PERSECUTIONS OF CHINESE CHRISTIANS.
By Rev. Dwight Goddard
BY REV. DWIGHT GODDARD, OF FOOCHOW. I WOULD like to describe the peculiar trials to which Chinese Christians are exposed, so that their brethren in America may have more loving sympathy for them, and may often strengthen them in that most wonderful way which is open to all, namely, by secret prayer. Some of the Christians in China live near together in the cities and can encourage each other; but most of them are scattered here and there among the myriads of hamlets, on the plains and among the mountains of Sinim. These have to face much opposition, both hidden and open. To understand just what this opposition is, it should be borne in mind that with all her diversities China is homogeneous. The great principles that underlie her life are much the same from Kwang-tung to Kan-suh, and these principles, while seemingly all-controlling, are oftentimes quite adjustable. Arthur Smith characterizes this condition as "flexible inflexibility." Of these laws we need only refer to one which is fundamental and far-reaching in its effects upon the social life of China, namely, the law of the headship of the eldest in descent. Thanks to Confucius and his doctrine of ancestral worship, it would be deemed not only dishonoring one's father and ancestors to act in any way otherwise than they did, but generally the father, or often the grandfather, and even the great-grandfather, has retained authority so long that before it passes to the next in descent, he also has long since passed the age when he wishes or is able to change. So the customs remain unchanged from generation to generation. This adherence to custom is intensified by another characteristic, and let us not call it laziness, for the Chinese are notably industrious, but a strong disposition to do things in the easiest way for the present emergency. This habit is a result of long and bitter experience, teaching them the futility of excessive effort, either physical or mental. The spirit of enterprise and invention has long since been crushed out of them. If they should plan ahead, or be especially fortunate, they are at once opposed by elder brother or father or relatives, or else the profits are squeezed out of them, if it is a possible thing. That is the reason they are disposed to take things as they come. It would take too much strength and do no good. While traveling recently I put a nice woven cord in my pocket for emergencies. In a short time my cook wanted it to tie up a parcel and used it all, more than he needed. The next hour his load broke down and he patched it up with grass—the first thing at hand, never thinking of the cord. We have occasion very often to say when we observe these silly shifts, "How like a Chinaman!" By reason of this headship of the eldest in direct descent, everything is tied up in inheritances—lands, goods, and prospects—and this acts as a preventive of all change, demanding as it does concurrent action or at least consent. But this headship also carries with it responsibilities. There are the younger sons and their families to be provided for out of the family estates, who thus form a drag on the main line for generations, and poor relations become the curse of the prosperous, until a man loses all desire to make more than a bare living, for he knows that he will be squeezed until every cash is absorbed. This is doubly sure to follow if the successful one is a younger son. This kills all individual initiative. If land is to be sold, all relatives must be agreed; if business is to be entered into, consent of relatives must be secured; and if one changes his religion, he is sure to arouse this family opposition. Then when whole villages and even cities are of one surname and descent, the problem is seriously involved. Every little plot of land, or grave, or well, or pond, or open ledge has its group of owners, with varying rights. It is not at all uncommon to find even large tracts of land unused, or practically public domain, because there are so many owners that they can come to no agreement for its sale or use. In Europe and in America, and in fact wherever the Anglo-Saxon is dominant, the individual is the unit, and the proposition that "I have a right to do as I will with my own" is only beginning to be limited. Laissez faire has been the law of economics, and individualism has run riot. In China it is different. What is one man's concern is every man's. If one shows a disposition to keep something to himself, it is prima facie evidence of his dishonesty. Neighbors and relations have rights, that they are not slow to maintain, to a portion of the wealth of the prosperous. Thus there is a family sentiment that opposes a man in doing individualistic things; this broadens out into a clan sentiment and a village sentiment, that is prolific of evil results in feuds and quarrels. There are also, from the same source, trade and guild sentiments that strongly discourage innovations, often on the most foolish grounds. The family, or village, or guild maintain a temple and idolatrous ceremonies to prevent sickness, frighten away the "bogies," etc., toward the expense of which all the villagers or members are expected to contribute. Estates are given or lapse to the ancestral or village temple, and these are managed in turn by the different branches of the family, who pay all expenses from the revenues, if fortunately there are any, and the balance or deficit is their private gain or loss. When a man dies his property is divided among his relatives in fixed proportions, the family, or clan, or village being the executors. In law the great maxim that has come down from the sages for the guidance of all magistrates is: "Pacify the people." Now let us note the bearings of these facts upon the case of a man who becomes a Christian, and we shall see at once the main lines of public persecution. In doing so he leaves the path of least resistance, a very un-Chinese thing to do, and he does so in the face of family, clan, and village sentiment. He dishonors his ancestors by implying that their religion was false. He disobeys, unless he himself is the head, his father, or elder brother, or uncle. He resists participation in assessments for idolatrous ceremonies. He does that which the rest of the family or village "know" to be the cause of present sickness or calamity. All this must of necessity arouse the intense antagonism of parents, elder brothers, uncles, family, clan, and village. Now when we remember how religious fanaticism everywhere heightens and embitters quarrels, the opportunity it gives vagabonds for plunder, and neighbors for revenge, we are in a way to understand the general nature of persecutions of Chinese Christians. If in enlightened America a man should be converted to the doctrines of "Christian Anarchy," as held by Tolstoi, and receive to his house foreign Anarchists, the sentiment of his neighbors would be much like that of the Chinese toward converts to Christianity, only in China its mode of expression would be more open and brutal.—Missionary Herald.