ered literature, the promotion of schools, the interest rate, and the problem presented by opium.* 80 PERSECUTIONS The growth in Roman Catholic missions was inevitably attended by persecution. Full toleration had not been obtained, and even had it been officially granted there would have been unrest against missionaries and converts which most magistrates would have been slow to repress. Not only was Christianity disturbing to well established and cherished institutions and customs, but Roman Catholic practice gave rise to misunderstandings and sinister rumors. The baptism of infants in danger of death, for example, was being more and more stressed since the formation of the Society of the Holy Infancy and was popularly believed to be actuated by the basest motives. The foreigner and his assistants must surely desire the children's eyes or hearts for medicine, and since the rite was frequently followed shortly by the death of the infant the Catholics' guilt was held to be clear."1 The chief basis of official opposition, however, seems still to have been the fear that the Christians, like so many other religious sects, might start rebellions. The fact that their rites had to be performed at least semi-secretly strengthened the suspicion. 83 About 1845 two Chinese priests and some students for the priesthood were arrested in Hukwang,** and in 1852 the head of the seminary at Hankow, a Chinese, was arrested and with him eight of his students and two catechists. In 1846 M. de la Brunière of the Paris Society was killed near Saghalin. In 1849 a mob attacked the residence of the Vicar Apostolic in Manchuria. In troubled Kweichow, Christians were in almost constant danger: in 1849 ten were in prison in Kweiyang," in 85 84 80 Ibid., Vol. 1, pp. 189-195. It is interesting to note that, contrary to what was soon to become the Protestant practice, the vicars apostolic were not in favor of putting into the local vernaculars either the catechism or the prayers. It was held that these could be explained to the people, but that if they were not in the literary style they would provoke the contempt of scholars. 81 Servière, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 141; Danicourt from Ningpo, May 6, 1854, in Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 26, p. 431. 82 Rizzolati from Wuchang, Oct. 20, 1845, in ibid., Vol. 18, pp. 347-361. 83 Ibid. from Hongkong, Oct. 18, 1852, in ibid., Vol. 25, pp. 126-138. 84 Launay, Hist. gén. de la Soc. des Missions-Étrangères, Vol. 3, pp. 198, 199. 85 Berneux from Manchuria, May 10, 1851, in Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 24, p. 112. 86 Alband from Kweiyang, Jan. 12, 1849, in Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 22, p. 360. 89 88 1856 Agnes Tsao Kuei died in jail," and in 1858 a missionary wrote that in fifty years the province had seen forty persecutions, that two hundred Christians had been banished and twenty of the exiles had perished, that five Christians had been executed, that others had succumbed to their chains, and that the Catholics had often to hide in caves to escape their tormentors. In 1850 the Vicar Apostolic of Shensi wrote of continued persecutions, although these, he said, were not as severe as formerly, for Christians, while threatened and imprisoned, were released after a time. In 1850 a missionary of the Paris Society was deported from Kwangtung because of the secret baptism of the daughter of a minor official." About the same time some Christians were arrested in Hainan and regained their liberty only through the intervention of the French Minister, M. de Bourboulon." About 1855 Jacquemin was imprisoned in Kwangtung for several months." In 1851 Hsien Fêng was reported to have issued a secret order which virtually annulled the edicts issued through Ch'i Ying. Certainly the Governor of Honan published an edict denouncing Christians as enemies of the public good and much suffering among the Catholics in the province followed." Late in 1851 or early in 1852 a severe persecution was instituted in Hukwang, perhaps because of the same imperial order." In 1851 persecution spread to Yunnan," and in 1856 in that province there still were Christians in prison." In 1853, when Catholics were being threatened in Mongolia, the Vicar Apostolic, Mgr. Mouly, gave himself up to the authorities to obtain protection for his flock and was deported to Shanghai." The T'ai P'ing Rebellion, as we shall see again later, proved embarrassing to the Catholics. On the one hand the rebels often molested them, and on the other the imperial authorities suspected them of having Du Lys, Un vrai frère mineur, etc., p. 329. She was beatified by Rome in 87 1900. 88 Perney from Rome, Sept. 14, 1858, in Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 31, pp. 7-18, and June 17, 1857, in ibid., Vol. 31, p. 132. 91 89 Letter of Chiais from Shensi, Sept. 22, 1850, in ibid., Vol. 23, p. 227. 9° Letordu from Hongkong, Nov. 17, 1850, in ibid., Vol. 23, pp. 234-253. Launay, Les cinquante-deux vénérables serviteurs de Dieu, pp. 391-393. Jacquemin from Hongkong, Dec. 15, 1855, in Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 28, p. 272. 92 93 Delaplace from Kueitêfu, Dec. 5, 1851, in ibid., Vol. 25, pp. 102-114. Rizzolati from Hongkong, Feb. 18, 1852, in ibid., Vol. 24, pp. 272, 273. * Chauveau from Yünnan, Oct. 20, 1851, in Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 25, pp. 5-8. Ponsat, July 7, 1856, in ibid., Vol. 29, p. 352. ** Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 41, p. 244. some connection with the movement. We shall see, too, that the execution of a French priest, Chapdelaine, in Kwangsi in 1856, was the immediate cause of bringing France into war with China. Annoying as were these persecutions, those in the decade after the decrees of 1844 and 1846 were not as severe as were many of preceding generations, and relatively few Chinese Christians and only three or four missionaries lost their lives. The French authorities, too, were beginning to assert themselves on behalf of their fellow nationals, and while their protectorate, later to be extended greatly, was of doubtful value in the production of Christian character, it was at least affording some security. Catholic missions, while still badly handicapped by the Chinese state, enjoyed more freedom than they had known for many decades. PROTESTANT MISSIONS If the years during and just after the war of 1839-1842 witnessed the rapid recovery of Roman Catholic missions they saw an even more marked growth of Protestant activity. During the hostilities between Great Britain and China, Protestant operations were partly interrupted. Canton was abandoned for the time and conditions were unsettled at Macao. The losses in these localities, however, were more than offset by gains elsewhere. Parker took the opportunity to return to America and to plead for more help for missions in China. He spoke in many different places and aroused much interest." When Hongkong was seized and other ports were occupied, missionaries moved to them. For a time in 1840 and 1841 Lockhart of the London Missionary Society maintained a hospital on Chusan." Dr. Benjamin Hobson of the same society kept a hospital open intermittently in Macao and had some medical work at Hongkong." In February, 1842, Boone and the saintly but frail Abeel, who at last had returned to China, established themselves on the island of Kulangsu opposite Amoy. Boone did not believe that many missionaries could yet be used, but he asked that three or four be sent to aid Forty 101 100 Chinese Repository, Vol. 8, pp. 624-627, Vol. 12, pp. 191-206; Graves, Chinese Repository, Vol. 10, pp. 448-453. 100 Ibid., Vol. 10, p. 465. 101 Boone from Macao, Sept. 15, 1841, and May 11, 1842, in Spirit of Mis sions, Vol. 7, pp. 53, 310; Chinese Repository, Vol. 11, p. 505. 102 103 him. In 1842 Dr. William Henry Cumming, unattached to any board, began medical practice on Kulangsu.1 William C. Milne, son of the elder Milne, was at Tinghai on Chusan in 1842. He there made the acquaintance of men from Ningpo who helped him to visit the latter city in that same year. 10 Early in 1842 Roberts and then Shuck of the American Baptists removed to Hongkong and soon were followed by Dean from Bangkok.105 Walter M. Lowrie, son of the distinguished secretary of the board of the American Presbyterians, arrived in Macao in May, 1842, and while studying, the language canvassed the possibilities of removing the mission of his denomination from Singapore to one of the newly opened ports. Bridgman removed to Hongkong in July, 1842.107 In 1835 a representative of the Basel Mission visited Gützlaff at Macao and wrote home urging that two men be sent to help penetrate the interior.1o Missionaries were not waiting for formal treaties to enter the doors now partly opened to them. 110 106 109 The war aroused much interest among Protestant missionary leaders both at home and in China. Some were very sanguine, and others, although they saw that Protestant missions were still circumscribed, were eager to take advantage of the opportunities created by the treaties. There was a general movement to occupy Hongkong and the five treaty ports. The societies which had had representatives among the Chinese before the war, moved to China many of their missionaries from Singapore, Malacca, Bangkok, Batavia, and Borneo, and despatched reënforcements, and other societies now for the first time sent agents to China. THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY The London Missionary Society, after its many years of prepa102 Boone from Macao, June 11, 1841, in Spirit of Missions, Vol. 6, p. 366. 103 Chinese Recorder, Vol. 5, p. 140; Correspondence of the A. B. C. F. M., Foreign Vol. 4, p. 244. 104 Milne, Life in China, passim. 105 Baptist Missionary Magazine, Vol. 23, p. 21; Niles Register, Vol. 65, p. 68. 108 Chinese Repository, Vol. 19, pp. 491-498; Dean, The China Mission, pp. 298-302. 107 Bridgman, Life of Bridgman, p. 115. 108 Schlatter, Rudolf Lechler, p. 16. 109 Shuck wrote Sept. 14, 1842, from Hongkong: "The great land of heathenised infidelity has at last been thrown open."-Correspondence of the American Baptist Missionary Union. 110 P. 101. Bridgman from Macao, July 1, 1841, in The Missionary Herald, Vol. 38, 112 111 ration and waiting, was eager to approach China through all the newly opened channels. At a conference in Hongkong in 1843 the decision was reached to inaugurate operations in as many of the six cities as possible. By 1850 beginnings had been made in Hongkong and in three of the five ports. The press and the Anglo-Chinese College were moved from Malacca to Hongkong.1 With the college (1843) came James Legge, who was to become widely known as a scholar-the translator into English of much of the Chinese classical literature and later Professor of Chinese at Oxford-and who was to give less spectacular but no less devoted service in training Chinese leadership and in laying the foundations of an important independent Chinese congregation in Hongkong. Legge was born in Scotland in 1815 and early gave promise of exceptional scholarly ability. For a time he was tempted to qualify for a professorship in Latin, but he abandoned that plan to enter a theological college and while there decided to become a missionary. Physicians at first advised him not to go to China but eventually withdrew their objections. Legge sailed in 1839, and, arriving in Malacca in the following year, became the Principal of the Anglo-Chinese College. At Hongkong, on the advice of his fellow missionaries, he transformed the school into an institution to train a Chinese clergy, for he and his colleagues were eager to see developed a strong native leadership for the Church.' 113 115 114 In 1844 John Stronach removed from Singapore to Amoy.' For a time the number of converts in the new station was small, but in 1855 seventy-seven were baptized. Among the earlier accessions was a military official who resigned from the army and for thirty-eight years served as a preacher.' Work was resumed in Canton, in spite of unrest, but it was not until 1859 that the London Society established a permanent mission there.11* For a few months in 1842 and 1843 W. C. Milne was at Ningpo, but that city did not permanently become a station of the Soci 111 Lovett, The History of the London Missionary Society, Vol. 2, pp. 449, 450; Report of the London Missionary Society, 1844, pp. 38, 39. 112 China Mission Hand-book, p. 7. 113 Legge, James Legge, passim; Wylie, Memorials of Protestant Missionaries, etc., p. 118; Chinese Repository, Vol. 10, p. 53. 114 P. 48. Macgowan, Christ or Confucius, Which? The Story of the Amoy Mission, 115 China Mission Hand-book, Part 2, p. 9. 118 A Century of Protestant Missions in China, p. 4; Lovett, The History of the London Missionary Society, Vol. 2, pp. 467-472. |