Many providences of God attended the establishment of our China Mission printing-press. In the first place, we received the press in answer to prayer. In June, 1903, I visited the firm of Barnhart and Spindler, of Chicago, suggesting to them the idea of donating a printing-press for our China Mission. They, wishing a little time to consider the proposition, asked me to return the next day.
MEN GRINDING STONE TO LEVEL TYPE
Mrs. Miller and I earnestly sought the Lord that evening to give us a press to take to China. The next morning it was with confidence that I returned to the firm, and was pleased to hear the manager say that they had decided to make us a present of a six-column army press. After telling of the use we intended to make of the press, I gave them shipping directions.
When we reached Hankow, we learned upon inquiry that the press had arrived, and was in the company's warehouse. To see something that had come from our native land, which was to be used in carrying the gospel to China's millions, was a source of great encouragement to us after a long voyage of over four weeks.
Chinese Coolies
We were confronted with many perplexities and difficulties in caring for our baggage from this port to our inland station, as modern conveniences were no longer at our disposal; and as the box containing the printing-press was much heavier than the rest, it became especially burdensome. For the rest of the journey, the Chinese coolie took the place of the drayman. [Coolie is the name applied to the laboring class in China.]
The difficulty is not in finding coolies, as the wharves are covered with them, and they all like to carry a foreigner's baggage, as it means more money. We engaged what we considered a sufficient number; when they took hold of the box, they began to yell, but did very little lifting, finally relaxing their hold, saying, “Tai-puh-tong,” that is, “lift, not able to move.” They called for more men, and so many came that there was not room for all to grasp hold of the box. These men, who before were carrying from sixty to one hundred pounds, now found it very difficult to raise thirty pounds, and it required much yelling to do that. Although Chinese labor is considered cheap, in the end we paid nearly double what a drayman would have charged to convey this box to the railroad station.
Arriving at the depot, there was no freight warehouse to store our baggage. Every man is supposed to look after his own freight; the company takes no responsibility in regard to either freight or passengers. When the train arrived, we either had to put the freight in the cars ourselves or hire coolies to do it. Here we were again at the mercy of the coolies, who always take advantage of an emergency, to enrich their pocketbook. We soon learned that the only way to produce motion in a Chinese coolie was to yell, “Tsien, Tsien” (money) at him.
We reached Sin-Tang-Cheo, the nearest railroad station to our mission, in the evening. Here we found the coolies quite timid about taking hold of the press until a good price was offered for its removal.
Carried by Rafts
There still remained four days' travel on wheelbarrows, to reach the Sin-tsai Mission Station. We well knew that the wheelbarrow could not carry a printing-press, although enormous loads, as much as four to five hundred pounds, can be carried in this way.
As the rivers have been China's railroads for centuries, we were informed that by taking a roundabout route, the freight could reach Sin-tsai in about two weeks. As there was no choice in the matter, we secured rafts for the first half of the journey, and house-boats for the latter half.
Not having a printer at hand, it was not thought advisable to begin the printing work at once, as we all desired to give our time unreservedly to language study.
Removal to Shang-tsai Hsien
In September, 1904, we opened a new mission at Shang-tsai Hsien, which is seventy-five miles north of our Sin-tsai station. This city was at one time a capital of China; and for miles around are to be found the ruins of this ancient metropolis. We believe that its location will be equally advantageous as a center from which our literature can radiate over this empire. Shang-tsai is only a half-day's journey from the Peking-Hankow Railroad, which, in connection with the Hankow-Canton road, and their connecting lines, will enable us to send our literature to every province in China.
Securing a Printer
At a meeting of the China Mission Advisory Committee in February, it was decided to begin the publication of tracts, and a monthly mission paper, also to secure a native printer; but printers in China are few and far between. Finally, a Chinese teacher said he had worked at the trade, and was willing to undertake the work, so we prepared a room in our mission station for a printing-office, but waited in vain for the printer; although his transportation had been paid, we knew nothing of his whereabouts.
A CHINESE PRINTING-OFFICE. EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR
After two months had passed, and I had almost given up the idea of doing any printing for some time yet, this man arrived. While he willingly took hold of the work, it was quite evident that he had not had much experience at the trade. But, with his help, I decided to go ahead13with the work. We have found many new problems to solve, but the work is progressing. God has helped us in improvising the necessary articles which we did not have.
Printing-Office
The printing-office is a brick building inside our mission compound, just opposite the Gospel Chapel. It is thirty feet long and fourteen feet wide. In one end are the type-cases, and in the other end the press. Along the sides are tables and benches for binding the books and planing the type. On both sides are windows, which give plenty of light.
The type-cases were all made by a native carpenter. For a planer we had a native stone mason grind the surface of a stone level, by rubbing a sandstone over it until smooth. By nailing a length of stovepipe on some boards, we were able to ink our roller. A piece of tin, with a right angle made of wood, nailed to its margin, serves to hold the type while it is being set up.
Chinese Type
Most of the space in a Chinese printing-office is occupied by the type-cases. Each class of characters must have a separate compartment. An English word is constructed by collecting the separate letters of which it is composed. In writing Chinese we have lines and dots, called strokes, which, when joined together in a definite order, constitute a word. Some strokes are horizontal, others perpendicular, some short, some long, and still others are curved and angular. If it were possible to separate a Chinese character into its strokes, as we can English words into letters, then it would be possible to arrange a set of long, short, perpendicular, horizontal, curved, and angular lines, with dots and spaces of various sizes, with which to construct characters, the same as the words in the modern languages are formed from letters. We could then reduce the type-cases to the same size as the English. Imagine what a task it would be to collect and properly arrange the different strokes in a character.
Each Type a Word
Each word is cast into a single type, and these words are arranged, in the order of a dictionary, in the type-cases. A Chinese type-setter could find fifty words while he was collecting the component parts of one character.
If you were to take Webster's Dictionary and select four thousand words which are most commonly used in conversation and writing, and have each word cast into a single type, and then arrange these four thousand words in the type-cases in the same order in which they occur in the dictionary, you would have the same proposition in printing English that we have in the Chinese. To set up the sentence, “China has a population of four hundred and twenty-six million,” one must first search for the word “China,” then “has,” and so on, picking up a whole word at a time, instead of separate letters.
Components of a Chinese Word
The characters are composed of two parts; the first is called its “radical,” which usually gives a clue to the meaning, and also serves as a means of classifying it. The second is called the “phonetic,” which serves as a clue to the sound, and by combining with different radicals forms a large variety of words. There are two hundred and fourteen radicals which may be said to constitute the Chinese alphabet. One hundred and sixty of these are characters.
Characters as Images
Many characters are so constructed as to illustrate their meaning, as a few examples will point out. The first character in this column, pronounced men, is the word for “door.” Placing the second character in the column, meaning month, inside the character “men,” the word for door, we have the third character in this column, pronounced wen, which means “to ask,” as the man goes and stands in the door to inquire.
The word represented by the next character in this column means “a cart,” and you can readily see that it has an axle, two wheels, and a bed between the wheels.
When three carts are placed together as represented by the next character, a new word is formed, which means “the rumbling of thunder” or “an explosion.” Three carts running over stone roads will certainly make a great rumbling.
The next character in the margin is the word for “cave;” its meaning is well illustrated. There must be substance before there can be a hole in it.
Sheep are designated by the next character shown in this column; the four legs, two horns, and tail, are all visible.
The Chinese dictionaries contain forty-one thousand characters, but there are not more than six thousand in general use, and four thousand will give quite a wide range of expression. The number of different characters used in translating the New Testament is 2,394.
The characters are arranged in vertical lines, and read from top to bottom, and from right to left. Very few punctuation marks are used. The end of a sentence is marked. One paragraph is separated from another. Even if these were omitted, the sense would not be affected. In fact, much literature is printed without any marks whatever.
The literature in China is divided into two classes—the Kuan-Hua and Wen-li. The first class is that most generally used in the northern fifteen provinces. It is easily understood, and is the spoken language of all northern China. However, the dialects vary much in different provinces, and even in adjoining cities there are marked changes.
Wen-li is the literary language, and its principal use is in writing. It is not understood by the common people, and is seldom used in conversation. Tracts and papers printed in Wen-li can be read by the educated class in China, Manchuria, and Korea.
The Gospel Herald
The name of our Chinese paper is Fuh-In-Hsuen-Pao. The two characters Fuh-In is the word for gospel, Hsuen, to proclaim, and Pao a paper. When taken together, they are translated “Gospel Herald.” It is desired to print this paper in language which is everywhere current in China, and as the Korean written language is the same as the Chinese, it can be used by our brethren there. The greater part of the population of the island of Formosa is Chinese, and all the islands of the Pacific are dotted with Chinamen. Besides, there are many in foreign countries who may have no other means of hearing this message, only as it comes to them on the printed page. They will more readily read a paper that comes from their native land than one printed in the land in which they live.
Not only will the Hsuen-Pao serve as the organ of the Seventh-day Adventist China Mission, but each number will contain several articles on present truth. For the benefit of our scattered members it will devote a small portion of its space to current events. The paper will be issued monthly, and will contain sixteen pages of subject-matter.
Importance of Literature in China
There is, perhaps, no other language in which so much error has been inculcated in the translation of the Bible.
It thus becomes necessary for us either to secure a correct translation of the Bible or to publish literature pointing out the errors, and calling attention to the true doctrine and the signs of the times. The latter seems more feasible for the present.
The tract societies in China are printing an abundance of literature propagating these false doctrines and circulating them with energy. It is time for us to “cry aloud and spare not.” One of the most effective ways of doing this is by scattering the printed page.
The publishing work in China has begun on a small scale, but we hope to see it rapidly develop, and be the means of sounding the last message to this fallen race. We ask you to prayerfully remember the work in heathen China.
Honan, China.
Mission Notes
THE Hawaiian Evangelical Association has secured four Chinese preachers and one Chinese Bible woman for work among the Chinese in the islands. The viceroy of Kwang-tung was so pleased at the idea that he gave the preachers passports, gratis, for which usage permitted his demanding five hundred Mexican dollars.
THE Livingstone Mission of the United Free Church of Scotland has its field in Nyassaland, Africa, and its industrial side includes agriculture, building, quarrying, carpentry, engineering, blacksmithing, printing, and tailoring, and has one hundred and thirty apprentices. There are over one thousand members at London, where a great convention was held, attended by three thousand persons. Throughout the district of Bandawe the villages have small churches built by the natives themselves, and there are now fifty-four of these prayer-houses where morning and evening worship is held. The first number of a native monthly magazine for the Livingstonia Mission has been issued. It is in the Tumbuka language.
A MISSIONARY in Africa speaks of the demand for teachers from thirty or more towns in the region about Yakusu. His cook had been promised as teacher to a town some eighty miles from the station. Three times during the journey did deputations come to take possession of him. But the traveler, having a partiality for a well-cooked meal, told them to wait patiently till he reached their town. A week before the time for reaching the town they came again, this time with a crew of thirty young fellows. Importunity such as this could not be withstood, and they carried off their teacher in triumph. A week later the missionary found him hard at work with over a hundred scholars gathered around him, and the new school building in process of erection.
LET the truth be told, even if on some pleasant autumn morning the heavens fall. And so let it be definitely stated that child marriage has not been abolished in India. On this point what the India Witness says is conclusive, for it knows whereof it speaks. It certainly is a lamentable fact, on the authority of the Witness, that child marriages are an every-day occurrence, and when we say “child,” we mean it. Little girls eight, nine, and ten years old become wives, as everybody knows who knows anything about it, and yet among a list of the signs of the progress made in treatment of women in an English paper, is the “abolition of child marriage,” coupled with suttee. The latter is abolished, though it now and then occurs even now. The former is not abolished, although it has become a burning question, and although there is a law raising the marriageable age to twelve. Speed the day when the words quoted shall be true!—Selected.
News From Haran—9
By Z. G. BAHARIAN
Z. G. BAHARIAN
When our ninth trial was ended, we saw very clearly that our case would be brought to an end immediately. The next day, June 8, early in the morning, the overseers visited the jail. One by one the prisoners were called to them, and their condition was investigated. When our turn came, the chief overseer told us that once more we would be called up, and our trial be ended, and that we should not speak at length. We gave them another petition which we had written, presenting many other points in which we were robbed of our rights. As soon as they returned to their office, they called two members of the court, and gave them a strict commandment to finish our trial quickly and justly.
At eight o’clock (Turkish time—three hours after noon) we were called up for the last time. There were several letters left to be read. The clerk read them, but no question was asked us. It was evident that they were trying to hurry through. No paper or letter was left unread. Then time was given the general attorney to present his last accusation, which he did, accusing us very heavily. After he had finished, time was given our advocate to speak in our defense. Then we were allowed to speak in our own defense. I spoke about an hour against the accusations of the general attorney. I will mention a few of them:—
1. He stated that Baharian had said that Jesus commanded that we should not obey the government, therefore we were not obeying the Turkish government. To this I said, “Jesus has not said anything like this, and I have not spoken to that effect. What we say is that all governments are under the rule of Jesus. There is not a government in any part of the earth which is not under his rule. The Turkish government is under his rule, and we ought to obey it. But if it enacts laws which are contrary to the law of God, then we should obey the Lord, and not the government. The government must not require such things from us.”
2. The general attorney stated that Baharian said we preach the gospel to all nations. The result will be the anger of the nations against them, and a tumult will be created, which our government would find it difficult to suppress. As an answer to this, I read the tenth chapter of Matthew, and explained that the Master of the gospel said it would be so, for which we are not responsible. It is true that the preaching of the gospel creates a tumult; but this is not against the government, but against us; we shall bear the harm, and not the government, etc.
When I had finished my defense, time was given my brethren, who spoke very briefly, confirming what I had said. Then at eleven o’clock, an hour before sunset, the council of the judges entered into their council room to decide our cases. After fifteen minutes they came out with the verdict, “Not guilty,” which the clerk read as follows:—
“Though Mr. Baharian and his three companions have been arrested and accused as insurgents, in their trial it has been found that all their printed papers were printed by special permission from the government, and that their letters contained nothing against the government, all being in harmony with the Bible, and that the Armenian national hymn had no relation to them. Therefore, we declare them not guilty.” This was signed by only two Christian members, which was enough for our freedom or acquittal. The Moslem members have not signed it, saying that our testimony was contrary to their religion. We were sent back to jail, and in half an hour were dismissed. All the prisoners were astonished that our God had saved us.
We went to our hotel, where our first duty was to kneel down and thank the Lord for this miracle. The next day we called on the overseers, and expressed our gratitude for their justice. They told us all that had been done for our freedom. We saw that God had united all the means very marvelously for our deliverance. Our freedom gave much rejoicing to the people of Ourfa. Wherever we went, all congratulated us for this deliverance. All were satisfied. We at once telegraphed to our people in many places, to make them glad. Rejoice with us, all the people of God, because he made the truth triumph, because he worked a mighty miracle for us.
