CHINESE PROBLEMS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 51, 28 August 1913, Page 2

CHINESE PROBLEMS

POSSIBILITIES OF THE COUNTRY. Lecturing in St. Andrew's ChuTch Hall last night, Dr. John Kirk, of the Canton Villages Mission, spoke of China, her problems, and possibilities from the missionaries' point of view. One of the first problems was the ai«e of the country, the immensity of ite population. The provinces of Yunnan, Kweichou, Kansu, and Kwongsai were still practically unoccupied, while only ten missionaries were working in the vast region of Mongolia There was also the problem of the Chinese language. Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China, took eleven years to translate the Bible into Chinese, and sixteen more years to compile the first Anglo-Chinese dictionary. In spite of the difficulty of language many foreigners had by patience and perseverance acquired a good knowledge of Chinese, both spoken and written. Another problem was the problem of China's conservatism. The lecturer spoke also of the religious problem of China, and shortly touched on the relation of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism as they affected the propagation of the Christian faith. There was also the medical problem which confronted the medical missionary. The great amount of preventable suffering and death, the comparative absence of anything approaching public health ideals, and the indifference of the people regarding the segregation and prevention of contagious disease waa a serious question. There was also the problem of government. Briefly the lecturer spoke of the problems which demanded a solution before the new Republic could become firmly established. Dr. Kirk also showed some lantern slides and a few moving films depicting scenes and everyday life in China. The object of the lecture was to create a deeper interest m the work and i possibilitre» of the Canton Villages Mission, in connection with which there is now being carried through a* "Every Member Campaign," by which it is confidently expected that every member and adherent of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand will contribute something to a fund of £11,400 needed for the purchase of sites and the erection of a new hospital and other buildings in the midst of Canton village®.