Part 15
The greatest difficulty in effecting so great a change was to find teachers fitted for the task. The seed had happily been planted during the last half-century in mission schools, and from them a certain small supply of teachers was obtainable. Chang Chih-tung considered that three months’ study of textbooks would make a competent teacher! Another immense difficulty was to find funds for so vast an enterprise. The gentry were urged to found and support schools, and an official button was granted to those who did so. Chang Chih-tung worked out the whole scheme: colleges, schools of various grades, curricula, regulations as to discipline, etc. etc. All these things are set forth in five official volumes, and thus the national system of education was inaugurated. Obviously so great a change could not be wrought without many difficulties cropping up. The main difficulty was lack of discipline, and that is the case to-day; the student considers that he, or she (for the same spirit pervades girls’ schools), ought to dictate to the master, instead of master to pupil. In the early days of the system it was the easier for the pupils to succeed, in that so many of the teachers were wholly inexperienced and were afraid of losing their posts unless they gave way. Although the above edict professes to train men in China itself for official positions it was supplemented by provision for sending students abroad, in order that they might be the better able to bring their country into line with Western civilization.
With the coming of a Republican Government further progress was made in the educational system in connexion with change in the language, of which I have given details in Chapter II. The most important fact with regard to the educational change is that it found a prepared soil in which to grow, and there is reason to believe that the roots are striking deep. The rapidity with which Japan adopted Western ideas is known to every one, for it has enabled her to become a world power by developing her army, navy and commerce in an incredibly short space of time. She has used Western science as the tool to secure military glory and territorial expansion. These are not the things which appeal to the Chinese. Their renaissance is on wholly different lines. Their gaze is turned inward rather than outward, and the things of the foreign world interest them mainly as shedding light on their own problems. This is the one characteristic of the old Chinese temper which remains unchanged. The fierce ray of criticism is turned on their own past; history, art, philosophy and literature are now being sifted to see what is their actual value. But the chief object of study in China to-day is man himself, his progress and welfare, both in this world and in the next.[27]
The decay of the old religions must have a great influence on student life, and the fact that a large proportion of the temples are now used as school buildings is proof—if proof be needed—that the use for them as temples has gone. Many people have thought it a great step in advance that the old superstitions are being swept away; but what is to take their place? The Chinese are feeling after a more philosophical form of religion. Men like Yen Hsi Shan spend time daily in meditation and worship of the one true God. The tide of rationalism and positivism in Europe has swept even as far as the shores of China, and has influenced many thoughtful men. In an important journal called _La Jeunesse_, a well-known Chinese writer, Peng-I-Hu, says, “I am not a member of any church, I am not interested in protecting any organization or advocating the excellency of any particular religious faith. But I have often felt that religion contains within it the highest ethics, and so I think that if we want imperfect mankind to make progress towards perfection, we cannot lightly set religion aside.”
Large numbers of students have come into contact with Christianity, and at this moment more than ever before they are critically examining what it is worth. By means of the literature dealing with the higher criticism (which is to be found in all the cities of China), they are familiar with the problems confronting students in the West: and these problems interest them immensely. But in the long run it is not so much theory as practice that will influence young China in its religious beliefs.
In the past, Chinese students have mainly got their Western education in Western schools and colleges, where Christian doctrine is an important part of the curriculum. They have had the opportunity of studying the lives of their teachers and judging the practical value of Christian ideals. Where use has been made of such institutions for political or commercial propaganda, the result is obvious; but this has been the rare exception in the past, though there seems to be a growing tendency to it in certain recent institutions. Governments which complain of the difficulties which missions have brought into international relations, have often in the past made use of these same difficulties to promote their own interest. No more cynical statement could be made than that of the German Government with regard to Shantung about the murder of two German missionaries: “La Providence a voulu que la nécessité de venger le massacre de nos missionaires nous amenât a acquérir une place commerciale de première importance.” The Chinese have long memories, and they will not forget such things. It is foolish to expect people to discriminate accurately between the actions of a foreign power and the missions of the same race.
The worst indictment that can be made against the missionaries and their institutions, in my opinion, is that their teaching has been in some cases narrow and in many cases superficial for want of sufficient teachers and educational requisites, due to lack of funds. The strain on missionary societies to supply these funds has been far heavier than the general public is aware of, and the need has been only met by a small section of the Christian community. Had the community as a whole realized their responsibility, China would have had better and more thorough teaching: even now it is not too late to help her in the great educational enterprise on which she has embarked. America is alive to the fact, but England is not. One great step in advance is, however, in course of achievement, and that is the union of the greater number of the different societies in the work of central colleges and universities, which is a great gain, both from the educational and the religious point of view.
At the present time the one vital requisite for China is to have a thoroughly efficient training in all branches of education, especially, of those men who are to be her leaders. Statesmen, lawyers, doctors, engineers, bankers, men of science, literature and art are needed, and all must, above all things, be men of high purpose and spotless integrity. It is the corruption of men in authority which has brought China to so low a condition, and which hinders her taking her place among the ruling nations. Obviously she is not in a position to-day to do this without help. The students in training to-day number roughly eight millions, not to mention the vast number of boys employed in agriculture and industry, who also have a claim to teaching. One interesting feature of the student movement is the sense of obligation now growing up amongst the students to share their knowledge with their poorer neighbours. Night schools are being established by them (in which they teach) not only for poor children, but also for farmers, labourers, etc., in all parts of the country. They also give popular lectures on such subjects as hygiene, patriotism and politics.
During the terrible famine raging last winter, numbers of students did relief work, and not only helped the sufferers, but had valuable practical training in organized social service. Another feature of the movement is this social service; here again trained leaders are urgently needed. The experience which we have so painfully gained during the last century we ought surely to share with them.
There are very few purely Chinese educational institutes of the highest grade. The most important of any is without doubt the National University of Peking, founded twenty-three years ago. Under the influence of the present Chancellor, Tsai Yuanpei, it has become an efficient school and centre of the new educational movement. He has collected a staff of men trained in Western thought to replace the former inefficient elderly staff. The present Minister of Education, Fan Yuen Zien, made a trip to Europe and America in 1918, and as a result of it has initiated a scheme for having special scholars from the West to become annual lecturers at the university. The first appointment was John Dewey, from Columbia, U.S.A., then Bertrand Russell, from Cambridge, England, and now it seems likely that Bergson will be invited from France and Einstein from Germany. This suggests the spirit of the new learning. Such a Minister of Education has much influence, and is promoting a liberal educational policy. The university has departments of Law, Literature and Science. Its influence is felt not only in Peking, but throughout the country.
The Hong Kong University is of considerable importance, but as the teaching is entirely in English, that is still a bar to many students. It was started by Sir Frederick Lugard, and with the generous help of many Chinese and a wealthy Parsee merchant, not to mention the grant of a magnificent site by the Government of Hong Kong, the university was launched in 1912. It was established mainly for the use of the Chinese, but open to “students of all races, nationalities and creeds,” and was to promote the “maintenance of good understanding with the neighbouring Republic of China”—so runs the Hong Kong Government ordinance of 1911. The first three chairs established were Medicine, Applied Science, and Arts. In order to meet the needs of men adopting an official career in China, the requisite Chinese subjects are included.
A new university has been already planned by a Chinese merchant at Amoy, Mr. Dan, and I visited the site on which it is to be built. The donor is a man of humble birth. He has already founded boys’ and girls’ schools near Amoy on most generous and modern lines, of which further details are given in the following chapter. Although not a member of any Christian body, he is most generous in lending the buildings for Christian conferences and allowing absolute liberty to Christian teachers in his schools to give religious teaching to the scholars out of school hours.
Having referred to one of the most important non-religious educational institutions for the Chinese, I will mention the most important missionary ones. Of these St. John’s College, Shanghai, is one of the oldest and most efficient, and is responsible for the training of some of the leading men in China to-day. Recently the college has added Medicine to the subjects taught in what has now become the St. John’s University. It grants degrees, and is in close touch with American universities. There are two other American denominational universities, and five union and interdenominational universities, also many important colleges, such as the Anglo-Chinese College at Tientsin, the Trinity College at Foochow, the Canton Christian College, the Hangchow College, the Shanghai Baptist College, etc. etc.; but what are these in comparison with the millions of China?
One very grave drawback to the present state of educational affairs is that our British universities have made no attempt to recognize the degrees and diplomas granted by these colleges and universities with the exception of the Hong Kong University, which has a special charter to that effect. Whereas in America every university of importance welcomes Chinese students for post-graduate study and grants them diplomas, not one of our universities does this. All the students study the English language, and every year sees them more prepared to make use of training in our universities; but those educationists who know China best are convinced that it is far better for her sons and daughters to study in their own land till they have got a good sound general education, and then come to England, say at the age of about twenty; they will then be able to gain much more from what they see and learn than they could do at an earlier age. With a mature judgment they will not be so apt to get false impressions, as they are otherwise likely to do, and will know how to select from the wealth of knowledge to which they have access.
Nowadays the question of child labour is being considered, and this is the more important because factories are springing up everywhere. Field labour is hard on child life, but not nearly so injurious as factory life. A large part of this industrial expansion is American and European; therefore it is a grave responsibility for such firms to ensure that the Chinese shall see Western industrialism at its best, especially as regards the welfare of children and women.
It would be neglecting a matter of great potential importance to the future of young China if the history of the Scout Movement were omitted. Curiously enough it seems to have been started at New York, by the Chinese Students’ Club, in 1910, and from there to have been carried to China itself about a couple of years later. In 1915 there was a special rally of scout troops from Canton and Shanghai, in which three hundred boys took part, and Chinese boys figured at the great scout Jamboree in England in 1920, when twenty thousand boys of all races met in one great Brotherhood. The movement has been so far mainly promoted by missionary institutions, who have wisely recognized its attractiveness and importance to Chinese boys. The great difficulty has been to find suitable scoutmasters, but time should mend this. The Scout Rule is the same here as elsewhere, and membership is open to every class of the community. Its international value is a matter of no small importance.
A natural question arises in every one’s mind with regard to the possibility of maintaining the same high spirit in a troop of Oriental boys as in an English troop, where tradition already helps this so tremendously. I make no apology for quoting a striking illustration from a recent magazine article of the fact that the Scout spirit of honour, of preparedness, of active goodwill and of physical fitness is found in Chinese scouts. “The young captain of the ‘soccer’ team was visibly nettled. The game was a stiff one. His team were all, like himself, Chinese boys at the Griffith John College, in Central China. But a forward had ‘muffed’ an open shot at goal and a half-back had ‘funked’ tackling a big fast forward of the opposing team, while one or two of the opponents had run perilously near to fouling.
“So his nerve had got ‘rattled.’ One of the English masters was watching the game. He was also Scoutmaster of the troop in which the Chinese boy was a scout of some standing. He saw the boy fast losing his temper. Suddenly, in a momentary lull in the game, the master from touch whistled the refrain of the Scout Call.
“In a flash the Chinese boy-captain realized the childishness of his action and recovered himself. His face broke into its old customary smile. With a laugh he rallied his side and swung forward with them. They won the match.” (_Outward Bound._)
To sum up the main points of the student situation: their actual demands at the present time are for self-determination, self-government and the abolition of the Tuchun system, namely the military government of the provinces. If these are their demands, it is well to consider what they have already accomplished: they have created a student organization, with unions in every part of the country; they have broken down sex prejudice in an extraordinary way; they have aroused the interest of the masses of the common people; and they have proved strong enough to alter Government action. These are things which certainly justify their title to serious consideration of their demands.
There is a wonderful spirit of hope and courage growing up, and it is worth noting that this new nationalism has been singularly free from the outrages to be found in popular movements in the West. The natural ebullience—to use an ugly but expressive word—of youth has on the whole shown itself wiser and more keen-sighted than could have been expected under the circumstances, and gives great hope for the future. The special stress laid on social service and voluntary work is of great promise, and missions may justly claim that it is the outcome of their work for the sick, the insane, the blind, the deaf and dumb, the orphans and the poor. They have put an ideal before the race, and the young are accepting it.
_Chapter X_
_Some Chinese Seaports and Commerce_
“The problems of the Pacific are to my mind the world problems of the next fifty years or more. In these problems we are, as an Empire, very vitally interested. Three of the dominions border on the Pacific; India is next door; there, too, are the United States and Japan. There, also, in China the fate of the greatest human population on earth will have to be decided. There Europe, Asia and America are meeting, and there, I believe, the next great chapter in human history will be enacted. I ask myself, what will be the character of that history? Will it be along the old lines? Will it be the old spirit of national and imperial domination which has been the undoing of Europe? Or shall we have learned our lesson? Shall we have purged our souls in the fires through which we have passed? Will it be a future of peaceful co-operation, of friendly co-ordination of all the vast interests at stake? Shall we act in continuous friendly consultation in the true spirit of a society of nations?”—GENERAL SMUTS.
_Chapter X_
_Some Chinese Seaports and Commerce_
Last year I went down the China coast twice from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and it is a most interesting trip, especially if you stop at the ports and see their multitudinous activities. Their variety is most striking: no two are alike, and even the sails are different in every port down the coast.
I have already spoken of Hangchow, capital of Chekiang, so the next on my list is Wênchowfu, in the same province. The approach to it is up a lovely creek and river, as fair a scene as can be imagined. When I looked at it in the evening light from the top of a hill, the wealth of vegetation and the network of river and canals for irrigation show how rich the land is; the waterways are also the roads by which the district is most easily visited. Besides lofty trees, there were clumps of bamboo, which seem to be used for every imaginable purpose. They grow an inch in a night, and it is usual for bamboos to grow thirty inches in a month: this is their average height, but some varieties grow to 120 feet. Then they put out numerous shoots and the main stems harden. The delicate shoots are eaten like asparagus, and the seeds are also used as food: there is a Chinese proverb that they are specially numerous when the rice crop fails. The stem is high and hard and jointed: one joint is big enough to make an excellent bucket, another will be used for a bottle or a cooking vessel, and the outer shell is so siliceous that it acts as a whetstone.
On reaching Wênchowfu I took a ricksha and went in search of the missionaries. Though an unexpected guest, I received a friendly welcome from Mr. and Mrs. Slichter, of the China Inland Mission, and they took me to see the city and surroundings. It is a treaty port, facing the Eastern Sea, and its streets are bright and clean, full of attractive shops. Inlaid soapstone is one charming industry: the silks manufactured here are fine and costly, two or three dollars per foot. The people are brusque and independent in their manners, but very responsive to missionary work, and they become staunch and loyal adherents to Christianity. We visited an interesting temple put up recently by the local trade guilds to two officers who refused to acknowledge the Republic. These guilds are thoroughly democratic and date from time immemorial: they are still all-powerful in China and regulate trade throughout the empire, despite the changing times. Every self-respecting merchant belongs to one. The guilds are now showing signs of dealing with the price of labour, which is a highly significant fact. They do not brook Government interference with their members, of whom they take a sort of paternal care.[28] These guilds are not only of great value to the Chinese, but also to foreigners, who can apply to their members either directly or by agents, called compradores, belonging to the same guild, whom foreigners can employ to transact business for them. In Canton there are no less then seventy-two guilds.
We went to visit an English United Methodist community, but as it was Saturday afternoon we found no one at home. They have a large work in a hundred and fifty stations, but only one European worker! They also have a big hospital, but their one and only English doctor had been absent two years on furlough, leaving it in charge of two Chinese doctors: they have no English nurse. It is really deplorable to see such a condition of things and a slur on England’s good name. As a contrast we found excellent work both as to numbers and quality by the Chinese, of whom the C.I.M. have three hundred voluntary workers in their hundred and sixty-eight stations. Their evangelists give one week per month of service without payment, and the local institutions pay their salaries. The Christian Endeavour is a particularly strong branch of the work, and has produced a body of capable workers, one main object of the society being to train men, women and children to take part in Christian service of some kind. Bible schools are another strong point of the work here, and the interest shown in Bible study augurs well for the future of the mission.
It may be thought that I have said a great deal—too much in fact—about mission work in this book, but that is inevitable, because the reforms initiated in Chinese life are practically all due to missionary activity. The education of the poor and of women, the care of the sick, the blind, the insane, were all started by missions, and they are the main agencies in undertaking relief work in famine and plague measures, even at the present day. While the people of England sent out thirty thousand pounds for famine last year, large additional sums were sent out by the missionary societies, of which there is of course no official recognition. Happily England still retains some modesty with regard to her generosity.