James Hudson Taylor (1832 - 1905)

Hudson Taylor’s 100 Year Anniversary

Small and weak?

On 3 June 1905 OMF’s founder James Hudson Taylor breathed his last. Although the mission he founded eventually had to leave China, his work and legacy live on.

The Boxer Uprising
‘As darkness came on, the most awful cries were heard in the city, most demonical and unforgettable, the cries of the Boxers – “Sha kuei-tzu” (“kill the devils”) – mingled with the shrieks of the victims and the groans of the dying.

Hudson Taylor, increasingly frail and worn out through frequent travel, had broken down during an evangelistic meeting in Boston, America. He was convalescing in Davos, Switzerland as telegram after telegram came through, telling of riots, massacres and the murder of missionaries.

As the slaughter of Christians continued by imperial decree (in June 1900 the Empress Dowager ordered the destruction of all ‘foreign devils’), an exhausted Taylor reeled at the news of Christians being tortured, shot, beaten, hacked to pieces, burned, strangled, beheaded, stabbed or speared to death.

Weakened by the terrific strain caused by the Boxer Uprising the exhausted 68-year-old found himself unable to read, think or even pray. ‘But I can trust,’ said Taylor. Eventually an 18,000-strong international army fought its way from Tientsin to Beijing, restoring order and suppressing the uprising.

Though Taylor’s CIM suffered more than any other mission in China (it lost 58 missionaries and 21 children), he refused to accept payment for loss of property or life. Rather than punish the Chinese, he wanted to serve them. It was a decision that paid dividends (at least spiritually!) gaining the missionaries a good deal of respect and goodwill.

Passing on the baton
Worn out, and expecting to die at any moment, Taylor decided to retire. He appointed D E Hoste, a distinguished member of the Cambridge Seven and leader of the work in Shansi and Honan, as acting General Director.

The increasingly frail Taylor retired to Switzerland for a well-earned rest, taking walks with his beloved wife Jennie, who died of cancer in 1904.

One final voyage to China
Despite his sadness Taylor rallied, and in February 1905, at the age of 73, he made his eleventh trip to China, accompanied by his son Howard and daughter-in-law Geraldine. It would be his last.

Taylor landed in Shanghai on 17 April, spent Easter in Yangzhou, then travelled to Zhenjiang to visit the cemetery where Maria, his first wife, and four of their children were buried.

He met Dr Griffith John and Dr William Martin, two old missionary friends in Hangkou, visited seven CIM mission stations in Henan, and eventually settled in Hunan province, where 111 missionaries from 13 societies serving in 17 central stations worked alongside Chinese Christians.

It was here, in Changsa, the capital, that Taylor ended his days, slipping quietly away on 3 June 1905, after a tea party held in his honour. Taylor, who had been going through his correspondence and reading the Missionary Review magazine in bed suddenly appeared as if he was about to sneeze, then stopped breathing and died. The man who had laboured for over 50 years to bring the gospel to China, was no more.

Taylor’s legacy
Missiologists and historians refer to Taylor as ‘one of the profoundest Christian thinkers of all time’, ‘a visionary pioneer’ and ‘one of the four or five most influential foreigners in 19th century China’.

Taylor’s own assessment was somewhat different: ‘I often think that God must have been looking for someone small enough and weak enough for Him to use, and that He found me.’

In 1865 there was no Christian church anywhere in the interior of China. In 1910, five years after Taylor’s death, the CIM had founded 611 organised churches throughout China, with a total of over 20,000 communicant members. By 1915, churches founded by a large variety of missions existed in every province as well as in Manchuria, Mongolia and Turkestan.

The work now
The name has changed – we are now OMF International – and we currently have just under 1300 members from 30 nations working throughout East Asia, and serving in Western nations where East Asians work or study.

The gospel continues to spread throughout China at a rate Taylor could only have dreamed of and even countries closed to the gospel are now opening the door to Christians with the right professional skills and qualifications to serve in East Asia.

The work started by James Hudson Taylor 140 years ago continues. The life and legacy of Inland China’s ‘small and weak’ benefactor lives on.

Edited from an article by Gary Clayton, Managing Editor of East Asia's Billions.

Many of Hudson Taylor`s biographies are available in the Book Corner of the OMF Singapore National Office. For enquiries, call us at 6475 4592.