Old China Hands Oral History Project

On the morning of December 8, 1941, thousands of American, British, Dutch, and other civilians of Allied nations living in China awoke to find that their countries were at war with Japan. Thousands of miles away from their home countries, they were cut off, isolated, and faced an uncertain future. As the rigors of life under the occupation increased, they were eventually herded into internment camps, known as Civilian Assembly Centres. There, they experienced starvation rations, horrible sanitary conditions, virtually no medical care apart from what they provided themselves, and an absolute lack of many of the essentials of civilized life. Yet through it all, internees rose to meet the challenges of survival. They placed their hope in the future and educated their children, organized kitchens and hospitals, started libraries, and engaged in subtle forms of resistance.

Doctors, nurses, teachers, and evangelists, the men and women of the Amoy Mission sowed the seeds of vibrant Christian community in China’s Fujian Province. This book tells the stories of those remarkable missionaries whose legacy endures to this day.

A bibliographical guide to the works in American libraries concerning the Christian missionary experience in China.

A bibliographical guide to the works in American libraries concerning the Christian missionary experience in China.

Americans in China tells the dramatic stories of individual women and men who encountered the People's Republic of China as adversaries and emissaries, mediators and advocates, interpreters and reporters, soldiers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and scholars. In Americans in China, Terry Lautz provides a series of biographical portraits of Americans who have lived and worked in China from before the Communist era to the present. The pathbreaking experiences of these men and women provide unique insights and deeply human perspectives on issues that have shaped US engagement with the People's Republic: politics, diplomacy, education, business, art, law, journalism, and human rights. For each of these Americans, China was more than just another place: it was an idea, a cause, a revolution, a civilization. Some of them grew up in China while others were motivated by curiosity and adventure. Some believed Red China was an existential threat while others looked to the People's Republic as a socialist utopia. Still others--including a number of Chinese Americans--worked to improve US-China relations for personal or professional reasons. Looming over their narratives is the quandary of whether divergent Chinese and Western worldviews could find common ground. Was it best to abide by Chinese norms, taking into account China's unique history and culture? Or should individual civil and human rights be defended as universal? Would China move in the direction of Western-style liberal democracy? Or was the Communist Party destined to follow an authoritarian path? The figures in this book had distinctive answers to such questions. Their stories hold up a mirror to our two societies, helping to explain how we have arrived at the present moment.