6 AUGUST 1937, Page 6

" Christian General " means in China only one man,

Feng Yu-hsiang, but it may with some reason be contended that Marshal Chiang Kai-shek is both a better general and a better Christian. In an address he gave earlier this year at Nanking (as reported in the American Christian Century), speaking of his capture at Sian-fu by Chang Hsueh-liang's rebellious troops at the end of last year, he said : " I have been a follower of Jesus for nearly ten years, and make a daily practice of reading the Scriptures for the cultivation of the religious life. The crisis in Sian last winter arose suddenly. Imprisoned in solitude for a week by the rebelling regiment I read the Bible aloud to my gaolers,-and found it more meaning- ful and delightful than ever before." (Whether these are General Cliiang's actual words or a translation is not dear.) Madame Chiang Kai-shek, who is the sister-in-law of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, was a Christian before her husband, and no doubt the cause of his adhesion to Christianity. In this, and his attempt to create a model army, there is at least a touch of Cromwell about the Chinese commander.