Week 4 Tian 2015

Rumor and Secret Space: Organ-Snatching Tales and Medical Missions in Nineteenth-
Century China
Author(s): Xiaoli Tian
Source: Modern China, Vol. 41, No. 2 (March 2015), pp. 197-236
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24575651
Accessed: 25-08-2019 09:41 UTC
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
Sage Publications, Inc. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Modern China
This content downloaded from 147.8.31.43 on Sun, 25 Aug 2019 09:41:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Article
Modem China
2015, Vol. 41(2) 197-236

Rumor and Secret Space: ) The Author(s) 2014
Reprints and permissions:
Organ-Snatching Tales sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/0097700414525614
and Medical Missions mcx.sagepub.com
<§SAGE
in Nineteenth-Century
China
Xiaoli Tian1
Abstract
This article examines anti-missionary rumors that prevailed in nineteen

century China and led to the Tianjin Missionary Case of 1870. Relying o
archival sources, it shows that many rumors were fueled by Protest
missionaries' medical practices in addition to political conflicts. Furthermo
the rumors were framed in spatial concepts. The rumors arose and
persisted not because the missionaries deliberately hid information, but
rather because the visibility of their daily activities, the accessibility of t
space they inhabited and practiced in, and the spatial placement of their
living quarters contradicted cultural norms in nineteenth-century China
therefore prevented the Chinese from acquiring correct information ab
the missionaries. The ambiguity of information that caused the rumors w
the result of the confrontation between two ways of understanding space
Keywords
rumor, secret space, China, medicine, missionary
Wild rumors about Christian missionaries—for example, that they goug

out the eyes of the dying, opened hospitals in order to eat the child
admitted as patients, and cut open pregnant women to make medicine fro
'University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Corresponding Author:
Xiaoli Tian, Department of Sociology, University of Hong Kong, Room C0922, The Jockey
Club Tower, Centennial Campus, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Email: xltian@hku.hk
198 Modern China 41(2)
their fetuses—were pervasive in n

believed (Su, 2001; ter Haar, 2006; Li
rumor is a temporary phenomenon t
(Knapp, 1944), these rumors were ex
they directly provoked, preceded, or
ary cases." These anti-missionary ca
missionary stations or churches and
sionaries, played a significant role in
of the 1800s (Fairbank, 1957; Cohen
Scholars have noted that the provi
important part of Protestant missio
China (Croizier, 1968; Walls, 1996
2006). Anti-missionary rumors coin
missionaries, but studies of these ru
related to missionaries' medical p
Missionary Case of 1870. I choose t
huge number of anti-missionary inc
ofthe most important anti-missionar
1963) and because rumors played a s
another major reason I concentrate o
of source materials. The investigatio
the incident produced valuable histor
historical processes related to rumor
hundred anti-missionary cases were
this is the only one, among those tha
the nature of rumors was discussed.2
While exploring the historical arch
Missionary Case, I noticed the impor
tion of those rumors. To the Chinese
because they were "secret," and they
ducted in a space that looked secret t
missionaries themselves. This finding
closely at the role of space in rumor
at the missionaries' side. There is no evidence that the missionaries wanted to
appear secretive. But they ended up seeming that way because their under
standing of what constituted a secret space was different from that of the
Chinese. I also found that the missionaries' medical practices increased the
sense of secrecy of the space they occupied in the community. How different
customs involving space generate specific rumors will be the focus of this
article. Here, in order to enrich the understanding of the difficulties in com
munication between China and the West, I apply an analytical approach that
Tian 199
derives from the social science literature on rumors and is different from
approaches used in existing narratives of this well-known event in late impe
rial China.
To do this, I draw mainly on English- and Chinese-language archival doc

uments as well as building on existing scholarship. In the discussion that
follows, I first provide historical accounts of surgeries performed by
Protestant medical missionaries and how they were perceived by local
patients, the rise of suspicion of Western medicine, the origination and dis
semination of rumors, the Tianjin Missionary Case and the subsequent inves
tigation of it, and the political and cultural conflicts between Westerners and
Chinese. After reviewing studies of rumors in other contexts, I then identify
and examine the problematic of rumor itself by scrutinizing the spatial aspects
of Christian missionaries' activities.
Historical Context: Medical Missions and the

Spread of Eye-Gouging Rumors
Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, Protestant missionaries came
to China to evangelize and convert the Chinese to Christianity.3 However, th
Protestant missionaries soon found that the Chinese were extremely resistan
to their preaching, so they instead began providing medical services to reduc
hostility and to foster friendly contact between themselves and the local peo
ple. The Protestant missionaries' priority was the "saving of souls," but hos
pitals and clinics produced more converts than did preaching (Lowe, 1895;
Lambuth, 1920; Balme, 1921). Soon Protestant missionaries accepted medi
cal work as the most effective evangelical tool in China (Whyte, 1988: 134).4
As a result, the number and activities of medical missionaries in China
increased significantly. For example, in 1860, there were about 81 Protestant
missionaries in China (Cohen, 1963), 36 of whom were medical missionar
ies.5 By 1850 there were at least 10 missionary hospitals; by 1889 the number
had grown to 61 (Balme, 1921: 85).
The Protestant missionaries' medical services quickly attracted many
patients. For example, in a Shanghai hospital started by William Lockhart, a
medical missionary sent to China by the London Missionary Society, there
were only two or three patients a day in 1844, the year the hospital opened.
But in two years' time, the total number of patients treated annually at the
hospital grew to over ten thousand (Lockhart, 1861: 264). In the early 1860s,
medical services became the most visible, most enduring, and most appreci
ated means of reducing prejudice and disseminating the Gospel at the major
ity of the Protestant missions (Hood, 1986: 74-84; Kessler, 1996; Brown,
1997: 69-70).
200 Modem China 41(2)
The early Protestant medical m

ophthalmic surgery and removin
(Wong and Wu, 1936; Choa, 1990
gratitude for the missionaries' m
The feeling of confidence on the par

these was reminded shortly before th
be taken the result was sometimes f
"I have been too long acquainted wi
hospital with my own eyes, to req
The operation was successful, and th
his family. His father, who was a le
kind treatment of his son, expressin
could not recompense. (Lockhart,
This was typical of stories told

places to show their achievement
medical missionary to China, con
the Chinese. According to Parker
lets and poems containing expre
Report 11). A merchant who had
he would have Parker's picture e
what Parker had done for him.
touching their foreheads to the f
1836). Other medical missionar
showed their appreciation by sen
so on (Schofield and Schofield, 1
Despite their initial success in a
tude of the Chinese, the mission
fed wild rumors against them, n
tions (Zinsser, 1940). Their medi
the Chinese, and this only becam
in numerous anti-missionary pa
ies of taking the eyes and the hea
cal or alchemical experiments,
giving Chinese women and childr
5,7-10,21, 158).6
Eye Surgeries and Eye-

One of the most widely circulate
snatched the eyes from their Chi
Tian 201
hid the jar

Chinese, w
various im
they were
be refined
scares—in
organs cou
the histor
that appear
The rumo
as the 184
Countries)
pher and t
Chinese co
their eyes.
cloth to h
1850s, the
culated in
The rumor
When peop
hundred t
Chinese ey
154-65). Fo
lead. In th
point. It w
or random
instances,
It is impo
actively u
vided mat
because th
between P
nation (Co
These wid
torical fac
China wer
ple, Thoma
Society in
diseases (W
Hospital, o
and cured
202 Modem China 41 (2)
Following the approach of Parker, m

favored the practice of ophthalmic sur
medical missionary sent by the Londo
patients with eye problems constitute
operated by the Medical Missionary So
Given this preference, it is not surpr
sionaries treated more cases of eye disea
lem. During the first three months of h
Canton, Parker treated 1,020 eye cases
the hospital; thus, eye cases accounted
(Parker Hospital Report 1). In the follow
Canton continued to specialize in the tr
removal of cataracts. From July 1, 18
treated 7,571 patients. Of these, 5,669 (n
with eye diseases (Parker Hospital Repo
practice in other Protestant missionary
that from September 23, 1840, to Febr
by the Medical Missionary Society in
disease, or about 44 percent of the tot
preference for treating eye diseases wa
Chinese with Western doctors. Accordin
Mackenzie, a British medical mission
Society, 589 surgeries were performed
those, 212 were eye surgeries. In additi
mon type of affliction treated at the in
From the reports of Parker, Lockhart
incidence of eye diseases in China was
The number of blind people was particula

1830s, it was ascertained that there were
fifty blind people among Canton's million
number probably did not include half of
Hospital Report 4)
Eye problems constituted such a great

missionaries often asked why the Chin
the eye. They blamed it on Chinese m
treatment of eyes:
It may be replied that probably the ordina

greater among them than among the peop
Tian 203
... the nati

inflammatio
250)
Faced with this situation, medical missionaries found an advantage in their

ability to operate on the eyes and treat surgical diseases that Chinese medical
practitioners were unable to treat. Another reason medical missionaries favored
the practice of ophthalmic surgery is because it could dramatically restore
sight, hence facilitating the patient's conversion to Christianity. The Medical
Missionary Society in China justified this focus by declaring that
to many hundreds of human beings, suffering from blindness, perhaps the

severest affliction with which it has pleased Providence to visit our imperfect
nature, the blessed light of heaven had been restored, the darkness of a long
gloomy night dispelled, and the road to happiness and useful industry once
more before re-opened eyes. (Ljungstedt, 1839: 58)
That the eye-gouging rumors appeared only after Protestant missionaries

began to practice eye surgery on Chinese subjects suggests that the rumors
were closely related to the missionaries' medical practices. Although
Protestant missionaries were successful in their efforts, the ophthalmic sur
geries were understood as something else by the Chinese. For example,
Parker recorded a case of a patient suffering from cataracts. The patient said
to him, "If you like, you may take them both out and put them in again"
(Parker Hospital Report 14). Parker told the story in his report as evidence of
the trust he had gained from the Chinese patients. However, we can see from
this story that eye surgery was misunderstood by the patient: she thought the
doctor was going to take out her eyes. This misunderstood process could have
easily been interpreted as eye gouging by observers.
The rumors persisted well into the twentieth century and were also
recorded by many Protestant medical missionaries. For instance, Dugald
Christie, a Protestant medical missionary who had worked in northeast China,
recorded his observation of this popular belief:
[It was believed that] the Catholics and we were alike anxious to obtain
children's hearts and eyes, and were willing to give large sums for them. When
the priest called, he brought under his robe a little child. We retired into a dark
room, weighed it, removed the eyes and heart, and agreed upon the price.
(Christie and Christie, 1914: 6)
Christie's account suggests that the eye-gouging rumor was widespread in

the nineteenth century. The Chinese believed that the missionaries had opened
hospitals to collect Chinese eyes a

needed for photography. "How can
soned, "if it has not eyes inside?" (
John MacGowan, a member of t
reported that he and his fellow mis
eyes of Christians after death, a
accepted it as true; the commones
everywhere talked about it as a fact
against the Christians, because they
Even when missionaries came to Ch
Christian missionaries were believed
scoop out the eyes of children so as
abroad (Adolph, 1945: 39).
Medical Space and Rumors

To further understand the content o
ary pamphlets.9 Based on this analysis
were related to either medicine or s
Many rumors were related to Prote
the medicines they distributed. For
missionaries extracted eyes, hearts,
fluids to make magical medicine,
women, or the dying, were the mo
Table 1 shows that rumors of organ
percent of the pamphlets contained
anesthetics and poisoning Chinese p
percent of the pamphlets, respectiv
children were also related to med
missionaries seized Chinese children and women to make medicine from
their body parts.
Many rumors were expressed in spatial terms. These were rumors regard
ing, for example, the closed doors of church buildings; the exclusion of the
public from churches and missionary residences; the private hearing of wom
en's confessions; men and women living together in the same room; the hid
ing of weapons and ammunition in the basements of the churches; and the
hiding of Chinese patients' vital organs, including eyeballs, in the church
basements. The sexual seduction of women was the second most frequently
attributed crime, mentioned in 55 percent of the pamphlets. Closed doors
were mentioned in around 23 percent of the pamphlets. It needs to be empha
sized that rumors about the seduction or rape of women were also derived
Tian 205
Table I. A C
Content of the rumor Times appeared
Organ snatching (including eye gouging) 137 66.0

Sexual seduction of women 114 55.0
Use of anesthetics to kidnap or control people 74 36.0

Poisoning 61 29.0
Closed doors of the churches 47 23.0
Chinese converts as bandits 36 17.0
Missionaries digging up graves 23 I 1.0

Missionaries pretending to be officials 19 9.0
Weapons and ammunition hidden in churches 17 8.0
Missionaries pretending to be Western diplomats I I 5.3
Queue cutting 6 2.9
Source. Wang, 1984; and Qing m

a. The percentage was calculated b
total number of pamphlets (207).
from Chinese spatial conce

related to women participa
men. My content analysis o
with what they saw during
unfamiliar, such as church
Two illustrations from an
way rumors were formed.
gouge out the eyes of a Ch
carefully, and two others g
the missionaries do not wa
kneeling figures in the for
foreigners.
Figure 2, "A Little Boy Lo
tional Chinese medicine con
duction (Cheng, 1999). Figu
the evil missionaries will cu
descendants. While the wh
listening furtively. The war
ful enough to prevent the
gion")from coming to thei
From both the pamphlets
important element in the c
the rumors, medicine and sp
Figure I. "The Hog Sect Gouging out

pamphlet.
Text on the right: If you insult the gods, they will definitely know. If you gouge out the eyes of
others, others will gouge out yours. Text on the left: The devils who have followed the devils'
religion [Christianity] do not forget that only those with sight may become blind; the blind
cannot recover their sight.
Source. Reproduced by permission from Zhou, 1891 : Picture VI. © The East Asian Library and
the Gest Collection, Princeton University.
Indeed, the word "secrecy" (mimi) is mentioned explicitly in many pam

phlets. As I will discuss later, the medicine practiced by Protestant missionar
ies looked secretive to the Chinese. Secrecy was viewed as structured into the
space where medicine was practiced.
Indeed, when Christian missionaries came to China, they also occupied
space in local communities. The most obvious way missionaries made them
selves felt on the local scene was through the mission compounds they occu
pied and the buildings they built, sometimes in a Western architectural style
(Renshaw, 2005). These new spatial establishments changed the local land
scape. For example, both Protestant and Catholic missionaries were blamed
for bringing bad luck to the local community because their churches were
built in a manner that disturbed geomantic forces (fengshui) (Feuchtwang,
1974: 172-75, 236-54; Wyman, 1997). Therefore, it is necessary to focus on
how Chinese responded to the appearance of unfamiliar spaces in their local
environment and on the conflict between these unfamiliar spaces and the
Tian 207
Figure 2. "A
pamphlet.
Text on the right: [The evil missionaries] remove the child's kidney so he cannot have
descendants, and we are afraid that this might lead to the extinction of the Chinese. Text on
the left: Men's and women's tears wet the sleeves. The whole family is regretful now. They
were not careful enough and so the devil of the evil religion [Christianity] came to their
household's door.
Source. Reproduced by permission from Zhou, 1891: Picture VII. © The East Asian Library and
the Gest Collection, Princeton University.
relationship to space in their tradition. In the next section, I will use the
Tianjin Missionary Case to explore how the spatial arrangements of daily
activities contributed to the misunderstandings between the Chinese and
Christian missionaries.
The Tianjin Missionary Case

In the mid to late 1860s, rumors about kidnapping and eye gouging by
Christian missionaries began to circulate from southern to central and north
ern China, including Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, and Zhili (Zeng, 1987: 6979
80).11 These rumors, which frequently blamed Catholic missions, spread to
Tianjin as well. At that time, the French Sisters of Charity had been giving
small cash rewards to people who brought homeless or abandoned children to
their
orphanage in the city of Tian
removed children's hearts and ey
Epidemics during the very hot l
Tianjin orphanage in twenty days
of child deaths there. Under pres
placed the dead bodies in trunks
them in a public cemetery at nig
dogs had dug up one of these co
When people saw the children
Suspicious of the deaths, hundred
the coffins, out wh trying to find
ror, they found each coffin cont
discoveries outraged both local o
rumor that missionaries were
medicine.
Two days later, on June 6, local residents apprehended two men, Zhang
Shuan and Guo Guai, and sent them to the Tianjin yamen. They were accused
of kidnapping children in Jinghai and selling them to the French orphanage in
Tianjin. They confessed that they had used anesthetics to kidnap young chil
dren, but they denied the charge that they had used the children's organs to
make medicine. No evidence was found for this accusation either (Liang,
2002).
On June 18, several local residents accused Wu Lanzhen, a nineteen-year
old Tianjin resident, of kidnapping, and he was arrested and brought to the
Tianjin yamen for questioning. Wu confessed that he had gotten the anes
thetic he used for kidnapping from the missionaries and claimed that his
crimes had been instigated by a converted Chinese Christian named Wang
San. He also confessed that he had previously kidnapped one child and had
received five yin yuan from the French Sisters of Charity in exchange for the
child. Most importantly, he claimed to have also sold children to the janitor
of the orphanage, which confirmed the rumor that the kidnapping was related
to the missionaries. Wu Lanzhen's confession inflamed tensions between the
townspeople and the orphanage staff.
Tianjin's residents demanded that the local yamen arrest Wang San. With
turmoil starting to grow, hundreds of people gathered outside the French
Sisters of Charity's church on June 19 and demanded to be admitted so they
could investigate. French consul Henri Fontanier, trying to play his role as
protector of Catholics, refused.13 Realizing the seriousness of the situation,
missionaries and foreign officials blamed local officials and the gentry for
stoking the tensions and asked local authorities to take action to restore order
(Liang, 2002: 18-20).
Tian 209
Together w
Hou, the hi
met with F
Lanzhen to
but found
convert Wa
people had
Amid the
crowd away
the scene, s
with the lo
tant, heade
to the yam
a gun at Ch
to the yam
him, he ru
Jie's servan
furious and
went on to
tions, and
lasted three hours.
Political and Social Conflicts behind the Rumors
A number of historical and political factors contributed to the Ti

Missionary Case (Fairbank, 1957; Cohen, 1963). Most current liter
looks at the incident as an outbreak of hatred of imperialism against the
ground of religious, political, and economic contacts between China and
eign powers (Fairbank, 1957; Mo and Guo, 2003). To be sure, it was no
accident that the incident happened in Tianjin, where the humiliating tr
of 1858 had been signed and which was one of the earliest treaty ports
actions of foreigners also played a part. Particularly, "the French autho
occupied a former imperial villa as their consulate" (Cohen, 1963: 229)
make matters even worse, in 1869 the Catholics built a massive new c
dral, Notre Dame des Victoires, together with an orphanage, on the site
old Buddhist temple (Whyte, 1988). These actions increased tensions bet
foreigners and the locals and set the stage for the violence in 1870 (L
2002: 18-20).
Another possible source of resentment was that the foreign missiona
challenged the status and interests of the local gentry,14 who felt threa
by the Christian missionaries and thus mobilized anti-Christian sentim
(Latourette, 1929: 348-50, 467-68;

556-60, 564-70). However, in a qua
cases, Chen Yinkun (1991) showed th
cases were initiated and led by comm
(1963: 174) noted that "there were m
which popular hostility to the foreig
but by the people's direct contact
Sweeten's study of Catholics in Jiang
conflicts between Catholics and the
gentry-led movements (2001: 2). Mo
role played by ordinary people in v
ments in modern China (e.g., Li, 20
reasons for their attitudes toward C
community experiences rather than
In contrast to the political approac
tion that had existed in China for ce
rumors were built on stereotyped f
(2006: 191). For the average Chine
example of the outsider groups that
such kidnappings. Wyman (1997) als
not because they had the characteri
into a categorizing scheme that diff
Suspicion of outsiders is also the the
cutting and soul-stealing panic in th
Ter Haar, Wyman, and Kuhn all id
traditional Chinese society: outsider
sure, missionaries were like other
Christian missionaries were also dif
mobile as other outsiders who were
organ snatching. For instance, Chris
in the local communities for a much
strangers from another town. There
against because they were outsiders,
after they had spent some time in
missionaries were still regarded ske
dence in China.15
Although they cannot fully explain
approach urge us to look at the local
missionaries. Indeed, ordinary Chi
ments that were close to their every
imperialism. For example, although i
Tian 211
the Cathol
To the sist
but to man
ally a lot o
yuan was
enough fo
these rewa
However,
Tianjin Mi
or why th
toward for
convinced that the crimes attributed to the missionaries were true. To better
understand this, next I will review some studies of rumors in other contexts,
hoping the analytic and theoretical tools they offer can help explain why peo
ple believe rumors.
Social Studies of Rumors
Rumor has been regarded as a way to either deal with individual or collective
emotions, derived from fears and anxieties, or to express the underlying
hopes, fears, and hostilities of the group (Knapp, 1944; Allport and Postman,
1947; Shibutani, 1966). Both early and recent studies of rumors share the
consensus that the message of rumors is, by nature, an unconfirmed explana
tion of events at the time of transmission (Knapp, 1944; Allport and Postman,
1947; Peterson and Gist, 1951; Donovan, 2007; Fine and Ellis, 2010).
Although many elements have been identified as necessary for rumor trans
mission (Klapper, 1960; Shibutani, 1966; McGuire, 1969; Rosnow, 1980),
the ambiguity of information has been deemed the most essential (Allport
and Postman, 1947; Rosnow and Fine, 1976; Rosnow, 1980). However, little
research has been done on what causes ambiguity. The ambiguity of informa
tion is either taken for granted or treated as a conspiracy—a deliberate hiding
and manipulation of information (Renard, 2007)—or else clearer information
is simply not available, such as when routine channels of communication
break down, do not exist, or cannot be trusted (Shibutani, 1966).
A potential reason for the unavailability of information is that it is kept
hidden, as a secret. Indeed, secrecy is an extreme form of inhibition of the
flow of all types of knowledge or information across boundaries (Simmel,
1906; Shils, 1956), which results in unclear information. It is thus under
standable that secrecy might give rise to rumors. Most definitions of secrecy
suggest a conscious and deliberate attempt by individuals to conceal informa
tion. For example, Shils (1966) argues that secrecy is the calculated
concealment of information. But someti

intention by individuals or groups. F
successfully communicate many priva
are maintained only because outsiders
ties to discover them (O'Connell, 1980
can be voluntary or mandatory, but it
ate. Therefore, we need to know the c
and nondeliberate hiding of informat
this can have on rumor production an
To be sure, rumor arises from the f
tion. However, this failure or unavail
caused by conspiracy. As Donovan (20
mation is often better explained by pe
a lack of critical capacity (Chorus 1953
what people believe and why they beli
contingent on the knowledge context.
propose to resituate rumors in relatio
about space and secrecy, in order to un
why they take a particular form.
Scattered mentions of the impact of
literature on rumor studies. It has been
of the Chinese have played an essentia
ers in some African countries are pris
2012). Studies of organ-theft rumors
that those rumors exploded during a
tions, in which local residents could se
their poor communities to foreign cou
not have access (Scheper-Hughes, 20
Ellis's (2010) study of the rumors tha
being stolen while they were abroad a
trol of their bodies when they are in a
Echoing these recent studies, the sta
conception of space and of routinized
toms of space can influence the way
ally organize their daily activities in
example, missionaries in nineteenth-ce
basement, a structure unknown to th
yards for coal storage. An examination
understand the ways rumor can be see
cepts of space shape micro-politics. I
these rumors in the daily experience
Tian 213
the Chines
tices. Thu
investigat
account of
Space in
After the
ernor-gene
Tianjin and
Zeng Guo
Zeng's firs
policies th
gation need
allyexisted
taken place
to the wid
hearts fro
On July 2
the throne
reason for
false. In a
Catholic i
that the c
that had b
recently in
in Zhili pr
falsity of
During h
Catholic p
church an
others also
contrary t
ined the c
that, cont
1987: 6980).
In his reports, Zeng took advantage of his firsthand experience to make it
clear that he had found absolutely no evidence supporting any of the charges
of kidnapping or organ snatching (Zeng, 1987: 6980, 6992). Based on his
investigations, Zeng reported that

lowing five sources (as summarized
1. The church kept its doors clo

people to know what was going
orphanage had basements, but C
It was believed that children we
buildings had not been built by
truth about the basements.
2. People who went to the missi
sionally refused to return home,
of a member of the local gentry.
3. The sisters took in dying childr
have seen the sisters washing th
boats from other countries deliver
but nobody ever saw them leave.
4. There was a popular belief that
Catholics lived in separate part
times did not see one another for
5. There had been kidnappings in
church had been implicated in
because the church buried corpse
sharing one coffin.
These five sources of suspicion s

space, more so than their understa
their suspicion of the Christian mi
closed doors, meant that the space w
second concerned the medical treatm
mattered was that the treated peopl
going home. The third also concern
change between the inside and outsi
about the spatial placement of pe
together, but they were put in diff
kidnapping scare, was indirectly rel
were buried at night implied it wa
corpses in one coffin was problema
space should be shared.
Zeng realized that there was a conn
and the popular suspicion of and anx
itly mentioned the "sense of secrecy
Tian 215
the church
the manag
most impo
In addition
their effec
well docum
2002: 30, 3
the countr
gentry and
based it on
effort of C
people. As
issued an
false, in th
regard" (Y
Zeng's Fai
One might
would help
informatio
1980), one
tion certif
informatio
endorsed b
made, peop
involved in
memorial c
hearts fro
Instead of
A July 24
"There are
(reproduce
the de fact
her edict t
orphanage,
Chong Hou
the court"
Under gre
relieving Z
royalty at
Hunan province. In the end, he w

admit in a later memorial that th
(Zeng, 1987: 7096).
The tragic end of Zeng Guofan's
about missionaries were related to
of the era. In the following sectio
the way missionaries organized th
they conducted their daily activit
Secrecy and Spatial Arra

The analysis above suggests that
to the "secret space" involved in
this, we need to look at the local
bution of meaning to a place, nat
1993). I find that the visibility o
placement of people were import
space. In this section, I discuss m
three aspects of space.
The Visibility of Activities
First of all, although medical mis

missionaries' evangelical activit
medicine was mystifying from th
of curing. In traditional Chinese m
of the patient's family. Usually w
invite a physician to come to the
diagnosesand treatment under the
(Hume, 1940: 120). Care of the pa
members, in the patient's own h
sick, it was very important that
how far they at were from home
But in the medicine practiced b
and treatment were conducted in
Moreover, operations were also d
accessexcept the doctors, nurses,
"secret space." Furthermore, care
overnight in the hospital, a very
instead of in their own homes.
Tian 217
Thus, when
of unfamili
much less v
As the missi
"secret space
it looked as
Later, some
were proble
their medic
most allowe
1921). Docto
early May
Dugald Chr
were believe
willing to g
decided to a
tions. Accor
dreds, of pe
to watch h
accepted by
in dispelling
at the Jiang
eign doctors
operations i
(Kessler, 19
In addition
also changed
For example
architects an
superficially
63-64). Anot
make the h
tives by cha
in many mi
when their
sometimes pa
was common
relatives wh
doing. They
rumors from
Some Protestant missionary hospitals

incorporated segregation of the sexe
Accessibility of Space
Accessibility is another important a
gious buildings and spaces in ninete
were less accessible and therefore looked more secretive to the Chinese.
In nineteenth-century China, temples were public spaces where many secu
lar community activities took place (Yang, 1961). A Chinese village temple
usually held a wide range of ritual services and public activities, such as folk
operas for the entertainment of the temple deity, and the buying and selling that
accompanied temple fairs (Brim, 1974; Litzinger, 1996: 51-52). Additionally,
people slept overnight in Buddhist and Daoist temples. Temples that were a
short distance from a village were convenient resting places for beggars (Smith,
[1899] 1970: 139). Thus these buildings and spaces were familiar to people.
However, the doors of the Christian churches were always closed, and
people could not enter them without permission, a practice shared by both
Catholic and Protestant missionaries in nineteenth-century China. Even in
rural areas where non-Catholics could sometimes observe church ceremo
nies, Catholic priests often restricted access. Because of this, "to some non
Catholics, churches seemed dark places and took on an aura of mystery"
(Sweeten, 2001: 48). As Sweeten noted, "religious services held in Catholics'
homes might have led to suspicions about sectarian activities, but closed
church doors caused other misunderstandings" (50). Sweeten further points
out that "allowing ready access to the church would have showed the general
public that there was nothing strange or mysterious inside" (50).
The closed doors became such an important issue because they highlighted
an underlying difference in the understanding of privacy in the West and in
China. As Philip Huang (2000) points out, the word "private" has different
connotations in English and in Chinese. In nineteenth-century China, Western
travelers, adventurers, and missionaries found Chinese customs inexplicable.
MacGowan noted that "such a thing as a private house, in the sense that it is
sedulously guarded from the outside world, is unknown to the Chinese"
(1909: 241) and that "the doors [of the Chinese home] are open the livelong
day; every sound from the street, as well as the voices of the neighbors in the
adjoining compartments, penetrates it" (243). MacGowan used a story to
illustrate this point. While he was traveling in China, crowds followed him
everywhere. Once, to escape the persistent following, he dived into the house
of a respectable-looking man who had politely invited him to come in and sit
down. However, the crowd entered with him, as though the place belonged to
Tian 219
them all. T
of the ord
tion like t
to suspicio
Christian
in walled,
of mission
wall or fen
until the
highly org
by mission
missionari
The major
sion comp
and Catho
Protestan
after the
Protestant
them—at l
Compared
especially
mainly in
But after
inland and
Catholic m
2001: 41-4
quarters t
Protestant
Therefore
and Catho
reasons, th
their space
(Austin, 2
Such an est
under the p
of "foreig
installation
missionary
hospital, an
usually gua
Thus, missionary compounds were

surroundings. They were independe
where large mission compounds we
inces tended to see their missions as
ety and used their churches to regr
villages (Wiest, 2000: 252-53) in ord
and hostility of non-Catholics (Li
also formed a closed unit and becam
and often estranged from their fel
What made things more complic
used their medical practices to evan
ies were both doctors and ministers
or adjacent to churches. Hospital an
gated and guarded. For the local peop
between the church, inside which fo
the hospital. The miraculous atmosph
of the hospitals maintained by the m
the general aura of secrecy that env
dispensary, church, and hospital wa
suspicion.
To be sure, many of the earliest m
ports were not located in mission c
(Chinese) buildings (Renshaw, 20
secluded for the practical reason tha
good location as a rental, and bu
(Cadbury and Jones, 1935: 37-38; Pa
Canton Hospital was confined in th
foreign traders lived in Guangzhou
The physical style and size of chur
early years and in rural areas, most
were small and modest, inconspicuo
ings. Those buildings were not diffe
2005: 51-52). For example, Dr. Worth
was a rough and small clinic in a ren
was so flimsy that an opium addict
and escaped" (Kessler, 1996: 31). The
port cities, however, "tended to be
style" (Renshaw, 2005: 52). Also afte
their mission headquarters in cities
large and built of brick and stone (
visible because of their sheer size an
Tian 221
SCALE ZOO YARDS

0 19 J* +6 40 "
Map op the Canton Factories, 1840. From W. Branston.

A—A Thirteen Factory Street (~t* H 1?).
B—B Hog Lane or San Tau Laan (JK ft M). The Hospital was located in the
Fung Tac Hong ( W ^ tf) in the inked-in area.
C The Hoppo (>* ft). C The Flag Staff. E Verandahs.
Figure 3. Location of Peter Parker's ophthalmic hospital.

Source. Cadbury and Jones, 1935: 39.
architectural styles, combined with the hospitals' location inside the mission
ary compounds, made the problem of space more salient.
The interiors of churches were also different from those of Chinese build
ings. Many rooms were not visible, and Chinese did not know what their
functions were. Furthermore, as Zeng noted in his reports on the Tianjin
Missionary Case, the churches were often built by workers from other towns
instead of by local workers, which therefore made the interiors mysterious to
the local residents and fueled suspicion (Zeng, 1987: 6981). All these factors
increased the secrecy of churches.
In summary, churches and their affiliated hospitals inserted a very unfa
miliar space into a community with established customs regarding space. The
strange and closed internal spatial arrangements of the church, all the myste
rious rituals happening inside it, and the fact that missionaries were also doc
tors with the spatial practices described above increased the perceived secrecy
of the missionaries.
Accessibility is such an important aspect of the customs of space that one
might speculate that if the churches had been more open, there would have
been fewer suspicions. In fact, in ea

were not aware of the problem of se
a way that accidentally lowered the
tices, and consequently reduced suspi
the Catholics made their space more
infants to local wet nurses instead of
Consequently, in those areas the Cath
part of the local community (Sweete
On the Protestant side, the China I
than other Protestant missionary org
nickname "Constantly in Motion" (A
group's founder, assumed the strateg
intensive church-building. Taylor and
city and made evangelistic tours of t
and villages, stopping at public space
shops and religious shrines. They als
visiting (Austin, 2007: 4). By Novemb
had 25 missionaries at 11 stations in
2007: 119). The CIM became the large
in China (Whyte, 1988), probably be
to the Chinese.
The Spatial Placement of People

Another aspect of spatial arrangements is the placement of people. People
live and conduct their activities in specific spaces, and there are spaces in
which certain people are or are not allowed. This spatial arrangement also
determines the visibility of particular groups of people.
A repeated theme in the rumors in nineteenth-century China was seduction
or rape by Christian missionaries. To be sure, there are many historical and
cultural reasons for this theme. For example, anxieties about women being
seduced and raped by foreigners might have been rooted in the patriarchal
society, in which women were regarded as the property of men (Su, 2001).
However, one phenomenon is noteworthy: the rumor was always stated in
spatial terms—for instance, that in the missionary compounds "men and
women live in one room" This statement usually referred to
the practice of men and women preaching in the same room in churches
(Sweeten, 2001: 49). This implied that the Chinese thought that it was
improper for men and women not of the same family to be in the same room,
especially when the room was not a publicly accessible space. The
Tian 223
implicatio
men, for
Indeed, in
ent in pu
husbands
tant that
Many We
existed in
observed t
in other p
not allowe
as soon as a
universe ge
She might
anything
It is not s
shipping
Husdon T
house vis
women di
In conclu
because of
religious.
space. The
and attrib
existing s
the unava
arrangem
missionar
Conclusion
The spatial arrangements of missionaries' everyday activities, which contra

dicted the existing spatial settings in local Chinese communities, encouraged
the nineteenth-century Chinese to believe wild accusations about missionar
ies' conduct and led to riots and killings. The confrontation between these
two ways of understanding space made mutual understandings between mis
sionaries and the Chinese difficult to achieve, and this incomprehension con
sequently led to rumors.
The common feature of secrecy is t

nineteenth-century China, missionar
from the locals. Instead, they wanted
were doing. However, the spatial arr
intention incomprehensible to the lo
was caused by the two groups' differ
cifically, their different understandi
Missionaries were oblivious to local
major barriers to communication. To
spatial relationships had been altered
happened. I am not trying to distanc
the role of secret spaces from the p
imperialism. The two explanations ar
tices of medical missionaries were r
which cannot be separated from the ne
into China. Therefore, my argument
what constitutes imperialism and wh
sentiments.
Moving beyond this specific historic
of information is that causes rumors
of a particular cultural group. Not on
and ambiguity, but hidden spaces ca
pening behind closed doors. When p
understanding of information is likel
In addition to providing a cultural
Chinese and the missionaries in nine
sion about space and information also
rumor and, more generally, the study
us understand why even when the a
many still believed them. Indeed, wh
defined. Sometimes, contradictory e
ered to have resulted from a conspira
pels rumors.
The spatial organization of everyday activity informs how people respond
to new information. People use their prior knowledge and experience to
understand what happens to them. Therefore, rumors are most likely to arise
when the parties to the rumor have a low critical ability to judge the informa
tion transmitted. And this is most likely to happen when two cultures come
into contact but do not understand each other. More specifically, I emphasize
the location of information, that is, the power of different customs of space in
providing the grounding for unsecured beliefs. Spatial access contributes to a
Tian 225
recognitio
understand
reason, loo
with local
method for future studies of China-West interactions in modern China.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Andrew Abbott, Guy Alitto, Stefan Bargheer, Louise Edwards,
Robert Freeland, Karen A. Joe Laidler, Sida Liu, Daniel Menchik, Pamela Oliver, and
Dingxin Zhao for their advice on this article. I especially appreciate the helpful com
ments from the referees for Modern China.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by the
Nicholson Dissertation Research Fellowship (2007-2008) at the British Isles,
Nicholson Centre for British Studies, University of Chicago; the Henderson
Dissertation Research Fellowship (2008-2009) at the Department of Sociology,
University of Chicago; and the Dissertation Writing Fellowship, Center for East Asia
Studies, University of Chicago (2009-10).
Notes
1. In fact, organ-theft rumors have been found in varied social locations dating
back to at least medieval Europe (Dundes, 1991 ; Bennett, 2009), and this type of
rumor has continued in the contemporary world. For example, rumors surfaced
in Brazil and Guatemala in the 1980s that Westerners were kidnapping local chil
dren and harvesting their organs (Scheper-Hughes, 1996, 2000); more recently,
rumors have circulated that unsuspecting tourists or business travelers are being
drugged and having their kidneys stolen while in foreign countries (Fine and
Ellis, 2010; Campion-Vincent, 2011).
2. On the total number of anti-missionary cases in nineteenth-century China, see
Gu, 1981, who recognized 400 cases. Chen, 1991, calculated 811 cases (exclud
ing those during the Boxer Rebellion) based on the Jiaowu jiao 'an dang (1974—
1981) and other records such as Qing official documents, personal records,
newspapers, and Western records. Fairbank, 1957, notes that Wu and Chen
(1941) listed documents on almost 400 cases.
3. On September 4, 1807, Robert Morrison arrived in Macao. Sent by the London
Missionary Society, he was regarded among some Protestants as the first Christian
missionary to China (Milne, [1820] 20

sionaries in China in the first half of t
1861; MacGillvray, 1907; Lambuth, 1
Rubinstein, 1996. Although the Qing go
in 1724, some Chinese Catholics surv
Chinese Catholics, see Latourette, 19
Catholic priests moved back into areas
2000: 252), expecting to have former
groups of missionaries, namely Protest
each other nor did they respect each ot
4. Catholic priests also did some medical
rudimentary and much more limited in
hospitals in big cities such as Shang
care was conducted at an elementary
Thus, when I talk about medical mission
Protestant missionaries.
5. The number of Protestant missionaries in China at a certain historical point is

hard to estimate, probably because each denomination acted on its own. Cohen,
1963: 70, mentions that there were 81 missionaries in China. Bays, 2012, esti
mates about a hundred. Although it is hard to get an accurate estimate, we do
know that the number of Protestant missionaries in China by 1860 was still very
low (Whyte, 1988: 117), but that it then grew rapidly during the 1860s and later
(Bays, 2012: 68). For this article, I have calculated the number of Protestant
medical missionaries from Wong and Wu, 1936, and the Chinese Repository.
To be sure, more missionaries were sent by Protestant missionary societies (see
Wylie's [1867] comprehensive list and biographies of Protestant missionaries
in China before 1867). But before 1860, a large percentage of them did not end
up landing on Chinese soil, or they failed to stay for any length of time (Bays,
2012: 46). Like the Protestants, Catholics were not active until the 1860s, as
Bays pointed out: "The first few decades of the nineteenth century were a time
of lying low for the Catholic church in China" (2012: 52).
6. Wang's (1984) book is a collection of anti-missionary pamphlets from 1861 to
1899. The main source of Wang's collection was the Jiaowu jiao 'an dang (1974—
1981). He also included documents from other sources, such as Qingji jiao 'an
shiliao (1937-1948), YWSM (1930), and various local gazetteers. His collection
is quite good but not comprehensive, and it does not include pictures.
7. Some Chinese officials did distinguish between Catholics and Protestants,
reserving their harshest condemnation for the former (Latourette, 1929: 418-19).
But the distinction was made only by high-level officials and did not have much
influence on either the policies on missionaries or the common people's responses
to the missionaries. In many cases, when something done by either Catholics or
Protestants led to conflicts, all Christians in the area were blamed, beaten, or
killed. For example, during the Yangzhou Missionary Case in 1868, both Hudson
Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission who was in Yangzhou at that
Tian 227
time, and
were chased
a miscarria
The Vicero
cial Li Hon
I chose 173
1-4 are inc
because the
addition to
mo jiao 'an
had not ye
well. Qing
and Fujian
First Natio
and foreign
translation
The illustr
Press in 18
Picture Gal
Jinzun she
to the Sacr
same illust
reproduced
from the s
ments in t
164-66).
The account given here of the Tianjin Missionary Case is based on various
sources. I looked at all the published Chinese documentation on the Tianjin case
in collections compiled by Chinese scholars (Qing mo jiao'an, 1996-2006: 1;
YWSM, 1930: 72.73), and Zeng (1987: 6966-7094). For a list of primary and
secondary sources, including both contemporary Chinese accounts and Western
summaries, see Cohen, 1963: 229nl.
According to Mungello, 2008, the sisters' practice of giving cash rewards in
exchange for unwanted children was related to the existence of infanticide in
China. Because most Chinese would rather abandon their unwanted infants than
give them to Christians, "small financial incentives were offered to help in the
gathering of abandoned children" (114). This was also related to the so-called
Holy Infancy movement dating back to the 1840s, in which Catholics rescued
abandoned babies and baptized them in their orphanages to save their souls with
a last-minute baptism. This practice gave rise to many horrific rumors (Whyte,
1988: 116).
Beginning in the late 1840s, France in particular proclaimed itself to be the pro
tector of Catholic interests abroad. The French were always ready to use force
or diplomatic intervention whenever there were conflicts between Catholic
missionaries or their Chinese conver

major influence on the Catholic pra
sons why the majority of the anti-m
the Catholics. See Cohen, 1963.
As is well known, in imperial Chin
their descendants who usually own
included potential officials, that is
tions and held a degree. These men i
as many local affairs because of thei
bureaucracy, lan and their wealth in
One might argue that missionaries
race or because they were foreigner
exclusion was not based on race, ethn
According to A Monetary History
equaled 1,856 wen, and the price o
of weight). In northern China in tha
wen.
Fairbank (1957: 506, n64) highlighted Zeng's "admonition to the gentr

populace of Tianjin, to act only on firm evidence and through official ch
Zeng's report provides a solid basis of information to find out what happ
The original documents were dated according to the Chinese lunar calen
be consistent with the rest of the text, I converted lunar dates to the Gr
calendar.
Zeng wrote in his memorial, "The doors of foreign churches are closed all year
long. It is too secret. People cannot see what's going on inside the church" "ÜJE
utm-wism (zeng, i987:6980).
Another possibility for Zeng's dismissal is that his political enemies used this
opportunity to remove him from power. But my argument still holds. That the
rumors served the political interests of court factions indicates the importance of
the rumors—Zeng's enemies thought they would have a good chance to take him
down because they knew his memorials on the Tianjin Missionary Case would
be controversial.
Medical practice was not like this in the West at this time. Doctors on horse
back and home visits were more common than professional medical practices as
defined today. The reconstitution of hospitals as institutions of medical science
did not occur until the 1870s (Starr, 1982: 147-48). However, when missionaries
came to China, for practical reasons they had to stay in dispensaries instead of
going to patients' homes. The number of doctors was so few (usually each mis
sionary station had only one medical missionary) that it was too dangerous, and
sometimes forbidden, for them to leave their missionary compounds.
Some protestant missionaries justified staying in the isolated compounds by
stating that to live with the Chinese would have exposed them to contagious
diseases. This was a risk missionary boards were reluctant to have them take. In
fact, most of the Protestant missionaries stayed in their compounds (Bays, 2012).
Tian 229
Some early
areas. For e
arrived in C
small towns
missionarie
(Lutz and L
most succes
Before 1870
for Foreign
(Fairbank,
References
ADOLPH, PAUL ERNEST (1945) Surgery Speaks to China: The Experiences of a

Medical Missionary to China in Peace and in War. Philadelphia: China Inland
Mission.
ALLPORT, GORDON W. and LEO POSTMAN (1947) The Psychology of Rumor.
New York: H. Holt.
AUSTIN, ALVYN (2007) China's Millions: The China Inland Mission and Late
Qing Society, 1832-1905. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans.
BALME, HAROLD (1921) China and Modern Medicine: A Study in Medical
Missionary Development. London: United Council for Missionary Education.
BAYS, DANIEL H. (2012) A New History of Christianity in China. Maiden, MA:
Wiley-Blackwell.
BENNETT, ADRIAN and KWANG-CHING LIU (1974) "Christianity in the Chinese
idiom: Young J. Allen and the early Chiao-hui hsin-pao, 1868-1870." Pp. 159
96 in John K. Fairbank (ed.), The Missionary Enterprise in China and America.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
BENNETT, GILLIAN (2009) Bodies: Sex, Violence, Disease, and Death in
Contemporary Legend. Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi.
BRIM, JOHN (1974) "Village alliance temples in Hong Kong." Pp. 71-92 in Arthur
P. Wolf (ed.), Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society. Stanford, CA: Stanford
Univ. Press.
BROWN, THOMPSON (1997) Earthen Vessels and Transcendent Power: American
Presbyterians in China, 1837-1952. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
BRYSON, MARY (1891) John Kenneth Mackenzie, Medical Missionary to China.
New York: Fleming H. Revell.
CADBURY, WILLIAM and MARY HOXIE JONES (1935) At the Point of a Lancet:
One Hundred Years of the Canton Hospital, 1835-1935. Shanghai: Kelly &
Walsh.
CAMPION-VINCENT, VERONIQUE (2011) Organ Theft Legends. Trans, by
Jacqueline Simpson. Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi.
CHEN YINKUN (1991) Qing ji minjiao chongtu de lianghua fenxi, 1860-1899 (A
quantitative analysis of anti-missionary conflicts in the late Qing period, 1860—
1899). Taipei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan.
CHENG, XINGNONG [ed.] (1999) C

Foreign Languages Press.
Chinese Repository (1832-1851) E
Canton.
CHOA, GERALD HUGH (1990) "Heal the Sick" Was Their Motto: The Protestant
Medical Missionaries in China. Hong Kong: Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong Press.
CHORUS, A. (1953) "The basic law of rumor." J. of Abnormal and Social Psychology
48: 313-14.
CHRISTIE, DUG ALD and IZAINGLIS CHRISTIE ( 1914) Thirty Years in Moukden
1883-1913: Being the Experiences and Recollections of Dugald Christie.
London: Constable and Company.
COHEN, PAUL A. (1963) China and Christianity: The Missionary Movement and
the Growth of Chinese Antiforeignism, 1860-1870. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Univ. Press.
COHEN, PAUL A. (1978) "Christian Missions and their impact to 1900." Pp. 545
73 in Dennis Twitchet and John K. Fairbank (eds.), The Cambridge History of
China, Vol. 10, Part 1, Late Ch'ing, 1800-1911. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ.
Press.
COHEN, PAUL A. (1997) History in Three Keys: The Boxers as Event, Experience,
and Myth. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.
CRANSTON, EARL (1930) "The American missionaries' outlook on China, 1830—
1860." PhD diss., Harvard Univ.
CROIZIER, RALPH (1968) Traditional Medicine in Modern China: Science,
Nationalism, and the Tensions of Cultural Change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Univ. Press.
DOBLER, GREGOR (2008) "Solidarity, xenophobia and the regulation of Chinese
businesses in Namibia." Pp. 237-55 in Chris Alden et al. (eds.), China Returns to
Africa: A Rising Power and a Continent Embrace. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
DONOVAN, PAMELA (2007) "How idle is idle talk? One hundred years of rumor
research." Diogenes 54, 1: 59-82.
DUNDES, ALAN [ed.] (1991) The Blood Libel Legend. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin
Press.
ESHERICK, JOSEPH W. and MARY BACKUS RANKIN [eds.] (1990) Chinese

Local Elites and Patterns of Dominance. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
FAIRBANK, JOHN K. (1957) "Patterns behind the Tientsin Massacre." Harvard J. of
Asiatic Studies 20, 3/4: 480-511.
FAY, PETER W. (1970) "The French Catholic mission in China during the Opium
War." Modern Asian Studies 4, 2: 115-28.
FEUCHTWANG, STEPHAN D. R. (1974) An Anthropological Analysis of Chinese
Geomancy. Vientiane, Laos: Vithagna.
FINE, GARY ALAN and BILL ELLIS (2010) The Global Grapevine: Why Rumors
of Terrorism, Immigration, and Trade Matter. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
FORSYTHE, SIDNEY A. (1971) An American Missionary Community in China,
1895-1905. Cambridge, MA: East Asian Research Center, Harvard Univ.
Tian 231
GRUNDMANN, CHRISTOFFER H. (2005) Sent to Heal! Emergence and

Development of Medical Missions. Lanham, MD: Univ. Press of America.
GU CHANGSHENG (1981) Chuanjiaoshi yu jindai Zhongguo (Missionaries and
modern China). Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe.
HE XIAOLIAN (2006) Xiyi dong jian yu wenhua tiaoshi (Western medicine and
cultural accommodation). Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe.
HOBSON, BENJAMIN ( 1844) "Report of the Medical Missionary Society." Chinese
Repository 13: 377-82.
HOOD, GEORGE A. (1986) Mission Accomplished? The English Presbyterian
Mission in Lingtung, South China: A Study of the Interplay between Mission
Methods and Their Historical Context. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
HUANG, PHILIP C. C. (2000) "Biculturality in modern China and in Chinese stud
ies." Modern China 26, 1 (Jan.): 3-31.
HUME, EDWARD (1940) The Chinese Way in Medicine. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
Univ. Press.
Jiaowu jiao'an dang [Archives on Christian affairs and on cases and disputes involv
ing missionaries and Christians] (1974-1981) Taipei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan
jindaishi yanjiusuo.
KESSLER, LAWRENCE D. (1996) The Jiangyin Mission Station. Chapel Hill: Univ.
of North Carolina Press.
KLAPPER, JOSEPH T. (1960) The Effects of Mass Communication. New York:
Free Press of Glencoe.
KNAPP, ROBERT H. (1944) "A psychology of rumor." Public Opinion Q. 8: 22-37.

KUHN, PHILIP A. (1990) Soulstealers: The Chinese Sorcery Scare of 1768.
LAMBUTH, RUSSELL W. (1920) Medical Missions: The Twofold Task. New York:
Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions.
LATOURETTE, KENNETH SCOTT (1929) A History of Christian Missions in
China. New York: Macmillan.
LI DANKE (2004) "Popular culture in the making of anti-imperialist and nationalist

sentiments in Sichuan." Modern China 30, 4 (Oct.): 470-505.
LI SHANGREN (2009) "Zhanshi, shuofu yu yaoyan: shijiu shiji chuanjiao yiliao zai
Zhongguo" (Display, persuasion, and rumors: missionary medicine in nineteenth
century China). Keji, yiliao yu shehui 8: 9-74.
LIANG QIN (2002) Zeng Guofan yu Tianjin jiao'an (Zeng Guofan and the Tianjin
Missionary Case). Hohot: Yuanfang chubanshe.
LINDENFELD, DAVID (2005) "Indigenous encounters with Christian missionaries
in China and West Africa, 1800-1920: a comparative study." J. of World History
16,3:327-69.
LITZINGER, CHARLES (1996) "Rural religion and village organization in north
China: the Catholic challenge in the late nineteenth century." Pp. 41-52 in Daniel
H. Bays (ed.), Christianity in China: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present.
Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press.
LJUNGSTEDT, ANDERS (1839) The Medical Missionary Society in China,

with Minutes of Proceedings, Officers, &c. Also an Appendix, Containing a
Brief Account of an Ophthalmie Institution at Macao [Colledge's Ophthalmie
Hospital], for the Years 1827, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1832. London:
Royston & Brown.
LOCKHART, WILLIAM (1861) The Medical Missionary in China: A Narrative of
Twenty Years' Experience. London: Hurst & Blackett.
LOWE, JOHN (1895) Medical Missions: Their Place and Power. Edinburgh:
Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier.
LU SHIQIANG (2011) Jindai zhishifenzi fan jidujiao wenti lunwenji (Anti
Christianity and intellectuals in modern China). Guilin: Guangxi shifan daxue
chubanshe.
LUTZ, JESSIE G., and ROLLAND R. LUTZ (1998) Hakka Chinese Confront
Protestant Christianity, 1850-1900: With the Autobiographies of Eight Hakka
Christians, and Commentary. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
MACGILLIVRAY, DONALD [ed.] (1907) A Century of Protestant Missions
in China (1807-1907), Being the Centenary Conference Historical Volume.
Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press.
MACGOWAN, JOHN (1909) Lights and Shadows of Chinese Life. Shanghai: North
China Daily News and Herald.
MCGUIRE, W. J. (1969) "The nature of attitude and attitude change." Pp. 136-314
in G. Lindzey and E. Aronson (eds.), The Handbook of Social Psychology, vol. 3.
Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
MILNE, WILLIAM ([1820] 2008) A Retrospect of the First Ten Years of the
Protestant Mission to China. Reprint. Zhengzhou: Daxiang chubanshe.
MO HONGWEI and GUO HANMIN (2003) "Qing zhengfu yu jindai Zhongguo
jiao'an" (The Qing government and anti-missionary cases in modern China).
Guizhou wenshi congkan (Feb.): 19-23.
MORRISON, ROBERT (1839) Memoirs of the Life and Labours of Robert Morrison.
Compiled by Eliza Morrison. London: Longman, Orne, Brown, Green &
Longmans.
MUNGELLO, DAVID (2008) Drowning Girls in China: Female Infanticide since
1650. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
O'CONNELL, BRIAN (1980) "Secrecy in business: a sociological view." Pp. 229
44 in Stanton K. Tefft (ed.), Secrecy: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. New York:
Human Sciences Press.
PARKER, PETER ( 1836) "Letter from Peter Parker, dated Nov. 28,1833." Missionary
Herald 32: 203-4.
Parker Hospital Report 1: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The First Quarterly
Report, Covering the Period Nov. 4, 1835 to Feb. 4, 1835." Chinese Repository
4: 461-73.
Parker Hospital Report 2: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Second Quarterly

Report, Covering the Period Feb. 4, 1836 to May 4, 1836." Chinese Repository
5: 32-42.
Tian 233
Parker Hos
Report, Co
5: 185-92.
Parker Hospital Report 4: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Fourth Quarterly

Report, Covering the Period Aug. 4, 1836 to Nov. 4, 1836." Chinese Repository
5: 323-32.
Parker Hospital Report 5: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Fifth Report, Covering
the Period Nov. 4, 1836 to Feb. 4, 1837." Chinese Repository 5: 456-62.
Parker Hospital Report 6: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Sixth Report,
Covering the Period Feb. 4, 1837 to May 4, 1837." Chinese Repository 6: 34-40.
Parker Hospital Report 7: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Seventh Report,
Covering the Period May 4, 1837 to Dec. 31, 1837." Chinese Repository 6:
433-45.
Parker Hospital Report 8 : "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Eighth Report, Covering
the Period Jan. 1, 1838 to June 30, 1838." Chinese Repository 7: 92-106.
Parker Hospital Report 9: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Ninth Report, Covering
the Period July 1, 1838 to June 30, 1838." Chinese Repository 7: 569-88.
Parker Hospital Report 10: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Tenth Report,
Covering the Period Jan. 1, 1839 to Dec. 31, 1839." Chinese Repository 8:
628-39.
Parker Hospital Report 11 : "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: the Eleventh Report,

Covering the Period Jan. 1, 1840 to June 17, 1840." Chinese Repository 13:
239-47.
Parker Hospital Report 12: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Twelfth Report, Covering
the Period Nov. 21,1842 to Dec. 31,1843." Chinese Repository 13: 239-47.
Parker Hospital Report 13: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Thirteenth Report,
Covering the Period Jan. 1, 1844 to July 1, 1845." Chinese Repository 14:
449-61.
Parker Hospital Report 14: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Fourteenth Report,
Covering the Period July 1, 1845 to Dec. 31, 1847." Chinese Repository 17:
133-50.
Parker Hospital Report 15: "Ophthalmic Hospital at Canton: The Fifteenth Report,
Covering the Period Jan. 1,1848 to Dec. 31,1849." Chinese Repository 19: 253-80.
PARKS, NELSON W. (1948) "Medical missions in China, 1835-1840." MA thesis,
State Univ. of New York at Buffalo.
PENG XINWEI (1994) A Monetary History of China. Trans, by Edward H. Kaplan.

Bellingham: Western Washington Univ.
PETERSON, WARREN A., and NOEL P. GIST ( 1951 ) "Rumor and public opinion."
American J. of Sociology 57, 2: 159-67.
PHILIPS, CLIFTON J. (1969) Protestant Americans and the Pagan World: The First
Half Century of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
Qing ji jiao'an shiliao [Historical materials on missionary cases in the late Qing]
(1937-1948) Compiled by Guoli Beiping gugong bowuyuan. Wenxianguan.
Qing mo jiao'an [Missionary cases in la

First National Archives of China. Bei
RENARD, JEAN-BRUNO (2007) "Deny
RENSHAW, MICHELLE (2005) Accommodating the Chinese: The American
Hospital in China, 1880-1920. New York: Routledge.
ROSNOW, RALPH (1980) "Psychology of rumor reconsidered." Psychological Bull.
87,3:578-91.
ROSNOW, RALPH L. and GARY ALAN FINE (1976) Rumor and Gossip: The
Social Psychology of Hearsay. New York: Elsevier.
ROTENBERG, ROBERT and GARY MCDONOGH [eds.] (1993) The Cultural
Meaning of Urban Space. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey.
RUBINSTEIN, MURRAY A. (1996) The Origins of the Anglo-American Missionary
Enterprise in China, 1807-1840. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
SCHEPER-HUGHES, NANCY (1996) "Theft of life: globalization of organ-stealing
rumors." Anthropology Today 12, 3: 3-11.
SCHEPER-HUGHES, NANCY (2000) "The global traffic in human organs." Current
Anthropology 41, 2: 191-224.
SCHOFIELD, ROBERT HAROLD AINSWORTH and ALFRED TAYLOR
SCHOFIELD (1898) Memorials of R. Harold A. Schofield, M.A., M.B. (Oxon.)
(Late of China Inland Mission): First Medical Missionary to Shan-Si, China.
London: Hodder & Stoughton.
SHIBUTANI, TAMOTSU (1966) Improvised News: A Sociological Study of Rumor.
Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
SHILS, EDWARD A. (1956) The Torment of Secrecy: The Background and
Consequences of American Security Problems. New York: Free Press.
SHILS, EDWARD A. (1966) "Privacy: its constitution and vicissitudes." Law and
Contemporary Problems 31: 281-306.
SIMMEL, GEORG (1906) "The sociology of secrecy and of secret societies."
American J. of Sociology 11: 441-98.
SMITH, ARTHUR HENDERSON ([1899] 1970) Village Life in China. Reprint.
Boston: Little, Brown.
STARR, PAUL (1982) The Social Transformation of American Medicine. New
York: Basic Books.
SU PING (2001) Yaoyan yu jindai jiao'an (Rumor and missionary cases in modern
China). Shanghai: Shanghai yuandong chubanshe.
SWEETEN, ALAN RICHARD (2001) Christianity in Rural China: Conflict and
Accommodation in Jiangxi Province, 1860-1900. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese
Studies, Univ. of Michigan.
TAYLOR, HOWARD (1927) Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission: The
Growth of a Work of God. London: China Inland Mission; Religious Tract
Society.
TEFFT, STANTON (1980) "Secrecy as a social and political process." Pp. 247-72 in
Stanton K. Tefft (ed.), Secrecy: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. New York: Human
Sciences Press.
Tian 235
TER HAAR
Chinese H
WALLS, A
in the Tra
WANG MI
missionary
WEI YUAN
Shaoyang:
WHYTE, B
PA: Morehouse.
WIEST, JEAN-PAUL (2000) "From past contributions to present opportunities: the

Catholic church and education in Chinese mainland during the last 150 years."
Pp. 251-70 in Stephen Uhalley and Xiaoxin Wu (eds.), China and Christianity:
Burdened Past, Hopeful Future. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
WONG CHIMIN and WU LIEN-TEH (1936) History of Chinese Medicine. Shanghai:
National Quarantine Service.
WU SHENGDE and CHEN ZENGHUI (1941) Jiao'an shiliao bianmu (A bibliogra
phy of Chinese source materials dealing with local or international cases involv
ing Christian missions). Peiping: Yenching Univ.
WYLIE, ALEXANDER (1867) Memorials of Protestant Missionaries to the Chinese:
Giving a List of Their Publications, and Obituary Notices of the Deceased.
Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press.
WYMAN, JUDITH (1997) "The ambiguities of Chinese antiforeignism: Chongqing,
1870-1900." Late Imperial China 18, 2: 86-122.
XI LIAN (2008) "A messianic deliverance for post-dynastic China: the launch of the
True Jesus Church in the early twentieth century." Modern China 34, 4 (Oct.):
407-41.
YAN HAIRONG and BARRY SAUTMAN (2012) "Chasing ghosts: rumors and
representations of the export of Chinese convict labor to developing countries."
China Q. 210: 398-418.
YANG, C. K. (1961) Religion in Chinese Society: A Study of Contemporary Social
Functions of Religion and Some of Their Historical Factors. Berkeley: Univ. of
California Press.
YANG NIANQUN (2006) Zaizao bingren: Zhong xi yi chongtu xia de kongjian

zhengzhi, 1832-1985 (Remaking "patients": politics of space in the conflicts
between traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, 1832-1985).
Beijing: Renmin daxue chubanshe.
YWSM: Chouban yiwu shimo, Tongzhi juan [The complete account of our manage
ment of barbarian affairs, Tongzhi period] (1930) Beijing: Gugong bowuyuan.
ZENG GUOFAN (1987) Zeng Guofan quanji: zougao (The collected writings of
Zeng Guofan: memorials). Changsha: Yuelu chubanshe.
ZHOU HAN (1891) The Cause of the Riots in the Yangtse Valley: A "Complete
Picture Gallery." Hankow: Hankow Mission Press.
ZHU DONG'AN (2001) Zeng Guofan

Baihua wenyi chubanshe.
ZINSSER, HANS (1940) As I Remem
Little, Brown.
Author Biography
Xiaoli Tian is an assistant professor
Hong Kong. She received her PhD in
research interests include knowled
medicine.

Week 4 Tian 2015

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Week 4 Tian 2015

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Rumor and Secret Space: Organ-Snatching Tales and Medical Missions in Nineteenth-

2015, Vol. 41(2) 197-236

Organ-Snatching Tales sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

and Medical Missions mcx.sagepub.com

This article examines anti-missionary rumors that prevailed in nineteen

Wild rumors about Christian missionaries—for example, that they goug

'University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

their fetuses—were pervasive in n

To do this, I draw mainly on English- and Chinese-language archival doc

Historical Context: Medical Missions and the

The early Protestant medical m

The feeling of confidence on the par

This was typical of stories told

Eye Surgeries and Eye-

hid the jar

Following the approach of Parker, m

The number of blind people was particula

Eye problems constituted such a great

It may be replied that probably the ordina

... the nati

Faced with this situation, medical missionaries found an advantage in their

to many hundreds of human beings, suffering from blindness, perhaps the

That the eye-gouging rumors appeared only after Protestant missionaries

Christie's account suggests that the eye-gouging rumor was widespread in

hospitals to collect Chinese eyes a

Medical Space and Rumors

Content of the rumor Times appeared

Organ snatching (including eye gouging) 137 66.0

Use of anesthetics to kidnap or control people 74 36.0

Missionaries digging up graves 23 I 1.0

Source. Wang, 1984; and Qing m

from Chinese spatial conce

Figure I. "The Hog Sect Gouging out

Indeed, the word "secrecy" (mimi) is mentioned explicitly in many pam

The Tianjin Missionary Case

Political and Social Conflicts behind the Rumors

A number of historical and political factors contributed to the Ti

(Latourette, 1929: 348-50, 467-68;

Social Studies of Rumors

concealment of information. But someti

investigations, Zeng reported that

1. The church kept its doors clo

These five sources of suspicion s

Hunan province. In the end, he w

Secrecy and Spatial Arra

The Visibility of Activities

First of all, although medical mis

Some Protestant missionary hospitals

Thus, missionary compounds were

SCALE ZOO YARDS

Map op the Canton Factories, 1840. From W. Branston.

Figure 3. Location of Peter Parker's ophthalmic hospital.

been fewer suspicions. In fact, in ea

The Spatial Placement of People

The spatial arrangements of missionaries' everyday activities, which contra

The common feature of secrecy is t

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

missionary to China (Milne, [1820] 20

5. The number of Protestant missionaries in China at a certain historical point is

missionaries or their Chinese conver

Fairbank (1957: 506, n64) highlighted Zeng's "admonition to the gentr

ADOLPH, PAUL ERNEST (1945) Surgery Speaks to China: The Experiences of a

CHENG, XINGNONG [ed.] (1999) C

ESHERICK, JOSEPH W. and MARY BACKUS RANKIN [eds.] (1990) Chinese