09 WOMEN'S WORK AND WITNESS

Chapter 9 WOMEN’S WORK AND WITNESS

There is no country in the world where the symbol denoting happiness is so constantly before the eye as in China. But it requires no long experience to discover that Chinese happiness is all on the outside. We believe it to be a criticism substantially just that there are no homes in Asia. -- DR. ARTHUR H. SMITH.

IT is said of the mother of Mencius that she thrice changed her place of abode, in order that her gifted son might escape the contaminating influences of a bad locality. That such maternal solicitude for the moral training of her child should be singled out by Chinese writers for special remark only tends to show that amongst the mothers of China the opposite is the rule, abundantly proved by this solitary and classical exception. The definition of the ordinary Chinese mother, which one sometimes hears, as " an ignorant woman with babies " contains a due amount of truth to give point to the sarcasm. Indeed, amongst ourselves, the title of the children to full recognition may be said to be a Christian discovery of the last century. We need not greatly wonder, therefore, if in the East every child that comes into the world is looked upon more in the light of another " mouth " to be fed than as a soul to be trained. In the physical world the law obtains that water cannot rise higher than its own level. In the sphere of morals it is equally true that the heights of character are only reached where you have behind it the dynamic influences of noble motherhood. The whole case for the Christianising of heathen women could be made to rest upon this one argument alone, for until we have a race of Christian mothers in the homes, we despair of producing a high type of Christian character among the members of the native Christian Church of China.

Two factors enter into the accomplishment of this task. These are time and teaching. Converts are quickly made, but Christian character is of slow growth. We may plant a seed in a day, but we cannot build a temple in a day. Belief is easy, but the formation of character is the work of generations. Every missionary bears witness to the fact that the second generation of Christians is better than the first, and that the third will outstrip the second. But teaching is equally essential. Indeed it is of primary importance. And this task can best be accomplished by Christian women. They alone have ready access to the homes ; they best can disarm the shyness of their heathen sisters; they most powerfully demonstrate to the ignorant and superstitious mind the latent possibilities of their sex. The national opinion of women is probably as high as it can be where the emancipating touch of Christianity has not yet penetrated. Theoretically she has no standing at all; she is simply ignored. But practically she contrives to make her influence felt in a thousand different ways, and she succeeds, on the whole, in making her existence tolerably comfortable. We see this reflected in the written language of the nation. Each of the hieroglyphics in which the symbol for woman appears is a window through which we may look into the native mind and see how popular opinion regards her. Take a few illustrations. The word " home," which is unthinkable by us apart from the tender ministry of woman, is represented in the Chinese language by a pig under a roof. In most cases it is an accurate description of the Chinese home, which to our eyes is often little better than a pigsty. Of course the Chinaman does not mean to satirize his home. To him the pig is the symbol of " plenty." Yet it unconsciously sheds a lurid light on the domestic life of a people who have never yet learned the art of social comfort. Again, our sense of all that is sacred receives a severe shock when we discover that the word " marriage " is represented by a woman and a pig practically under the same roof. There is a certain grim humor in the combination, not without truth, if the wit of the gentler sex first gave birth to the conception. To a celestial, of course, it signifies merely the adding of a woman to his home. But it is in no real sense her home; it is his mother’s. Her role is too often that of an insignificant drudge. For " wife " is represented by the suggestive picture of a woman under a broom; while woman is the radical of the word " slave." " Peace " is one woman in isolation under a roof - a triumph of felicity difficult of accomplishment ; two women together conveys the idea of a " quarrel " ; three together means " intrigue " and " adultery " ; while woman under trees signifies to " covet " a fact that led the early Jesuits to speculate on the possibility of a time in the remote past when the Chinese may have heard of the story of Eden and the sin of mother Eve.

There is one character, however, in which woman, in combination with her male child, sums up to the Chinese mind the summum bonum. The birth of her firstborn son marks an epoch in the life of every Chinese mother. It signalizes her emancipation from a condition akin to slavery, and elevates her to a position of freedom and respect in the household. Such is the desire for male offspring, due probably to the religious importance of ancestral worship, that it has given rise to the widespread practice of polygamy. What the Chinese mother needs in that supreme moment of her life is the illuminating spirit of the gospel, to teach her how to take advantage of the new position given her in the home, and to enable her to put in force all the subtle influences of Christian motherhood in the training of her child. We shall never have noble men in China till we have enlightened women. The superior ignorance of the husbands is not seldom the chief obstacle to the advance of their wives. They speak of them continually as pen, that is, stupid, foolish, dull ; and the women have come to believe that they are so. To disabuse their minds of this sense of their own inferiority ; to get them to believe that they can learn, is the first step on the road to knowledge, and the only way to elevate national sentiment.

It is a significant fact that outside of the Christian Church there are no schools for girls in China, and only a few of even the better- class women ever learn to read. Of the great majority of our women converts it might literally be said that " faith cometh by hearing," though the efforts which they make, after conversion, to master the intricacies of the written language and acquire the difficult art of reading are most praiseworthy. Under the influence of mission schools a new type of woman is growing up in China. As girls they have received a fair elementary education. From the first they have been under Christian influences, and their characters have not been poisoned by breathing an atmosphere of superstition and prejudice, such as their parents inhaled. When such girls pass from the nursery of the school to the wider responsibilities of the home, they are able to acquit themselves in a manner that is sure to leave a powerful impression on the future of their children. The conversion of individuals here and there is a gain not to be despised ; but until Christianity permeates the life of the home, it cannot be said to have struck its roots deeply amongst any people. To accomplish this end, and to organize and carry on the educational machinery essential to its success, would seem to demand, in those who put their hands to it, some degree of trained teaching capacity no less than high Christian character.

Good work has been done in Manchuria in past years. In Haicheng, the energy and devotion of Mrs. Macintyre has woven a net work of educational agencies around that centre, whilst her womanly influence has been a potent factor in the elevation of the homes throughout the whole district. To spend a day in her compound a veritable hive of industry is to have one’s eyes opened to the future possibilities of the women of China. It is less easy to individualize in the other centers where the work is carried on by so many devoted workers ; suffice it to say that in Liaoyang, in Moukden, and in Kaiyuan, girls schools, reading classes, institutions for the training of Bible-women, and extensive medical work have been splendidly carried on. Where ever the influence of the lady missionaries has penetrated, it has lifted a cloud of darkness from the life of the home. They have been assisted in their labours by a noble band of native women, whose hearts the Lord has touched. These go out from the centers in all directions, either to teach in schools or to read the Scriptures in the houses, and tell their sisters of the love of the Saviour. If proof were needed of the reality of the change that has passed over the lives of these women, it could be found in the manner in which during the persecution of 1900 many of them suffered death rather than deny their Lord. Let two examples suffice. " One fine spirited woman named Hsiao, who was the soul of a part of the work in Kuang-ning, was seized. She was wealthy, and earnest in spreading the gospel. When the Boxer trouble broke out, she was a marked woman. The rascals had an eye on her property, and demanded it. The Deacon Wang, her manager, made his escape, but she courageously stood her ground, and said she was prepared to bear witness for the Lord who bought her. She was offered her life if she would recant. She refused, and only asked that they would kill her quickly.

She suffered death in the most cruel manner, but up to the last kept praying."

"A young woman named Yin was captured. As she was young and good-looking, her captor offered her her life if she would renounce Christ and become his wife. She replied that she had a hope of Heaven, and that whether she died or lived was of little moment. What is Heaven? said her captor ; if I kill you, what then? Then I shall go to Heaven at one step. As she was praying for her enemies, she was cut short with the assassin s sword. Her conduct made a great impression on the community " -- " Through such souls alone, God stooping, shows sufficient of His light For us i’ the dark to rise by."