Page 159 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 159
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
We reached Zhenjiang at 3 pm and were met by Mr. Best, who quickly took us all home to where his
wife was preparing a meal for us. We also met Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Taylor who had been in China as
missionaries since 1881. He was the son of the founder, Mr. Hudson Taylor, whose life story I had
read with so much interest on my trip to MBI. Hudson Taylor and his first wife are both buried in the
cemetery at Zhenjiang and we went to have a look at their graves while we were there. This was my
first walk in inland China and it was rather coloured by the horrible open pits we kept passing which
are really open air toilets. The contents of them are ladled into buckets and used as manure on fields
and gardens. Muriel was holding a handkerchief very firmly over her nose and most of her face. Miss
Crystall looked at her and said, “What’s the matter, Muriel?” From behind the handkerchief Muriel was
heard to say in muffled tones, “That awful smell! Whatever is it?” to which Miss Crystall replied, “That
smell! Why, that’s the most common smell in China! You’ll soon get used to it!”
Zhenjiang is at the junction of the Grand Canal and the great Yangtse River (Chang Jiang), and from
there we travelled by launch up the Canal to Yangzhou. The narrow streets to the jetty were crowded
with flood refugees, but that was nothing to the crowd and the din and the pushing which increased as
we got nearer to the launch. I think we all wondered how we would ever get on board. Over and
beyond all the rest we were conscious of beggars crawling at our feet in the dust. Their persistent
whine and outstretched hands gave an undercurrent of pathos to the hurly burly round us.
Mr. Best had reserved a very small cabin for us which we actually had to ourselves, but the tiny
windows through which we were supposed to get ventilation were blocked by crowds of men all
wanting to have a look at the foreigners. We probably had three times more people on board than we
were licensed to carry. Between the figures at the windows we caught tantalising glimpses of life on
either side of the Canal. The Yangtse was higher that year than it had been for the past 17 years,
and the rice fields along the Canal were under water too. Here and there we passed a village, tiny
houses with pigs, fowls, dogs, etc., all walking in and out at will, women with their blouses open
suckling their babies, and men with various loads at the ends of their carrying poles.
We reached Yangzhou where we were met by Miss Okey, one of the Language School staff, and a
Mr. Wong who took charge of our luggage. The hullabaloo here was even worse than at Zhenjiang.
Men and women pushed this way and that, rickshaw pullers yelled and shouted, coolies all round us
shouted and yelled as they argued with each other and with Mr. Wong about how our things were to
be taken to the CIM compound, and all around us people stared at us and our goods, making remarks,
complimentary or otherwise. Miss Okey left Mr. Wong to deal with the luggage and took us off with
her to walk to the school. There we were welcomed by Mrs. McFarlane who was in charge, and Miss
Griffith and Miss Wilson, both members of staff.
The six months at Yangzhou passed quickly and happily. Our time was well filled with basic language
study which I found myself enjoying even though Chinese is supposed to be one of the most difficult
languages. The only other foreign language I had attempted to learn was French which I studied for
four years at High School, but never having had much occasion to use it, I found it easy to forget.
Dorothy and I shared an upstairs room opening on to a balcony which ran the full length of the building
so we could visit our neighbours by walking along the balcony. Muriel and Marjorie shared one room
and Maud and Myrie another.
Lessons began soon after we arrived, but before that Mrs. McFarlane gave us a talk on rules and
regulations, and Miss Griffith gave us another on etiquette. We were also each given a job to do as
we were about 60 girls and it needed everybody to help a bit. Dorothy was in charge of mail,
collecting and sorting it as well as collecting the money for stamps and getting letters ready for the
postman. I had the more simple task of putting away all the eatables after meals and locking the
pantry. I also had to take care of a bowl of sugar - put it out for those who wanted sugar with their
159
Amy Moore
We reached Zhenjiang at 3 pm and were met by Mr. Best, who quickly took us all home to where his
wife was preparing a meal for us. We also met Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Taylor who had been in China as
missionaries since 1881. He was the son of the founder, Mr. Hudson Taylor, whose life story I had
read with so much interest on my trip to MBI. Hudson Taylor and his first wife are both buried in the
cemetery at Zhenjiang and we went to have a look at their graves while we were there. This was my
first walk in inland China and it was rather coloured by the horrible open pits we kept passing which
are really open air toilets. The contents of them are ladled into buckets and used as manure on fields
and gardens. Muriel was holding a handkerchief very firmly over her nose and most of her face. Miss
Crystall looked at her and said, “What’s the matter, Muriel?” From behind the handkerchief Muriel was
heard to say in muffled tones, “That awful smell! Whatever is it?” to which Miss Crystall replied, “That
smell! Why, that’s the most common smell in China! You’ll soon get used to it!”
Zhenjiang is at the junction of the Grand Canal and the great Yangtse River (Chang Jiang), and from
there we travelled by launch up the Canal to Yangzhou. The narrow streets to the jetty were crowded
with flood refugees, but that was nothing to the crowd and the din and the pushing which increased as
we got nearer to the launch. I think we all wondered how we would ever get on board. Over and
beyond all the rest we were conscious of beggars crawling at our feet in the dust. Their persistent
whine and outstretched hands gave an undercurrent of pathos to the hurly burly round us.
Mr. Best had reserved a very small cabin for us which we actually had to ourselves, but the tiny
windows through which we were supposed to get ventilation were blocked by crowds of men all
wanting to have a look at the foreigners. We probably had three times more people on board than we
were licensed to carry. Between the figures at the windows we caught tantalising glimpses of life on
either side of the Canal. The Yangtse was higher that year than it had been for the past 17 years,
and the rice fields along the Canal were under water too. Here and there we passed a village, tiny
houses with pigs, fowls, dogs, etc., all walking in and out at will, women with their blouses open
suckling their babies, and men with various loads at the ends of their carrying poles.
We reached Yangzhou where we were met by Miss Okey, one of the Language School staff, and a
Mr. Wong who took charge of our luggage. The hullabaloo here was even worse than at Zhenjiang.
Men and women pushed this way and that, rickshaw pullers yelled and shouted, coolies all round us
shouted and yelled as they argued with each other and with Mr. Wong about how our things were to
be taken to the CIM compound, and all around us people stared at us and our goods, making remarks,
complimentary or otherwise. Miss Okey left Mr. Wong to deal with the luggage and took us off with
her to walk to the school. There we were welcomed by Mrs. McFarlane who was in charge, and Miss
Griffith and Miss Wilson, both members of staff.
The six months at Yangzhou passed quickly and happily. Our time was well filled with basic language
study which I found myself enjoying even though Chinese is supposed to be one of the most difficult
languages. The only other foreign language I had attempted to learn was French which I studied for
four years at High School, but never having had much occasion to use it, I found it easy to forget.
Dorothy and I shared an upstairs room opening on to a balcony which ran the full length of the building
so we could visit our neighbours by walking along the balcony. Muriel and Marjorie shared one room
and Maud and Myrie another.
Lessons began soon after we arrived, but before that Mrs. McFarlane gave us a talk on rules and
regulations, and Miss Griffith gave us another on etiquette. We were also each given a job to do as
we were about 60 girls and it needed everybody to help a bit. Dorothy was in charge of mail,
collecting and sorting it as well as collecting the money for stamps and getting letters ready for the
postman. I had the more simple task of putting away all the eatables after meals and locking the
pantry. I also had to take care of a bowl of sugar - put it out for those who wanted sugar with their
159
