This page will collect some links to online sources related to missionaries and their perspectives on China. These sources may be especially useful to students studying modern Chinese history wanting to make use of primary sources in their essays but who are a) limited to the English language, b) may have limited access to databases available at universities with strong East Asia collections, and c) are in lockdown due to a global pandemic. If used with a careful critical approach to the sources, there is a wealth of material here to explore.<\/p>\n
Let me start by saying there are already many great library guides to primary sources out there. Some of these I have linked to at the bottom of a growing list of primary sources I provide my own students each semester that you can find here<\/a>. I also suggest you pay a visit to the Biblioteca Sinica 2.0<\/a> which in March, 2020, just posted its last entry after 5,000 entries linking sources on Sino-Western encounters over a period of 10 years. See, for example, just their entries tagged missionaries<\/a> or its list of digital collections<\/a>.<\/p>\n First, let us list some of the missionary periodicals available online. These often went well beyond reporting on the success or challenges of individual missions to offer writings on a whole host of aspects of Chinese society.<\/p>\n The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal (1867-1941)<\/strong><\/p>\n Wikipedia<\/a> | Print Index<\/a> | More Links at Biblioteca Sinica<\/a><\/p>\n This is a rich source of missionary perspectives on China, with over seventy volumes, with later volumes often over 800 pages in length. Kathleen Lodwick has created a valuable two-volume printed index of the collection, The Chinese Recorder Index: a Guide to Christian Missions in Asia, 1867\u20131941<\/em> and there are proprietary databases, at least one of which seems to build off this print index. All the volumes 1-54 (up to 1922) of this important missionary journal are unambiguously out of copyright in the US and available on Internet Archive, with OCR text recognition here:<\/p>\n 1860s: v1<\/a>, v2<\/a> The Chinese Repository (1832-1851)<\/strong> This early missionary periodical in twenty volumes has issues about 60 pages in length. Compared to the Chinese Recorder there is a far higher percentage of articles that are academic articles, reflections on Chinese culture, agriculture and nature, as well as many travel narratives. There are also many articles on educational, medical, and commercial initiatives in China. There is also a convenient index volume by term but also by subject<\/a>.<\/p>\n Full Year Volumes: <\/em> Almost all (over 200) of the individual issues of the twenty volumes are also available on Internet Archive by individual issue download, and the few missing issues are fortunately to be found in the full year volumes for the journal available above. You can browse through them here: Chinese Repository Issues on Internet Archive<\/a>. There are also more more download options nicely compiled<\/a> by Biblioteca Sinica.<\/p>\n China’s Millions (1875-1964)<\/strong><\/p>\n This is one of the missionary periodicals published by the important organization, the China Inland Mission founded by Hudson Taylor. A large number of volumes from the journal can be found online, with many of the earlier volumes available on the Internet Archive, as well as many later volumes available open access through Yale University’s digital library collections with convenient PDF download.<\/p>\n 1870s: 1875-6<\/a>, 1877<\/a>, 1878<\/a>, 1879<\/a> One relatively recent and particularly useful secondary work related to the China Inland Mission is: Alvyn Austin, China\u2019s Millions: The China Inland Mission and Late Qing Society, 1832\u20131905 (2006)<\/em>.<\/p>\n The China Review (1872-1901)<\/strong> The China Review, or Notes and Queries on the Far East<\/em>, 1872-1901 was not a missionary publication, but featured many writings by missionaries based in China. HKU has created a very nice online archive of the journal<\/a> where you can download individual articles on separate pages dedicated to specific volumes but no full issue or full volumes, so it is less convenient for browsing. Helen Wang has created a convenient list<\/a> of contributors to the journal and combined the contents list of all the article titles together.<\/p>\n Full Year Volumes<\/em>: v2<\/a> (1873-1874), v4<\/a> (1875-1876), v6<\/a> (1877-1878), v7<\/a> (1878-1879), v10<\/a> (1881-1882), v13<\/a> (1884-1885), v21<\/a> (1894-1895)<\/p>\n Individual Issues<\/em>: 1874 v2.4<\/a>, 1875 v4.3<\/a>, 1876 v4.4<\/a>, 1876 v4.6<\/a>, 1876 v5.2<\/a>, 1877 v5.4<\/a><\/p>\n The China Mission Year Book\u00a0<\/strong> (Shanghai: Christian Literature Society for China,\u00a0 1910-1925, after 1925 as China Christian Year Book).<\/p>\n Articles, reports, reviews, statistics and charts. Internet Archive has links to a number of volumes, here\u00a0<\/a>, and SOAS has some issues in its digital collection, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 1910<\/a>, 1911<\/a>, 1912<\/a>, 1914<\/a>, 1916<\/a>, 1917<\/a>, 1918<\/a>, 1919<\/a> Report of the Foreign Missions China, Formosa, the Straits Settlements, and India – Presbyterian Church of England<\/strong><\/p>\n These reports, usually 100-200 pages in length are reports of the English Presbyterians Mission (EPM), founded at Xiamen (Amoy) in 1850, and later at Shantou (Swatow), Guangdond, and in Taiwan in 1865. You can read an overview of their archival records and missions here<\/a>. See also L. Cheng A Short History of the Presbyterian Church among the Mountain Tribes in Taiwan<\/em> (1965) and J. Johnstoun China and Formosa: The Story of the Presbyterian Church of England<\/a><\/em> (1897). Here is a list of issues<\/a> on the Internet Archive.<\/p>\n 1894<\/a>, 1903<\/a>, 1904<\/a>, 1905<\/a>, 1906<\/a>, 1907<\/a>, 1908<\/a>, 1909<\/a>, 1910<\/a>, 1911<\/a>, 1912<\/a>, 1913<\/a>, 1914<\/a>, 1915<\/a>, 1916<\/a>, 1917<\/a>, 1918<\/a>, 1919<\/a>, 1920<\/a>, 1921<\/a><\/p>\n Reports of the American Presbyterian Missions<\/strong><\/p>\n A number of issues of the Report of the American Presbyterian Mission in Canton, China<\/em> are available on the Internet Archive: 1886<\/a>, 1887<\/a>, 1888<\/a>, 1889<\/a>, 1890<\/a>, 1891<\/a>, 1894<\/a>, 1896<\/a>, 1897<\/a>, 1900<\/a>, 1901<\/a>, 1902<\/a>, 1903<\/a>, 1904<\/a>, 1905<\/a><\/p>\n A few issues of the Annual Report of the Tsinan Station<\/em> from Jinan, Shandong are also available: 1919<\/a> and 1922<\/a>. And the 1918<\/a> Annual report of Tenghsien Station<\/em>, also in Shandong. Finally a 1906<\/a> Annual report of the American Presbyterian mission in the island of Hainan, China<\/em> hosted by Yale.<\/p>\n Directory of Protestant Missionaries (1902-1917)<\/strong><\/p>\n Eleven volumes of this directory are scanned by Cornell University and linked from the Yale University Missionary Periodicals Online collection: Directory of Protestant Missionaries in China<\/a>. The HathiTrust links will only allow full download of issues to partner institutions, and if you are outside the United States you won’t even be able to view the issues (VPN to the US seems to work fine).<\/p>\n Some of the directories are on the Internet Archive as well:<\/p>\n Annual Reports of the Society for the Diffusion of Christian and General Knowledge among the Chinese<\/strong> A collection of these reports is available on Internet Archive from 1888-1904: 1888<\/a>, 1889<\/a>, 1890<\/a>, 1891<\/a>, 1892<\/a>, 1893<\/a>, 1894<\/a>, 1895<\/a>, 1896<\/a>, 1897<\/a>, 1898<\/a>, 1899<\/a>, 1900<\/a>, 1901<\/a>, 1902<\/a>, 1903<\/a>, 1904<\/a><\/p>\n The Missionary Echo of the United Methodist Free Churches<\/strong><\/p>\n A collection<\/a> of the issues of this journal, not limited to coverage of China but with significant China related content, is available at SOAS, University of London: 1894<\/a>, 1895, 1896<\/a>, 1897<\/a>, 1898<\/a>, 1899<\/a>, 1900<\/a>, 1901<\/a>, 1902<\/a>, 1903, 1904<\/a>, 1905<\/a>, 1906<\/a>, 1907<\/a>, 1908<\/a>, 1909<\/a>, 1910<\/a>, 1911<\/a>, 1912<\/a>, 1913<\/a>, 1914<\/a>, 1915<\/a>, 1916<\/a>, 1917<\/a>, 1918<\/a>, 1919<\/a>, 1920<\/a>, 1921<\/a>, 1922<\/a>, 1923<\/a>, 1924<\/a>, 1925<\/a>, 1926<\/a>, 1927<\/a>, 1928<\/a>, 1929<\/a>, 1930<\/a>, 1931<\/a>, 1932<\/a><\/p>\n West China Missionary News (1908-1940)<\/strong><\/p>\n The Yale University Mission Periodicals Online contains issues from several decades of this Chengdu publication. Each issue is relatively short in length but conveniently downloadable as PDFs directly: West China Missionary News<\/a>.<\/p>\n Note: I got an error message trying to reach the digitized issues via the above page. This deep link directly into their catalog<\/a> worked for me. If that changes for some reason, try googling the title and bypassing the publications info page to enter the catalog directly. I have reported the problem to the library.<\/p>\n China Medical Missionary Journal (1887-1908)<\/strong><\/p>\n Another one of the large collection of missionary publications in Yale’s digital collections: China Medical Missionary Journal<\/a>. In this case the catalog link from there worked for me.<\/p>\n There are also a number of full volumes on Internet Archive: See a run of this journal at MedNexus<\/strong> here:<\/p>\n The China Medical Missionary Journal<\/em> \/ Chinese Medical Journal<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n See also an overview of the long history of the journal and its evolution<\/a> there.<\/p>\n China Medical Journal 1908-1928<\/strong><\/p>\n Another missionary medical journal in Yale’s digital collections: China Medical Journal<\/a>. Again, I got an error to the catalog from this info page. This deep link into the catalog<\/a> worked for me. I have reported the problem to the library.<\/p>\n Annales de la Propagation de la Foi<\/strong> Bonus for those who read French. The BnF Gallica has over 200 issues of this important French language missionary periodical (Annales de la propagation de la foi : recueil p\u00e9riodique des lettres des \u00e9v\u00eaques et des missionnaires des missions des deux mondes, et de tous les documents relatifs aux missions et \u00e0 l’Association de la propagation de la foi) ranging from 1834 to 1933. The periodical covers the world but issues often cover China. Issues can be easily downloaded as full issue PDFs. It is also located on HathiTrust<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are a host of other missionary periodicals, including those not specific to China, but often with sizeable China sections in their issues worth browsing if you know which missionary organization was active in the part of China you are interested in exploring. See the alphabetical list on the Mission Periodicals Online<\/a> home page.<\/p>\n Medical Missionary Reports and Publications<\/strong><\/p>\n See below for more on Yale University archive of missionary reports.<\/p>\n A Few Reference Works<\/strong><\/p>\n Bonus for post-lockdown life. If your library has them, the following are a few volumes that include especially useful pointers to sources in this area, and give an indication of the massive amount of sources available in many languages:<\/p>\n Memoirs, Biographies, and Other Missionary Books Online<\/strong><\/p>\n There are hundreds, probably thousands, of books and pamphlets out of copyright and online written by or about missionaries who served in China. There are many bibliographies that contain dozens of pages of entries of interest. If the book was published before 1923, there is a good chance you will be able to find a copy of it on the Internet Archive, and sometimes fully readable books on Google Books or HathiTrust. I’ll just start a list here from some titles at hand, and expand the list over time as works cross my path.<\/p>\n
\n1870s: v3<\/a>, v4<\/a>, v5<\/a>, v6<\/a>, v7<\/a>, v8<\/a>, v9<\/a> , v10<\/a>
\n1880s: v11<\/a>, v12<\/a>, v13<\/a>, v14<\/a>, v15<\/a>, v16<\/a>, v17<\/a>, v18<\/a>, v19<\/a>, v20<\/a>
\n1890s: v21<\/a>, v22<\/a>, v23<\/a>, v24<\/a>, v25<\/a>, v26<\/a>, v27<\/a>, v28<\/a>, v29<\/a>, v30<\/a>
\n1900s: v31<\/a>, v32<\/a>, v33<\/a>, v34<\/a>, v35<\/a>, v36<\/a>, v37<\/a>, v38<\/a>, v39<\/a>, v40<\/a>
\n1910s: v41<\/a>, v42<\/a>, v43<\/a>, v44<\/a>, v45<\/a>, v46<\/a>, v47<\/a>, v48<\/a>, v49<\/a>, v50<\/a>
\n1920s: v51<\/a>, v52<\/a>, v53<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWikipedia<\/a> | Archived Note by Michael Poon<\/a> | More Links at Biblioteca Sinica<\/a><\/p>\n
\nv1<\/a> (1832-1833), v2<\/a> (1833-1834), v3<\/a> (1834-1835), v4<\/a> (1835-1836), v5<\/a> (1836-1837), v6<\/a> (1837-1838), v7<\/a> (1838-1839), v8<\/a> (1839-1840), v9<\/a> (1840), v10<\/a> (1841), v11<\/a> (1842), v12<\/a> (1843), v13<\/a> (1844), v14<\/a> (1845), v15<\/a> (1846), v16<\/a> (1847), v17<\/a> (1848), v18<\/a> (1849), v19<\/a> (1850), v20<\/a> (1851), General Index of the 20 Volumes<\/a><\/p>\n
\n1880s: 1880<\/a>, 1881<\/a>, 1882<\/a>, 1883<\/a>, 1884<\/a>, 1885<\/a>, 1886<\/a>, 1887<\/a>, 1888<\/a>, 1889<\/a>
\n1890s: 1890<\/a>, 1891<\/a>, 1892<\/a>, 1893<\/a>, 1894<\/a>, 1895<\/a>, 1896<\/a>, 1897<\/a>, 1898<\/a>, 1899<\/a>
\n1900s: 1900<\/a>, 1901<\/a>, 1902<\/a>, 1903<\/a>, 1904<\/a>, 1905<\/a>, 1906<\/a>, 1907<\/a>, 1908<\/a>, 1909<\/a>
\n1910s: 1910<\/a>, 1911<\/a>, 1912<\/a>, 1913<\/a>, 1914<\/a> 1915<\/a>, 1916-7<\/a>, 1918-9?
\n1920s: 1920<\/a>, 1921<\/a>, 1922<\/a>, 1923-1925?, 1926<\/a>, 1927-8<\/a>, 1929<\/a>
\n1930s: 1930<\/a>, 1931<\/a>, 1932<\/a>, 1933<\/a>, 1934<\/a>, 1935<\/a><\/p>\n
\nOnline Collection at HKU<\/a> | Wikipedia<\/a> | Introductory Essay in Volume I<\/a> | List of Contributors and ToC<\/a><\/p>\n
\n1920?, 1921?, 1922?, 1923<\/a>, 1924<\/a>, 1925<\/a>, 1926<\/a>, 1927?, 1928<\/a>, 1929<\/a>,
\n1930?, 1931<\/a>, 1932-1933?, 1934-5<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\nWikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n
\nv1-2<\/a> (1887-1888), v3-4<\/a> (1889-1890), v7<\/a> (1893), v9<\/a> (1895), v10<\/a> (1896), v11<\/a> (1897), v17-18<\/a> (1903-1904), v19-20<\/a> (1905-1906), v21-22<\/a> (1907-1908)<\/p>\n
\nOnline Archive at BnF Gallica<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n(1913)<\/li>\n