Review: Cultures Colliding: American Missionaries, Chinese Resistance, and the Rise of Modern Institutions in China, by John R. Haddad

Book Review| November 01 2023 Review: Cultures Colliding: American Missionaries, Chinese Resistance, and the Rise of Modern Institutions in China, by John R. Haddad Cultures Colliding: American Missionaries, Chinese Resistance, and the Rise of Modern Institutions in China. By John R. Haddad. (Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 2023. 350 pp.) Gavin James Campbell Gavin James Campbell Doshisha University Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Pacific Historical Review (2023) 92 (4): 661–662. https://doi.org/10.1525/phr.2023.92.4.661 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Gavin James Campbell; Review: Cultures Colliding: American Missionaries, Chinese Resistance, and the Rise of Modern Institutions in China, by John R. Haddad. Pacific Historical Review 1 November 2023; 92 (4): 661–662. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/phr.2023.92.4.661 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentPacific Historical Review Search John R. Haddad’s eminently readable book traces what he calls a “seismic shift” in the decades between 1860 and 1900 as American Protestant missionaries sought to bring China to Christ (p. 3). Through twelve chapters of hair-raising stories of danger, hardship, and more than occasional pig-headedness, Haddad shows how missionaries shifted from preaching Christ to building hospitals, schools, and voluntary organizations that met Chinese needs and welcomed Chinese leadership. This shift in strategy, Haddad argues, was more than just a new hope for the Gospel in China. The evolving partnership between American Protestant missionaries and their Chinese Christian allies also created many enduring institutions that helped lay the foundations of modern China. Haddad tells this story through vivid memoirs and essays written by both Chinese and American missionaries. He demonstrates how early American attempts to browbeat local communities into the churches resulted in constant friction and very few converts. “After... You do not currently have access to this content.