NO. 4 RELIGION IN SZECHUAN PROVINCE. — GRAHAM 9 



thence to Haiphong in Indo-China. Among the Chinese whom he 

 has met are many well-known Christian leaders, army officials, 

 Chinese government officials of influence, one of the leading Bud- 

 dhists of China, a Da Yung Fah Si, and many others. 



The following pages are an attempt to present objectively the 

 religious life of the Chinese of Szechuan. 



7. THE RELATION OF RELIGION TO THE BASAL HUMAN NEEDS 



The writer believes that the basal human needs are for food, pro- 

 tection or security, sex, and play or amusement. Although the soil is 

 very fertile in Szechuan, the density of the population makes the 

 procuring of food a great problem. If no rain falls for an unusual 

 length of time, people become panic-stricken, the prices of rice and of 

 other foods climb rapidly, and thousands of poor people are threat- 

 ened with starvation. This is also apt to be true in time of war. In 

 the summer of 1925 the price of rice was so high in Kiating and in a 

 number of other cities that only the rich could secure enough to eat. 

 Well-informed Chinese said that many became half-starved, and in 

 this weakened condition contracted disease and died. " They were 

 half starved and half killed by disease." In Suifu this happened to an 

 old church member. In time of threatened drought or of civil war, 

 the suffering on the part of the poor people is intense. All over China 

 one of the most common ways of greeting is by asking, " Have you 

 eaten your rice ? " 



Security is needed from the forces of nature, from wild animals, 

 from enemies, and from disease. Men build houses as a protection 

 from storm, from the heat and sunshine of summer, and from the 

 winter cold. In Szechuan occur floods, terrific storms with rain, wind, 

 and thunder, and droughts, and from these protection must be sought. 

 In the mountains there is danger from rolling stones. Wild leopards 

 and other animals roam in the woods. 



The need of safety from disease is keenly felt by the Szechuanese 

 A common pimple or boil easily becomes infected and may cause 

 death. To this the writer can bear testimony, for he has had to be 

 lanced by a physician three different times. Two of his best Chinese 

 friends died of such infections. A physician who has spent many 

 years in West China printed the following paragraph in the West 

 China Missionary News : 



Long experience in China has taught me the danger of face infections, espe- 

 cially those of the lip. The purpose of this short article is not primarily to 

 scare people. But there is such an element of danger in these infections that I 



