This week in Christian history: Missionary to China, Scottish Protestant martyr, ‘The Catholic Hour’

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, March 01, 2020

Hudson Taylor arrives in Shanghai – March 4, 1854

James Hudson Taylor (1832-1905), missionary and founder of China Inland Mission, now called OMF International. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of when James Hudson Taylor, the founder of the group China Inland Mission, who commonly went by his middle name, arrived in Shanghai, China.

Taylor first set sail for China the previous September at age 21, arriving in the region during a time of violent internal conflict.

“Most days Hudson Taylor and Joseph Edkins, a fellow missionary, would travel in boats to evangelize and hand out tracts in villages. Hudson and Edkins were often not warmly welcomed by remote villages because of their foreign appearance,” wrote Chloe Joy of christian-history.org.

“For this reason, and out of respect for their culture, Hudson adopted a Chinese wardrobe. He even began to style his hair in a Chinese fashion, a practice he maintained for the rest of his life. Preaching then became much easier for the two missionaries.”