Inland China by Percival J. Laird

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 27, 1913

Inland China

By Percival J. Laird

PERCIVAL J. LAIRD

Many years ago a sacred writer asked the question: “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me.” Lam. 1: 12.

To-day, even a casual observer must acknowledge that recent published reports from the United States and Great Britain show an almost unprecedented year of prosperity along most agricultural and commercial lines. This should be a cause of deep thankfulness and heartfelt gratitude to God, who has vouchsafed such great blessings to these two nations.

Unfortunately, all nations are not so well situated as are we. We think our readers will agree with this statement after they have read a few extracts from correspondence recently received.

The contingencies that brought into existence the Chinese Republic seem to have affected the customs and characteristics of the people in some of the remote inland districts of China but very little beyond the abolishing of the queue. That this can not be said of all parts the following will demonstrate:—

“Even Nanning (Kwang-si) is stirred! The other day was the birthday of the ‘city god,’ when he was to have been taken for a walk with a great procession through the city; but the prefect, under pressure from the colleges and the municipal council, forbade this superstition. There was a great outcry from the old-fashioned leaders and from the men who grow fat on idolatry: but the officials were firm, and military police held up the mob and fired blank cartridgesto overawe them. These measures were not very successful, but eventually matters quieted down, after thirteen arrests were made.”

“Orders were then given to smash up the idols throughout the whole city, except in one or two temples. For days the work of destruction went on, bands of soldiers visiting one shrine after another. Headless images were thrown aside onto dust heaps, unloved and unmourned, except in the women’s quarters of many homes, where there is terror and dismay. No power higher than their own to appeal to!”

“Nanning has at last been officially proclaimed as the new provincial capital. It is now the heart of Kwang-si. Crowds of passengers have been pouring in from all parts, the hotels are crowded, and dwellings are taxed to their fullest extent to accommodate the influx until new houses are built.”

That drastic measures are not confined to the destruction of idols may be inferred from an excerpt from the Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 11, 1913, which reads:—

“Thirty-nine lepers recently were put to death in an atrocious manner by order of the provincial authorities of Nanning, Kwang-si. The sufferers were shot and their bodies burned in a huge trench. These advices were received here to-day from the —— Mission, at Nanning, dated December 14. They said the lepers lived in the woods a few miles outside of Nanning. The mission sought permission to build at its own expense a lazaretto for them, and the provincial authorities, pretending to consent, dug a pit in which was placed wood soaked with kerosene. At the point of the bayonet the lepers were driven into the pit and shot, and the pyre was lighted and their bodies burned in the presence of a large crowd. The authorities offered rewards for the discovery of other lepers, and this resulted in the shooting of one man afflicted with the disease. The governor, after the massacre, issued a proclamation in which he accused the lepers of having committed outrages. The letters from the mission say there is no foundation for this charge.”