Hidden by the Angels (1934-1935)

Anna Bøg's second furlough was from June, 1934, to August, 1935. Anna Bøg traveled by boat from Dairen in Manchuria to Kobe, Japan, and from there by ship to San Francisco for a stay in America. After that she left by ship from New York for Denmark and after some time there departed from Copenhagen by ship for Manchuria.

Unfortunately, this furlough was beset by difficulties -- not in America or Denmark but rather in leaving from and returning to Siuyen. First, turbulent weather threatened to impede her departure. In June, 1934, Rev. Bjergaarde reported:

“Miss Bøg Madsen was . . . scheduled to leave on June 8 by boat from Dairen to Japan and had hoped to leave here by automobile on Thursday, May 31 but this was hindered by an extraordinarily strong rain causing turbulence in the rivers, making it impossible for an automobile to cross without the risk of being pulled into the violent current. There are no bridges. To obtain a military escort and a Chinese cart would not be easy …Someone even thought of telegraphing to get a plane to pick up Miss Bøg Madsen. Well, that’s the way it is when one is at an inland station. It is no problem to travel around the world if one can manage the 90 kilometers to the railroad station. On Monday, June 4, however, the automobile was able to navigate and she caught the ship in Dairen on time.”

During this second furlough in 1934 and 1935, Anna Bøg spent time with her family on the West Coast and in Iowa. Family members remember this visit with affection. For instance, Anna Bøg's brother Peter's son Stanley tells an anecdote about Anna Bøg's visit to the family farm in Oregon. Anna Bøg wanted to go in to the nearest town. Peter offered to drive her but she did not wish to go by automobile and instead insisted on walking. Peter then sent young Stanley to accompany her, whereupon Anna Bøg (then nearly 47 years of age) set off walking at a pace so fast that Stanley was impressed.

After her stays in America and Denmark, Anna Bøg returned to Manchuria in August, 1935 aboard the Italian steamer the Conte Rosso in the company of the Rev. Buch family and other missionaries. The Buchs could go from Dairen by train directly to their post in Harbin but for Anna Bøg her return to Siuyen was even more difficult than her departure had been. Our readers will recall that there was no passenger train to Siuyen, the nearest passenger station being Haicheng. Moreover, there was still a major risk of being attacked or taken hostage by the ever-present bandits. This was especially the case since at the time the tall crops had not yet been fully harvested. As ever, they provided good cover for the bandits. And, the memory of Dr. Nielsen's long captivity was still fresh in everyone's minds.

Here is Anna Bøg's account of her return:

“A month to the day after my departure from Copenhagen, I landed with my fellow passengers in Dairen, where a letter from Siuyen informed me not to attempt the trip to Siuyen until the harvest was over. Three weeks later, a letter arrived saying that the harvest was now advanced to the point where I could try to come. I went to Haicheng, which was the closest railway station to Siuyen. There I was kindly received by the British missionary, Miss Macintyre, and went with her to the authorities. There I was also kindly received and informed that I could travel by an automobile that was leaving the next day from another station. After thinking it over, I concluded that the automobile was for soldiers, and that I had better go by horse and cart even if it was dangerous. In the meantime, I received a message from Siuyen asking me to wait a couple of days because the Bible Woman, Mrs. Kuo, had left for Haicheng in a freight train.

"[On Mrs. Kuo's arrival,] I learned that at times the freight cars had become stuck in the mud. Mrs. Kuo’s freight car had overturned and thrown her into the mire. Mrs. Kuo brought me my old coat and blanket. She dared not suggest that I return with her. I was at a loss about what to do and wondered if it could be God’s will for me to go with her. If things went awry, not only I but also the missionaries in Siuyen could suffer consequences. I continued praying, 'Turn your path to the Lord and he shall rescue you.' The next morning I still had no light but then I read in Job 5: 19-27, 'He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. … And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation …'.

“When I pondered over these words I thought that this was the Lord’s answer to me, and when Mrs. Kuo came to tell me that the train was leaving at 12:00 and she was going with it, the only answer was, 'I will also go.' Mrs. Kuo arranged everything for the trip and had my belongings carefully put away in old sacks, so no one could see what they contained. Then we left with the freight train for Siuyen. My heart was in the beginning uneasy and fearful, especially about the consequences for the D.M.S., but the Word continued sounding, ‘In six anxieties and in seven.’

“The next day, after having been to an inn, the anxiety had disappeared. We passed several villages with me covering my head with my blanket so nobody could see who I was. But all of this would have been of no use if the angels hadn’t hidden me. I sat quietly and enjoyed the trip, seeing the farmers driving the sheaves home to be threshed, and the women gathering cotton in the field or harvesting rice with bowed knives.

“We had several delays, but later I realized that all this was in God’s plan. The village where we stayed overnight the first night was two days later pillaged by 200 bandits. Thirty persons were taken hostage, and several houses burned down. Where we stayed the next night, the neighboring inn had been robbed the same night.

"We came through unharmed and I had one more experience of how the Lord had intervened and brought me home. . .

“… The missionary station is a busy place. The Lord’s rich blessing covers the work and all my dear companions, and with new eyes I see how it is becoming green with growth everywhere; thanks be to God.

"Our old cook, Yang, had for three days been waiting to receive me, and the Chinese said, 'God's Name has been glorified.' . . ."

Sources:
Bjergaarde, Rev. Jens, "Siuyen," Dansk Missionsblad, Vol. 101, Nr. 35, 1934 (exact date unknown), p. 513. Translation by Preben Jørgensen.
Bøg-Madsen, Anna; “Tilbage til Siuyen,” Dansk Missionsblad, Vol. 102, Nr. 49, 1935 (exact date unknown), pp. 759-760.) Translation by Preben Jørgensen.
[This article was condensed by the D.M.S. from personal letters Anna Bøg wrote to friends in Denmark. The D.M.S. changed the language from the first person viewpoint to the third person, i.e. used "she" (hun) rather than "I" (jeg). We have put it back into the first person.]

Image:
Portrait of Anna Bøg taken in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in late 1934 or early 1935. Courtesy of Roger Lais.
All D.M.S. items used with permission.

Summer Paradise (Bei-Dai-He and Sorai)

In order to bear the stresses of their missionary labor, it was essential that missionaries to China have a respite in the form of a summer vacation in addition to the furloughs they were required to take every seven years. One of the collateral consequences of the Mukden incident was that the Danish missionaries were unable to spend their summer vacations at their usual location, Bei-Dai-He.

Bei-Dai-He had long been a vacation spot for Protestant missionaries of all denominations, even before Anna Bøg's time. In August, 1913, the Irish Protestant missionary physician, Dr. Isabel Mitchell, wrote, "'It is the last night in this dear little cottage by the sea, and I am all alone. What a lovely holiday it has been! Five weeks without a worry or cloud of any kind, and I have built up a store of health and a whole mansion of happy memories, and if I don’t go back for a good hard happy healthful year’s work after all this, I shall be an ungrateful wretch.'" Mitchell then went on to describe an interdenominational Communion service she attended that last evening, in which Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterian and Congregationalists (but not Lutherans) all participated.

Although she was only nine years old at the time, Rev. Niels Buch's daughter, Kirsten Berggreen Buch, remembered well as an adult the impact of the Mukden incident, which occurred while she, her family, and other missionaries were on vacation in Bei-Dai-He in 1931. Here are the memories she described to us in her letters:

“…[M]issionary life is not only hard work but also holiday! We had a wonderful place [Bei-Dai-He, meaning] “North of the river”, a long beach, going riding on donkeys or mules to nice places: The Lotus Hills … The owner ran after the donkey. … [W]e galloped away with the owner running breathless after us. I remember I had a peaceful donkey, whereas my brother sat in state on a mule. As soon as we appeared in the summer time the owner came to wish us welcome and then we could just call them. It was customary that I offered a ride to my guests on my birthday –between 8-14 friends.

“But then came the Japanese occupation of Manchuria and [Bei-Dai-He] was taken over by the new rulers. A lot of summerhouses were … taken over by upper class people, military and others.”

“.. . . just 'south of the wall,' Bei-Dai-He [was] near the town called Qin-huan-dao. But during our last stay there in 1931, we got a telegram from our embassy in [Peking], telling us to return to Manchuria immediately. On September 18, the old city [Mukden] … was bombed by Japanese forces. And in the following months, Japan occupied all Manchuria. ('My' town, Harbin, was in the hands of Japanese forces from February 1932). . . . I do remember the last trip home from 'our summer paradise' Bei-Dai-He, quite well. The wagon had several holes from gun-bullets. We traveled in deep darkness during a long night home to Manchuria. In Bei-Dai-He many Danish missionaries had their most wonderful summer experiences. Now it was 'closed land' for 'us Manchurians'?”

In the late 1930s, however, the missionaries found a new location for their much-needed rest and recreation. It was in Korea which, like Manchukuo, was ruled by Japan:

"Another place was found in the late 30’s: Sorai in Korea. A high peninsula was bought by an American missionary, Dr. Underwood (from the Underwood Typewriter Co.) And he then sold parts of the land to all missionaries interested. Most of them were, of course, Americans, but also some of the Danish missionaries bought a piece of land with a little house with a very important veranda. (My father only rented for two years one of the houses from an American missionary on furlough.) Anna and Elise bought a little house.

"We had some wonderful experiences there: Sunday services, 'point-meetings' out at the very point of the peninsula every Wednesday and Sunday evening with a lot of singing from the 'Fellowship Hymn Book' . . . The youngsters from the boarding school in Pyongyang (Am.) played the trombone or horn, and funny anecdotes were given by different people.

"A special thing every time: Mrs. Underwood – or some other lady -- said . . .: 'I have an announcement!' It was usually about a picnic, or a 'clam chowder dinner' down at the beach, etc. The Americans were fantastic with many ideas. For the youngsters there were: 'tennis and swimming competitions' . . . swimming to an island called 'Star-fish' (about 4 km.) Yes, the days at Sorai Beach were full of charm. And the Danish school children gave a show [with] Danish folk-dances, … gymnastics and a little sketch in English … [At] the end of the summer vacation I remember the American youngsters often had to say goodbye to Korea and go for further high school study in [the] USA. At the 'point-meeting' we then all sang the hymn: 'God be with you, till we meet again!' . . . But with World War Two all the American friends disappeared to [the] USA."

Sources:
Buch, Kirsten Berggreen; letters to authors dated August 11,1999, and November 18, 2005. (Parenthetical comments are by Ms. Buch; our edits are in brackets.)
O'Neill, F.W.S. (Ed.); Dr. Isabel Mitchell of Manchuria (James Clarke & Co., London, 1917), pp. 135-136.

Images:
1 - 1908 postcard of Bei-Dai-He (also called Pei-Tai-Ho), from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.
2 - Anna Bøg, second row left; Astrid Buch (wife of Rev. Niels Buch); Kirsten and her brother Børge, July 1931
3 - Elise Bahnson, far left; Anna Bøg far right, entertaining the women missionaries at Sorai Beach
4 - Panoramic view of Sorai Beach
Images 2, 3, and 4 courtesy of Kirsten Berggreen Buch.

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.