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 D/ST/NCT/VE FEATURES, 
 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT, 
 BRANCHES, ETC. 
 
 NEWINGTON GREEN, LONDON, N. 
 
Sbe China Jnlanb mission. 
 
 General Director—'R^v. J. Hudson Taylor, m.r.c.s., f.r.g.s. 
 
 Xon5on Council. 
 
 Home Director and Chairman— Theodore Howard. 
 
 Robert Scott, Treasurer. 
 Richard H. Hill, 
 
 Deputy Treasurer. 
 Walter B, Slo.an 1 c 
 F. Marcus Wood I 
 William Hall, 22, Jose- j 
 phiiie venue, Brixton, 
 William Sharp, 60, Wai¬ 
 ling Street, E.C. 
 
 P. S. BadenOck, Mildmay. 
 
 John Colville, M.P., 26, 
 Penywern Road, Earl's 
 Court. 
 
 Rev. j. j. Luce. St. 
 Nicholas Vicarage, Glou¬ 
 cester. 
 
 Hammond Chubb, Home 
 Lea, Bickley, Kent. 
 
 Rev. F. a. Steven, 45, 
 Newington Green, N. 
 
 ©ffices Of tbe mission— Newington Green, London, N. 
 Ladies' Council, London—Miss H. Soltau, Secretary. 
 
 Au.viliary Council, Scotland — Geo. Grah.am Brow^n, 
 192, Hope Street, Glasgow, Acting Secretary. 
 
 T he China Inland Mission was formed 
 by the Rev. J. Hudson Taylor, in the 
 year 1865. Eleven of the vast Inland 
 Provinces had then no Protestant missionary, 
 the missionaries of that day being almost 
 entirely located in ten or eleven of the Treaty 
 ports on the seaboard. Over 200 millions of 
 souls in the Interior were thus perishing 
 hopelessly in their sins, without any know¬ 
 ledge of the Gospel. 
 
 Arriving in China as a medical missionary, 
 in the year 1854, Mr. Hudson Taylor had 
 eventually settled in the seaboard province of 
 Cheh-kiang, from whence, si.x years later, he 
 was invalided home. Gazing daily on a large 
 map of China, the overwhelming needs of the 
 Interior were burned in upon his soul. After a 
 prolonged period of spiritual agony he was at 
 length enabled to surrender himself to God as 
 
China and the Chinese. 3 
 
 an instrument for the sending forth of new 
 workers to carry the Gospel to Inland China. 
 The prayer then offered for 24 fellow-workers, 
 two for each of the unoccupied provinces, 
 and two for Mongolia, was answered, and 
 next year, in May, 1866, the first party of 
 C.I.M. missionaries sailed for China. 
 
 China and the The Chinese Empire is 
 . colossal m size. Including the 
 
 Chinese. dependencies of Tibet, Mon¬ 
 golia, &c., it is larger than Europe and accounts 
 for not less than one-tenth of the habitable 
 globe. It occupies, moreover, a striking posi¬ 
 tion geographically—one which has fostered 
 an intensely exclusive spirit in the people, and 
 largely shaped their history and development. 
 Situated on the distant shores of the Pacific, 
 and separated from the rest of Asia by vast 
 encircling barriers of mountain chains and 
 arid deserts, China has been almost entirely 
 cut off from intercourse with other nations, 
 and in the pride of her very ancient lineage 
 and civilization, and in her wisdom, has ever 
 regarded them with that contempt which is 
 born of contact with inferior races only. 
 
 Picture this great hermit nation ! The 
 picture has been the same for centuries. At 
 least 300 millions of the phlegmatic “ sons of 
 Han ” pour through the streets of countless 
 cities, towns, and villages, and cultivate the 
 soil of 18 vast provinces with well-nigh super¬ 
 human industry. From one end of China to 
 the other they are all alike—yellow-skinned, 
 black-haired and pigtailed. All speak but 
 one language (in various dialects). All are 
 fast bound by the terrible superstitions of 
 ancestral worship, with an additional com¬ 
 bination, usually, of the doctrines of 
 Buddhism and Taoism ; while, as Father of 
 
4 Distinctive Features of the C.I.M. 
 
 his people, and “Son of Heaven,” the 
 Emperor is also the object of worship, as 
 well as homage. His absolute parental and 
 patriarchal authority is delegated to a great 
 army of provincial dignitaries and local 
 officials, many of whom are very corrupt. 
 Education is at a premium, all official 
 appointments being decided (at least in theory) 
 by the results of competitive examination 
 alone. Science and invention remain in 
 their infancy. All foreigners are “ barba¬ 
 rians,” and are regarded with suspicion, 
 especially by the literati. While exceedingly 
 intelligent, the Chinese mind is slow and 
 very narrow in its range. There is little 
 patriotic feeling. The lot of woman is 
 usually a hard and bitter one. The ravages 
 of Opium become increasingly terriffie. 
 Over all hangs closely the awful and blight¬ 
 ing pall of heathenism, with all its sin, 
 cruelty, misery and shame. 
 
 Distinctive Thrust forth by the hand of 
 Features of amongst this proud and 
 the C.I.M. self-satisfied people, on lines 
 which excluded all possibility of 
 advance apart from faith and absolute depen¬ 
 dence upon Himself, the work from the 
 beginning bore a distinctive impress, and its 
 constitution and principles were deeply rooted 
 in the Scriptures. 
 
 The Apostolic plan, it was perceived, “ was 
 not to raise ways and means, but to go and do 
 the work, trusting in his sure word' who has 
 said, ‘ Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and 
 His righteousness, and all these things shall be 
 added unto you.’ ” It was also seen that “to 
 obtain successful labourers not elaborate 
 appeals for help, but first, earnest prayer to 
 God to thrust forth labourers, and second the 
 
Developmcni. 5 
 
 deepening of the spiritual life of the Church, 
 so that men should be iiuahlc to stay at home, 
 were what was needed.” 
 
 The following may be mentioned moi'e 
 specifically as some of the distinctive features 
 of the Mission :— 
 
 1. It includes workers of all the leading denominations, 
 and of various nationalities. 
 
 2. No salary being guaranteed, the Missionaries trust 
 directly in GOD for the supply of all their needs. 
 
 Neither personal solicitation, nor collection of funds is 
 made or authorised by the MISSION, voluntary con¬ 
 tributions alone being received. 
 
 „ , , For the first ten years, while 
 
 Development.g^j.jj.jj.,g its roots and gaining 
 
 experience, the operations of the Mission were 
 confined to four provinces. No fewer, how¬ 
 ever, than 28 churches were formed during 
 
 this pioneering stage. 
 
 With the second decade of the Mission’s 
 history, there came both the special Divine 
 leading and the increase of workers necessary 
 for carrying the Gospel to the Interior. Wide¬ 
 spread itineration ensued throughout the un¬ 
 occupied provinces. In man}' of these all the 
 larger towns and cities were visited, portions 
 of the Scriptures were scattered broadcast, and 
 the Gospel was preached from end to end of 
 China, from the borders of Korea to Li-t’ang 
 and Ba-t’ang in Eastern Tibet, and from Kan- 
 suh to Hai-nan. Stations were opened in 7 of 
 the 9 hitherto unoccupied provinces. 
 
 Before the third decade opened, the Mission 
 began to enter upon a new stage of develop¬ 
 ment. Having gained a footing in most of 
 the hitherto unoccupied territory, itineration 
 and exploration gave place to a system of 
 consolidation of the results attained. Station 
 work and methodical visitation of smaller 
 
6 Branches and Associated Missions. 
 
 districts around the established centres 
 gradually became the leading features. 
 
 The following figures may be added by way 
 of illustration. It is interesting to note that 
 since the beginning of the third decade the 
 number of missionaries and of stations and 
 out-stations has more than trebled, while the 
 number of communicants has increased nearly, 
 and the number of native helpers more than, 
 fivefold. 
 
 
 A t Close 
 0/ First 
 Decade, 
 
 At Close 
 of Second 
 Decade. 
 
 A t Close 
 of i8q8. 
 
 Missionaries 
 
 52 
 
 75 
 
 225 
 
 800 
 
 Native Helpers .. 
 
 I17 
 
 (including: 
 
 Associates) 
 
 60S 
 
 Stations & Out-stations 
 
 52 
 
 106 
 
 318 
 
 Native Communicants I 
 Total number baptized \ 
 from beginning .. ) 
 
 tiueniy^ 
 
 (1,655 
 
 7.927 
 
 churches 
 
 Jormed 
 
 * 2,026 
 
 11,597 
 
 The income of the Mission for 1898 was 
 over £60,000. The average income for tlie 
 first five years was about £5,000. 
 
 Branches and, 
 
 With the great extension of 
 
 A«!snriafpH operations and the 
 
 number of missionaries at work, 
 Missions, 1 u I- 
 
 there has been a corresponding 
 
 extension of the area of support and sympathy 
 in the home lands. Branches of the work 
 have sprung up in North America, Australia, 
 and New Zealand, while various Missionary 
 Societies in Germany, Scandinavia, Switzer¬ 
 land, Finland, and Denmark are now associ¬ 
 ated with the C. I.M. for Work in China. 
 
 China’s 
 Present Needs 
 and Claims. 
 
 The spiritual needs of the 
 Empire are still of the greatest 
 magnitude. Little more than 
 the fringe of the darkness has 
 
Qualifications for Missionary Work. 7 
 
 after all been touched. The Holy Spirit has, 
 liowever, been working wonderfully in the 
 hearts of the people of God, but how utterly 
 insignificant, amongst 300 millions of 
 heathen, are the 2,700 Protestant missionaries 
 (men and women) now in China ! In all 
 parts, but specially in the Interior, millions 
 remain unreached. 
 
 We speak lightly of millions, and the 
 numbers signified—immortal souls all, sunk 
 in the darkness, despair and death of 
 heathenism—are beyond our mental grasp. 
 Our personal responsibility with regard to 
 them is likewise infinitely great, for we have 
 done but little yet to obey the simple and 
 clear command, “ Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature." 
 There are many accumulating indications that 
 God is about to do “ a new thing” in China. 
 In, perhaps, a deeper way than ever before 
 the fallow ground there is being broken up, 
 while in this country it is evident that we are 
 on the eve of an altogether new spiritual and 
 missionary movement. Into every cleansed 
 and yielded heart the Holy Ghost will come 
 in power and light, in order to make us—as 
 only thus we can be made—/el/ow labourers 
 with God. 
 
 ■Rripflv fhp wnrk-pr Tnii5;t 
 
 least an ordinary English 
 
 education, should be a diligent student of 
 Scripture, be possessed of sound health and 
 common sense, and, above all, should be “ full 
 of faith and of the Holy Ghost.” 
 
 Newington Green, London, N. 
 
 April, iSgg. 
 
The population of China, taking the law estimate of 300 
 millions, is represented the aboi'e diagram, each square 
 representing one million souls. 
 
 One twelfth of one square would more than covet all the 
 Church Members of all the Protestant Missions in China. 
 
 China’s J®illi0ns. The organ of the Mission. 
 Monthly. Illustrated, id. 
 
 May be had from the O ffices of the Mission.