China's Millions: The China Inland Mission and Late Qing Society, 1832-1905

Studies in the History of Christian Missions

by Alvyn Austin

In China's Millions veteran historian Alvyn Austin presents a compelling historical narrative of the China Inland Mission (now the Overseas Missionary Fellowship) -- the first history of the CIM by an outsider -- including 36 never-before-published illustrations and maps from the CIM/OMF archives. In the course of his sweeping survey, Austin examines a remarkable array of subjects, from the visionary, charismatic sect-leader Pastor Hsi, to the "wordless book," a missionary teaching device that fit perfectly with Chinese color cosmology, to the opium-soaked aftermath of the North China Famine of 1877-79.

538 pages, Paperback

First published March 5, 2007

About the author

Alvyn Austin was assistant professor of history at Brock University, St. Catharine's, Ontario.

Reviews

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thorough history of the China Inland Mission during its early years. Most books about CIM and Hudson Taylor are written by organisational insiders as semi-official publications. This one is a mainstream history book and very stark about the many shortcomings of both CIM and Hudson Taylor. Yet you still come away amazed by what they did. Occasionally mildly frustrating as the author sometimes wants to view events as more scandalous than they really were. All in all, however, essential reading for anyone fascinated by Christian mission and also the development of the church In China.