Chinese mettle

Chapter VII
Present-Day Ironsides—General Feng Yu Hsiang

China is a land full of surprises, and at the present day there is an amazing variety of individual efforts for the regeneration of the country by her patriotic sons and daughters. In some ways the chaotic political state of China makes these individual efforts possible where perhaps a more settled government would not admit of them. For instance, each province is governed by a military or civil governor, or both; and within a province may be found large territories practically controlled by some autocratic military official, the presence of whose army is the potent warrant for his wishes being executed. In the province of Hunan, roughly speaking in the centre of China proper, is such an area, of which Changteh is the army headquarters.

Having travelled for many weeks through districts infested with robbers, where law and order are mainly conspicuous by their absence, where the land is one great poppy garden for the opium trade, it came as a shock of surprise and delight to enter a district where we found the exact reverse of these things.

In 1918 there was fighting between the forces of the North and of the South throughout this district, and as the Northern forces were defeated and the City of Changteh captured by the Southerners, General Feng was sent from the neighbouring province of Szechuan to re-take the city. He had not only defeated the Southern Army there, but had treated them in an entirely new way. Feng disbanded the Southern troops after disarming them, and presented each officer with ten dollars and each private with five dollars, so that they might be able to return to their homes without resorting to pillage, the source of so much sorrow in China. The General led his troops to Changteh and found that the Southern forces had withdrawn, so that he entered the city unopposed, though by no means with the goodwill of the inhabitants. They were only too familiar with the tyranny of ordinary Chinese troops; for it is not by foreigners only that they are evilly spoken of, but by all Chinese.

In the two years which had elapsed since then this attitude was completely changed, for the army was paid regularly and not obliged to prey upon the habitants for sustenance, the strictest discipline was observed, and no soldier was allowed to loaf about the streets. The city itself underwent a wonderful purification: gambling dens, opium-smoking halls, houses of ill repute were swept away, and theatres transformed into schools; now a woman even can walk the streets day or night without fear. A notice of three days to quit was given to the above-mentioned houses, and the order was no dead letter. Severe fines were inflicted on traffickers in opium. The streets of the town became wonderfully clean in another sense of the word; the General is so particular about this that if any of the army mules or horses pass through it they are followed by scavengers in order that no traces of their passage may remain; for as there is no wheeled traffic and the streets are extremely narrow there are no side-walks. There are notices in the centre of the streets with regard to the rule of the road, but this is too recent an innovation to be quite understood as yet. Everywhere one is confronted with signs of the General’s determination to raise the moral of the people. When he closed the opium dens he opened refuges for the cure of the smoker, instead of putting him in prison, as is done in certain parts of the North. The patient was photographed on entering and on leaving (à la Barnardo). General Feng punishes with death the soldier proved to have been trafficking in the sale of opium, while the civilian is punished by being flogged and paraded bare-backed afterwards through the streets, preceded by a notice board stating his offence. The city gaol is the only one in the country which has a chapel and the missionary bodies in the town have charge—a month at a time by turns. As you pass along the streets your eye is attracted by posters of a novel kind. They are pictures descriptive of evil habits to be shunned: a cock is vainly sounding the réveillé to which the sluggard pays no heed; the vain woman on her little bound feet watches from afar the industrious woman doing her task in cheerful comfort with normal feet, and so on. In odious contrast to these pictures are the British and American cigarette posters to be found all over the country, and I was told that one of the leading Englishmen in the trade said regretfully that he thought they had done the country no good turn in introducing cigarettes to China. They are considered a curse by thoughtful Chinese, and at the request of the officers, the General has prohibited the use of them in the army, though there is no embargo on other tobacco-smoking.

Another noticeable feature of the city is the open-air evening school, the sign of which is a blackboard on a wall, sheltered by a little roof which may be seen in many an open space. When the day’s work is over benches are produced from a neighbouring house and school begins. The General has established over forty night schools dotted along the five miles of the city on the river-bank, besides the industrial schools open during the daytime. We visited one large training school for girls and women, which he has established and supports in order to promote industry, and to which workers from the country districts are welcomed. They have six months’ training and one meal a day gratis, and they are taught weaving, stocking-making (on machines), dressmaking and tailoring, etc., and the goods turned out find a ready market. The instructors are all very well paid, and the work done is thoroughly good, despite the disparaging remarks of an elderly overseer who evidently had the conventional contempt for the Chinese woman’s intelligence.

General Feng is a firm believer in women’s education, and has established a school for the wives of his officers, to which they come not altogether willingly, I fear. The unwonted routine and discipline are naturally a trial, especially to women no longer in their première jeunesse; and despite the fact that he succeeded in persuading a highly-trained and charming woman to come from the north to take charge of it, there have been many difficulties to surmount. She lunched with us one day and told us an instance of this which makes one realize the situation: a certain lady resented the fact of her teacher being the wife of a veterinary surgeon (lower in rank than her husband), and disregarded her continual efforts to curb her feminine loquacity and make her attend to her studies. Finally there was a complete rupture between the ladies, and the unwilling pupil indignantly left the school. The teacher pondered over this and could not bear the thought of having quarrelled with a fellow Christian. She determined to try and make it up, so she called upon the lady, who refused to see her. Nothing daunted, she tried a second time, and again the lady was “not at home,” but sent her husband to speak to her. The teacher explained to him all she felt—he was so moved by her appeal that he fetched his wife, a complete reconciliation took place, and she returned to school.

The General has a short religious service in his own house every Sunday morning for these ladies, at which he, his wife and some officers are present, and at which he invited me to speak.

Having described in outline the changes effected in Changteh by General Feng, it is time to try and describe the man himself and his past life. He is tall and powerful, with a resolute, masterful air as befits a man who is ruler of men; but his ready smile and the humorous twinkle in his eye reassures the most timid. He was born in 1881 in the northern province of Nganhwei, of humble parentage, and had no educational advantages. He has amply made up for this, however, having a keen sense of the value of knowledge and giving to others what was not given to him. The study of English is being eagerly pursued by himself and his officers, and he will soon pick it up if he comes to England, as he wishes to do.

General Feng entered the army as a common soldier, and in 1900 was present (on duty), but only as an onlooker, at the Boxer massacre of missionaries at Paotingfu. This was his first contact with Christian people, and it made a deep impression on him. This was strengthened by further contact with a medical missionary, who cured him of a poisoned sore and charged nothing, but told him of the love of God, Who had sent him to heal the sick. There is no doubt that medical missions have been one of the best possible instruments for winning the Chinese to Christianity, and one cannot but regret that it is now becoming necessary to abandon the practice of non-payment, except for the most necessitous cases, on account of the terrible rise in prices and the lack of funds for the upkeep of our hospitals. However, it appears to be inevitable.

The turning-point in General Feng’s life took place when he was stationed at Peking in 1911, having already risen to the rank of Major. He was feared and disliked by officers and men on account of his fierce temper, which caused him to strike them when he was angry, while his wife also had to submit to being beaten when she displeased her lord and master in the most trivial details. There was as complete a change in his life as in Saul’s when he obeyed the heavenly vision. This was the result of attendance at a meeting by Dr. Mott, and he was assigned to Bishop Morris’s care for further teaching. The strongest influence brought to bear on him at that time, however, seems to have been that of Pastor Liu, of the Wesleyan Mission, who became one of his best friends. It is not easy at the age of thirty-one to conquer an ungoverned temper and tongue, but the fact remains that he is now adored by his troops, and that he has never abused or ill-treated his wife (a General’s daughter) since becoming a Christian. How difficult this is may be judged by the fact that one of the finest characters among the Christian Chinese clergy, Pastor Hsi, says that he found it so impossible to conquer the lifelong habit of abusive language to his wife that he had to make it a special matter of prayer before he could succeed, though he was such a saint. The question of bad language throughout the army is remarkable; an American missionary, after spending a year constantly in and out amongst the men, said he had heard none, for the General has a wonderful way of getting his wishes observed, and has been instrumental in winning the bulk of both officers and men to Christianity. He has compiled a treatise on military service, redolent of Christian morality, which every one of his men can repeat by heart. This treatise has been taken as the basis of General Wu Pei Fu’s handbook (a friend of General Feng), who quotes Cromwell’s army of Ironsides as a model for the soldier’s imitation, though he does not profess to be a Christian! It may be thought that the Christianizing of the army is of doubtful reality, but this is certainly not the case; for in the first place the amount of Bible teaching they are undergoing is far beyond what would ordinarily be the case here at home before admitting candidates to Church membership, and the only difficulty about this teaching is to find the teachers necessary for such numerous candidates: they are keen to learn about Christianity. Before baptism they have to submit to a searching examination of their character and behaviour, and must have an officer’s certificate to that effect. In addition each man must sign a statement promising to spend time daily in prayer and study of the Bible, to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to obey the teaching of the New Testament.

Nevertheless, they have been baptized by hundreds, so that already more than a third of the army (and I think the proportion must be much greater now, as over one hundred were postponed as being not sufficiently ready some time ago) are already members of the Visible Church.

Many of the men have been won to Christianity by a tragic happening of last year. Dr. Logan, of the Presbyterian Mission, was shot by a lunatic whom he had been asked to examine medically in the General’s room. The General flung himself on the man to disarm him and was himself shot in two places. A colonel who rushed into the room on hearing the shots, saw both Dr. Logan and the General on the floor, and asked the latter, “Shall I take the man out and shoot him?” but the answer was “No.” The man, not being responsible for his actions, was only to be put in a place of safety where he could harm no one. Dr. Logan died in about an hour, but the General was taken to hospital and recovered. A day or two later Mrs. Logan was told by one of the officers that the lunatic was in fetters and that he had struck him in the face, and was surprised at her indignation on hearing it. She at once went to headquarters where the lunatic was confined and ordered the astonished officer in charge to take off all the man’s fetters. He naturally demurred, but on hearing who she was, he exclaimed: “This man murdered your husband, and do you mean to say that you want us to treat him kindly?” The result of her deed was that a large number of the soldiers decided to become Christians: they had expected severe reprisals to be demanded and said that no religion could compare with a religion producing such deeds as Mrs. Logan’s. The impression made was profound and widespread.

All we saw and heard of General Feng made us anxious to see so remarkable a man, and the missionaries very kindly arranged an interview which took place about 8.30 a.m. The General and Mrs. Feng received us in their simple home at headquarters, and we had a long talk about China and other matters, for he is an ardent patriot and shares the universal anxiety about the disturbed state of China and the Japanese invasion. On a later occasion he asked what our dresses were made of, and on hearing that it was Chinese silk, he was pleased and said they were very nice. Our hats he did not like, and said we ought to wear straw ones like his wife. She put hers on to show us at his request, and of course we made such polite remarks as the occasion demanded, so he sent out an orderly at once to buy two, and we had to put them on, while our own hats were put in a paper parcel for us to take home! The hat was certainly much more suitable to the time of year than the one I was wearing, and he asked if I should take it back to England: he had been trying to persuade the other taitais (ladies) to wear them, but without much success. Most of the Chinese are extremely keen to have European things, and European headgear as seen in the bazaars is too appalling for words. Often a charming Chinese costume is completely spoiled by some garish woolwork cap, with artificial flowers of varied hues.

The General believes in five things:

These things are not a matter of theory, but of practice. He has taken heed to the words, “Ye that love the Lord HATE EVIL,” and while he puts down all that appears wrong, he is equally energetic in promoting good things. For instance, he requires every officer as well as every private to learn a trade or profession, so that when he leaves the army he will not remain unemployed. We went all over the army workshops where many trades are represented, and found them extremely clean, well-ventilated and attractive. There is a ready sale for all their products and they make all the army clothing, towels, socks, boots, etc. Each soldier is required to do one year’s training in the workshops for seven hours a day. There is also educational work in full swing and special three-months’ courses of instruction. To these one private and one lieutenant are elected for each company at a time, and although no promotion follows special success in the examinations, they are taken cognizance of when there is a question of promotion. Much attention is paid to athletics and physical drill, and efficiency is the hall-mark of every department. They looked to my unprofessional eye the smartest, best-turned-out soldiers in China, and the record of certain route marches I dare not set down because they make too great a demand on our belief, whose physical endurance is infinitely less. Woe betide the man on whom the General’s eagle eye detects lack of polish or scrupulous care in his accoutrements! To anyone who knows China, I must seem rather untruthful in stating that bad smells do not exist in the camp, and every bed is clean and provided with a mosquito net.

It must be added that the army is not all concentrated at Changteh, but there are various camps scattered over the area governed by General Feng, the population inhabiting which is estimated at seven to eight million people. He is aided in the city by an efficient young magistrate who is in sympathy with his aims, and who was appointed by him. He certainly knows how to select men, and is training a valuable body of officers to occupy—one cannot but hope—a much wider sphere of service for the country later on. The achievement of the last two years makes anything seem possible to one who has seen it, and one of the Britishers who has been in close touch with him while he has been in Changteh remarked on the striking development of the General’s personality during that time. He is a practical democrat, shares teaching and work with his men, and has actually succeeded in getting his officers to take part in the meanest work, such as water-carrying, to show that there is nothing contemptible in honest labour. The General attends the English class on Thursday evenings with the other officers and shows no official arrogance of any kind. At the Sunday services he retires to a backless bench at the far end of the hall like any “Tommy.”

This brings me to one of the strangest experiences of my life. The evening after our interview with the General he sent one of his officers to ask me to give the address at the military service on Sunday morning. As he knew I was no missionary and no one could have told him that I had ever preached or was accustomed to speaking in public, the only explanation of the invitation seems to be his intense desire to seize any possible chance of stirring his people to fresh endeavour. His interpreter would act as mine unless I preferred having my own. Having received my answer in the affirmative, next day the officer came again to know what portion of Scripture I wanted read in order that it might be well read. The service took place at 7 a.m. on a lovely summer morning, and was held in a big barrack-like hall with a platform at one end with pots of flowers on it; a gallery ran round the hall, in which was the military band, and beyond that some of the officers’ wives and children, including the General’s family. The Chief of Staff conducted the service, which was just like an ordinary Nonconformist service at home, beginning with the National Anthem by the band. The prayers were led by officers among the audience and were short and impressive, the singing of the hymns was hearty, led by a choir, and many of those present had Bibles as well as hymn-books so as to follow the lesson. A boys’ school of officers’ sons sat at the front. It was a wonderful inspiration to speak to such an audience as they listened in rapt attention to the story of the “Contemptible Little Army”, and other historical instances of God’s use of weak things to confound the mighty; every now and then a little burst of irresistible applause broke from them, and quite a number were taking notes all the time. What would I not have given to speak in their own tongue! for it is just paralysing to speak through an interpreter, and weak words become weaker still. The text comforted my despair.

After service we went with the General to breakfast: it was a cheerful meal, as he is full of humour and devoted to his family. The characteristic Chinese love of children was very evident in the involuntary caresses he bestowed upon the little girls while he was talking, as they nestled against his arm. Rather an amusing instance of his humour was told us by our charming Irish host, a tall, spare man. He was crossing the drill ground one day with a short Chinese officer to speak to the General, who was standing chatting with a group of officers on the further side. As the General watched their approach he made a remark which was greeted with laughter. Our host’s curiosity being aroused, he inquired from one of them afterwards what the joke was. “The General said, ‘Don’t you think the missionary looks as if he ought to be the officer and the officer the missionary?’” The breakfast was entirely Chinese with the exception of knife, fork and spoon being provided for us, but we pleased our host by our use of chopsticks instead. After breakfast we had a little rest in Mrs. Feng’s room, and all the rooms we saw were characterized by simplicity, extreme tidiness and cleanliness. We noticed a bright little servant girl, and heard she had been rescued from slavery some years ago by the General’s wife.

General Feng gave me the photograph of himself and family, and at my request wrote the name of each of the children. His own name is at the right hand of the photo.

What struck me most at the ladies’ meeting which followed was the fact of the General coming to it and taking part, showing his real interest in woman’s welfare; it is remarkable how keenly he is working—not only for the army, but for women in general as well as in particular, and for the whole population of his district. He and his officers have pledged one another to work for the evangelization of the civil population, each one making it a rule to try and win at least one of the official class per annum. In this may be seen the instinct for the continuation of a Christian policy if the Christian army should be ordered elsewhere.

As we were taking leave of the General at the close of the meeting, he said to me: “I think you will speak to my officers this evening,” which meant the five o’clock service for officers. I felt overwhelmed, as the two services had been very exhausting, but my host suggested that I should give them an account of what we had seen of the Chinese Home Missionary Society, and of the work amongst the aborigines, and the General said that would interest them very much. He said that the morning address had been not at all like what he expected, but did not explain the statement. Of course, it was impossible to decline, and I took for granted there would be only a small gathering—perhaps two or three dozen men. At five o’clock we were back at the hall and there must have been from two to three hundred officers present and many ladies in the gallery. Again the same quiet spirit of worship and eager expectancy dominated, and the expression of those upturned faces will never fade from my memory, as I told the story of the missionaries coming to barbarian Britain, delivering their Message and leaving the living Message to fulfil itself, the British Church in its turn becoming the missionary to China, who, in its turn, is now called to take up the task, and is beginning to do so. After the General had seen us out of the hall he turned back, and did not rejoin us for some time, the reason being (as I learned, after leaving Changteh, from my interpreter, who was the friend of the General’s interpreter) that he went back to urge the audience to pay heed to the thing which had been said, and to say a few words about the speaker. In the whole matter he acted with such striking self-forgetfulness and tact as I have rarely, if ever, met.

It was not to be expected that such a happy state of affairs would be allowed to continue more than a limited time; for the forces of evil do not accept tamely such a defiance. As in the old days at Ephesus, seeing the source of their wealth attacked, there were plenty of people ready to counter-attack by fair means or foul. A few months later General Feng got his orders to leave Changteh. No sooner had he done so than the Southern troops swarmed back into the undefended city. The houses of ill fame were at once reopened, under military sanction, with soldiers posted at the doors. A time of much unrest followed, and no one knows from day to day what will happen. There is great disorder among the ill-paid troops, and shooting among themselves took place in the streets. An officer was shot close beside the mission premises where we stayed. The schools have been closed and the opium dens and theatres reopened. The Southern troops now hold all the important part of the province, a serious loss to the Government at Peking. Business is at a standstill.

Since Sun Yat Sen has been chosen President of the Southern Government, there is a split among the Southern provinces. The man who was looked on with such hopes by many as a sincere patriot, has proved very much the reverse; he is now a fresh source of discord, and bitter fighting is going on between the provinces of Kwang-Tung and Kwang-si.

And what, meanwhile, of General Feng and his army? They were ordered to go to Chu-ma-tien in Honan. This is on the railway line from Peking to Hankow, and is some hundred and fifty miles north of the latter. It was formerly a place of no importance, but since the coming of the railway its trade has increased rapidly, and it is becoming a big market for the agricultural produce of the surrounding country. As there is a large depôt for railway material and water tanks, it is no doubt important that the place should be properly guarded. But Honan is under military governorship, and the present Tuchun, General Chow Ti, is a bitter opponent of General Feng, and is working hard to get rid of him. He has succeeded in getting the Provincial Assembly to accuse Feng to the authorities at Peking of illegally extorting money at a place called Hsuchow. There are at present three military leaders at Peking, who so far have refused to act in this matter, and they are trying to bring the two generals to an agreement. They are afraid of fresh conflicts arising in the province. The Honanese are not the easiest people to govern, the province is densely populated. “They are of an independent turn of mind,” says one who knows them well, “and will not brook reproof; very conservative, they do not welcome foreign innovation.”

Meanwhile the troops are starving and urgent demands for arrears of pay have no effect upon the War Lords at Peking.

What the outcome of the controversy will be, time will soon reveal.