The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 74

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14

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Two of our missionaries recently returned to the
States on sick-leave and will not return to their
former work in China. Our mission could ill afford
this loss. The number of Christians now in active
connection with our mission is 322, of whom 236
are communicants. Besides these there are 179 cat-
echumens. In our schools, from the primary schools
to the seminary, we have a total enrolment of 466
students. The number of our native Chinese
workers is 8%. We are doing work in 14 chapels.
Our Sunday-schools are attended by 240 children.

Whether or not the contention of some Sinologs
is correct that “the land of Sinim,” Is. 49, 12, is the
China of to-day and that, therefore, the conversion

Lutheran Missionary on His “Racer” in China.

of the Chinese was prophesied, one thing is surely
‘true, and that is, that Jesus Christ is a Savior also
of that great people. When He finished His re-
demption upon the accursed tree, they were just as
well included as were you and I. And He must
see the fruit of His labor for them. “He shall see
of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied.”
Ts. 58, 11. . 4

Lord, send out laborers, and those whom Thou
hast sent, protect and guide anid bless!

St. Louis, Mo. FREDERICK BRAND.

Non-Christian Religions in China. —

Tt is not an easy task to offer an adequate de-
scription of the various non-Christian religions in
China. To a certain extent the three outstanding

forms of religion have so interpenctrated each other
that to the average Chinese they form only one
religion. He is given to all three. These three
are Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism. And back
of all three and really the basis of them is Animism.

Confucianism.

Confucianism takes its name from Confucius,
who was born 551 before Christ. His “religion”
is really no religion at all, but a system of morality.
Gathering up the ancient laws of China, he reduced
them to a set of rules which were to govern the
relation of the various stations in life toward each
other and the relation of the inferiors to the
superiors. He did not teach a living God. He is
reported to have said: “TI'o give oneself earnestly
to the duties due to men and, while respecting spir-
itual beings, lo keep aloof from them, may be called
wisdom.” Confucius did not disturb the ancient
nature worship in China, but ignored it. He
always refused to talk of supernatural phenomena
or of supernatural beings.

During his lifetime he made little impression
on his fellow-countrymen. After his death, how-
ever, his system came into common vogue and ruled
Chinese society and the Chinese state for more than
two thousand years. Only since the introduction
of the republican form of government in China
does Confucianism seem to be on the wane.

Taoism.

This form of religion was made prominent by
Laotse, who was a contemporary of Confucius. Its
origin goes back hundreds of years before the time
of that sage. Laotse claimed that he taught-“the
right way.” ‘Taoism to-day is an out-and-out de-
based form of idolatry, spirit- and devil-worship.
All China is given to it. The temples with their
idols of wood, or stone, or plaster of Paris, or gold,
or silver, or marble —all in human and many in
horrid and repulsive form — are found thickly
strewn throughout that country. They are built
on mountain tops, in valleys, in the hearts of cities,
in out-of-the-way villages, and, as a rule, are dirty
and repulsive. ‘To the larger and more pretentious
temples regular priests are attached. Only on cer-
tain festival days the temples are thronged. But
then men, women, and children,* in’ short, all
Chinese who are able to do so, flock to them. In-
cense is burned; the worshipers prostrate them-
selves before the cheap and tawdry gods, hitting
their foreheads on the ground hundreds of times.
Bells tinkle; firecrackers and bombs are exploded
to frighten away the evil spirits. “Popular Taoism