Shandong
Background
The missionary presence in
the province of Shandong was undoubtedly great and its relationship to the
rising of the Boxer movement within this province has been continually discussed.
It seems necessary initially, though, to consider the more general aspects of
this Chinese province, such as its geography, economy and social formations.
The area is characterized
by its vast expanse of flat land across the North China Plain and the flood
plain of the great Yellow River. The alluvial flood plain held its advantages
of hugely rich and fertile soil, though at the same time the threat of flooding
and the problem of salinity tended to outweigh these advantages. The area was
renown for cereal agriculture and a vast quantity of impoverished villages that
formed a very densely populated area. The average density of the population per
square kilometer on the plain was estimated to be around 250 persons.
The climate of the province
provided hot and humid summers followed by cold and dry winters with an annual
rainfall that showed massive variation. This variation in rainfall could pose a
great problem to a community so reliant upon it and lacking in a man made
irrigation system. The power of drought was seen in 1876 when the lack of rain
resulted in the death of nearly two million people. 93% of the regions'
inhabitants were peasants, reliant upon unrewarding agriculture and rather
dangerously dependent on the weather.
The region was also one
characterized by banditry particularly it seems in retaliation to the power of
landlords or presence of the Western powers, including the missionaries.
Equally responsible, however, for this banditry was the extent of salt
smuggling and opium production that took place within this province.
The Arrival of the West
In 1862 the Port of Yantai,
on the Shandong Peninsular, was opened to western imports and trade, a
significant blow to the already declining industries of the province. Clearly
Western motivations were fundamentally commercial, however it became clear that
missionaries were to play a vital role in 'opening' china to the West.
Early Missionary
Activity in Shandong, 1320-1650
Although active missionary
presence was not truly effective until the 1630s, it was certainly in existence
as early as 1320. Reports of a Nestorain Bishop in Jinan during the time of the
Moguls and a missionary by the name of Oderic de Pardonne have been recorded at
this early date. It was in 1650, however, that the Italian Franciscans
established a permanent church in the area and Catholic conversions were
recorded to have been near the figure of 1500 in 1659. By the end of the
nineteenth century, 6638 Chinese had been baptized in Shandong.
The 1724 Rites
Controversy
Conflict between the
Chinese Emperor and the Papacy resulted in the banishment of the Christian
religion from China in 1724, whilst allowing missionaries to remain in Beijing
however. Despite this official prohibition, conversions were still apparent as
the religious activity moved underground and the figure was recorded to have
reached 2471 by 1765.
Conversions in the
Nineteenth Century
In 1844 the French secured
an Edict of Toleration of the Christian Religion with the Chinese, the Province
acquired it own vicariate and conversions were seen to increase with great
pace. In 1850 the number stood at 5736, by 1887 it reached 16,850 and by the
1890s as many as 47,221. At this stage missionaries were living in Shandong
representing American Presbyterians, Southern Baptists, English Baptists,
French Protestants and Scottish United Presbyterians.
Conditions and survival
Rate
In these early years
conditions suffered by the western missionaries proved to be very harsh, often
devastatingly so. Such variation in living conditions, weather and nutrition
took its toll on the state of health of many of the westerners. The rate of
mortality of missionaries was high. Of the ninety-eight missionaries who worked
within the province in the first twenty years, fifteen died and forty-three
abandoned the field fairly swiftly. Reports from missionary correspondence gave
accounts that certainly discouraged many from the field; 'Parents will sell
their children and even kill them for food. The famishing dispute with the dogs
over the bodies of the dead for something to sustain life. Every possible
article even to the roof of the houses is sold to buy food. No rain has fallen
here and the dust lies thick on the roads portending only continued famine.'
Progress was inevitably slow, particularly in West Shandong, though missionary
work involving famine relief did allow their work to spread with greater ease.
Catholic Missionaries
A clear distinction arose
between the methods and influence of the Catholic missions as opposed to the
Protestant. The Protestants were certainly less disruptive and the aggression
of the Catholics can be easily described when considering the German Society of
the Divine Word. The head of this society, Johann Baptist von Anzer was
established as Shandong's first Bishop and his role was own that clearly proved
the rather aggressive and nationalistic approach of the foreign missionaries,
or the Germans in particular. As one S.V.D. missionary wrote, 'From the very
first, Bishop von Anzer had concentrated his attention on the cities...Tsining
was of special importance in the Bishop's eyes since it was the commercial
capital of the province of Shantung, and it might also be regarded as an
advance post for capturing the holy city of Yen-fu.'[i]
The literature of this society has been extremely useful in establishing the
attitude of the westerners towards the Chinese and the relationship between the
missionaries and those they attempted to convert. 'The crudities of Chinese
life revolted him' was a comment made on one of the society pamphlets
concerning Anzer's successor, Augustine Henninghaus. Much of the literature
showed an obvious dislike and distrust of Chinese society and it was this that
lead missionaries to believe that it was their 'Christian duty' to protect and
defend their converts in any disputes that may arise. It was for this reason
that the role of missionaries in Shandong came to be regarded with suspicion,
as they created an alternative power source that inevitably began to challenge
and even come in to conflict with the existing authorities or politics.
Missionaries and local
politics
Their rights of extra
territoriality protected the missionaries themselves, enabling them to be
immune from Chinese laws. This treaty also protected the rights of the
converts; as an attack against a convert could very easily be rephrased to
indicate an attack against Christianity. This very clearly created a structure
that could challenge or override Chinese policies. Converts clearly began to
develop an ulterior motive for joining the Church, particularly in an area
prone to banditry, the Western missionaries offered protection. There was clear
proof of this in the South West region of Shandong called Yizhou, as an S.V.D.
account maintained, 'This knowledge suggested to him the idea of becoming a
Christian in order to escape persecution as a member of a proscribed sect. When
he communicated this idea to others who were also in danger, the good news
spread like wildfire and before long thousands of those who had belonged to the
sects began requesting reception into the Catholic Church for themselves and
their entire families.'[ii]
Converts were also seen to join for economic reasons, again following the line
of protection that was offered by the missionaries. Food and clothes were
welcomed with much appreciation. Equally, the Church was witnessed to have
intervened between the peasants and their landlords in order to protect the
power of the tenant. A Shandong University survey stated, ‘In those days, if a
villager had been abused by someone, he would just convert. After becoming a
Christian he would not be abused. Some converted and even in years of a good
harvest they would give less rent and insist that their crops had been flooded
and that the harvest was poor.’[iii]
Calvin W. Mateer,
Presbyterian Church U.S.A.
Having considered the more general
aspects of missionary activity in the province of Shandong, it is perhaps now
more interesting to consider more closely the life of one American Missionary
in particular. The Presbyterian Calvin Mateer is renown in the field of
missionary work for his achievements in both teaching and in literary works. He
has been labeled as one of the ‘Three Great Pioneers’ of that church in
Shandong’s mission field, essentially as he founded the first nineteenth century
Chinese Christian College, Tengchow College.
Mateer
was born in Pennsylvania in January 1836. He was a mature child as the eldest
of all the children and from an early age possessed a great sense of
spirituality. Mateer received the offer of China as the destination of his
mission field without great enthusiasm, it was his last choice among all the
fields. Having failed to change the destination to his wishes of Africa or
India, Mateer set sail for China, together with his wife, on July 3rd
1863.
The first serious
hardship was to confront Mateer before he had even set foot on Chinese soil.
Mateer’s wife Julia never fully recovered form the six-month journey to China.
The first vessel lacked food and all religious members on it were treated with
contempt. The second boat that they boarded ran aground and they were then
forced to continue their journey in a lifeboat. Eventually they arrived in
Canton on January 15th 1864.
The issue of accommodation
was obviously the next to arise as the couple wished to settle in Tengchow
City. Chinese authorities were awkward and unhelpful in providing adequate
housing for the couple. The first few years were spent living in a broken down
and disused Buddhist Temple, the state of which caused Julia great rheumatic
problems. The nature of missionary accommodation has been criticized by many as
proof of Western cultural arrogance, and it seems that Mateer could certainly
have been targeted by this criticism. By 1876 the Mateer’s had built their own
residence which was considerably larger and more impressive than most of the
native homes that surrounded them. This was the first foreign style dwelling to
be built in Shandong and remained the home of the Mateer’s for the next
thirty-seven years.
Mateer’s reception was
rarely friendly and he recorded that in as little as two days ‘at least ten
thousand months’ had called him a foreign devil. His spent his initial years
mounted on a donkey traveling throughout the countryside visiting small
villages. He regarded traveling 250 miles in a month to be the norm and yet his
preaching was met too often by disinterested mobs. From 1873 Mateer reverted
back to preaching from a base in Tengchow.
In 1970 tension between the
missionaries and the native Chinese seemed to reach a head. Growing fear and
rumour had escalated following the Tientsin massacre in June. By July John
Nevius, a missionary working along side Mateer, went so far as to create a
petition demanding a U.S. Navy gunboat. The publication of anti-Christian
literature and propaganda was in full swing. On September 1st two
warships arrived and evacuated the missionaries to Chefoo. When returned in
late October together with the navy in was clear that the power of the West had
won a psychological battle and that the natives became considerably more
friendly.
Mateer has described one
episode in this early period that affected him most profoundly. A Christian
leader by the name of Miao had become particularly close to Mateer. In 169 Miao
moved fifty miles south of Tengchow in order to continue his preaching. After
months Mateer visited him and arranged for him to acquire his own chapel.
Within two weeks of Mateer leaving, Miao was arrested, charged with illegal
renting and for preaching ‘strange words which caused men to wonder.’[iv]
When Mateer next saw Miao he was in a collapsed state following a series of
beatings. The incident evolved to be one of Sino-Western relations and can be
used as an example of the overlapping authority or alternative power source
that the missionaries seemed to present. Mateer was able to draw the conclusion
that he should remain uninvolved with the Chinese power structure. He also
realized that the term foreign devil ‘expresses not so much hatred to the gospel
as it does the national enmity of the Chinese to foreigners.’[v]
From this point Mateer
committed himself more seriously to his ultimate aim; as he wrote in his
journal on arrival in Tengchow, ‘We have it in prospect to establish a school.’
The Mateers financially supported the small Tengchow Boy’s School, opened in
September 1864. For the first ten years the school was without a doubt a
resounding failure, with little enthusiasm and small attendance. However after
reorganization enrollment began to increase, from 22 in 1874 to 45 by 1880. The
children were taught science, geography, mental arithmetic and clearly a great
deal of time was concentrated on religious studies. The Mateers worked together
and became very fond of their students on an individual basis, educating them,
helping them to marry and then assisting them with jobs and other vocations. In
1882 Calvin Mateer received a helper, the Reverend Watson Hayes and the Boy’s
High School was elevated to Tengchow College. By 1882 enrollment had reached 70
where Mateer was forced to draw the line; popularity had increased to such an
extent that Mateer was able to introduce entrance examinations. The college was
without doubt a success in that it produced the self-sacrificing individuals
that Mateer had hoped for, people prepared to give their lives to creating a
Christian China.
Mateer’s career in Shandong
was one that is still shown great respect in the missionaryand Christian world;
his individualism, optimism and his physical endurance were highly commendable.
It seems fitting to conclude with words from one of Mateer’s final letters,
‘The dark and discouraging days are over and the future is bright with promise.
As I look back over the first 25 years of my missionary life, it seems like a
troubled dream. The last fifteen years have wrought wonders in China. Old
customs and prejudices are giving way. The bright dawn of better things is upon
us. The most conservative and immovable people in the world, persistently
wedded to the old ways, are getting used tonew things….Why in the providence of
God the gospel of salvation has not long ere this reached the oldest and
greatest nation is an unexplained mystery. These unconverted millions of the
Mongolian race will presently come into their inheritance of truth and grace,
and then who shall say what they will become, and do? Their fecundity, their
physical stamina, their patient persistence and intellectual vigor, are factors
that will count in the worlds future history.[vi]’
Laura Webb