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Show - 37 - REPORT OF EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE FENCHOW STATION 1914. Those who would think correctly and with result upon the problems which <China presents, must revise their ideas of the past. A decade ago books were being written on "The Breakup of China";-to-day on "The Reconstruction : and the Awakening of China." China is rapidly entering upon a new period . of Constitutional government. Thirty years ago there was not a country in Asia which had a constitution; to-day every great independent power is either constitutional, or has been promised constitutional government by imperial decree. With an unwieldly population, ten-fold greater than Japan, with a people less unified, less dominated by strong central authority, more conservative, and hindered by a corrupt government, China's awakening is slower, but it is inevitable, and already begun on a vast scale. In no other single field is this struggle to new life more in evidence than in that of education. China has always valued education highly. Her former educational plan, in operation before Abraham migrated from Ur of the Chaldees, and organized into a workable system by Li Shih Mi, the second Emperor of the T'ang Dynasty, persisted until the last decade. A notable beginning has now been made in establishing the new system. Altho the people have a thirst for knowledge, and altho experts have drawn upon paper what is in certain respects a magnificent plan for an educational system, her inefficient government in which graft and nepotism are still conspicuous, all too frequently blocks the way. In these respects China is confronted to-day by a crisis, a crisis which is incidental to her transition, to be sure, but .augmented by her immense population, complicated by her national characteristics, and aggravated by its diverse factors and far-reaching issues. Christian Schools. The educational department of missionary work in China was the last to assume importance and has been the slowest to develop. Since the recent awakening, however, it has become distinctly evident that this has now grown to be not only an essential, but the most important of all missionary agencies. The whole origin and cause of re;ent events as well as the whole history of China goes to prove that the key to the position in China is the student classes. It is thru these men that any solution of the problems raised by the contact of East and West ( between which they are the buffer class I must be sought and found. Educational work is an absolute necessity for anything which intends to be represented in the China of the future. Weaknesses of Government Education in China. In order to understand what should be the future ideals, policy and methods of this arm of the Church's service, it would seem imperative that the forces of the church should keep in the closest possible touch with the Educational situation in China, and that those responsible for this department |
