Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Missionaries as Developers: Industry and Real Estate Under the American Baptists

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Christianizing South China

  • 191 Accesses

Abstract

By evaluating the American Baptists’ inputs in the development of Shantou, Li refers to three widely reported cases of business disputes involving Baptist missionaries in Shantou. The first dispute occurred between William Ashmore, Sr. (1824–1909) and the magistrate of Chenghai District over a profitable fishery in 1876. The second dispute involved a group of younger Baptist missionaries who condemned the longstanding business activities of William Ashmore, Sr. in 1900. The third case involved James Carlin, who engaged in extensive business operations while a missionary in Shantou in 1907. By surveying the American missionaries’ involvement in maritime trade, Li highlights the financial dimension of Sino-Christian cultural encounters.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    John M. Foster Journal, August 24, September 12, and October 19, 1899, the Foster Family Papers, RG1/box 9/folder 41, Special Collections of the Yale Divinity School Library, New Haven, Connecticut.

  2. 2.

    James Carlin to Thomas Barbour, August 29, 1905, Missionary Correspondence, Box 103, Folder James Carlin, 1907–8, ABMU Archives.

  3. 3.

    James Carlin to Thomas Barbour, November 2, 1907, Missionary Correspondence, Box 103, Folder James Carlin, 1907–8, ABMU Archives.

  4. 4.

    John M. Foster Journal, February 22, 1890, The Foster Family Papers, RG1/box 7/folder 13.

  5. 5.

    John M. Foster Journal, The Foster Family Papers, RG1/box 7/folder 5, RG1/box 8/folder 20, and RG1/box 10/folder 49.

  6. 6.

    James Carlin to Thomas Barbour, March 20, 1906, Missionary Correspondence, Box 103, Folder James Carlin, 1905–6, ABMU Archives.

  7. 7.

    The American Consulate at Shantou Archives, January 28, 1885, RG84, Swatow China Consulate, vol. 47, 189–91, National Archives and Records, College Park, Maryland.

  8. 8.

    Zeng Guoquan to Charles Seymour, March 21, 1883, The American Consulate at Canton Archives, RG8, Canton China Consulate, vol. 227, 260–1, National Archives and Records, College Park, Maryland.

  9. 9.

    William Ashmore, Sr. to John Murdock, May 1, 1875, Missionary Correspondence, Box 45, Folder William Ashmore , Sr., 1875–9, ABMU Archives.

  10. 10.

    January 28, 1885, Zhang Zhidong to Zongli Yamen, The Qing Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archives, Call number: 01/18/047/01/003.

  11. 11.

    The American Consulate at Swatow Archives, RG84, Swatow China Consulate, vol. 47, 152.

  12. 12.

    Ashmore listed the price as less than 1000 Mexican dollars. William Ashmore , Sr. to Jonah Warren, April 22, 1867, Missionary correspondence/box 45/folder William Ashmore , Sr., 1863–7; Jonah Warren to William Ashmore , Sr., July 16, 1868, Overseas Letters (1867–9), 291–2, ABMU Archives.

  13. 13.

    Ashmore Land Case of Swatow, no date given. The Ashmore Family Papers (1850–1937), Ax 546/Series IV/Box 14/Folder 16, The Special Collections of the Library at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.

  14. 14.

    The American Consulate at Swatow Archives, RG84, Swatow China Consulate, vol. 47, 152.

  15. 15.

    Ashmore Land Case of Swatow, 8–10.

  16. 16.

    The American Consulate at Swatow Archives, RG84, Swatow China Consulate, vol. 47, 170–1.

  17. 17.

    S. B. Partridge to John Murdock, April 10, 1875, Missionary correspondence, Box 50, Folder S. B. Partridge , 1875, ABMU Archives.

  18. 18.

    William Ashmore , Sr. to John Murdock, November 7, 1872, Missionary correspondence, Box 45, Folder William Ashmore , Sr., 1870–2, ABMU Archives.

  19. 19.

    William Ashmore , Sr. to Deacon Perkins, April 3, 1908, China Material Box, ABMU Archives; Percival S. Heintzleman to Chenghai District Magistrate Li, February 6, 1909, The American Consulate at Swatow Archives, RG84, Swatow China Consulate, vol. 33.

  20. 20.

    Ashmore Land Case of Swatow, 17–8.

  21. 21.

    The American Consulate at Swatow Archives, RG84/Swatow China consulate/vol. 12, 388–9.

  22. 22.

    William Ashmore , Sr. to Frewin & Co., May 1, 1872, The American Consulate at Swatow Archives, RG84, Swatow China Consulate, vol. 47, 182–4.

  23. 23.

    William Ashmore , Sr. to John Murdock, May 1, 1875, Missionary correspondence, Box 45, Folder William Ashmore, Sr., 1875–9, ABMU Archives.

  24. 24.

    William Ashmore , Sr. to Jonah Warren, October 6, 1864, Missionary correspondence, Box 45, Folder William Ashmore , Sr., 1863–7, ABMU Archives.

  25. 25.

    The land attorney papers, July 24, 1888 and November 29, 1889. The American Consulate at Swatow Archives, RG84, Swatow China Consulate, vol. 4 and vol. 47, 377.

  26. 26.

    Ivo Streich to Zhang Xuan, June 19, 1893, The American Consulate at Swatow Archives, RG84, Swatow China Consulate, vol. 12, 178.

  27. 27.

    Ivo Streich to Chenghai District Magistrate Chen, June 19, 1896, The American Consulate at Swatow Archives, RG84, Swatow China Consulate, vol. 12, 275.

  28. 28.

    Baron Edwin von Seckendorff to Fang Gong Hui, December 27, 1888, The American Consulate at Swatow Archives, RG84, Swatow China Consulate, vol. 2.

  29. 29.

    Communications among Adele M. Fielde , William Ashmore, Jr., and Baron von Seckendorff, and a copy of Xiao Guo’s lease are found in the American Consulate at Swatow Archives, RG84, Swatow China Consulate, vol. 4.

  30. 30.

    William McKibben to Executive Committee, April 12, 1899, Missionary correspondence, Box 46, Folder William Ashmore , Sr., 1900, ABMU Archives.

  31. 31.

    William Mckibben, James Carlin, John Foster, Adam Groesbeck, Jacob Speicher, Herbert Kemp, George Whitman, George Campbell to Executive Committee, April 12, 1899, Missionary correspondence, Box 46, Folder William Ashmore , Sr., 1899, ABMU Archives.

  32. 32.

    John M. Foster to Henry Mabie, May 15, 1899, Missionary correspondence, Box 47B, Folder John Foster, 1899–1900, ABMU Archives.

  33. 33.

    John Murdock to S. B. Partridge , February 11, 1875, Overseas Letters (1874–6), 237–8, ABMU Archives.

  34. 34.

    William Ashmore , Sr. to John Murdock, May 1, 1875, Missionary correspondence, Box 45, Folder William Ashmore , Sr., 1875–9, ABMU Archives.

  35. 35.

    John M. Foster Journal, October 27, 1901, The Foster Family Papers, RG1/box 9/folder 46.

Bibliography

  • Anonymous. 1880. Medicine. New Hampshire Patriot, November 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1897. Twenty-sixth annual report of the Woman’s Baptist Foreign Missionary Society. Boston: Press of Alfred Mudge & Son.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1913. Ninety-ninth annual report of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. Boston: Foreign Mission Room.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1934. Guangdong provincial government bulletin, no. 270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashmore, Lida Scott. 1920. The South China Mission of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society: A historical sketch of its first cycle of sixty years. Shanghai: Methodist Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chu, Tung-Tsu. 1962. Local government in China under the Ch’ing. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fielde, Adele M. 1884. Pagoda shadows: Studies from life in China. Boston: W. G. Corthell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, Gael. 1995. Gender, culture, and Christianity: American Protestant mission schools in China, 1880–1930. New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laamann, Lars Peter. 2000. Pain and pleasure: Opium and medicine in late imperial China. Twentieth-Century China 28: 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, Qiyao. 2014. Chaichuan Jiaohui yu Zhongxu hudong: Yuedong Meibei Jinlihui Chaichuan Jiaohui yanjiu [Mission-churches and Sino-Western interactions: Study of the American Baptist mission-churches in east Guangdong]. Ph.D. dissertation, Shandong University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lingdong Baptist Secretary Office. 1936. Lingdong church rolls, 1860–1910. Lingdong Jiayin [The gospel of Lingdong] 10(1–2).

    Google Scholar 

  • McKibben, William K. 1899. A great battle! A coming trump! The Baptist Missionary Magazine 79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, Tao. 2009. Yingguo Gonggong Dang’an Guan suo jian Qingmo Shantou liangchi zhengdi shimo [Property disputes in late Qing: Sources from the British public archives]. Journal of Tsinghua University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition) 4.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Sciences Academic Press, Beijing, China

    Qiyao Li

Authors
  1. Qiyao Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pace University, New York, NY, USA

    Joseph Tse-Hei Lee

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Li, Q. (2018). Missionaries as Developers: Industry and Real Estate Under the American Baptists. In: Lee, JH. (eds) Christianizing South China. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72266-5_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation