One Century of Vain Missionary Work among Muslims in China: The Cross Battles the Crescent

Christian missionaries in China have been toiling since the 16th century, with little success. Only after the Opium War were the Western powers which invaded China able to enforce their gunboat policy, under which their missionaries could penetrate all parts of China and extend their activities to a larger part of the population, which needed welfare assistance and western protection, and therefore resorted to evangelization as a way to obtain both. However, relative to the huge Chinese population and to the optimistic expectations of the missionaries, little was achieved on the ground.Therefore, at some point since the beginning of the 20th century, a decision was made by the missionaries to shift their emphasis to the Muslim population of China, realizing that, unlike the Godless Chinese, who had no knowledge, nor approach to the Bible, the Muslims would be more amenable, due to their Holy Book which knew One God and drew from the Judeo-Christian tradition many of their narratives. The attempt was valiant and lasted for almost a century, with many efforts made to extend educational and medical aid to the Muslim population, but it also ended in frustration, on the whole, due to the unexpected tenacity and resistance of the Hui and Uighur Muslims to the missionaries’ endeavour.