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Contents

1. The preaching of the Gospel to the millions of China - The danger of underestimating the mentality of the hearers-"You've got to explain your millennium to people, Billy"
2. Knowledge of China and her people is growing, but perhaps lopsidedly - he origin of the race one of the mysteries of the earth - Confucius the contemporary of Cyrus and Pythagoras-China's great men and rulers, good and bad-The main features of Confucian teaching - The Sage's private opinions
3. The religion of the Chinese - The 'Vox populi not ignored - Reaching back through ancestors to the great powers of Heaven - The clear-cut ethics of Confucius and the wayward mysticism of Lao Tzu-Tao and the "Tao Te Ching" - Some illustrations of it-" Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish" - Lao Tzu's views on war, and some of his whimsies
4. More about Tao, as described by Dr. Lionel Giles - Prince Hui's cook-Cutting up a bullock on Taoist linesChuang Tzu-Lao Tzu's most gifted follower-His antagonism to Confucius - Some illustrations to give an idea of his mind - "What man knows is not to be compared with what he does not know" - His dream and its moral-His belittlement of Yao and Shun - The parable of the sacred tortoise - Dialogue with a skull
5. The best Confucianism and the purest Taoism shared one praiseworthy characteristic, the contempt for Mammon - Buddhism comes on the scene and takes firm root in China though severely persecuted in early days, but later on loses grip - Muhammadans in the Far East - They took the Koran to China but left the sword behind - The ultimate effect of Islam was to limber Chinese ideas of foreign nations - A short sketch of the influences of native and foreign religion and philosophy in China before the advent of Christianity
6. The daily lives of the Chinese - Solidly and splendidly self-supporting and self-sufficing throughout the ages - The north and south contrasted - To this day Chinese industry and efficiency challenge the whole worldThe beauty of their simple lives in agricultural China -Mr. Werner's touching tribute to their ceremonial observances-The God of the Kitchen and the God of the Hearth - The "unmechanical" gaiety of the Chinese-Arts and crafts in the villages
7. The advent of Christianity - Nestorians at Hsi-an Fu, a city in Shensi province, in A.D. 781 - Dr. Alex. Williamson's description of the Nestorian tablet - Father Ricci and the early Catholic Missions - The Protestant arrivals in the beginning of the nineteenth century - English and Scottish missionaries, reinforced by Americans, Germans, Hollanders and other nationalities - The earlier Catholic teachings a foundation for later day Protestantism - Some Christian doctrines that appeared unseemly to the Chinese - Curious distortions of the Christian Faith in Chinese minds - The danger of preaching a great deal more than the Gospel
8. Protestantism in China-Its lack of any Central Authority, i.e., no Pope! - Professor William James and "Varieties of Religious Experience" - The three classes of missionaries: the scholarly, the enthusiastic . but untactful, and those whose good intentions are handicapped by want of discipline and training - Robert Morrison and the early pioneers - A sketch of his life and influence in China - His noble struggles - Faithful unto death - Some account of the Lin-tin incident (1822-1823) - The Chinese Governor, Captain Richardson, R.N., and Morrison argue it out
9. The opening of the five Treaty Ports: Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai - The cession of Hong Kong after the war of 1840-1843 - The progress of Protestant Missions, I834-1861 - Apostles with red whiskers and blue eyes liable to be misunderstood as "foreign devils" - British Consuls often embarrassed by the "dauntless'' behaviour of over-zealous missionaries on "up-country" excursions - Medical m1ss1ons, their strength and weakness - The missionary schools for girls: some unexpected results in Chinese homes - The instructive tale of Peggy and Fiona-Poultney Bigelow on the efforts of the U.S.A. to evangelize China - The inherited hatred of the Puritan for Popery poured out on the bewildered Chinese
10. The eighteen seventies - The Chinese begin to study Western languages, especially English - The fruits of the Tree of Knowledge analysed and examined - The West stands revealed to the Chinese and "loses face" in the process - The awakening of keen minds to the slowly disintegrating forces of Christendom - St. Paul on Mars Hill nearer to them than the street preaching of the modern missionary - Friday fasts for Catholics, and no hot dishes on Sunday for Protestants, equally incomprehensible to the Chinese as religious tests - The clash of New Testament teaching and missionary propaganda in China - A Sabbatarian tragedy
11. The religious history of Europe, between the Council of Nicea and the beginning of this century - What must the Chinese think of it all? - Further Christian "tangles" - Can we expect the Chinese to discriminate? - The effect of foreign criticism - Mr. R. F. Johnston's "Letters to a Missionary" - A stouthearted Rationalist in the lists - The Christian God a "hideous monster"
12. The Protestant indirect arguments in favour of Christianity fail to convince the Chinese - European politics, speculative science and the worship of" progress "leave their best intellects cold - A British Consul-General's timely plea for more circumspection by foreign teachers - The Chinese not impressed by increased knowledge of Western cities "with the lid off" - The white woman as depicted in the "Movies" and in the bathing scenes of the illustrated papers - As the old amah said: "No got trousers, no got shame" - The danger of connecting Christianity with political propaganda - The astonishing outcome of the National Christian Council
13. The disillusionment of the Great War - The Chinese see the Christian nations slaughtering one another in the name of their common God - The aftermath of the war - Britain's breach of honour with Japan to please the U.S.A. - Its consequences throughout the Far East -The Russian Revolution and its Illuminist sympathizers in Europe add to the confusion worse confounded
14. China and the nations - Dr. Sun Yat-sen's "Three Peoples' Doctrine'' as explained by his chosen successor, Mr. Wong Ching-wai - The campaign against so-called Imperialism - The Russian Revolution claimed as a powerful help for China, with the practical result of disintegration and bloodshed all over China-Still, in the long run, the Chinese will reassert the principles of peace and commerce - The spread of the Student Christian Movement in China a hopeful sign
    

L'Envoi

Index

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