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A New Song For China

by Allen Artz Wiant

282 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-1151; ISBN 1-55395-436-X; US$24.50, C$34.95, EUR22.80, £15.80

A fascinating account of the personal experiences of a missionary to North China in the context of political and military developments there from the early 1920s to 1941, and again from 1948-1950.

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about the book      about the author      table of contents and sample excerpts      catalogue info

About the Book Bliss Wiant went to China in 1923 with the lofty goal of some day introducing hymns to Chinese Christians that would not sound foreign to them. It was a goal that occupied much of his life. The locale of his work was Yenching University, which was arguably the premier institution of higher education in China. There he established a department of music, and enabled students to discover and develop their musical talents. There also he taught students who had never before seen a western musical score, to sing and to love Handel's Messiah and other great music of the west. In less than 10 years after its first performance, the reputation of the university chorus was such that it was invited by the government of China to present the Messiah in Nanking, the national capitol, as the finale to a two-week exposition of the arts. A major milestone in the pursuit of his life's goal was reached in that same year (1937), when a hymnal (English Title, "Hymns of Universal Praise") was published. This was the culmination of years of collaborative effort involving scores of individuals. Not only was the hymnal a uniquely inter-denominational achievement, it also included for the first time, a substantial number of original, indigenous hymns. Wiant's work in China produced in him a great love for the people as well as a deep admiration for their culture, which he saw both as misunderstood and unappreciated in the U.S. Consequently he devoted much of his energy in the years that followed to being a cultural ambassador, representing China to his own countrymen. An important manifestation of this was his work and that of his wife, Mildred, in translating into English a number of the Chinese hymns that first appeared in Hymns of Universal Praise. Several of these are now found in hymns used in the U.S., in effect closing a circle begun when Wiant went to China in 1923. Much of the account of Wiant's life experience is in his own words, taken from his letters to members of his family in the U.S. His years in China were among the most turbulent of recent times. They saw the defeat of the warlords by Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist Government, and the strife that eventuated in the overthrow of the Nationalists by Mao Tze-Tung, founder of the present Communist regime. Between these two ascendancies to power, much of China, including the north, was under Japanese occupation. The constant turmoil of those years presented continual challenges to those attempting to maintain a semblance of normalcy in their lives and work.

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About the Author The author was born in Peking and grew up speaking both Chinese and English. His early education ranged from a one-room school for faculty children on the campus of Yenching University, to the Peking American School, in Peking. The latter was international in character, with Chinese students comprising about a third of the student body. After leaving China in 1941, he attended Ohio Wesleyan University, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, then completed his education in electrical engineering at the Ohio State University. He worked for General Electric Company for a time, then went to Afghanistan where he taught in a high school under the U.S. AID program. Back in the U.S., he returned to engineering to become a researcher with North American Aviation. In 1970 he left engineering to become a researcher in the field of vocational education, retiring in 1988. He is the father of five, grandfather of 16, and an avid family historian. He has written his own autobiography and assisted his mother in writing hers.

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Table of Contents and Sample Excerpts

His Family & Youth
China Diary
The First Term, 1923-1928; Internal Instability
Second Term, 1929-1935; Japanese Threats
Third Term, 1936-1941; On the Brink of War
World War II Hiatus
Return to Post-War China
Final Term, 1947-1951; Communist Rise to Power
Christmas and Easter at Yenching
Pastor, Musician, & Good-will Ambassador
Ambassador of Good Will
Pastoral Apprenticeship
Minister of Music and Visitation
Methodism's Music Director
Visiting Professor
Translator and Disseminator
His Legacy
Choral Music at Yenching University
Memorable Occasions when "Messiah" was Sung
Hymns of Universal Praise
Closing the Circle
The Bell and its Kin
The Wiant Collection at The Ohio State University
Perspectives
Theological
Personal
Retrospective
APPENDIX
Publications
Wiant Memorial Residence
Sermons of William Allen Wiant
W.A. Wiant's Holy Land Trip
Wiant Family Photo Album
INDEX

excerpt from letter October 1931 Yenching University

It hardly seems a month since the Japanese invaded Manchuria. The situation just now is very tense....Recently, as we were practicing the "Messiah" for performance in the city in December to raise funds for the poor of the city, mud balls and stones were thrown in the windows of the room where we were rehearsing. There are about 100 students and 20 faculty members in the Chorus. The next morning I received an anonymous letter written in red ink with quasi-bloody smears saying: "A Warning to Bliss Wiant--Silent the Chorus or We Silent You."....At the next meeting of the Chorus, we began as usual....In about an hour, another student walked in, made an impassioned speech about the lack of patriotism of students who would sing when the country was in such agony, and challenged all those who felt likewise to follow him....Posters condemning the Chorus have been pasted up....It's a very depressing time.

excerpt from letter November 1947

Students have gone on strike to protest the imprisonment and consequent suicide of a student in Hangchow....A meeting of the faculty was called to consider the students' request for similar action on the part of the faculty...The intensification of national spirit in China was manifest several times. On one occasion, Stephen Ts'ai, the University Controller (Yale grad), who was imprisoned and badly treated by the Japanese, stated that we westerners were guests in this country and that it was unseemly for us to be so outspoken on the domestic affairs of China. His point was very well taken, for two youth and a young woman (who only teach about four hours per person in the University), young and callous Americans, got on their feet several times to suggest to the professors the best way to express our feelings. I cringed when they got up so many times, knowing their lack of sensitivity to the situation would eventually bring wrath upon them.

excerpt from Chapter 3

Everyone was intensely interested in the political situation. We've listed the accusations made against ourselves, our work, our government and our people while we were in Peking. I've found that people here like to "see themselves as others see us" and are quite astonished at the content of the list. It invariably stimulates constructive criticism and determination to eliminate the bases for those accusations which are more or less true.

In our promotional work, we're stressing the necessity for the American public to reform its thinking about China, so that when--in due time--the iron curtain is lifted, we shall be in the appropriate frame of mind to greet our Chinese brethren. Such stupid questions as, "When are you going back to China?" or "Has Christianity gone to pieces now that the missionaries are all out?" indicated a complete lack of understanding for what is transpiring. To help in the reformation of the American mind is a worthy task for any of us.

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Catalogue Information

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