A MISSIONARY FROM JEHOL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 5 April 1933, Page 6

A MISSIONARY FROM JEHOL

WORK IN A VAST COUNTRY Jehol, in the. south-east corner of Mongolia, and a centre of interest in view of the Chino-Japane.se conflicts in that area, formed the subject of an illustrated lecture delivered last evening by Mr Steele, missionary from Jehol. Mr Steele spoke with a thorough knowledge of tlie vast country with which he was dealing, and was able, with the aid of many splendid pictures to convey to his hearers some idea of the conditions of the people and the progress of the missionaries in spreading Christianity in that most difficult land. There weie seven mission stations in Jehol, and 33 missionaries. The lecturer showed a map of the territory he was describing, with the situations of Pekin, Hada, Chaoyang and Linslii, towns of which Mr Steele spoke chiefly. Following the war in Manchuria, the Chinese soldiery had been driven down into Jehol, and

there had lived in great numbers. It was for the purpose of driving these troops out of Jehol that the recent war had been waged by the Japanese. The

lecturer stressed that the Japanese did not desire to drive the people themselves from Jehol, merely the troops, and to keep them south of the Great Wall, that marvel of labour and patience, built over 2000 years ago, taking 15 years in the making, 2500 miles long, over rugged mountains for most of its distance, and with a width of 25 feet and 30 to 60 feet high. The hardships which the missionaries had to undergo in transportation over the -rugged, vast territory were readily understood when it was realised that a springless cart drawn by mules or oxen was the only conveyance over roads that were scarcely worthy of the name. Thirty miles a day was the maximum speed obtainable. At Chaoyang there were six missionaries and the speaker expressed the hope that all of them were safe in that city which had been slated in the news to have been in flames. Mr Steele recalled “The Life of James Gilmour” in connection with Chaoyang, and remarked that many must have been the hours he had spent under the shadow of the tall pagodas in spreading the Gospel. At Chaoyang Buddhism, the religion of the Mongols, and the worship of clay idols', and Confucianism, the religion of a system of ethics and morals, all three held sway, as in other parts and the lecturer was able to show examples of each form. In Jehol one saw acres and acres of poppies being grown for the manufacture of opium, and seven-tenths of the people were opium smokers. Up in Linslii the temperature in the winter was frequently 30 degrees below zero, and a missionary must have a strong constitution to work in that section. There the Mongols lived, a very independent and in many ways a very admirable people, but withal a very superstitious race. The Mongols worshipped Buddha, and thought always of the presence of malignant spirits seeking to harm them. The dance of the living Buddha was performed yearly, and the rites of driving the demons away were fanatically performed. Mr Steele touched upon the dangers of bail ditry, always present, remarking that Air Duffy had been a missionary in Jehol for 20 years, and never seemed to venture out in the country without experiencing narrow escapes from the brigands. The hardships which the peasants were forced to endure were vividly portrayed, and should their crops fail, starvation stared them in the face To add to thei" misery recently hordes of soldiers had been passing through the districts, eating all obtainable food without providing recompense. .Mr Steele showed during his lecture many pictures which weie of extremely beautiful subjects, as for instance the pillars of the Temple of Confucius, the Yellow City where the tiles were all of yellow porcelain, the city being a mile arid a half wide, and the former residency of the Emperors ; and the exquisite summer residence of the Empress Dowagers. Practically all of the pictures were in natural colours, and served to act as a very fine medium whereby the missionary might impart to his audience his information of how Christianity was being taught to a most interesting", long-suffering people.