CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES IN SOUTHERN CHINA IN THE 1900s

CHALLENGES FACED BY MISSIONARIES IN GUIZHOU IN THE 1900s

Missionaries in China in 1860

On the activity of Protestant missionaries in southern China in the early 1900s, Samuel R. Clarke wrote in “Among the Tribes of South-west China”: “It is a remarkable fact that in the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan, where work among the Chinese has been notoriously barren and unfruitful, this great work of grace among the non-Chinese tribes should have broken out. Communities which a few years ago were ignorant, degraded, and immoral, are now pure and Christian. Scores of villages have become wholly Christian, and hundreds of other villages are nominally Christian. One worker has estimated that, as the result of the work of the last seven or eight years, there are now some 50,000 of these people at least nominally Christian. [Source: “Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911). Clarke served as a missionary in China for 33 years, 20 of those in Guizhou]

The strain upon those engaged in this work is not small. The area over which the work extends is many thousands of square miles, and the country is mountainous, some of the villages being situated about 8000 feet above sea-level Anshun, with its 16 out-stations, has only 9 workers (5 men, 3 wives, and i single lady). Yet in this district, about one hundred and fifty miles from north to south, 1480 aborigines were baptized in 1906, more than 500 in 1907, 800 during 1908, 356 during 1909, and 260 during 1910. At the close of 19 10 the total number of Communicants, not to speak of adherents, was 3500. What are 9 workers for the oversight of such a district, with such scattered congregations! The district around Sapushan in Yunnan, also extending about one hundred miles from limit to limit, has 24 out-stations, but only 4 foreign workers. It may also be added that in the whole of the province of Guizhou, in which (if Shihmenkan and neighbourhood be excepted) the China Inland Mission is the only Protestant Mission, there is no medical missionary. In Yunnan the one medical missionary connected with the China Inland Mission is now away on furlough. An hospital, however, is in course of erection in the Anshun district for use in the work among the tribes-people. This is being built with funds specially contributed for that purpose, though as yet there is no doctor to take charge.

The South Australian missionary, Rev. Arthur G. Nicholls, and his few colleagues, some Australian and some English, who are working like Trojans in the midst of God's great prairie fire, may also be reckoned among the heroes who are establishing the kingdom of heaven upon earth. Loved and trusted by multitudes, despised and hated by many, cut off from the comforts and pleasures of civilisation, facing a thousand and one dangers, healing the sick, teaching the ignorant, comforting the bereaved, playing with the children, stamping out drink and opium, fighting the demon of impurity, showing a timid people how to be self-reliant and enterprising, and returning to his headquarters every few weeks, like a man who has been touching the very bedrock of humanity, Arthur Nicholls goes on his way little thinking what a hero he is, and counting himself repaid over and over again because the people love him. I wonder what the Master will by and by say to these brave workers? “

Could the brave workers, toiling amid these overwhelming though encouraging conditions, voice what is in their hearts as a preface to this volume, they would doubtless emphasise the wonderful opportunities which now exist for work among these tribes. They might also suggest that these opportunities may not wait, though at present there seems no limit to the good which might be done if the Church of God were to adequately respond to this modern cry from another Macedonia. But whatever they might or might not say, they certainly would, out of a full heart, plead — “ Brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified."

Setting Up a Missionary Station Among the Miao in the 1900s

Samuel R. Clarke wrote in “Among the Tribes of South-west China”: “It was not till the year 1896 that definite efforts were made to reach and evangelise these people. Naturally the missionaries who first settled in Guizhou had as much and more than they could do to reach the Chinese immediately around them. In the year 1895 there were four stations open in the province, namely, Guiyang, Anshun, Singyifu, and Tushan, and these were occupied by nineteen missionaries. At all these places the time of the missionaries was entirely given up to work among the Chinese, so that neither in the province of Guizhou, nor elsewhere in the west of China, were any special efforts made to evangelise the non-Chinese races. [Source: “Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

Missionaries in China in 1900

It was in 1895, while in charge of the Mission station at Guiyang, that I was asked to commence work among the tribes-people, to find out all I could about them, learn their language, and reduce it to writing. There were at that time in the Church at Guiyang a man named P'an Sheo-shan and his wife, who were Miao but had lived in the city for many years and passed among the people generally as Chinese. I asked this man if he would teach me his language, and found him not only willing to teach me, but anxious to assist in every way in preaching the Gospel to his own people.

With P'an Sheo-shan as teacher, the writer began the study of the Miao language and dialects. We had previously known something of the names by which the various tribes were known to the Chinese, but it was only after some study of their language that the great differences there are in their dialects became evident. My teacher belonged to the Heh or Black Miao, who are found in great numbers four days east of Guiyang, and from that point east and south to the borders of Hunan and Guangxi. After studying my teacher's dialect for about three months we went to Anshun, three days west of Guiyang, where there are a great many Hua or Flowery Miao, and found their dialect so different that my teacher could not understand anything said by the Hua Miao. However, in consequence of this visit, Mr. James R. Adam, who was in charge of the station at Anshun, began to study the language of the Hua Miao. We also visited the Ya-chio Miao, four days south of Guiyang, and found their dialect quite different to both Heh Miao and Hua Miao. The Hung-tsang Miao and other Miao in the neighbourhood of Guiyang also speak another dialect, and one which the Heh and Hua Miao do not understand.

By July 1896 such progress had been made in the study of the language of the Heh Miao that a primer was compiled for students of that dialect, also a commencement made with MiaoEnglish and Enghsh-Miao dictionaries. We had also translated a catechism, some tracts, and several hymns. During this month Mr. and Mrs. F. B. Webb, who had recently come to Guizhou specially to work among the tribes, and who for some months had been studying the language of the Heh Miao in Guizhou, set out for the Heh Miao district. Earlier in the year, Mr. Webb had twice visited that part of the province and had engaged a Heh Miao man as servant. This man, together with P'an Sheo-shan, my teacher, accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Webb. For more than a month they wandered about, living in wretched inns and houses on the borders of the Miao district. It was a very trying experience for them, but at length they succeeded in renting, from a relation of their servant, half a house in the middle of a Miao village of about eighty families. It was not a large house, and the half of it they rented was merely a large, lofty, barn-like room, all open on one side to the wind and rain.

At first, the Miao seemed friendly or indifferent, and the Chinese of the market village of Panghai, on the other side of the river half a mile away, uttered no protest. Before a fortnight passed, however, the Chinese began to raise objections, and suggested to Mr. and Mrs. Webb that they should leave. Panghai is in the Tsingpinghsien district, and the magistrate sent runners from that city to escort them out of the district; but they declined to leave. Thereupon the leading men of Panghai very carefully tried to impress on Mr. and Mrs. Webb that it was not safe for them to live among the Miao, who were people of bad manners and ungovernable tempers. As Mr. and Mrs. Webb thought otherwise, the Chinese began to say plainly that if the missionaries did not go they would pull down the house about their ears, and carry off all their things. At the same time they threatened the Miao man who had let half his house to them, that if he did not get rid of his objectionable tenants the would make it a serious matter for him, and the poor man was very much alarmed.

It was just at this time that the writer joined Mr. and Mrs. Webb at Panghai. The Chinese were threatening, the landlord and his friends were in great fear, but the rest of the Miao were indifferent. We thought we might be driven away with more or less violence at any time, but we hoped and prayed that we might be allowed to remain. Some days passed quietly, and we began to think that the trouble was over, when, about ten days after my arrival, the storm gathered again and seemed about to burst over us. The Chinese headmen of Panghai and neighbourhood called upon us with the riff-raff of the village and the local robbers at their heels, to the number of about one hundred and fifty. They explained very elaborately that they personally had no objection to us, but the people were opposed to our remaining. They, the headmen, had done their best, but as a matter of fact if we did not go away, the people had decided to pull down our house and loot our things. Some of the rough fellows present, who had knives in their sleeves to emphasise what the headmen had stated, said, with appropriate gesticulation, “If you don't go away, we are going to beat you, pull down the house, and carry off your things.'

When at length they had finished talking, we told them quietly that we were there by treaty right: we had our passports, the high provincial authorities knew we were there, as did the local magistrate at Tsingpinghsien, and we intended to stay. They might pull down the house if they wished, but if they did it would be rebuilt. Finally, we said to the headmen: “ Look here, Mr. Chang, Mr. Wang, Mr. Lui, etc., you are all at the bottom of this trouble. These people off the street would not have dared to come and speak to us as they have done if you did not support them. But mark this, this trouble has been threatening for some time, and the names of every one of you headmen have been sent to Guiyang, so if anything should happen to us, you are the men who will have to answer for it. Even if you should kill us, it won't help you a bit, for your names and surnames are all known at Guiyang.'

Many of the Miao who at first had been timid and undecided about the strangers in their midst gradually became more friendly. Living among them, in a house that was open to them all day long, Mr. and Mrs. Webb soon gained their confidence. Mr. Webb also gained a great reputation among them as a doctor by his successful treatment of what appeared to them dangerous and fatal wounds. His treatment was very simple, for he merely washed the wounds every day and bandaged them with antiseptic dressings. The results, however, were quite satisfactory, and so astonishing to them, that many of the Chinese, as well as the Miao, came to him for relief, even from places two or three days distant. Among those who came were some who were deaf and dumb, and some who were born blind. Of those who came many were relieved: for others Mr. Webb could do nothing, and for some of them all the doctors in the world could have done nothing. Thus the first station was opened among these hitherto neglected tribes, and the work of evangelising them commenced.

in Hunan in 1902

Running a Missionary Station in Guizhou in the 1900s

Samuel R. Clarke wrote: Side by side with the ministering to the sick and maimed went on the teaching and preaching of the Gospel. Many of the Miao can speak Chinese, especially those who live near a Chinese market town or village, so Mr. Webb preached to them in Chinese, and Mr. P'an, as native helper, preached in Miao. There were morning and evening services — the latter often well attended — in the Mission-house every day, and three services on Sunday. All the neighbouring markets, which the Miao attend in great numbers, were visited again and again, and, invited by his patients, Mr. Webb frequently visited the surrounding villages. Their musical festivals, which in that region are held twice a year and at which thousands of them assemble, were visited, and much preaching was done among the visitors, some of whom came from a great distance. When these festivals were held near Panghai, hundreds of the people visited the Mission-house, and these were busy times for the missionaries. [Source:“Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

But after Mrs. Webb's return to Panghai, she was constantly down with ague and malarial fever. At length, in June 1897, her case was so critical that she and Mr. Webb took a boat at Panghai, and passed through Hunan to Hankow, and thence to Shanghai. Mrs. Webb, nde Van Lear, is a Virginian, and as her health at Shanghai was still unsatisfactory, she went home on furlough accompanied by Mr. Webb.

Immediately after the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Webb, Mr. H. E. Bolton, who till then had been working among the Chinese, took charge of the Mission station at Panghai. Both Chinese and Miao seemed friendly, and the good work went on. Mr. P'an was still at Panghai, and with his help the services were maintained, the markets attended, and more villages visited. Mr. Bolton opened a school in which the boys were taught to read Chinese from Christian books, and also to write. Some of them were also taught to read in their own language romanised, from a primer specially printed to teach the Heh Miao to read and write in their own tongue. It is worthy of remark, however, that the parents of the scholars were much more anxious that their children should be able to read and write Chinese than their own language. There were about twenty scholars in the school, most of them from other villages, who lived in the Mission-house, but brought and cooked their own food. Mr. Bolton preferred to have boys from other villages to live in the house instead of boys from the village in which the school was opened, as the latter were constantly detained at home for any trivial cause. In addition, by admitting boys from other villages he made friends with their parents, and was able to visit them and gain a hearing for the Gospel in new places.

Meanwhile, ever since Mr. Webb had commenced work among the Miao, most of my time was given to learning the language of the Bouyei. We also rented part of a house in Suei-ngan-pa, five miles from Guiyang. Many other villages were visited and schools opened in three of them. By opening schools in the villages we gain a footing in them, and are able to stay there overnight. During the day nearly all the men, and many of the women, are either away from home working in the field, or carrying and selling their produce in the city. But at night they are at home and at leisure, and many an evening was spent among them, preaching the Gospel to them and teaching the children to sing hymns. The work among them, however, has not been very encouraging thus far. They all seem utterly indifferent to things spiritual. Many of them would profess themselves Christian if only assistance were given them in their law cases in the Chinese courts. Such requests are, of course, emphatically refused. A few of them pretended an interest in the Gospel and applied for baptism, but it was found in course of time that their thoughts were of the earth, earthy, and baptism was refused. Only three of them have been baptized, and these are by no means satisfactory.

embarking on a journey in Laos in 1903

Magic Lanterns and Other Techniques Used by Missionaries in Guizhou in the 1900s

Clarke wrote: Missionaries “went out two by two, visiting the villages far and near, preaching, praying, and singing, and teaching the people how to pray and sing. Later on, the missionary, when visiting these villages, was delighted at the knowledge of these simple folk, and at their desire to learn more of the Gospel. They would sit up till one or two o'clock in the morning, and sometimes Mr. Adam, retiring at that hour, awoke at daylight to find them still learning to read texts of Scripture or some hymn of praise, or he would find them earnestly giving heed to one of the Christians as he taught them to sing a new tune. During that visit Mr. Adam baptized sixtyone men and women. And here let it be mentioned that at baptism men and women take to themselves a name. [Source:“Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

Hitherto they have had surnames or family names, but no personal names. The children were called “ Number One,'' “Two," “ Three," and so on, but at baptism they all take a Christian name selected from the Old or New Testament. As they began to read the Chinese version, before the Scriptures were translated into their own language, these names are all taken from the Chinese version and are easy for them to pronounce. By this time the Old and New Testaments have been ransacked for names for thousands of those who have been baptized.

When he visited villages “Mr. Adam took with him a magic-lantern and scenes from the life of our Lord. At once he recommenced his visits to the Miao villages around Anshun, taking his lantern with him. It proved an unfailing attraction, and the Miao came from all the villages around to see it, and thus heard the story of the life and death of our Lord. As the magic-lantern could only be shown at night, and some of the villages were many miles away, Mr. Adam had often to spend the night in their unsavoury hovels. [The Magic Lantern was the forerunner modern slide projectors. The slide a transparent positive image of a photograph in the form of a glass slide that could be projected onto a wall or screen using a Magic Lantern. Oil lamps, candles and even fires were the sources of light] Simple folk, born and bred in that out-of-the-way corner of the world, had never seen nor heard of such a thing” like a magic lantern “in all their lives, and the wonder of it can be imagined.”

Later on churches were built. “The first time” the magic lantern “was shown in the large chapel there was a good attendance, but the second time there were many more people than could get inside. There were several thousands of them, and the place was packed. They chmbed up the pillars and sat on the cross-trees of the roof, while those in the body of the building were packed like sardines in a tin. While Mr. Adam showed the scenes from the Life of our Lord, Paul preached to them in their own tongue, and there was wonderful attention all through. When he came to speak of the betrayal and crucifixion of our Lord, and the views were shown illustrating those events, a great hush and silence fell on the crowd. The preaching deeply moved the hearers, and at the close Paul led them in prayer. Many in the great congregation were weeping, and the missionary could not keep back his tears. When the prayer was ended, they all joined in singing that grand old hymn, “There is a fountain filled with blood,'' to the old tune “Communion,'' with the chorus “ I do believe, I will believe, that Jesus died for me." And they did believe it.

During that visit Mr. Adam baptized 180 believers, and 240 Communicants sat round the Lord's Table, in memory of His death and in hope of His coming again. It was a glorious sight, and the heart of the missionary overflowed with joy and praise to God at the sight of so many, who a short time ago were pagans sunk in immorality and sin, now repentant, pardoned: new men and women, with the love of God and the peace of God in their hearts.

Catholic missionaries arriving at a village

Suspicion and Murder of Missionaries in the 1900s

Clarke wrote: the Christian movement did not go on without exciting the suspicion and ill-will of some of the Chinese and Nuosu [landlords]. It was rumoured that the Miao meditated rebellion and wholesale massacre. It was said the foreigner had supplied them with potent poison, which they were to throw into the wells to destroy the Chinese and Nuosu, that the Miao might possess the land. These things, whispered at first from one to another, were at length openly talked about on the marketplaces. [Source:“Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

[W. S. Fleming, a native of Scotland, and P'an Sheo-shan, the first Miao convert from among the Miao of Guizhou Province, were murdered under such circumstances] Mr. Fleming left for Guiyang on 4th November, accompanied by P'an Sheo-shan the native helper, P'an Si-yin the school teacher, and a coolie carrying his luggage. After going about fifteen miles, they reached the market town of Chung-ngan-kiang, on the high-road from Hunan to Guiyang and Yunnan. The people of this place all knew it had been decided to kill the foreigner, and no one would sell them rice to eat. They succeeded, however, in buying some vermicelli, and while they were eating it, the man who killed Mr. Fleming was sharpening his knife. Passing through the town they crossed the river on a large pontoon-like ferry-boat, which is pulled across the stream along a strong bamboo cable stretched from bank to bank. The three men who had been deputed by the headmen of Chung-ngan-kiang to do the deed crossed on the ferry-boat at the same time, one of them carrying a long cavalry sword, though this would not excite particular notice, as many of the natives travel armed in Guizhou even at ordinary times. From the ferry the road runs along the side of the river for about two hundred yards, and then bending to the left leads up the hill.

As the party stepped off the ferry-boat and went along the road, the people of the town streamed out along a road on the town side of the river to see the devoted foreigner done to death. The coolie went first carrying the Tuggage, then Mr. Fleming riding a mule: after him went P'an Si-yin followed by P'an Sheoshan. The murderers, whom Mr. Fleming and those with him regarded as ordinary travellers, followed close behind. Just as they reached the bend where the road began to lead up the hill, the man with the cavalry sword came behind the unsuspecting P'an Sheo-shan and struck him down, killing him almost instantly. He uttered a cry, and Mr. Fleming, turning round, saw what had happened. He was unarmed. but dismounted at once, and, going to P'an Sheoshan's assistance, was set upon by the other two. The coohe, hearing P'an Sheo-shan's cry, dropped his load, and ran along the road up the hill: and P'an Si-yin, seeing Mr. Fleming attacked by armed men, fled up the hill to the left of the high-road where there was no path.

Mr. Fleming struggled for some time with his assailants, but was finally done to death with many wounds. Having despatched Mr. Fleming, the men pursued P'an Si-yin up the hill for some distance, and then gave up the chase. After killing Mr. Fleming and P'an Sheo-shan, some of the Chungngankiang men went off at once to Panghai, and, assisted by the soldiers there, thoroughly looted the Mission — house. Everything in the place was carried off or destroyed. While at Chungngankiang, Mr. Adam learned that the murders had been deliberately planned and carried out. The country round about Panghai was overrun with robbers, who since the burning of Panghai were called rebels, and in case of inquiry the headmen had thought to lay the blame on them, or if this contention should be disproved, as the anti-foreign party were in power, they might still hope to escape all punishment for the crime.

Converts in Anshun in Guizhou

Winning Christian Converts in the 1900s

Clarke wrote: Mr. Adam, returning on one occasion from one of his journeys among the Miao, found a number of Miao men waiting for him at a place twenty miles from Heo-er-kuan. They said they had been waiting for him for some days and they invited him to their village. They said he had gone up and down that road very often and had never turned aside to visit them, but he must do so now, and taking his belongings from the coolie who was carrying them, they went off with them, leaving him no choice but to follow. After supper, all the villagers, men and women, boys and girls, assembled for the evening service, after which some of the men said, “Teacher, we want you to hear us sing some of the hymns. We do not know your tunes, so we sing them to our own chants.'' So they sang Christian hymns to their own tunes, and Mr. Adam was surprised at the large number of hymns they knew. They could also, all of them, repeat the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments. Mr. Adam catechised them on the Life of our Lord, and was astonished at the knowledge they had of the Gospel. That Shui-hsi Miao teacher had taught them well, and they had been apt scholars. [Source:“Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

Before retiring for the night, they said, “Tomorrow (Sunday) we are going to make a bonfire. ' ' Next day, after the morning service, they all gathered in the centre of the village, when the drums used in offerings to demons, sorcerers' wands, with other instruments and charms, were thrown into the fire. One woman standing by took a necklet from her neck and threw it into the fire, saying: “Why should I wear this necklet? I now trust in the Living God. The sorcerer told me to wear this for protection, but I shall believe his lies no longer." All the other women followed her example. They tore off their necklets, some of which were made of twigs, others of copper or silver, and threw them into the flames. Mr. Adam then asked the women to go home and bring their “ spirit packets.'' These packets are made up by the sorcerers or exorcists and belong to the women of the tribe. They are never opened, but are very carefully kept as charms to ward off evil influences from the children. At the suggestion of the missionary the women at once ran to their homes, and bringing out all the ''spirit packets “threw them into the fire.

At the first baptism in that district nine converts were received into the Church from the village of Heo-er-kuan, and in the spring of 1906 the workers had the joy of baptizing over twenty men and women from the same village. These converts attended for a while the services in the chapel at Lan-lung-chiao, but since then a chapel to accommodate four hundred worshippers has been built at Heo-er-kuan. During the year 1909 three hundred and fifty-six men and women were baptized, forty believers died, and three were expelled. On 31st December there were 3297 Communicants. These were scattered over seventeen centres, where believers meet regularly for instruction and divine worship.

Persecution of Christians in the 1900s

After hearing stories about the torture and persecution of Christians, Clarke wrote: Mr. Adam and his helpers went to comfort and aid the sufferers. The devil was at his old work, and God's children were undergoing great tribulation simply because they were Christians. One of the preachers told them how he had been strung up and put through cruel suffering. Another Miao Christian, with a happy face, told how that for a day and a night he had to wear a chain weighing one hundred and eighty pounds, and had been robbed of his horse. Another described how his body was first twisted into an unnatural position, then bound to a frame, where he was left all night and told to pray to his God to deliver him. Others had had their spring crops gathered for them and their cattle and sheep stolen. Two of Mr. Pollard's preachers, happening to pass a place where one of the Nuosu lairds and his crowd of heathen were sacrificing to demons and drinking blood-water, were seized and compelled to join in the heathen rites. For resisting they were beaten and bound, and carried in front of the idol. But the whole tale of suffering cannot be told. [Source:“Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

Local headmen, mostly Miao, took advantage of” bandit raids “to accuse the Miao Christians of looting Kaili. The Christians of Sang-lang, where the robbers had compelled the villagers, Chinese, Miao, Christian and non-Christian, to provide breakfast for them, were specially denounced as rebel leaders. There and then, every man that had professed himself a Christian, or was supposed to be a Christian, was summoned to appear before the magistrates. When the higher Chinese officials appeared and interrogated the accused, the officials were completely in the hands of the Miao headmen, who acted as accusers and interpreters. Not one in four of the accused could understand the magistrates, nor could the magistrates understand the accused. But in cases of rebellion, or alleged rebellion, Chinese magistrates and military officers are not very particular. There had been rebellion: it was necessary that rebels and rebel chiefs should be caught and executed, so they condemned those whom the local headmen brought before them. As a result of this, eight men from Sang-lang, and twenty-four from other villages who were supposed to be Christians from the fact that they had attended services at Panghai, were put to death, some of them after they had been cruelly tortured for days in order that they might confess themselves to be rebel leaders. Others were allowed to pay a ransom for their lives of forty, fifty, and sixty taels. Others, simply accused of being Christians, were compelled to sign a paper renouncing Christianity, and made to pay four taels for the renunciation. Besides this, all who were supposed to be Christians, or who had at any time visited the Mission-house at Panghai, had their houses plundered by the local headmen and their followers, and their cattle and farming implements carried off. These also were made to sign a paper promising to renounce Christianity, and had to pay for the renunciation.

It ought to be mentioned here that not one of these people who were executed or plundered were baptized Christians; some of them were not Christians in any sense of the word. The men of Sang-lang, and a few of the others, had been recognised as inquirers: the others had some of them attended the services now and then...We reached Kaili five days later. It was a heartrending experience to visit those bereaved and devastated homes, and to hear the sound of weeping as they told the story of their dear ones, first tortured in prison and then beheaded on the market-place. One man had suffered so much at the hands of his persecutors that he actually died on the execution ground, and his corpse was beheaded. There were women weeping aloud for their fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons, who had been cruelly done to death. Truly our Saviour came not to send peace on earth, but a sword.

Missionaries Combat Opium, Whiskey and Witchcraft

Clarke wrote: “Opium may not be a specific for all the ills that flesh is heir to, but it seldom fails to ease pain and give temporary relief, and among people who have no medical science, with opium always at hand, it is easy to foresee what the state of matters will be in the course of time if things go on as they are. Fortunately, the Chinese Government seem determined to put an end to the cultivation of the poppy, and if they do put a stop to it, as we believe they will sooner or later, there will be an end to this vice among the Miao. Most of them are too poor to buy it for themselves, so cannot use it if they do not produce it. [Source: “Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

Opium Den

In the village of Keh-chang some of the Miao wanted the Gospel and some did not. All trace of demonolatry, however, had been swept from the village, and the spirit trees were all cut down. But Mr. Adam found that some of the young men had begun to indulge in opium smoking, an old man having secretly opened an opium den. So Mr. Adam and several Miao Christians made a surprise visit to that village. They searched high and low for the opium pipes and lamps and other utensils. After they had concluded their search in the first house, word got about among the women of what they were doing. Immediately they were all on the side of the missionary, and assisted him in the search. They visited every house in the village, and destroyed no less than seven sets of opium utensils from seven different houses. The older men and women were dehghted at what was done, and even the young men concerned were not displeased. Both the Hua Miao and the Shui-hsi Miao cultivate the poppy, though very few of them smoke opium. However, because they grow the poppy, there have been comparatively few baptisms among the people of that district, although there are many adherents to the Church and, we believe, true Christians among them.

Ten days were spent at Ko-pu, and many candidates for baptism were examined. It ought to be mentioned that every candidate for baptism must promise to have nothing to do with whisky — not to make it, drink it, offer it to others, or have it in his house. This is a rule that commends itself to the missionary and to the Christian conscience of the Miao believers. No one ever thinks to question the wisdom of it. Consequently Christian homes and Christian villages are absolutely free from the evils and dangers that attend the drinking of that devilish stuff, and we have not known personally one of these people, once so drunken, to backslide in consequence of whisky. When we think of the evil whisky has wrought among the Miao, to say nothing of other people, a protest against the above rule could only be made in the name of the arch-enemy of mankind.

Of course, many difficult problems arise in the work of evangelising and reforming these people, who were but a short time ago so ignorant, drunken, and immoral. The promise to totally abstain from whisky in at least one case, a very great difficulty arose. The tenants from time to time have to make various offerings to the lairds, and, among other things, offerings of whisky on the last day of the Nuosu year. One of these lairds, who had fifty villages on his estate (forty-five of which were Christian), and who had persecuted and tortured some of the Christians, insisted upon this offering being made to him according to custom, and when the Christian tenants offered to pay him the value of the offering in money, he demanded such an exorbitant sum that it was quite out of their power to pay. Mr. Pollard and Mr. Stephen Lee, however, called upon this laird in his castle, and after some discussion the matter was satisfactorily settled, to the great joy of the Christians, by the laird agreeing to take a reasonable sum of money instead of the whisky.

In the village of Keh-chang, there were two brothers named Wang who early believed the Gospel and received the Holy Spirit. Their stepfather, a sorcerer, objected to their being baptized, but nevertheless one of them was baptized. Their mother, who attended the services, pleaded with them, saying that their stepfather would kill them if they were baptized together, and that would break her heart. At her suggestion, therefore, only one was baptized, and the other was kept waiting. At Hsin-lung-tsang thirteen women were reprimanded and suspended for consulting a witch in reference to sickness and child-bearing. These all confessed their fault and promised not to consult a witch again...One wicked old wizard, who had been to Shih-men-kan and saw how the missionaries conducted divine worship, went about on his own account, preaching and baptizing those who paid him a substantial fee for performing the rite. He did not, however, cause trouble very long, for he was suddenly stricken with smallpox and died. This was regarded by all as a judgment from God.

Churches in Guizhou the 1900s

church in China in 1898

Clarke wrote: Soon after this first visit the Miao around Ko-pu began to build a chapel there, 105 feet long and 35 feet wide. Mr. Adam again visited them, and spent five weeks among them during the months of April and May 1905. On this occasion he went as far as Zhaotung and spent four days with Mr. Pollard and the missionaries there. From Zhaotung he and Mr. Pollard visited many of the Miao villages in Yunnan and Guizhou. In one district, among Mr. Pollard's people, the Miao had collected about eight hundred dollars for the building of a chapel. This sum, when we remember the poverty of these people, is astonishing, and proves the sincerity of their faith. At every place they visited, hundreds of inquirers were waiting to meet them and hear more of the Word of Life. On his return to Ko-pu, Mr. Adam baptized seventeen men and women in the presence of more than a thousand of their tribes-people. Thus there were at that time just twenty Communicants among thousands of inquirers who professed themselves Christians, after nearly two years' work among them. Before returning to Anshun Mr. Adam visited many other villages, and wherever he went the people were eagerly waiting for him. After the evening meal and the evening service, the inquirers would sit up with him in their hovels, often around a smoking wood fire, learning hymns and singing them, and listening to stories of our Lord and His apostles, and of the Old Testament worthies. Sometimes Mr. Adam, thoroughly tired, only got to bed long past midnight and sometimes at cock-crow. [Source:“Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

Ten miles from Ko-pu lies the village of Ho-sao-tsai. Here was a chapel, not quite finished, seating several hundred worshippers. The Miao always worship in their chapels before they are finished, and regular meetings were held there. There were six leading men at Ho-sao-tsai who were Teachers and Exhorters and living pillars in the Church. One or two of them were able to read the whole Bible in Chinese. Every one was most anxious to assist in supplying the needs of the Church. Mr. Tsao was kept busy writing down the freewill offerings, notwithstanding the fact that the people were poor and the prospects of the coming harvest bad. Leaving that village, and the Church there, for Shin-lung-tsang, ten miles farther west, Mr. Adam and those with him made the hills re-echo as they sang their parting hymn, comes."

There were one hundred and eighty Christian families connected with the Church at Shinlung-tsang. They come from twenty villages and hamlets. The population of that district is estimated at nearly nine hundred. This may seem, and is, a sparse population for such a district and so many villages, but it must be borne in mind that the whole region is very hilly and the soil very poor. The idea of selfsupport was much favoured by the Christians here, as in other places. There were fourteen leading brethren at Shin-lung-tsang who took part in the speaking at the daily morning and evening services. The believers were growing in grace and knowledge, walking in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, looking for the Lord's return, jealous for God's glory, and determined that the Church should be pure. At sunrise on the Sabbath Day over four hundred men and women, in about equal numbers, gathered for prayer. Over six hundred attended the Sabbath School, and five hundred members met around the Table of the Lord. With great gusto they sang their favourite hymn, “Well work till Jesus comes.''

Church Service and Singing in Guizhou in the 1900s

Rev. Samuel Pollard, of the United Methodist Mission, wrote in "A meeting in the chapel is a revelation. Mr. Nicholas rules the meeting, and its component parts, with a rod — not of iron, but of bamboo — and a very long one at that. A question is asked: the bamboo rests lightly upon the head of the one from whom the answer is required. Should any of the congregation chance to be caught napping, a gentle rap with the official rod recalls him to wakefulness...The butt end of the rod is also useful to thump time on the floor for the singing. And such singing! The tonic sol-fa system is used, and there is no instrument. Now the women sing a verse by themselves, and now the men: now the boys and now the girls: and all join in the chorus. [Source:“Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

"Following the universal law, the boys are conspicuous in the front rows. It is not enough to hear them sing: they should be seen in order to be appreciated. They sing with their whole voice and heart and body, shoulders well open, heads thrown back, mouth wide stretched, and every fibre thrilling as to and fro their bodies rock in rhythm with the music. One little fellow's legs were not nearly long enough to reach the ground, but those little legs played a big part, one leg up and the other leg down, swinging in a perfect ecstasy. No uncouth yelling either was this, but hearty, tuneful, boyish music.

'' As sang the boys so sang the girls, and the bigger folk as well. These people never tire of singing. Soon after dark we went into the chapel to light up. Sounds of melody were already issuing from the building, and there, in the dark, were quite a number in their places, joining lustily in a sing-song until the time of the meeting. And when the meeting is over, they gather round their camp fires in the guest houses, or in the open, and continue singing the songs of Zion until far into the night.

" If the ordinary evening prayers were inspiring, what shall be said of the great gathering on Christmas Day, when the large new chapel was literally packed to the doors with over 1000 people! And as group after group stood forth and confessed their Lord in baptism, how our hearts swelled with praise that, even here in Yunnan, God was so manifestly and abundantly answering the prayers of His people. A large number on Christmas Day, a further group on the day following, and still more some days later in an out-station, brought the total up to 600. Truly this is the Lord's doing: it is marvellous in our eyes.

'' The difficulty of the missionaries was not the question of ' how many ' but ' how few ' to accept. Whole villages are nominally and practically Christian, but each individual baptized must be able to give a reason for the hope that is in him, and to witness a good confession both in personal spiritual experience and in outward walk and conversation. It is well to mention this in view of the large number who were accepted, each one only after a careful sifting.

Literacy and Feasting Among Christians in Guizhou in the 1900s

Clarke wrote: Some miles away from Heo-er-kuan they were met by a group of Miao men, women, and children, who had come out to meet the missionary and show how eager they were to see him again after two years' absence. Late in the afternoon they had a delightful time of singing with the young people and children. They had also a good meeting in the evening, and Mr. Adam was surprised and encouraged to notice how many of the men had learned to read so as to be able to take their turn in reading a verse of the Scripture lesson. Even some of the women were able to read the New Testament in Chinese. On Sunday, more than one hundred believers took part in the Communion Service. Three different tribes of Miao were represented at the Lord's Table — the Shui-hsi Miao, Tahua Miao, and the Hung-t'eo or Red-top (or Red-turbaned) Miao, so called by the Chinese because red predominates in the head-dress of the women. [Source:“Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

Continuing his journey, Mr. Adam and those with him reached the Hung-t'eo Miao village of Swang-lung-chin, and had a happy time with the Christians and inquirers there. They killed the “fatted pig," and all had rather a festive time eating it. While the pig was being cooked, he catechised the men and boys, and a few girls, and praised God for the knowledge theypossessed of His dear Son. After the banquet, the rest of the evening was taken up with catechising, preaching,-and hymn-singing. “Rock of Ages” was the great favourite there.

No one will ever be able to estimate how great a part hymn-singing has had in teaching and influencing these simple people. Unlike the Chinese, they are nearly all of them very tuneful singers, and quickly learn Christian tunes. Moreover, anything set to verse is easier to learn and remember than prose, and it is from hymns that some of them have learned much of the Christian doctrine they know. They have many of the old and famous hymns sung at home, and many translations from the Moody and Sankey's collection. It is a great joy and inspiration to listen to their singing, and to look at their faces beaming with the joy of the Lord. During the intervals between the meetings, they are most of them singing, learning, or teaching others to sing some new hymn or tune.

missionary in 1927

Villagers Seeking Out the Missionaries

Clarke wrote: After Mr. Pollard's return to Zhaotung, the Miao continued to visit him in ever-increasing numbers. The autumn Crops were gathered, and the slack time of the year came round. Parties from nearly every village, of the hundreds situated around Zhaotung, made their way to the city, and the Mission compound swarmed with them. They came in scores, they came in hundreds, and they came to stay a while, bringing their oatmeal with them. All that the missionary provided for them was fire and water, and oil for lights, and a roof to sleep under. Every part of the Mission premises was crowded with them. One night Mr. Pollard counted his guests, and they numbered six hundred. And they all came to learn. Men who had never before had a book in their hand began to study Chinese characters. There they were, ignorant mountaineers, wandering about the house with a book in their hand, conning their lessons. From morning till night, and late into the night, the missionary and his helpers were engaged in teaching and explaining the truth to one group after another. They were tired out, but there was no rest for them. [Source:“Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

One day Mrs. Pollard insisted that her husband should go to his room and he down, and she promised to keep away the crowd so as to let him have a rest. Not long afterwards Mrs. Pollard, going upstairs to see if he was asleep, found a dozen Miao sitting on and around the bed, and her husband sitting up to teach them. They had climbed up by way of the balcony, and wandering about from one bedroom to another, had found their teacher, and there they were! What could you do with such people? There was no getting away from them.

As the time passed, and the warm weather was approaching, a great fear haunted the missionaries. These Miao visitors were not scrupulously clean: to be frank, they were not clean at all. Living in a Chinese house in a Chinese city, and that house crowded with these people, visions of typhoid, typhus, diphtheria, and other dread diseases filled their hearts with fear. And these fears were by no means groundless. With one of the Miao groups came the son of a Nuosu landlord, a nice quiet young fellow. He and Mr. Pollard's children became great friends: they played together, and sometimes ate their food together. Before the young man left, Mr. Pollard discovered that he was a leper!” This issue was dealt with by building a clinic and station some distance from the city, so health problems carried by the villagers were not spread to the cities

Spread of Christian in Guizhou in the 1900s

Clarke wrote: In order to assist Paul, the convert who started service in his own house at Ko-pu, Mr. Adam sent up to that district two Miao evangelists, one from the Hua Miao, and one from the Peh or White Miao, a tribe till that time almost untouched. After their arrival, thousands began to attend the services. At that time there were no chapels in the district, but every Lord's Day nearly a thousand people met for worship in the open air on the hill-side. Towards the end of 1904, Mr. Adam paid his first visit to Ko-pu and the villages round about. He had interviews with many of the lairds, and explained to them the reason of his visit and the doctrines of Christianity. The lairds had been afraid that if the Miao became Christians, they would lose all authority over them and receive no rent from their tenants. The missionary explained that their tenants would remain tenants and pay their rent. All that the missionary desired was to make them good men and women, and teach them how to worship God. Mr. Adam also begged the lairds, with reference to the labour which the tenants owed them, that they would not ask the Christians to work on the Lord's Day, and to this most of them readily consented. From this time most of the opposition and persecution from the landlords became a thing of the past. Some of them seemed pleased that the missionaries should make better men and women of their tenants. [Source:“Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)]

By this time the interest had spread, and the movement had influenced the whole region from Ko-pu to Zhaotung, and for twenty or thirty miles around. Thousands were turning from demonolatry and demon superstitions, and burning the drums and other paraphernalia used in their exorcisms. Scores of villages professed themselves Christian, and meetings for prayer and worship were regularly held in them all. The Miao of that district, in consequence of the altitude and poverty of the soil, produced no opium, and the opium vice had not got any hold on them. Whisky, however, was banished from the homes of the inquirers, and in the Christian villages, and those partly Christian, the open and shameless immoralities of the past were entirely put down.

As we have said, thousands attended the services at Ko-pu before any chapel had been built in all that region. Ko-pu is a small hamlet of about a dozen houses, and when Mr. Adam was there, he saw, after the evening service, hundreds of camp-fires burning on the hill-side, around which the people were preparing their evening meal. After they had finished their meal, the voice of prayer and songs of praise were heard all over the place, and it was not until far into the night that, overcome by weariness, the people slept in the open air, and quietness reigned. Mr. Adam visited many of the villages, and everywhere received an affectionate and enthusiastic welcome. Thus far, except the few men who had been baptized at Anshun, none of these people had been baptized. There was no haste in admitting them into the Church. Every man and woman subsequently received was taught and tested, and it was only when by a changed life the sincerity of their repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ was manifested, that they were admitted into the Church by baptism.

At Ta-sung-su, Ko-pu, and other places, we had most interesting and encouraging times. The congregations were too large for the chapels in some places, and even early morning prayer meetings had to be held in the open air. At Ta-sung-su there were nine hundred and twenty present at the noon service, and later six hundred took part in the Communion Service. At I-chiiwan there were seven hundred at the noon service, and three hundred and sixty at the Communion. It was a time when people were busy planting Indian corn, so the congregations at Ko-pu were not so large as usual: but on Sunday there were six hundred at the noon service and four hundred at the Communion. At most of the places we examined candidates for baptism, and baptized during our tour one hundred and ninety-five men and women.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Source: “Among the Tribes of South-west China” by Samuel R. Clarke (China Inland Mission, 1911)

Last Updated in October 2022