Observations in the Orient: The Account of a Journey to Catholic Mission Fields in Japan, Korea, Manchuria, China, Indo-China, and the Philippines is the travel book of James Anthony Walsh on his travels through Asia between fall 1917 and spring 1918.^[1] Walsh was a bishop and co-founder of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. The book was published in 1919 by the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America in Ossining, New York.^[2]

Observations in the Orient is originally 323 pages long and contains twenty chapters excluding the preface. It also includes 104 black-and-white photographs.

James A. Walsh was the co-founder of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers and a prominent figure for Catholic missions to Asia during the early twentieth century.^[1] Walsh was an important missionary for the Church of America.^[1] He attended Boston College High School where he garnered recognition and developed his journalism skills.^[1] Later, he studied at Boston College, Harvard College, and St. John's seminary.^[1] In 1892, Walsh was ordained as a priest. He was then appointed as director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith a few years later in 1903.^[1]

The Society was important for it was established in the hopes of generated support for foreign missions.^[10] Before, the American Catholic Church was more focused on home missions, more concerned with Native Americans, African-Americans, immigrants, and the rural poor than overseas peoples.^[10] In contrast, American Protestants relished in foreign missions. Walsh, as a new director, had to both compete with American Protestant missionaries and garner support for Catholic missions overseas. Walsh did two major things to accomplish this: “launch a campaign to educate clergy” and publish The Field Afar, which would become the official Maryknoll magazine.^[11]

The campaign's goal was to "educate future missionaries through closely supervised programs."^[12] Missionaries were trained for six years on philosophy and dogmatic and moral theology.^[12] They were shown charitable accounts, evangelistic activities, and struggles with "pagan" China.^[12] Walsh hoped to foster a deep spiritual commitment through this education.^[12] Little was devoted to the study of China's language, history, and political affairs.^[12] Walsh "was drawn to China because he judged it to be the mission field in which Maryknoll efforts could rival those of American Protestant missions, arouse the competitive spirit of American Catholics, and generate mission vocations and financial contributions."^[13] The ever-increasing number of Catholic missionaries journeying to China combined with their lack of cultural, political, and linguistic knowledge on the nation left them with only missionary zeal and a spirit of self-sacrifice.^[13]

The Field Afar was also used to gain support. First published in 1907, The Field Afar was a bimonthly publication detailing the foreign missions of the Catholic Church.^[11] The twenty-five to thirty page issue contained information ranging from the Maryknoll's activities in the United States to news on the world missionary movement to even selections from Maryknoll missionaries’ diaries.^[14] Its overall purpose was to promote missionary spirit, cement Catholic missionaries’ presences in East Asia, challenge Protestant missions, and attract monetary support. The magazine was also crucial for the emergence of foreign missions for it informed the public about the activities and needs of the Maryknoll missioners.^[14] Walsh modeled the magazine after another successful magazine, named Life, in an effort to make it a more interesting read for the public (as opposed to the "dry" Annals).^[15] Four main themes circulated by the magazine are highlighted by Jean-Paul Wiest: “China was a ‘great country and a great people,’ China was ‘a country ready for Christianity,’ works of charity would reach and convert non-Christian Chinese, and their faith was a wonder to behold."^[16] The magazine increased in popularity over the course of the 1920s.^[14]

Walsh's increasing involvement and interest in foreign missions eventually lead to the co-founding of the Maryknolls with Thomas F. Price in 1911, also known as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America. Prior to its founding, Walsh and Price traveled to Rome to receive the permission and blessing of Pope Pius X to begin their seminary.^[1] Their goal was to spread the word of Christ through foreign missions. The society embodied some of the core Progressive Era values of the time.^[17] These values included "an optimism about American and its ‘place in the world, ‘activism,’ (situations did not improve on their own), a positive interpretation of the increasing sense of globalness...respect for the individual, adaptability, and an appreciation of democracy."^[18] The Maryknolls saw these values as uniquely American. One bishop summarizes the Maryknoll attitude, supposing: “not that we have not the ‘foreigners at our door and within our gate,’ but that we might take advantage of our Country's prestige in foreign lands to spread the Gospel."^[17] The Maryknolls also held certain anti-modernist beliefs.^[19]

Walsh's response to the tendencies of modernism shaped his "American" approach to missions overseas.^[18] He believed that a certain "vital energy" was lost in industrialization and over-civilization; assembly lines and factories separated workers from their products that left little satisfaction.^[20] There was a suspicion toward urban luxury and comfort achieved by the middle and upper class. Walsh wanted to avoid the idea of the "teacup" clergyman, who represented all the luxury and daintiness found in American civilization, and aimed to preserve "true substance" in religion.^[20] The major symbol of this perspective was the "apostolic martyr, a person who went the ‘whole way into the wilderness,’ even to the point of spilling blood for belief in Christ."^[19]

From 1918 until his death in 1936, Walsh served as Superior general of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.^[1] During this time, he traveled the world to observe mission work, attended to the administration of the Maryknolls, and discussed life in mission.^[1] By the end of his life, Walsh wrote five books along with numerous The Field Afar issues, one book of which was Observations in the Orient.^[21] The book is an account of his travels throughout primarily East Asia, but also Indo-China and the Philippines.^[22]

Walsh gives five reasons (which can be found in the preface) for writing Observations in the Orient. Firstly, he has a growing interest in the Orient thanks to his own early experiences in China and The Field Afar.^[5] Secondly, it can help fill the gap of English literature on Catholic foreign missions.^[5] Thirdly, he wants to enlighten Catholic Americans on the growing missionary work.^[5] Fourthly, to raise awareness of Catholic foreign missions from America. Lastly, he wishes to sustain and strengthen Catholic missionaries.^[6]

The account of Walsh's journey through Asia is in chronological order in Observations in the Orient. He begins in New York City and travels across the United States, ending on the West Coast. He then takes a Japanese ship to Japan. From there, he goes briefly to Korea and Manchuria then spends a long while traveling throughout China. He ends in Indo-China after making a quick trip to the Philippines. The last chapter of his book is dedicated to impressions and takeaways he has gathered by the end of his travels. These impressions are both of the people he encounters as well as the accomplishments of the Catholic mission.

Observations in the Orient was first published in 1919 by the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America in Ossining, New York.^[22] It has since been reprinted multiple times. Little reviews of the book can be found online. Regardless, Observations in the Orient appears to have some cultural and historical significance due to its numerous reprints.^[23]

In 2008, Read Books and Kessinger Publishing, LLC reprinted the book.^[8][24] The book has been reprinted again in 2009 (Cornell University Library), 2010 (Gleed Press), 2012 (Ulan Press and HardPress Publishing), and 2013 (Nabu Press).^{[25][26][27][28][23]} Fb&c Limited and FORGOTTEN books reprinted it in 2015.^[29][30]