Pastor Hsi (1836-1896) was born in Shanxi, China. He was born into wealth. His father and grandfather were scholars. They also compounded herbs to treat ailments. They handed down recipes from generation to generation.
Hsi took the name “Sheng Mo” when he was baptized. Sheng Mo means demon slayer.
Hsi was very intelligent. He studied hard. At age 16, he passed an examination which qualified him to be a public official. He could practice as what we today would call a lawyer. He was skilled at preparing documents and arguing cases. His services were in high demand.
After his parents died, he inherited property in the village of Western Chang and moved there.
He was very successful at managing his property and practicing law. But he wasn’t happy. He kept wondering about the meaning of life. He studied Buddhist, Confucian and Daoist books but didn’t find what he hoped for.
Even before he qualified for public service, he was married. He loved his wife, though she didn’t bear him any children, let alone a son. A few years into their marriage, she died.
Some years later, he re-married. He loved this wife too: they remained married till he died. She did get pregnant, but the baby was stillborn. She never got pregnant again.
Not knowing the meaning of life, he felt he was chasing after the wind. He dropped out of the race of life. He suffered body aches, became depressed. He stayed home. He turned to Opium. He became an addict.
The great famine came. He had a store of grain. Most of his neighbours didn’t. Over three quarters of his neighbours either died or moved to other parts of China. Men sold “their” women and children to men from the South. Some even became cannibals. He lost most of his wealth.
At that time, two English missionaries came to a nearby town called Ping Yang. David Hill and J J Turner handed out food and money. This built their credibility among the population who previously resented white people and were always suspicious of their motives.
At a set time during those years, scholars from all over each state would go to the city to sit for examinations to qualify to be public officials.
The missionaries came up with an idea to make people think about Christian teaching. They set up an essay competition.
In 1879, they offered prizes for essays on six subjects. To the scholars who left the exam halls, they gave out pamphlets explaining the competition together with small books on each topic. The topics were:
The Source of True Doctrine, or the Right Way. On Prayer. The Regulation of the Heart. Rewards and Punishments. Images of the Gods. On Opium.
Someone brought one of the bundles to Hsi. He studied, wrote and submitted four essays. His essays were among 120 received. Scholars reviewed and ranked the essays. He won three of the four prizes.
Winners were required to go personally to meet Mr Hill and collect the prizes. In those days, people thought missionaries bewitched people. So, he was very nervous. But he needed the money. So, he went.
He was very impressed by Mr Hill. Later, he wrote:
“I beheld his kindly eyes and remembered the words of Mencius: ‘If a man’s heart is not right, his eye will certainly bespeak it.’ That face told me I was in the presence of a true, good man.”
He also wrote that when he was writing the essays, he felt an unusual presence with him, and thought there was a strange bright light which rested over the doorway to his room.
Hsi took the money and went home. Before long, he received a request from David Hill: would he come and help him to study the classics, and to write essays? Mr Hill wanted to hire Mr Hsi as his teacher. Hsi agreed.
Hsi moved into Mr Hill’s residence, which was also the mission station. It was a place of constant public reading of the Bible, singing, praying. He chose not to join the formal meetings.
But quietly, in his room, he read the New Testament. One day, he read of Jesus at Gethsemane, hours before his death, saying “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” Suddenly, he realized, “Jesus loved me, and died for me.”
His tears flowed. He got on his knees. He subjected himself to Jesus.
Then, he battled to be free of addiction to Opium. It was a huge struggle.
For days, he was in intense pain. He took the medicines given to him, both foreign and local. He prayed for healing, for deliverance. Everyone prayed for him. Nothing seemed to work. Until one day,
“The Holy Spirit did what man and medicine could not do. From that moment my body was perfectly at rest.”
Later, reflecting on that experience, he also wrote:
“I was permitted to pass through such a severe ordeal … in order that I might thoroughly understand the true nature of the conflict, and the only power that can deliver.”
Hsi lived for another 17 years. He won his wife and stepmother to the faith. His wife learned to read and write so she could preach and teach and work effectively as his partner in the work he undertook for God.
What was that work?
Mayor. Hsi was so highly regarded as a man of integrity, that even after he became a Christian, even after he broke the family idols, and refused to join the temple festivals, they asked him to be their “mayor.” He refused. They insisted. He prayed. He agreed. With two conditions: (1) He would not make offerings to the temple; (2) they must close the temple. Though they feared that “the gods” would take offence and punish them, they agreed. He was mayor for three years. The village prospered.
Refuges. Pastor & Mrs Hsi established 45 centres called “Refuges.” These were places people could come to for help in ridding themselves of Opium addiction. At these centres, they would be assisted by Christians, covered in prayer, and provided with herbal medicines compounded by Hsi. Thousands of addicts recovered; most of them became Christians.
Dowry. The initial Refuges were funded by Mrs Hsi’s response to her husband’s prayers for money – after he had exhausted his own inherited and earned wealth on hospitality and treatment for the needy – and also the drop in his income after he stopped growing tobacco and opium. On two occasions, Mrs Hsi pawned her wedding dowry to fund the work. She turned their own home into a centre for Christian work, with accommodation for several hundred people. It was called “Middle Eden.” So great was her role in the work that a book was written about her too.
Hymns. Once, Hsi owed a lot of money. He prayed much for the money, but what came was the announcement of another competition, also organized by missionaries A big sum of money would be given as a prize for the best poem about Jesus. Hsi wrote the winning entry. The prize was sufficient to cover the entire debt. Hsi discovered he had a gift for writing poems, hymns, and before long he’d written many hymns.
Pastor. About five years after he became a Christian, Hsi was ordained a pastor by Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission which is now known as the Overseas Missionary Fellowship or OMF. Although he never received any formal theological training and never drew a salary, he shepherded several pastors and churches. He formed a close friendship with Mr D E Hoste, who later became leader of the China Inland Mission. Before and after he was ordained, he often cast out evil spirits.
Trauma. Hsi went through much trauma. He could sound boastful. He could be pushy. Some of the churches split up. Some men whom he appointed to run the Refuges accused him of profiting from the work by not paying them for their services. They forced temporary closure of some Refuges and also established competing Refuges near the original ones. In the end, they lost their shirts. But it was hard on Hsi, as he endured the difficulties their actions caused, and the pain their accusations caused.
Peacemaker. Hsi often had to take the lead in resolving disputes. Once, two brothers, both leaders in the church, quarrelled over something. The younger Chang threw a chopper at his older brother. It landed on a bystander called Koh and seriously injured him. There was a huge commotion. Pastor Hsi was called from the neighbouring village. It was winter. He came wearing a fur coat. He watched. He listened. He walked away. He returned without his coat. He dressed Koh’s wounds. He spoke quietly. He “made himself one with the offenders and expressed his shame.” His words and actions led the brothers to apologize to Koh, and to seek the forgiveness of God and their neighbours. When they had done that, Hsi gave Koh some money to express his sympathy and sorrow for the injury he’d suffered. Hsi had got the money by pawning his fur coat.[1]
I end with the last two paragraphs in The Legacy of Pastor Hsi: A Life of Service and Faith, published in China Source. If you want to learn more about Hsi, you can read it by clicking here:
In August 1895, after the harvest, Pastor Hsi held a large meeting in the Middle Eden. More than 200 church workers came. Pastor Hsi was over 60 years old. …
A few days later, Pastor Hsi went to visit Hoste. He was in good health but suddenly collapsed that night. He was sick for half a year and passed away on February 19, 1896. Three months later, Pastor David Hill also died. The two good friends finally met [again].
[1] Actually, Hsi left the scene twice, leaving the first time to pray in a quiet place and leaving the second time to go to the pawnshop. I’ve simplified the story, retaining only the essence.
To learn more about Rama, click here.