PREFACE THE object of this book is by no means to tell a little of everything that ought to be known about China, but rather so to present a few selected topics as to incite to a genuine study of the subject, by which alone it can be expected to make upon the mind its due impression. Lack of experience in the preparation of manuals of this sort, together with limitations of time and the demands of a large parish, must be the inadequate apology for the many sins of omission which the discerning reader will not fail to discover. Standard authorities, such as Dr. Williams's "Middle Kingdom" and Professor Giles's "Historic China" have been often cited, sometimes without quotation marks. The reader should have at hand Mr. Beach's indispensable "Geography and Atlas of Missions," and make excursions in whatever direction seems most inviting, for which helps are abundant. The vast bulk of the Chinese Empire helps to disguise the fact that for some years it has been making rapid progress, even at times when to the eye nothing was apparent but ret rogression. Adequately to treat of the present transition state of China would have required much ampler space than could be given in the closing chapters. There has never been a time when a larger and fuller knowledge of what China is to be was more necessary than to-day. There is no reason why every reader of this book should not contribute something toward the right settlement of some of the greatest and most difficult questions confronting the Christian world at the opening of the twentieth century. A. H. S. P'ANG CHUANG, SHANTUNG, CHINA, April, 1903. CONTENTS Physical Features and Population - Cultivation of the Waterways and Loess - Climate and Food Products-Minerals - China's Rulers - endary Period-The Chou Dynasty-The Tsin Dynasty - The Han Dynasty - A Dark Period The T'ang Dynasty - The Sung Dynasty - The PAGE - Solidarity of Chinese Society-Fixity of Residence - Scholar views Christianity - Race Characteristics -Talent for Indirection - Suspicion and Distrust 84 Nestorian and Roman Catholic Missions - The Situa- - - CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. PART II. ON THE THRESH- Woman's Work - The Educational Work - Day and PAGE A Birthday Gift to the Empress Dowager-Kin- dergartens- Bible Women and Other Workers- Medical Work-The First Medical College for Women - General Summary of the Third Period -The Great Famine-Two Notable Gatherings -Bible and Tract Societies - Literary Labors — Power of the Printing-Press- The Fourth Period, 1895 to 1903-A Wonderful Awakening - The Anti-Foot-binding Society - Other Reforms— |