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The China Inland Mission and Missionary Mobility in China and Southeast Asia, 1943-1989

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The China Inland Mission and Missionary Mobility in China and Southeast Asia, 1943-1989 University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--History History 2015 PIONEERS IN EXILE: THE CHINA INLAND MISSION AND MISSIONARY MOBILITY IN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1943-1989 Anthony J. Miller University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Miller, Anthony J., "PIONEERS IN EXILE: THE CHINA INLAND MISSION AND MISSIONARY MOBILITY IN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1943-1989" (2015). Theses and Dissertations--History. 26. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/history_etds/26 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the History at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--History by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Anthony J. Miller, Student Dr. Karen Petrone, Major Professor Dr. Scott Taylor, Director of Graduate Studies PIONEERS IN EXILE: THE CHINA INLAND MISSION AND MISSIONARY MOBILITY IN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1943-1989 DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By, Anthony Joseph Miller Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Karen Petrone, Professor of History Lexington, Kentucky 2015 Copyright © Anthony Joseph Miller 2015 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION PIONEERS IN EXILE: THE CHINA INLAND MISSION AND MISSIONARY MOBILITY IN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1943-1989 My dissertation explores how the movement of missionaries across Asia responded to the currents of nationalism, decolonization, and the Cold War producing ideas about sovereignty, race, and religious rights. More specifically, it looks at how U.S. evangelicals in the China Inland Mission, an international and interdenominational mission society, collaborated with Christians in the Atlantic and Pacific worlds. While doing so it also details the oft-neglected study of the post- China careers of former China missionaries by extensive use of oral histories. Forced to abandon its only field by the Chinese Communist Party, the mission redeployed as the Overseas Missionary Fellowship sending agents to new nations such as Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand and amongst the overseas Chinese populations scattered across Southeast Asia. The last chapter looks at the OMF’s return to the People’s Republic of China as tourists and expatriates as the means by which “rapprochement” took on religious meanings. Ultimately, I argue missionary mobility produced ideas about religious freedom as a human right across the international community rooted in ambivalent, racialized attitudes toward Asians. KEYWORDS: China Inland Mission, Mobility, Human Rights, Cold War, Overseas Chinese Anthony Miller Students Signature April 11, 2015 Date PIONEERS IN EXILE: THE CHINA INLAND MISSION AND MISSIONARY MOBILITY IN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1943-1989 By Anthony Joseph Miller Dr. Karen Petrone Director of Dissertation Dr. Scott Taylor Director of Graduate Studies April 20, 2015 Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It goes without saying that over the course of such an endeavor, a number of advisors, friends, and family deserve recognition. As chair of the dissertation, Dr. Karen Petrone provided exceedingly helpful guidance throughout the entire process and even a few last minute “miracles” to prevent a record setting snowstorm in Lexington, Kentucky from disrupting the defense. Dr. Denise Ho was instrumental to the dissertation at every step, from inception to completion, and is a far better mentor than I ever could have hoped for. Professors Tracy Campbell and Lien-Hang Nguyen were invaluable readers and provided insights that improved the project immensely, while Professors Joanne Melish and Marro Inoue were an incredible source of inspiration and theoretical creativity. To my colleagues, Dr. Bobby Murray, Dr. Mandy Higgins, and Dr. James Savage, I owe a lifetime’s worth of encouragement, friendship, and knowledge of the craft of the historian, and cherish them even more dearly for their great friendship. To my family, Terry, Nancy, BJ, and Wendy, I wish to recognize their role in my pursing something that began as a jest and would have stayed that way had I not had their love and support for so many years. I also wish to acknowledge my wife, Stephanie, and son, James Heshi, whose arrival provided the adrenaline and anxiety needed to finish this project in the last year. As for Stephanie, she has made countless sacrifices to make this a reality, but I consider myself most lucky to have married such a brilliant mind, whose insights have been indispensable to the ways in which I understand the past and the world. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements………………………………………………………….iii Introductory Chapter: Mobility, Rights, and Race in Protestant Missions Background……………………………………………………………………… 1 Missionary Mobility, Mission-Centric History and the Paradigm of “Indigenization”…………………………………………………………………..5 Method and Chapter Outline……………………………………………………. 33 Chapter 1: Mobility and Pioneer Evangelism in China Introduction………………………………………………………………………39 Occupying China’s Millions and Pioneer Evangelism…………………………..40 Harvesting U.S. Evangelical Might…………………………………………..….57 The Ideological Meanings of Missionary Mobility……………………………...71 Chapter 2: Moving Through “Open Doors”: Protestant Missions and the Indigenous Church, 1943-1949 Introduction………………………………………………………………………95 Indigenous Church, Spiritual Sovereignty, and Chinese Pioneers………….….106 New Roles, New Mobility……………………………………………………...124 From “Pioneers” to “Open Doors”……………………………………………..142 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...156 Chapter 3: Immobilization and Expulsion: The Missionary Exodus and Sino-American Relations in the 1950s and 1960s Introduction: Hope for China…………………………………………………...158 Immobilization and Expulsion………………………………………………….163 China Watching and Spiritual Warfare…………………………………………188 Conclusion: Soul Searching…………………………………………………….201 Chapter 4: Redeployment and the New Fields: Pioneer Evangelism as Containment in East and Southeast Asia, 1951-1961 Introduction……………………………………………………………………..204 Redeployment as the Overseas Missionary Fellowship………………………...209 Pioneer Evangelism, Containment, and Integration on the Home Front……….222 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...247 Chapter 5: Strategic Dilemmas: Integration and Evangelism as a Human Right in the New Fields, 1961-1970 Introduction……………………………………………………………………..249 A Strategic Dilemma……………………………………………………………256 The Racial Dilemma……………………………………………………………274 A New Instrument………………………………………………………………279 iv White Elephants………………………………………………………………...294 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...308 Chapter 6: Rapprochement: “Creative Access Missions” in the People’s Republic of China, 1972-1989 Introduction……………………………………………………………………..312 Chinese Spiritual Sovereignty and “Creative Access Missions”……………….320 “Secondary Roles”: China Watching, Tourism, and Human Rights…………...349 Evangelism and the Four Modernizations……………………………………...361 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...378 Concluding Chapter: The Trajectory of Protestant Missions and Mobility Post- 1989………….382 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………393 Vita……………………………………………………………………………………..417 v Introductory Chapter Mobility, Rights, and Race in Protestant Missions Background The slide show “Preaching Tour through Ningsia” begins with two Chinese evangelists walking behind a donkey on a country road and leads the viewer into the provincial capital, around through the city’s markets and temples to the government offices, and then across the province’s roads, waterways, and desert plains from the vantage point of a China missionary. Audiences enjoyed a moment by moment recreation of the missionary’s journey as an itinerant preacher, from purchasing materials for the journey, loading mules with supplies, procuring ferries, and visiting Chinese inns in the countryside.1 For mission representatives,
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