CHINESE WHO ARE CHRISTIANS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3378, 13 June 1927, Page 2

CHINESE WHO ARE CHRISTIANS.

In a former article on “China in revolt” we saw that the Nationalist Movement in China is largely anti-Christian. But there is an organise:! bod} of Christian Chinese, and in our endeavour to see the Chinese question from trie Chinese point of view it is worth while finding out what their views are. It is hardly realised yet how long a connection certain Chinese families haye with the Christian faith. For instance, Dr Stewart Yui, who is here just now on a year’s furlough, is a Chinese Christian of the third generation. He himself has studied in the United States and is now Head of the Department of Political Science at Tsing Hun University, Pekin. His father is a priest of the American Episcopal Church at Wuchang and his brother is the general secretary of the National Committee of the Y.M.C.A. in China and is also chairman of the Chinese National Christian Council.

__ In the book “China To-day Through Chinese Eyes,” Dr D. Z. T. Yui discusses the position of Christianity in China. He says; “The Christian Movement in China is much alive and keenly conscious of its shortcomings and imperfections, and is eagerly desirous of attaining further development and improvement.” He goes on to say that the greatest need amongst the Christian Chinese is more profound Chinese scholarship and a greater knowledge of Chinese amongst the workers in China. He says: “What do we know of our missionary friends ? There was a small number of good Chinese scholars among the older missionaries, who in their days did excellent work. With all respect, even their Chinese scholarship was by no means profound nor could it compare favourably with that of the monks (Buddhists) from India. How many missionaries sinologues do we find today ?” He then goes on to say that while there are some profound Chinese scholars among the Chinese Christian leaders they are much too few, and adds: “In order-to clarify the point before us, let us suppose that some Chinese missionaries wei’e to try to introduce Confucianism into Great Britain or America. What do you think the result would be, if these missionaries, in addition to a smattering of “pidgin” English, were to do their work mostly in Chinese and to depend very largely upon interpreters, and if the leaders among the British or American converts were much better educated in Chinese civilisation than in their own ? What would be your opinion of this Confucian movement even if we were able to produce numerous arguments to justify our position,? “If*.the Christian movement .in China is to go forward and enter more fully into the life of the Chinese people, we cannot exaggerate the importance of requiring- from both our missionary friends and Chinese Christian leaders a more profound Chinese scholarship. Some definite plan should be evolved, either independently or within some existing institutions, whereby the missionaries who have special aptitudes for languages and cultural subjects will have a real opportunity of achieving a profound Chinese scholarship. For the development of Chinese Christian leadership, our Christian educational institutions, from primary school to college or university, should not fail' to place greater emphasis on Chinese studies ■ than on anything else.” Dr ifui, however, is most emphatic that this greater development must not be nationalised.

Dr Yui is critical of the statesmanship of the Christian Movement in China. He acknowledges that there is excellent leadership in denominational administration, and that that type of leadership is wanted. He adds, however, “Many of the leaders, however, are sadly lacking in the proper perspective and vision of the Christian Movement as a whole. The jnore each becomes attached to his own special job the more he loses in the movementconsciousness. He sees everything through his own spectacles. He is apt to become indifferent to Christian work outside his own sphere; jealous of those making greater success in the same field; intolerant of or even hostile to those who differ from him in convictions or methods of work; obstructive to the proper growth and development of the Movement, and this with the best of intentions. If a Movement is dominated by this type of leadership, what hope is there for it to succeed ?”

Finally, he appeals for greater spirituality and his indictment of the present position is that “To the Chinese mind, Christianity is synonymous with schools, hospitals, asylums, preaching, Church worship, evangelistic campaigns, relief works, etc. We are not using the word ‘activity’ in any disparaging sense at all, except that we wish to point out that it is the activities of Christianity rather than its teachings and spiritual experiences that have arrested the attention of our people and won their respect. We do not suggest necessarily any reduction in activities, especially if we take cam that they do not overburden or crush us, but we do appeal for putting greater spiritual content into them. In other words, we do plead for the spiritualisation of our activities.”

On the vexed question of extra-terri-toriality which does not precisely come within the scope of his text Dr Yui utters a warning note : “In the present agitation for the abolition of extra-territoriality and 'the socalled toleration clauses in China, what are some of the oft-repeated questions on the lips and in the writings of not a few of our missionaries ? We shall try to name a few in the order of importance given. Property! Personal safety of missionaries! Protection of Chinese converts ! There are, doubtless, important questions which we should not ignore. We must study them and find out proper and adequate provisions. But there is a notable absence of any concern about the spiritual life of the Christian Movement under the new conditions. Should we not ask whether th 6 abolition of, extraterritoriality and of the toleration clauses would offer greater opportunities for the spiritual development of the Christian Movement in China or hinder it ? How can we best avail ourselves of the new situation to deepen the spirituality of our Movement ? Instead, we loudly ask about property, personal safety, protection, etc. Will not these questions at least create wrong impressions on the Chinese, both Christians and non-Chris-tians ? Would Christ Himself raise them under similar circumstances ?

“Last year, after the sad event of May 50th, the Christian Movement in China revealed a certain situation which saddened our hearts. We are referring to the fact that for quite some time our re-’ spective nationalistic feelings rose so high that they almost completely submerged any spiritual .life that was in us and in our Movement. Many missionaries and Chinese Christians were citizens of ’ i heir respective countries first and stood for their own interests, right or wrong; and their Christian citizenship took a secondary place. Have we forgotten the charges of the Anti-Christian Movement against organised as the ‘fore-runners of Western imperialism,’ and as the ‘hounds of foreign capitalism” ? We are not admitting that we are; but the attitude of many last year was dangerously near confirming these charges.”