Seeking "Tan" Ancestors of Amoy Mission

Ahoy from Amoy (historic Xiamen).  I received an interesting letter today from an Arizona couple seeking information about their "Tan" family ancestor (great grandfather, 1852-1899) from Quanzhou who became a Christian in Amoy after hearing a Presbyterian minister. As my reply might help others with the same query, I post my reply below (and their letter with their names removed for privacy's sake). If you have relevant information, please share it!

Dear P. and J.,

Greetings from Amoy and thank you for your email. I'm sorry but I've no idea what "first mission bible" was. Do you mean the first Protestant Mission? If so, the Amoy Mission was the first, and was composed of three denominations, including the English Presbyterian Mission, the London Missionary Society and the Reformed Church [Dutch] of America [RCA] mission.

The best resource, by far, is "The Reformed Church in America" by De Jong. Even though it is mainly about the RCA, it is the best history of the entire Amoy Mission and there is nothing else like it.

The Amoy Mission was not only the first (and Xiamen's Xinjie Church was the first Protestant Church) but also the strongest because of its 3-self principles, which the Amoy Mission originated in the 1850s (self propagating, self-directing, self financing), which the Chinese Communists themselves adopted after 1949 and which continue to guide registered churches. 

I have quite a few pages on my www.amoymagic.com website about the Amoy Mission, which you can reference here: http://www.amoymagic.com/Amoymission.htm

To research specifics about someone named Tan, lacking specific records, I can only suggest that you visit Xiamen churches (Xinjie, the oldest, as well as the Bamboo Church, Trinity Church on Gulangyu, etc)., and inquire if they have any records, though, sadly, most records were destroyed either by the Japanese invaders (1938-1945) or during the unCultural Revolution, during which they also destroyed the centuries-old foreign cemetery on Gulangyu Islet.

There are many online sources (though none as thorough as De Jong's book), including

City of Springs, a 1902 mission book about Quanzhou (60 km. North of Amoy), which was part of the Amoy Mission, is on my website at: http://www.amoymagic.com/Quanzhou_CityofSprings.htm
 

50 Years in Amoy, or, A History of the Amoy Mission, written in 1893 by Rev. Philip Wilson Pitcher. You can also download the above book as a Mobil for Kindle or PDF from archives.org

For the best insight on old Amoy, Pitcher also wrote, in 1907, "In and About Amoy,' which is available as a reprint on Amazon for only $16.57). 

A Google search of "Amoy Mission" returns over 5,000 results, many of which should be interesting. 
You can also visit mission archives (particularly those of the Presbyterian Church in China).

My Amazon eBook "Discover Xiamen" also has over 600 pages on Xiamen and South Fujian (which was the Amoy Mission).

Best wishes with your search, and blessings from Amoy,

Dr. Bill

Academic Director, SMXMU OneMBA

School of Management, Xiamen University
Amazon eBook "Discover Xiamen"

www.amoymagic.com

On Wed, Mar 22, 2017 at 6:30 AM, J.L.  wrote:

Dr. Bill,

I am researching my Christian heritage, and came across your website.

We are in Phoenix, AZ

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According to my aunt who wrote her biography, my great grandfather, last name TAN (1852 - 1899) got his training from the first Mission Bible in South China, with only 8 men students. He was saved after hearing a Presbyterian missionary.

Can you shed some light for us?

My husband and I are about 60 years old.  J. is a Baptist pastor.

Thank you,

J and P L.

Enjoy Amoy!

Dr. Bill

School of Management, Xiamen University
Amazon eBook "Discover Xiamen"

www.amoymagic.com

Bill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com