1926 Sichuan Missionaries' Nationalities

Item

Title
1926 Sichuan Missionaries' Nationalities
Identifier
DS_0002
Description
Pie chart based on the 1926 WCMAB list, showing the percentage of all West China missionaries by the nationalities of their mission societies.
Commentary
This pie chart is based on the list of 607 missionaries in Sichuan compiled by the West China Missions Advisory Board (WCMAB) in 1926 (see the “Is Part Of” dataset record). It is part of an analysis that aims to identify the traits of a cohort of West China missionaries who had similar experiences before, during and after their lives as missionaries. Members of the cohort were descendants of rural Anglophone settlers in North America. Born between the 1850s and 1920s, cohort members were linked through social networks within the organizations to which they belonged. The Methodist and Baptist denominations in North America worked closely with the YM/WCA and other parachurch organizations to funnel promising youth into mission work. These common backgrounds tended to produce similar theological leanings within the broad umbrella of the social gospel, although there were also subtle differences in perspectives and approaches among them.

The chart shows that almost 2/3 (62%) of the West China missionaries were sponsored by North American mission societies, with just over a third being sent by the United Church of Canada (34%). Previous to 1926, UCC had been the Canadian Methodist Mission (CMM). In contrast, the smaller American portion (28%) is made up of half a dozen different mission societies, not all of which meet the multivariant criteria for cohort membership. The unity and magnitude of the Canadian block was uniquely influential in shaping this cohort’s traits.

The “Mixed and Other” category represents eleven societies based in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Australia, as well as the China Inland Mission (CIM), which had offices in England, Australia, Canada and the United States. The CIM composes over half of this group. It was the first mission society to establish bases in West China, but it was gradually overshadowed as other mission societies moved in.
Creator
Cory Willmott
Date Created
2024
Is Part Of
The West China Missions Advisory Board’s Directory 1926, According to Missions
Provenance
Original scholarship by Cory Willmott.
Access Rights
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Publisher
SIUE
Record Date
2024-11-06
Contributor
Cory Willmott
Type
Dataset
Item sets
Datasets
Media
DS_0002 1926 ALL Nationality.png

Linked resources

Items with "Relation: 1926 Sichuan Missionaries' Nationalities"
Title Class
West China Missionary Birth Locations by Percentage (n498) Dataset
Items with "Has Part: 1926 Sichuan Missionaries' Nationalities"
Title Class
The West China Missions Advisory Board’s Directory 1926, According to Missions Dataset