During the nineteenth century, Christian missionaires vied for the Chinese souls they thought they were Saving. But many things beld them back: Western gunboat diplomacy, unequal treaties and their own prejudices, which increased hostility towards Christianity. ‘One more Christian, one less Chinese’ has long a popular cliché in China.
Guns and Gospel examines the accusation of ‘cultural imperialism’ levelled against the missionaires and explores their complex and ambivalent relationships with the opium trade and British imperialism. Ambrose Mong follows key figures among the missionaries, such as Robert Morrison, Charles Gützlaff, James Hudson Taylor and Timothy Richard, uncovering why some succeded where others failed, and asks whether they really became lackeys to imperialism.