Missionary life in Guangzhou in 1895 (translation)

American missionary to China in December 1895. Front A. I. Reverend and Mrs. Rob; behind Pastor and Mrs. Mark Bernie

These four missionaries (A. I. Pastor and Mrs. Rob and Mrs. Mark Bernie) were delighted to have completed their long sea voyage, which took twenty-seven days from San Francisco and arrived in Hong Kong on December 10, 1895. They have not yet entered China. Hong Kong was previously a Chinese port, but became a British colony in 1842 (6 words omitted) after the Opium War. It is a clean and orderly city with fairly wide streets and one of the most perfect ports in the world. Tropical plants everywhere. The city is full of Chinese, their shops, offices and residences.

Our Foreign Missionary Board has been in touch with the presbytery missionaries, so our missionaries have seen J. A. S. A. Presbyterian mission from Guangzhou. M. Swann and A. A. Pastor Fullerton waited for their letter. Dr. Swann merged with them that afternoon to assist them in purchasing necessities they had never thought of, such as bamboo shoots that shielded them from the tropical sun. Dr. Swann knew how to deal with Chinese businessmen and saved our missionaries a lot of money because they had not yet learned to "bargain." Dr. Swann took a night boat with them to Guangzhou and helped them get their luggage through customs there.

In Guangzhou, they found that in the foreign concession of Shamian, a house had been reserved for them; a cook and a "boy" who did not know English but had a little experience with foreigners had also been hired for them; and the language teacher had also made an appointment. Our missionaries were very grateful for the friendly acts of the presbytery members who had come to this field before them.

Shamian was once a sandbar in the Pearl River. When China was forced to make Guangzhou a treaty port and offer a foreign concession, she ceded the sandbar. The British dredged rivers, filled in the ground, built strong retaining walls, planted trees, dug wells, and laid sidewalks, thus turning sand into an attractive place, a triangular island about half a mile long and eighty-eighths wide, bordering the Pearl River on one side and the thirty-foot-wide canal separating it from the Chinese city of Guangzhou on the other. The canal is spanned by two bridges that are always guarded, and there is no Chinese is allowed on the sand surface, except for official duties, as servants, or by special agreement with certain inhabitants there. Foreign consular officers, merchants and some missionaries lived in Shamian.

As our missionaries open their bags in their new home and prepare to settle themselves, let's stop by and visit them. Their house was a Mediterranean-style building with two floors, thick walls and high ceilings, the type of dwelling that Westerners in that area usually had. They found that there was no storage room because anything stored in the shadows was susceptible to corrosion and destruction by termites. They could store clothes, bedding, and linen in wardrobes and wardrobes made of camphor wood; if they were not in camphor wood, they could sit in a foot-footed closet where they could stand in a jug of water, filled with water mixed with kerosene. For these men were missionaries, they had books; they were advised to apply poisonous paint to all the spines of the books so that cockroaches would not eat the books. Yes, these housewives were indeed terrified of cockroaches in their homes, but they were finally beginning to accept the fact that even the most careful housewives in the whole of South China could not keep their houses from pests.

Our missionaries began to live in a land of rivers, ponds, canals, drainage canals, rice paddies, all mosquitoes, cockroaches, and all the favorite breeding grounds of all these creatures. Anopheles mosquitoes, the spreaders of malaria, are common, but it is only by understanding its dangers that the understanding of its dangers has slowly penetrated into the general Western population. The doors and windows of several rooms were obscured by mesh. Each bed must have a mosquito net, hanging from the frame of the bed, and every time you go to bed, it must be tucked around the bed. When summer comes, these mosquito nets can make beds unbearablely hot. But when our missionaries arrived in December, a mosquito net was like a shelter against not only mosquitoes but also spiders, a large number of flying creatures, and even small lizards running around the walls. Spiders are numerous and many are huge—their legs stretched out to cover the palm of an adult's hand—and they live in dark corners and under furniture. However, spiders and lizards should be considered accomplices, as they both eat mosquitoes.

Only one or two centipedes or scorpions will find their way into the dwelling. But swarms of tiny "sand mosquitoes" flew around under desks and countertops, ready to bite any leg they touched. Fleas are on the move. Our missionaries will soon have to face the fact that living in that place in the world will be an endless battle with all kinds of pests.

Perhaps thankfully, they didn't leave us any record of their conflict with two Chinese servants who "didn't know English but had some experience with foreigners." Servants are both blessings and trials. Our missionaries came from middle-class families and were therefore accustomed to hard work. None of them were used to using servants. But labor is cheap here. The cook's monthly salary is 5 yuan – Chinese currency, about half the value of the US dollar. He procures food, prepares food and usually brings it to the table, and he keeps the kitchen, dishes and cooking utensils properly clean, and is responsible for thoroughly boiling all drinkable water used or in contact with food. It takes a long time to buy something, for example, if there is no long haggling, you may not even be able to buy a few peanuts. Because Chinese businessmen, who think that all foreigners are rich, always suddenly raise the price of anything foreigners want to buy. Let a Chinese do the purchase, because the cheaper price he can get is likely to save more per month than his monthly salary. Even so, it is well known that only a very loyal servant would not squeeze himself a little "oil" from this aspect.

The "boy" was to be scrubbed and scrubbed everywhere in the dwelling; he was to carry water, or to draw water from the Pearl River or from a well in the sandy surface. He would run errands, such as sending and receiving letters, or passing messages back and forth with other missionaries and business people. He earns a monthly salary of 4 yuan in Chinese currency. If there were no servants hired, our missionaries would have little time to do anything other than housework and the various activities of daily life.

Like other Chinese cities at the time, Guangzhou was completely devoid of any type of public health facility. The missionaries wrote shocking letters of ubiquitous filth, smells, diseases, and so on. Their house faces a canal that has become a dumping point, a sewer sink, a laundry place, and a source of nearby food water. One morning, a few days after they had been in the house, they were horrified to find a dead baby girl who had been thrown into a canal and drowned that night floating under their windows. This experience is experienced many times because it is a common practice.

Because only a handful of Chinese knew a little English, the missionaries were helpless until they could learn to speak, read, and write the local language. For Westerners, this is a difficult language to learn, and Cantonese is more difficult to learn than some other Chinese dialects. In a way, it's a very natural language. Each word has only one syllable, and there are no changes in tense, sex, lattice, or number. “Last week I go.” “Today he go.” Western toddlers learn it easily and like it more than English, but adults accustomed to the more complex grammar of European languages find Cantonese difficult to learn.

Many meanings are expressed in reverse order in English. Chinese surnames are always listed first, then the first name, then the title. In English we say, "Sir-Jones" or "Doctor-James White". In Chinese, it is said, "Mr. Jones-Sir" or "White-James-Dr."

There was only one (third) personal pronoun in Chinese, so people had to judge whether they were talking about "he," "she," or "it, depending on the context. On the other hand, they go deeper than we do to elaborate on some of the situations. Take, for example, our comfortable English word "bring". We say "Bring hot water," "Bring the trunk," "Bring your wife." In Chinese one must use a special word that describes the method brought. There is a word for something to be carried by a handle, such as a suitcase or a bucket; if it can be carried on the shoulder with a "carrying rod", it is another special word; and if it means "your wife is invited to come with you," you say.

Cantonese has a smaller pronunciation difference between certain consonants than In English; for example, the two "P" sounds in our word "paper", the first is sent to the breath, and the second is not sent to the breath. The Chinese began to speak many words in an unspeakable consonant, and Westerners had a hard time even listening, let alone speaking. Perhaps the most difficult feature of Cantonese for Westerners to learn is "tone," the use of tone. If a person speaks in an awkward "tone", he is saying something that is not his intention. (21 words deleted)

Written language is also not easy. There is no alphabet system; every hieroglyph, the "font," is a word of a syllable, and a sign of meaning, not a symbol of sound; in fact, the word has nothing to do with the pronunciation of the word. So, just like Arabic numerals, no matter where a Chinese character is written it always means the same thing, and it doesn't matter what language or dialect it pronounces. Some Chinese characters are quite figurative. For example, the word "good" meaning "good" or "pleasant" or "profitable" is made up of both male and female. The font as "believe/letter" shows a person standing next to his or her words. The font that serves as "peace/an" is a woman under a roof.... But most Westerners have completely unknown meanings, so they must rely solely on rote. The right-hand side of the book is the front. The font is written in vertical lines; it starts on the right-hand side of the page and then reads down from the right-to-left column.

Another difficulty with written language is that it is not colloquial but very polite. The difference between everyday spoken and written language can be compared between our children's primary reading book and Shakespeare's play. Just as our little children are not expected to understand Shakespeare, the uncultured Chinese never expect to understand any words read to him from a book—the words of a book must be explained to him in a language he can understand. This is one of the difficulties with which the Bible reaches different classes of people. The Bible is translated into the "literal language," that is, the written language with laws, but people without culture cannot understand it. It has also been translated into everyday language, but the educated class really does not like this translation. People without culture do not like both translations; they prefer their traditional habit of having someone read it to them in their language and then explain it to them in their everyday language.

A small problem for our missionaries was the choice of Chinese surnames, as there were no synonyms for Chinese that matched either Markball or Rob. They decided to adopt the well-known Chinese surname, Liang instead of Mark burr and Chen in place of Rob Chinese.

Mr. Mark Bernie, shortly after his arrival in Guangzhou, wrote in a letter dated December 24, 1895, writing:

We are advised to devote ourselves to learning Chinese for half a year before attempting any direct missionary work, and then begin with more or less continuous expeditionary trips in the Guangzhou area. Our work had to be slowed down; in less than seven years, none of the missionaries dared to think of themselves as Chinese, even though they actually began their work about eighteen months after arriving in China...

We have not suffered from the great deficiencies of the missionaries of fifty years ago. We have spoken to some missionaries who have recently been expelled from the interior (23 words deleted)...

Then a few days later, Mr. Mark Bernie wrote to his sister:

Around us day and night there are all kinds of "sampans" where "water dwellers" live. It sounds more like a county bazaar than anything else. Their hog market is just across from us, where they load them on ships, so there are times of that roar every day. It sometimes seems as if everyone in the "China Millions" has raised a pig with a small tail and long ears with the intention of raising their own food... We have taken our first lesson in Chinese... I'm going to convey to you a phrase that "kills foreign ghosts" – "kill ghosts." When we crossed those streets, they shouted at us like that. I didn't mind it until I understood the statement, and now I hear it a lot.

The stay in Guangzhou was an important transition between life in the United States and the beginning of their own missionary work, because like all other Westerners, our missionaries had a lot to learn. They must learn to patiently accept the eastern laid-back gait; hurry is not an attribute of Chinese. If they want to work with Chinese and win them over, they must understand Chinese etiquette, customs, and concepts. "How old are you?" "What's your salary?" "How much did you spend on your shoes?" "Your ring?" "Your watch?" "How long have you been married?" "Why don't you have children?" These missionaries must know that such questions come from the ordinary and natural questions of Chinese servants and teachers who do not see the reasons why someone answers them in complete silence.

Many things that are clearly inconsequential can become puzzling. If that chef wanted to take an afternoon off, would he ask for it? He was more likely to have the "kid" ask for it for him. This is a deep-rooted Chinese tradition of "middlemen". Don't deal with things directly; with the help of "middlemen". While it annoys Westerners, if they want to get along with Chinese easy, it's something they have to accept. There is also the matter of "saving face". Be careful even if you correct the servants, lest they feel humiliated and "disgraced."

Our missionaries often crossed the bridge from Shamian into The City of Guangzhou, initially with someone who spoke the local dialect; they felt a great sense of accomplishment when they were able to walk on their own into the streets of that Chinese city. The general characteristics of Guangzhou are about the same as any other Chinese city at that time. The streets are narrow, with some places paved with bricks or cobblestones, others filled with tampied mud. In residential areas, high walls stand on both sides of the street. Chinese homes, with a few exceptions, lead to courtyards surrounded by high brick walls. From the street you will not see a yard with flowers and plants at all. Once inside the yard, you can spot it laid out, and you can see flowers and bonsai. Chinese love flowers and gardens, but few people can afford to use this land that is just beautiful. Every inch of usable land must produce food or something for income —a few cabbages, a bush of bamboo, a fruit tree. Most of the stalls Chinese are fronted with items for anyone to see. Some businesses have only a few square feet of frontage shops, and some have large areas. The fish stalls may be next to the shop selling baskets, or they may be next to the tea shop. Shops that sell silk, ivory and other valuables are usually behind secure doors.

Of course, it's fun to observe the locals. Regarding clothes, Chinese wear some kind of loose pants, and women's are very different from men's. The top is a loose coat, and there is a clear difference between men and women. Some men wore long shirts about the middle of their calves; they were educated men, teachers, students, wealthy merchants, and men of the intellect. Some of these men had at least one to two-inch fingernails to show that they would not engage in any form of manual labor. Each man and boy wore long stranded hair, braided in braids, as a sign of loyalty as prescribed by the ruling Manchu Qing Dynasty. When a man is at work, he usually braids his hair around his head; otherwise it loosens and hangs down.

There were children everywhere, of course, their hair was usually tied with red rope, and every little boy had a braid. They are lively, noisy, and likable, just like children around the world. It was natural to want to make friends with them, but most of them fled away from foreigners in panic—so many sinister rumors had been told to them. Some mothers fear that there will even be "foreign ghosts" attached to their children. At a safe distance, the children would shout "Kill the ghost".

The Chinese nation seems to be a diligent and intelligent nation that can legitimately rely on manpower to accomplish some work that seems difficult to do. There is almost no mechanism anywhere conspicuous; everything is done with strong shoulders or dexterous hands. Exquisite embroidery and brocade, carved ivory, jade and woodware, brilliant cloisonné, delicate silver and bronze, elegant magnetics – all these things that are available in the store are all made by hand slowly and patiently. In fact, you can give a Chinese craftsman any item for him to copy, and he can copy it accurately. Usually Western objects Chinese not very careful, so they are not sure how to copy them correctly. There is a fascinating story of a Westerner who ordered 6 new pairs of pants from a Chinese tailor. He gave the tailor a pair of old pants that had been patched up as a model. Those 6 new trousers are exact replicas of that style, the patches, and everything.

At that time, Chinese society seemed to have no middle class. Wealthy ladies, dressed in silk and wearing pearl hair ornaments and emerald bracelets, could be seen sitting in their private palanquins being carried through the streets. These poor people, because they were wrapped in a very small size, had been compressed into strange shoes about three inches long since childhood, and their feet might not even be able to stagger through a narrow street. (Original note: The custom of wrapping girls' feet was banned in the early twentieth century.) At the other extreme, the whole family, even the very young children, can be seen doing all kinds of hard work such as carrying bricks and stones for construction sites, and the mother and possibly the eldest daughter often carry a baby on their backs in addition to carrying bricks. The number of rich people seems relatively small; for most people, the struggle to get the most basic necessities of life is a never-ending struggle.

Our missionaries soon learned the "haggling" that Chinese business people have always wanted. Merchants, coolies, or gondoliers always start quoting at several times the amount he wants. The customer counter-offers a slightly lower price than he wants to pay. The two sides repeatedly haggled until they reached a price that was satisfactory to each other. It usually takes a lot of time, but without Chinese it used to seem rushed.

Politics is in turmoil. China has been ruled since 1664 by the Manchu Qing Dynasty (21 characters deleted). This government is exclusive and opposed to anything like a change of order. The Chinese name for their country is Middle Kingdom; it means the center or axis of all the other earth that revolves around it.

To give the reader a better understanding of some of the things that will be told in this story, we cite some passages from Earl Herbert Cressy in his book Understanding China:

(579 words deleted, all cited content deleted)

China was grieving under the yoke of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Guangzhou is reportedly a hotbed of rebellion. Just the week before our missionaries arrived, a secret plan to seize power from the officials was discovered, but that plan was foiled. Reading history reveals that Sun Yat-sen was one of the leaders in this secret plan. A few years later he became the first president of the Republic of China.

Above all, our missionaries were involved in the religious life of the Chinese. They saw that the people were trying to be religious; they worshipped many idols and deceased ancestors. A man must have a son to sacrifice to him after his death; if one wife has no son, marry another, and if he can afford it, maybe more; and let all wives live in one family with their children. Christians will have a hard time imagining what Chinese family life is like. Every evening, when the people were dutifully worshipping, the air was filled with the strong smell of burning incense. (14 words deleted).

Our missionaries were quite eager to begin preaching and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. But they were advised to take their time. They were told that the missionaries who had been forced to leave the field had left because of the mistakes they had made when they were unfamiliar with the working methods.

(Chen Shiru translated from Alice Elizabeth Rob's book "Opening the Door")

Note: The translation deleted possible "discomfort" and deleted a total of 708 words.