SCIENCE AMONG THE CHINESE 35 



Mere education in the science of the west, mere contact with west- 

 ern civilization, commerce, railways, telegraphs, mines, etc., can not be 

 expected and are not calculated to regenerate China, because they have 

 no direct moral or spiritual value, and the Chinese seem never to have 

 been profoundly moved by other than moral and spiritual forces. 



Education which deals only with coordinated physical or mental 

 facts, conducted however thoroughly, does not prove adequate for the 

 regulation of the conduct of mankind. It is so chiefly intellectual, 

 that it leaves man's highest nature unsatisfied and almost untouched; 

 therefore it is imperative in the present intellectual and material 

 awakening that the more subtle forces which will profoundly afiect the 

 soul of the race should be fostered side by side with these others, and 

 that full advantage be taken of the critical state presented by this 

 transition, in order to gain for Christianity its rightful place among 

 the educated men of the rising generation. 



At the same time care must be taken to avoid repetition of the 

 unwarranted conflict between science and religion. Our instruction 

 must be such that these two departments are not regarded as antago- 

 nistic, but as supplementary, not only in affecting daily life and conduct, 

 but supplementary also as revelations of the character and purposes of 

 God. We must also avoid the tendency to impose a system which is 

 the outgrowth of western civilization without due regard for the oriental 

 character and mode of thinking. 



The wide diffusion of Christianity in its best form will not sud- 

 denly introduce the millennium into China, for all intermediate stages 

 must be passed through before the goal is reached, but it will for the 

 first time in Chinese history, realize the motto of the ancient Tang 

 repeated so impressively in these latter days by Chang Chi Tung: 

 " Eenovate, renovate the people." Thus alone can the empire be 

 adapted to the altered conditions brought about by the impact of 

 western thought. Christianity has been tried as yet upon a small scale 

 only, but has already brought forth fruit after its kind. When it shall 

 have been thoroughly tested and have had opportunity to develop its 

 potentialities in a manner specially adapted to the situation, it will 

 give to China intellectually, morally and spiritually the long sought for 

 elixir of a new life. 



