Experiences in Teaching in China by Percival J. Laird

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 6, 1908

Experiences in Teaching in China

By Percival J. Laird

CIVIL officials in China were chosen from among men holding literary degrees. A qualification for these much-coveted honors, until recent years, was a thorough knowledge of the writings of Confucius and Mencius, two of China's greatest sages, who urged men to become virtuous. But lacking the power, which the gospel of Jesus Christ alone can give, Chinese officials often come far short of that most excellent quality. So great has been the influence of Confucius' writings on the Chinese mind, that it has resulted in the foundation of a system of ethics now hoary with age. No less than five Confucian temples can be pointed out in this large city.

To these men the entrance of foreigners meant not only a blow for their prestige, but it endangered their long-cherished ideas of religion. It was from the ranks of these men that money was subscribed, five thousand dollars, for an eighty-thousand edition of an anti-Christian tract.

Thus Hunan was the last to open her doors to resident foreign missionaries. And then, let it be remembered, Changsha still forbade foreign workers to stay ashore overnight. At length the blood of British martyrs, Brethren Bruce and Lewis, was shed, and then Great Britain demanded that Chang-sha, in Hunan, be opened as a treaty port.

After this, wherever the missionary went, he was followed by a guard of soldiers, which gave an entirely wrong impression of Christianity. One Chinese “evangelist” in particular used his connection with the foreign missionary to assist men to evade the Chinese laws and the demands of Chinese officials. So-called “gospel halls” sprang up on all sides, like a harvest of rice. The heathen subscribed large sums of money in the aggregate to purchase buildings for this alleged purpose. The writer was instrumental in closing some of these places of ill fame. But the evil they did will long persist.

Such is the outlook which Chang-sha presents to the school-teacher. No two persons will ever look at the same situation alike, or meet it in the same way, yet each may be essentially right. Personally, although an evangelist, I fail to see why any one branch of the work should be judged the most important. The teacher has a most important place in evangelistic work in China, as I hope to show in my next article.

PERCIVAL J. LAIRD.

(To be concluded)