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There are approximately 5,000 Chinese students in Ireland, the second largest non-European group.

The Irish Government has made it one of its priorities to encourage them. Top officials attend Educations Fairs all over China, reminding parents that ‘all of Irish universities are ranked in the top 5% worldwide.’

Also, there are over 2,400 Irish students in China, often as part of exchange programs between Irish universities and institutes in China.

Education is important in China though the youngsters in these photos are taking time off from their studies to escape to traditional ‘comic library’ shops.  TV and smart phones are challenging this popular recreation though parents will continue to be vigilant in ensuing their children study hard and hopefully get to study abroad in countries like Ireland.

This photo was taken by an Irish teacher, Triona O’Driscoll, sponsored by Aitece, an Irish non–profit organisation, in China since 1988. (www.aitece.ie)

 

 

2018 will celebrate another significant moment in Irish history  — the launch of the first Irish Catholic missionary society. It was a national event, drawing support not only from ecclesiastical circles but from the entire population with donations, and a sense of involvement,  coming from adults and children all over the country.

The adventures of the early missionaries in China were followed closely, and with pride, for the next fifty years.

Less well-know is the legacy of the Anglican missionaries in China and the Dublin University Far East Mission (DUFEM) based in Trinity College.  Between 1847 and 1950 its missionaries included the first Anglican bishops of North China (William Russell from Tipperary, in 1872), Fujian (John Hind from Belfast in 1918) and Zhejiang (John Curtis, Dublin in 1929). They all recognised the need for the Church in China to become more authentically Chinese and sought to hand over responsibility to local Church leaders.

The human cost of their mission was illustrated in 1895 with the murder of Rev Robert Steward, from a prominent Dublin family, with his wife and two children in Fujian by Buddhist extremists.

In the early period Catholic and Anglican missionaries in China were inclined to ignore each other’s existence but in recent years good relationships have led to collaboration. Last Saturday Dr Kerry Houston of DUFEM and Deacon Walter Lau from Hong Kong visited the Columban House in Maynooth to renew acquaintance and share experiences.

If you would like to know and experience more of Chinese life today, and are between 22 and 65, why not live there as a volunteer? Take a look at the www.aitece.ie website.  

We know he was an Irishman, and a Catholic, who was the personal delegate of the Qing Government to Leo Xlll in the Vatican.

At that time France claimed to be the protector of all Catholic missionaries in China. Though anti-Catholic at home, the French government believed ‘anti-clericalism is not for export,’ wishing to extend its international influence through its missionaries, especially in China.

Li Hong-zhang, the Chinese foreign minister, saw the need to by-pass the French and open direct access to the Pope in Rome. In 1885 he consulted his confident, Robert Hart, the Chinese Customs Inspector General and Protestant Irishman,  who recommend John Anthony Dunn to carry the message. Dunn worked for Hart in the Tianjin customs and was a Catholic.

The Pope welcomed the proposal to send a Papal Delegate to Beijing and receive a Chinese Minister at the Holy See. However the French strongly objected as they saw it as reducing their influence.  Nevertheless, discussions between the Vatican and China went ahead and were nearing final agreement when the Pope gave in to the pressure from French Catholics, fearful of retaliation from their own government. The project was abandoned for the time being.

But who was John George Dunn who conveyed the messages between Beijing and Rome? His role was drawn to my attention by Dr Paul Dang but not even Google could provide me with further detail.

The most famous Irishman in China is better known as the Englishman of whom it was said, ‘no single foreigner has had more sustained influence or enjoyed a greater measure of Chinese confidence.’

Robert Hart, born in Portadown in 1835, spent all but one of his early years in Ireland.  At the age of 18 he was nominated by Queens University, Belfast, for the British Consular Service in China. He was to spend most of his life there, becoming fluent in the language and culture, Inspector General of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service and a close confident of the Chinese government as it sought to modernise at the end of the 19^th century. He lived through some of the most traumatic events in recent Chinese history, the Taiping Rebellion and the Boxer Uprising.

In his life he managed successfully to cope with three identities: Irish, British and Chinese.

He believe the British system was the key to prosperity in China, and Ireland, and for that reason promoted British interests though a dedicated Chinese official. He also said, ‘I am an Irishman – a Paddy in heart and soul’ and had no trouble in celebrating both St Patrick’s Day and 12^th July.  It was perhaps his awareness of being both inside and outside that enabled him to show respect for both the Chinese language and culture, be critical of aspects of the British system while promoting its values and be proud of his Irish-ness while supporting union with Britain.

It is said that when the Chinese Postal Service was included in his remit he had the post boxes painted green. As a result, after the ‘hand-over‘ of Hong Kong in 1997 the Queen’s red post boxes were painted dark green. There is still a Hart Street in Hong Kong.

My Chinese friend was disgusted. ‘We give beautiful names to foreign countries but all they can think of is to call us China – like pottery.’

The Chinese word for America is ‘Beautiful Country’, for France it is ‘Law Country’, for England ‘Brave County’, and for Germany ‘Moral Country’.  Ireland is ‘Love Orchids’ country, or is it, ‘They love Orchids’?

Maybe that final one reveals that those names evolved from phonetic resemblances in Chinese, the nice meaning was only secondary.

The Chinese have a number of names for their own country, the main one being ‘Middle Kingdom’ (or ’Country’).  The word ‘China’ is believed to have been introduce into the West by the Portuguese and derived (via Persian) from the early Qin (pronounced ‘Chin’) dynasty. In any case, it lacks a ‘beautiful’ connotation.

In Chinese tradition names are important, so much so that they are rarely mentioned in public. Personal names are used only by those with whom you have a special relationship. Rather, in addressing others, titles are used in according with the person’s role in society or family (like ’teacher’ or ‘second-younger brother’).

Having a Western name usually gets around formality and for that reason, and the Western novelty, many Chinese students assume (temporary) Western names.  Like elsewhere, Christians get a saint’s name at baptism and take the association with that saint seriously. As it happens, this Easter 31 adult Chinese catechumens were baptised in the Dublin Chinese Catholic community and began life renewed in the land of the ‘Lovely Orchids’ with a new name.

 

In March, China played Korea in a World Cup qualifiers and beat them! The fact that Chinese hopes of making it to the finals were nil did not matter. You only had to look at the faces and expressions of the onlookers so see how much it meant to them.

There were two reasons. Soccer is the most popular and wide-spread sport in China and while China is the rising world power so far it has not done well in the World Cup. Korea, its smaller neighbour, has done much better and will be in the 2018 finals. But at least in that one match, on 28 March, China won!

The second reason for nationalistic joy was that China sees Korea’s  defensive upgrading ( US assisted) to  counter North Korea as a military threat to China also,  adding a political dimension to the encounter. Only 100 Korea supporters turned up for the match. They probably knew that beforehand a social media site entitled, ‘Opposing South Korea begins with football’ got 640,000 clicks.

Why has China, despite the millions poured into soccer, not yet produced a world-cup-winning team?

One of the reasons is that the culture trains people not be aggressive. While China might be famous for its martial arts, the only ‘sport’ enjoyed by cultivated people was archery and today the competitive game they are most comfortable with is table tennis.

Japan and Korea got an earlier start in adapting to the openly competitive nature of Western sports and so are doing better in the World Cup.

Ireland have played only two matches against China, in a tournament in 1984 and a friendly match in Lansdowne Road in 2005. On both occasions the ‘fighting Irish’ won 1 – 0.

When the Chinese Government comes out with a policy encouraging religions to adapt a clear Chinese style in religious activities, music, clothing and buildings, it could be viewed as a helpful suggestion. Today the greatest need in Christianity, for example, is to draw more on the Chinese religious heritage to make its message comprehensible and relevant to people.

This is called ‘inculturation’ in Church circles, though it is more talked about than implemented. However, the Chinese government is now using a different word, Sinicisation (Chinese-ising) , with political rather than religious connotations. It is a reaction to the fear that China may be ’modernised’ in an unwanted Western direction, with demands for more personal freedom and democracy. Christian religions, in particular, are seen as a threat in that regard and so ‘steps must be taken to prevent feudal privileges gaining new life and Chinese religions from falling back under the control of a foreign power’. The demand is for adaptation, not to the Chinese spiritual heritage, but to the present Socialist society.

Statements like this might give the impression that there is little religious freedom in China, though that is not exactly true. Religious affiliation is growing and while the government no longer expects to abolish all religion, there is  fear is that it might be having too much influence.

In China it is difficult to get accurate data but in a population of 1.4 billion, officially there is said to be 100 million Taoists, 100 million Buddhists, 28 million Islamists, 90 million Protestants and 9 million Catholics.

There are also 80 million nominally atheistic Party members.

(The above photo was not taken in China but at the recent Lenten Concert in Maynooth College, featuring the music of Verdi, an Italian of the 19^th  Century.)

On 24^th March I joined the gathering of the Lay Mission Union of Ireland at Arran Quay. Their objective is to deepen cooperation between lay mission groups and work together to achieve common goals.

Three guest speakers addressed the topic, ‘Did I change the world or did the world change me?’ talking from their personal experience abroad.

That was followed by a break-out session in which all had a chance to answer the question, ‘What do you do on your return?’ The way in which a number have got engaged in hands-on local and national issues is impressive.

I picked up some interesting observations.  ‘Service is the rent we owe for the space we occupy on earth’. And, ‘Volunteers should not be paid – the fact that they are not paid is what impressed the local people most.’

The Lay Mission Union has organised diocesan groups in five dioceses to give returned volunteers an opportunity to get together and become involved in their local communities.

 

In the break-out session, one non-Irish leader of a mission organisation remarked on how narrow and confined she finds Irish society. ‘It is always the same people saying the same kind of thing, there is no variety or openness to other approaches from a different national or cultural experience.’

I found this true myself since my return.  Those who get to speak through the media have a rather narrow view of what is important or relevant and are quick to disparage anyone with an alternative view.  Preserving one’s own culture and viewpoint is important but not being open to broadening and enriching it by listening to others guarantees small-mindedness.

It seems that we who have had the opportunity to live abroad for a length of time should be reflecting on what wider viewpoints we have brought back and how to share them with others. To change a quote given above, ‘Sharing the alternative viewpoints we have experienced abroad is the rent we own for the opportunity to have gone abroad.’

Last week John Quigley, who was AITECE coordinator here in Ireland for a number of years after returning from a stint in China, presented a number of his works as part of the Rye Valley Artists Exhibition in Maynooth.

I did not know John had this extra talent but it seems he has being practicing it successfully for many years.  I looked for signs that his work was influenced by his time in China and found a number.  I wonder if any other of our returned teachers have had their lives and hobbies influenced in this way.

Buddhism in Ireland?

Last week, on my way by train to meet Roberto Bertone of the East-West Friendship group, I looked through his booklet on intercultural communication between Europe and Asia.

He quotes a writer who claims that from the 7^th century, if not the 6^th, accounts of Buddhism by Europeans circulated in Ireland. The distribution and quality of this information expanded from the mid-13^th century and again from the 16h. In the 19^th century Irish missionaries and British Colonial civil servants added to this scholarship. (In more recent years William Johnston SJ made a major contribution.)

I was surprised at the length of the contact and wonder if anyone has more details of the early encounter?

At present there are 8,703 Buddhists in Ireland and Buddhism is the fourth largest religious group in the country after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.

 

Recently I had an email from Fidelma Carroll who taught in SISU, 1993-1994.  She is interested in keeping up contact and asked whether there would be any more gatherings.

In the past few week we have had three serious enquiries so your hard work in putting up posters and spreading the word seems to be paying off. So keep it up.

To add to the cheer of Spring I recommend the following video:

 

Garreth Byrne visited the home village of one of his student, Elena, in Guizhou province.

We sat down, and cooked dishes were brought from the kitchen. My fish was served on an individual dish. Elena proudly interpreted as I answered the questions her father put to me about farming life in Ireland. I explained the way of hill farming I had encountered in Letrim.

Common gazing rights, dyeing of animals for recognition, the use of sheepdog for corralling flocks and the transport after snowfall of bales of hay by tractor up the slopes to prevent starvation.

Other examples of extensive farming such as cattle grazing on pasture seem foreign to my Chinese host who had been born into a system of tightly huddled farming strips with every square meter of land accounted for.

I had a strange sensation during this conversation, trying to explain the complexities of another world to a hardworking man who had known nothing except hard work, in a difficult climate, during revolutionary times. I imagined that throughout the centuries the generations in his locality had endured cycles of grim frugality, disease and modest abundance, with few prospects for radical social advancement.

Yet here was I, a  foreign teacher,  possible the first to visit his humble village, talking man to man about international farming matters through the patient mediation of the farmer’s daughter, the first in her lineage to have an opportunity to train as a teacher.