sign in sign up
<<
Home , Christian literature, Griffith John, Tract (literature), Walter Henry Medhurst, William Muirhead

christian literature in nineteenth-century Missions— aPriority? or an optional extra? John Tsz-pang Lai

ollowing the 1910 edinburgh World con- alexander Wylie (1815–87), from , had ahigh regard fference, an international committee was appointed to for chinese literatureand recommended that his fellow investigate the issue of christian literatureinthe missionary Protestantmissionarieslearnfromtheexperienceoftheircatholic enterprise. as ageneral principle, the printed page was not predecessors:“theearliestchristianworksextantinchinesedate intended as asubstitute for the living voice of , from the beginning of the 17th century.onthe arrival of the Jesuit but christian literatureadmittedly possessed some merits that missionaries, it soon became an object with them to employ the missionaries did not have. according to John h. ritson, “it can agency of the press in the dissemination of their views through be read and re-read and pondered over; it can reach avastly the empire. the books which they have left must ever prove an greater congregation than is to be found within the walls of the object of interest to the disciple of .”6 sanctuary; it can accompany the hospital patient to his home, and christian literatureindeed became prominent in the era of penetrate the most secluded harem and zenana; it can travel forth Protestantmissions,beginningwithrobertMorrison(1782–1834), as the pioneer wherethe climate is deadly,and the population the pioneering Protestant missionary to china in 1807. By the is sparse and conditions areunfriendly and hostile. the printed 1840s, missionaries lost any legal right to stay in mainland china page alone is the ubiquitous missionary.”1 and propagate there. ahandful of pioneering mis- While the value of christian literaturewas recognized sionaries, including Morrison and William Milne (1785–1822), generally,its significance was even further emphasized in the dedicated themselves to the production of chinese christian china missions. John K. fairbank has suggested that missionary literatureinsoutheast asia (and secretly in china) to preparefor involvement in the written word“suited the original evangelical china’s eventual opening. Milne explicitly stated the importance belief in the efficacy of the printed scriptures. ...chinese condi- of operations: “such is the political state of this country at tions reinforced this literary predilection. the Protestant mission present, that we arenot permitted to enter it, and publish by the to the chinese became in larger part amatter of print.”2 living voice the glad tidings of salvation. tracts may,however, throughout the long span of chinese history,the class penetrate silently,even to the chamber of the emperor.they eas- of literati had emerged as rulers of the people. the dominant ily put on achinese coat, and may walk without fear through philosophical and religious systems in china rested on aliterary the breadth and length of the land. this we cannot do.”7 Brent foundation and on the people’s veneration for the writings of the Whitefield correctly points out that “the Protestant missionary sages. confucianism, which was largely built on the four Books effort in china, which was initiated by robert Morrison in 1807, and five classics, was for two millennia virtually synonymous was initially alargely literary phenomenon, with little mean- with literaturebecause of the implementation of the civil service ingful presence in mainland china prior to the first or examination in imperial china. furthermore, alarge corpus of anglo-chinese War.”8 Buddhist sutras werebrought from india and translated into the British defeat of china in the opium Warushered in a chinese from the second century onward. the significance of new era in the history of Protestant missions in the Middle King- tracts in converting china to Buddhism was also mentioned dom. With the signing of the treaty of nanking in 1842,9 hong by some missionaries, and it was proposed that Protestant mis- Kong island was ceded as acolony to the British, and five coastal sionaries follow this precedent of evangelizing china by means treatyportswereopened—canton,amoy,foochow,ningpo,and of religious tracts.3 china also had along tradition of distribut- —wheremissionaries were, for the first time, allowed ing morality tracts among the common people with aview to to reside, build churches, and preach the . alongside the inculcating moral and religious virtues.4 some christian tracts establishmentofmissionstationsandlocalchurches,missionaries weremodeled on the style and terminology of these chinese fullyrealizedthattheprovisionofchristianliteraturewasamore morality tracts. china’s age-old reverence for the printed word efficient and effective means of propagating the christian faith thereforeboth constituted challenges and offered opportunities to awider audience. the number of missionaries was, after all, to the literary efforts of christian missionaries. negligible10 when compared with the vast population of china.11 the interior provinces wereinaccessible to Westerners until the Perspectives of Missionaries signing of the treaty of tientsin (1858) and the Peking conven- tion (1860), which followed in the wake of the anglo-french against this background it is impossible to exaggerate the expedition to Peking. Before1860 the distribution of christian importance of literatureasameans of converting the chinese publications was almost the only way of conveying areligious to christianity,something that was grasped by the early Jesuit message in the hinterland of china. missionaries during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. under these historical circumstances, quite afew Protestant Matteo ricci (1552–1610), an italian, arrived in Peking in 1601, missionaries to china made painstaking efforts to acquirethe and by 1631 the Jesuit missionaries, together with their and create christian literatureinchinese, either by converts, had published no less than 340 treatises on , translating existing Western religious works or by writing their philosophy,mathematics, and natural sciences.5 own. for them, the formation of abody of chinese christian literatureserved several purposes: first, as an instrument of conversion; second, as apreparation for futureevangelism; John Tsz-pang Lai is assistant Professor of Translation at Hong Kong Baptist third, as language-study guides for newly arrived missionaries; University. and fourth, as away for missionaries to fit into their social niche april 2008 71 as recognized scholars or teachers in the chinese community, fedonthem. theschools aretrained by them.the churches are thereby facilitating their missionary work.12 foundedanddisciplinedbythem.thereligiousworkofhospitals Protestant missionaries to china repeatedly stressed the anddispensariesisconducted through them. and the general importance of christian literatureintheir missionary endeav- enlightenment of the people, and the undermining of idolatry, ors. tract production and distribution went hand in hand with arepromoted by the same agency.”17 oral preaching in the propagation of christianity.samuel Wells While missionaries in the field placed emphasis on christian Williams (1812–84) remarked that “the voice explains the book literature, the literary mission could not have been accomplished and the book recalls the ideas and teachings of the preacher.”13 through missionary enthusiasm or literary talents alone. the it was also generally believed that missionaries, “until they have whole enterprise of publishing and distributing christian litera- mastered the language, can do nothing without tracts; and even turerequiredextensivefinancialresources,inwhichinstitutional when they can preach with fluency and power,they regardtracts patronageplayedanindispensablerole.Missionarysocietiesseem as important subsidiaries to impress the truth on the awakened to have been the natural source of financial support. hearer.”14 religious tracts usually prepared the way for oral preachingbyfamiliarizingthepeoplewithchristiantermsandthe Policies of Missionary Societies christian message. thomas h. hudson (1800–1876) maintained that christian tracts would “give much knowledge of gospel While most missionary societies tended to channel substantial truth, make the people acquainted with terms and phrases used resources into missionaries’ salaries, the building of churches, inchristianbooks,andthuspreparethemtohearandunderstand and the upkeep of mission schools and hospitals, the home com- the instruction of the christian missionary.”15 mittees differed considerably in their attitude towardchristian the most important function of the tracts was to inculcate literature. some societies did contribute quite afew prominent christian faith by introducing the doctrines of sin, atonement, writers and translators of chinese ,18 and oth- and salvation. every effort was made to adapt the tracts for ers earmarked special funds towardthe cost of publishing books evangelisticpurposesinordertoreachtheunconverted.timothy (chiefly denominational) that their missionaries needed. it was richard(1845–1919) highlightedthe valueofchristian literature nonetheless the exception rather than the rule for missionary by arguing that “salvation of the multitudes in each of the tribes, societies to make generous grants for publication, or to set aside and kindreds, and tongues must be through saving knowledge, missionariesexclusivelytooffertheirliterarytalents.asoverseas in whose conveyance christian literatureisthe main agency.”16 missions underwentenormousexpansion in thelatenineteenth inthe1877shanghaiMissionaryconference,stephenl.Baldwin century,mostsocietiespreferredtoconcentratetheirresourceson (1835–1902)summarizedtheprogressofchristianliteratureover planting anddevelopment,delegatingthe task of literary theprevioussevendecadesasfollows:“ourconvertsarebrought production to theleading tractand literature societies. By way in by thetruth of thebooks.the native arespiritually of illustration, we consider herethe policies of the society for

72 international Bulletin of Missionary research,Vol. 32, no. 2 PromotingchristianKnowledge(sPcK),thelondonMissionary the title-page of every book published or issued under this society (lMs), the church Missionary society (cMs), and the rule shall state, as far as possible, the character of the version and new york tract societies. contained in it.”20 throughout the nineteenth century,the sPcK published SocietyforPromotingChristianKnowledge.foundedbythomasBray prayer and service books, catechisms, and hymnals in alarge (1656–1730) and four laymen in 1698, the sPcK (london) is now numberoflanguages.21 itwasthesociety’saim,firstandforemost, the oldest denominational publisher,with the goal of promoting to meet the vernacular needs of the missionaries. after extend- christian knowledge both at home and overseas through educa- ing its operations into china in 1843,22 the sPcK patronized the tion and the distribution of and tracts. though the sPcK publicationofchinesechristianliteratureinvariousvernaculars, had aclose connection with the in terms of including the dialects of Mandarin, foochow,hangchow,hok- its ethos and constitution, it was established as avoluntary and kien, and ningpo.23 therewereafew theological and devotional independent institution. from the outset, one of its major aims works and some tracts in the society’s catalogue, but the majority and achievements was to provide christian literaturefor the mis- of the publications wereprayer books, most notably the Book of sions of the anglican church. the sPcK placed moreemphasis Common Prayer.24 the scope of sPcK sponsorship was therefore on introducing anglican doctrine and worship to christians extremely limited, fundamentally confined to the publication of overseas than on producing evangelical literature. anglican works. one of the sPcK’s most important tasks was translating the standard1662 version of the Book of Common Prayer,which London Missionary Society.the pioneering society in sending mis- was overseen by its foreign translation committee. it carried sionaries to china, the london Missionary society,apart from out translation and publication work to support missionary contributing distinguished missionary authors, established a societies, especially the cMs. in actuality,most of the literary coupleofinfluentialmissionpressesinchina,notablythelondon work was done by cMs missionaries, while the sPcK funded Mission Press, shanghai, and the anglo-chinese college, hong and published what they had prepared.19 the translation com- Kong.25 During the early decades of its china missions, the lMs mittee formulated its own principles and rules of translation as allocated sufficient funds for its own publishing and the running follows: “the foreign translation committee shall have power of its presses, but afundamental change of its publication policy to publish, at their discretion, complete versions of the Book of occurred in 1848, when the home committee passed aresolution CommonPrayer,andalsoversionsofanyintegralportionsthereof. declaring that the cost of publishing tracts and the would But they shall not publish any work purporting to be amodified thereafter no longer be borne by the society; instead, application or adapted version, or aversion intentionally altered, whether for funds should be made to the religious tract society (rts) in text or in rubrics, from the original, without having obtained and the British and foreign Bible society (BfBs). the sanction of the archbishop of canterbury to such issue. ... towardthesecondhalfofthenineteenthcentury,manuscripts

april 2008 73 in foreign languages wereoften handed over to tract societies for lished itself as the archetype and parent institution, on whose funding. lMs funds werenot meant to be spent even on their aims and constitution other tract societies modeled themselves. ownprintingdepartment,thelondonMissionPressinshanghai. under the financial patronage of the rts, scores of its canonical their missionaries werenot authorized to draw on the funds tracts—evangelical and interdenominational in character—were without the sanction of the home board. William charles Milne translated into hundreds of languages by Protestant missionary (1815–63) reported, “Wehave been in the habit of drawing on agents. the major non-Western fields included africa, india, the funds of our own institution for deficiencies in the printing and china.31 department; but after your letter of february last, we cannot con- in 1913 John Darroch (1865–1941), an rtsagent in china, tinue to do so without your previous sanction.”26 he then made conducted ageneral analysis of the accounts of the local tract an application to the lMs for an annual grant for publication: societies. he revealed that, apart from the receipts from sales, “hence the necessity of being allowed to print occasionally & the rtsprovided 72 percent of their total income, with asum of to alimited extent at the cost of our own society.taking these £1,500 to £2,000 per annum. the american tract society,incon- matters into consideration, we recommend that the sum of one trast, provided only 10 percent of their income, with about £300 or twohundred Pounds annually be placed at the disposal of annually,while local donations and subscriptions accounted for this local committee, for the purpose of keeping the press at 18percent.32 thissurveytestifiedtotheoverwhelmingimportance work in case of failureofsupplies from other sources.”27 Milne’s of the rtsasapatron from 1814 until the turn of the century. application was declined, and no separate grant was made for the purpose of publication from the lMs. these expenses were Conclusion to be defrayed by the Bible and tract societies, and henceforth the lMs presses served as tools of these societies. in other words, a in nineteenth-century china missions, the production and distri- large proportion of lMs publications wereissued for,and paid butionofchristianliteraturewasgivenhighprioritybyProtestant by,these societies. missionaries in the field. from the perspective of missionary societies, however,itwas generally regarded as an optional Church Missionary Society.asimilar situation can be illustrated extra, not as the primary duty of missionaries.33 the scope of in the evolution of the cMs publication policy between 1849 and evangelistic activity,not to mention the fostering of the church, 1861: “in early days, Publications wereregarded as an important was limited in the early days of the china missions. as acorol- part of the missionary work abroad in which the society was to lary,missionariescoulddevotemoretimeandenergytolanguage engage. ...this work, of course, is still as important as ever it study and literary work, which resulted in the development of was; but the society itself does not take alarge shareinit. so far, some outstanding linguists and translators in the mission field. that is, as the expense is concerned; for as regards the writers towardthe end of the nineteenth century,the growing chinese and translators, they areofnecessity supplied from among the church gradually absorbed the time and strength of most mis- missionaries. But the arrangements arefor the most part made, sionaries in administrative duties, at the expense of their literary endeavors.34 it was estimated that 19.8 percent of the missionary body engaged in some sort of literary work prior to 1869. at the Production and distribution turn of the century,however,only 11.4 percent wereinvolved.35 Deploring the neglect of christian literature, especially on the of Christian literature was part of missionary societies, timothy richardwrote, “only five given high priority by per one thousand of our missionaries arewholly devoted to liter- Protestant missionaries in ary work there, one cannot help blushing with very shame that the value of the press should be so far ignored.”36 the field. as far as worldwide Bible translation was concerned, the nineteenth century could be called the Bible society era. Bible societies became the most vital links between translators (usu- and the funds supplied, by the Bible society,the s.P.c.K., and ally Protestant missionaries), printing presses, and the target the r.t.s., and the christian literaturesociety for india.”28 the audience. translators often had their manuscripts sent to a particular responsibility of publishing was henceforth taken up Bible society,which then had the translations printed and sent by the sPcK and Bible and tract societies, each of which had a back to the mission fields. Bible societies heavily subsidized rather distinctive scope of operations. the major Bible societies, the cost of production to make the price low and affordable such as the BfBs and the national Bible society of scotland, for readers.37 wereconfined to the publication of the scriptures without note forthepublicationofdenominationalworks,suchasthe Book or comment,29 while the scope of sPcK publication was denomi- of Common Prayer,missionaries had no choice but to resort to the nationally limited, as noted above. the chief responsibility for financialsupportoftherespectivedenominationalsocieties,such sponsoringtheproductionandpublicationofchristianliterature as the sPcK. nevertheless, the scope of operations and the funds was thus undertaken by the leading tract societies. for publication remained limited on the part of denominational societies.responsibilityforpublishingandfinancingevangelical Religious Tract Society and american Tract Society.throughout the and interdenominational works was shifted principally onto the nineteenth century,the religious tract society (london) and the shoulders of the leading tract societies. the nineteenth century american tract society (new york) emerged as the predominant could thereforealso be considered the tract society era, with missionary institutions in sponsoring the global production and reference to the global enterprise of the production, publication, publication of christian literature.30 the rtshad firmly estab- and circulation of christian tracts.

74 international Bulletin of Missionary research,Vol. 32, no. 2 NEW from william carey library

TheCertainty Trap CanChristians and Muslims Afford Missions in Contexts the LuxuryofFundamentalism? of Violence(EMS 15) Bill Musk ISBN 978-0-87808-519-4 Keith E. Eitel,ed. 2008 WCL |257 pages |retail $17.99 ISBN 978-0-87808-389-3 Our price...... $14.39 2007 WCL |415 pages |retail $14.99 3ormore...... $9.89 Ourprice...... $11.99 3ormore...... $8.24 A“certaintytrap”has sprung up within both Islam and Christianity, resulting in aworld strugglingwith the This volume deals with the contexts of violence.Inanage fallout from extremist and violent interpretations of what of increasing concern for this type of missionarywork, “the word of God”might mean. In The CertaintyTrap, the missions communityneeds to hear from those that Musk looks at the phenomenon of fundamentalism havereflected on the multifaceted elements involvedin in Christianityand its contributions towardthe messy understanding the phenomenon of martyrdom-persecution state of international affairs in which many—especially violence as it relates to telling the age-old Gospel story. Muslims—find themselvestoday.Byscrutinizing “sacred The place to begin is with Biblical and theological analyses book interpretation”inboth the Islamic and Christian followed by the grounding provided by constructing heritages, The CertaintyTrap challenges contemporary consequent lifestyles, strategies and practices in physically religious fundamentalism and is atimely risky settings. Finally, insights from the livesettings of contribution to Muslim-Christian relations. violence arewarranted.

TheKingdom of Character Releasing the Workers of TheStudent Volunteer Movement the EleventhHour forForeignMissions,1886-1926 TheGlobal South and the Task Remaining Michael Parker ISBN 978-0-87808-518-7 Ben Naja ISBN 978-0-87808-521-7 2006 WCL |328 pages |retail $24.99 Ourprice...... $19.99 2007 WCL |117 pages |retail $9.99 3ormore...... $13.74 Ourprice...... $7.99 The Kingdom of Character provides athorough history 3ormore...... $5.49 of the Student Volunteer Movement, exposing both Thousands of fields areripe for harvest and God is its strengths and weaknesses. Parker highlights how doing something newinthe historyofmissions: he has these student leaders addressed issues such as gender prepared newworkers in the Global South (primarily roles, the social impact of WorldWar I, and various Africa and Asia) to bring in his worldwide harvest. internal controversies, while emphasizing an American They havealready begun working in the harvest field, middle-class worldviewthat stressed the Victorian but arenow ready to be unleashed in multitudes.This idea of “character”intheir hope to spread bookexamines what these end-time workers look like, around the world. The Kingdom of Character is agreat proposes strategies for their effectiveness and suggests read for those interested in the creationofthe modern how other harvesters canpartner with them. missionarymovement.

1-800-MISSION •WWW.MISSIONBOOKS.ORG Notes 1. John h. ritson, Christian Literatureinthe Mission Field: aSurvey of the (1826–1907), robert henry cobbold (1816–93), Joseph c. hoare PresentSituation,MadeunderthedirectionoftheContinuationCommittee (1851–1906), George evans Moule (1828–1912), and arthur evans of the World Missionary Conference, 1910 (edinburgh: continuation Moule (1836–1918); and from the american Presbyterian Mission, committee, 1910), p. 3. W. a. P. Martin (1827–1916), John livingston nevius (1829–93), 2. John K. fairbank, “introduction: the Place of Protestant Writings in (1836–1908), Divie Bethune Mccartee (1820– china’s cultural history,” in : Early Protestant 1900), and andrew Patton happer (1818–94). Missionary Writings,ed. suzanne Wilson Barnett and John King 19. Church Missionary Intelligencer,september 1885, p. 687. fairbank (cambridge, Mass.: harvarduniv.Press, 1985), p. 6. 20. W. o. B.allen and edmund Mcclure, TwoHundred Years: The History 3. see the letter from W. h. Medhurst on august 28, 1856, quoted in of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1698–1898 (london: The Fifty-eighth annual Report of the Religious Tract Society (london: sPcK, 1898), p. 209. religious tract society,1857), pp. 48–49. 21. for the list of foreign publications from 1836 to 1897, see ibid., 4. W. scarborough, “the Popular religious literatureofthe chinese,” pp. 210–23. ChineseRecorder13(1882):301–7,337–55;W. a.P. Martin,“thenative 22. for the beginning and development of its china operations, see tract literatureofchina,” Chinese Recorder 18 (1887): 329–34, 369–74; ibid., pp. 303–4, 380, 451, 526; and W. K. lowther clarke, aHistory , “the Books of the Modern religious sects in north of the S.P.C.K. (london: sPcK, 1959), pp. 127–29. china,” Chinese Recorder 19 (1888): 261–68, 302–10. 23. allen and Mcclure, TwoHundred Years,p.208. 5. see Records, China Centenary Missionary Conference, Held at Shanghai, 24. for the titles of its chinese publications, see ibid., pp. 212, 213, 214, april 25 to May 8, 1907 (shanghai: centenary conference committee, 220, 221. 1907), p. 193; Xu Zongze, Ming Qing jian Yesu huishi yizhu tiyao (Précis 25. for the history of the major mission presses in china, see Gilbert of the translations by Jesuit Missionaries in the Ming and Qing Mcintosh, The Mission Press in China: Being aJubilee Retrospect of the Dynasties) (taipei: Zhonghua shuju, 1958). american Presbyterian Mission Press; with Sketches of Other Mission 6. alexander Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature (shanghai: american Presses in China, as well as accounts of the Bible and Tract Societies at Presbyterian Mission Press, 1867), p. 172. WorkinChina(shanghai:americanPresbyterianMissionPress,1895); 7. Proceedings of the First Twenty Years of the Religious Tract Society (lon- and Gilbert Mcintosh, Septuagenary of the Presbyterian Mission Press don: religious tract society,1820), p. 268. (shanghai: american Presbyterian Mission Press, 1914). 8. D. B. Whitefield, “the christian literaturesociety for china: the 26. William c. Milne to lMs, shanghai, october 13, 1848, council for role of its Publications, Personalities, and in late-Qing WorldMission,centralchina,incomingcorrespondence,1.2.a.41), reform Movements” (Ph.D. diss., univ.ofcambridge, 2001), p. 6. cWM archives, deposited in the school of oriental and african 9. for the twelve main articles contained in the treaty,see Jonathan D. studies library,university of london. spence, The Search for Modern China,2ded. (newyork: W. W. norton, 27. ibid. 1999), pp. 160–62. 28. eugene stock, The History of the Church Missionary Society,4vols. 10. During the period from 1807 to 1843, atotal of 64 missionaries were (london: church Missionary society,1899–1916), 2:49–50. toward on record. for the full list of missionaries, see Donald MacGillivray, the end of the century,therewas agradual change of attitude on the ed., aCentury of Protestant Missions in China (1807–1907), Being part of the cMs in acknowledging the value of christian literature. the Centenary Conference Historical Volume (shanghai: american see Minutes of the committee of correspondence of the cMs, Presbyterian Mission Press, 1907), appendix 2. an influx of newly september 26, 1899, quoted in Ecumenical Missionary Conference, New appointed missionaries arrived in china after the opium War. in York, 1900,pp. 78–79. 1859 William Dean listed 214 male missionaries from twenty-four 29. see Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society (london: British and societies (The China Mission [london: sheldon &trubner,1859], pp. foreign Bible society,1815), p. xvi, and annual Report of the National 161–66). Bible Society of Scotland (edinburgh: national Bible society of scot- 11.Between1779and1850thechinesepopulationreachedanestimated land, 1862), p. 3. 430 million. comparethe estimate in John King fairbank and Merle 30. for the history of the rtsand the ats, see an account of the Origin Goldman, China: aNew History,enlarged ed. (cambridge, Mass.: and Progress of the London Religious Tract Society (london: a. Paris, harvarduniv.Press,BelknapPress,1998),pp.167–69,andthatinBob 1803); William Jones, The Jubilee Memorial of the Religious Tract Society: Whyte, Unfinished Encounter: China and Christianity (london: fount Containing aRecord of Its Origin, Proceedings, and Results, a.d.1799 to Paperbacks, 1988), p. 93. the population of the eighteen provinces a.d.1849 (london: religious tract society,1850); samuel G. Green, according to the 1812 census amounted to 360,279,897; see s. Wells The Story of the Religious Tract Society for One Hundred Years (london: Williams, aSyllabic dictionary of the Chinese Language (shanghai: religious tract society,1899); Proceedings of the First TenYears of the american Presbyterian Mission Press, 1874), p. 743. american Tract Society,Instituted at Boston, 1814 (Boston: american 12. fairbank, “introduction,” p. 13. tract society,1824); and aBrief History of the american Tract Society 13. s. Wells Williams, The Middle Kingdom,vol. 2(london: W. h. allen, (Boston: t. r. Marvin, 1857). 1883), p. 332. 31. for adetailed discussion of the role of the tract societies in china, see 14. The Sixtieth annual Report of the Religious Tract Society (london: John tsz-pang lai, “institutional Patronage: the ideological control religious tract society,1859), pp. 87–88. of tract societies,” in “the enterprise of translating christian tracts 15. The Forty-eighth annual Report of the Religious Tract Society (london: by Protestant Missionaries in nineteenth-century china” (D.Phil. religious tract society,1847), p. 6. thesis, univ.ofoxford, 2005), pp. 72–109. 16. Ecumenical Missionary Conference, New York, 1900. Report of the 32. ritson, Christian Literatureinthe Mission Field,p.41. Ecumenical Conference on Foreign Missions, Held in Carnegie Hall and 33. see John Murdoch’s article in Ecumenical Missionary Conference, New Neighboring Churches, april 21 to May 1,vol. 2(london: religious York, 1900,pp. 76–81. tract society,1900), pp. 75–76. 34. ritson, Christian Literatureinthe Mission Field,p.7. 17. s. l. Baldwin, “christian literature: What has Been Done and 35. Records, China Centenary Missionary Conference,p.591. What is needed,” in Records of the General Conference of the Protestant 36. , “christian literature,” Chinese Recorder 31 (1900): Missionaries of China, Held at Shanghai, May 10–24, 1877 (shanghai: 599. Presbyterian Mission Press, 1878), pp. 208–9. 37. William a. smalley, Translation as Mission: Bible Translation in the 18. Writers and translatorsincluded, from the london Missionary Modern Missionary Movement (Macon, Ga.: Mercer univ.Press, society,robert Morrison, William Milne, 1991), pp. 27–28; eugene a. nida, ed., The Book of aThousand Tongues (1796–1857), (1822–1900), and Griffith John (london: united Bible societies, 1972), p. ix. (1831–1912);fromthechurchMissionarysociety,JohnshawBurdon

76 international Bulletin of Missionary research,Vol. 32, no. 2