Some of the many Quaker pamphlets published in Chinese between the 1880s and 1940s

Many of the publications in Chinese were the work of Friend Isaac Mason. They included the lives of noted Quakers such as John Woolman, as well as translations of Friends' Advices and Queries and general introductions to Christianity.

Isaac Mason (centre of front row), prolific author and translator,
in Sichuan, ca. 1898

However, the task of spreading Christianity developed into far more general education, pastoral and medical work. This aspect of the Friends Mission had a far more lasting impact on the community. Some of the educational institutions founded still exist today. Chongqing Boys' School, founded by Quakers, is now run as a state school; in 1992 it reverted to the name of Friends High School. The West China Union University, founded in 1910 in Chengdu by a group of missions, including Friends and other denominations, is now the West China University of Medical Sciences, which was badly damaged in the 2008 earthquake.

The Mission to China in Pictures