The China Mission Year Book

Excerpt from The China Mission Year Book: Being "the Christian Movement in China", 1910 The first attempt to deal exhaustively with the history of the various emissions in China was "The China Mission Handbook," which appeared in 1896. The circulars which were sent out asking for material were signed by a committee of Shanghai missionaries, but the bulk of the editorial work fell to Dr. T. Richard. To judge by the words on the first page, it appears that the promoters hoped that it was the first of a series to appear at regular intervals. This hope, however, was never actualized. The next important historical work dealing with China missions was the Centenary Conference historical volume, entitled "A Century of Missions in China," which was prepared for the Conference by the writer at the request of the Executive Committee. Since that time events have moved rapidly in China. Much progress has been made in many directions in Church and State, but nothing in continuation of this volume has appeared since 1907. In this respect the Cooperating Christian Missions of Japan have far outstripped us. This year sees the eighth annual issue of their "Christian Movement in Japan," an invaluable digest of the missionary work there. The stimulating example thus set up was not lost, and finally precipitated action along the line of the present Year Book. Dr. A. H. Smith, in the Chinese Recorder, had voiced the general feeling when he loudly called for a Chinese Annual. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

An Economist Best Book of 2018 A spellbinding narrative of the high-stakes mission that changed the course of America, China, and global politics—and a rich portrait of the towering, complex figure who carried it out. As World War II came to an end, General George Marshall was renowned as the architect of Allied victory. Set to retire, he instead accepted what he thought was a final mission—this time not to win a war, but to stop one. Across the Pacific, conflict between Chinese Nationalists and Communists threatened to suck in the United States and escalate into revolution. His assignment was to broker a peace, build a Chinese democracy, and prevent a Communist takeover, all while staving off World War III. In his thirteen months in China, Marshall journeyed across battle-scarred landscapes, grappled with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, and plotted and argued with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his brilliant wife, often over card games or cocktails. The results at first seemed miraculous. But as they started to come apart, Marshall was faced with a wrenching choice. Its consequences would define the rest of his career, as the secretary of state who launched the Marshall Plan and set the standard for American leadership, and the shape of the Cold War and the US-China relationship for decades to come. It would also help spark one of the darkest turns in American civic life, as Marshall and the mission became a first prominent target of McCarthyism, and the question of “who lost China” roiled American politics. The China Mission traces this neglected turning point and forgotten interlude in a heroic career—a story of not just diplomatic wrangling and guerrilla warfare, but also intricate spycraft and charismatic personalities. Drawing on eyewitness accounts both personal and official, it offers a richly detailed, gripping, close-up, and often surprising view of the central figures of the time—from Marshall, Mao, and Chiang to Eisenhower, Truman, and MacArthur—as they stood face-to-face and struggled to make history, with consequences and lessons that echo today.