After the Opium War, along with the Colonialism that had been pushed forwarded by the Western Powers, Christianity was introduced to the aboriginal Miao Regions. In Modern History, Miao has played an important role in making religion a cultural phenomenon and a social power. “Cultivating Miao Regions Movement” that was promoted by the China Inland Mission and the “Opening the rocky Door Movement” that was promoted by Methodist Church had been an important turning point of the revival of the Miao culture. Christianity not only helped the Miao people to accept the Christian Belief, it also helped arousing the national awareness among these people who had long suffered in disasters. The Western missionaries tried their very best to spread Christianity to the Miao Tribe in the difficult circumstances. At the same time, they established schools, so the Miao people could have a chance to acquire the knowledge in Science and Politics that in turn improved the quality of the people as a nation.
Seventh Adventist Church and Educational Work of Miao Tribe
1. Methodist Church – China Inland Mission
From Self Established Church to Seventh Day Adventist Church:
It all happened in the year of Dragon (1904). That time a British missionary Bogg pays attention to a Methodist Church started a mission station in Shih Mun Kan of Waining County between Yunan and KweiChou. Methodist Church, through building churches, schools and hospitals, quickly aroused the excitement among the Miao people in believing Christianity. This excitement then spread everywhere.
In 1905, among the Miao tribe in Shapu Mountain of Wuding County, someone heard that the Shih Mun Kan Church had built a hospital that could heal the lepers, so he went to Shih Mun Kan to get help and met the missionary. After that, Bogg pays attention to and the Australian missionary, Kou SiuFung, of the China Inland Mission, came to Yunan to investigate the situation. Later Kou SiuFung built a church in Shapu Mountain.
Around in 1920, Shapu Mountain in Wuding had become the Headquarter. From there, more churches were branched out in Muyang at Shunming, Shinshau and in Dashiuching at Shiundeng.
In 1920, due to the fact that some missionaries from the Shinshau new church in Shiundeng were arrested and we re discriminated by Kou SiuFung, also, the church and school near Dashiuching had no teachers, a Methodist preacher and teacher Han Jie was invited from Kweichou to come to teach.
(Han Jie, surnamed Wang Shuen, 1894-1960, graduated from Kwang Hwa Primary School in Shih Mun Kan in 1911, and was assigned to work in Liu Yin Church in Shiundeng. In 1915, he was transferred to Chiliangchin Shuning. In 1920, he was transferred back to Shinshau, Shiundeng to teach.)
In 1924, Wang YiuTao from Sihwachin in Fuming County, and the preacher of Shinshau, Zhang YiFu, were employed to work in Dashiuching Church and the Church School. Later on, these three preachers, Mr. Hang, Mr. Wang and Mr. Zhang had conflicts with Kou ShiuFung in insisting on continuing education work and church work, so they led a group of church members from Dashiuching to establish another denomination call Love to Save Church and later changed to Chinese Christian Self Established Church. Han Jie was the President, Zhang YiFu, the Vice-President, and Wang YiuTao was the teacher.
In 1927, due to financial problems in running the church and school, the Self Establish Church was finally dismissed by themselves. Wang YiuTao then went back to Soihwachin to teach.
After moving to Fuming, then Fuchi, Han Jie finally settled in Mafang Yuencha Village in Fuming County in order to continue the education work. He then continued the work through the support of his fellow people. In order to print the books for students and the song books in Miao language, Han Jie walked to Junming to ask for help from Pastor Hsieh of the Self Establish Church. Pastor Hsieh himself did not have enough money to help him, so he introduced Han Jie to see Miller and White of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in West Alley in Yuen Tung. (Miller and White were American missionaries sent by West China Union in Chongqing together with a Chinese missionary Fun DehSheng. It took these three families forty days to come from Chongqing to Kunming in order to build the Yunan Conference.) Miller and White wanted Han Jie to join the Seventh Day Adventist Church as a condition to help him with the expense in printing the Miao Song books. Therefore, they arranged Han Jie to joi the Bible Study Class. Han Jie became one of the pioneers in bring in Seventh Day Adventist Church to Miao regions.
The Bible Class was consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Fung DehSheng, Hu KeChang, Liu HangYi, Mrs. Sheng, Kuo BunChung, Lan DaDeh and Law KuoYi from the Chi Tribe; also Lung ChangDeh and Han Jie from the Miao Tribe. After three months of study, the members were arranged different assignments: Liu HangYi would go to River Li at Dali; Mr. and Mrs. Fung DehSeng to Dashiuching at Shiundeng; Hu KeChang and Mrs. Sheng to Kunming; Law HuoYi to Chinping; Xiang ChongGuang to North Horse Course at Fuming; Long ChangDe to Red Earth Mountain at Lawchi; Lan DaDeh to Minglan; Han Jie back to Fuming.
After returning to Mafang Yuencha Village in Shibanqou, Han Jie officially started a church school and established the first Mission Quarter in Miao Regions for the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
In June 1928, Han Jie’s whole family moved from Dashiuching, Shiundeng through the help of his fellow people to establish school there. Later, Han Jie found a clear running water near the village, he then changed the name, Mafang Yuencha Village, to Big Dragon Pool.
2. Seventh Day Adventist Church valued the work of educating Miao people:
After Big Dragon Pool Church and School were built, the number of students increased everyday. Besides, when the Miao farmers in Wuding and Lawchi were blackmailed, kidnapped and mistreated by the evil gangsters there, they came to Big Dragon Pool to ask for help from Han Jie, and Han Jie helped them to appeal to the government to redress the injustice and the problem was solved. Thus, his name was spread everywhere and many Miao people were then converted into the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Adventist Churches and schools were built in various places, such as Juchong in Wuding County, Dapingchi, Shunpaoling, Lawchi Red Earth Mountain, Sharp Mountain, Tienshintan in Lufung County. From then on, Adventist Church was working enthusiastically to educate the Miao people.
In 1930, Yunan Conference of the Adventist Church rented the backyard from Huong FeiChang in Yuentung West Alley and made it into the headquarter. A senior primary class was operated and Zhen FuYun was employed as the teacher. Four church members’ children from the city, Lun DaDeh from the Chi Tribe, HanXingDe, Hang XingChai from the Miao Tribe, altogether seven of them were the first students and they all graduated in two years.
On May 21, 1932, Zheng FuYun took these seven people and set off from Kunming. They walked through Dongchuan, Zhaotong, Yanjin to Shifu, then took a boat to Chongqing and reached the West China Sam Yuk High School that was operated by South West Union in Daborshishun Fort along Chialing River. In the same year, Yunan Conference officially bought 86 North Gate Street and made it into their office. There they built residence halls and the auditorium. They hired Mr. Chen JienWan and continued to operate a junior primary class. Within the Miao Regions, there were students from Big Dragon Pool, such as Zhang ZongJie, Yuan DeXian, Zhang DeYing, Yuan KaiWay, Pan FuCheng, Pan GuangDe, etc.
In 1933, Yunan Conference decided to send Han Jie and Long ChangDe to the Town of Chiotou in Nanjing to attend the Summer Training Session for teachers that was held by Shanghai Conference. On April 20, these two set out from Kunming and took the train through Haifan in Annan (now Vietnam), then took a steam boat to Shanghai via Hong Kong, and transit to Nanjing. After three months of study, they came back with a Teaching Certificate.
In July of 1937, Han XingDe, Han XingChai graduated from the Junior High Program at Chongqing Sam Yuk Institute and came back to Kunming to attend the Summer Training Session held by the Yunan Conference. After the study, they got assigned to different teaching posts. Han XingChai and Pan FuCheng went to Big Dragon Pool Primary School, Ma Wu to Foomeng Horse Court Primary School, Zhang DeYing to Lawchi Red Earth Mountain Primary School, Han DeXian to Yuding Daipingtzi Primary School, Pan GuangDe to Luchuan Manger Primary School, Long ChangDe and Zhang KaiHui to Big Pine Park Primary School, Chu TziMing went to Suen Ding West Wave Field to be a Primary School teacher.