China: Its State and Prospects

Front matter

CHINA: ITS STATE AND PROSPECTS,

WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO

THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL:

Introduction

INTRODUCTION.

The writer of the present volume was sent out by the London Missionary Society, in 1816, to labour for the benefit of China.

The fundamental principle of this Institution is, that "its design is not to send Presbyterianism, Independency, Episcopacy, or any other form of church order or government, about which there may be a difference of opinion among serious Christians, but the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, to the heathen; leaving it to the minds of the persons whom God may call into the fellowship of his Son from among them, to assume for themselves such form of church government, as to them shall appear most agreeable to the word of God."

In conformity with this principle, no question was ever asked, or direction given to the author as to his personal views of church government, or what form of ecclesiastical polity he should adopt, in the event of his labours being successful abroad. After residing at Malacca and Penang for several years, he settled in Batavia, where he collected a congregation, and built a chapel for the worship of Almighty God. In conducting the services of the sanctuary, he invited and obtained the assistance of Gospel ministers from various communions; and when a church was formed, the members who joined it drew up and signed a constitution, in which, after stating their belief in the Inspired Oracles as the only sure ground of faith and practice, they acknowledged the standards of the English, Scotch, and Dutch Reformed Churches, as exhibiting those views of Christian doctrine, which they considered the most in accordance with the revealed will of God. Based on this broad principle, the society of Christians thus collected together, though originally of different communions, consented to lay aside their denominational prejudices, and unite on the safe ground of our common Christianity; while Episcopalian, Presbyteterian, Baptist, and Independent ministers alternated with each other in the performance of religious services, and the celebration of the holy sacraments. The native church connected with the mission has been established on the same principle.

Should the author and his esteemed coadjutors ever succeed in introducing Christianity extensively into China, they purpose spending their utmost energies in spreading the simple Gospel through that important empire, without wasting themselves in dissensions on non-essential points, which have so long and unhappily divided the Christian world. It is on this ground alone that they can confidently look for the blessing of the great head of the church, and claim the countenance and co-operation of Christians of every name. So great is the work, and so feeble the energies that can be brought to bear on it, that we have no time "to fall out by the way;" and it is a pleasing feature of the Protestant mission to China, that hitherto the agents of various societies, the members of different communions, and the representatives of distant hemispheres, have consented to merge their national and denominational prejudices, and to join heart and hand in making known the great doctrine of justification by faith, to the sceptical and superstitious Chinese. May brotherly love continue; and may one strenuous and persevering effort be made, till the millions of China be brought under the influence of Christianity!

But it is necessary that the author should give some account of the origin and nature of the following work. Having been called upon, in the year 1835, to undertake a journey along the north-east coast of China, in order to ascertain whether or not that country was open to the Gospel; and having kept a record of passing events, he contemplated, on his return, the publication of a journal, with some brief remarks on the situation of foreigners in Canton, and the state of the native Christian community there. In the course of his tour through England, however, to plead the cause of missions, he found it necessary to dilate more at large on the political, moral, and spiritual condition of the Chinese, and to relate in order the efforts that have been made for their evangelization. These statements having been listened to with some interest, and awakened a sympathy on behalf of China, the thought suggested itself that, possibly, the feeling thus created might be extended and perpetuated by a publication, embracing the general state of China, and its state and prospects, with especial reference to the diffusion of the Gospel.

The most important feature in the condition of that country is its population; about which so many different opinions have been held, and for the benefit of which Christian missionaries so ardently long and labour. The question of amount, therefore, is discussed, and the suggestion thrown out, that probably the highest census given of the Chinese people is the right one. Their civilization and political state next demand attention; and some references are made to their singular language and the state of education among them. As we contemplate the introduction of a new religion into the country, it is natural to enquire, what are their present views of divine and eternal things, and to shew the defects of their own systems as a prelude to the recommendation of another. Before treating on the recent efforts of Protestants to evangelize China, it was thought necessary to allude to the previous exertions of other missionaries; and therefore the devoted, self-denying, and persevering labours of Syrian, Nestorian, and Catholic Christians are briefly enumerated. The missions to Canton, the Straits, and Batavia, are then severally described; and the attempts to carry the Gospel by means of Scriptures and tracts along the coast of China are delineated. This review is concluded by appeals for more agents and increased facilities for the vigorous prosecution of the work, as it is only when we use the appointed means that we can consistently look for the Divine blessing on our labours.

The short time that could be spared for preparing this work for publication must necessarily have occasioned many defects in point of style and arrangement. Sent forth when very young on this important mission, occupied during his whole stay abroad in studying foreign and difficult languages, and accustomed to write and speak for the benefit of Mahomedans and heathens, it can hardly be expected that the author should be skilled in European composition. Public engagements, for the first year after his return to England, called him incessantly from home; and it was only during the retirement of the last winter that he has had the least opportunity for arranging his thoughts on the subject now discussed. Being about to quit his native country during the present summer, to revisit the scene of his former labours, it was necessary that he should begin to print almost as soon as he began to write, in order to have the book published before his departure. He must cast himself, therefore, on the indulgence of the public, hoping that the circumstances under which the information contained in this volume has been collected and communicated, will be a sufficient apology for the many omissions and incongruities which may appear. The critic will perhaps survey with a lenient eye the productions of the foreign missionary, who, by his residence abroad, in regions where the human mind has been long stationary, has not been able to keep pace with the improving spirit of the age. Any observations, however, on his matter or manner, made in kindness and candour, will be thankfully received, and should the work reach a second edition, be carefully improved upon.

Some discrepancy may appear between the diffusiveness of the first few chapters, and the conciseness of other parts of the work; but it is honestly confessed, that, finding the matter grow upon his hands, the author was obliged to condense before he had reached the middle of the volume, and to leave out many interesting particulars regarding his own travels in the Malayan archipelago, in order to introduce what had more especial reference to the evangelization of China. Some difference of style will also appear between the descriptive and narrative parts of the publication; but it was thought better to give the views and impressions of the moment, than to abridge them of their interest by presenting them in a more laboured style.

As it is, with all its imperfections, the author commits his production to the candour of the benevolent reader and the blessing of almighty God; hoping that this feeble attempt will be instrumental in awakening an interest on behalf of China, and in promoting the spread of the Gospel in that populous and interesting empire.

In conclusion, the author would gratefully acknowledge the assistance kindly afforded him by the Rev. Drs. Reed and Burder, of Hackney; while he would state the obligations he is under to the following works, which he has consulted in the course of his labours; viz.: Sadler's Law of Population, Milne's Retrospect, the Chinese Gleaner and Repository, Morrison's Dictionary, and View of China for Philological Purposes, Du Halde's History of China, and the Reports and Chronicles of the London Missionary Society.

Hackney, May 1, 1838.

Chapter 1

CHINA:

ITS STATE AND PROSPECTS.

CHAPTER I.

CHRONOLOGY AND EXTENT.

THE EVANGELIZATION OF CHINA CONTEMPLATED—GENERAL SCOPE OF THE SUBJECT—ANTIQUITY OF CHINA—PARTLY FABULOUS—NOT CREDITED BY CHINESE WRITERS—THE TRADITIONARY PERIOD—THE ANTE AND POST-DILUVIAN AGES—THE HISTORICAL PERIOD—THE SEVEN YEARS' FAMINE—THE CHINESE SAMSON—THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE—CONFUCIUS—LAOU-TSZE—THE BURNING OF THE BOOKS—THE BUILDING OF THE WALL—SUBSEQUENT DYNASTIES—THE CYCLE—THE DOMINIONS OF CHINA—ORIGINAL POSSESSIONS SMALL—TERRITORIES ENLARGED—THE ANNEXATION OF TARTARY.

Before entering on the prospects of China with regard to the ultimate diffusion of the Gospel, it may be well to offer a few remarks on its former and present state, as introductory to the consideration of its future destinies, and with the view of encouraging those exertions which, by the Divine blessing, may result in its universal evangelization. The conversion of the Chinese to the Christian faith must be viewed as an object every way desirable, and some observations on so important a theme from the pen of one who has long devoted his energies to this work, may not perhaps be considered altogether unacceptable.

In contemplating the evangelization of China, the field spreads itself out before the mind, as one of vast extent and interest; the importance of cultivating this field appears to be of incalculable magnitude; the difficulties which threaten to impede the progress of Divine truth in those regions ought not to be overlooked; while the existing facilities for conducting a series of operations for the benefit of that interesting people should be allowed to animate and encourage us. An allusion to what has been done, to what is doing, and to what remains to be done, may not be unsuitable; and a prospective view of the contemplated results, when these designs shall have been fully carried out, may properly conclude the whole.

China demands the attention of Christian philanthropists, with regard to the antiquity of its origin, the extent of its territory, the amount of its population, and the advance of its civilization. In nearly all these respects we shall find that it rises superior to every other unevangelized country, and stands forward with a prominence, which bespeaks it the greatest of pagan nations.

Commencing with the early history of China, we may be allowed to correct an error into which many have fallen, relative to the assumption of an extravagant chronology by the Chinese. It has been generally supposed that the Chinese maintain an antiquity of myriads of years, and that their historical records, stretching far back into the vista of more than a thousand ages, are at such variance with the comparatively recent account of Moses, as to oblige us either to question the one or the other. This was, at one time, gladly caught at by the sceptics of Europe, and they thought that they had discovered, in the high antiquity of the Chinese, combined with the Hindoo and Egyptian races, an argument which threw discredit on the chronology of the Bible, and weakened the evidence of its Divine authority. The fact, however, is, that the Chinese, like most other heathen nations, have a mythological as well as a chronological period; the one considered by themselves as fabulous, and the other as authentic; the one connected with the history of their gods, and the other with that of their men. In the former they speak of their celestial emperor, who reigned 45,000 years; their terrestrial emperor, who reigned 18,000 years; followed by their human emperor, who reigned as long: without condescending to enlighten us as to the names, characters, events, or circumstances of these wonderful individuals, or their still more extraordinary reigns; nay, without so much as telling us whether their dominions were established in heaven or on earth, or whether they referred exclusively to China, or included other nations. In short, the vague account they furnish us of these fancied emperors shews that they were merely the figment of the imagination, introduced to supply a deficiency, and to amuse the credulous. Indeed, so little credit is attached to this fabulous period by the Chinese themselves, that one of their most respectable historians, Choo-foo-tsze, does not venture to allude to it; but, passing by these extravagant assumptions, commences his relation at a much later period, when events and circumstances of a connected character stamp the records of the age with greater marks of credibility. Another Chinese historian, named Fung-chow, remarks, "How is it credible that more than 10,000 years elapsed before the yang, or 'superior principle,' was produced, and the heavens spread; and that 10,000 more elapsed before the yin, or 'secondary principle' was produced, and the earth formed; that 10,000 more passed away before the yin and yang united to produce the various material existences; and, further, that 40 or 50,000 years more passed away, before the process of the two principles was finished, and the sages appeared! Such a tale is contrary to all sense and reason. From the time of the sages Yaou and Shun to the present age is not more than 3000 and odd years. How can it be believed that 40 or 50,000 years elapsed after the formation of the heavens and the earth, before man appeared, or the earth and water were adjusted, and food supplied to human beings? or that, if the world had existed so long, these things should not have been arranged before Fŭh-he and his successors? It is evident that Pwan-koo, the first man, according to the fabulous records of the Chinese, who acted at the separation of heaven and earth, could not have been long before Fŭh-he, perhaps a thousand years, certainly not ten thousand; and the time of Fŭh-he must have been very near Yaou and Shun, perhaps a hundred years, certainly not a thousand. No scholar should decline a thorough enquiry." Sze-ma-tsëen, another very celebrated historian of China, does not record anything relative to the three emperors above mentioned; how much less then might he be expected to refer to Pwan-koo, who is placed before them.

Thus Chinese authors of the greatest reputation agree in considering the first part of Chinese history as entirely fabulous. Whilst, however, we fully coincide with them in this opinion, we cannot help, on a review of their brief allusion to this period, suggesting the idea, that the whole is probably based on some indistinct recollections of the theory of the creation. Of the first man, they say, that soon after the period of emptiness and confusion, when heaven and earth were first separated, Pwan-koo was produced; his origin is not ascertained, but he knew intuitively the relative proportions of heaven and earth, with the principles of creation and transmutation. During the supposed reign of the celestial, terrestrial, and human emperors, they allege that the year was settled, the months and days arranged, and the hills and rivers divided; all which may be but distant allusions to the formation of the heavenly bodies, and the settlement of the earth and waters.

The next period of Chinese history is that which is said to have elapsed between Fŭh-he and the sages Yaou and Shun, which the Chinese denominate the age of the "Five Rulers," and at which Choo-foo-tsze begins his history. There is much difference among historians as to the arrangement of this era, and Choo-foo-tsze himself says, that "several things affirmed of this epoch were all pushed up by people who lived in subsequent ages." While, therefore, we might be unwilling to give full credit to what Chinese writers say of the events of this period, it is not improbable that much of it is drawn by tradition from the correct account of the antediluvian age handed down by Noah to his posterity. The coincidence of ten generations having passed away, the institution of marriage, the invention of music, the rebellion of a portion of the race, and the confused mixture of the divine and human families, closed by the occurrence of the flood, in the time of Yaou, might lead us to conclude, that in their allusions to this period the Chinese are merely giving their version of the events that occurred from Adam to Noah. When Yu ascended the throne, the lands were drained, and China became habitable. About this period wine was discovered; Yu tasted it, and found it sweet, but rejected it, saying, "at some future period wine will occasion the ruin of the country." If now we should consider this to be a description of the antediluvian period, down to the age of Noah, traced according to Chinese recollections, and illustrated by Chinese fancy; and if we should account Yu to be the first founder of the Chinese empire, we should then be assigning them a very high antiquity, without giving any countenance to the extravagant pretensions which their fabulous writers have assumed. These thoughts are merely thrown out as suggestions, in which some sober and judicious men have concurred, who have considered the highly wrought relations of the times of Yaou and Shun as mainly imaginary not according with the state of improvement in other parts of the world at that period, nor even with the condition of China itself, at subsequent epochs of her history.

If then we consider Yu to be the first real character in Chinese history, and place the beginning of his reign at B. C. 2204, or one hundred and four years after the flood, about the age of Peleg, when the earth was divided, we shall find that it just gives time for such an increase of the human family as would admit of emigration, and yet allow for China being in such a state of marsh, as to require draining for the sake of culture, which service was ascribed to the labours of Yu. Thus the empire of China, even when deprived of its fabulous and traditionary periods, is still very ancient; the Chinese must have branched off from the great human family immediately after the dispersion, and travelling to the farther east, settled down on the borders of the Yellow River, coeval with the establishment of the Babylonian and Egyptian monarchies. The mention made in their early history of the draining of the land, as one of the first acts of the primitive rulers of China, and the allusion to the discovery of wine about the same period, shew that their first kings must have synchronized with the immediate descendants of Noah; and the recorded fact that a seven years' famine took place in China nearly coeval with that of Egypt proves that their chronicles are entitled to some degree of credit. Thus, ere Rome was founded, or Troy was taken—before Thebes or Nineveh were erected into kingdoms—China was a settled state, under a regular form of government; with customs and institutions, similar in many respects to those which it possesses now.

From that time to this, revolutions and wars have frequently occurred; the country has been exposed to foreign invasion, and torn by intestine commotion; dynasties have changed, and the people are even now subject to a Tartar yoke,—yet China is China still. Her language and her customs remain unaltered; and the genius and spirit of the people are the same they were in the patriarchal age. No nation has undergone less change, or been less affected from without; and they seem to have grown up as distinct from the rest of mankind as if they had been the inhabitants of another planet; retaining all their peculiarities just as much as if their exclusive wall had surrounded their whole empire, and debarred all others from intercourse with them. Those who are accustomed to attach veneration to antiquity, will probably regard the Chinese with some degree of interest on account of their patriarchal character; and those who love to survey human society in every possible stage, will be gratified with the contemplation of it, as it existed not only centuries, but milleniums ago. The modern kingdoms of Europe are but of yesterday, compared with the Chinese; and though western nations have grown rapidly since their origin, yet they cannot look back to any very distant period, when their ancestors laid the foundation of their present greatness, and established systems which still exist and characterize their populations. The Chinese, on the contrary, have derived their veneration for parents, and their subjection to rulers, with the arrangements of domestic life, from the first founders of their monarchy; and embody in their present conduct principles which were laid down four thousand years ago.

A few allusions to Chinese history may not be amiss here. Of the great Yu, the founder of their first dynasty, B.C. 2204, they write, that "seeing his father had been put to death, for not completing the work of draining the waters, he applied himself more assiduously to that undertaking, which kept him from home thirteen years; and though during that period, he thrice passed his own door, he would not enter. When he was appointed ruler, he rose ten times from a single meal to listen to complaints, and thrice tied up his hair while in the bath, to attend to some urgent affair, with the view of encouraging his people to an instant and energetic devotion to business."

Of Ching-tang, the founder of the second dynasty, B.C. 1765, the Chinese write, that "he ruled the people gently, and abolished oppressions, complying with the predilections of the multitude, so that all parties reverted to him. In his days, the seven years' drought occurred; the principal scribe observed, that prayer should be offered up. Ching-tang said, 'I only wish for rain on account of the people. If prayer will avail, I will present it myself!' He then fasted, and cut off his hair and nails, riding in a mourning chariot; and binding white reeds around him, that he might represent a sacrificial animal, he went forth to the wilderness of mulberry-bushes, and invoked, saying, 'Let not the lives of the people be forfeited, on account of the neglect of one individual!' He then acknowledged his six faults, saying, 'Is it that my government is extravagant? or that the people are not properly attended to? or that my palaces are too lofty? or that my ministers are too numerous? or that presents are too frequently sent? or that sycophants abound?' He had scarcely ceased, when the rain fell, to the distance of several thousand furlongs."

At the close of this dynasty, B.C. 1153, the tyrant Chow presided over the empire; he is said to have been endowed with supernatural strength, so as to be able to conquer the fiercest beasts, and yet he was deluded and ruined through the fascinations and extravagances of a wretched woman. It is very remarkable, that the age of this individual should agree so exactly with that assigned, in sacred history, to Samson.

The founders of the third dynasty are described as virtuous, patriotic, and brave, exterminating the tyrant of the preceding dynasty, and scattering the wealth and provisions which hee had accumulated among a starving people. About this time, B.C. 1121, foreign ambassadors came, from the modern Cochin-China, to court, presenting a white pheasant to the emperor: on returning they missed their way, when the prime minister furnished them with a "south-pointing chariot," by means of which they reached their own country after a year's journey. Thus we see that the polarity of the needle was known and applied to useful purposes in China, at that early period.

In the twenty-first year of the emperor Ling, of the third dynasty, B.C. 549, Confucius was born, in the state of Loo, now the province of Shan-tung. He had a remarkably high forehead, on which account his name was called Kew, or "hill." One of the nobles of his native state, when on his death-bed, addressed his posterity, saying, "Confucius is a descendant of the sages, and must certainly understand human nature; when I am dead, let my children repair to him for instruction." When Confucius was in the Chow country, he went to Laou-tsze, to enquire about propriety. Laou-tsze said, "a clever merchant conceals his stock, and appears empty; so an advanced scholar puts on the appearance of stupidity." Confucius, addressing his disciples, said, "There is something remarkable about Laou-tsze." When he was nearly fifty years of age, the ruler of his native state. Loo, employed him to govern a certain district: he had not been thus engaged above a year, when the surrounding nobles began to imitate him. His sovereign said, "Had I not better follow your example in the government of the Loo country?" Confucius replied, "With such principles you might pacify the world, how much more the Loo country." In a few years, Confucius became the prime minister of his sovereign; but seeing his prince carried away with the love of women and music, he resigned his office, and quitted Loo. At the age of seventy- five, he died. The writings compiled by Confucius and his followers are the most ancient Chinese records that have been handed down to the present time. Some of these are, professedly, collections of earlier documents, and refer to the traditionary period of Yaou and Shun, as well as to the times of Wan Wang, B.C. 1120; but it is more than probable, that some of the odes and speeches, collected by Confucius, were merely traditionary notices, found in the mouths of bards and statesmen, and not documents actually committed to writing before his time. Confucius' history of his own times commences with the reign of the emperor Ping, B.C. 720, and is as much to be depended on as the recitals of the Greek and Roman historians;—it not only bears on itself the stamp of credibility, but laid the foundation of all the subsequent historical works which China has produced. The well known "Four Books" are written by the followers of Confucius, and contain an account of the sayings and doings of the sage and his immediate disciples, something similar to our Gospels and Acts, or as has been observed, corresponding to Boswell's Life of Johnson.

It is very singular, that China should have given birth, at the same time, to two remarkable men, differing essentially in their doctrines and views, each the founder of a system of religion and morals, which has overspread and divided China, from their days to the present time. These individuals have been already referred to, viz., Confucius and Laou-tsze, and their interview with each other recorded. Though they seem to have had a respect for each other, yet they do not appear to have combined or coalesced in the plans they laid down for the instruction of posterity. Of Confucius it is said, that he never spoke of the strange and marvellous, and sought to fix men's attention on the duties of the human relations; while the other inculcated a contempt for worldly greatness and domestic happiness—placing the chief good in mental abstraction, and professing to deal much with the spiritual world. The one erred in being too sceptical, and the other in being too superstitious; yet they have both retained their hold of the mind of China, even to the present day, and it is difficult now to say, which system is most prevalent throughout the empire.

About the same period, Buddhism arose in India; and though it did not immediately spread into the ultra Gangetic nations, it diffused itself rapidly on its subsequent introduction, and now exerts as great an influence over the minds of the vulgar as the other two sects do over the learned and the superstitious.

A little more than two hundred years before the Christian era, China became subject to a fourth dynasty, called Tsin, from which Chin, or China, the name by which that country is known in the western world, is probably derived. The ruler of Tsin conceived the insane idea of establishing a dynasty, which should extend from the beginning to the end of time. With this view, he collected and burnt all the records of previous ages, and buried alive four hundred and sixty learned men, wishing to make posterity believe that the dominion of the world commenced with himself, the first universal emperor of China. The object of obliterating all remembrance of antiquity was, however, defeated by the subsequent discovery of the books of Confucius, in the wainscot of an old house; and the intention of perpetuating his rule to succeeding generations was also frustrated by the demise of his son, only two years after his own death, by which means the empire passed into other hands, and his dynasty became extinct. Though the writings of Confucius were recovered, yet they were much injured, and, in many parts, defective; which has greatly detracted from the integrity, intelligibility, and, in the opinion of some, from the credibility of the whole.

During the life-time of this monarch the famous Chinese wall was erected, in order to keep out the Tartars, who then infested the northern frontier. Almost every third man was drafted, throughout the empire, for the accomplishment of this undertaking; and being but poorly supplied with provisions, many of them died in the work. Hence the Chinese call it, "The ruin of one generation, and the salvation of thousands." However true the first part of this sentence may be, the latter is not so exactly correct, as the Tartars have several times invaded China, notwithstanding their wall, and are now in possession of the empire. Still it is a stupendous work, stretching over fifteen hundred miles of country, crossing hills and rivers, and provided with gates and towers, at certain intervals, so that if well manned and guarded, in a country where artillery is seldom employed, it might still be serviceable in keeping out an enemy, were not the dreaded Tartar hordes now on both sides of the wall, and in possession of the palaces and capital of the empire. The name of the first ruler of the Tsin dy nasty is, however, held in detestation by the Chinese.