Lin, Arthur. The History of Christian Missions in Guangxi, China. In Studies in Chinese Christianity, edited by Carol Lee Hamrin and G. Wright Doyle. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2020.
Written in a lively but concise style, this book contains hundreds of quotations from eyewitness observers, both Chinese and foreign, that add immense descriptive value to the narrative. The author deploys these descriptions copiously and brilliantly both to illustrate his points and to provide academic depth to his study, making it extremely valuable as a resource for understanding foreign missions not only in this province but all over China.
1 The Land and Its People
The author opens with an introduction to Guangxi (formerly spelled Kwangsi), a province notorious for bandits, violence, and rebellion, as well as wild animals and deadly diseases. The oppressive heat in summer also felled many a missionary. Disastrous wars in the 19th and 20th centuries brought horrible suffering to people of all sorts, including foreign missionaries.
Though stunningly beautiful, the mountainous terrain of the province offered abundant hideouts for bandits, often called “robber bands” by missionaries. Many were former soldiers who had grown tired of delayed or insufficient pay. One missionary said of them, “I have never seen such wicked men in my life. . . . I could never have believed that men and women . . . could sink to such utter depths of depravity” (7).
Travel in Guangxi was incredibly difficult, causing extra hardship for everyone, including missionaries. River pirates, rapids, and bandits added to the danger. One missionary wrote that Guangxi “will always be remembered by many missionaries as the place where they were robbed, or kidnapped, while trying to reach their inland homes on the upper reaches of this beautiful, yet dangerous stream” (the West River) (8).
People in Guangxi spoke Mandarin in the north and Cantonese in the south.
As in Hunan, they were notorious for their virulent anti-foreign feeling, especially against missionaries, who were often openly threatened with death for preaching the gospel. Any mishap was blamed on them for angering the gods or upsetting the local feng shui (literally, wind and water; that is, the placing of buildings and especially tombs in propitious locations). Missionary doctors faced powerful opposition sprung from a fear that they were practicing magic or even killing children.
On the other hand, superstitions of all sorts dominated their poor lives. Various “gods” demanded absolute obedience, which might include exposure or even death for babies if they were thought to have brought bad luck. Idol worship consumed a huge portion of their income. Social problems abounded, such as drug use – extremely common in the province – wife beating, infanticide, gambling, and bound feet. Women were treated like commodities, slaves to be bought, sold, and exploited.
Gradually, modernization came to Guangxi and transportation made life and ministry much easier for the missionaries. Better government brought greater safety, too. Some vices were outlawed.
2 The Early Years
Roman Catholics first entered Guangxi in 1577, but the following centuries saw only slow growth, mostly owing to rabid anti-foreign sentiments. Imperial proscription of Christianity in 1724 forced missionaries and their converts into hiding for more than one hundred years. In the nineteenth century, French aggression in what is now Vietnam impacted the province as well. When France defeated China in the First Opium War, foreign missionaries received new protection, which allowed them to construct buildings and organize churches, but aroused immense resentment in the hearts of the people. This connection of French imperialism and the Roman Catholic church greatly hindered their missionaries all over in China, but especially in Guangxi.
3 1866-1925
Enter the Protestants
During the next fifty years, several missionary societies entered Guangxi, but only four established a strong presence: the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA), Southern Baptists, the Church Missionary Society of the Anglican Church, and the English Wesleyans. Despite serious obstacle, illness, and many deaths, they persevered in pioneering work.
By 1922, “seventy-six missionaries from these and other societies were serving in Guangxi. Two-thirds were concentrated in the cities of Wuzhou, Guilin, and Nanning. They had plowed, sown, and reaped. Converts had been made, churches planted, and outstations set up in new territories. Numbers had grown and advances had been made in winning hearts and acceptance of many local people.”
4 1925-1937
Anti-Foreign Movement up to the Japanese Invasion
Starting in 1925, “a severe wave of anti-foreign sentiment swept through China. There were various causes of this upheaval,” including: Communist agitation, anti-imperialist rhetoric of the Nationalist Party until 1927, several incidents in which Chinese were killed by foreigners, and student movements directed against Christianity in particular.
Chinese pastors and Christians sometimes distanced themselves from the missionaries. On the other hand, though the church was smaller, “It was purified by the fire through which it had passed, and was more spiritual. Now it increased with greater vigor than before, and self-support made great strides” (47). Outreach to minorities increased, and more mission societies came to expand the effort to reach the unreached with the gospel.
5 1937-1952
War with Japan through the Missionaries’ Departure
From 1937 through 1945, the invasion of China by the Japanese “had a widespread, crushing effect on Guangxi . . . by all accounts, the Japanese were merciless and ruthless in their bombing and invasion of Guangxi (and China as a whole)” (49). Bombs not only destroyed buildings, including churches, but killed thousands, striking fear into the hearts of the population. When the Japanese army entered, more suffering ensued.
Many missionaries obeyed their consuls’ orders and evacuated the province or the nation entirely. Others stayed on but found their life and work severely hampered by the violence and disruption of war. Medicines weren’t as available as they had been before, transportation suffered disruption, and church members scattered to safer locations.
A couple years after Japan’s surrender, civil war between the Communists and the Nationalist government exploded to engulf the whole country. After the Communist victory in 1949, all missionaries were eventually expelled, leaving the Chinese church to stand on its own feet.
One mission leader commented, however: “If we recollect that missionaries went out to preach the Gospel to win converts, and so to found a Church, then we may, in some sense regard them as scaffolding” (as J. Hudson Taylor had said long before). “We can truly rejoice that the building in Kwangsi-Hunan can now stand without the scaffolding” (53).
The remarkable growth of Chinese Protestants over the next five decades proved that God had, through the missionaries, planted a church that would not only survive, but thrive, under fierce persecution.
6 Inter-Societal and Missionary Relations
Though competition among Protestant sending agencies existed, in general, “the bulk of evidence from the literature indicates friendly relations between missionaries of different societies” (54). The author adduces many examples of mutual help and support, as well as of prayer meetings held jointly for the overall mission of the church to Guangxi.
Fundamental disagreement about major doctrines and church practices prevented Protestants and Roman Catholics from having “close” bonds, but on a personal level their relations were often “quite friendly” (56).
7 Notable Missionaries
In this moving chapter, the author provides brief biographies of some truly outstanding missionaries, including Robert Jaffray, Rex Ray, Rhoda Watkins, Walter Oldfield, and Bill Wallace.
Reading these, one is struck by the courage, faith, self-sacrifice, perseverance, ability, and long-lasting impact of these remarkable people.
8 Mission to Specific Population Segments: Minorities and Students
Guangxi is home to many ethic peoples, who retreated to its mountain areas after being defeated by the advancing Han armies. Missionaries called them by various names, such as “tribes,” “tribesmen,” and “aborigines.” For a long time, little missionary work was done among them, despite a strong desire to reach them.
The reason: There were too few missionaries, and the logistical and linguistic difficulties involved in reaching the tribes.
The Zhuang were, and are, the largest of these minority groups.
Walter Oldfield of the CMA spent some time among them and reported sadly, “They live, they die unreached, unhelped, and unheeded. For decades they have been groping in the darkness; for decades more they will have to grope unless some one comes to give them the Message” (71). Oldfield eventually incorporated Zhuang speakers in his pioneering trips to northwest Guangxi.
At first individuals, and then whole villages turned to Christ. Once again, the author illustrates his narrative with compelling stories of how God worked in and through people, especially the Zhuang themselves, to grow the church. By 1941, the CMA wrote that “the Zhuang were ‘the most responsive to the gospel at present’” (74). Oldfield wrote later that “the Spirit of God seems to be doing a work among the Chuang tribesmen similar to the way He is working in other places” (74).
Still, the Christians numbered only about .03 per cent of the total Zhuang population in 1935, so much work remained to be done.
Yao
Missionary literature also often mentioned the Yao people. They seemed to be the most “wild, simplehearted, and isolationist” of the tribes. Angry at their subjugation by the Han around 100 B.C., they often revolted.
Once again, Walter Oldfield “had the most direct contact with the Yao,” being the first white man to enter their district” around 1917 (76). In 1919, a breakthrough came when a Yao chief and his assistant became Christians through Oldfield. In 1921, Oldfield started a boys’ school in a Yao village. Around 1930, Chinese Christians began taking more responsibility for the evangelization of the Yao. Some graduates from the Wuzhou Bible School entered service to the Yao, with good results. In general, visitors to them reported that the Yao were very friendly. In 1936, Oldfield cited the names of ten Yao tribes and claimed he had visited all of them.
Nevertheless, despite encouraging progress, which Lin relates with moving stories, in 1950 the CMA noted that the Yao were still “practically unreached by the gospel” (78).
Miao
Oldfield described the Miao as the “perhaps the lowest in the social scale, as the most illiterate, destitute, and inaccessible,” suffering from extreme poverty (79). He spent time with them and traveled to their villages, but none of the missionary societies established a permanent work among them, although Samuel Pollard of the CIM witnessed a remarkable movement among the Flowery Miao in Guizhou.
Dong
The Dong did not believe in any mainstream religion but were very superstitious and afraid of demons. They were without a missionary witness until the Rev. and Mrs. Desterhaft visited them, settled among them, and learned their language. Ther response was meager, but missionaries and Chinese Christians continued to try to reach them. The Desterhafts persevered and saw a “limited awakening” that encouraged them. Opposition from officials slowed the work, but they kept on until Desterhaft’s health failed him. The war against Japan and the Communist takeover of China further hindered the growth of the church, so that in 2003 no church could be found among them.
Reading these narratives, one is struck by the courage and persistence of missionaries like Oldfield and the Desterhafts, as well as tribal and Chinese believers who braved immense odds to bring the gospel to the Dong and other minorities.
Missionaries also tried to reach Muslims, with limited effects.
More fruit was harvested among students of all ages, as almost all the societies established schools and reached out to university students through special ministries.
9 Missionary Methods and Ministries of Compassion
Both Roman Catholics and Protestants employed a variety of methods to spread their message.
These included evangelistic preaching in the open air and in tea shops, in preaching halls, and along the roads. Colporteurs, who were Chinese paid by the missionaries, distributed Scriptures and Christian books far and wide, both selling them and giving them away. They prepared the way for the evangelists who would come after them, and diffused some knowledge of Christianity among the general population.
The majority of people could not read, however, so the impact of literature was limited, especially among women. To compensate, other methods were used, such as singing, reading Scripture, and having people memorize parts of the Bible.
At evangelistic meetings, the “magic lantern” was used with great effect, as pictures enlivened the oral communication of missionaries and Chinese evangelists. Bells and musical instruments like the accordion drew people also. Sometimes the presence of a foreigner brought curious folks. Special occasions, like festivals, market days, and Chinese New Year provided opportunities for presenting the gospel to people who were in a good mood.
Always, the prospect of Chinese going into a Christless eternity impelled evangelists and others to expend every effort necessary to bring the good news of salvation to those who would otherwise never hear.
“Bible women” were particularly important, for they could gain entry into homes where men could not go, and they could spend time with women, who were not allowed to talk with men. They served also as “personal assistants, literature distributors, girls’ school teachers, and preachers to those waiting in hospitals” (96).
Securing locations for meetings proved difficult, because many people did not want to host missionaries, either because they did not want to help foreigners or because landlords or neighbors might trouble them if they did. Once the missionaries found a place to rent in a town, they used it as a preaching hall, chapel, dispensary, and, often, a school for boys or girls. Missionaries would live there and then go into the countryside to preach or heal the sick.
From the beginning, missionaries emphasized medical work, both as a means to express the love of Christ and as a way to dispel fear and overcome barriers to the gospel. Almost always, medical treatment went hand-in-hand with oral presentations of the gospel to patients and their caregivers. By the end of the period, eighteen hospitals and leper colonies had been established in Guangxi by missionaries.
All mission societies engaged in church planting, though they did not talk about it as much as current missions strategists do. Usually, the main station was associated with a church. Traveling missionaries preached also on a rotating basis in outstations. The goal was always to found a church that was supported by local believers. The CMS had no “Native agents,” desiring instead to inculcate in the Chinese a sense of responsibility for their own congregations and workers. The CMA had plans for tapering off their financial support for churches and Chinese workers.
Education and training were always priorities for missionaries. Between 1874 and 1949, Protestants had established over 120 schools of various sorts and levels of education. In all cases, they were superior to local Chinese schools, which focused primarily on the Chinese Classics.
The CMA’s Wuzhou Bible School was the largest Protestant training institution. A.B. Simpson said it was “perhaps the most valuable agency of the mission in South China” (104), for it provided many qualified workers for the work of the gospel.
In 1927, the government began to require that all Christian schools register with the authorities. Religion could be taught, but it could not be compulsory. Some missions submitted to this requirement, while others closed the schools’ doors rather than to lose their freedom.
Ministries of compassion were another major feature of Protestant missions. Aside from regular schools, there were also schools for the blind and orphanages. Famine assistance helped to relieve suffering and to demonstrate God’s love. In stark contrast to non-Christian Chinese, missionaries and Chinese Christians cared for lepers and for victims of war from both sides. During the Japanese war, refugees flooded Guangxi. Missionaries and Chinese Christians led the way in caring for them with food, medicine, and shelter. In private, missionaries urged their converts to give up the practice of foot-binding.
Always, the salvation of souls stood as the pre-eminent goal and objective. Ministries of compassion were meant to give tangible expression of God’s love for people and to open doors for evangelism. Sadly, those who received material and physical help often failed to value the spiritual motives of the missionaries; they merely enjoyed the benefits given to them through Christian compassion.
10 Challenges, Costs, and Martyrs
“The history of Christian missions in Guangxi is one of sacrifice. The costs affected every facet of life: physical, material, social, psychological, spiritual, and every combination thereof” (113).
The oppressive weather, especially the extreme heat and moisture, was debilitating, particularly in the summer. It affected language study, living, health, and work.
Social costs included “Chinese attaching themselves to the church for political reasons; a ‘commercial spirit’ affecting all who were accepting the new ideas; the methods used by Roman Catholics causing bitterness among the Chinese; unrest and uprisings” (113, quoting Broomhall in Celestial Empire, published in 1907). The mountainous terrain made travel extremely difficult, hazardous, and tiring.
Mission properties were seized, looted, demolished and burned by bandits, anti-
Christian mobs, warlords, government troops, Japanese, and Communists. The Japanese war especially wreaked havoc throughout the province and caused great devastation. Mission workers often suffered from lack of finances, notably during times of inflation.
Missionaries endured separation from loved ones, struggles in cultural adjustment, the death of family members on the field, as well as anxiety and stress during periods of war and violence. They were shocked to witness cruel tortures and executions. Rejection by anti-Christian mobs and citizens pained the hearts of those who had given all to serve the Chinese. Beginning in the 1920s, the antiforeign climate intensified, and targeted Christians, especially foreign missionaries.
Learning various dialects of Chinese was difficult enough, but mastering any of the tribal languages was even harder. Superstitions and cultural differences had to be overcome by patient teaching and intelligent use of language and actions. Taking Sundays off from work proved almost impossible for most Chinese. So did the missionaries’ insistence that Christians must not marry a non-believer.
All too often, the missionaries had to endure stoning, mobbing, expulsion from their homes, riots, wartime violence, famine, pestilence, kidnapping, and harrowing experiences at the hands of their captors. Not a few died from illness or were murdered for their faith.
Nevertheless, the author vividly documents the faith-filled response of the missionaries, who almost universally thanked God for the privilege of serving him, despite the cost.
Fear of ostracism or worse kept too many nominal Christians from sharing the gospel with their families and friends, though some exhibited extraordinary courage and zeal. We must remember that during the Boxer Rebellion more than thirty thousand Chinese Christians lost their lives nationwide.
To discourage shallow conversions, some missionaries deferred baptism until after a long period of catechism.
11 Receptivity, Results, and Evaluation
“Receptivity levels waxed and waned throughout the history of Christian missions in Guangxi” (128). Though in general the various peoples did not receive the gospel as well as in some other parts of China, there were periods of growth. Steady increase for Protestants took place from 1910 to 1925, during and after the war against Japan, right after the Communist takeover, and again in the years since the “Reform and Opening” campaigns begun by Deng Xiaoping around 1978. Growth has been exponential since 1985.
Still, this province contains a lower percentage of Christians than almost any other place in China, and large areas of it are still mostly unevangelized and unreached.
Reviewer’s evaluation
The History of Christian Missions in Guangxi, China is one of the finest books I have read on the missionary movement in China.
Its strengths include clarity of style and organization, admirable conciseness, comprehensive treatment, fairness and balance, and illuminating analyses of all facets of Christian missionary work. If you change the names of persons and places and note the differences in receptivity in various parts of China, this slender volume could almost stand as a history of Christian missions, including much Roman Catholic activity, in the entire nation.
The preceding summary has given only an outline of the contents, of course. To me, the heart of this history is the inclusion of dozens of quotations from missionaries, selected from many types of sources. These put “flesh” on the “bones” of the skeleton the author so splendidly describes for us. He has done the reading public a huge service in combing through countless individual and denominational letters, journals, periodicals, and books to allow us to see, feel, and almost taste what the missionaries experienced.
If any more evidence were needed than the hundreds of excellent publications on Protestant missions in China already available, this brief account decisively refutes most of the criticisms so loudly voiced by both Christians and non-Christians.
I would highly recommend this book as an initial text on the history of Christian missions in China, an introduction to longer and more comprehensive works. As such, it is almost a “must read” for all those interested in how God used frail and faulty human instruments to establish what has been called “the Chinese church that will not die.”
Wright Doyle
Disclosure: Wright Doyle is Co-Editor of Studies in Chinese Christianity and read and commented on an early draft of the manuscript.