p. 12 | A STORY FROM CHINA by Rev. C. R. Hager, M.D.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Mar 29, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 13.

A STORY FROM CHINA.

By Rev. C. R. Hager, M.D.

The Zealous Colporteur.

BY REV. C. R. HAGER, M.D., OF HONG KONG.

ONE of the effective ways of evangelizing the Chinese is by means of religious tracts and portions of the New Testament. Many a Christian Chinese dates his interest in divine things to the simple tract that was put into his hands by a colporteur. No human tongue can tell how much good has been done by some of these simple stories which compare the heathen faith with that of the simple Gospel narrative. How often have I heard a convert say, "My first interest in Christianity was aroused through reading the 'Temple Keeper,'" a story of a dialogue between a Christian preacher and an idol-temple keeper.

I want to tell of one of our colporteurs, Chün Yee, who was converted to Christ in the year 1899. So strong was the opposition near his home to his becoming a Christian, that he went nearly eighteen miles to be baptized. Chün Yee, or "Preaching Righteousness," as the name signifies, like nearly all his countrymen, was married, and his wife was most bitterly opposed to anything that savored of the "foreign devils' religion," while the mother could not tolerate the idea of having her son become one of those hated Christians whom every one despised, and who never worshiped at the tombs of their ancestors. But none of these things moved our earnest and devoted "Preacher of Righteousness." He had set his face heavenward and away from China's idolatry and superstition. One of his children sickened and died, and then both his mother and his wife pointed the finger of scorn at him, saying, "This is the result of your worshiping the foreign devils' God." But this only led our young convert still closer to the heart of the Gospel.

On one occasion the doting mother heard how another Chinese mother prevented her son from going to our mission chapel, and she determined to try the same experiment. She had been told by a neighboring woman that, when her own boy visited the hated Jesus chapel, she threatened to cut off his cue with the scissors, and this frightened the young man so much that he never ventured near the chapel again. Chün Yee's mother determined to see what effect such a threat would have upon her boy, secretly hoping that this might convince him of his errors, and bring him back to the fold of China's gods. So she got her scissors, and approached her wayward son with these words, "Now, if you do not stop going to that foreign devils' chapel, I am going to cut off your cue." But she had not considered what power possessed the soul of her son as he smilingly turned toward her, holding his cue in one hand, and saying, "Cut it off!" She thought to frighten him, and here he was ready to have his cue cut off! Horror upon horrors! She was not going to disgrace herself by making her boy any more a foreigner than he already was. And so she put away the scissors, saying: "It is no use; he has swallowed some of that Jesus medicine, and nothing can cure him now. He is lost to me, and when I die he will not come and bring me food nor worship at my grave!"

Then she burst into tears, and cursed the foreigner for ever coming into their midst, and leading her son away from China's faith. In her frenzy she even cursed her son to the lowest hell, and declared that he was no longer her offspring. During all this storm of rage, which Chinese women know so well how to express, Chün Yee was very quiet, and bore all the abuse heaped upon him with patience. Day by day he grew more gentle, until even his mother and wife came to the conclusion that perhaps the religion of Jesus was not so bad as some had said, for Chün Yee was more kind, never cursed, did not smoke opium, nor did he ever visit the gaming table.

About this time he was employed as a colporteur, and went here and there to distribute the Word of God. Wherever he went he preached Jesus, for was not his name "Preaching Righteousness?" Jesus had now become his righteousness, in whom he believed and trusted. "How bold he is," said a Christian of long standing. "He is not afraid to tell men of their sins." On one occasion I heard him say to a graduate of the first degree who had recently become a Christian: "You must study the Bible more, and then you will be able to instruct others. Your knowledge of the classics is not sufficient to help you to lead others to Christ, but the Bible will teach you what to say." He never had the advantages of even a good Chinese education, but he was prepared to teach even the literati as to their duty toward God.

In this way Chün Yee has been serving God for five years, and often walks thirty miles a day. He visits all the stations of the South China Mission, distributing his books during the day, and preaching the Gospel at night on the roadside, in mountain fastnesses, or in wayside inns; everywhere he has only one story and one message, and that is Jesus and His love. On one occasion I was so wearied in crossing a high mountain that I lay down exhausted, when he came to my side with his fan to cool my temples, and fan back to life my fainting energies. When I uttered a note of discouragement that I could not endure this strenuous life any longer, he replied, "The Lord will give you strength, and enable you to complete your journey." So the missionary was taught by his convert, and found once more that Christianity bears the same fruit in China as it does in the more favored Christian lands. Whenever a difficult journey is to be made, Chün Yee is selected, and no murmur ever crossed his lips because of the mountains to be crossed and the rivers to be forded, and the missionaries always find in him an earnest, faithful helper. He is an inspiration to the preachers and Christians; and if he finds that some Christians are not leading an upright, Christian life, he is sure to plead with them to mend their evil ways. In this way he is spending his strength for the Master, an earnest worker and a faithful supporter of the Christian church. Surely, missions are not a failure, as some would have us believe, but the Gospel is able to save even the heathen Chinese, and to bring that great multitude of people to the feet of Jesus. May God hasten the time when the reverence now paid to Confucius shall be transferred to Jesus, and the Chinese will sing of Jesus as they did once of Confucius:

Jesus, O Jesus, how great is our Jesus! Before Jesus, there never was a Jesus; After Jesus, there will be none like Him; Jesus, O Jesus, how great is our Jesus!

— Missionary Herald.