THE MIAO OF CHINA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17317, 17 May 1918, Page 6

THE MIAO OF CHINA

evening, at the Taborn&cle, Church of -Carist, Mr Robert Powell, of tno China Inland Mission, gave an interesting and instruotice lecture on the " Miao of China." r P 00 ?^ 0 T;pre the original inhabitants of China, bat -were subdued by the Chines© invaders, and havo ever since been despised by their conquerors. Tho result has been uiat the two races have remained quite distinct-, the Miao being confined to somo . of the south -western districts. The customs of tho two peoples are totally different, and the speaker interested the audience by his descriptions of these customs, especially those regarding courtship and marriage. A number of beautifully-coloured lantern slides -were shown during the course of the evening. These set forth some of the beautics of the oountry, "vith its rivers and mountains, and also illustrated the life of tho people, their customs, and modes of earning a living. The China Inland Mission, with which Mr Powell is connected, was started over 50 years ago by Mr Hudson Taylor, who, being obliged by ill-health to abandon missionary work in China, devoted his life to inducing others to go out. The work has grown greatly, now engaging, over 1000 missionaries. Tlie mission works -wholly on faith lines, and over £2,000,000 have "been contributed during the past years. Mr Powell mado a strong appeal for workers' m the mission fields, and urged tho young people to be prepared to devote their lives to this work. TTie meeting was closed with tho einging of the National Anthem.