days of suddenly thrust upon it. Thin I, hills our delegation’s arrival in Shanghai—on But the same Pastoral Letter makes •Nov. 6 last year—we had a meeting with clearer still the reasons for the attitude of “Are not all these ‘acceptable to God several Chinese bishops at which the socio- the C.H.S.K.H. to the Chinese Govern- and approved of men?’ {)olitical sections of the Pastoral Letter ment. It says: "When we Christians support and heart- were confirmed and elaborated. “Our Fatherland is becoming every day ily join in these constructive projects, we The third paragraph of that famous more and more lovely. Children having no shall be witnessing to the Lord with our Pastoral is worth quoting in full. It reads: home to go to. hungry peasants afflicted life and conduct. "We know that, as an autonomous Chinese by famine, people waiting to die, workers national Church, the C.H.S.K.H. existed "Let our Church encourage its people to looking for jobs, prostitutes living under in name only (before ‘Liberation’). No take a greater part in the work of con- contemptuous eyes— these have all become matter what people’s subjective wishes structing socialism. memories of the past. were in former years, the C.H.S.K.H., like "Let them understand that they will not other churches under mission boards, was "On our earth are being built countless be working hard only to support their own in a position of dependence on forces re- factories, farms, scientific research insti- families, but that their work is of value lated to colonialism and was subject to the tutes, hospitals, schools, parks, residences, to the welfare of the people of the whole influence of those forces. children’s recreation centres. country and to future generations, and

6 .

SPECIAL REPORT

aliiAi- all tlial >iu li wink and active inlei- needed a period to sit hack and take stock, abroad by as much as 90 per cent of their c>t in pnhlic weltare i- an csscntidi pari and to Consolidate. total expenditure year by year. ’ nitness. "We have done that now u|) to point ol (Christian a "Do not think that we immediately where it is possible without endangering \t onr lir-l full-dress conference in rushed to join the Three Self Movement,” w hat we have achieved to come into closer Shaiifiliai. on Nov. 0. all the inetuhers of Bishop Chen said. the Australian Delegation were present. contact with the rest of the Church. “In actual fact, the C.H.S.K.H. had al- that lot (ihinese siil,. were the Presiding "We know we can learn a from On the ready proceeded much further towards (!hen tdden-lsnn: Bishop Chang (he Church in the West, and we are anx- Pd'hop self-support than most of the other denom- ious to do so. K.wang-sn I.Michael of Fukien; Chang) inations. That will indicate how far they "Gur position, frankly, was like that of Bishofi Ting Kwang-Hsun of Chekiang really were behind. (and Nanking Union The

‘T« Be Ourselves' “I was asked three times to join it be- fore I agreed. "The greatest puzzle I found in Eng- "By that time, you see, we were prob- land.” Bishop Ting said, “was whether ably in fact much more self-supporting there was a Church at all in China. and self-administering than any other “The fact that two of us appeared before Christian body.” them was the answer. "But then, the greatest question was An Element of Strain w hether the Three Self Movement did not of Fukien, represent some kind of moral compromise Bishop Chang Kwang-su diocese is under extreme pressure. whose former C.M.S.-sponsored the strongest (in numbers of Church mem- "1 want to assure you that it represents bers and clergy) in the C.H.S.K.H., nothing of the kind. It represents God’s agreed that his own diocese was already answer to our prayer that the Church in ahead of mo.«t of the remainder of the China should become itself, responsible Chinese Church before ‘Liberation.’ for the finance, life and work of the same terms everywhere in China. Not only Proportionately, it received less foreign Church in China.* by leading members of the C.H.S.K.H.; aid than the others; hut even so, he felt "Vie have felt very strongly that the hut by the Protestant denominations and hound to say in all charity that there was in herself— (ihurch China has not been by politicians and administrators con- always an element of strain between him- Old) a kind of replica of the Church in the cerned with religious affairs. self, personally, and the mission boards West. .As a result, our members tended to Canon Marcus Loane pointed out that overseas who gave him such great help. de-nationalized. become the Three-Self Movement had in fact its “It is all really a matter of human re-

“As we understand it, the Gospel should origins in the missionary period: i.e., that lations,” he said. clindnate all sense of human foreign-ness. it had been started by foreign missionaries "It is just as hard for me, as a diocesan, In times gone by, the fact is that the and not the Chinese themselves. He asked actively engaged in the work of adminis- Church did not really take root in China. what was the process which the movement tering my diocese on the spot, to under- "Mind you. this is not a negation of the had undergone sin^’e, say. 19.50. Further, stand the ideas of my C.M.S. friends in universality and cathidicity of the Church. if it did not now represent the effect of London as it is for them to understand Not at all. But we can best serve that uni- strong pressure by the Government, then mine. versality, in the present situation, by being what did it represent, and why was it a "What we need today is to know more ourselves. continuing necessity since its three aims about Chinese customs, Chinese history, "Do not think for a moment that we neg- had apparently already been achieved. and what present-day Chinese intellec- lect the fact that we are all one in Christ. The Presiding Bishop said the position tuals are thinking—and what their needs

But I think you can see that without in- was simply that since 1950 the C.H.S.K.H. are. It is only in this way. by becoming dependence it is very hard to talk about had passed through the stages from mis- (Chinese thoroughly, that we can play our inter-dependence. sion field to Church. In that year, the Dio- part in advancing Christ’s kingdom in ”1 know, from my recent experiences in cese of Kiangsu. for example, had re- China.” F.iiiope. that our achievement of self-sup- ceived 80 per cent of its total income from Bishop Chang is one of China's three port and self-government during the past abroad, mostly from the United States. best-informed bishops on the West. Like few years may have given the impression The Diocese of Fukien had received be- the other two, he so thoroughly under- that we were becoming too nationalistic. tween 30 per cent and 40 per cent of its stands the Western idiom that it is safe to But the task which faced us internally was finances from overseas, and other dioceses make normal English jokes with him. a very heavy one. very difficult. We really had been supported financially from In view of his background, I think we

7 For Boys' Home: A New Building And a Brighter Tomorrow

Things are humming in grand style at the St. Francis Boys' Homes of Salina, Kans. Ground-breaking ceremonies were held last month for the newest building at the Ellsworth Unit, where the Rt. Rev. Arnold M. Lewis, Bishop of the Missionary District of Salina, turned the first spadeful. Named O'Donnell Hall for a pioneer Kansas family, the building will provide needed staff and activities space for boys of the school. The building was made pos- sible by a grant from the United Thank Offering of the women of the Episcopal

Church. The new building is expected to be ready for occupancy by late spring. Leading the procession (left) to

the ground-breaking ceremony is Bobby York, crucifer, followed by Church Army Capt. John Hunt, Bishop Lewis, and the Rev. Robert H. Mize Jr., founder and director of the home.

naturally expected him to be perhaps a a convenient way of insuring that its mem- Chinese Christians try sometimes to evade little “Western” in his attitude. ber churches are told what government the fact, the Three Self Movement is in He is not. policy in social matters is, of persuading fact an extension of the central govern- At this and other conferences, and in them to accept and support it, and of ment. private conversation, I think it fair to say tacitly ensuring that “colonialism” does It would be impossible otherwise for it that he is thoroughly Chinese in outlook, not again enter the life of any Church. to exist: China today is a totalitarian so- as are all the bishops of the C.H.S.K.H., It also provides a convenient machinery ciety. There is no freedom of any kind, and that his knowledge of the Church out- for the Government to deal with the non- in the liberal democratic sense, to be side China serves now only to strengthen Roman churches as one body. found in that country. This applies equal- his Chinese point of view. From the point of view of the Anglican ly to individuals or to organizations, and Self could exist He is by no means ungrateful, like and Protestant Churches, the Movement the Three Movement not others of his stature, for the enormous help has the advantage that, through it, they without the approval of the Central Gov- given in past years by foreign missionary can pool certain of their resources for ernment. bodies to the Chinese Church. agreed common objectives. It provides a However, this is not to say that the The phenomenon of the C.H.S.K.H. very strong and useful link, or channel, Movement, or its member churches, have achieving autonomy, he feels, is one which through which to approach the executive become mere “stooges” for communism. Anglicans can and should regard with government when they want anything— in- Far from it— at present. they to equanimity, for this is part of the normal, cluding when want make com- Every single Anglican, Protestant and ordinary line of development, and An- plaints. Above all, it gives member Roman Catholic with whom I discussed churches sense of security through glicans are as accustomed to it as the a num- the matter, and every political leader (the British are to the idea of Dominion status bers which they would not otherwise have. last all being atheists) stated in unequiv- and then complete independence. By the There are only some 60,000 Anglicans, ocal terms that no synthesis was possible remember, in all China. .same token, it is something which many in theory between Christianity and of the Protestant Churches, and the There is certainly, and there has been Marxism. since 1951. fairly strong pressure upon all Church of Rome, are not accustomed to. Bishop Ting told the Central Commit- Christian denominations to join the Three I must say that I agreed heartily with tee of the World Council of Churches in Self Movement. The Roman Catholics him. Hungary last August that many Chinese alone have until now refused to do so— As to the continuing need for a Three Christian intellectuals, impressed by the to their own disadvantage—because of the Self Movement in China, now that two of moral quality of communism in action ban imposed by the Vatican. the three aims have so largely been after ’Liberation,’ had tried to reach a The result of the Vatican ban has been achieved, the Delegation did not receive synthesis between Christianity and that Rome, alone of all the Christian a complete answer from any one person. Marxism. bodies in China, has seen a “breakaway” The Delegation heard the same thing In practical terms, the Movement con- movement in her own ranks. Of the nine tinues, stronger, several times in China, and our informant? and grows because both Roman bishops and priests with whom I the the several all added that the attempt had proved im- Government and churches had long talks, every one agreed that it possible. are suited thereby. was a pity that they were not “yet” From the point of view of the Chinese allowed to join the Three Self Movement. ^ hy, then, does the Central Govern- ment tolerate Christianity? Government, which I discussed later with I must make it clear that in my own the Director of the Bureau of Religious judgment, reinforced by what Chinese This will be covered in the next article Affairs, the Three Self Movement provides political leaders told me, and however in this series.

8 Patriotism Comes First

China:

Religion's Carefully Charted Path

The following article on condi-

tions inside Communist Chino is the fourth in a series by Francis James, managing director of the Anglican News Service in Sydney, Australia. With seven Anglican churchmen, he made a seven-week tour of China last fall.

How does -the totalitarian Chinese Gov- ernment really regard its tiny Christian communities? How does it reconcile the antitheses between Marxist materialism and the teaching of Christ, which are ad- mitted by both sides? Has its attitude re- cently changed? If so, when? And why? The answers to these questions are not simple, for they involve a background knowledge of the history of Christian mis- sionary effort in China, of general Chinese Bishop Kimber Den (left) and Ho Chen hsiang: A slight case of imprisonment history, -and of Marxist theory and the practical side of Chinese communism today. It is important to bear in mind that the The only religious organizations about considerably greater than the present total number of Christians does not exceed whom accurate figures are available are 3,700,000. 3,700,000, out of a total population of just the Christian ones. Today, when there are I cannot help feeling some pride in the over 600-million. no more “rice Christians,” it can be taken fact that figures given for the C.H.S.K.H. The Christians are numerically small for granted that figures given by the sev- today are closer to those claimed before when compared with the Moslems, who eral denominations are correct, for they the war than those of any other denomina- number not less than 12-million and pos- all maintain proper records, and these are tion. sibly as many as 18-million according to known to the Government. Now, as far as the Communist regime is the Chinese' Central Government. Bud- Thus, there are just over 2,500,000 Ro- concerned, all religions are the same—in dhists, the overwhelming majority of man Catholics. The Church of Christ in the sense that they depend on non-rational whom are very nominal adherents, may China comes next with some 160,000 ad- (the communists would say irrational) number as many as 150-million, but the herents (this is a united Presbyterian type and spiritual factors, instead of upon any Chinese Government puts the figure for of body). There are at least 120 small material basis. practicing Buddhists at about 25-30 mil- Protestant splinter sects and tiny “inde- A provision in the Constitution of the lions at most. pendent” congregations of .one kind and Chinese People’s Republic—Section 88— Taoist figures are impossible to obtain another. guarantees freedom of religion. from any source, for the obvious reason The Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui (the This does not mean, in theory or in

that Taoism has flourished under the forms Holy Catholic Church in China ) numbers practice, what we should mean in the West of secret societies. just over 40,000 members. by “freedom of religion.”

Some authorities, in the Chinese govern- All this-— the small numbers and the In theory, it means that the state is ment itself, say that Taoist numbers rise shocking divisions— is an interesting com- indifferent to the private religion of a and fall with the general condition of the mentary on nearly a century of Christian citizen, provided that he accepts and sup- country: In bad times they rise; in good missionary enterprise in China. ports the regime as every Chinese citizen times they fall off. It is believed that there So is the fact that the over-all figures is expected to do ... or else! It does not are as many as 30-million “latent” Taoists claimed by the multifarious missionary mean that any Chinese is free to set up in China at the moment. bodies before the Second World War were on a street corner and proclaim the Gos-

9 )

SPECIAL REPORT

...The People's State wants cooperation, not victims or martyrs

I)el, or to organize a Procession of Witness He is Ho Chen-hsiang, aged 54, father parties have tried to do -o in old time^ through city streets. of four children, a Communist Party mem- in Europe. of It means only that he can observe the ber of 25 years’ standing, something a “The People’s State doe- not want vic- forms of his religion in private, or in com- skeptic, and a chap to whom I took a con- tims, or martyrs. pany with those of like mind, as long as siderable liking. Within a few minutes of “It wants cooi)eration and support. I that it he does not attract too much public at- our meeting, when commented ‘‘Between socialism and religion I do tention. It means that he can proselytize was surprising to find an atheist in such not believe there is any necessary antip- im- only in private homes, in small groups a job, he said, “Why not? You can athy. On the contrary. within the walls of a church or a hall. agine the outcry the Moslems would make “Our whole policy is to get individuals The Chinese approach always has been if I were a Christian, or the fuss most and groups of people to su|)port the Gov- a pretty moderate one in matters of con- Christians would make if I didn’t belong ernment— especially religious grou[)s. .So to their ‘party’.” viction. Traditionally, it has been regarded we treat them in such a way that we can as bad form to try to thrust doctrine down As head of the bureau, his status is fairly and objectively speaking exjiect the throats of others. The Chinese, I am higher than that of the head of a depart- them to support us.” told, prefer to employ the strategy of in- ment in a Western state; although it is not “And do they in fact give you that sup- direct approach, the oblique method. exactly comparable with that of a minis- port?” I asked him. ter in a parliamentary democracy. This in- Memories of the West dicates better than anything else I can The Religions Rally

The memory of quite recent Christian imagine just how important religion is in “The overwhelming majority of all reli- endeavor, carried out under the protection the eyes of the Chinese Government. gious leaders and their followers are of extra territoriality, gunboats, punitive strongly in favor of the People’s Govern- ‘We Stand on Ground’ expeditions and all the rest of the para- Common ment,” he said. “Believe me, that is the phernalia of Western “order” imposed Ho Chen-hsiang is responsible directly truth. You need only see how the Moslems, upon China, is too fresh for Christians, to the Central Government Administra- for example, have rallied behind us in the especially, to trail their coats with street tive Council (what we call the Cabinet) northwest to see how true it is. meetings. I shall have something more to to which he has immediate access. “As far as the Christians and the Ro- say about this in a later article. Mr. Ho was quite frank about the irrec- man Catholics are concerned, of course, In practice, the attitude of the Commu- oncilability of Christianity and Marxism, that was not the case in the time immedi- nists to all Christian bodies immediately at least in theory. ately after Liberation. during and after “Liberation” was from “The attitude of the Government briefly “There were still so many foreign mis- all accounts quite correct—not, in the can be summarized in an old Chinese say- sionaries here, and there were many mis- “ main, hostile— but usually somewhat rule- ing,” he told me. ‘We stand upon our understandings. of-thumb and not a little bureaucratic. common ground, and maintain our dif- “But since the churches rid themselves

There were exceptions, it is certain, ferences’.” of foreign influence, the whole position has either way. In some cases good relations “You must realize that the Christians changed. We know that they are now self- between Christian communities and their and the Roman Catholics are, after all, supporting and so on, and that although a “Liberators” were at once established, and Chinese citizens. (The distinction is al- section of the Roman Catholics—but not have lasted since. In other cases, the “Lib- ways made between ‘Christians and Ro- many— still entertain ideas of a return to erators” anticipated what was shortly to man Catholics’ by Marxists. Protestants the old system, most of the Roman Cath- become a general policy of repression. and Anglicans in China today. olics and all the Christians see that they I shall give some account later of what “Not only are they Chinese citizens, are on the correct path.” seems really to have happened during the they have special skills which the New "This is all very nice,” I said. "But what period from 1949 to about 1955, and the China needs in the tasks before her. about the fundamental question of free- evidence in support. But I meanwhile do “As long as they are patriotic citizens, dom? In the West, you often hear of not expect all former Chinese mission- then why should they be persecuted? It clergymen and even bishops attacking aries to agree wholly with the preceding is true that they are very small in num- their governments’ policies from the pul- three paragraphs. bers; but proportionately, they are very pit. What about China?” By the time the dust had blown away in highly trained in all kinds of things. “Well, I can quite understand Chris- 1946, and tlie number of foreign mission- “In other words,” I observed, “you tol- tians overseas criticizing their govern- aries still upon Chinese soil—and still at erate Christianity at the moment just be- ments’ policies,” Mr. Ho said (a trifle large—could be counted upon the fingers cause some Christians are useful to your smugly, I thought.) ‘‘But that of course is of two hands, the policy of the Chinese relations with other countries, too?” entirely your own affair, and has nothing government had taken form. “Of course,” Mr. Ho said. to do with China, so I shall not discuss it. It was not enough to ask Chinese clergy- “Our constitutional guarantee of reli- “Here, it is not true to say that we men what that form was—they could give gious freedom is there for a very good discourage criticism. On the contrary, we only a partial answer. My fellow delegates reason, and no one in China would ever are always glad of it. But criticism is were reluctant to speak to any member of question it nowadays. different from attacking the government. the Government about it—indeed, they “As long as a man is patriotic, and does “There are many faults in China today. made no contacts outside the churches at his share in the work of reconstruction, These can only be remedied if they are all of an official nature. I, therefore, as the and as long as his religious beliefs do not criticized. The churches have as much one layman in the party, sought and ob- operate against the People’s Republic, right as anyone to mention them. They are tained an interview with the man best then why should we be so stupid as to try encouraged to do so in a constructive way. placed to expound and explain the policy: to eradicate them by force? “But it would be a different thing to The Director of the Bureau of Religious “You cannot root out reUgion by force. attack the government, the way that some Affairs. Though I believe some of your Christian foreign missionaries used to do, encour-

10 ) .

SPECIAL REPORT

aging all kinds of treasonable activities. Nothing I could say would shake Mr. their autonomy must be a surprise to some They used to go about saying that the Ho on this. people,” he said. Government and all it stood for was evil. He maintained that the only intention of “When you ask about tbe effect of our all re- They used to tell people that our the Communists after “Liberation” was to attitude to the churches overseas, that is a form programs were wrong, and that sort ensure, as part of their responsibility for good example. We encourage the Angli- of thing. They used to urge the workers the security of China generally, that cans to have contacts abroad, and of not to cooperate with the Government, and “espionage” was not carried on by foreign course we hope that in that way the truth even to work against it. missionaries or Chinese sympathizers with about China will become known abroad.”

“That does not happen now. I think the the West. I asked him whether the Government’s main reason is that most misunderstand- The moment that “conditions improved attitude would mean that it would be pos- ings have been removed, on all sides.” so much that we knew this would not hap- sible for the C.H.S.K.H. freely to send a pen,” he said, then the Government re- return delegation to Australia, and ‘Why Are Priests Imprisoned?’ laxed the very close watch it had main- whether the Chinese bishops would be “If all is as you say, then why are there tained on the churches. able to attend the Lambeth Conference. so many Christian leaders still in prison?” He said a return Delegation to Aus- Contacts Abroad Welcomed I asked him. “To my certain knowledge, tralia would be “very welcome.” there are the four Roman Catholic bish- As to the effect of the attitude of the As to Lambeth, “There will be no ob- ops and three Protestants. And Wang Government on Christian opinion abroad, jection whatever to their going to the said. Min Tao and our own Bishop Kimber Den Mr. Ho said : “We quite realize the impor- Lambeth Conference,” he have only just been released from jail. If tance of that. “On the contrary, not only will the Gov- that is not religious persecution, then “Here again, there is much more than ernment not hinder them from going, but what is it?” Christian membership to consider. We we will gladly help if we are asked.”

Mr. Ho was distinctly uneasy when I have to consider relations between Chinese I then asked why, if relations between mentioned Bishop Kimber Den; but he and other Buddhists and Moslems, all over Church and State were so cordial, the stuck manfully to his line. the world. membership figures of the several denomi- “Oh, no!” he said. “None of these cases “Frankly, now that we know these nations had not increased (although I means religious persecution. groups are not working against the Peo- knew that there had been actual increases “In each case, the man concerned com- ple’s Government, we welcome their con- in certain cases) mitted a political offense, even though he tacts abroad. We think they can all help ‘Extraordinary Custom’ may have used the church, the pulpit, to us work towards world peace. An try to hide what he was doing, as so many “You must remember that there has “That is a problem for the churches did in former years.” never been any great difficulty with Mos- themselves,” he said. “But I think you will “But that is not so, surely?” I coun- lems. Many of them go on pilgrimages find that in some cases membership has tered. "You say that each one has com- to Mecca every year. increased, and that total membership has mitted a political offense? Then what “It is only with the Roman Catholics remained about the same, with a very about Bishop Kimber Den? Here is a man that our position is somewhat different. slight increase.” of fine character, who has been impris- Our policy is to welcome ecclesiastical re- My last question was: “If the churches oned without a trial for five years. Then he lations with the Vatican. Each diocese can are as free as you say they are under the is suddenly released, after being kept directly contact the Pope; but the Gov- Constitution, then why cannot they pros- there all that time without a trial. And ernment is not going to allow the Vatican elytize in the way they used to, with street now you turn around and free him and say to interfere in Chinese affairs. meetings and the like? How can they pos- it was all just a mistake. I can tell you “You must admit that the Vatican has sibly increase in numbers if they cannot that a lot of people outside China will re- never ceased to attack our Government. It proselytize? 'Are you not really aiming at gard that as monstrous.” has not shown very good manners, and it restricting their membership to the pres- “I know,” said Ho Chen-hsiang. “But has not tried to understand our problems. ent level, in the hope that they will ulti- you have met Kimber Den, I believe, and “It has just tried to use the Roman mately die away?” you have heard what he had to say. I do Catholic religion to undermine the work Mr. Ho gave me the standard answer not think he would have said that he was of reconstruction.” about tbe possibility of disturbances fol- imprisoned because of his religion, or air meetings, stressing the “I do not want to influence your think- lowing open penalized in any way for it. It came about that Christianity is still “foreign” ing about the Roman Catholics. It is much point through political factors. in the of many. better for you to see them and ask ques- and anti-Chinese eyes “I agree that the handling of his case surely, they have all sorts of legiti- tions and find out for yourself. So I will “But is not at all satisfactory. I can only say from that,” he said. only say that in my opinion they are solid- mate avenues apart that criticisms this, services. have meet- we welcome your over ly behind the Government, and they are “They have their They and that those who were responsible for embarrassed by the attitude of the Pope.” ings in halls and churches, literature, per- the delays, which are the most unsatisfac- sonal visits, catechism classes, retreats, The position of the Chung Hua Sheng tory aspect of this case, have been severely meetings in private houses and so on. Kung Hui. Mr. Ho said, was otherwise. punishx'd. 1 should also say that the whole “They have even this extraordinary “I think the policy of your church is matter was outside my jurisdiction. custom (at this he gave me a knowing much more realistic and in line with the "At a former stage, everyone knows wink) of baptizing innocent infants, who objective facts,” he said. (“Objective” is that many unfortunate things happened do not know what it is all about! Now, a a favored word with regard to Christians and Roman ! thing like that, although opposed to rea- that a small Catholics. But if you look at it objectively, He said he had no doubt son, and however ridiculous it may seem, in the United you must admit that it was a natural re- minority England and is harmless. We have never tried to inter- action by many Chinese people after the States wished to see a return to the old vene against it.” that the things that had been done against China missionary days, despite the fact However, I had no intention of discuss- under the guise of missionary work. It C.H.S.K.H. was now autonomous. ing infant baptism with Mr. Ho. so on that was never the policy of the Government.” “I think the way they have maintained note I left him.

11 SPECIAL REPORT

Jackpot QuestionrWhyWas China's Door Closed?

Overseas Contacts Were Difficult for Chinese Churchmen In the Past Decade. They

Were Kept Too Busy Wondering What the Red Government Would Do Next . . .

and China’s small Orthodox communities whom I asked about this, said straigbtly can he understood, for these are so few, that although he naturally obeyed the in- The following article on church and small. For practical purposes, there junction against the Three .Self Movement, conditions in Communist Chino is are no Chinese Orthodox. Membership is he thought it was unwise, and that it the fifth in a series by Francis confined almost exclusively to emigre Rus- harmed the Church of Rome in China. I James, managing director of the sians, although I did meet one visiting shall give a detailed account later of the Service in Syd- Anglican News Russian expert, a woman biochemist, dur- attitude of the Roman Archbishop in Muk- seven Aus- ney, Australia. With ing the Divine Liturgy at the Orthodox den on this question. tralian Anglican churchmen, Mr. church in Mukden. Shortly after the delegation reached James traveled 15,000 miles The position with Rome is different, for Shanghai, a morning conference was held through China last fall. this is the largest denominational group in the former French Club ( now a cultural

in China by far. center for Chinese workers ) to enable us Contacts between Anglicans and Ro- to meet and question local leading mem- man Catholics on a personal Basis (but bers of the Three Self Movement. Two of the most fascinating aspects of only among lay folk) are apparently There were 26 of us, including our dele- the Cluing Hua Sheng Kung Hui (The plentiful; but relations between our bish- gation of eight. Of the 18 others, six were its Holy Catliolic Church in China I are oi)S and priests, and the Roman hierarchy Anglicans. relations with other Christian bodies in- and clergy, are almost non-existent in any The Chinese Anglicans included the side China, and its attitude towards the formal sense. Presiding Bishop; Bishop Michael Chang: world ecumenical movement. The chief reason for this is, of course, Bishop K. H. Ting; Bishoj) K. T. Mau of At almost every point during our tour, that there is a “blanket” ban by Rome on Shanghai. the Australian delegation saw the clearest participation in the Three Self Movement, Not only was every major non-Roman evidence of the relations of the C.H.S.K.H. which alone provides the machinery denomination represented, but tbe with all other Christian bodies, save Rome through which formal inter-Church rela- \ .M.C.A. and tbe Y.W.C.A. v,'ere there, as and the Orthodox. tions are possible. well as leaders of some of the one-congre- Leaders of the Protestant denominations Each Chinese Roman Catholic arch- gational “churches” that are to be found

came along to nearly every major meeting bishop, bishop and priest whom I met, and in many Chinese cities, particularly in and function that was organized during our stay. This started in Canton, and continued during visits to Shanghai, to Fukien Prov- ince, to Hangchow, Peking, the North East, Honan, the central South, and Szechuan in the West.

At Mukden, where there is no Anglican Church or congregation, the local Protes- tants received and entertained us (with the help of the city Religious Affairs

Bureau ) as cordially as members of our own Church did elsewhere.

Indeed, in remote Sinkiang Province, right in the heart of Central Asia, where the tiny Christian group comprises fewer than 100 Roman Catholics, I was myself given hospitality not even by Christians. The local Moslem leaders (aided again by the Bureau of Religious Affairs!) were my hosts, simply because we were all theists!

It seemed more proper to the Chinese authorities that I should be looked after by Moslems than by Roman Catholics, and even my interpreter, a priest of the With Chinese clergy, some of the Anglican Delegation take time out for a light C.H.S.K.H., saw nothing worthy of com- moment during their trip through China. In the picture (left to right) are the Rev. ment in this. Niu Chih-fong; Bishop Cranswick of Tasmania; Bishop Housden of Rockhampton; Lack of contact between the C.H.S.K.H. Bishop K. H. Ting of Chekiang; Canon H. M. Arrowsmith; and the Rev. Tsai Tze-kang.

12 SPECIAL REPORT those with any past American connection. such bodies as the Y.M.C.A., faced a I am happy to give the Government my Even the Seventh-Day Adventists were severe financial crisis. support and help.” represented. “Most missionaries left on their own ac- Pastor Chi Ching-ts’ai, China’s Baptist e were struck, here, as in other places, cord, before ‘Liberation,’ because there leader, said he agreed with the others. by the fact that Chinese Anglicans knew was not enough finance to maintain them. “Recently, an Indonesian Baptist pastor well, and were on very good terms with, “As far as the Y.M.C.A. is concerned, came to see me,” he said. representatives of all these peculiarly as- we never drove out any American secre- “He was here on a visit, and he told me sorted groups. e could detect nothing of tary,” he said. he was worried about the Baptist Church even the mild tension between the various (The same statement was made by in China. In fact, he said that he found groups, theologically based, of course, Y.M.C.A. and denominational leaders himself opposed to Chinese Baptists. that marks interdenominational meetings everywhere in China: They never forced Thanks of most kinds in the West. any missionary to leave. The Chinese Gov- To The Government “1 ernment officials to whom I spoke make had heard this about him, and for e Talked Politics’ the same claim— that they never “forced” that reason I had asked him to see me. The chief reason for this, I thought, was any missionary to leave merely on account "This Indonesian pastor told me he had that there was no discussion at all on the- of his being a Christian. Such pressure as two problems. The first was that we Chi- ology. In every case, we talked politics. there was, they claimed, was exerted for nese Baptists seemed so close to other Thus, when the Presiding Bishop asked military and political reasons). Christians now that there did not .seem Bishop K. H. Ting to open the discussion much difference between us. Would There Be Freedom? in Shanghai, he simply said that we all “Tbe second problem was that he knew there were unresolved matters be- “We ourselves were very uncertain heard that in China today the Baptists de- tween the delegation and the Chinese about the attitude of the atheists of the voted the first part of their sermon to Christians and that we should not hesitate Communist Party,” Dr. Kiang said. politics, and the second part to religion. to ask anything we wished for fear of em- “We had heard stories about burning “I told him that was not so,” Pastor Chi barrassing them. churches, and so on, and were hesitant said. “I told him that if Chinese Christians The Primate of Australia, Archbishop and afraid whether there would be reli- cooperated with each other more than ever Mowll, who has a neat formula for dodg- gious freedom under the new regime. before, that was thanks to our Govern- ing anything which might embarrass any- “This kept us eo busy that we had no ment. I told him that there was no politics one at any time, blandly remarked that as time for cOTtacts abroad. preached in Baptist Churches, and that none of the delegation knew much about “I would not agree that the door was we preached only the Word of God be- present-day China, and as we all had so closed— as far as the Christian churches cause the Government had made it possi- much to learn, perhaps it would be best were concerned, anyway. ble for us to do so.” for each Chinese present, in turn, to say a “I can remember the Three Self Move- The delegation listened in attentive little about things. ment from 25 years ago. In the past few silence to this, but none of us tried to

hile our hosts were discussing proce- years, it has enabled us to put the Chinese elucidate what it meant! dure, the Bishop of Tasmania, the Rt. Rev. churches deeply into the Chinese soil. Meetings Are Futile G. F. Cranswick, threw what might be “There can be no true fellowship with called the “jackpot” question into the churches abroad until we have put our We had still not reached the core of ring. own churches in good order. We have still Bi.shop Cranswick’s question — and as a some way to go, but we have largely matter of fact we never did, at this meet- A Door Was Closed . . . achieved this. Self-support is still a prob- ing, anyway. This was partly due to the hat I’d like to know,” he said, “is lem, but at least we are now in a position form that the meeting now took, with each this. A door was closed. Now it has ap- to receive guests from abroad, and we Chinese in turn making a statement, in parently been opened, for here we all are have had many in the past year.” much the way the Primate had suggested. from Australia. It goes without saying (The reader must examine these state- I first realized at this meeting the futil- that we are overjoyed the door is opened ments against what has been related in ity of such gatherings, which repeated again. But why has it opened?” previous articles, and against what will themselves all over China, from the point Before the Primate could quite recover be related in future ones.) of view of getting at facts themselves, in- from this bluntness, the Archbishop of stead of what people said were facts. The Little In Perth said: “There’s another thing. When A Man Uniform Chinese technique— I do not know whether

I get back, all sorts of people are going The 73-year-old Methodist Bishop this is a recent development— is not to to ask me questions about religious free- Kuang Zan-tsuen said that he enjoyed carry on a discussion with the cut-and- dom, and what opportunities you have complete religious freedom. thrust typical of meetings in the West. It here now to propagate and teach.” “During the Japanese occupation in is for each side, as it were, to present a Dr. Kiang en-han of the Y.M.C.A. Peking,” he said, “I found that you had to set-piece argument, and for neither side to said that he could give answers perhaps submit an outline of your sermon in ad- cross-examine. to both questifins, but that an historical vance. You then had to adhere to what the The only really satisfactory way to col- sketch was needed first. outline said, otherwise a little man in a lect evidence is in private conversation, “The United States Government froze uniform would come and take you away. or in very small groups. the funds of the Chinese Government in “I was frankly in great fear when the The Rev. Yang Shou-tong was highly 1950,” he said. “That created a grave communists came. But they were so polite critical of several foreign missionary problem for those churches in China which and orderly that all our fears vanished. bodies, and particularly the C.I.M., for had relied up to then on American money. “As to foreign missions, I believe in their failure to encourage an indigenous “This was the more acute, because them, when they preach the teachings of pastorate. At the prompting of a American money on an unprecedented Christ. But I would have nothing to do C.H.S.K.H. bishop present — one of the scale had come to China in the years im- with missions that did other things. very few impromptu moments of the whole mediately after the war ended, and it “For this reason, I am all for our Gov- meeting—he agreed that the C.H.S.K.H. meant that not only these churches, but ernment. As long as they behave like this. was unique in its approach to indigeniza-

13 SPECIAL REPORT

China's Three-Self Movement is the Equivalent of the National Council of Churches.

. . . It also is a Convenient Vehicle for 'Keeping In Touch' with the Government.

tion. C.H.S.K.H. and the Protestant denomina- These lectures — perhaps conferences Like the Methodist Bishop Kuang, he tions and groups. There is no branch of would be a better term— are arranged in had been fearful after “Liberation.” He, the World Council of Churches as such in most places to take place on Monday too, had found the communists reasonable. China. The Three Self Movement covers morning. They last the whole morning. But things had been very difficult at that everything. It is the equivalent of the The general idea is for some prominent time, he said, because of shortages of staff British Council of Churches, or the Amer- official to explain some aspect of the Cen- and money in those areas evangelized, for ican National Council of Churches of tral Government’s policy, and for those example, by the C.I.M. Christ— and a great deal more besides. who attend to ask such questions as they Miss Tsoh Fu-ru, the woman lay worker Apart from its value, mentioned in a wish in order fully to understand that at the “Christian Meeting Place,” a strong- previous article, in enabling the Govern- policy. ly evangelical — in fact fundamentalist — ment to deal economically with all the Whether the topics for discussion are center of some importance in Shanghai, churches, and in providing a channel uniform throughout China I do not know, told us in very shocked tones the story through which the several churches can of an Indonesian pastor whom she had present a common front to the Govern- but I should imagine they are so, on the if because of the identical received, and who had heard of a certain ment, it has come inevitably to bring the whole, only Chinese pastor and his wife who had been several denominations closer together. replies given to most questions we asked on matters which might have been ex- imprisoned for their Christian faith. Its existence helps explain the almost pected to have been covered in tliese dis- identical terms in which all Chinese Chris- cussions. Adultery Is Criminal tians speak of the Government, for it is through the Three Self Movement in each fact, it appeared, the pastor had been In center, with its liaison with the Bureau ‘Explanations’ For Everybody imprisoned for espionage, and his wife— of Religious Affairs, that the weekly (and oh, horror!— was in jail for adultery. 1 think it would be (juite wrong to term

Adultery, it appeared, was a criminal of- these conferences "brain washings,” in

fense in China (a fact I later confirmed I the sense that the term i> usually em- and if only for this reason Miss Tsoh feels ployed. 1 should also point out that Chris- she must in good conscience support the tian leaders are not singled out for this Government. treatment: professional and indur-trial and Her story of this unfortunate lapse by a other groups of all kiinG. all ovei- China, pastor and his wife. Miss Tsoh told us, as well as Party member', receive the was recounted as an instance of the way same courses of "explanation of Govern- in which untrue tales about persecution ment policy.’" came to circulate abroad. Here was a good In addition, 1 formed the impression Indonesian pastor, who actually believed that there might be a genuine exchange of that his Chinese confrere and his wife had views at iome of these meetings, if not all, been imprisoned for his faith, when all the and that a Christian leader with a strong time they had betrayed it. personality could witliout difficulty get his Happily, Miss Tsoh assured us. the Gov- view across to the local civil authority, ernment had seen to it that all such others who in turn would certainly convey that had met with a condign fate, and “the view higher up if nece"ar\. spiritual life of all churches is now better since they have been cleansed of these un- Is Still Anglican fortunate political elements,” she said. Church

I think we were all impressed by this Despite the close contact which it now testimony. Especially when we learned enjoys with the Protestant bodies, and the China: Big, Busy and Bustling that the good Indonesian had visited the obviously great influence that it wields, erring couple in jail and (although they the C.H.S.K.H. is still doctrinally unaf- had not actually been brought to trial at fected, and Completely Anglican. It has

in some places twice-weekly ) lectures for that stage ) heard their admissions him- not been colored with pan-Protestantism. church workers and pastors are arranged. self. Nor has it tended like a great many of the These lectures are not compulsory, but Protestant denominations to abandon any it would be a foolish clergyman or chui'ch The Three-Self Movement part of its doctrinal position, or to com- worker who did not attend them. Not only promise about it. for the sake of an 1 think, too. that Bishop Ting must have would his absence be noted, and inter- illusory "unity." caught Mrs. Mowll’s eye a moment after preted perhaps as a sign of unfortunate so clear 1 did, for he quickly brought the discus- indifference to the splendid policy and This is nowhere a~ in meetings sion on to the Three Self Movement. achievements of the Chinese Government, of the Three Self .Movement, or as it is

The Three Self Movement is relevant to he would be out of touch with his Gov- in, say, the Nanking I nion Theological this article only to the extent that it ex- ernment’s thinking in a way that might Seminary, which will he dealt with in an- plains the relations between the handicap him in his work. other article. 14 SPECIAL REPORT

'Selected Facts' For All:

'The Americans, Of Course, Used Germ Warfare'

Do Chinese Christians Really Believe Such Nonsense About Our Tactics In Korea? The Author Found Them Blandly Convinced By the Communists.

The following article on condi-

tions inside Communist China is the sixth in a series by Francis James, managing director of the Anglican News Service in Sydney, Australia. With Seven Anglican churchmen, he made a seven-week tour of China.

It would be very easy not to write this article— the most difficult of the present series— for it contains things that will ap- pall and puzzle many. On the other hand, it may explain much. And, besides, how can a Western journalist, claiming an ab- solute over-riding duty to tell the truth, criticize its suppression by leaders of communist countries if he suppresses any part of it himself? Baldly, then: Every Chinese Chris- tian I queried is utterly convinced that germs were dropped by American air- craft over Korea and Northern Man- A border guard checks the passport of Archbishop Mowll as Bishops Housden and churia. Try as I might, I could not find Cranswick, Mrs. Mowll, and Canon Arrowsmith wait to enter Red China. one who did not believe the story. The Chinese Christian leaders all used folk are good Christians and even An- host of less comprehensive journals. the same words: “But, of course, the glicans. Whatever the faults of newspapers in Americans used germ warfare in Korea. Secondly, those in our midst who be- the West, however, we can usually get at These leaders included not only our own lieve this nonsense (a word which makes the facts of a given political matter. The bishops of the Chung Hua Sheng Kung my own opinion plain) have not the ex- Chinese cannot. Hui (Holy Catholic Church in China), cuse of our Chinese brothers in Christ. The consequence (of revelations like hut representatives of each major Prot- This excuse was expressed in the words Mr. Shen’s) is that the bishops of the estant denomination and four Roman of the Chinese Minister for Culture, Shen Holy Catholic Church in China are in no bishops still in good standing with the Yen-ping, who, under his pseudonym of better position than ordinary Chinese citi- Vatican. Mao Tun, is one of China’s three greatest zens. They are able to form views on such Few things better explain the attitude living writers. We were discussing the de- matters as the germ warfare myth only of Chinese Christians towards the Church liberate suppression by the Chinese press on the basis of such carefully selected in the West. Few things, properly and of Tito’s criticism of Russia at the begin- “facts” as the political regime chooses to carefully assessed, will help us in the ning of the Hungarian revolt. Mr. Shen give them. I know this is true, because I

West better to understand the attitude of explained it blandly in these words: “We had read everything obtainable from

Chinese Christians and intellectuals. do not think it is necessary to tell the Chinese, American, Russian and British Before execrating the gentle and kind- people the things they do not need to sources on the germ warfare allegations ly Bishop Timothy Lin of Pekin or the know.’’ and was able to ask my Chinese friends devout and studious Bishop Shen of the Momentarily shocked as I was, I real- some questions for which they had no Nanking Theological Seminary, both of ized that the West is little different. Every- answer. whom believe the germ warfare story as one responsible for giving information Although every non-Chinese bishop I firmly as they hold to the Lambeth Quad- and instruction is compelled in practice to know cheerfully scotches the germ war- rilateral, it is only fair to take two facts do something of the same kind. No news- fare myth, that does not necessarily make into account. paper can possibly give its readers all the him more clear-headed than the Chinese,

First, there is a small number of people facts, even if it knows them. The whole for I have not yet met one bishop from in England, Australia and the United point in maintaining an army of sub- the West who has read the English trans- States who, for what seem to them to be editors on daily newspapers is to make a lation of the Chinese Government’s official good enough reasons, also believe that selection of such facts as “it is necessary publication carrying the “evidence” on bacteriological warfare in some form was . . . for the people ... to know.” For every germ warfare. used in the Korean War. Some of these paper like the New York Times, there is a I have dealt with this matter at some

15 )

SPECIAL REPORT

length for two reasons. The first is that op in Shanghai and the leader of a tiny and the good offices of a pedicab man who the Primate, when I raised the question Protestant sect. Both were imprisoned. spoke English, I did my best to cast some (at the prior request of one of the Chinese As far as the Holy Catholic Church in doubt upon them. We had no success. bishops) during a meeting with the Chung China is concerned, I know that all my Almost the only Western country Hua Sheng Kung Hui shortly after our fellow delegates will confirm that this na- against which feeling is universally and arrival, vetoed my query on the ground tionalism is not in the least offensive. The directly bitter is the United States. I was that it was completely irrelevant to us as only “touchiness” I uncovered was with talking with a companion of mine, a high- an Anglican Delegation and that it was some Presbyterians and Roman Catholics. ly intelligent Anglican priest who lectures even an improper question to raise. It is No one of the Chung Hua Sheng Kung at a Union Theological College, about re- not an easy matter for a mere layman, the Hui attempted, even during a strong dis- lations with the West generally. youngest and least experienced of a dis- cussion when it would have been tacti- “Poor, poor Japanese people,” he said. tinguished party, to ignore a view sus- cally devastating, to excuse anything with “What do you mean?” I asked. “Their tained by the massive weight and experi- which we found fault in China by point- economy is expanding. Their country is ence of Archbishop Mowll. In venturing ing out that a similar situation existed in on its feet again, thanks to the Americans. to respectfully differ with His Grace, I the West. The Presbyterians and Roman The occupation forces have just about left feel it is proper to give full reasons. Catholics diverted discussions with me by there, and they have good relations with asking unanswerable questions about the The second consideration is that this is most of the world.” Bantu Education Act, segregation in the yet another instance of the trust which “Do you realize,” he said, “that in the United States, and religious freedom in Chinese Christians repose in their govern- year 1954 their greatest single source of Spain. Thank goodness, no one ever asked ment and, by implication, the press and foreign currency arose from organized me a question about Australian aborig- other news sources which that govern- prostitution?” ines! ment directs. It is further evidence of the I was staggered when he gave his extent to which the Holy Catholic Church Standards Are On the Rise source: a solid, thoroughly reputable in China has so completely identified it- American religious paper, in an article self with the Chinese people as to have I think that we should remember and based on Japanese official statistics I was carefully reflect this fact: that it is become completely indigenous. It is a upon later able to confirm. national Church in most senses of the an essential corollary of political and The anti-American feeling of this priest military policy for the Chinese Govern- term, and it solidly supports the Chinese was mainly moral, hut most other clergy to sustain (a) anti-Western feeling Government in its broad conduct of in- ment and lay folk of the Holy Catholic Church ternal and external affairs. in China, and (b) pro-Chinese feeling in China, as well as Romans and Protes- among people from groups over as wide If, to take an extreme catastrophic case, tants, base their anti-Americanism on a range as possible in the West. war should break out between China and wider grounds, which are, of course, (Is it fair to ask to what extent this is a Western power, then the Holy Catholic political. true in reverse of the United States? Church in China would pray and work for We might remember also that our Chi- a Chinese victory and a just peace. Like Stories of ‘Extravagance’ nese brothers in Christ, were they to dis- us of the West, they would, of course, cover even the gravest faults in their gov- Time and time again, discussing for- pray and do everything they could to ernment, would, because of their aroused mer missionary work, I was told stories avert the catastrophe. But, once the issue national feelings, still support that gov- of American “extravagance” ... of a mis- was joined . . . ernment to the death against any con- sionary’s house which was air-conditioned ceivable ... of luxury living. This was all some- Nationalism Affects the Church foreign intervener simply be- cause it was a Chinese Government. what different from the criticism of the

They did so during the Korean War, There are two other considerations. It Roman Church which, even when it came victims of not simply because they were is not as though there had been repeated from Roman Catholics, focused on (a) the propaganda. A very few of them even in China what happened after the war in physical possessions and financial told me they appreciated that there was some European countries: The Chinese strength of Rome, however poor and de- “an element of overstatement” in some today do not assess their communist gov- voted many of her missionaries; and (b) later pronouncements by their govern- ernment against an immediately preced- Roman intervention in politics at all lev-

ment, and went on to say the same was in its els, point being that foreign Roman — ing government remarkable latter the true of official American statements years for efficiency, honesty, regard for Catholics did the intervening. find it in which I could not my conscience personal liberty or anything else much As far as I could judge, however, anti- to deny! There is far more to it than prop- worthwhile. The present regime appears American sentiment is less evident in the aganda. The chief thing is that they hap- without doubt to have stabilized the cur- Holy Catholic Church in China than in pen to be Chinese citizens. rency, provided and distributed food, any other denomination. A peculiar phe- Those who have known China best have clothing and shelter on a scale not known nomenon arising from this was the gen- for many years recognized the almost in China in this century. eral sympathy which England seemed to unique pride of the Chinese people in To any Chinese Christian, these things get. One effect of the propaganda ma- their race. It seemed patent to me, how- are important. If you add to them the chine is that in practice England is re- ever little I knew of China, that this pride complete disappearance of all trace of garded as being a victim of American of race, manifesting itself in the intense that vice which was only a decade ago to imperialism—only in a lesser degree than national sentiment we experienced on all be seen in the grossest forms in Chinese China and Japan. Our arrival in China sides, is the dominating factor of Chinese coastal cities, then a great deal is ex- coincided with the Suez crisis, and the life today, far more than communism or plained. The stories about gambling dens press and radio were execrating “British

anything else. Inevitably, the Church is and houses of ill fame having completely and French imperialism.” Yet, by the affected by this nationalist feeling, and disappeared in Shanghai are true. With time we left China, I was being told by during the Korean War only two promi- one of my colleagues armed with ad- Christians of all kinds that, much as they nent pastors publicly raised their voices dresses furnished by more disreputable deplored Britain’s actions in the Middle against the government—the Roman bish- acquaintances of the Merchant Service, East, they were sorry at the way the

16 SPECIAL REPORT

Amfiicans had "Irt \iui down." It all j-liowod, tliev said, how complotfly scllish the Americans were!

1 should have felt happier if we had discovered some trace of sympathy with the Hiinjiarians, hut we did not. Althon}'h some Chinese who had heard the H.B.C. transmissions regularly had a fairly ac- curate knowledge of the movement of events in Hungary, they were confused hy the official communist "news,"’ and were more inclined to accept the latter because of the inept approach of the Voice of

America. It is an unfortunate fact that the voice of America transmissions are not jammed in China generally, as the transmissions from Formosa are. because they are not regarded as effective. As far

as 1 cou Id see, the Chinese occasionally tune in to the Voice of America for a little

diversion in the same way that people lis- tened to Lord Haw Haw during the war. The Chinese generally suspect that the World Council of Churches may— to put it no more strongly—be a body "‘used," Presiding Bishop and Mrs. C. T. Chen of the Holy Catholic Church in China. wittingly or otherwise, to further the cause of "Western imperialist aggression.” Al- I know that some Chine.se Anglicans, hav- would stand out clearly. It is all very well though the Holy Catholic Church in ing made denunciations and "confes- for us to talk in terms of absolute right

China has never formally dissociated it- sions,” now regret it, because they told me and wrong; I think it unwise and lacking self from the world ecumenical movement, so. On the other hand, I am prepared to in charity to apply absolute criteria to the it regards it with some doubt. At the same believe that there was substance in many unique upheaval which came to China. time, they cannot understand why anyone of the denunciations. No one can survey For these reasons, the best course seems in the West should entertain any doubts the detailed impact of the West upon lo me to be to learn what one can about about the "Peace Movement.” China, including the impact of many what Christians did and said in this peri- Finally, it is beyond dispute that in the Christian bodies, and fairly say China has od. to try to understand their reasons. period following "liberation.” and during cause only for gratitude. .\nd then, after taking stock of one's own the land reform, most Chinese Christian If I were to assay any judgment, it miserable deficiencies, to forget it. It was workers did denounce some aspect or would have to be made against the back- all of very small moment in the history other of former missionary work, and on ground of the whole Chinese picture- of occasions foreign missionary workers. social, economic and political, as well as the Catholic Church anyway, however

important it understandably I am prepared to believe that many of religious. That background was proud, may have these denunciations were wrong, for I nationalistic, strongly xenophobic, and .seemed to former mission workers in was t

17 A Special Report:

How Much Longer

For the Reign of Peiping?

Chinese Anglicans are dazzled. Physical achievements in China have been spectacular. Social evifhas disappeared.

So, apparently, has corruption. But — can all this last?

The following article on church tion. They are in many ways more Angli-

conditions in Communist China is can than we of the West. the seventh in a series by Francis As far as the Chinese Christians gen- James, managing director of the erally are concerned, we failed to detect Anglican News Service in Syd- anywhere in China, at any stage, the at- ney, Australia. With seven Aus- mosphere in which “Christian killeth tralian Anglican churchmen, Mr. Christian, in a narrow, dusty room.” James traveled 15,000 miles Resurgent national feeling, with a through China last fall. strong xenophobic content, has almost eliminated intolerance between religious

At the end of February this year, the bodies as far as I could judge. There is Primate of Australia made a significant a tendency for others to look askance at presentation to St. Mark’s Memorial Li- the Church of Rome in China, which, after brary and College in Canberra. He handed some small fundamentalist sects, went over to the warden, who is the Bishop of through the hardest times, and which even Canberra and Goulburn, the presents now has not reached the same level of given last fall by the Holy Catholic organizational independence as the others. Church in China to the Church in Aus- But those Roman bishops whom we met tralia. are themselves highly critical of a policy

These were a new edition of the Holy which, though they loyally implement it Bible, printed and bound in China; a on the whole, unnecessarily hampers them hand-lettered scroll bearing the Nicene in their work and witness. The C.H.S.K.H. Creed; a box of Chinese communion waf- is aware of this and is uniquely placed to ers; and a large framed picture of the help. Chinese House of Bishops. It may be said of all this that modera- These gifts from the Chinese Church tion and tolerance are classical Chinese symbolize our common loyalty to the four virtues. No doubt this is true; but if so, principles of the Lambeth Quadrilateral. it is good to see them in action and to see Only now, after talking among our- banished the intolerance exported to selves, have some of the delegation real- China from the West, of which one hears ized that it was these presents which so much from former mission workers. started what was to become the strongest It would be wrong to suppose that this impression upon our minds of the C.H.S. mutual tolerance (coupled with adher- K.H.—namely, its very Anglicanism. ence to fundamental principles) between To be sure, our brethren in China coop- Christians applies to the Chinese govern- erate with the communist government of ment. the Chinese People’s Republic; they co- Certainly, the government now applies operate with other denominations in the more effective techniques of persua- China. But the tolerance and common sion, using mass propaganda media more sense which they show toward govern- efficiently than I ever saw used in Russia ment and other denominations—and to- or Germany, and has moved from the pol- ward each other when questions of church- icy of physical repression which attended manship and organization are concerned “liberation” and the land reform period. —never lead them to deviate from what is Its methods are indeed so gentle nowa- indisputably basic to the Catholic tradi- days that the Christian communities make

18 !

SPECIAL REPORT

even if they are Christians. Most of us will agree on this, without pursuing philo- sophical definitions of terms. Injustice and all forms of wickedness are not to be found only in absolutist countries. Social injustice is by no means

unknown in countries of the West. It is

also known in China, but in assessing it the C.H.S.K.H. uses the only possible yardstick of conditions for some time be- fore “Liberation.” All Chinese Christians, after applying that yardstick, say firmly that, by comparison, social injustice and o|){)ression are a thing of the past. Of economic oppression they say there is none. And as preceding articles have mentioned, gambling, prostitution, brib- ery, and so on seem completely to have disappeared from the Chinese scene.

Now, it is for the Chinese themselves and, as far as we are concerned, for Chinese Anglicans in particular, to judge their own government, its actions and its Prominent Churchmen: Bishop Chang of Fukien and Shen l-fan, son of Bishop Shen. achievements. We have no standing in the matter save in the degree that the Chi- tlie error, in my opinion, of attributing to repression against to increasingly severe nese government affects us of the West. it quasi-Christian motives. increasingly clamant protests until the However, I do think that Chinese An- ell. these motives are about as moral, wheel had turned full circle. glicans, like most members of our dele- let alone Christian, as those of the wolf To write of the possible effects of Rus- gation. paid undue attention to what China which resorted to wheedling when huffing sian or American intervention during the is achieving in a purely material sense. and puffing failed t() blow down the house. I)enultimate stage would he sheer guess- Many of the most conservative ante- And they are just as realistic. Communist ing; hut I should be surprised if the cedents. were they to visit China, might Party leaders in China readily and frankly Chinese were to welcome foreign inter- not agree with me in this statement; the told me that the law of diminishing re- vention any more than they have done in scope and execution of the current Plan, turns applies very clearly to the use of times past. despite all the errors, recasting, failures repression after a certain point is reached. At the moment, not even the most astute in some sectors, represents one of the most They added that they had never got near Westerner in China could detect any impressive achievements of the centuries that point in the years after “Liberation.” sign of corruption in government circles. —by material, physical criteria. More than Propaganda and the thought control, Those whom I asked were at one on this. that, the enthusiasm and elan so apparent practiced in China by suppressing facts, On the other hand, they could recount throughout China, cannot fail to impress are also subject to the law of diminish- endless stories of incompetent “bureauc- any observer. ing returns. But the critical point prob- racy.” But the Chinese themselves do the ably lies in the extreme distant future, same thing. “Bureaucracy” proved to be Tax Structure Simplified because only people who have known the one political subject on which Chinese something better can recognize an inferior conversation everywhere was quite unin- To me, personally, however, all this begs thing. Those Germans who heard and dis- hibited. Everyone is on the lookout to de- the question. Physical achievements and patent civic virtue action are all very counted the nonsense of the Nazi press tect it. in were able to do so because they could The party and the government encour- well. I can understand Christians and others being dazzled by after the rel- compare it with what they had experi- age people to be on their guard against it them enced under the Weimar Republic, or in the lower levels of community life and ative darkness that may have gone before. even in other European countries. For the organization. At the highest levels in For a whole population of 600 million better than they overwhelming mass of the Chinese people government and party. 1 suspect, the now to he fed and clothed past is no such favorable comparison is possible. same thing applies, hut revelations of “bu- have been for a long time admir- They know nothing and care less about reaucracy” are only possible from a small able. But there are some small things scale of values other countries; China herself is now free minority who have sufficient access to the rather higher on my own shelter, and of civil war for the first time in this cen- facts, and they would not he made public than food and clothing and

it not tury. Above all, the Chinese possess a unless some end other than the elimina- so happens that these things do completely self-contained culture to which tion of the bottleneck or inefficiency was over-impress me. It is easy, of course, the Greek critical tradition, which per- desired. not to he impressed when I happen to of them Chinese sisted in Nazi Germany and still lingers There is no greater error than to sup- have an abundance by even in Russia, is utterly foreign. pose that, because communism is basical- standards

In short, ignoring the unthinkable ef- ly an evil theory, those who are commu- Were I a Chinese Anglican, my attitude fects of foreign war, there is only one nists, or who in any way support would no doubt he different. Like most of thing which could possibly upset the pres- <’ommunism, are automatically also evil. our friends there, I should probably he ent Chinese government, and that is the The truth is that evil systems can t)ro- dazzled. Before going on to what mitigates growth of corruption and inefficiency duce morally good men, even if they are this he-dazzled state, however, it is worth- within its own ranks, leading to com- not Christians, and that good systems can while to point out that China no longer plaints from the poi)ulace, leading in turn and do produce thoroughly bad types. has a multiplicity of taxes of all kinds.

19 SPECIAL REPORT

The entire taxation structure has been ism in industry, and its phenomenal suc- tians under the Roman Empire in the first overhauled and is now simplicity itself. cess against social evils, is that this itself century.

There is no income tax— a state of af- constitutes a great challenge to them. In terms of secular politics there is fairs that I heartily approve—although They are all agreed, naturally, that much that the West can do, and is failing wage differentials are very much greater Christianity is a system of belief and not to do, to influence the course of events in than in Australia. merely a code of ethical behavior. But the China. This is not the place for any de- The greatest proportion of tax monies belief does, or should, manifest itself in tailed discussion, so I shall add only that by far comes from the levies on agricul- men’s behavior, and they are confronted the present policy towards China of the tural production. The first 15 per cent of with a situation in which Chinese leaders, United States, for example, is obviously the value of every collective’s crop is and Chinese communists, observe in their wrongly based, like that of Australia, be- taken by the State. This produce, mar- private lives as high and rigid an ethical cause it is patently ineffective. I cannot keted through government agencies, is code as could be demanded of Christians. see any ground whatever upon which Aus- then sold at a profit. In addition, there I hope there is no doubt in the mind of the tralia should prefer in this to follow the are substantial profits from state-owned West about this. One of the few things political line of the United States rather secondary industry and state-owned retail stated by the Primate of Australia on his than that of England, whose stocks stand outlets. The whole thing makes the big- return which I completely endorse is that comparatively so high in China today, gest former Japanese or German vertical the Chinese communist leadership sets an that the B.B.C. alone of foreign broadcasts and horizontal trust look puny by com- example of high private morality. They of any kind is seriously regarded by those parison. are so conditioned as to be able to tell the Chinese who listen to them. It would be very easy for so rigidly most atrocious untruths, or to commit As a whole. Western political policy controlled an economy, where the position morally reprehensible deeds, in the mis- towards China seems to aim, judging by of the capitalist has been taken over by conceived course of their public duty; but its results, only at strengthening the So- the State, to be as oppressive as unre- privately and personally they are truthful viet-Chinese alliance. stricted monopoly capitalism. I found no and decent folk. In non-political terms, there is nothing Chinese Christian who thought such a Everyone in China would probably we can do to help our Christian brethren tendency had shown up, and only in the agree about the personal qualities of the in any material sense, save to send them

C.H.S.K.H. did I find two people who ad- communist leadership. I certainly found books and refuse steadfastly to be in- mitted in principle that abuses and eco- no criticism on this score, and I did not volved in any scheme to interfere in mat- nomic oppression were theoretically pos- think this was due to fear, or could have ters of Chinese Church government. The sible. been only the result of propaganda. Any- two positive things which we Anglicans

way, I met a considerable number of par- of the West can do is to pray for our Chi- Absolute power ty members myself and found none whom nese brothers in Christ, as they pray con-

I would not trust in a personal matter. tinually for us, and to seize every oppor- The unfettered economic and fiscal tunity which presents itself for us to learn power of the Chinese government, with The nature of the challenge to Chris- more about them and to show them more none of the checks and balances to which tianity in this is obvious. The Chinese about us. we are accustomed, and despite all the Han people, notoriously down-to-earth and These last are not easy of accomplish- machinery of consultation at all levels concerned with practical things, look at ment, even though a link has now been which I saw in action, mean that it has the Christians and say, “What have you forged between two sister Churches of the absolute power in all that affects the phys- to offer us as individuals, or as patriots, Anglican Communion; but it is of the ical condition of the Chinese, and— here’s that we are not already offered by the greatest importance that we should try the rub— that there is no possible appeal communists? These men appear to us our hardest to do them. against what is decided. For this is the just as good as you, and they don’t even “People’s Government.” believe in God. How can it make us or our

In practice, of course, it is a very aris- society better in any way for us to become tocratic form of government, though I Christians?” could not persuade any Chinese to this view. Subtle opposition

In practice, again, I have no doubt that Just how the Holy Catholic Church in in the long run Lord Acton’s dictum (us- China can answer, and the tentative form

ually misquoted ) about the tendency of its answer is beginning to assume, may be power to corrupt will be as valid of the deduced from the earlier articles in this Chinese Communist Party as of any other series. The task and the opportunity be- collection of men. It did rather surprise fore it is probably unparalleled in his- me, in view of the very long history of tory. It is in a position more difficult by China, and the cycles in which her gov- far than that of the Church in the first ernment has turned for thousands of and second centuries, for there is none of years, to find even Anglicans convinced the persecution of Chinese by Chinese of the permanency of the present regime. which might produce those martyrs who,

Time and again, when I suggested that it paradoxically, strengthen in the faith might topple after, say, a century, or 500 those who remain. years, or perhaps 1,000 years, the Chinese If it came to a choice between physical said they were sure it would last forever! violence, and even death, or abandonment At least, as I have said, it shows every sign of the Faith, I have no doubt whatever of lasting at this moment. which Course the leaders of theC.H.S.K.H. R.VS What saves the Chinese Anglicans, daz- would take. But what they have to face is zled though they are, from being blinded something far more subtle and dangerous Bishop Housden, delegation member, by the material success of Chinese social- than the chr>ice which lay before Chris- arrives in Hong Kong from China.

20 H. Armstrong Roberts

Red sails in the sunset: This is Hong Kong, one of the world's b iggest ports and a busy gateway to Communist China.

A Place For Women, Too

How the Church In China Trains Its People

Now that China is firmly in the explored in this last article in a series unfortunate, but it is understandable. grip of Communism, how does the by Francis James, managing direc- Chinese Christians have a lot to do with future look for the Holy Catholic tor of the Anglican News Service in scanty resources. Church? How about the quality of Sydney, Australia. With seven fellow The Chungking College has only 25 work in the seminaries and among Anglicans, Mr. James traveled 15,- students, six of whom are women. Two young people? These are questions 000 miles through Red China last fall. students only are Anglican. Twelve of the total come from national minority groups There are three aspects of the life and the C.H.S.K.H. enjoys under God’s provi- in western China. The theological empha- worship of the Holy Catholic Church in dence a very strong position, and that its sis, I am told, is more fundamentalist here

China which, it seems to me, can now future as a national Church is bright. than in the other three colleges. usefully be described and summarized, There are no longer any solely Angli- There is a much clearer place for wom- and which will form the basis on which can theological colleges in China. The Ro- en in the Church of China than in such some estimate of the future of the man Catholics alone have preserved some ether parts of the Anglican Communion reasonably be guessed. of theirs, all the non-Romans have C.H.S.K.H. can and as I know. There is no question of ordain- recruitment Theolpgical They are: First, the and joined in forming “Union” ing them, of course, but we encountered a training of men and women for the sacred Colleges. There are four of these — at great many women parish workers all over ministry and Church work; second, the Peking, Nanking, Chungking and Canton. China and were much taken by them. Not extent to which young people and children The Canton College is a small affair, in only do they perform the duties under- already take part in and are being re- which only three of a total of 29 students taken by deaconesses and members of cruited to the life of the Church, and are Anglicans. Neither this nor the Col- some religious orders elsewhere; they give third, the quality of parochial life. lege at Chungking has anything remotely a positively Second Century touch to the I cannot claim any wide or special like a decent library. The staff, although Church in China by regularly visiting the knowledge of these things, or indeed of not predominantly Anglican, is well qual- sick, helping those members of the parish anything else about China or the ified, as far as I can judge, in each case. who are aged, poor, and so on, conduct- C.H.S.K.H. I hope it has been made clear The buildings are inadequate for both. ing catechism and other classes for chil- that I claim only to describe facts and The leaders of all Chinese Christian de- dren as well as adults, and generally, as situations as I saw them. nominations are well aware of these de- one of colleagues drily noted, “doing But with this qualification I am bound fects and agree that they must be rem- my bit t*» say that I share the feeling of the en- edied; but I found no evidence of any well the jobs you’re always a dubious tire Australian Delegation to China that great sense of urgency about it. This is about giving your young curates.”

21 SPECIAL REPORT

The work of these trained women par- me: Nothing can be accomplished in is a course of equal length for those who ish workers varies with the type of parish China these days if the Government is not have completed the higher middle school in which they live. In one city, for exam- “cooperative.” course which, in my judgment based on ple, we met one who was doing a full-time At the time of our visit there was a total visits to a dozen such schools in China and administrative job; but in the main, of 232 students. Of these, 107 were, prop- careful comparison of their syllabi with whether in city or rural parish, they are erly speaking, students in training; the our own in Australia, produces scholars of engaged in straight pastoral work. The remaining 125 were priests and pastors roughly first year university status, or a important thing about them, to me, was undergoing “refresher” courses, which little less, by Australian or English stand- the fact that they are trained. lasted either one academic term or one ards. The Yenching Union Theological Col- academic year according to their nature. I should here interpolate the opinion lege at Peking is comparatively large, and As I understand, they were intended both that Chinese secondary education is a very the physical accommodation is reasonably to cover advanced work of an academic severe, formal and serious matter by com- good by comparison with Chungking; but kind, and to enable members of the sev- parison with Australia’s. There is no mod- the impression of those in the delegation eral ministries to gain vicarious experi- ern and “enlightened” nonsense about it— best qualified to judge is that it is not yet ence of different aspects of their work in and nothing of the “free activity” which as organized as is desirable. There are '75 different parts of the country through dis- has produced such interesting results in men and 35 women in residence at this cussion groups. They were attended by some places. It was strongly reminiscent college. Unfortunately, I have lost my note men and women, who lived in a separate of the best in formal academic education on the number of Anglicans; but I think hostel away from the main college center. that used to be found in France and Scot- there were at least a dozen. The year is divided into two academic land, with great emphasis on formal pre- The college which most excited our ad- terms of about 18 weeks. cision. The number and range of subjects miration, and which is undoubtedly what The staff of 25 was formed from the taken was without exception more formid- the other three hope to become one day, able than any staffs of the uniting colleges. 1 am not in Western child has to face. is the Seminary at Nanking. a position to make an expert definitive The third course offered at Nanking is This college, of which Bishop Ting is for assessment of the staff ; but I must say college and university graduates, of the dean, was formed in the autumn of that its members impressed me greatly. whom 15 have passed through the semi- 1952 by the union of a number of Angli- Of the dean and Bishop Shen I have al- nary since 1952—two more were in resi- can and Protestant colleges from Nanking ready written. Greek teaching is done by dence at the time of our visit. Bishop Ting and other places. It occupies a site of sev- a Miss Liu, who 1 think is a Methodist. and my Baptist friend told me that this eral acres, the main buildings being situ- She is certainly a first-class Greek scholar course was of the same standing as a good ated in a former school. and teacher. B.D. degree course.

We found that the Chinese Government, Students are taught on three levels, ac- both central and through its provincial cording to their background before entry. Anglicans In the Seminary and local arms, had been of great assist- There is a four-year course for those who The proportions of students from dif- ance to the several religious bodies when have completed a lower middle school erent denominations at the seminary last the college was founded. As far as we education, which corresponds to the inter- year were: Church of Christ in China could ascertain, no actual finance was mediate or junior certificate in Australia, (Presbyterian), 31.4 per cent; Anglicans, provided. But the Communists helped in the old school certificate in England and 19.7 per cent; Bapti.sts, 17 per cent; Meth- the acquisition of sites and were generally something like a three or four-year high odists 12.2 per cent; Wesleyans 3.2 per cooperative. This seemed significant to school course in the United 'States. There cent; C.I.M., 3.2 per cent; China Mission- ary Society, 2.7 per cent; China Independ-- ent Church, 2.7 per cent; and there was one student each from the Quakers, the Pentecostalists and Little Flock.

At the time of our visit there were four- teen Anglican students, including four women, in the main seminary. In addition, there were 24 Anglicans, including nine

priests, undertaking refresher courses. I understand that the technical name for much of the refresher course is “advanced pastoralia.”

The basis of the studies in this seminary is. of course, the Bible, and Biblical studies occupy just less than half the time

for the whole curriculum. There is not much that I am qualified to write about in

detail about this curriculum, but the. ex-

perts in the delegation tell me that it is

sound by any Western criteria. It covers the Old and New Testaments (introduc-

tory work, history and exegesis) ; Church History (both generally and witli particu- lar reference to China); Pastoralia;

Homiletics; Greek and Hebrew, whi(;ji The Most Rev. Howard W. K. Mowll receives a welcome from Chinese churchmen. are optional subjects; English language

22 SPECIAL REPORT

and Ml ( 111 . Anglican sindenl^ meet sepa- to stay on my feet for 20 minutes instead

rately for wliat tliey call “lithurgics.” I of five. The questions were nearly all po- imagine this would correspond with our litical: “How do Australians regard the studies in the West in the Prayer Book, world peace movement?” for example. the Creeds, the Apocrypha and so on. On the principle that nothing good comes

One interesting aspect of the curricu- from beating about the bush I told them lum is that many courses are duplicated: that world peace was a different matter The emphasis is. respectively, more or less from the world peace movement, and why.

fundamentalist, or more or less liberal. It They took it all very well, we thought. is left entirely for students themselves, My impression, from the questions after sampling, to choose which of such asked, was that this was an alert student

courses they wish to attend. When I com- body, genuinely interested in the social mented favorably upon this my Baptist implications of Christianity, intensely in- friend neatly remarked: “We are more terested in international relations, but Anglican than you realize!” starved of sufficient material about them. There is a solid emphasis on one thing One does not like to make comparisons generally lacking in such Western theo- which might be misunderstood, but I think

logical colleges as I know: music. Not I should say that I know many Australian Bishop Shen Tze-Kao of Union Theologi- only is formal instruction given in piano- theological students, and some men re- cal College, Nanking. forte. the organ and a number of other in- cently ordained, whose background and struments. together with the theory of training is not quite as good as that of dates offering, but the desperate shortage music; but there is much teaching and some of these Chinese students. of teachers. As far as children are con- practice in choral singing. The seminary Some of the delegation have the impres- cerned, the policy is for small children to choir is remarkably fine. Frankly, I was sion that there were not many young peo- attend catechism classes each day after astonished to hear it. Here they were, not ple in evidence during our visit. I disagree school in the parish church or the home only Anglican students, but Baptists, Pen- with this. The proportion of the age group of the parish priest, or at some other tecostalists and heaven -knows -what -not, from about 16 to 22 years did seem slight- venue. I was told that the children of giving superb renditions of Gregorian ly lower than we might have expected; Roman Catholic parents attended these chants, followed by rousing choruses! At but it did not seem significantly lower classes as a matter of course, and I saw the moment there are several good soloists than in most Australian churches. There them being conducted in several places. in residence. was, however, a distinctly lower propor- Last, on the general quality of paro- tion of the group aged about 22 to 32. Discusses World Peace chial life in the C.H.S.K.H., I think it will be obvious that one could write much or Sunday Schools in Full Swing Since so many students come to the little. I shall content myself with a few seminary before completing their second- Of tiny tots at Sunday Schools there generalizations instead of detailing the ary education to university entrance were plenty. But for some reason the Chi- figures on which they are based. standard, courses in general education nese did not seem to think we would be China is a very hard-working country. are given. I was told there is particular interested, and our hosts did not go out Its people have little leisure time, and stress on Chinese language and literature. of their way to show us them. Since one only one day’s complete rest each week. An annex at the rear of the seminary of my fellow delegates usually preached The mere fact that they are so small a is used as a nursery school. It was in the at the services I attended each Sunday, I minority tends to throw Anglicans closer charge of a trained, full-time teacher. The must confess that I got into the habit of together, and in most parishes, rural or 20 small children belonged to members of slipping out during the sermom to see urban, everyone knows everyone else- the teaching staff, the “workers” at the what went on outside. In most places I including those members who tend to be college (i.e.. domestic staff, gardeners, found a Sunday School in full swing, with only nominal parishioners. Apart from and others) and two married students. numbers rather higher than I should have churchgoing, there seemed to be other These nursery schools seemed to be at- expected in view of the size of the regular communal activity in most parishes—many tached to most educational institutions as congregations. I suspect that, although of them, for example, were spending a well as industrial concerns in China. It the generality of Chinese Anglicans are lot of time at night preparing Christmas was run on the same lines as similar probably better churchgoers than Aus- music and plays during our visit in No- schools which I know in England and tralians, they tend like us to make their vember and December. Church attend- Australia. children go to Sunday School, whether ances at the great festivals of Easter and The library seemed well stocked with they themselves attend church or not. Christmas, I learned, were as they are standard theological works, but I could It may interest some to know shortly elsewhere; much higher than at other find little current matter save for a few how the Roman Catholics are placed for times. In short, parish life in China periodicals. By "current” matter I mean theological training and in their work seemed to me much like parish life any- theological literature published in the last among young people. The Roman Catholic where else, save that the larger family of decade. Archbishop Pi Shu-shih of Mukden told the parish in China was more of a family We were asked to speak to the students, me there were three colleges, in Peking. than in the West. One circumstance made who were assembled in their main lecture Nanking and Shanghai, and were all on it a little difficult to judge. This was that room. The Bishops of Tasmania and Rock- much the same level, each with about 60 the moment our delegation appeared any- hampton, followed by Canon Arrowsmith, students. Peking had 34 “Latinists” and where every clergyman seemed to drop his delivered such polished short addresses 27 reading theology and philosophy in parish work in order to entertain us and that, knowing I could not compete, I sim- training for the priesthood. The Arch- look after us generally. They were “on ply said how glad I was to he there and bishop said these numbers were wholly tap” at all hours, and some of us thought suggested that the students ask me any inadequate for the needs of the Roman at first that this indicated they had noth- questions they wished about Australia. Church. The major difficulty, he said, was ing else to do. But I am satisfied now this This was a bad move. It meant that I had not so much the small number of candi- was not so.

23