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CHAPTER NINE Democracy and Imperialism The educational and evangelistic work of Canadian missionaries was affected by political and social changes taking place in the Japanese Empire. This is clearly seen in the regulations concerning schools in the Japanese Empire and also in the impact of the Japanese political influence on Christianity in Korea. While the attitudes of missionaries toward political and social affairs in the Japanese Empire were closely interlinked with their aspirations for Christianity, this was not the only factor that determined their judgements. In their analysis of secular changes, missionaries also brought to bear the values and prejudices of their particular social backgrounds in Canada. Indeed, the fact that they were Canadian, rather than the fact that they were missionaries, was often the chief force that determined their attitudes toward events. As observers of political and social affairs, missionaries had some advantages over other Westerners. They were normally long-term residents. Their day-to-day work, as well as their contact with Japanese or Korean Christian workers, gave them access to a broader spectrum of people than usually encountered by diplomats or merchants. Missionaries were regarded as experts on Japan, Korea, and Taiwan by their constituents at home. Their opinions were likely to be respected and trusted, even by Westerners who had no ties with the church, because they were clergymen. In remote areas, missionaries were often the only resident Westerners and so were sometimes the only source of information about incidents in those particular locales. Likewise, the peripatetic cavalcade of tourists, journalists, and naval officers who took advantage of a missionary's presence in a town would undoubtedly cross-examine him about the "current situation" as well as accept his hospitality. Except in the very large centres, like Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, and Yokohama, where there was a developed Western community of which the missionary group was only a small part, the missionNotes for Chapter Nine are found on pp. 242-47. 178 DEMOCRACY AND IMPERIALISM 179 ary acted as the key conduit through which a Western visitor or new arrival learned aboutJapan or Korea. Their influence went far beyond what was published. Missionary views on political events in the Japanese Empire became increasingly pronounced in the years after the Russo-Japanese War. Prior to 1905 missionaries had been more or less content with Japan's political direction. Modernization of the country was seen to be breaking down the traditional barriers to Christianity. Although Canadian missionaries might not always agree with Japanese Government policies on all issues, prior to 1905 missionaries were in the main supportive of government polities. Added to their appreciation of modernization was the simple fact that missionaries genuinely admired some of the Meiji political leadership, most particularly, and rather surprisingly in view of his private life, Ito Hirobumi. The feelings of friendship were capped in 1902 by the promulgation of the AngloJapanese Alliance and further cemented by the universal support that missionaries gave to Japan in its struggle with Russia two years later. Attitudes started to change after 1905, and especially after the annexation of Korea in 1910. One major reason for this change was Japanese cultural imperialism in Korea. Not surprisingly, Japanese colonial actions in Taiwan were thought to have less consequence, for the occupation of Taiwan in IS95 had not brought about missionary protest. The Taiwan missionaries had been simply glad to see the end of Manchu rule on the island. Indeed, the initial reaction of Canadian missionaries in Korea was to welcome Japanese colonial rule because it would accelerate the modernization of the peninsula. The missionaries ' pro-Japanese view, however, quickly changed to an implacable anti-Japanese feeling. One of the most significant reasons for this was the impact of the First World War. Wilsonianism dearly infected the missionary community with a desire to see the Japanese Empire changed. The political idealism of President Wilson easily meshed with the social idealism which the student volunteers brought to their missionary work. This combined with the Canadian characteristics missionaries had always manifested: support for the colonial underdog and insistence on fair play. Canada, after all, had been a colony in the living memory ofsome of the missionaries , and Canadians felt an empathy with peoples under colonial rule. The impact of these different influences, however, had profoundly dissimilar results on missionaries in Japan and Korea. The Japan missionaries continued to maintain a pro-Japanese attitude toward the political changes they saw taking place in post-191S Japan. On the other hand, the missionaries in...

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