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:

(i)Religion;
(ii)Work;
(iii)Education;
(iv)Discipline;
(v)Cleanliness.