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[illustration XX].
The cab driver from Shanghai who took us to Sungkiang had never heard of Ward and we therefore stopped the first old man we saw and asked whether he had ever heard of the American and if so, where had the temple been? Yes, he had heard of an American but knew no more. He recommended that we visited the local government Historical Department. On arrival we disturbed an elderly lady who was taking her mid-day siesta sprawled across her small upright desk. She shot to her feet and ushered us into the office of the Director/Curator who having heard what we were seeking called for a conference. We sat around a large table for a matter of minutes whilst the Director described the problem, - to find the temple dedicated to ‘Hua-de' - as Ward was described phonetically; whereupon he then announced that he knew where it used to be and that we should repair there straight away. He took the elderly lady on his moped and led our cab through the back streets and finally down a narrow tortuous lane until we came to a pair of large iron gates which we entered and found ourselves facing a modern church. We were led first into the offices nearby where it was explained that the priest was out but the young woman on his staff would show us their church. It proved to be a Roman Catholic church built in 1982 containing the statuary and altars one would expect. The decorated ceiling was pointed out as a speciality; meanwhile, a Dutch lady and her husband who were accompanying me were examining the electric fan covers, all beautifully embroidered with grinning cats! A typical Chinese touch. It was explained that the high altar stood over the grave of Ward and that the foundations of the four walls were the original foundations of Ward's temple, long destroyed even before the Cultural Revolution. So, we thought, that was that. But no, the young woman had a request to make. Would we as foreigners please visit their landlord who was causing them some trouble with his high rents, and try to persuade him to be more lenient. It then transpired that the landlord was the abbot of the local Buddhist monastery, which squares the circle. The grave of Ward, a Protestant, revered as a Chinese Confucian hero, with a temple in his honour, now lies under the altar of a Roman Catholic church, whilst the land itself is the property of the local Buddhist monastery in a Communist state.
The altar table in the temple raised by Chinese mandarins, bore his tablet, ritual candle sticks and incense pot, and was flanked by scrolls