Envelope or Cover
1948 · Hinghwa, Fukien, China
by George W. Hollister
Hinghwa, Fukien, China, 1948. Envelope or Cover. Very good. The earliest letter has two pages and is datelined “Hinghwa, Fukien / October 30, 1948 China” in the final days of Chaing Kai Shek’s Nationalist Government. The second has three pages and is dated April 6, 1950, shortly after Mao Tse Tung’s Communist Government had taken over. The mimeographed form letters were sent by George W. Hollister to Mrs. Fred C. Rice in Canton, Ohio. Both are enclosed in typically narrow envelopes, and both bear Nationalist stamps as the Communist had not yet produced any of their own. The letters are in nice shape; the envelopes show some postal and opening wear.
Hollister and his wife, Mary Brewster Hollister, returned to China in 1948 after an 18-year absence. Both served at the Methodist mission in Hinghwa where George taught at the missionary school. Their chaotic arrival was, no doubt, directly related to the death-throes of the Nationalist regime. Their first letter to supporters reads in part:
“Here we are back in Hinghwa, at last. . .. Arriving in Shanghai soon after the inauguration of the Chinese ‘austerity’ program, designed to stabilize Chinese finances, we found unusual difficulty in clearing . . . customs. Duty was sky high 150% on [some items.] They opened every piece of baggage and . . . each box taking out what they decided to tax. [All] were opened at one time and the contents hopelessly scrambled. . ..
“Finally a small steamer was scheduled to sail [but] we were reused permission to get on board. [Then] at suppertime I [received] a telephone message to get on board that night as the boat would leave . . . early in the morning. . .. When we reached the boat, the customs officer said no baggage was allowed on board. [After he finally consented, he demanded to see} my re-export permit. [As we had none] I had to go to the customs house while the officer telephoned his superior, and then [once more through] the austerity ‘search’ group. . .. Will some of you suggest appropriate theological language for me to use under these conditions?
“The first steamer . . . a freighter [had no accommodations for passengers [so] we rented a cabin from the crew [that had not] been cleaned for months. I sprayed the cabin with DDT but that only made the cockroaches more lively. My wife says two ran over her face [and] a rat ran over my legs. [Surprisingly] all fifty pieces of our baggage arrived in Hinghwa safely . . . without serious pilferage. [That] is an accomplishment these days. . ..
“We found the government making a determined effort to [confiscate] gold and silver. . .. About three weeks ago [there was] almost a complete sellers’ strike [and] prices for most commodities have . . . tripled and many necessities are almost unobtainable except . . . at black market prices. The news from the fighting in North China is unfavorable [and] the bottom has fallen out from under the new currency. . .. We are headed for the worst economic conditions we have faced. . ..”
Hollister’s second letter written shortly after the Communist had taken over shows considerable regret that the U.S. has not embraced the new government although he readily acknowledges the tyranny of Mao’s regime.
“You will want to know something of the perplexities and uncertainties we face [but] I shall try to avoid all statements having political or military significance. . .. There has not yet been time to learn definitely what official [Communist] attitudes will be toward missionaries and work of the church [and] our problems . . . are multiplied by the refusal of the U.S.to recognize the present [Communist] government. The Chinese papers and vocal propaganda are bitterly anti-American. The attitude of the U.S. . . . puts all of us Americans under suspicion. . .. Now we must have passes whenever we want to leave the city. . .. Yesterday the chairman of the [church] committee meeting was quizzed almost two hours. The police wanted to know exactly who was present and what was discussed. . .. We may not be able to leave the city until Formosa has been ‘liberated’. . .. One who owns more than enough land to support a family is [now considered] an ‘oppressor’ of the poor [and] the government seeks to correct this form of inequality. [They claim] it is more important that the soldiers have food than it is for the orphans to eat [and] there is not enough [for us] to feed the children. . .. All land will be redivided this fall. . .. There is no freedom of thought in the class room. . .. on campus, even in dormitories or teachers’ homes. [When] one of our agricultural workers [tried to] warn the villagers against the disease of rice plants, [what he said was decried as] ‘American imperialism!’ [In revolutionary China] it is easy for those . . . without homes to turn against those who have; for those with no secure livelihood to turn against those with jobs; for those with inferiority complexes . . . to get minor positions in which they have a chance to satisfy repressed desires. . .. Pray for us that we may have the grace to recognize the present struggle as one of God’s gifts.” . Within a month or two of Hollister’s letter, the mission would be shut down and its missionaries deported back to the United States.
A terrific pair of letters documenting the impact of China’s transition into a tyrannical Marxist state.
At the time of listing, no other similar original source material is for sale in the trade or shown by the Rare Book Hub as having appeared at auction. OCLC records show that seven institutions appear to hold personal paper collection containing similar items. . (Inventory #: 010452)
Hollister and his wife, Mary Brewster Hollister, returned to China in 1948 after an 18-year absence. Both served at the Methodist mission in Hinghwa where George taught at the missionary school. Their chaotic arrival was, no doubt, directly related to the death-throes of the Nationalist regime. Their first letter to supporters reads in part:
“Here we are back in Hinghwa, at last. . .. Arriving in Shanghai soon after the inauguration of the Chinese ‘austerity’ program, designed to stabilize Chinese finances, we found unusual difficulty in clearing . . . customs. Duty was sky high 150% on [some items.] They opened every piece of baggage and . . . each box taking out what they decided to tax. [All] were opened at one time and the contents hopelessly scrambled. . ..
“Finally a small steamer was scheduled to sail [but] we were reused permission to get on board. [Then] at suppertime I [received] a telephone message to get on board that night as the boat would leave . . . early in the morning. . .. When we reached the boat, the customs officer said no baggage was allowed on board. [After he finally consented, he demanded to see} my re-export permit. [As we had none] I had to go to the customs house while the officer telephoned his superior, and then [once more through] the austerity ‘search’ group. . .. Will some of you suggest appropriate theological language for me to use under these conditions?
“The first steamer . . . a freighter [had no accommodations for passengers [so] we rented a cabin from the crew [that had not] been cleaned for months. I sprayed the cabin with DDT but that only made the cockroaches more lively. My wife says two ran over her face [and] a rat ran over my legs. [Surprisingly] all fifty pieces of our baggage arrived in Hinghwa safely . . . without serious pilferage. [That] is an accomplishment these days. . ..
“We found the government making a determined effort to [confiscate] gold and silver. . .. About three weeks ago [there was] almost a complete sellers’ strike [and] prices for most commodities have . . . tripled and many necessities are almost unobtainable except . . . at black market prices. The news from the fighting in North China is unfavorable [and] the bottom has fallen out from under the new currency. . .. We are headed for the worst economic conditions we have faced. . ..”
Hollister’s second letter written shortly after the Communist had taken over shows considerable regret that the U.S. has not embraced the new government although he readily acknowledges the tyranny of Mao’s regime.
“You will want to know something of the perplexities and uncertainties we face [but] I shall try to avoid all statements having political or military significance. . .. There has not yet been time to learn definitely what official [Communist] attitudes will be toward missionaries and work of the church [and] our problems . . . are multiplied by the refusal of the U.S.to recognize the present [Communist] government. The Chinese papers and vocal propaganda are bitterly anti-American. The attitude of the U.S. . . . puts all of us Americans under suspicion. . .. Now we must have passes whenever we want to leave the city. . .. Yesterday the chairman of the [church] committee meeting was quizzed almost two hours. The police wanted to know exactly who was present and what was discussed. . .. We may not be able to leave the city until Formosa has been ‘liberated’. . .. One who owns more than enough land to support a family is [now considered] an ‘oppressor’ of the poor [and] the government seeks to correct this form of inequality. [They claim] it is more important that the soldiers have food than it is for the orphans to eat [and] there is not enough [for us] to feed the children. . .. All land will be redivided this fall. . .. There is no freedom of thought in the class room. . .. on campus, even in dormitories or teachers’ homes. [When] one of our agricultural workers [tried to] warn the villagers against the disease of rice plants, [what he said was decried as] ‘American imperialism!’ [In revolutionary China] it is easy for those . . . without homes to turn against those who have; for those with no secure livelihood to turn against those with jobs; for those with inferiority complexes . . . to get minor positions in which they have a chance to satisfy repressed desires. . .. Pray for us that we may have the grace to recognize the present struggle as one of God’s gifts.” . Within a month or two of Hollister’s letter, the mission would be shut down and its missionaries deported back to the United States.
A terrific pair of letters documenting the impact of China’s transition into a tyrannical Marxist state.
At the time of listing, no other similar original source material is for sale in the trade or shown by the Rare Book Hub as having appeared at auction. OCLC records show that seven institutions appear to hold personal paper collection containing similar items. . (Inventory #: 010452)
(571) 409-0144
