Bishop in Honan: Mission and Museum in the Life of William C. White 9781487574130

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BISHOP IN HONAN

LEWIS C. WALMSLEY

Bishop in Honan MISSION AND MUSEUM IN THE LIFE OF WILLIAM C. WHITE

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS

© University of Toronto Press 1974

Toronto and Buffalo Printed in Canada Reprinted in 2018 ISBN

0-8020-3324-5

ISBN 978-1-4875-8558-7 (paper) LC

74-82288

Contents

FOREWORD / Vii MAPS/ xiii PART ONE

1.873-1.897 1. A missionary is born I 3

THE FORMATIVE YEARS,

2

A constant awareness of God / 8 3 The rolling hills of home / 20 4

Training for the mission field/ 30 PART TWO

1.897-1.924 5 A new adventure begins/ 49

TWO DECADES IN CHINA,

6

Settling down in China / 55 7

A fullness of days/ 65

8

The transfer to Longuong /

79

9

A new world of experience opens /

90

10

A bishop arrives in Honan /

98

11

The years of construction /

111

12

Days of famine and political unrest/ 119 PART THREE BEGINNING A NEW CAREER, 1924-1934 13

Seeking the treasures of ancient China/ 13 7 14

The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity/ 149 PART FOUR PROFESSOR,CURATOR,AUTHOR,1934-1948

15

Interpreting China's history and culture I 163 16

The return to Honan /

176

PART FIVE THE SOUL'S LONG HOME, 1948-1960 17

The busyness of 'retirement'/ 185 18

Accusations and counterattack/ 191 19

The churchman as prolific writer/ 199 20

The feeble flesh and the ascetic spirit/ 207 PUBLICATIONS OF THE RIGHT REVEREND W ..C. WHITE/ 217

INDEX/ 221

Foreword

When Edward Steichen, the American photographer, was asked the secret behind the success of his famous exhibit, The Family of Man, he replied: 'The people in the audience looked at the pictures, and the people in the pictures looked back at them. They recognized each other.' It is the degree of identification which one can establish with the character in a memoir that measures its success. 'People see the prophet's life as an extension of their own and as giving articulation to their hopes.' Although William Charles White's life encompassed areas of experience beyond the reach of the majority, there remains within his day-to-day life much that everyone can appreciate. He grew from humble surroundings to a position of power and eminence. As one of his colleagues expressed it, he became one of the great Canadian statesmen of the century. Yet he remained, as someone wrote of Goethe, 'an extraordinarily ordinary man in whom ordinary men might see themselves reflected.' Dr White's vision, his indominable optimism, his belief in life, carried him from the ordinary to splendid prominence. One measure of a man's greatness rests in what he leaves behind him to grow. There is no scale of values against which the importance of Dr White's work in China can be calculated. The treasures from the East which Dr White collected for the Royal Ontario Museum will remain for generations one of the most valuable of resources as Canadians grow in understanding of one of the world's richest and most important cultures.

Bishop in Honan viii The most important information available on the early life of William Charles White comes from a small diary which he began in 1893, his twentieth year. Here, he made daily entries in the fine slanting penmanship characteristic of that period- he was meticulous; no 't' was left uncrossed, no comma missed. Each day's entry followed a pattern a comment on the weather, a quotation from the Bible, followed by concise, factual statements about the day's activities. He included names of persons he met along the way with a note on anything significant that occurred in the meeting. Occasionally he entered references to important events in the life of the city, or of the world at large. He closed each entry with a personal evaluation of what was happening within himself, appraising his inner thoughts and feelings, his emotional and spiritual condition. He wrote from the heart, simply, sincerely, frankly. At a much later date, long after he had become a bishop, Dr White re-read this diary and marked out passages which he deemed inaccurate or indiscreet. On rare occasions he removed pages which he considered unwise to retain. The diary entries frequently took the form of a dialogue between White and his God. In those direct conversations he often expressed deep gratitude and appreciation for the way in which he felt God had assumed personal supervision and protection of his young life. From these early journals one gets a vivid glimpse of the working of young White's mind - its ceaseless wrestling to bring his life into obedience to the will of God as he believed it portrayed in Christ. In the diary he filed the names and references to experiences he wished to cherish, 'fragments of life,' which established the basic pattern upon which the remarkable mosaic of his personality was to develop in the years to come. If the diary proves indispensable in forming a clear picture of this young man, it appears to have been no less important to its writer. In it he poured out his hopes and frustrations as he struggled to clarify his views on the course his life should take. Much of the 'tempestuous teens' which Will White may have passed through had been replaced by this intense confrontation of the future. In his twentieth year, he had reached the place 'where many streams meet,' forcing him to make important decisions. To decide wisely, he felt this daily spiritual self-evaluation indispensable.

Foreword ix No biography is written in a vacuum; the task requires the openhanded help and co-operation of many people. To Bishop White's many relatives, friends and colleagues- those who had the privilege to know him and work with him in China; in the church in Canada; in the University of Toronto and in the Royal Ontario Museum - to all who have helped, I offer my sincere thanks. Mrs W.C. White made available Bishop White's personal diary and a number of his books. She also gave permission for the extensive use of the bishop's correspondence, now held in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library of the University of Toronto and the archives of the Anglican church. Mrs Percival Roberts, sister of Bishop White, reminisced about life in the young White family. Dr Gordon White, the bishop's son, and his wife were hospitable and Dr White related stories of the Fukien years. Mrs Ronald Perry, daughter of the bishop, recalled incidents of her home life and of her father and mother. Rev H.E. Peasgood, one-time rector of Christ Church, Norwood, took me to Christ Church where young Will White worshipped. We stopped at the public and high schools where he received his early education. We passed E.P. Cuffe's drygoods store where Will became acquainted with the business world. We drove to Roseheath to visit a little white church where White served briefly as pastor. In a few minutes we covered in comfort the thirty miles which Will White pedalled laboriously Sunday after Sunday on bicycle. Many members of the Canadian Church Mission in Honan furnished important information about Bishop White's work there. As a partial list I should like to include the names of George A. Andrew, Mrs H.G. Watts, Mae Watts, Anne Davidson, C. Coster Scovil and Dr H.H. Gilbert. Librarians at the rare book collection of the University of Toronto were helpful. Robert Stacey organized the forty or so cartons containing hundreds of files of Bishop White's papers and correspondence, arranging them in order for study. Mrs Fabbro and Miss M. Horn tirelessly hunted out the required material. Mrs John Grover gave much personal information on her home town, Norwood, and its inhabitants. Many of the staff of the Royal Ontario Museum remember the bishop. Among the members of the Far Eastern Department, Betty

Bishop in Honan x Kingston deserves special mention as she worked with Dr White during the School of Chinese Studies period. Dr Hsia-yen Shih and Barbara Stephen were generous with information on the museum collection. Greg Whincup and Hugh Wylie procured photographs. Among other members of the museum's staff I wish also to express thanks to Dr A. D. Tushingham, and to Betty Brett and Mary Campbell for the information they provided. The late Harold Burnham was familiar with the period when Bishop White was keeper of the East Asiatic Collection in the museum. Dorothy Burnham worked closely with Bishop White and made many of the excellent drawings in his museum series books; she was helpful in providing anecdotes of Dr White and his ways. Dorothea Hecken and her staff opened the special files in the museum registrar's office for my study. I talked with several members of the Anglican community. Dr W. Ramsay Armitage recalled interesting incidents in his relationship with the bishop; Dr L. Hunt, principal of Wycliffe College, added to the fund of knowledge accumulated. The librarians at Wycliffe were helpful also. Dr T.R. Millman and Bishop F.H. Wilkinson were consulted. Mrs T.R. Millman, in charge of the Anglican archives, was most patient in searching out material and answering innumerable questions. Rev R. E. Ruggles, rector of the Church of Saint Alban the Martyr in Glen Williams, through his concern with the Canadian Church Mission in Honan, added points of interest. I found David Whitehouse's essay on the Honan mission useful. Students who had attended the School of Chinese Studies presented their own version of the 'Bish' as they familiarly called him behind his back. Among these, I mention Mary Evans Gale, Louise Hawley Stone, Nora E. Vaughan, Donald M. Sutherland, and C. Coster Scovil. The list would not be complete if it did not include the names of Clair Heller, who fashioned the bronze bust of Bishop White; Leighton Warren, who took many of the photographs for the book; Marguerite Wessels Brown, who read the typewritten material and made profitable suggestions; and Mrs T.P. Roek of Norwood, whose father, E.P. Cuffe, was a close friend of Bishop White from boyhood days. I am particularly indebted to Barbara Hill who carefully read the material, made a number of corrections and reorganized sections on the Royal Ontario Museum collection. My son, J. Omar Walmsley, worked

Foreword xi patiently through many of the chapters with me, making valuable comments. My daughter, Enid E. Sills deciphered my writing - a tedious task- and typed the manuscript making necessary corrections. Finally, thanks are due Mrs H.J. Cody, whose husband had been a life-long friend of Bishop White. Her encouragement and enthusiasm for this project were heartening. Ian Montagnes, editor of the University of Toronto Press, gave helpful encouragement. Behind all this effort, Louise Hawley Stone, chairman of the Bishop White Fund, has been the driving force of this project from its initial stages until its completion. Mrs Stone and her committee have worked tirelessly providing special courses of lectures for friends of the East Asiatic Collection of the Royal Ontario Museum. The funds raised by this committee, along with grants from the University of Toronto, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Masonic order, have made this publication possible. So far as possible I have omitted footnotes and numbered references. Adequate information has been given in the text for those who wish further information on issues raised. Romanization follows Wade's Syllabary, but names of places and persons follow the generally accepted form.

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