Much of Protestantism's success must be attributed to the combining of evangelism with parallel efforts in education and medicine. Early converts may have shied away from "eating" this "foreign medicine" that was called Christianity. But successes of early doctor-evangelists in healing physical ills inspired people to accept spiritual aid as well.
Dr. James Laidlaw Maxwell, a graduate of Edinburgh University and resident physician at the Birmingham General Hospital, was working in Tainan as early as 1865. Dr. George L. Mackay was sent to northern Taiwan in 1872 by the Canadian Presbyterian Church. Within 10 years, he had established 20 chapels and made 300 converts in the area near Tamsui.
Efforts in educating young people also increased the number of Christians. Christian schools provided modern education in the Western tradition, as well as instruction in Christianity. The first Christian college was established in Taiwan in 1892 with 15 pupils. Today, Taiwan has the Tunghai University financed by the United Board of Christian Colleges in China, Soochow University with Methodist backing, the Chung Yuan College of Science and Technology and Christ's College. In addition, there are four theological schools and four major secondary schools operated by Protestant missions.
Christian gains in Taiwan are in contrast to the situations in other Asian areas, where Christianity has been retreating or has stood still. All Protestant mission work in China is now concentrated on Taiwan. On the mainland, there were more than 4,000 foreign Protestant missionaries in 1948. Today not one remains active. In Taiwan, Protestant missions are more active than ever before. Around the campus of the National Taiwan University, there are four Protestant churches catering almost exclusively to young Chinese Christians. But the success of the Protestant churches in Taiwan has many roots in the missionary work on the mainland before 1948.
A 50-year flashback to 1912 finds Protestant missions already well distributed throughout China. This was the time of success for the Revolution, which Christianity had a considerable responsibility, at least as a catalyst. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, father of the Republic of China, was a Christian. His Three Principles of the People forming the basis for a "government of the people, by the people, and for the 'people," are based solidly on a spiritual recognition of human dignity.
In China's transition from dynastic times to modern republican days, Christianity offered a social welfare program which met many needs with its three principal types of activity evangelical, educational and medical.
Great Influence
There were a number of reasons for the great influence of Protestant missions upon the newly established Republic of China. The English language was being recognized as a vital means of communication, and the mission schools offered a good opportunity to learn it. The missions stressed Western science, which China eagerly wished to master. Such mission institutions as the press, schools of higher education, the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A., and philanthropic enterprises, especially hospitals, were prepared to meet the emergencies of the new China. The Commercial Press, the largest publishing house in the Republic of China, was founded by mission-trained administrators. The expanding resources of the industrialized countries such as Great Britain, Germany and the United States permitted the financing of many new enterprises. Dramatic events in China drew world attention and provided tremendous motivation and an unprecedented opportunity to spread the Gospel. The Student Volunteer and Laymen's Missionary Movements in America were eager to send an army of dedicated young workers to China.
Students leave the entrance to the Presbyterian Taiwan Theological College in suburb of Taipei (File photo)
By 1919 there were 130 different Protestant missionary organizations spread over China from Sinkiang and the border of Tibet, through Manchuria and Mongolia, and into the provinces of China proper. Since the harvest was so vast and the laborers so few, there was little duplication of effort. It was generally agreed that the various denominations should work in their chosen fields without overlapping. Although these 130 missions differed greatly in size and administrative procedure, they all subscribed to the Apostles' Creed and considered the Bible the supreme guide in faith and practice.
Two organizations rendering unique service and quickly adopted by the Chinese themselves were the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A. The symbol of the triangle, representing body, mind and spirit—the complete personality—was significant from the point of view of student health. The Y.M.C.A. especially stressed the importance of a strong, healthy body, and of public health. Some of the secretaries prepared Chinese athletes for the Far Eastern Olympic Games in Manila in 1913. Being non-denominational, these organizations secured the finest leaders from all the churches. The Chinese secretaries were outstanding, and soon the work was self-supporting except for the salaries of the foreign secretaries and the expense of the buildings.
Many Activities
Provincial governors asked to have Y.M.C.A.'s organized in their principal towns. The Provincial Assembly of Kirin requested an Association in every county of the province. The Y.M.C.A. had a hostel in Shanghai for students going abroad. Secretaries were sent to help the large numbers of Chinese students studying in Japan. Night schools were opened for underprivileged students. The Y.M.C.A. sponsored the organization of a Student Volunteer Movement for the Ministry, with Dr. Ting Li-mei as leader.
Dr. John R. Mott and Dr. Sherwood Eddy reached thousands of government students with their Bible classes. In 1914-15, the number attending the meetings reached 63,000 and 8,000 signed up for Bible classes. Among the converts were the Salt Commissioner of Fukien and the Commissioner of Foreign Affairs of Chekiang. In Peking, the pavilion for Dr. Sherwood Eddy's meetings was erected in the Forbidden City and covered with canvas loaned by the Ministry of War. The Ministry of Education declared a half-holiday to enable students to attend. Both the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. set a new standard for quickly turning Christian organizations over to the Chinese. They had great influence on the entire Protestant body of missions.
Gains in Education
Christian education in China received great impetus with the Report of the China Educational Commission of 1921-1922. This Com mission, which was composed of leading Chinese and American educators, surveyed the situation in China, and weighed the importance of all types of education from primary school through specialized higher education. This was the time when Dr. Hu Shih was promoting the use of pai hua as a literary medium instead of the old-style wenyen. "The New Tide" of progressive thought was sweeping through the nation. It was important that Christian education should maintain the highest standards in training character and skills, and in the intellectual content of the curriculum. Famous middle schools such as Yu Ying Boys' School and Bridgman Academy for girls in Peiping, and the school under the direction of Ginling College in Nanking, have produced leaders who are active in the life of free China today.
The population of China has been four-fifths agricultural. Schools and colleges, some Christian and others cooperating with Christian missions or missionaries, have made constructive contributions to China in teaching scientific methods of agriculture.
Dr. Raymond T. Moyer, at Oberlin-in-Shansi, introduced Rambouillet rams from France. Wool from these rams improved the quality of rugs, then one of China's most important exports. Dr. James Hunter directed the Lu Ho Rural Institute near Peiping in bringing rural reconstruction to the farmers. Poultry improvement, high-yield millet production, scientific bee-keeping and fruit cultivation were taught in special short-term courses so that farmers could apply the knowledge in their home villages.
Dr. "Jimmy" Y.C. Yen, holder of degrees from Yale and Princeton and earnest worker for Christianity, fought for "literacy, livelihood, health and citizenship" under the Christian banner. He was appointed county magistrate of Tinghsien, Hopei province, and made that county a model. Tinghsien had a population of 400,000 in 1929. Since China was supposed to have 400,000,000 people at that time, Tinghsien was a microcosm of the whole nation. Farmers doubled their income with the benefit of irrigation, improved seed, fertilizer and insecticides made available through Dr. Yen's efforts.
Dr. Yen's achievements were of great significance for rural churches all over China. By following Tinghsien methods, church members could become self-supporting and did not have to depend on mission subsidies.
Christian efforts received impetus from 1927 to 1937 when two agencies were set up to coordinate work previously done by small groups in isolation. The China International Famine Relief Commission was one, the North China Council for Rural Reconstruction the other.
The Commission grew out of the terrible drought and famine of 1920. Many missionaries were· enlisted in the field committees and helped in road building, well digging and dike repair. Their work also was instrumental in reconstruction after the large flood of 1931.
Power Resources
The North China Council, with field headquarters at Tsinging, Shantung province, helped develop research in power resources.
Nanchang in Kiangsi, was another cooperative project. When the Communists were driven from their enclave in 1934 and started on their long march, they left behind complete desolation. Missionary groups aided the government in sending experts to Nanchang and organizing it as a center from which relief and rehabilitation could be extended to the entire countryside. Some relief workers who made a shining record in Nanchang are on Taiwan doing equally distinguished service for the community.
The most inclusive of the cooperating organizations was the North China Christian Rural Service Union. This was organized in response to the Jerusalem meeting of the International Missionary Council in 1928, when the village approach to Christian service was emphasized. The National Christian Council of China reorganized its Rural Life Committee for North China as the North China Christian Rural Service Union. This had six different denominational missions as constituent units and five educational institutions plus the North China Industrial Service Union as cooperating units. With all the experts available in these organizations, there were ample manpower resources for any emergency or project. One village was selected for an intensive program of reconstruction. Thirty nearby villages were given an extensive program of credit cooperatives established for well-digging loans. It was hoped that the intensive program might be extended to each village in turn. The successful techniques for raising the standard of living in Tinghsien were found to work equally well in Ching-Yuan county. Indeed, they appeared to be viable for most places in China and even in Asia as a whole.
The years from 1937 to 1945 saw a decline in mission activity. The will was there, but war conditions limited mission work to helping refugees. Christian morale remained high, however, and plans were made for expanded work after victory.
With the temporary removal of the central government to Taiwan, expansion of Christian endeavors in China was focused on this island province.
Island Growth
Fifty years ago—in October, 1912—the Southern and Northern Presbyteries joined in a united Synod for the whole island. The Southern Presbytery had been founded by the English Presbyterian Mission from Amoy in Fukien. Dr. James Laidlaw Maxwell had started medical and evangelistic work on Taiwan 47 years before. Since the Amoy and Taiwan dialects are much the same, it was natural to send recruits from that part of the mainland.
The Canadian Presbyterian Church sent Dr. George L. Mackay as a pioneer evangelist to north Taiwan in 1872. By 1912 there were 30,000 adult members of the Christian community on the island. The work among the aborigines had already started. Early missionaries and their flocks had to endure considerable persecution from the people, although the Japanese governing the island at first were rigidly correct though not exactly friendly. From the first, the missions encouraged the development of indigenous churches with Chinese leadership. This policy paid off during World War I when the mission force dropped to three to supervise 57 congregations. The remaining 49 churches were shepherded by 11 Taiwanese pastors. But the year 1919, instead of registering a loss, showed a membership increase of 269. By February, 1959, the responsibilities were turned over to the General Assembly of the Church with jurisdiction over 760 chunches, 360 of them among the aborigines.
After 1934, when Japan withdrew from the League of Nations following her aggression in Manchuria, she began to show resentment against the Christians on Taiwan. This was aggravated after the war started against China in 1937. Every Taiwanese household had to display a miniature Shinto Shrine containing a paper charm with the name of the Sun Goddess on it. A heroine such as Chi-oang and heroes such as Do-wai and Wirin Takko are in the direct tradition of the Acts of the Apostles. It was only God's providence that saved them from the martyrdom they risked again and again. After V-J Day, Taiwan was returned to China.
The Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei was built in 1912 by the Presbyterian mission. An annex (right) will house operating rooms and inpatient wards when completed this year (File photo)
Missionaries driven from the mainland by the Reds quickly turned their attention to Taiwan. By 1954, Christianity in Taiwan listed 33 denominations with 308 missionaries from 10 different countries. Many of these, such as the Lutherans and the Southern Presbyterians, had a long history of consecrated service on the Chinese mainland. Besides the denominations, organizations such as Dr. Andrew Loo's Pocket Testament League, the China Sunday School Association with its well-supplied bookroom, the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A., all have filled a special need in the religious community.
Prayer Meeting
The Chinese Women's Anti-Aggression League, founded by Madame Chiang Kai-shek, has a prayer room where every Wednesday afternoon the leading women of free China meet to worship. These meetings have been held since 1950. The CWAAL is a dynamo of constructive activity with its workshop for sewing garments needed by the military, its kindergarten for refugee children, and its building program of 20,000 homes for dependents of the armed forces. Both President and Madame Chiang give inspiring messages over the radio on Easter Sunday.
Christian education is gradually catching up with the need. Dr. James Graham founded two colleges-Chung Yuan Collage of Science and Technology and Christ College at Tamsui. Tunghai University and Soochow University keep adding to their academic endowment. In the realm of Christian middle schools, Principal Li of Peiping has reconstituted his famous Yu-Ying School in Peitou. The Ginling alumnae have started a new incarnation of their Ginling Middle School for Girls at Juddville, where the Aid Refugee Chinese Intellectuals Association had its reception center. The Canadian Presbyterian boys' and girls' middle schools at Tamsui are pioneers in religious education.
Medical work has been ably carried on at Mackay, Changhua and Seventh Day Adventist hospitals. The Taiwan Leprosy Relief Association, directed by Dr. Myles Efteland, is hoping to wipe out leprosy from Taiwan as malaria and cholera have been eliminated. The Happy Mount Colony and the Tainan Special Skin Clinic are doing great work in rehabilitation.
The Door of Hope, originally established in Shanghai, is having a new lease on life with its able care of needy children. Its commodious new buildings give even more scope for taking in emergency cases.
The Theological Seminaries and Biblical Seminaries are numerous and well-equipped. Many dedicated young students are preparing there for lives of service.
Because Taiwan is a home for refugees, there is a special need for food and clothes distribution. A Coordinating Council of Volunteer Agencies meets once a month to plan the use of surplus food and clothes sent from the United States. The Taiwan Christian Service is especially active in meeting emergencies. During 1961, an estimated 100,000 disaster victims received food, clothing and medicines from TCS. The service operates 97 milk bars and 13 feeding stations, some of them mobile, that reach 19,000 people annually. Fourteen sewing centers were established in 1961, and a number of interest-free loans made to support sponsored projects and recommended individuals. Since 1955, TCS has distributed 200,000,000 pounds of milk powder, cornmeal, rice and oils, 17,475 bales of clothing and numerous shipments of packaged medicines. The aid comes from Church World Service, Lutheran World Relief and the World Council of Churches.
Help for Refugees
The Free China Relief Association has done a mammoth job in helping escapees and caring for the needy in dire emergencies. This Association cooperates with the Voice of China and Asia, the Church of the Nazarene, and other philanthropic agencies that supply the commodities and need an experienced distributor.
Various women's groups among the military, as well as the social welfare committee of the Taiwan International Women's Club, have done yeoman service when it comes to meeting community needs. These groups have taken the distressed cases of Taiwan's afflicted to heart and are always ready to respond to an SOS signal.
The Child Evangelism and the Sunday School and religious education training programs directed by Miss Elizabeth Evans reach a wide range of junior citizens with daily vacation Bible schools and special audio-visual equipment.
The Taiwan Evangelical Fellowship with its monthly luncheons and memorable speakers gives opportunity to meet Chinese colleagues and keep up with what the other groups are doing.
Radio Programs
The Gospel radio programs have talent and inspiration. With enlarged facilities they reach an ever-growing audience.
Probably the most dramatic Christian work now being done on Taiwan is with the aboriginal tribes. A book such as These My People by Lillian Dickson gives a vivid picture of the need and of the courageous ways in which these flocks are being cared for. Dr. Y. C. Yang, in his book China's Religious Heritage, expresses the Gospel's fulfillment of China's religious aspirations in this way:
"Only Jesus Christ presents the complete circle. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. In him are all three to find their fulfillment and realization. Because he is the Way, the Taoists can only have a real, firm grasp on the Tao when they have comprehended him. Because he is the Truth, the Buddhists can only have the great illumination and awakening for which they are ever seeking in vain when they have come into his light—the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Because he is the Life, the Confucianists can only have an adequate knowledge of the true objective of living and the actual experience of the fullness of life when they have come to follow him and to learn to live his life."
Such is the spirit of Protestantism on Taiwan. The vision is not merely of a Christianized island—but of a quick and effective return to service on a liberated mainland.
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References:
China's Religious Heritage, Y. C. Yang, New York, Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1943.
Christianity in Taiwan: a History, Hollington K. Tong, Taipei, China Post, 1961.
A History of Christian Missions in China. K. S. Latourette, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1929.
Report of the China Educational Commission of 1921-1922. Shanghai, Commercial Press, Ltd., 1922.
These My People, Lillian Dickson, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House, 1958.