About This Site
This website is a platform designed to showcase the photographs and text produced by West China missionaries and their descendants. It is the companion site to the Imaginaries and Modernities among West China Missionaries digital repository where we have posted original documents produced by the West China missionaries.
There are two components to this site. First, there is the West China Mission Repository, which is a searchable database of images and text produced by the West China missionary community and their descendants. Second, there is the digital exhibit, Phases of West China Missionary Life, which interprets the West China missions in terms of the phases in the lifespan of these missionaries and their children. In both components of the site you will also find detailed information about the historical context of the missionary enterprise and their encounters with Chinese allies and adversaries. Both components are in continual development, so check back to find new content!
The Phases in West China Missionary Lives Digital Exhibit is a companion to a book manuscript in the process of writing that will delve into deeper analysis of the West China missionary lives and movement. The digital exhibit will supplement the book with long quotes from missionary letters and memoires, as well as a much greater number and variety of images.
The West China Missions Digital Repository is organized around the contributions of missionary families who hold significant visual and textual archives among the descendants. Each family archive forms a Collection within the database.
To find images donated by a certain family:
1. Click on Browse, then Advanced Search.
2. Search by item set, then select the family archive from the drop down menu.
To find images about a certain person or theme:
1. Click on Browse, then Advanced Search.
2. In the box for Search full-text, type a keyword.
Always clear the Browse search fields before beginning a new search!
Within the West China Missions Digital Repository, related images are cross-referenced with each other and related text. Those that were taken in series are linked to Event records that explain the context in which they were taken, and also link to related text. To access these relationships among images, follow the links in red font in the items' records.
To view an Event and all of its linked images, take the following steps:
1. Click on Browse, then Advanced Search.
2. Search by item set, then select "Event Records in China Middle Kingdom Digital Resource"
3. Select the Event you're interested in from the list of records displayed.
4. On the Event record, scroll to the bottom to find a list of links to the images related to the event.
Another unique feature of this website is the Geonames locations. All of the place names in missionary texts and captions have been researched and converted to their current pinyin names. Once their current location has been determined, an entry is found or created on the Geonames site. These entries can be reached by clicking on the Geonames links in the item records (it will open in a new tab).
To see the map location, once you land on a Geonames record click on the icon at the far right of the menu on the bottom of the record - it looks like an upside down teardrop with a circle in the middle of it. This will take you into the map view of the location. To see the location in google maps, copy the coordinates found on the left side of the record and paste them into the google map search box.