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Your search within this document for 'year' resulted in 318 matching pages.
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“...THE
CHINA MISSION YEAR BOOK
BEING
"The Christian Movement in China"
1910
EDITED BY
D. MacGILLIVRAY,
FOR THE C. L. S.
SHAMII1A1:
CHRISTIAN uteratlire society fom cwma
1010...”
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“...China,"
which was prepared for the Conference by the writer at
the request of the Executive Committee.
Since that time events have moved rapidly in China.
Much progress has been made in many directions in
Church and State, but nothing in continuation of this
volume has appeared since 1907. In this respect the
Cooperating Christian Missions of Japan have far out-
stripped us. This year sees the eighth annual issue of
their "Christian Movement in Japan," an invaluable
digest of the missionary work there. The stimulating
example thus set up was not lost, and finally precipitated
action along the line of the present Year Book. Dr. A.
H. Smith, in the Chinese Recorder, had voiced the
general feeling when he loudly called for a Chinese
Annual.
In the absence of any body corresponding to the
Cooperating Missions in Japan, the Christian Literature
Society, which happily possessed the necessary machin-...”
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“...CHINA MISSION YEAJR BOOK.
ery, undertook to begin a series of Year Books for
China, and the present editor was requested to inaugurate
the work. The thought had occurred to many minds,
but the difficulty was in the execution. Japan might be
manageable, but China was a vaster field. The pros-
pectus frankly admitted that it might be found impos-
sible to do for China what had been so well done for
Japan. The imperfections of a first attempt naturally
appear in the book, but we are glad to say that some 300
advance orders, given in simple faith, showed that people
want such a book.
We are particularly thankful to the forty or fifty
able writers who have furnished the signed articles.
Back of these again are the workers who gladly assisted
them in their investigations. The time has come when
questionnaires 011 serious subjects will receive serious
attention and not lazily be thrown into the limbus of
forgotten duties.
The Year Book, as will be seen at a glance, totally
differs from anything...”
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“...Vlll
china mission year book.
CHAPTER XXVIII.CHINESE ABROAD.
G. F. Mosher. 419-424
CHAPTER XXIX.THE GREEK CHURCH.
O. Figourovsky. 425-426
CHAPTER XXX.STATISTICS OF ROMAN CATHO-
LIC WORK IN CHINA ............427-431
APPENDICES*
I. IMPORTANT EVENTS ............Pages i-vi
II. OBITUARIES........................vii-xvi
III. NEW BOOKS ON CHINA............xvii-xxii
IV. ARTICLES ON CHINA ............xxiii-xxvi
V. ADDENDA TO "A CENTURY OF
MISSIONS" ........................xxvii-xxx
VI. CHURCH OFFICIALS ..................xxxi-xxxiii
VII. ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY ............xxxiv
VIII. CENTENARY CONFERENCE COM-
MITTEE'S FINAL REPORT............xxxv-xxxvii
IX. LIST OF NEW STATIONS.........xxxviii-xxxix
X. HALLEY'S COMET........................xl-liii
DIRECTORY OF MISSIONARIES.
STATISTICAL TABLE....”
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“...so clearly the best
possible that after it became obvious that there was to
be no uprising or popular clamory we seemed indeed to
be entering upon a lagoon of peace, such as China had
not known for more than a century. A year and a half
of the rule of the Prince Regent, however, made it ob-
vious that far too much had been expected from his
good intentions, and that his qualifications for the diffi-
cult task laid upon him were extremely inadequate.
The sudden and curt dismissal of Yuan Shih-k'ai opened
a new window into the central machinery of the Chinese
government and made it plain that personal considera-
tions overtop the interests of the state, as has so often
although by no means uniformly been the case through
the long course of Chinese history. Before the year
closed the abrupt ejection of the capable Manchu gov-
ernor-General, Tuan Fang, furnished another signifi-
cant object-lesson of the inherent weakness of China.
At a time when the empire needs the services in some
capacity...”
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“...extinguishes all foreign 4 4 concessions'' which
can be got hold of. By this kind of combined pressure
the Peking Syndicate was bought off from Shansi, and
the capable official who engineered the negotiations was
the most popular man of the day, and is now the
efficient governor of that province. The relinquishment
for a fair consideration of the claim of Sir Lister Kaye
in Anhui probably marks the terminal moraine of all
enterprises of this sort. The general unrest throughout
China during the past year has been greatly stimulated
by the widespread report (from some unknown source)
that China is again oii the point of being "carved up
like a melon." The repeated attempts on the life of the
Prince Regent show that the evil spirit which entered
CLiina in a foreign guise just before the Constitutional
Commission left Peking late in 1905, is still an unwel-
come and sinister guest in the Celestial Empire, whose
departure may perhaps be long delayed.
The military riots of the last winter wTere a grave...”
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Page 11
“...'general, survey.
21
torrent inundating whole counties. A year ago hun-
dreds of boatmen were stranded at T'ungchou unable
to get anywhere. Yet this is within an hour's ride of
the Imperial Palace The Grand Canal, throughout a
large part of its northern course, is a venerable and a
melancholy ruin. In northern Kiangsu the choking of
its channels for drainage to the sea directly caused the
floods which ended in the terrible famine of 1906-7.
Yet nothing is anywhere undertaken, or if work is begun,
it is isolated, sporadic, and fruitless. According to the
best foreign opinion it can be but a matter of a decade
more or less before the ancient foe of China (which
might be converted into its staunch friend)the Yellow
Riverwill once more break away by reason of the
silting up of its bed, and we shall have a repetition of
the scenes of 1887-8, with wails about the will of
heaven and the helplessness of man against fate.
After protracted squabbling between the rulers of two
adjacent provinces (as...”
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Page 13
“...liquors also can-
not prove other than an injury to the physical constitu-
tion of the Chinese and the morale of China.
The status of the Chinese Press is a matter of the
gravest concern both to the people of China and to the
rulers. At present it seems difficult to know what to
expect ; some journals being summarily suppressed, and
then reincarnated under other names. The control of
important organs by wealthy officials is an evil of great
importance, which is apparently less in evidence than a
year or two ago. But in this as an other lines it is
dangerous to give too much liberty before there is
sufficient self-restraint to prevent its abuse.
Rumors regarding numerous social reforms which
are supposed to be just below the dip of the horizon
continue to abound, and some of them may be not far
off. Among them are the abolition of the eunuch sys-
tem, the discontinuance of girl slavery, permission for
the removal of the queue, and the like. The Occidental
bow has been recognized as a useful...”
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Page 14
“...14
CHINA MISSION YEAJR BOOK.
from all restraint at an age and under conditions requir-
ing very different treatment.
The Shansi Provincial College, under the care of
Dr. Timothy Richard, stands in a class by itself, but at
the impending expiration of the ten-year period 110 one
can predict under what influences it may fall. Except-
ional likewise is the Tientsin University, founded by Dr.
Tenney, which has a large foreign staff. The Provincial
College at Paotingfu has been for more than a year
and a half under the presidency of Mr. Fei Ch'i-hao, a
Christian graduate of Oberlin and of Yale. Dr. Fergu-
son, of Shanghai, has well pointed out one of the fatal
weaknesses of government institutions in China in their
divided control. '' Every school is in the hands of four
sets of managers : the Board of Education, which may
include the central board and a local board, the directors
of the special school, the faculty, and the students.
The latter by playing off against one or both of the
other...”
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Page 15
“...under our very eyes, of a new Chinese
language, largely made in Japan," the acquirement of
which is essential to any one wishing to keep in touch
with the new China. The publication two years ago in
Shanghai of an English-Chinese dictionary in two huge
volumes, was in itself an important educational event.
A Bureau of Terminology (Ming-tz'u-kuan) has been
opened in the Board of Education, to which Dr. Yen Fu,
perhaps the most competent scholar in China, was called.
A curious feature of the past year has been a wide-
spread effort 011 the part of great numbers of Chinese to
raise sufficient funds to pay off all China's national debts,
a spasmodic symptom of the general irritation at the
yoke of the hated foreigner. The scheme is obviously
doomed to failure by reason of the want of cooperation,
the want of confidence, and the want of cash, and if it
succeeded it would so disturb the financial equilibrium
as to work more harm than good.
The city of Peking is rapidly becoming transformed
into...”
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Page 17
“...'GENERAL, SURVEY.
17
friendly official (Mr. Yen Hsiu) himself soon after left
the Board, and further progress is for the present
blocked. A like fact seemed to threaten the effort to
come to an understanding with the accomplished head of
the new Bureau of Terminology.<(Ming Tz'u Kuan), Dr.
Yen Fu, who promised a cordial welcome to whatever
assistance might be given in the important and difficult
task of revising and enlarging the new Chinese technical
nomenclature. Soon after the Chinese New Year Dr.
Yen was promoted to some position in the new Navy
Department, and thus the man perhaps best qualified
to undertake the systematization of Chinese terminology
appeared to be lost to that work, but it proved later
that his naval post was merely an "advisory" one.
The£e two cases illustrate what has already been said
of the transitory and the incidental nature of Chinese
appointments and suggest an explanation of the fatal
lack of continuity of plan. During the years since the
conference considerable...”
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Page 22
“...22
china mission year book.
and of his many successors were celebrated in 1907 ;
many others, because they are unknown, will never be
celebrated at all. The opening and the awakening of
China are not unreasonably thought by some to be the
most important world events since Columbus discovered
America. In contributing to these great results no
agencies have been so potent as those which have accom-
panied the introduction of Christianity, but as yet its
real influence has only begun.
Largest and most fruitful of the many tasks before
the Christian church of the twentieth century is to be
the uplift and the regeneration of China.
Arthur H. Smith....”
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Page 26
“...26
CHINA MISSION YEAR B06K.
tion in favour of the Manchus, for an undue proportion of
Presidents has been Manchu, whilst the Vice-presidencies
have not been evenly divided. The duties of the Boards
were not at this time clearly defined, but %t the heads of
each Board and Court [were] hereby ordered to study
the matter, and after due consultation with the Grand
Council report upon the same to the Throne for
sanction." A fortnight later a full list of appointments
to the new or re-established offices was issued as an
Imperial decree.
This decree and its dependent appointments repre-
sent the state of things as in the spring and summer of
1907. At this time a number of changes took place in
official circles. The central figure was Yuan Sliih-k'ai,
around whom were grouped Tang Shao-yi, Yang Shili-
hsiang, Chou Fu and Chang Pao-hsi. Another group,
however, attached itself to Chang Chih-tung. At this
time Yuan Shih-k'ai had just resigned the High Com-
missionersliip of Army Reorganization and...”
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Page 29
“...IMPORTANT EDICTS AND GOVERNMENT CHANGES. 29
k'ai had previously informed the Throne of the working
of a limited form of local self-government in Tientsin,
and it is thus seen that most of his recommendations
were adopted ; and the year closed with general amity
amongst the officials in Peking, though there was con-
siderable student effervescence in the provinces.
The first quarter of the year 1908 had only one
important decree to record when, 011 12th March, the
Throne "strictly ordered the Board of Justice and the
Court of Cassation, as well as Viceroys and Governors,
to instruct the officials under them charged with judicial
duties to try cases with all expedition and in an impartial
manner," and also ordered that the judges and other
officials in Peking and the provinces should be selected
properly from persons who are learned and have sound
judgment," though no means by which such selection
should be contrived was provided. We may here note
the appointment 011 6th March of Chao Erli-hsun...”
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Page 31
“...IMPORTANT EDICTS AND GOVERNMENT CHANGES. 31
thing about their cooperation being the way in which
they had managed to set at rest the growing enmity
between Peking and the provinces. At the end of
August an Imperial Decree laid down a nine-year
programme for constitutional reform, its stages being as
follows :
First Year.Opening of Local Self-Government
Councils, enactment of self-government regula-
tions, adjustment of finances, and taking of a census.
Second Year.Putting in force of Local Self-Govern-
ment Electoral Law, announcement of regulations
for parliamentary representation, investigation of
provincial revenues, organization of Courts of Justice.
Third Year.Convocation of Parliamentary Repre-
sentation Councils, promulgation of new Criminal
law, experimental government budget, regulations
for official recommendations and fees.
Fourth Year.Promulgation of Local Court Laws.
Fifth Year.Issue of new regulations for Taxation and
announcement of new Government organizations.
Sixth Year...”
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Page 32
“...of an Imperial Decree concerning constitu-
tional reform, in which it was declared that the new
sovereign would adhere strictly to the plans laid down
by his predecessor and follow his programme (as given
above). That affairs were not going smoothly it was
not difficult to infer from the fact that Chang Chih-tung
was asking for leave of absence at the same time as
Yuan Shih-k'ai's memorial in favour of the establish-
ment of a responsible cabinet within a year was being
adversely criticized by the rest of the Grand Councillors.
The year closed in tranquillity....”
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Page 33
“...IMPORTANT EDICTS AND GOVERNMENT CHANGES. 33
* The year 1909 opened with sweeping changes. On
the 2nd January Yuan Shih-k'ai was summarily dismissed
and succeeded in his post at the Waiwu Pu by Liang
Tung-yeti, still the incumbent. The vacancy on the
Grand Couucil was filled by the appointment of Na
Tung, a Manchu, as Probationary Grand Councillor.
All this, according to the Decree, because Unexpectedly
Yuan Shih-k'ai suffers from pains iu his legs," and
" We wish to show him our sympathy." That dismissal
was a mistake of the first magnitude. Since the depart-
ure of Yuail there has been no head-aud-slioulders man
in Peking, and during the year that followed his
dismissal many strong men were removed by death or
dismissal. Chang Chih-tung died in the beginning of
October, and Sun Chia-nai, a sterling and safe, but not
an outstanding, man followed in November. Towards
the end of June the Chilili Viceroy, Yang Shih-hsiang,
died, and this weakened the forces at Peking, for Tuan
Fang, his successor...”
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Page 34
“...34
CHINA MISSION YEAJR BOOK.
ferred from the Yunkwei viceroyalty to take that at
Mukden. Later in the year Li Teh-hsun, the unscru-
pulous Director of the northern section of the Tientsin-
Pukow Railway, had to be removed, and as an indirect
result the perfectly honourable Lu Hai-huan was re-
moved from the office of Director-General. With the
dismissal of Tuan Fang from the Chihli viceroyalty in
November, Chen Kwei-lung was called to the north, and
his place at Wuchang was taken by Jui Cheng. Tuan
Fang had earlier in the year been succeeded at Nanking
by Chang Jen-chen, who had handed over the Governor-
ship of Shantung to Sun Pao-chi, thitherto for some
time Minister to Germany.
It is thus seen that more than half the nearest
advisers of the Throne were removed during 1909 by
death or dismissal, and half the heads of provinces were
also removed or transferred. It might therefore be
expected that the work of government would be inter-
rupted. It is quite certain that little real progress...”
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Page 35
“...parlia-
ment at an earlier date than was laid down in the pro-
gramme ; but the agitation proceeded as briskly as ever,
and it became necessary to issue on the 30th January of
this year, just before China New Year, a Decree reca-
pitulating what had been already done, what had been
the wishes of Their late Majesties, and again insisting
011 the good faith of the Sovereign: "We hereby
announce in respect to representative government that
when the nine years' preparation are completed and all
the people properly educated we will absolutely issue a
Decree to fix a time for Parliament to be summoned."
This did not prove sufficient, and on the 3rd February a
further Decree to the same effect was promulgated.
The matter of representative government may here be
brought to date by noting that on the 9th May of
this year was issued a Decree convening the Legisla-
tive Council for the first day of the ninth moon (3rd
November) and giving a long list of selections to the
Council.
During the mouth of...”
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Page 36
“...following a list of opium-smoking officials
was issued, but these were given another chance, being
allowed to retire for the time being in order to get rid of
the habit. On the 7th April of the following year an
Imperial Decree commanded the establishment of in-
stitutes iu which the cure could be effected, and on the
30th July several officials who were detected smoking
opium were cashiered. On the 20th March of last year
an attack was made on the poppy cultivation, and the
officials were exhorted to do their best to reduce the area
of land under poppy, whilst 011 17th June a further
examination of suspected officials was ordered. Since
that time no effort has been spared in the suppression
of the habit and the reduction of the crop.
An important Decree was issued 011 the 25th May
of last year calling attention to the serious lack of facili-
ties for primary education and ordering a universal ex-
tension of the primary school system, but with no funds
to carry out this work the Decree has been...”
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