China
The "China Tablet"[edit]
(China (Cathay) as source of fragrance of musk used as symbol for Bahá'u'lláh's new Revelation)[edit]
"Upon the Eastern wind Cathay’s entrancing musk doth waft;..."
Praise of the country/people[edit]
"...the wonderful country of China..."
- (On behalf of Shoghi Effendi/Shoghi Effendi, January 27, 1924, Japan Will Turn Ablaze!, p. 55)
"...the land of China...has its own world and civilization, whose people constitute one-fourth of the population of the globe, which ranks foremost among all nations in the material, cultural and spiritual resources and potentialities, and whose future is assuredly bright...that vast and mighty land"
- (Shoghi Effendi to the Baha'is of the East, 23 January 1923, Cited in The Pure in Heart, by Jimmy Seow)
"To them, `Abdu'l-Bahá has referred as "truth-seeking" and "prompted with ideal motives". From among them, He declared, can be raised "such divine personages that each one of them may become the bright candle of the world of humanity.""
- (Universal House of Justice, Ridván 1996 to East Asia, par. 10)
The Faith aims to reform and unite all countries (including China), as is only possible through power of Bahá'u'lláh[edit]
"The reformation of one empire is not our aim; nay, rather we invoke from God that all the regions of the world be reformed and cultivated; the republic of men become the manifestors of the bounty of the most glorious Lord; the East and the West be brought nearer together; and that Turk and Tajik, Iran and America, India and Arabia, Japan and Persia, China and Germany; in brief, all the nations and peoples of the world become as one soul and one spirit, in order that strife and warfare be entirely removed and the rancor and hostility disappear so that all become as the waves of one ocean, the drops of one sea, the flowers of one rose-garden, the trees of one orchard, the grains of one harvest and the plants of one meadow."
"Let them awaken and quicken the land of China — a land which has its own world and civilization, whose people constitute one-fourth of the population of the globe, which ranks foremost among all nations in the material, cultural and spiritual resources and potentialities, and whose future is assuredly bright. Let them draw that vast and mighty land under the shadow of the Word of God, cause its peoples to associate with the other nations of the world, and demonstrate the true oneness of mankind, which can alone be established through the power of Bahaullah."
- (Shoghi Effendi to the Baha'is of the East, 23 January 1923, Cited in The Pure in Heart, by Jimmy Seow)
Specific directives in early Baha'i Writings toward teaching in China[edit]
Praise for sending a commission of men and women to travel through China and Japan to strengthen bond of love, oneness of humanity, and spread the teachings[edit]
How good would it be were there any possibility of a commission composed of men and women, to travel together through China and Japan--so that this bond of love may become strengthened, and through this going and coming they may establish the oneness of the world of humanity, summon the people to the Kingdom of God and spread the teachings.
Teachers to China (or Japan) to know the language; after the (first World) war, people receptive, so to travel through (Japan and) China[edit]
"The teachers traveling in different directions must know the language of the country in which they will enter. For example, a person being proficient in the Japanese language may travel to Japan, or a person knowing the Chinese language may hasten to China, and so forth."
"In short, after this universal war, the people have obtained extraordinary capacity to hearken to the divine teachings, for the wisdom of this war is this: That it may become proven to all that the fire of war is world-consuming, whereas the rays of peace are world-enlightening. One is death, the other is life; this is extinction, that is immortality; one is the most great calamity, the other is the most great bounty; this is darkness, that is light; this is eternal humiliation and that is everlasting glory; one is the destroyer of the foundation of man, the other is the founder of the prosperity of the human race. +N21
"Consequently, a number of souls may arise and act in accordance with the aforesaid conditions, and hasten to all parts of the world, especially from America to Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, and travel through Japan and China.
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan, pp. 55-56; first paragraph also in Advent of Divine Justice, p. 50)
To awaken its people, cause them to associate with other nations, and demonstrate the oneness of mankind[edit]
"Let them awaken and quicken the land of China — a land which has its own world and civilization, whose people constitute one-fourth of the population of the globe, which ranks foremost among all nations in the material, cultural and spiritual resources and potentialities, and whose future is assuredly bright. Let them draw that vast and mighty land under the shadow of the Word of God, cause its peoples to associate with the other nations of the world, and demonstrate the true oneness of mankind, which can alone be established through the power of Bahaullah."
- (Shoghi Effendi to the Baha'is of the East, 23 January 1923, Cited in The Pure in Heart, by Jimmy Seow)
(Goal of "Ten Year Crusade" to open up China)[edit]
"The various Bahá'í Communities dwelling within the borders of this continent and those situated to the south of its shores in the Antipodes, which include the oldest and most venerable among all the communities of the Bahá'í world, and whose members in their aggregate constitute the overwhelming majority of the followers of Bahá'u'lláh, are called upon, in close association with four other Bahá'í communities in the Western Hemisphere, to undertake in the course of the coming decade:...Sixth, the consolidation...of China...allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States of America..."
- (Shoghi Effendi, October, 1953, Messages to the Bahá'í World, pp. 165-167; also in Dawn of a New Day, pp. 168-170 passim)
Greatest Holy Leaf: Chinese have fresh and receptive minds and grasp the importance of this Manifestation; hoped for assistance to pioneer in going there[edit]
"I was very glad to know of your meeting with the Chinese students, and I am sure your effect and influence shall be great upon them because their fresh and receptive minds are ready to grasp the importance of this Manifestation; and when you go to China, which you may if you think it wise, your influence and success, I hope, will be still more.
I pray God that He should confirm you in your teaching, and when you go to China, He should make you a pioneer in carrying the Message of this Dispensation to the farthermost countries of the world and to the most obscure.
The members of the Holy Family join me in extending to you their love and Baha'i greetings, and may the spirit of Abdu'l-Baha guide you and keep you."
- (The Greatest Holy Leaf, August 9, 1922, in Japan Will Turn Ablaze!, pp. 58-59; also in Bahíyyih Khánum, p. 171)
See also[edit]
Praise and hopes for specific early activities pertaining to Chinese[edit]
Delight to hear of activities in China (in 1924)[edit]
"Your letter to Shoghi Effendi was very gladly received and he was most delighted to hear of your activities in the wonderful country of China... It is very unfortunate that you are forced to leave for the time being your work in (Japan) but Shoghi Effendi earnestly hopes that you will soon return and take up your blessed task.
"(in the Guardian's handwriting)
"My dear and esteemed Bahá'í sister,
"Your glorious services in those remote regions of the earth are never to be forgotten."
- (On behalf of Shoghi Effendi/Shoghi Effendi, January 27, 1924, Japan Will Turn Ablaze!, p. 55)
Hope for spread in interest in and consolidation of the Cause (as promised by 'Abdu'l-Bahá) through Martha Root's activities in China[edit]
"May the visit of our beloved sister, Miss Martha Root, to your shores stimulate widespread interest in the Cause throughout Japan, China and the Pacific Islands, and consolidate the foundation of the Edifice of the Cause in those far-eastern regions. I shall ever pray at the Three Holy Thresholds that the seeds now scattered bear abundant fruit and the promise of our beloved Master be speedily fulfilled."
- (Shoghi Effendi, Japan Will Turn Ablaze!, May 10, 1923, p. 76)
Heartened at prospect that Chinese among indigenous peoples of the North Pacific will soon enter the Faith[edit]
"We are heartened at the prospect that from indigenous peoples of this vast oceanic area, the Ainu, the Japanese, the Chinese, the Koreans, the Okinawans, the Micronesians, the American Indians, the Eskimos, and the Aleuts vast numbers will soon enter the Faith."
- (Universal House of Justice, Japan Will Turn Ablaze!, September, 1971, to the North Pacific Oceanic Conference, p. 112)
Itinerant teachers of Bahá'u'lláh (from America) pushed as far as China to establish the outposts of their Faith, with the East greetings its victories[edit]
"Unsatisfied with the achievements which crowned the concerted efforts of their elected representatives within the American continent, and emboldened by the initial success of their pioneer teachers, beyond its confines, in Great Britain, France and Germany, the community of the American believers resolved to win in distant climes fresh recruits to the advancing army of Bahá'u'lláh. Setting out from the western shores of their native land and impelled by the indomitable energy of a new-born faith, these itinerant teachers of the Gospel of Bahá'u'lláh pushed on towards the islands of the Pacific, and as far as China and Japan, determined to establish beyond the farthest seas the outposts of their beloved Faith. Both at home and abroad this community had by that time demonstrated its capacity to widen the range and consolidate the foundations of its vast endeavors. The angry voices that had been raised in protest against its rise were being drowned amid the acclamations with which the East greeted its recent victories. Those ugly features that had loomed so threateningly were gradually receding into the distance, furnishing a still wider field to these noble warriors for the exercise of their latent energies."
Faith's spread later to China[edit]
"I am reminded, moreover, of the initial spread of the light of this Revelation, in consequence of the banishment of Bahá'u'lláh, to the adjoining territories of Iraq, and, as far as the western fringes of that continent, to Turkey and the neighbouring territories of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and, at a later stage, to the Indian sub-continent and China, situated on the southern and eastern extremities of that continent as well as to the Caucasus and Russian Turkistan."
- (Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World, p. 164; also in Dawn of a New Day, pp. 166-167)
Role for Japanese Bahá'ís in teaching Chinese the Faith[edit]
Formation of Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of North East Asia is a momentous development paving way for eventual introduction of Faith into Chinese mainland[edit]
"The formation of the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of North East Asia is to be acclaimed as an event of far-reaching historic significance, whose repercussions cannot be confined to the Pacific area, but are bound to affect the immediate fortunes of the entire Bahá'í world. The emergence of this epochal institution, however transitional its character, represents the culmination of a fifty-year old process that has had its inception in the days of the Centre of the Covenant, during the last decades of the Heroic Age of the Bahá'í Dispensation. The rise and expansion of the Administrative Order of the Faith in the northern regions of the vast Pacific Ocean fills a great gap, and constitutes a notable parallel to the rise of similar institutions in the Antipodes, establishing thereby a spiritual equilibrium destined to affect, to a marked degree, the destinies of the Faith throughout the islands of the Pacific Ocean, in the years immediately ahead. It should be hailed, moreover, as a momentous development paving the way for the eventual introduction of the Faith into the far-flung Chinese mainland and, beyond it, to the extensive territories of Soviet Russia.
"A milestone of such tremendous significance in the progress of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, in so strategic and important an area of the globe, should be acclaimed by the members of your assembly, as well as by the rank and file of the believers throughout that area, as a demonstration of the creative energies released by its Author and the Centre of His Covenant, in territories and amidst peoples and races destined to play a role of immense significance in the future development of the human race.
"This God-given opportunity, now presenting itself to the prosecutors of the Bahá'í world Spiritual Crusade, at so critical a stage in the history of the peoples and nations established in those far-off islands and territories, should be seized with eagerness and enthusiasm, and exploited to the full in the years lying immediately ahead."
- (Shoghi Effendi, Japan Will Turn Ablaze!, July 15, 1957, pp. 84-85)
[edit]
"The emergence of a new Regional Spiritual Assembly in the North Pacific Area[National Spiritual Assembly of North East Asia, with its seat in Tokyo, Japan], with its seat fixed in the capital city of a country which by reason of its innate capacity and the spiritual receptivity it has acquired, in consequence of the severe and prolonged ordeal its entire population has providentially experienced, is destined to have a preponderating share in awakening the peoples and races inhabiting the entire Pacific area, to the Message of Bahá'u'lláh, and to act as the Vanguard of His hosts in their future spiritual conquest of the main body of the yellow race on the Chinese mainland--the emergence of such an assembly may be said to have, at long last established a spiritual axis, extending from the Antipodes to the northern islands of the Pacific Ocean--an axis whose northern and southern poles will act as powerful magnets, endowed with exceptional spiritual potency, and towards which younger and less experienced communities will tend for some time to gravitate."
- (Shoghi Effendi, Japan Will Turn Ablaze!, July 19, 1957, p. 89)
China in history[edit]
Plight of Chinese Empire (among others) can be associated with the opening passages of the Súriy-i-Mulúk which warns the sovereigns of the world to fear God, examine His Cause, stay the hand of the aggressor against Bahá'u'lláh, restrain tyranny, and deal equitably with their subjects, and not be deprived of His grace[edit]
"And as we survey in other fields the decline in the fortunes of royalty, whether in the years immediately preceding the Great War or after, and contemplate the fate that has overtaken the Chinese Empire...and observe the impotence of their fellow-sovereigns, and note the fear and trembling that has seized their thrones, may we not associate their plight with the opening passages of the Súriy-i-Mulúk, which, in view of their momentous significance, I feel impelled to quote a second time: "Fear God, O concourse of kings, and suffer not yourselves to be deprived of this most sublime grace.... Set your hearts towards the face of God, and abandon that which your desires have bidden you to follow, and be not of those who perish.... Ye examined not His [the Báb's] Cause, when so to do had been better for you than all that the sun shineth upon, could ye but perceive it.... Beware that ye be not careless henceforth, as ye have been careless aforetime.... My face hath come forth from the veils, and shed its radiance upon all that is in heaven and on earth, and yet ye turned not towards Him.... Arise then ... and make ye amends for that which hath escaped you.... If ye pay no heed unto the counsels which, in peerless and unequivocal language, We have revealed in this Tablet, Divine chastisement shall assail you from every direction, and the sentence of His justice shall be pronounced against you.... Twenty years have passed, O kings, during which We have, each day, tasted the agony of a fresh tribulation.... Though aware of most of Our afflictions, ye, nevertheless, have failed to stay the hand of the aggressor. For is it not your clear duty to restrain the tyranny of the oppressor, and to deal equitably with your subjects, that your high sense of justice may be fully demonstrated to all mankind?"
- (Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come, par. 174)
China in future[edit]
Future is assuredly bright[edit]
"Let them awaken and quicken the land of China — a land which has its own world and civilization, whose people constitute one-fourth of the population of the globe, which ranks foremost among all nations in the material, cultural and spiritual resources and potentialities, and whose future is assuredly bright. Let them draw that vast and mighty land under the shadow of the Word of God, cause its peoples to associate with the other nations of the world, and demonstrate the true oneness of mankind, which can alone be established through the power of Bahaullah."
- (Shoghi Effendi to the Baha'is of the East, 23 January 1923, Cited in The Pure in Heart, by Jimmy Seow)
