Chinese People's Volunteers

“ Around them they saw a flourishing community, well established and battening on the post-war boom. The majority were far enough removed from that community in the economic and social sense, but they were still further removed in their political views. The Communist Government of China was rapidly establishing itself and it lost no time in trying to win over the whole-hearted allegiance of overseas Chinese. ”

“ Never doubting that it is our first duty as a Christian nation to disseminate those truths that come from an inspired source, why should we, under the influence of a false sympathy, strive to do for the Chinese what so many of our own people yet require. The Chinese have an advantage over many of our lower classes; they are intelligent and reflective, and have Confucian maxims daily brought even in the highways before their notice, that enjoin most of the social duties that render man’s life more in accordance with the Divine wish. ”

“ The Chinese people enjoy today a better standard of living than at any time in China's history. China is playing a stronger role in the community of nations, from promoting peace in Korea and Cambodia, to fighting international crime and drug trafficking. Hundreds of international organizations now benefit from Chinese participation, and we welcome tens of thousands of Chinese students to the United States every year. They come to learn, but they also teach us a lot and they teach a lot especially to our young people with whom they will shape the future. ”

“ It may be temporarily bridged by the heroism of a missionary; the enthusiasm of Christianity may make those who embrace it brothers; but the feeling of love will not extend one inch beyond the influence of religion; and those who ponder on the future as they watch the many-hued crowd that passes must grow more and more sure that the future of China lies with the Chinese alone; and however much as a race they may {106} be willing to learn from the West, they will as a race be led only by their own people. The Westerner may be employed; Western teaching may be learnt ”

“ The Chinese are the most industrious people on the face of the earth, for only by constant and universal industry can a population of four hundred millions live. When such masses of human beings are crowded together, the struggle for existence is so great, that it is only by keeping the millions of hands busy that food can be obtained for the millions of mouths. The same necessity enforces peace with each other, and therefore from necessity, as well as from moral considerations, this has been the policy of China from the beginning. ”

“ The Party endeavours to develop and strengthen China's friendship with all other countries in the camp of peace, democracy and socialism headed by the Soviet Union, to strengthen the internationalist solidarity of the proletariat and to learn from the experiences of the world communist movement. It supports the struggle of the communists, progressives and the labouring people of the whole world for the progress of mankind, and educates its members and the Chinese people in the spirit of internationalism, as expressed in the slogan "Proletarians of all lands, unite!" ”

“ Unruffled by constant change, it has remained committed to building a bright future for the Chinese nation. From revolution, economic development and reform into the new era, it has never forgotten its original aspiration and founding mission. It has achieved numerous successes throughout the land in the process of bringing happiness to the Chinese people and national rejuvenation to the Chinese nation. Its pursuit of world peace and progress, and a global community of shared future, opens a new chapter for human civilization. ”

“ They notice that charity has no place among the virtues of the people, and that nobody gives away a cent he could possibly manage to keep; the apparent result being that every one recognises the necessity of working for himself, and that the mendicants of a large Chinese city would barely fill the casual ward of one of our smallest workhouses. They have a chance of studying a competitive system many hundred years old, with the certainty of concluding that, whatever may be its fate in England or elsewhere, it secures for the government of China the best qualified and most intelligent men. ”

“ No one can visit China without becoming interested in the country and its people. There is much that is good in the Chinese, in their patient industry, and in their strong domestic feeling. Who can but respect a people that honor their fathers and mothers in a way to furnish an example to the whole Christian world? who indeed exaggerate their reverence to such a degree that they even worship their ancestors? The mass of the people are miserably poor, but they do not murmur at their lot. ”

“ But if they could organize enterprises, great and small, they would in the most direct and effective manner give the encouragement and organizing impulse which China needed so urgently. So the simple principle of American action in China is this: By doing things in themselves worth while, Americans will contribute most to the true liberation of the Chinese people.
Never has one nation had a greater opportunity to act as counsellor and friend to another and to help a vast and lovable people to realize its striving for a better life. ”

“ With its other great benefits Christianity will confer upon China real patriotism, at present existing almost entirely in the blind impulses of the bias of national feeling. During the political crises of the past few years, the great mass of the Chinese people have been profoundly indifferent to the fate of their country, and in this respect there has been little distinction between scholars, farmers, merchants, and coolies. Each individual has been chiefly occupied in considering how in any cataclysm impending he could make with fate the best bargain for himself. ”

“ There are in thousands of our cities and villages no police, no
soldiers, yet there is less lawlessness and vice in a dozen purely
Chinese cities than in this great mongrel town that spends many tens
of thousands of taels each year upon these guardians of the people's
peace. It seems to me that this should tell the world that the force of
China is not a physical force, but the force of the law-abiding instinct
of a happy common people, who, although living on the verge of
misery and great hunger, live upright lives and do not try to break their
country's laws. ”

“ We see it in the massive solidarity of Chinese life, the systematic social organisation by which individual responsibility, even though leaving individuality itself intact, is merged in the responsibility of the family and the still larger group. We see it in the whole drift of Chinese philosophy, which is throughout sedative and contemplative. We see it in the element of stoicism on the one hand and cruelty on the other which in so genuinely good-natured a people would otherwise seem puzzling. ”

“ Today, with their interests and security intertwined, people across the world are becoming members of a community with a shared future. China is at a critical stage of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and embarking on the new journey of building a modernized socialist country in an all-round way. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. ”

“ China has a population of four hundred millions, and although she needs to modernize her armament and other equipment, and her people are a peace-loving people, yet when the destiny of their country is at stake the Chinese people will also fight with courage and determination. ”

“ The plans for realizing min shêng were to be the most necessary and the most difficult. In the change from a world-society to a race-nation, the Chinese had their own social solidarity and the experience of the Western nations to guide them. There was little in the development of a nation that had not already been tried elsewhere. The only real obstacles were the ignorance of the people, in relation to the new social environment in which their whole society was involved, and the possibility of opposition from the politically oppressing powers. ”

“ Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, they have learned about China's speed, the China miracle, and the governance of China through vivid examples and objective data showcasing the country's achievements, and through their own personal experience. They become prouder to be a member of the Chinese nation, and are more determined to join forces and achieve the Chinese Dream - the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. ”

“ We must do them the justice of allowing that they were actuated by high motives and love of country—not that these necessarily mean political ability or highest wisdom," The truth is—and he realized it thoroughly—that the real deep feeling of the Chinese people has always been to be left alone in peace to pursue the even tenor of their way. ”

“ We find, too, that the men who show such qualifications in a conspicuous degree are almost sure of rapid advancement; nor do they fail to earn the respect and affection of the people whom they rule, for there is no one quicker than a Chinese to realise when he is well governed, and perhaps no one more appreciative.
The social organisation of China, especially for an agricultural people, is in many respects thoroughly sound. ”

“ Charities abound which were not before needed; the channels of humanity have broadened, though it cannot be said at the cost of depth, for whatever else may have changed, the generosity of the foreign communities remains as princely as in the good old days.
Yet is it permissible to regret some of the robuster virtues of the generation that is past. The European solidarity vis-à-vis the Chinese world, which continued 262 practically unbroken into the eighth decade of the century, a tower of moral strength to foreigners and an object of respect to the Chinese, has now been thrown down. ”

“ We cannot shut out the one hundred thousand Chinamen now here, nor prevent others coming. We cannot go back to the old Chinese policy of exclusiveness, neither can we permit them to remain as a foreign element, unsubdued by our institutions or our religion. Only one thing remains, and that is to subdue them by the power of the living Saviour brought to them by patient, loving, faithful Christian hearts and bands. ”

“ I will add that the Prime Minister of China, during my residence in Pekin, has not, in my opinion, his intellectual superior upon the planet.”
The Chinese are a cleanly people, a decent people. The Chinese laborer washes himself all over every day. As a rule they can come into our mission schools and sit beside our ladies with perfect propriety. When I was preaching in Indianapolis we had every Chinaman in the city in our schools. They are not a clannish people; they are glad for American society. ”

“ Won by this act of justice, China devotes the sum to the education of Chinese students in the republic's universities. The greatest force is no longer that of brutal war, but the supreme force of gentlemen and generosity—the golden rule. ”

“ The only safety for China is to treat Christians, whether Chinese or foreign, exactly as all other people are treated—to make no distinctions. Foreign missionaries have the right to travel and reside in the interior; they can exercise this right without getting passports from the French Minister. The Catholic missions are composed of men of all nations, but they all have Ministers in Peking to whom they can apply for passports. ”

“ THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS ready and China's wounded can today be counted in the millions. What you can do to help them must be left to you. In general it is best to give money only privately, or through some reliable organization, such as the United China Relief.
After a time, however, you will discover that Chinese peasants and workmen are almost never demoralized. They keep their chins up, take what comes, help each other out, and live with amazing contentment amid the terrific struggle for the bare necessities of life. ”

“ Their altruism, their manly effectiveness, their human kindness that has been so deeply Christian and Confucian (as you look at it from both an Occidental and an Oriental standpoint) has been moving beyond words, and it is largely owing to this action on the part of America that the hand of the war-inflamed Chinese was stayed against foreigners in this campaign. Their women said: “Don’t strike the white physicians and bread-givers; the men who speak in mercy and are clothed in altruism.” ”

“ The movement was not anti-foreign, but the plight of the missionaries well illustrates the danger every 265foreigner faces in China. The bulk of the people are peaceful. Nowhere in the world, I suppose, is a more peaceful person to be found than the average Chinese peasant. He asks only to be let alone, but, unfortunately, he is not let alone. His rulers “squeeze” and oppress him, bands of robbers take toll of his pittance, and when an unpaid soldiery is let loose upon him, his plight is pitiable. ”

“ If the Western nations are wise they will allow no poor missionaries in China, it is so easy to sink to the level of the people, to become as Chinese as the Chinese themselves. Personally, I think it is a mistake to conform to Chinese customs. The missionaries are there to preach the better customs of the West and there must be no lowering of the standard. The Chinaman wants to be taught self-reliance, he wants to be taught self-respect, and, last but by no means least, he wants to be taught to amuse himself rationally and healthily. ”