Meeting of the London Missionary their own Roman Catholic countrySociety. He said, "There is hardly a continent or shore where I have not gone to follow my country-men, I mean the Chinese." He maintained that the Chinese would be more and more a "standing factor" in the future history of the world. As to the progress that missions had made in China, he said, "It is not to me a question of statistics at all, but even if you take it on that lowest ground, it shows magnificent results.' Among the recent graduates of Columbia College Law School, New York, was Hong Yen Chang, a native of Pekin, China. Dr. Ashmore attended the Annual Meetings of the Baptists of the Northern United States, held at Asbury Park, New Jersey, from May 24th to 31st. His address following the report on the Chinese Mission is spoken of as one of "wonderful vigor;" and he is called "one of the most finished speakers that ever stood on a platform." Rev. C. H. Carpenter, formerly of the Bassein Mission, and author of several publications on Missionary Policy, has been appointed by the American Baptist Union a missionary to Japan. He will have charge of the work on the island of Yesso. THE RIOTS IN CHUNGKING. As yet, our information of what occurred at Chungking on the 1st, and 2nd of July, is very meagre. It seems however certain that the mission premises of the Methodists, the China Inland Mission, and the Roman Catholics', together with Mr. Copp's hired residence, who is Colporteur Superintendent of the American Bible Society, together with the British Consular residence, were all looted and destroyed. The British Consular Resident, was seriously wounded, but so far as we can learn, no other foreigners. Several rioters were, it is said, killed by men who were defending their of us in the Yamen,-ten gentle- and which will be generally acceptable in all parts of the Chinese Empire," we do not see the least prospect of securing such a desideratum by the appointment of the "Committee of Nine," mentioned in said document, or of any other Committee, at the present time. The differences of opinion on the subject are yet too great to give any prospect of securing a version, "that will be generally acceptable.' A goodly number of missionaries still think that the old standard versions are better than the proposed substitutes, and only need the correction of some manifest errors and defects : Some are quite dissatisfied with these old versions, and think that one of the Mandarin Versions is so excellent, that it only needs to be turned into Wenli in order to become generally acceptable. But to us in Southern China it seems, to say the least, remarkable that a version, in order to become generally acceptable, should be based on a Mandarin Version. It might be more acceptable on this account in the North, where the people use the Mandarin language, and therefore do not need the Easy Wenli. Some were in hopes that the version prepared by Rev. Griffith John might become the basis of a "Union Version," but these hopes too have been destroyed; for while this version "has met " as the aforesaid document testifies, "with very considerable favor," it seems also, at least in some quarters, to have met with decided disfavor. Besides what has been made manifest in this direction by articles which have appeared in the Recorder, we need only refer to the fact that Mr. John's version was followed so quickly by another version, and one which, (as appears from the printed slip in English attached to the copies of the Gospel by Matthew sent to us,) deliberately ignores Mr. John's Work. We mention these facts to show the utter hopelessness of obtaining what is called a Union Version, at the present time. Should the effort be made and fail, the obtaining of a Union Version will thereby probably be delayed many years more. We may add that we regard Mr. John's version as a very valuable contribution towards the obtaining of a Union Version. We have made much use of it, not so much as a substitute for, as to assist in explaining the Delegates' Version, which is yet the Version generally used in this region. We are at present engaged in making a new translation of the New Testament from the original Greek into the Amoy Vernacular. Those engaged in this work find Mr. John's version, as well as the other existing versions, of much assistance. We trust the "Version based on the Mandarin New Testament, now in process of preparation, will prove valuable in the same way. As yet we have only seen the Gospel by Matthew, and have not been able to give to that full examination. RESOLUTIONS REGARDING THE were The following resolutions unanimously adopted at the Meeting of Missionaries at Shanghai on the 12th of July, 1886 Whereas, we have learned with regret, that the Rev. J. W. Lambuth, D.D. has been appointed by his Mission Board to Japan, and will shortly proceed with his family to that field, and since Dr. Lambuth has for nearly thirty-two years been connected with the work of missions in Shanghai and its vicinity, and whether in society or in the work of missions which he loves so well, we have learned to esteem most highly both him and his excellent partner, as fellow workers in the cause of Christ, and Whereas, for very many years the Monday afternoon Prayer Meeting of Missionaries has been held either in his chapel or in his house, receiving at his hands a cordial welcome; Be it therefore resolved by the members of the several Protestant Missions in Shanghai, 1st. That we deeply regret the loss to the cause of Christ in Shanghai of our beloved brother and his wife, and while we doubt not that God's blessing will be upon their labors in their new field, we shall greatly miss their presence and work among us. 2nd. That we tender to them our sincere thanks for the reception they have so long and so cheerfully accorded to the Missionary Prayer Meeting, and assure them that their names will not be forgotten by us. 3rd. That we shall pray for the richest blessing of God upon their labors in the new field to which they have been called. 4th. That a copy of these resolutions be furnished to Rev. Dr. Lambuth and Mrs. Lambuth. Diary of Events in the Far East. June, 1886. 11th. Four hundred and sixty persecuted Anamite Roman Catholic Christians landed at Saigon. 14th. The s.s. Hok Canton is seized by a chief of Acheen, though it finally escaped, leaving the Captain and his wife in the pirates' hands. 21st. Twenty-four East India Opium Hongs petition the Hongkong Government against the proposed arrangements of a Commission appointed under the Chefoo Convention regarding the Opium Business at Hongkong. 25th.-Gen. O. De Lagerheim, Acting Consul-General for Sweden and Norway, dies at Shanghai. 28th.-Telegraphic communication established to Ichang from Hankow. July, 1886. 1st.-Riot at Chungking; the Roman Catholic, China Inland, and Methodist Mission establishments destroyed. 3rd.-Severe hail storm at Tientsin. 5th.-Hail storm at Hangchow. 10th. The Russian Consul of Han kow, M. Protassief, and his child, die of sun stroke.-Tenders for material for the extension of the Kaiping Railroad opened at Tientsin. 11th-An Imperial Edict ordering the Ministers of State to select an auspicious day in the first moon of next Chinese year for the assumption of the Government of the Empire by His Majesty, Kwang Hsü. as 14th.-M. Agliarde reported having been appointed, by the Vatican, Apostolic Delegate to Peking.—A severe storm at Hongkong. 17th.-Quarantine regulations enforced by Japanese Government against arrivals from Yokohama. THIS HIS work forms two volumes in the Sacred Books of the East, a very useful series of works which has now reached the 28th volume. The editor, Professor Max Müller, lately presented a copy of the whole collection to the Queen who graciously accepted it. These two volumes will be highly valued by all students of Chinese, and more especially by the missionary band in China to which the translator for many years belonged, for as is truly remarked in the preface they contain more information on the religion of the ancient Chinese than all the other classics taken together. This assertion refers chiefly of course to bulk. The translation is carefully done and will bear examination. The text is not like the old classics which are often crabbed in style. The words are newer, the style is more that of the period of Confucius and Mencius and of writers in the time of the contending states, with those of the Han dynasty. It was then that the most of this work was written, and the style therefore is not difficult. The comparative antiquity of the parts of the Li Ki may be stated in the following manner. The disciple of Confucius, Tseng tsi, wrote the Ta hio which by Cheng yi and Chu hi was taken out of the collection and made into the first of the Four Books. The grandson of Confucius Tsi si wrote the Chung Yung and this by the same two scholars was made the second of the Four Books. These portions of the Li ki with those which contain conversations of Confucius or casual remarks by him were written therefore in the fifth century before Christ. These make up much the largest part of the book. They may not all belong to that particular century. They may indeed spread over the whole intervening time till the Li ki was recognised as a book in the first century before Christ. The Yue ling, Record of the Months, is not so easy to dispose of. It suits the age of the Western Cheu, some centuries before Confucius. We are told in the X, that the Yue ling was taken out of the Cheu Shu and inserted in the Lü shï chun ts'ieu, This seems quite probable though Dr. Legge does not allude to it. There is nothing besides in the Li ki that looks so old as the Yue ling. But in the remainder there is much resemblance frequently to the Chow li. The ancient rites of China are realistically described. There is detail without comment. Where there is reasoning and philosophy it may be taken as proof that Chan kwo authorship has been at work. Thus it appears that in the Li ki the Record of the Months is as it stands the only part that dates from before the Ch'un ts'ieu period, and the remaining chapters in their present form belong to the age between B. C. 500, and B. C. 200. There may be passages which are taken from older compilations and authors, but these are so mixed with later materials that they cannot now be distinguished. The student will find it most useful to divide the Li ki in this way. What it says of the calendar belongs to the age of the Odes, when the country was quiet and the people cultivated the fields and sang of home and rural pursuits. In the other parts of the work, the usages described are also very much of the same period, but they are intermingled with discussions of the Confucian age and the writers shew that they belonged to that time by their style. They were under the same influence which led to the composition in the new style of the great work of Tso chieu ming. The style and argumentative philosophy are post-Confucian. The usages are in great part pre-Confucian and so are the mythology and astronomy.* For instance does any one wish to know when the philosophy of the five elements was first introduced, when Shen ming began for instance to be called Yeu ti the "Burning Emperor," and when Chu yung, a minister of his, was first mentioned as being worshipped in The learned author of the Tien yuen li li writing in the reign of Kanghi, says that Lü pu wei's commission of scholars, when they placed the Yue ling in their book, left the stars as they were in the Cheu dynasty. At the beginning of that dynasty in the middle winter month the sun was entering the constellation Teu, fifteen days before the solstice. Lü pu wei lived about 800 years after Cheu kung and the difference in the place of the stars passed by the sun would amount in that time roughly to ten degrees. By this mode of proof it may be certainly known that the Yue ling is a Cheu document. See chapter 6, page 23, of Tien yuen li li. |