The Round Mountain Village and the Fox Goddess Cult (Early 1939)

By the 1930s, the city of Siuyen had a population of about 20,000, although there were fluctuations during the famine and the bandit attacks when people came into town by the thousands. The entire Siuyen mission district was comprised of about 3,500 square kilometers of land and had about 180,000 inhabitants.

The travel restrictions referred to in our earlier posts such as Landlocked (Early 1936) were not self-imposed or imposed by the D.M.S. Rather, the Manchukuo government imposed them and the police enforced them. Although by mid-1936 the new motor coach line had made it possible to travel via bus to other towns and to reach the passenger railroad line, the kind of missionary journey to outlying villages described in our post Invited Everywhere (1932) had not been possible for many years.

In early 1939, however, Elise Bahnson, Anna Bøg's collaborator in the work with the women in Suiyen, received governmental permission to make just such a trip in the company of two Bible Women.

Here is Elise Bahnson's account:

"There came the first authorization for foreigners to travel in the country in Siuyen District. None of us had thought it would come so quickly.

"In the month of January there was a big hunt for the bandits to get them rooted out. The result was that the two remaining bandit chieftains along with their some twenty cohorts were either captured or surrendered. It was said in town that there were no more bandits in the District.

"When we held the co-workers' meeting on February 27, the Christian Mrs. Chao came from the 'Round Mountain Village' to invite us out there. The last beating of the bushes to find the bandits had been a very difficult passage. Everyone in the village made offerings to the fox goddess to obtain help. The fox goddess is very much worshipped in Siuyen and its environs. But Mrs. Chao stood firm and would not.

"When the push [for the bandits] was over, and there had been a good outcome, the village people said, 'That woman has something to hold onto'. They came and wanted to hear. Before they had not wanted to listen.

"Since that place was also the native village of the Bible Woman, Miss Chao, we thought there was every reason to go there right away. Our minister, who handles most of the police matters, thought I would receive permission. I too had high hopes. The Bible Woman and I went in and came back beaming, with authorization for a 16-day tour in the country. It was as if a new page had been turned, that we really had permission to move freely in the country.

"Cycling Tour

"The first of March, two Bible Women and I left on our bicycles by way of the Takushan Road. Our things came after us on a little pushcart. They may be driven on the highway, as they have motorbike wheels, so these days there are many of them.

"[We traveled] approximately one and a half Danish miles out along the main road over two [mountain] passes. Below the last was a side road that went alongside a little stream into a valley. This road was not as good as the main highway, with only bridges over the streams in a few places.

"I felt almost as if I had not been in this country all these years because we have not been able to go outside of town. It was almost like being released from prison -- wonderfully glorious.

"In four and a half hours' time, we reached the village. During the last stretch, the road ran out. There were only paths, as usual everywhere before in the old days. There we had to walk our bicycles.

"The Round Mountain Village

"South of a bend in the River Yang is 'The Round Mountain'. The valley goes completely around it on all sides in a circle, and the mountain is quite low. South of the mountain, the village lies midway between a collection of villages.

"This time we did not visit all the villages. Some nine years ago, the Bible Woman Miss Chao's family moved into town, and during those nine years the daughter had not been home. Now she came with light and ardor to give her kinsmen the Gospel and the Savior she herself had come to love and serve.

"It was a joy to follow her on her first country visit in the district to her own native place. Her aunt and uncle were our hosts. They inhabit a 5-room house with side houses. The grounds are divided in two by an invisible center line. The eastern part belongs to her uncle. The west was her old home, now rented to a relative. Her aunts and uncles had also lived in town, had heard the Gospel, and had been baptized. They were now out to invite people to our meeting.

"From the first evening, the kangs were full of women and children, the chests and tables of boys, and the benches of men. So it was every evening during the five evenings we were there. Many heard the Gospel proclaimed for the first time.

"The first day we were out on house visits, an old woman, a zealous Buddhist, was visited. She did not come [to the meetings] the first few days but the last two evenings she came. She wanted to hear her young relative speak. She was not unaffected. She had otherwise said to her sons that those who wanted to be Christians would be disinherited. One of her sons had decided he wanted to be a Christian, he and his house.

"The next day we went on a visit to the 'Mountain Village Behind', a larger village. We went to the home of the Shih family. The 70-year-old woman was born a Chao. The [home had] two wide kangs and two large rooms. The rooms were soon full. There were several who had never heard the Gospel.

"In the audience was a man who made his living as a soothsayer and with continual satanic power misled the local people. That sort is called 'Ta Shen', which is directly translated as 'the great God'. He is gone for and questioned when there is illness, death, or other difficulties.

"He said right out, while the others heard it, 'I know mine is fake -- that is true. I will wait until after the 15th [in the Chinese calendar]. (That day is an important day of offering to the idols.) 'If you believe, then we will follow,' said several. Poor thing! He was trapped. Soon thereafter one of his assistants came and got him as there was no one at his home who sought him.

"A small cluster of houses stood alone. We went in. A schoolteacher came along with the children, and in a moment there was again a great assembly to speak to.

"The evening before the 15th, the Bible Women talked about how at Ephesus they had burned the costly sorcery books.

"That evening, some boys said to their father that they wanted to be Christian. 'Shall we take the idols down?' That evening they did not come down, but neither was there a sacrifice to them in the morning.

"We heard about a second home where the man had taken down the idols. As we talked about it, the woman went over and tore down the god of wealth. He had been glued to the wall right behind me. The man took down the threshold god, and to get [the home] entirely clean, the Bible Woman took down the kitchen god. 'It gives me particular pleasure,' she said, 'to help clean out the rooms where we lived, my old home.

"There was a bundle of joss stocks that the man had recently purchased. It was a little hard to get them under the pot, but they got them there and they were also burned.

"On Sunday (the 15th), the Bible Woman came and said, 'May I go over to my old teacher in the village near here? I have been repeatedly reminded of my old Teacher Wang, now 89 years old. I must go over and see him.' Then she went with a relative and came back radiant. 'As soon as I told him about the true God and Jesus, he was ready to believe. He has now decided that he wants to be a Christian.'

"The next day when we left, I went there to greet him. He was quite clear of mind, could still read, and did so wonderfully. We left a few books and promised him a Bible. He is very poor and alone. His family has relocated to other districts."

There will be more about this trip in next week's post.

Source:
Bahnson, Elise; "Endelig paa Landtur igen"; Dansk Missionsblad; Vol. 106, Nr. 17, April 26, 1939; pp. 249-252. Translation by Marie-Jacqueline.

Image:
Chao home in Round Mountain Village, from the article cited above.
All D.M.S. items used with permission.