IN

JAPAN

THE REV. D. C GREENE, D.D., Editor

E. W. CLEMENT, A. M., Asst. Editor

FIFTH ANNUAL ISSUE

+

PUBLISHED FOR

THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF

CO-OPERATING CHRISTIAN MISSIONS

METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE

GINZA, KYOBASHI

TOKYO

I 907

PREFACE.

66

Mr. Morley in his Life of Gladstone tells us that John Stuart Mill was accustomed to say that the Oxford theologians through the Tractarian movement in England had opened, broadened, and deepened the issues and meanings of European history; they had reminded us that history is European; that it is quite unintelligible if treated as merely local." Some day the Christian Movement in Japan, which it is the object of this series of volumes to illustrate, will, the writer believes, be recognised as fulfilling a similar office for history in a still wider sense.

The mysteries which puzzle so many of those who attempt to describe the life of Japan lie nearer the surface than is generally supposed. Moreover, the questions to which they give rise lose much of their difficulty if due account be taken of the ebb and flow of the strong undercurrents of thought and feeling which unmistakably mark Japan's kinship with the Western world.

Prof. Arthur Lloyd in a very suggestive course of lectures before the Asiatic Society of Japan has called attention to the fact that both Dengyō and Kōbō, the founders respectively of the Tendai and Shingon sects of Japanese Buddhism, in the beginning of the ninth century arrived in Singanfu, where the Nestorian influence was still strongly felt and where also, as he believes, the Manichaeans had been represented since the sixth century by several temples. If Professor Lloyd's view be sustained, and there is a verisimilitude in the account he gives of the interchange of thought between Greece and her dependences, on the one hand, and even the distant Orient, on the other, Japan was made to feel in that early day the formative influence of certain religious ideas which we associate with Alexandria. Certainly, the coincidences

which he has pointed out between certain religious conceptions and practices current in Japan and those of some of the Alexandrian teachers are striking and give new importance to the question whether Western writers have not approached the discussion of Eastern matters in a provincial spirit.

However this may be, in recent years, as has been indicated in previous numbers of THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT, Japan has given clear evidence of a warm sympathy with the Western conception of the relation between government and people, a conception which had its roots in Christianity. The progress of the new civilisation is really based upon this changed conception, and its progress has been stimulated at every stage by almost complete freedom of thought and an approach to equality of opportunity hardly surpassed in the freest countries of the West. The state of mind which has thus been created has proved, as it was bound to do, responsive to the appeals of Christianity; and the growth of the churches and the increasing spirit of independence which they exhibit are convincing proofs that Christianity is already naturalised in Japan.

While holding decided views regarding questions of missionary policy, the EDITOR has endeavored to treat them impartially and to confine himself to a narrative of facts as they have been authentically furnished him.

There has been an ever present difficulty confronting him, which has grown out of the fact that THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT is intended to serve the interests of two quite different classes of readers, namely: those actually on the ground, who are familiar with the general features of the work, and those in the home lands whose information is meagre and fragmentary. The former welcome details while the latter desire most of all a comprehensive statement which may help them to a true perspective. They are

impatient of details, save as they are necessary for purposes of illustration. It would be too much to hope that an entirely just compromise has been made between these competing interests; but THE EDITOR trusts that in spite

of defects in this regard, the wants of both classes will be measurably met. Much important matter has been unavoidably omitted. Among the omissions the most regrettable is that of any suitable reference to the mission work in Korea. In view of the intimate political relation between Korea and Japan, considerable space might most appropriately have been given to that work, in many of its features unique in the history of modern missions. Seldom has Christianity made such rapid progress in any land.

The spread of Christianity in the Japanese communities in Korea, Manchuria, and China also might well have occupied a chapter by itself. The self-supporting congregations in Dalny, Newchwang, Tientsin, and Shanghai are noteworthy in themselves and not less noteworthy in their relation to the Chinese churches in their vicinity. Their interesting growth and present strength and activity point them out as likely to prove centres of wide and healthful influence in coming days. Another cause for regret is the lack of an article on the Roman Catholic Mission. An effort was made to secure one, but without success.

In sending out the fifth issue of THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT, the EDITOR desires first of all to thank the AsSISTANT EDITOR for his counsels and aid. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond the control of either have prevented the degree of co-operation at first contemplated, and the EDITOR must accordingly assume direct responsibility for all articles whose authorship is not specifically indicated. Acknowledgments are due also to those who have so kindly and helpfully replied to the large number of circulars sent out and especially to those who have prepared reports on the various departments of Christian work.

In preparing Part First, every effort has been made to secure the latest information at first hand. Wherever possible, the EDITOR has based his statements upon the vernacular publications of the various departments of the Government. He has had occasion to quote but rarely from the Japan Year Book, but he has examined it with care and with large profit to himself. He is glad to bear testimony to its