Images of China for Americans, 1927-1950: The Missionaries' Dilemma by Elizabeth Vanderzell Anderson, B.A., M.A. DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences of Carnegie Mellon University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF ARTS CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY May, 1990 Carnegie-Mellon University COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree o f _____ Doctor of Arts__________ T itle______ Images of China for Americans, 1927-1950:_______ _____________ The Missionaries* Dilemma Presented b y ______Elizabeth V. Anderson, A.B., M.A. Accepted by the Department of_______History__________ _ Abstract Images of China for Americans, 1927-1950: The Missionaries' Dilemma Anderson, Elizabeth Vanderzell Carnegie Mellon University 1990 Advisor: Dr. Richard L. Schoenwald That the American Protestant missionaries created an image of China has been generally accepted; what they said precisely that created that image is not so well known. This dissertation surveys the picture of China's day-to-day life as observed, experienced and reported by approximately seventy long-term American Protestant missionaries in ninety of their books published between 1927 and 1950, their final years in China. The authors who made up the research sample were missionary churchmen, educators, and physicians and nurses. They represented several denominations, from mainline churches to the smaller sects. The authors, from a variety of backgrounds, wrote to a varied group of constituencies. The missionary writers recorded a special piece of American history worked out in an alien land. They wrote out of who they were, and who they had become after long years in China. They wrote out of their roles in China and according to their purposes which, for some, changed over the years. They wrote of China's needs and of the obligation of Christian Americans to respond to those needs. They wrote of their dilemmas which grew as forces swirled around them beyond their control. Episcopal Church; the YMCA archivist; the librarians of Houghton library of Harvard University, Lutheran Northwest Theological Seminary, and Hope College. When books, papers, note cards and drafts overwhelmed home space, Covenant Presbyterian Church of Butler, Pennsylvania provided office space—Thank you. To retired missionaries and enthusiastic China lovers, Dr. Andrew Roy and Mrs Margaret Roy, Dr. John and Dr. Cora Lennox, heartfelt thanks for the special time spent with me. The confidence and faith of the stalwart home-front was crucial to the whole effort. Thank you Jim, Mike, Dina and Suzie. I could not fail because of you. Thank you brother John for prodding. And as I search my mind to find answer to the frequent question of why China missionaries, a scene from my childhood surfaces: Our dining room loaded with layettes, hospital gowns, bandages to be sent—to China. Is that what started all this? Thank you parents for that dining room scene. Acknowledgments It is a wonderful time--the time when a job is finished. With a sense of joy and relief I thank all who have helped along the way. Through patience, faith, suggestion, regular newspaper clippings and sturdy nudging, Dr. Richard L. Schoenwald guided me to the end of this long road. Dr. Donald Sutton launched me on the trip and provided rich opportunity to learn of China's past and present, sharing generously his time. Dr. Eugene Levy read through the manuscript, Dr. David Fowler offered early preparation with background on the American national character and Dr. Edwin Fenton's emphasis on an author's conceptual framework fit perfectly into the scheme of my project—to each one thank you. Marilyn Albright, Carnegie Mellon's history reference librarian deserves special words of gratitude. How crucial her help was over the years! To classmate Dr. Jay Devine, for always being there to listen during times of discouragement, thank you. Special mention must be made of Miss Margaret G. Macosky, retired staff person of the American Baptist Church who graciously searched out biographical data on China missionaries of the Northern and Southern Baptist churches. To many librarians and archivists in various parts of the country I am indebted: Mark Shinise of the General Archives and History Center of the United Methodist Church in Madison, New Jersey; John Walker of the Presbyterian (U.S.) Historical Society in Montreat; Boyd Reese of the Presbyterian Historical Center in Philadelphia. Assistance was also provided by Dr. Robert S. Bates of the Disciples of Christ; the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church; the YMCA archivist; the archivists and librarians of Yale University and Houghton library of Harvard University, Lutheran Northwest Theological Seminary, and Hope College. When books, papers, note cards and drafts overwhelmed home space, Covenant Presbyterian Church of Butler, Pennsylvania provided office space—Thank you. To retired missionaries and enthusiastic China lovers, Dr. Andrew Roy and Mrs Margaret Roy, Dr. John and Dr. Cora Lennox, heartfelt thanks for the special time spent with me. The confidence and faith of the stalwart home-front was crucial to the whole effort. Thank you Jim, Mike, Dina and Suzie. I could not fail because of you. Thank you brother John for prodding. And as I search my mind to find answer to the frequent question of why China missionaries, a scene from my childhood surfaces: Our dining room loaded with layettes, hospital gowns, bandages to be sent—to China. Is that what started all this? Thank you parents for that dining room scene. "China knows that what the world hears now is not herself but only the voice of necessity. When this is past, her true voice will speak again. she will speak of beauty and morality and peace and democracy. She will condemn war and say quietly, as she has through many ages, 'All under heaven are brothers'."1 1 Cornelia Spencer [Grace Seidenstricker Yaukey], Made in China (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1958), p. 256. Images of China for Americans, 1927-1950: The Missionaries' Dilemma Table of Contents Resource Selection i-v The missionary authors in this survey vi-xiv I. Introduction 1-12 II. The Missionaries 13-52 They wrote about China Image of the missionary in recent times From Americans to sinicized Americans Life together III The Missionaries' Picture of Chinese Life 53-171 The Chinese: a growing attachment Filial piety Day-to-day Change IV. Bound to China 172-187 V. Take Heed, America! 188-195 VI. What Should the Role of Christianity Be? 196-207 Appendix: Data on the missionary authors 208-245 Bibliography 246-256 Resource Selection Events of 1927 signaled a profound turning point in the history of modern China. During the Kuomintang's major drive to unite China the bloody split between the Communists and the Nationalist elements of the KMT occurred, and in the midst of the turmoil, missionaries suffered renewed virulent anti-foreign attacks. The Nationalists ruled that henceforth mission institutions were to be administered by Chinese. No longer were the missionaries to have complete control over the schools, hospitals, and publication houses they had established.1 The consequences of that watershed year affected both the work of American Protestant missionaries in China and the missionary movement's plans for its future there. Missionaries continued to work "the purpose out"2 through modern China's being born and their own uncertain situations; and they continued to share China with zeal through newspapers, periodicals, professional journals, missionary journals, denominational literature, letters, lectures, and books.3 The slant, the color and content of private papers is different from that in published material. Diaries, journals, and letters were written for ]Anna Ashley Seward Pruitt, Up From Zero (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1939), p. 147. Pruitt wrote, "They claimed that all buildings on Chinese soil belonged to China and must be controlled by the Party[KMT]. School buildings were appropriated. Hospitals were looted and defiled. Chapels were turned into stables." 2/Vew Missionary Hymnal, (North Cambridge, Mass.: Central Committee on the United Study of Foreign Missions, 1915, 1932), # 6. ^Phil 1 ip Francis Price, Our China Investment (Nashville: Committee of Foreign Missions, 1927), Foreword: "And now [1927] we are just completing the sixtieth year of our work in China amid dramatic and apparently discouraging circumstances." i reflection or limited sharing. In them writers dared to despair, rejoice, gossip, be critical, exaggerate, deprecate with minimal concern for consequences. Other writings from or about China, for business or diplomatic reasons, or for publication, were written for serious purpose with an eye upon consequences. For example, Ambassador John Leighton Stuart's communications to the State Department during China's crisis years clearly have a different tone from that of his memoirs.4 The study which follows considers missionaries' published material. To make the survey manageable, books published primarily between 1927 and 1950, written by long­ term American Protestant missionaries or their children who were born or raised in China, were chosen for review and reflect considered purpose.5 A pool of authors was developed from two bibliographies of China mission publications, one by Clayton H. Chu and the other by Kwang-Ching Liu.6 Selections from those lists were checked against data supplied in Charles Luther Boynton's "Missionaries to China and the Chinese" to determine a missionary author's length of stay in ^Kenneth W. Rae and John C. Brewer (eds.), The Forgotten Ambassador: The Reports of John Leighton Stuart, 1946-1949 (Boulder: Westview Press, Inc., Frederick A. Praeger, 1981); John Leighton Stuart, Fifty Years in China; the Memoirs of John Leighton Stuart, Missionary & Ambassador (New York: Random House, 1954.) 5 1950 the year missionary activity ceased in most instances. A few missionaries remained for a short period beyond that date, attempting to work with the Communists.