The Sabbath in China by J. H. W.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 10, 1875

The Sabbath in China.

By J. H. W.

EVERY reader of the REVIEW doubtless read with interest, the extracts published a few months since concerning the Sabbath-keepers in China. To many of us it seemed almost like a romance; and especially to those who are somewhat acquainted with the Chinese in California, among whom the idea of moral obligation seems scarcely to be entertained. But there is room for much reflection on this subject. Doubtless most of those who come to America are of the lower classes, but even among them there is evidence of intelligence. They can all read and write, and they are all experts in figures, or numbers. Though they are slaves to custom, they show that they are able to adjust themselves to almost any situation.

While in Woodland, Cal., with the family of Bro. Saunders, they related to me the following: A Chinaman was one day doing a job of work for them, who understood that they kept the seventh day. He questioned them about it, and remarked, “My father studied law twenty years in China, and he kept the seventh day; he said it was right.”

I regret that they did not further inquire into the matter, and learn more about it. With the facts recently developed in Europe, reported by Bro. Andrews, all these items become interesting. The remark above cited seems to be a link in the chain of evidence that the Lord’s ancient Sabbath has witnesses in the Chinese empire.

J. H. W.

Stockton, Cal., May 27.