Western missionaries in China. The reason why western missionaries became the carrier of Chinese - Essay Example

Western Missionaries Distinctive Function in Chinese- West Cultural Communication, and The Reason Why Western Missionaries Became the Carrier of Chinese. Introduction "I do not wonder that the Chinese hate the foreigner. The foreigner is frequently severe and exacting in this Empire which is not his own. He often treats the Chinese as though they were dogs and had no rights whatever -- no wonder that they growl and sometimes bite" (Quote by Sarah Pike Conger in, The Boxer Rebellion: The Dramatic Story of China's War on Foreigners That Shook the World in the Summer of 1900. p.3, 2000). The West, who believed they had the right to a permanent diplomatic presence in China, forced the Chinese to submit to their demands following the bitter conflict of 1860. The war, which finished with the flight of the Emperor, who took refuge beyond the Great Wall together with members of the royal court, left a China that was torn a part. The British and French armies marched on Peking, on a pilgrimage of destruction, and many historic buildings, including the beautiful Summer Palace, were looted and burnt under the command of Lord Elgin. This is just one example of the inglorious events, concerning Western deportment and relations with China, which characterized the nineteenth century. On June 25th 1865, J. Hudson Taylor went down on his knees upon the beach at Brighton, in England, and "prayed for twenty-four willing, skillful laborers to reach the inland provinces of China" (OMF.org, Online Article, 2007). Today, the Oversees Missionary Fellowship that Hudson founded is a diverse evangelical mission society, with more than 1,300 missionaries, from 30 different nations. This essay will be considering the distinctive functions of Western missionaries in nineteenth century China, and the reason why they became the carriers of the Chinese people. Through the examination of China's history, including the Opium war and the Boxer Rebellion, this paper will determine the influence of Western missionaries upon Chinese culture, and how this affected China and her people. A Global View of China's History With The West Portuguese merchants and Catholic missionaries, who arrived in China during the late sixteenth century, were the first important cultural meetings between China and Europe. And it was through such missionaries, and their converts, that Christianity was introduced into mainland China throughout the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. However, due to the fear of Catholic influence among the Chinese imperial rulers, Christianity was banned in China from 1724-1860. Throughout this period, therefore, missionary efforts were concentrated on other Southeast Asian countries, as the missionaries waited for China to reopen its boarders to foreigners (High Beam Encyclopaedia, Online Article, 2007). The rot had already begun before Britain defeated China in the Opium War (1840-1842), which concluded with her having to concede Hong Kong Island. Foreign powers, who were greedily wanting cargoes of silk, tea, and the ginseng that the Chinese believed to be a powerful healer, had coerced China into opening her doors to foreign trade. Initially, these products were bought through the profits of "foreign mud" - opium, but as China's weaknesses became increasing apparent, she was forced into making additional territorial concessions. The port of Tientsin, which is situated at the mouth of the Peiho River and approximately eighty miles from Peking, was opened to international trade, and Shanghai became a flourishing foreign settlement. However, by the end of the century, the foreign powers were vying with each other for concessions in a type of "imperial feeding frenzy" (Diana Preston, The Boxer Rebellion, p.12, 2000), and each of them managed to wrest control over the bordering countries that were seen as being vital to foreign trade. Nominally self-ruling, each of these countries recognized China as their effective overseer and sent acknowledgment of this identification in the form of tributes. China had already lost Burma in 1852, and the French swiftly followed with a protectorate covering Tonkin and Annan (Vietnam), which had been won through a bloody war that had cost the Chinese almost their entire fleet (Diana Preston, The Boxer Rebellion, p.122, 2000). Beginning in the 1830s, it was American Baptist missionaries who found a way to reintroduce Christianity into mainland China, through the conversion of Oversees Chinese who had left their homes to find work. Through a mixture of social and material benefits, along with the religious fervor of the newly converted, these people were encouraged to spread their faith though native networks within their host countries and, later, after having returned home, through family networks. "Because these networks were outside Chinese official control, they provided a stable and effective channel of religious transmission to facilitate Baptist expansion from Southeast Asia to China proper" (High Beam Encyclopaedia, Online Article, 2007). In 1866, just one year after his prayer on Brighton beach, Taylor and his twenty-four workers arrived in China. Originally know as the CIM (China Inland Mission), its missionaries targeted the unreached provinces of China - the inland - where there had only been extremely limited missionary activity. Considering contextualization as vitally important for cultural understanding and acceptance, Taylor and his workers wore Chinese dress, donned Chinese hair styles, and lived as closely to the cultural habits and expectations of native Chinese. The religious climate within China was not, however, conducive to Christianity's reception. The traditional religions of Buddhism and Taoism had both been reduced during the Tang Dynasty (605-906), to a poor position in society by the State. Forbidden to develop in the domains of education, economics, and civil service, and deprived the right of free organization and propagation, the religion's influence touched only a marginal sphere within both the national and social lives of the Chinese people. Only the disillusioned or the poor entered into the monasteries, and only then as a retreat from other worldly pursuits. It was, therefore, from out of this situation that the Chinese responded to Christian missionary endeavours. Consequently, the new religion was really only ever accepted by marginal peoples, while the majority of society kept itself at a distance, and there was never a question of it becoming an institutionalized religion. Even today, religion in China is seen as low priority by the State, which still employs tight control over any religious activities and/or growth (High Beam Encyclopaedia, Online Article, 2007). . The fact that Christianity came into China upon the waves of colonial expansion that was marked by "gunboat diplomacy" was one of the reasons for Chinese resistance concerning Western religion. Most missionaries uncritically reaped the benefits of extra-territoriality, which had been 'stolen' from the Chinese under duress, and many nationals identified missionaries as being a part of colonialism. Those Chinese who did accept the Christian faith were considered as traitors, and were often alienated from their families, friends, and nation. The beginning of a series of "unequal treaties" between Western powers and the Qing government started with the 1840 Nanjin Treaty, which opened up trading ports in Eastern China and helped the Church to obtain legitimate status in order to more successfully evangelize the Chinese people. Missionaries, therefore, were able to set up schools, hospitals, and printing agencies so as to attract more conversions. The subsequent Wangxia and Huangpu Treaties in 1844, and the Tianjin Treaty in 1858, furthered this by giving missionaries the right to penetrate into Inland China (Epaa.asu.edu, Online Article, 2007). Missionary Zeal and the Boxer Rebellion "The fault lies largely with Christianity. It has the misfortune in every alien land of running counter to almost all cherished local institutions. It offends everyone: it antagonizes every creed; it mingles with none, because its fundamental tenets deny the co-existence of any other faith or standard of morality" (Paul H. Clements, The Boxer Rebellion; a Political and Diplomatic Review, p.74, 1915). On 26th May 1866, Hudson Taylor, together with his wife, their four children, and the largest group of missionaries that had ever gone to China, left aboard the Lammermuir. The journey took four months. In 1872, CIM's London council was created, and in 1875, the mission began to systematically evangelise China. In 1881, at Hudson's request, a further 70 missionaries arrived, and in 1887 "The Hundred Missionaries" were sent. By the close of the century, the CIM were rapidly gaining an international reputation, which claimed their work as, "..... operations [that] are carried on with great efficiency and economy" (Paul H. Clements, p.76, 1915). The Chinese 'rebellion' that took place between November 1899 and September 1901, and was aimed at foreign influence within domains such as religion, politics, trade and technology, was known as The Boxer Rebellion. There has been much controversy over the question of whether or not the rebellion was anti-Christian or anti-foreigner, but it is widely believed that it was both. A Boxer notice, which was put up by the 'Lord of wealth and happiness, read, "The Catholic and Protestant Churches deceive our gods, destroy our belief in our saints, and disobey the precepts of the Buddha. Hence the present famine and other disasters" (Vincent Purcell, The Boxer Uprising : a background study. p.122, 1963). Beginning in northern China, the Boxers, who were a peasant-based movement, began to attack foreigners who were violating Feng shui, which included both Christian missionaries and native believers. Holding the Christians responsible for the way that Western powers dominated China, the Boxers, in June 1900, invaded the Chinese capital, killing 230 foreigners. In the uprising that followed, it is believed that tens of thousands Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, were slaughtered. In the wake of the killings, the Chinese government was forced "to indemnify the victims and make many additional concessions" (Vincent Purcell, The Boxer Uprising : a background study. p.297, 1963) The China Inland Mission lost 58 adults and 21 children in the uprising, which were more members than any other missionary agency. However, when the allied nations were demanding compensation for loss of life and property, Hudson Taylor refused it, stating that he was doing so in order to "demonstrate the meekness of Christ to the Chinese" (OMF, Online Article, 2007). Hudson Taylor's mission, despite the slaughters, continued to see an influx of missionaries, until it was the largest missionary agency in China. Why Western Missionaries Became the Carrier of Chinese Although outwardly missionaries in China claimed to be present in order, "to continue to press on to know the Lord and make him known among the peoples of East Asia( OMF, Online Article, 2007), there were in fact several phases within their mission stragegy that went far beyond this apparent ambition. In reality, they were active in a far broader sense than just that of converting individuals to Christianity, they were involved in many and varied areas of China's social life, and even responded to her national needs on many occasions (The Henry Martyn Lectures, Online Article, 2007). The Chinese clearly recognized this undisputable fact, understanding that "missionaries were evangelists of more than the Christian religion" (The Henry Martyn Lectures, Online Article, 2007). The missionaries were, in fact, playing an important and significant role as mediators between their Western homelands and China, and nations had no difficulties in realizing this. Paton says that the missionaries were, "agents of the imperial West, as carriers and promoters of capitalistic, Western Cultures" (David Paton, Christian Mission and the Judgment of God. 1996. Remarks on the front page). The Oversees Missionary Fellowship's web page actually states that "The CIM sought [and still does] to take the gospel where it had scarcely been taken before - to the inland, unreached provinces of China. To do this, CIM workers contextualized themselves - wearing Chinese dress, donning Chinese hair styles and eating and living among the Chinese people. Though now not so rare, at the time such activity was revolutionary, even for missionaries" (OMF, Online Article, 2007). Although this action was seen as 'contextualization', it could have also been seen as being rather patronizing and arrogant. Who did these people think they were What right did they have to invade a country and try to change its culture, its very identity The Chinese were not slow in realising that "Christian conversion meant not turning only to the Christian faith, but also Western cultures" (Jessie Lutz, Christian Missions in China - Evangelists of What 1965, pp. vii-xviii), and the outrage of the Boxers clearly demonstrated this fact. George A. Hood, who wrote, Mission Accomplished The English Presbyterian Mission in Lingtung, South China, claimed that there were two groups of missionaries; those who criticized colonialism, and the others who, "engaged in political activities in support of their home, colonial imperialistic government and local reactionary government" (Hood, 1986, p.288). There were also those who didn't take either position, claiming that they were 'non-political', but due to their religious ideals were, in fact, heavily involved in various social domains - including that of law and order. Through infiltrating different political, social, education, and health programs, and by trying to give the Chinese a false sense of security through apparent contextualization, these missionaries were intent on changing the face of China. The missionaries were well aware of the social dynamic of the gospel they taught and preached, and tried to bring about their views of what reform and change should be. Although outwardly appearing to respect cultural traditions and beliefs, they were, in reality, seeking to implement change through Western ideals and values that were, and still are, meaningless to the majority of the Chinese people. References Diana Preston - author. The Boxer Rebellion: The Dramatic Story of China's War on Foreigners That Shook the World in the Summer of 1900. Publisher: Walker. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 2000 High Beam Encyclopedia, Online Article, THE OVERSEAS CHINESE NETWORKS AND EARLY BAPTIST MISSIONARY MOVEMENT ACROSS THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, 2007. Information retrieved 04/19/2007. George A. Hood. Mission Accomplished The English Presbyterian Mission in Lingtung, South China. Frankfurt am Main: Verlag Peter Lang, 1986, p.288. Jessie Lutz, Christian Missions in China - Evangelists of What Boston: D.C. Health & Co., 1965, pp. vii-xviii. OMF.org, Online Article, History of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 2007. Information retrieved 04/17/2007. < www.omf.org/omf/us/about_omf/history - 25k> Paul H. Clements, The Boxer Rebellion; a Political and Diplomatic Review. New York, 1915. The Henry Martyn Lectures 2007, Online Article, "David Paton - Christian Mission Encounters Communism on China, Information retrieved 04/17/2007. < http://www.martynmission.cam.ac.uk/CPNg2.html> Read More