A Visit to Gospel Village, Shen-si Province, China
By Frederick Lee
WE decided we must leave for Honan at once, knowing that very soon lawless men would be overrunning the country and travel would be unsafe. But we could find no carts to take us. No one who had an animal dared let it be seen. But at last we found two carts belonging in Shan Dong, which were returning with a party of four, and we arranged to use one of these carts. The entrance and exit of Shen-si is made by one door. That door is Tung-kuan. It is situated at the foot of a range of mountains on one side, and the Yellow River is on the other. There is but one pass, and that leads to the east gate of Tung-kuan. This place was three days’ journey away. If we could get there before the brigands, we should be safe; otherwise, no one knew what might happen. These brigands belong to a secret society, such as the Boxers. During the revolution of 1911, six foreigners were killed in Singan by members of this society. We hastened on. We went for two and a half days very peacefully. We heard that all the cities to the west had been taken by this brigand army, and that about ten thousand of them were marching on to Singan. It looked as if we should get to Tung-kuan before they did. But on the third day we were to have our experiences. At noon, as we came into a village at the foot of Hwa Mountain, one of the five sacred mountains of China, in from the east rushed a band of brigands on horseback. They passed on, paying no attention to us. But soon another party came along, shooting their guns into the air to scare the people. We went on and passed these also; but we had not gone far when five of them rushed after us. They demanded money and arms and kerosene oil. One of them took out my watch, asked what time it was, and then put it back. They then began to search our things. One of them was determined to shoot my “boy.” He said he knew my boy was a soldier. But after we talked calmly awhile with them, they let us go on. We thanked God we were well rid of them, for they were going west. To the north of us we saw a big army, or rather a mob, of such men going west. We hastened on, for we were but ten miles from Tung-kuan. But just as we were feeling safe once more, being but three miles from Tung-kuan, down upon us rushed two brigands. They raised their guns, cursed us and called us “foreign devils,” and commanded us to get down from the cart. When we got down, they took our watches from us, and then began tearing open our baggage and searching for arms and money. I was standing on one side of the cart, and Dr. Selmon was on the other. One of the brigands, standing ten feet away, cursing us, raised his gun to shoot me, but hesitated. When the fellow on the cart could find nothing, the men became very angry. The fellow on the cart jumped down and took a club and began beating Dr. Selmon, at the same time yelling out to the other fellow to shoot me. We then told them we had some money, which they could have if that was what they wanted. This satisfied them for a minute or so, but they again became enraged, calling me a “foreign devil,” and saying I must die. The man raised his gun, took aim, and asked me if I was willing to die. When he saw me standing calmly there looking him in the eye, he became more enraged, and asked if I did not know that my life was in his hands. He said he had just killed two men before he met us. For at least twenty minutes we stood there looking down the barrel of that gun in the hands of a wild man. All we could do was to commit ourselves to God and wait calmly. At last two more horsemen rode up. One of them at once suggested that we be shot, but the others said no, we should be sent to their officer. So off we were led, followed by one of the fellows on horseback. As we trod along in the hot sun and dust for a mile or two, we knew for once how it seems to be taken captive by an enemy. We met the officer coming down the road surrounded by a rabble of bandits. He was curt, and not overly polite when he saw us, but he assured us we should not be harmed. He said they were just on their way to attack Tung-kuan, and that we should go along with him. He invited us to ride in his cart. While riding with him, Dr. Selmon told the officer, or chief, what had happened to us. The officer excused it by saying that it was just a matter of brothers not recognizing each other, and that he would see that our things were returned. When we came up to the fellows who had robbed us, he demanded that they return our watches and money, which they sullenly did. The chief brigand then told us we would better hasten on to Tung-kuan. He said his army would immediately attack the city. We then looked around for our boy and evangelist, but could find only the boy. None knew where the evangelist had gone, so we had to go on without him. Coming to the city, we found it locked, but it was opened for us, and then the door was quickly shut behind us. As we entered the city, we met the evangelist coming out of a house. He was just in the act of sending a telegram to our homes, saying we had been taken by the brigands, and he did not know where we had gone; but when he heard the cart coming, he told the operator to wait until he should see who was passing. This was surely very timely, for a little later the telegraph wires were cut, and the operator had fled, and we could not have assured our families of our safety. We were in the city only about an hour when the troops began retreating from it. We tried to get our cart ready to go also, but as the Honan road track is narrower than the Shen-si track, the cart axle must be changed. Just as we were having it changed, shots were heard at the west gate, and the brigands, meeting with no resistance, were coming into the city. So once more we had to fall into the hands of these lawless men, and leave our safety with the Lord. This was Friday, and we were very tired after the experiences of the day. We went to our hotel to wait for developments. Everything was in an uproar, and some places were being looted. Hundreds of brigands were coming into the city, and shots were flying all around us. We felt sure that there would be general looting and firing of houses that night, and we did not care to be in the city, but there was no way of escape except to go down over the city wall, which is forty or fifty feet high. We planned for the worst, selected a few of our more important things, packed them together, prepared a long rope with which to make our escape over the wall, and then lay down on our cots with our clothes on, ready to flee if any trouble broke out. We did not care to trust ourselves again in the hands of these men if we could help it. But at midnight a sudden thunderstorm came up, and it rained till nearly morning. There was no disturbance that night.14 The next day (Sabbath) more brigands began coming into the city. The most lawless set in China was taking possession of everything. We did not like to make our escape on Sabbath. We tried to find the chief officer, whom we had met the day before. He was very busy extorting 30,000 ounces of silver (22,000 gold) from the merchants of the city. We did not succeed in finding him, but at last met an officer who knew where he was. He said he would tell the chief that we wanted to see him. At this time the streets were crowded with these fierce fellows. And indeed they did look fierce, their heads bound in cloths and towels of all colors, and their bodies heavily armed with guns, pistols, and knives. Weapons of every description could be seen. The bandits were now swarming in, and at last took possession of the hotel where we were staying, and of the very rooms we occupied. Into our small courtyard they led their horses. Just at this time a messenger came in, saying the chief would see us. Dr. Selmon went to see him, while I packed up our baggage. At the same time a score of bandits were standing around, looking enviously at our things. One fellow was very malicious, and was determined to search my things. But others said, “No, you dare not. This is a foreigner, and the captain says he must be protected.” At last Dr. Selmon returned and said the cart was waiting at the door to take us. The chief gave us no encouragement. He said he could only see us off to the east gate. One or two officers came in and said, “It is best you leave quickly. Everything is in an awful confusion.” So we started off under the escort of one tall brigand whom the chief had sent along with his card. When we came to the gate, we were halted. There were about thirty bandits at the gate, searching every one going out, and keeping everything they happened to want. They did not recognize our escort, and cared nothing for the card we showed them. They commanded us to get down. They wanted to see what we had. We protested, saying the captain said we should not be interfered with. They were getting very mean when we recognized one of the crowd. We had met him the day before, when we were with the chief. We appealed to him. He then told the others that we were friends of the chief, and that they must let us go. So for the fifth and last time we passed through the lawless crowd unhurt. The rest of our journey was uneventful. We, of course, did not know the condition of the roads ahead, but we had to go on by faith. When at last we passed the camp of the loyal soldiers, we felt that all danger was past. We arrived home May 17, having been gone just one month. In all, we had traveled one thousand miles, spending twenty days of the month in travel. We had passed through many and varied experiences. We felt we had experienced most of the trials Paul mentions in 2 Cor. 11:26.