After Thirty Years the Antiquity and Civilization of the Chinese Empire
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AFTER THIRTY YEARS THE ANTIQUITY AND CIVILIZATION OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. HIS E m p i r e , in its antiquity, stands the sole remaining relic of the hoary ages of the past and of patriarchal times. For forty centuries it has enjoyed many of the fruits of a certain T measure of civilization and of literary attainment. Our own antiquities sink into insignificance in comparison. While the inhabitants of our now highly-favoured island were wandering about painted savages, the Chinese were a settled people, living under the same form of constitutional government as they at present possess. Or to go back to times long antecedent to the history of our own country . when Moses, learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, led the people of Israel from the house of bondage to the Promised Land, Chinese laws and literature were probably not inferior to, while their religious views were far in advance of, those of Egypt, the worship of graven images not having been introduced into China until some centuries after this period. Upwards of two hundred years before the call of Abraham, certain astronomical observations were recorded by Chinese historians, which have been verified by astronomers of our own times. Since that time Egypt has risen to the zenith of its glory, has faded and become “ the basest of the kingdoms.” Since that time the once famous empires of Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome have waxed, and waned, and passed away; but China still remains, the only monument of ages long bygone. For four thousand years this empire has been preserved by the power of God, and it shall yet be preserved until His word, delivered more than twenty-five centuries ago by the mouth of His servant Isaiah, shall be fulfilled to the last jot and tittle : “ I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far : and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim (China).”—From China's Spiritual Needs and Claims. °Kvrei-liwa.- cb’exi ¿ < -tAX ja.t’üNO TsniTu-fuMV. -r^~----------------- - SEOUV- LUNG-c IfuJting Hiao-i. 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With Coloured Map of China showing Stations of the Mission LONDON MORGAN & SCOTT, 12, P a t e r n o s t e r B u i l d i n g s , E.C T H E CHINA INLAND MISSION NEWINGTON GREEN, LONDON, N. & CONTENTS PART I. CHAP. PAGE I . I n c e p t i o n a n d D i s t i n c t i v e F e a t u r e s . i II. Establishment : The First Decade . 6 I I I . E x t e n s i o n : T h e S e c o n d D e c a d e . n IV. Developm ent and Consolidation : The Third D e c a d e ...............................................................................................21 PART II. THE WORKING PLAN ILLUSTRATED. V. Cheh-kiang : An Exposition in Detail . 29 VI. K i a n g - s u ............................................................................................................. 4 4 VII. G a n - h w u y ................................................................................................51 VIII. Kiang-si : A New D eparture in W o m e n ’s W o r k 5 4 IX. H u - p e h .............................................................................................................6 0 THE MORE DISTANT PROVINCES. X . H o - n a n ..............................................................................................................6 2 XI. H u - n a n : C l o s e d A g a in s t t h e G o s p e l . 6 4 XII. K a n - s u h ............................................................................................................. 6 5 XIII. S h e n -s i ...................................................................67 XIV. S h a n - s i ............................................................................................................. 6 9 vi CONTENTS CHAP. PAGS X V . S l - C H ’ U E N ................................................................................................ 7 2 XVI. Kwei-chau, Yun-nan, and Kwang-si . 74 XVII. Kwang-si : U noccupied ...................................................................... 7 7 PROVINCES OPENED FOR SPECIAL WORK. XVIII. Shan-tung and C h i h - l i ........................................................ 7 8 X I X . A S t a t i s t i c a l S u m m a r y ...................................................... 8 0 X X . E d u c a t i o n a l a n d M e d i c a l W o r k . 8 2 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Map of China, showing Stations o f Mission . Frontispiece Protestant Collegiate School, Chefoo . Opposite page i T h e M a i n S t r e e t , B h a m o ....................................................................4 A. B u sy C h in e s e S t r e e t ................................................................... 9 L a m a s o f T h i b e t ..........................................................................................J5 Covered Bridge in Y u n n a n ........................................................ 19 Mission Offices and Home, L ondon .... 25 W e s t G a t e , N i n g - p o ..............................................................................3 1 W o n g -lc e -d ju n .................................................................. 35 M rs. S t o t t ’ s B o y s ’ C l a s s , W u n -c h a u . 39 C.I.M. O ffices and Home, Shanghai .... 49 Teacher and Native Christians, Gan-k’ing . 52 M issio n H o u s e , Y u h -s h a n ...................................................................57 St r e a m f o r m in g B o u n d a r y L in e b e t w e e n H u -p e h a n d H o - n a n .................................................................................................... 61 A Friendly ex-Official on the Si-gan Plain . 68 P a s t o r H s i .....................................................................................................69 W o m e n o f a n A b o r i g i n a l T r i b e .............................................75 M a p s h o w in g I tinerations i n K i a -t in g F u D is t r ic t , Second page of Covet From a Photograph) [by DR. DOUTHWAITE. PROTESTANT COLLEGIA! E SCHOOL, CHEFOO. CHAPTER I INCEPTION AND DISTINCTIVE FEATURES HE China Inland Mis sion was organized under this name in 1865, and is to some extent the continua tion of an earlier work. Its founder, the Rev. J. Hudson Taylor, was sent to China in 1853 by the Chinese Evan gelization Society, and worked for some years under its auspices. Subsequently he and the Rev. John Jones (also sent out by the C.E.S.) continued to work in Ning-po as unconnected missionaries, and organized a Church there. Early in 1860, Mr. Taylor wrote to a friend in England of the need for further help; and returning home himself, sent out, in 1862, Mr. James Meadows (now senior member of the C.I.M.) and 2 AFTER THIRTY YEARS his young wife. Later, several other missionaries were sent out, among whom was Mr. Stevenson, now Deputy Director of the Mission. A detailed account of the inception and formation of the Mission will be found in “ The Story of the China Inland Mission.” 1 Some of the distinctive features of the Mission are as follow :— I. That it is pan-denominational and international. The workers are members of all the leading denominations of Christians, and have come out from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, from Finland, Sweden, Nor way, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland; from the United States and Canada; from four of the Australian Colonies, Tasmania and New Zealand. II. That the workers have no guaranteed salary, but trust in the L o r d whom they serve to supply their needs. III. That no personal solicitation or collection of funds is made or authorized by the Mission, voluntary contribu tions alone being received; to which may be added, that the names of donors are never published, but each one receives a dated and numbered receipt by which he can trace his own contribution into the list of donations, and thence into the annually published accounts. IV. That the direction of the work in the field is carried on, not by home committees, but by missionary Directors, assisted by a council of senior and experienced missionaries, who, as superintendents of tli. "ork in various provinces, help and guide those who have less experience.