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James Hudson Taylor (May 21, 1832 – June 3, 1905), Christian missionary to China, and founder of the China Inland Mission (renamed as Overseas Missionary Fellowship, OMF International [1] in 1964 and based in Singapore), served there for 51 years, bringing over 800 missionaries to the country and personally baptizing an estimated 50,000 converts. He was famous for his commitment to cultural sensitivity, wearing Chinese dress even though this was rare among missionaries of that time. His mission was non-denominational in practice and accepted members from all Protestant groups, including individuals from the working class and single women as well as multinational recruits. Hudson Taylor has been referred to as one of the most significant figures in the history of China in the 19th Century - foreign or native. The China Inland Mission was responsible for the widest Christian evangelistic campaign since the first century when Paul the Apostle brought Christian teaching to Europe.[1] Ruth Tucker summarizes his accomplishments in her book From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: “No other missionary in the nineteen centuries since the Apostle Paul has had a wider vision and has carried out a more systematized plan of evangelizing a broad geographical area than Hudson Taylor (p. 173).”
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Taylor was born into a Christian home in Barnsley, England, the son of a chemist/pharmicist and Methodist lay preacher James Taylor and his wife, Amelia (Hudson), but as a young man he moved away from the beliefs of his parents. At 17, upon reading an evangelistic pamphlet, he became a Christian, and in December of 1849, he committed himself to going to China as a missionary. About this time, he began studying the languages of Mandarin, Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. In 1851, he moved to a poor neighborhood in Kingston Upon Hull during a medical apprenticeship with Dr. William Hardey, and began preparing himself for a life of faith and service, devoting himself to the poor and having faith that God would provide for his needs. In 1852 he began studying medicine at the Royal London Hospital in the Whitechapel, London, in preparation for working in China. The great interest awakened in England about China through the civil war, which was then erroneously supposed to be a mass movement toward Christianity, together with the glowing but exaggerated reports made by Karl Gützlaff concerning China's accessibility, led to the founding of the China Evangelization Society, to the service of which Hudson Taylor offered himself.
After leaving England on September 19, 1853, before completing his medical studies, Taylor arrived in Shanghai, China, on March 1, 1854, (after a nearly disastrous voyage aboard the Dumfries through an Easterly passage near Pulau Buru). In China, he was immediately faced with civil war, throwing his first year there into turmoil. He went on 18 preaching tours starting in 1855, and was often poorly received by the people, even though he brought with him medical supplies and skills. He made a decision to adopt the native Chinese dress, however, and was able to gain an audience without creating a scene. He distributed thousands of Chinese gospel tracts and portions of Scripture in and around Shanghai. During his stay in Shanghai he also adopted and cared for a Chinese boy named Hanban. After working together with a Scottish evangelist, William Burns, of the English Presbyterian Mission in Shantou, Taylor found that all his medical supplies, being stored in Shanghai, had been destroyed by a fire. Furthermore, in October 1856, he was robbed of nearly everything he owned.
In 1857, upon receiving a letter from George Müller, Taylor and his co-worker John Jones (missionary) decided to resign from the mission board which sent them, the Chinese Evangelization Society, and instead work independently in what came to be called the Ningpo Mission. Four Chinese men joined them in their work: Ni Yongfa, Fang Nenggui, Wang Laijun, and Qiu Guogui.
In 1858, he married Maria Jane Dyer, the orphaned daughter of the Rev. Samuel Dyer of the London Missionary Society, who had been a pioneer missionary to the Chinese in Penang, Malaysia. Maria lived and worked at a school for girls in Ningbo which was run by one of the first female missionaries to the Chinese, Mary Ann Aldersey. As a married couple they took care of an adopted boy named Tianxi in Ningbo. They had a baby of their own that died late in 1858. Their first surviving child, Grace Dyer Taylor, was born in 1859. Shortly after she was born, the Taylors took over all of the operations at the hospital in Ningbo that had been run by Dr. William Parker. In addition to this they cared for a young Chinese girl named Ensing and five other Chinese boys.
In a letter to his sister Amelia Hudson (Taylor) Broomhall he wrote in 1859, "If I had a thousand pounds China should have it- if I had a thousand lives, China should have them. No! Not China, but Christ. Can we do too much for Him? Can we do too much for such a precious Saviour?"
Because of health problems, in 1860 Taylor decided to return to England for a furlough. The Taylors sailed back to England aboard the tea clipper Jubliee along with their daughter, Grace and a young Chinese Christian man named Wang Laijun, who would help with the Bible translation work that would continue in England.
Taylor used his time in England to continue his work, in company with the Rev. Frederick Foster Gough of the Church Missionary Society translating the New Testament into a romanized Ningbo dialect for the British and Foreign Bible Society. He completed his diploma (and a course in midwifery) at the Royal London Hospital with the Royal College of Surgeons in 1862, and with Maria's help, wrote a book called China: Its Spiritual Need and Claims in 1865 which was much used in calling forth sympathy for China and volunteers for the mission field, who began to go out in 1862, the first being James Joseph Meadows. He traveled extensively around the British Isles speaking at churches and promoting the needs of China. At home in London he also ministered at Newgate Prison. During this time he became friends with Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who pastored the Metropolitan Tabernacle and became a life-long supporter of Taylor.
Their second child, a son, was born in London, Herbert Hudson Taylor, in 1861. More children were born to the Taylors in 1862 (Frederick Howard Taylor), in 1864 (Samuel Dyer Taylor), and in 1865 (Jane Dyer Taylor- who died at birth).
On June 25, 1865, at Brighton, Taylor definitely dedicated himself to God for the founding of a new society to undertake the evangelization of inland China. founding the China Inland Mission together with William Thomas Berger. In less than one year, he had accepted 24 missionaries and raised $13,000. In early 1866 Taylor published the first edition of the Occasional Paper of the China Inland Mission which later became China's Millions. On May 26, 1866, after over five years of working in England, Taylor and family set sail for China with their new missions team aboard the Lammermuir (clipper). A four-month voyage was considered speedy at the time. While in the South China Sea and also the Pacific Ocean the ship was nearly sunk but survived 2 typhoons. They arrived safely in Shanghai on September 30th 1866.
The arrival of the largest party of missionaries ever sent to China - as well as their intent to be dressed in native clothing - gave the foreign settlement in Shanghai much to talk about and some criticism began for the young China Inland Mission. The party donned Chinese clothing, notwithstanding - even the women missionaries - which was deemed semi-scandalous at the time. When other missionaries sought to preserve their British ways, Taylor was convinced that the Gospel would only take root in Chinese soil if missionaries were willing to affirm the culture of the people they were seeking to reach. He argued, from the example of the Apostle Paul, “Let us in everything unsinful become like the Chinese, that by all means we may save some.”
They traveled down the Grand Canal to make the first settlement in the war torn city of Hangzhou. Another daughter was born to them in China (Maria Hudson Taylor). Taylor began practicing much sought-after medical work and preaching every day under an exhausting schedule. Hundreds came to hear and be treated. Meanwhile, some of the other missionaries went visiting the Chinese from house to house and a young Jane Elizabeth Faulding found a listening ear wherever she went, almost. Conflicts within the team limited their effectiveness, but when Taylor's daughter Grace Dyer Taylor died of meningitis in 1867, the team united and sorted out their discord after witnessing Taylor place the cares of his fellow missionaries above even the concern that he had for his ailing daughter.
In 1868 the Taylors took a party of missionaries up to Yangzhou to start a new work. But problems continued in 1868, when their mission compound in Yangzhou was attacked, looted and burned. Despite the violence and injuries, no one was killed. Unfortunately, the international outrage at the Chinese for the attack on these British nationals (and the subsequent arrival of the British Navy) caused also the China Inland Mission and Hudson Taylor to be criticised for evangelizing with "gunboats". Taylor knew that he would hear this accusation again and resolved to not call upon the authorities in the same way for help. Even so, they returned to Yangzhou later that year, impressing the natives with their perseverance and making many converts.
In 1869 Hudson was influenced by a book called Christ Is All by Stephen Higginson Tyng given to him by a fellow missionary. He referred to his new understanding of abiding in Christ for the rest of his life. ”God has made me a new man!” were his words.
1868 brought another child (Charles Edward Taylor) into the Taylor family, and in 1870, Taylor and his wife made the difficult decision to send their older three surviving children (Bertie, Freddie, and Maria - Samuel died earlier that year) home to England. That same year, Noel was born, though he died of malnutrition and deprivation two weeks later due to Maria's inablity to nurse him. Taylor's wife Maria died several days later, with the official cause of death being cholera. Her death shook Taylor deeply, and in 1871, his own health began deteriorating further, leading to his return to England later that year to recuperate and take care of business items.
While there, he was married to Jane Elizabeth Faulding who had been a fellow missionary since 1866. Hudson and Jennie returned to China in late 1872 aboard the MM Tigre. They were in Nanjing when Jennie gave birth to stillborn twins - a boy and a girl in 1873. Two years later, the Taylors were forced to return once again to England because of the death of their children's caretaker, Emily Blatchley. During the winter of 1874 and 1875 Taylor was basically paralyzed from a fall he had taken on a river boat while in China. In this state of crippling physical hinderance, Taylor published an appeal for 18 new workers to join the work. When he did recover his strength, Jennie remained with the children, (including a new son & daughter Ernest Hamilton Taylor & Amy H. Taylor, as well as the orphaned daughter of fellow missionaries the Duncans) and in 1876 Hudson Taylor returned to China and the 18 followed him. Meanwhile, in England, the work of General Secretary of the China Inland Mission was done by Benjamin Broomhall, who had married Hudson's sister, Amelia.
It was at this time that Hudson's evangelical work in England profoundly affected various members of the famous cricketing Studd family, resulting in three of the brothers converting and becoming deeply religious themselves; one of them, Charles Studd (the famous England Ashes cricketer) himself became a missionary to China along with fellow Cambridge Universtity converts, known as the Cambridge Seven.
From 1876-1877 Taylor traveled throughout inland China, opening missions stations. This was made possible by the September 13, 1876 signing of the Chefoo Convention, a settlement between Britain and China that made it possible for mission work to occur in inland China. In 1878, Jane Elizabeth Faulding returned to China and began working to promote female missionary activity in China. By 1881 there were 100 missionaries in Taylor's young missions organization. In 1883 Taylor returned to England to recruit more missionaries and raise more money, and returned to China, working now with a total of 225 missionaries and 59 churches. In 1887 their numbers increased by another 102, and in 1888, Taylor brought 14 missionaries from the United States. In The USA he travelled and spoke at many places, including the pulpit of Dwight Lyman Moody in Chicago, who actively supported the work of the China Inland Mission of North America.
In 1897 Hudson & Maria's only surviving daughter, Maria Hudson (Taylor) Coulthard the wife of James Joseph Coulthard died in Wenzhou, leaving four little children and her missionary husband. She had been instrumental in leading many Chinese women to Christianity during her short life.
News of the Boxer Rebellion and the resulting disruption of missionary work in 1900 distressed him, even though it led to further interest in missions in the area and additional growth of his China Inland Mission. Though the CIM suffered more than any other mission in China (58 missionaries, 21 children), Taylor refused to accept payment for loss of property or life, to show the ‘meekness and gentleness of Christ’. Though criticised by some, he was commended by the British Foreign Office, whose minister in Beijing donated £200 to the CIM, expressing his ‘admiration’ and sympathy. The Chinese were also touched by Taylor’s attitude. [2]
Hudson Taylor authored several books near the end of his life. Union and Communion (1893). A Retrospect (1894). Separation and Service (1898). and A Ribband of Blue (1899).
Due to health issues, Taylor remained in Switzerland, semi-retired. In 1900, D E Hoste was appointed the Acting General Director, and in 1902, Taylor resigned. His wife, Jane Elizabeth Faulding died of cancer in 1904 in Chevalleyres, Switzerland, and in 1905, with only several months to live, Taylor returned to China for the eleventh and final time. There he visited Yangzhou and Chinkiang and other cities, before dying suddenly while reading at home in Changsha. He was buried with his first wife Maria in Chinkiang, China, near the Yangtze River.
The small Protestant cemetery in Chinkiang was destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution by Red Guards in China. Today there are industrial buildings over the site. However, the marker for Hudson Taylor was stored away in a museum storage for years. His great-grandson, Rev. James Hudson Taylor III (戴紹曾牧師) found the marker and was able to help a local Chinese church re-erect it within their building in 1999.
His re-erected tombstone reads: Sacred to the memory of the Rev. J. Hudson Taylor, the revered founder of the China Inland Mission. Born May 21, 1832, Died June 3, 1905 "A MAN IN CHRIST" 2 Cor. XII:2 This monument is erected by the missionaries of the China Inland Mission, as a mark of their heartfelt esteem and love.
The beginning of "Faith-Missions" (the sending of missionaries with no promises of temporal support - but instead a reliance "through prayer to move Men by God") has had a wide impact among evangelical churches to this day. After his death, China Inland Mission gained the notable distinction of being the largest Protestant mission agency in the world. The biographies of Hudson Taylor inspired generations of Christians to follow his example of service and sacrifice. Notable examples are: missionary to India Amy Carmichael, Olympic Gold Medalist Eric Liddell, twentieth-century missionary and martyr Jim Elliot as well as international evangelists Billy Graham and Luis Palau.
Descendants of James Hudson Taylor continue his full-time ministry today in Chinese communities in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Rev. James Hudson Taylor III (戴紹曾牧師) and his son Rev. James Hudson Taylor IV (戴繼宗牧師) are now based in Hong Kong providing full-time Chinese ministries. Rev. James Hudson Taylor IV married a Taiwanese woman, Ms. Kuo Yue-Min (柯悅敏), the first Chinese member of the Taylor family.
Taylor was raised in the Methodist tradition but in the course of his life he was a member of a Baptist church, and he also kept strong ties to the "Open Brethren". In summary his theology and practice was non-sectarian.
Birth to Age 21 1832 to 1853
First Time in China 1854
Life in London 1860 to 1866
Return to China 1866 to 1871
Furlough and Remarriage 1871 to 1872
Third Time in China
Recovering in England 1874 to 1876
Fourth Time in China
Fifth Time in China
Sixth Time in China
Seventh Time in China
Eighth Time in China
Ninth Time in China
Tenth Time in China
Eleventh & Final Time in China
Protestant missionaries in China
China Inland Mission missionaries in China
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