2l6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



are still people who live in primitive conditions, and many whose be- 

 liefs and practices are primitive. One should know what these people 

 are thinking about and what they are seeking in order to be able to 

 arrange a helpful program of moral and religious education. 



6. The aim should be to develop well-educated, well-trained native 

 religious leaders and to give them responsible positions when they are 

 capable of assuming them. The history of religion emphasizes the 

 importance of good native leadership if a new religion is to become 

 well established among a new people. The old word "devolution" 

 sounds a little like going to the devil, but at its best it is the opposite. 

 The training and use of worthy native leaders is of primary im- 

 portance in the establishing of indigenous churches or religions. 



7. Many cultural groups have native arts, architecture, music, and 

 moral and religious ideals that are high and worthy. The native re- 

 ligious groups should be encouraged to use them in order to make a 

 new religion indigenous. What is of value in native culture and cus- 

 toms should not be destroyed but used for the benefit of the people. 

 This can be done without losing anything of value that the new re- 

 ligion has to contribute, and it can enrich and greatly aid in the spread 

 of the new religion. 



FILIAL PIETY 



In 1944 Bishop Soong, who was then pastor of the Chengtu Episco- 

 pal Church, published an article in the Christian Quarterly, of which 

 Y. T. Wu was editor, in which he said that in the past missionaries 

 had been very much mistaken in their attitude toward filial piety, and 

 that there was nothing in the Chinese practices of filial piety that 

 Chinese Christians could not and should not approve and practice. 

 He quoted a number of passages from the Christian Bible to support 

 his position. In the next issue of the Christian Quarterly, several 

 Chinese Christians severely criticized Bishop Soong and the ideas that 

 he had expressed. One writer closed with the statement, "Bishop 

 Soong, you are not fit to be a Christian Bishop. You ought to be a 

 Confucian Bishop." 



Some time after this Y. T. Wu and I met and discussed the arti- 

 cles on filial piety. I made a few remarks, based on my observations 

 of life in China. Said Mr. Wu, "You write that down. I want to 

 publish it in the Christian Quarterly." I did so, and it was translated 

 and published in the next issue of the Christian Quarterly. The 

 English version is given below. Strange to say, the Chinese leaders 

 apparently accepted this article as satisfactorily settling the question, 



