1928 – Letter from an American missionary in Shanghai encouraging a supporter to keep contributing to his mission despite the disastrous Chinese Civil War and forwarding a lucky charm woodblock print

Shanghai, China, 1928. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This personally signed one-page mimeographed form letter was sent by missionary H. G. C. (Henry Galloway Comingo) Hallock in Shanghai to a contributor, Stella F. Kent in East Wallingford, Vermont. It is datelined “C. P. O (Chinese Post Office) Box No. 1234 / Shanghai, China, Feb. 24, 1928.” It is enclosed in a narrow 6¾“ x 3” envelope and franked with 2-cent green Chinese stamp “Junk and Temple of Heaven” canceled with an indistinct circular Shanghai postmark.

In the letter, Hallock reports that

“There are lots of wars now – South fighting North, East fighting West, and all (truncated) in between fighting each other – not fighting for patriotism nor from hatred of us [but] to squeeze money from rich and poor alike. The most fighting is where the loot is richest. . .. Men can be so cruel as to bring such havoc and pain for money. . .. I have received letters . . . suggesting that since ‘China has altogether gone to the bad [and that I should] come home’ [but] the masses of Chinese, [the] ‘dumb driven cattle’ are still friendly as ever. The war-lords, the Nationals, the Red, the bandits . . . are evil [but] they do not represent the Chinese [who have] stood by us in time of real danger. {So] what if a church is looted or burned by ‘Red’ propagandists. . .. Four hundred millions of downtrodden ones are calling us. . .. Let’s help them [with] our precious message.”

He also describes an enclosed 12” x 22” colorful woodblock print.

“Wars in China suggest sending you ‘Wu-ti’ the Chinese god-of-war. He is seated. . .. The general idea about Wu-ti is that he delights in war. That is not the Chinese idea of him. Once, he did great exploits in war . . . yet he is best known for his loyalty to friends and protecting the weak . . . and the people worship him to protect them from war’s horrors. . ..” . Hallock, a West Virginia native, prepared for the ministry at the Princeton Theological Seminary and assumed a Presbyterian position in China as a missionary-teacher in 1905. He taught children’s Sunday Schools, served as a Eurasian church pastor, and a theology professor at St. John’s University in Shanghai. He published two million copies of his annual Hallock’s Chinese Almanac referenced in this letter. What set him apart was his use of woodblock art to raise funds. He sent these thin-paper prints depicting Chinese deities for home display to potential contributors along with fund-raising requests. He survived near starvation, dysentery, and malaria in a Japanese World War II prison and died in China in 1951.

(For more information, see “Reformed Missionaries of History” at the Puritan Board online and “Hallock’s Gods” at the David Leffman website.)

Scarce. Hallock’s funding letters with their fragile woodblock prints are sought by many collectors today. This one, tying the wood block and his fundraising effort to the developing Chinese Civil War, is especially unusual. At the time of listing, no other Hallock fund-raising efforts are for sale in the trade. Although the Rare Book Hub shows none have been sold at auction, a handful have been listed at auctions where they were quickly snapped up. OCLC shows none are held by institutions. . (Inventory #: 010449)