a theological student, puts this point of view forcefully and on 

 broad lines. Some quotations will be most suggestive: 



' 'It is widely accepted that the task of the Christian 



church is two-fold, the Christianization of China and the 



Sinization of Christianity. Neither of them can be accom- 



'plished if the villages are left out of consideration. But of 



real social control the villages are the source/' 



Now, as Mr. Tai says, if we are really hoping that China 

 shall become wholly Christian in the largest sense of the word, 

 we must regard the significance of agriculture in China. Note 

 these fact, briefly stated: 



That the number of people involved is not less than 

 300,000,000; 



That China is sustained by her farmers. Her food supplies 

 her raw materials for manufacturing, her whole economic and 

 social structure hang upon her farmers; 



That indeed, her perpetuity as a civilization has depended 

 in no small degree upon the skill with which her farmers have 

 for forty centuries maintained the fertility of her soil; 



That for generations to come, Chinese industry and 

 commercial progress are inextricably intertwined with the 

 development of her agriculture; and finally; 



That she can never attain national democracy, or even a 

 stable, central government on democratic lines, except as her 

 farmers are prosperous and intelligent citizens. 



It is evident that the Christian conquest of China involves a 

 statesmanlike consideration of her rural policy and program. 

 We should understand that while the ultimate goal of 

 Christianity is to build a Kingdom of God on earth, all experience 

 goes to emphasize the fundamental need of Christianizing local 

 groups, so that each group becomes in a real sense a self- 

 contained, veritable Kingdom of God. The Church itself is built 

 upon that principle, for the local church unit is the strength of 

 the Church, and the fully Christianized local communities are 

 the units of which the larger Kingdom is composed. In China 

 these farm villages are true social units, the very tissue of 

 Chinese civilization. If this civilization is to be dominated by 

 and permeated with the principles of Christianity, these rural 

 groups, these farm villages, are to be made true Kingdoms of 

 God. But the specifications of the Kingdom are that it must be 



