JapSin I, 221
Xiyangdao Huaren shu 西洋島華人書.
Twenty folios. Chinese bamboo paper. No date or place of publication.

The center of the frontispiece bears the title in large characters; to the right below are listed the senders: 浙江寧波府信徒達 (From the faithful of Ningbo in Zhejiang). The title of the book is given above the fish-tail with the number of the folio given below. Each of the five letters is marked by a character under the number of the folio: the first is marked with the character “耶”; the second with “上”; the third with “呈”; the fourth with “愚”; and the fifth with “予.” Arabic numbers are given on the pages 2–18.
Zhejiang is one of the provinces in China where the Protestants founded their missions. Before 1860 there were five Protestant missions in Guangdong province, three in Fujian and two in Zhejiang. In 1844 the Baptists and the Presbyterians came to Ningbo. Four years later, in 1848, came the Anglicans. In 1854 James Hudson Taylor was sent by a Chinese evangelization society as the first representative to preach the Gospel in Zhejiang. Two years later he left the denomination to work on his own around the Ningbo region. Eventually he founded the China Inland Mission, which is considered one of the most active organizations among the Protestants.
The writers of these five letters belong to the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East that had its headquarters in London. The missioners of this predominantly Anglican denomination worked in Fujian, Guangxi, Hunan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Sichuan, and Yunnan. The diocese of Zhejiang had its first missioners in George Smith and T. McClatchie who reached Shanghai in 1844. Four years later the Revs. Robert H. Cobbold, MA, and W.A. Russell began to work in Ningbo. The work was hindered by the Taipings for more than a year, but after they had been put down, the Rev. G.E. Moule opened a mission in Hangzhou (1864) and thus established the first Protestant mission station in inland China.
With the Nanking Treaty of 1842 the emigration of Chinese to foreign countries began. According to a report of the British vice-consul in Ningbo written on 14 September 1852 for John Bowring (1792–1872), then British Consul of Guangzhou and superintendent of trade in China, however, since 1844 there had not been any Chinese emigration in Ningbo. The report furthermore states that Chinese authorities most probably would pay no attention to Chinese emigrants going abroad especially if they were leaving on foreign owned ships. We are told that laborers of Ningbo are hard workers, polite, friendly, and patient. However, from what one can see, the people of Ningbo have no desire whatsoever to emigrate anywhere. Hence if one tries to advertise for laborers to go abroad the chance of success would be very small. Granting that there may be some who would emigrate, they would go alone and not with their families. They would not settle down permanently but go with the hope of returning to their homeland to be united with their families. See Huagong chuguo shiliao 華工出國史料 (chief editor Chen Hansheng 陳翰笙), Second series (Selected translations from documents from the British Parliament 英國議會文件選擇), edited by Lu Wendi 盧文迪, Chen Zexian 陳澤憲 and Peng Jiali 彭家禮, Beijing, 1980, pp. 32–33.
From these letters we see that the number of Ningbo emigrants to the British Isles numbered nearly one thousand by the year 1855. They seemed to have led a life of contentment and prosperity. As a result, the number of emigrants of Ningbo tended to increase. The report we read above makes it clear that the natives of Ningbo were very reluctant to leave their homeland. Unless they were offered favorable conditions, one might not expect them to leave their home and to work in a foreign country. Seemingly the British had succeeded in their plan, as another report had it: the development of Chinese emigrants would depend on those who had gone abroad reporting favorably to their own people. A great deal depended on the treatment they received in the places they had gone to (Ibid. p. 44). Our information limits us in further investigation of the development of the Ningpo emigrants to the British Isles and the reaction of this people to Christianity.

1. The first letter is written by Joseph Lei Bao 雷葆, a native of Hangzhou. It begins with: 耶穌降生壹千捌百五十五年教會門徒末約瑟雷葆寄寓遠西島華人啟 (To the Chinese, residents of the Far West Isles; from Joseph Lei Bao, a follower of the [Christian] Church, 1855).
The letter (four and one-half folios) begins with a general remark that all under heaven are one family. For the past ten years or so the Chinese of the Southeastern provinces had frequent communication with the Western countries, and the relation was always friendly. Both the governments of England and America are honest and just. Chinese who reside in these countries should feel fortunate indeed. However, our life in this world is brief. The author then tells that under the guidance of Mr. Ke Boyi 柯播義 (Rev. Robert Henry Cobbold) of Britain he was able to embrace the true religion. It is his desire to see all men do the same. He has devoted his time to studying the Scriptures declaring the true doctrine, believing in God by the practice of charity and trusting in God for the salvation of his soul. He then tries to give an explanation of the New Testament as a result of his study.
The explanation of the New Testament, which the author calls Fuyin biaoshuo, attempts to show that in the New Testament one finds eternal life. It is a ladder for all to reach heaven. The letter ends with: 大清咸豐五年 (1855) 夏五月浙江錢塘後學制雷葆拜撰.

2. The second letter consists of four folios. The author tells us that originally his name was Kaixun 開勳, but he had changed it to Xueyi 學義 after his conversion to Christianity. Formerly he was a tailor by profession. But since his conversion he has come to the church as an assistant. He acknowledged the great favor of God and the mercy of Jesus which had led him to believe in the Gospel, and as a result he was forgiven of all his past sins and saved from the eternal pains of hell.
He was told that there were Chinese laborers who used to work at the wharves in different parts of China and that these had gone to England (literally: the Isles of the West Sea). There, they lived in prosperity. However, he noticed that they lacked one thing, namely, eternal happiness. Only Jesus could save men from the eternal sufferings of hell and give them eternal happiness. He then exhorted them to repent their sins, to avoid worshipping idols; instead, they should go to church to learn the Christian teaching and then accept baptism. The letter ends with: 浙江省寧波府鄞縣仁恩堂寫來.

3. The third letter numbers four folios, written by Cai Hongzhang 蔡宏章, whose hao was Cishui jushi 慈水居士. The author begins his letter by calling himself “a little slave of Jesus Christ” 耶穌基督小奴. He mentioned he was informed by the Rev. Ke Boyi 柯播義 (Robert Henry Cobbold), a minister of the Church of England, that there were Chinese immigrants in England whose number had been increasing. On the one hand they were welcomed by the English, but on the other hand they were pitied because they were ignorant of Christian teaching. Cai then went on to say that formerly he was a seeker of riches and honor, living in his dreams without knowing they were dreams. It was through the mercy and love of God that he found the truth in the New Testament. He then went on to explain the Christian belief based on the Christian teaching. At the end he stated that unless one believes and trusts in Jesus in order to obtain heaven it would be like wishing to enter a room without going through the door. He finally wished that God would send the Holy Spirit to guide them “that the dreamers will wake up from their dreams and the blind will come to see clearly at once.” Thus, God’s grace will not be given in vain. The style of this letter is elegant and graceful, which indicates that its writer must have been a literary man. The letter ends with: 浙江寧波府慈水居士蔡宏章頓首.

4. The fourth letter (two folios) was written by Chen Daisong 陳岱崧, a native of Ningbo. From a letter of the bishop to Robert H. Cobbold he was informed that there were nearly one thousand Chinese in the British Isles. He went on to say that creatures in the universe owe their existence to God who, at the same time, is their protector. To the human beings, God has given grace and shown his mercy. Above all, he sent Jesus to save them.
Next, when the Christian religion was first introduced to China he recalled how he had his doubts as to its credibility. Several years had hardly gone by when the number of believers greatly increased. Even those who despised the teaching of Christianity had changed their attitude. They now tried to read all the Christian writings that they could find. Christianity had now met on equal terms with Confucianism. The author showed great admiration for the British Empire: “Would that I could borrow the raft of a fairy to ride on the winds and break the waves to reach that land in an instant; there to broaden my horizon of knowledge.” The letter ends with: 咸豐五年五月四明鄞縣人謹寄.

5. The fifth letter (two folios) was written by Zhou Shiqing 周式磬 who stated that he had been a Confucian scholar for over fifty years. At that time he thought that among the religions of this world, there were none that could compare with Confucianism. Later he had an opportunity to listen to the preaching of the Gospel. In the beginning he was suspicious, but eventually his mind was a mix of doubts and belief. At the end it dawned on him that Confucianism stresses human relationships, while Christianity emphasizes the relationship of God with man. He embraced Christianity because he realized that there is something more in Christianity that can supplement the lack in Confucianism. He then tried to point out the mistakes in Confucianism. To understand Christianity, he said, it is necesssary to understand the Ten Commandments of Moses. The first four commandments deal fully with the worship of god and the other six give details on the love of one’s neighbor as oneself. The letter ends with: 耶穌門徒周式磬拜.

Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 274-277.