Letters to Children

by E. C. Bridgman

[Letter XVIII.]

To Parents and Teachers,
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TO THE READER.

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This little Book contains eighteen Letters, written by Rev. E.C.
BRIDGMAN, Missionary in China, addressed to the Children of the
Sabbath School in Middleton, Mass. and published in the Sabbath
School Treasury and Visitor. Though the letters were addressed
to children in a particular Sabbath School, they are none the less
adapted to other children, and they cannot fail to interest any
one, who would see China converted to Christ.
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[LETTERS FROM CHINA.]

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[Letter I.]

Canton, (China,) Oct. 17, 1831
MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS:--The general agent of the Massachusetts
Sabbath School Union has requested me to write something which
I have "seen, heard, or thought of" for the Treasury. He proposed
that I should write in the form of letters, and address them to
you. This I shall be very happy to do, so far as I have any leisure
to write.
Some of you, perhaps, will remember what I used to tell you of
the children, and men, and women, who had no Bibles, and who were
ignorant of the true God, and of Jesus Christ the Savior of
sinners. I can remember very well what some of the little children
used to say, and how they used to look, when I talked to them about
being a missionary, and of going far away from home, perhaps never
to return. I did not then think of going so far off; indeed, I
did not know where I should go; had some thoughts of going to
Greece, or to Armenia. We do not always know what is best, but
God does, for He knows all things, and will direct all things for
his own glory; and if we love and obey him. He will make all things
work together for our good.
I am very glad I came to China, and I wish a great many more
missionaries would come here. Before I came among the heathen,
I had no idea how much they are to be pitied, and how much they
need the Bible. Now that I live among them, and see their poor
dumb idols every day, I desire to tell you a great many things
which, I hope, will make you more careful to improve your own
privileges, and more anxious also that the same blessed
privileges may be enjoyed by all other children every where.
Now, children, if you will look on your maps, you will see that
China is situated in that part of the earth, which is directly
opposite to the United States: so that when it is noon in one
place, it is midnight in the other. The two countries, you will
see, occupy nearly the same extent of the earth's surface. They
are, also, bounded on the north and south, by nearly the same
degrees of latitude. (China is situated a little farther south
than the United States.) This makes the seasons,--summer and
winters, spring and autumn,--and also the climate of the two
countries, quite alike. But in regard to population, religion,
and almost every thing else, they are very different from each
other.
China is a very ancient nation; and has, at the present time, a
vast population,--probably twenty or thirty times as many people
as there are in all the United States of America. If there are,
then, three millions in the United States to be gathered into
the Sabbath schools, and there Sabbath after Sabbath, instructed
in the Holy Scriptures; there are here in China more than sixty
millions, of the same age, who know not even that there are any
Sabbath, or any Sabbath day, or any Holy Bible.
You can now, dear children, from these few facts, estimate how
many there are in China who need the Bible; and how much there
is to be done, how many missionaries and Christian teachers will
be wanted, before all these millions of immortal beings shall have
the word of God, and be as blessed and as happy in their
privileges, as you now are. You, truly, enjoy great privileges,
because you have the Holy Bible, and can, every day, read of Jesus
Christ: and if you believe in him, you will have great joy and
comfort, and when you die, go to heaven and be forever with the
Lord. But O, what do you think will become of all these poor
heathen children, who have no Bibles, and who have never heard
of the name of Jesus? In the fourth chapter of Acts, you read,
that, "there is no other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved."
The Chinese are idolaters. Their fathers, and their grandfather,
for hundreds and thousands of generations, have been idolaters,
and worshipped idols of wood and stone which their own hands have
made. These idols are very numerous; as numerous, the Chinese
themselves say, as the sands on the banks of a great river.
The Chinese are divided into three religious sects. The Confucian
sect; the Taon sect; and the Buddha sect. I will now tell you
something about each of these three.
The Confucian sect is composed of the learned men of China,
who are in their disposition and character like the proud and
self-righteous pharisees, mentioned in the New Testament. They
call them the disciples of Confucius. They adore and worship
him; they have a great many temples dedicated to him; and they
offer various sacrifices to him, as the children of Israel did
to Jehovah, the true God, in the time of Moses. Confucius was born
538 years before Christ. His disciples relate many strange
stories about their master. But he taught them nothing about the
true God and Jesus Christ, and nothing about the soul after death.
Life and immortality were not revealed to him. His disciples
are as ignorant as their master was. They neither know nor
acknowledge the eternal power and Godhead, so "clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made." Professing
themselves to be wise, they become fools, and like the Romans,
"changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like
to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts," &c.
&c. I wish you to read the last half of the first chapter of Romans,
and you will have a good account of the disciples of Confucius.
Taontsze, which being interpreted, means old boy, was the
founder of the Taon sect. His followers to this day call him
the supreme venerable prince; and relate many curious stories
about him; and say that he was an ignorant good man.
The religion of Buddha was brought from India, and became a
common religion of China, probably, about the time, or soon after
the crucifixion of our Savior. Both this religion and that of the
Taon sect are dreadfully wicked, and full of abominations; and
their priests are the most ignorant and miserable people in China.
I will tell you more of these hereafter.
Besides these three sects, there are some Roman Catholics, some
Mohammedans, and a few Jews, scattered in different parts of
China.
Since I have now commenced, I wish to write you several short
letters; and this I will try to do, if God our heavenly Father
gives me time and strength. Earnestly desiring that he will give
you all good things, I remain,
Your true friends,
E.C. BRIDGMAN.
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[Letter II.]

Canton, (China,) Oct. 19, 1831.
MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,--In the first letter, I told you something
about the situation and the vast population of China, and the
three religious sects into which the people are divided. In this
letter I propose to give you a short account of their temples,
priests, priestesses, and idols.
Idol temples are very different from meeting-houses. I have
visited a good many of these temples, in and about Canton and
Macao. There is very little, if any, difference between the
temples of the Buddha and the Taon sects. Those which I have seen
are brick, and usually firm and well built. A common village
temple occupies about half an acre of ground, enclosed by a wall
twelve or fifteen feet high, and consists of several houses for
the priests, a number of small rooms and niches for the idols,
and an open court and alleys. Some of the temples are large,
including within their outer wall three or four acres, having
beautiful trees and gardens, and sometimes a furnace, in which
the dead bodies of priests are burnt, and also a kind of tomb,
filled with urns, in which their ashes are afterwards deposited.
These are more than thirteen hundred idol temples in the province
of Canton; and, at the same rate of reckoning, there will be, in
the eighteen provinces into which China is divided, more than
twenty-three thousand idol temples.
I have never visited any of the temples dedicated to Confucius.
They are, it is said, distinguished from those of Buddha and Taon,
by their dignified simplicity, the exclusion of images from all
the principal halls, and by substituting, in their stead,
commemorative tablets, bearing the names of Confucius and his
most distinguished disciples.
Priests are numerous. One temple in Peking has, it is said,
eight hundred priests. One which I have visited, near Canton,
has more than one hundred and fifty. Those of Buddha shave their
heads perfectly bald. They usually appear dressed in a large grey
gown, with sleeves often a full yard wide. They live principally
on vegetables; they eat no meat, are not allowed to marry, are
idle, and, except by persons of their own sect, utterly
disrespected. The priests of the Taon sect shave their heads,
except a spot about the size of a man's hand, of which the crown
of the head is the centre. This, indeed, every Chinese does. Every
man and every boy must have his head shaved, as a mark of
submission to the Emperor. This has been the custom for almost
two hundred years. But, while the common people braid their hair
into a "long tail," which hangs down to their heels, the priests
of Taon fold theirs up in a knot on the top of the head. When they
appear in public, they usually wear a yellow robe. They eat flesh,
and are permitted to marry. No priest of either sect ever teaches
in public and but seldom in private. They spend much of their time
in devotions, which are nothing but "vain repetitions," saying
over and over again the same words, as fast as they can, hundreds
and thousands of times. They are sometimes called to pray for the
dead, and sometimes to go in funeral processions.
Persons may become priests at any age they please; they are
usually, however, dedicated to the service when quite young, even
in infancy. A few days ago, in the streets, I saw a lad only eight
or ten years old, all dressed up in his priestly robes. There are
no priests belonging to the Confucian sect.
Priestesses are more wicked, but not so numerous as priests.
There are three sorts of these poor miserable creatures. Those
that belong to the sects of Buddha and Taon wear a peculiar kind
of dress. Those of the Buddha sect shave their heads, and the
people of Canton call them "women padres." Those of third sort
form a kind of sisterhood, live wholly on vegetables, and dress
like other women. These are all very wicked, ugly people. They
pretend to sing songs to the gods, and drive away demons. There
are other old women, still worse, if possible, than these; such
as witches, conjurers, and necromancers. They pretend to hold
intercourse with the dead, and give responses to their living
kindred, telling them that their dead friends are in great
distress for want of food and clothing. Many of the deluded people
believe them, and, by these lies and tricks, they contrive to get
food and clothing for themselves.
Idols, in China, are numerous beyond all calculation. These
idols are to be seen every where; in ships, in boats, houses, in
temples, shops, streets, fields, on the hills, and in the vallies,
and along the banks of all the rivers and canals. Some of these
idols are very large, huge monsters, several feet high. Some of
them are made of wood, some are stone, some are earthen, others
are brass, iron, &c. &c. They are most commonly made somewhat in
the likeness of men; but sometimes they are like beasts, and
birds, and creeping things. There are places where these godsare manufactured and sold just as people make and sell chairs,
tables, &c. I am going to send a parcel of them to the Society
of Inquiry respecting Missions, at the Theological Seminary,
Andover, where if you wish, you can go and see them.
Adieu, dear children. May the Lord, in great mercy, keep you from
all sin, and make you happy in this life and in that which is to
come. Remembering you often in my prayers,
I remain, your true friend,
E.C. BRIDGMAN.
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