Assignment in Manchuria

We continue here the story of Anna Bog Madsen as she took up her assignment at the small town of Siuyen in Manchuria where she served as a missionary from 1920 continuously until 1946. Siuyen is about 250 km. northeast of Port Arthur and 180 km. south of Mukden [Shenyang]. It lies between a wooded mountain range and the 2 km. Tajang River.

The image above is a sketch map of Manchuria in 1937 published by the Danish Missionary Society. It refers to Manchuria as "Manchuokuo" because by 1937 the Japanese had taken over Manchuria. The long lines of alternating black and white mark the railroads. Siuyen is found north of Takushan and west of Antung.

Although Siuyen is now called Xuiyan and Manchuria is now called Dong Bei, we refer to these and other Manchurian place names by those in use during Anna Bog's tenure, sometimes providing in brackets the current usage.

In later describing the early days of her missionary labor, Anna Bog wrote:

"The three northern provinces in China were not as over-populated as the southern provinces are; but it is a rich country with very fertile soil. There are also mines here and there. Not far from us, where we live, is a silver mine. The people are quite well situated. Far up in the old walled city of Siuyen, a two-days ride from the nearest railway station, and across mountain passes, rivers, plains, and through many villages, in an old walled-in Mission Compound is where I was stationed. Here you found only Chinese houses. Pioneer missionaries had labored for 20 years already. There was a small congregation here, a Boy's and Girl's School, a Hospital, a Street Chapel, and there were some dear Christians here.

"I started to teach English in the Boys' High School and in the Girls' Normal School. I made many good contacts here. Some of them lasted as long as I was in the field. As a second year language student (Chinese) I started itinerating with a native Bible woman [trained catechist] visiting the out-stations served from Siuyen. One of these stations was a two-day cart ride away. This was real evangelistic work. As I was the first foreign woman they had ever seen, it was quite easy to gather big crowds. My Moody [Bible Institute] lessons on 'How to do personal work' were really put into practice. All my years in the service of the Lord I have loved to do this type of work."

For further context regarding Manchuria at that time, we provide here a summary:

Manchuria is bordered by Mongolia to the west, Russia to the north and northeast, and Korea to the southeast. To the southwest are Beijing and the Great Wall. To the south is the Yellow Sea and beyond it the province of Shantung [Shandong].

Manchuria is divided into three provinces: Heilongjiang, Kirin [Jilin], and Fengtian [Liaoning]. Heilongjiang is the northernmost of the three. One of its principal cities is Harbin. Kirin is the middle province. One of its major cities is Chang Chun. Fengtian is the southernmost province. Its capital is Mukden [Shenyang]. Fengtian province includes the Liaodong Peninsula, near the tip of which lies the port city of Dairen [Dalian] and the ice-free port of Port Arthur. Another important city is Antung [Dandong], a gateway to Korea. The 790 km. long Yalu River marks the border between Manchuria and Korea. Siuyen is in Fengtian province.

Manchuria has many lovely mountains and the woods teamed with bears, wild boars, hares, wolves, foxes, and wild cats. There is abundant fish in the sea to the south. Manchuria is rich in coal, gold, iron, and precious stones, including jade.

Agriculturally, Manchuria has been called the garden of China. The principal crops include cereal grasses (sorghum or millet, "kaoliang" in Chinese), tobacco, corn, cotton, and fruit. Every old book on Manchuria mentions the kaoliang, which grew up to 12 feet high, blocking the view from the road or train. In the 1920s, most of the buildings in Manchuria were thatched half-timbered buildings with mud walls. Most towns had only 10,000 to 15,000 inhabitants and were walled.

The native occupants of Manchuria were the Manchus, a mongoloid people. In 1644, the Manchus invaded China, established a dynasty (the Qing dynasty) and ruled China for nearly 300 years. The Qing rulers prohibited development of Manchuria and also prohibited immigration into Manchuria of Han Chinese -- that is, Chinese not of Mongol, Manchu, Tibetan, or other non-Chinese extraction.

In 1911, Sun Yat-sen and the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) overthrew the Qing rulers. This opened Manchuria to immigration from other parts of China. After the overthrow, there was continuous political struggle in China, including conflicts between rival warlords and civil war between the Communists and the Kuomintang.

By the time of Anna Bog's arrival in 1920, Manchuria was ethnically heterogenous (comprised of Han Chinese, Manchus, Russians, Japanese, and Koreans). At least eighty percent of the population was Han Chinese. After settlement was permitted, many of the immigrants came from Shantung.

A significant feature of Manchurian life in the 1920s was the South Manchuria Railway. It was begun by the Russians who, in the late 1890s, had negotiated an agreement with China to bring the Trans-Siberian Railroad across Manchuria to Port Arthur at the southern tip of Manchuria.

The Russians obtained a long-term lease of the Liaotung peninsula where Port Arthur is located and built a line between Chang Chun and Port Arthur. In 1904, however, the Japanese attacked the Russians (Russo-Japanese War) and as a result Japan acquired the railroad and related leases in 1905. The Japanese then constructed a line connecting Mukden and Antung, built towns, made harbor improvements, mined for coal and iron, developed utilities, and conducted agricultural experiments.

Thus, by the time Anna Bog arrived in the 1920s, there were large numbers of Japanese nationals. Moreover, the Russians had founded the city of Harbin in northern Manchuria in 1900 as a railway center. And, after the Japanese took over the South Manchuria Railway in 1905, the Russians had retained the northern portion of the railway. So, by 1920, Harbin had a large Russian population. Residents included many White Russians who had fled the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1917.

Referenced sources:

Anna Bog Madsen, "The Old Missionary's Brief Story"; The Messenger; Nazareth Lutheran Church; Cedar Falls, Iowa; 1971. Courtesy of Casey Welch.

Thyra Gullach-Jensen, "Sketch Map of Manchuria"; D.M.S. i Manchuriet, Danish Missionary Society; Cophenhagen, 1937. Used with permission.