Mission and Revolution in Central Asia - Svenska Missionskyrkan

missionaries tried to reach the Chinese through the ordinary Muslim mission. This however
proved impossible. The Chinese differed from the Muslims in so many ways: language,
customs, outlook on life, religion and so on. The only way of reaching the Chinese in a proper
way was to start a special branch of work, among them. This Mission branch was to follow its
own policy. 68
With the arrival of Albert Andersson in the field, at the turn of the century, the Chinese
Mission was initiated. Mr and Mrs Andersson had previously worked as missionaries in
Northern China, where they had served the Christian Missionary Alliance, also called the
Franson Mission Society. 69 They therefore knew the language and were well acquainted with
Chinese conditions. While on furlough in Sweden they were called upon by the MCCS to
come and serve as missionaries to the Chinese in Eastern Turkestan. Andersson was no
stranger to the MCCS. At the end of the 1880s he had studied at the MCCS Mission School,
and after that served for some time as a pastor in the MCCS congregation of Skövde. 70
Concurrently with the expansion of the Chinese branch of the Mission a stormy chapter of
the Eastern Turkestan Mission opens. This was especially clear after the arrival of John
Törnquist in the mission field in 1904. With the introduction of the Chinese branch, the
Eastern Turkestan Mission acquired a peculiar structure. It turned into two separate Missions
with a common administration and common funds. All the conditions were present for a
conflict, as the two Missions, with the best of intentions, developed in separate ways.
All the missionaries agreed that mission work among the Chinese was necessary. After all,
the Chinese were the master race holding all higher offices in the country. This in itself was a
strong reason for working among the Chinese. But where mission methods were concerned,
opinions differed. Some missionaries wanted Chinese Mission, of a distinctive character,
within the Muslim Mission. Others were of the opinion that the Chinese Mission had to
follow its own policy and form a special branch. The former united around Högberg and
Raquette and the latter around Andersson and Törnquist.
When finally the MCCS opted for a special Chinese branch, this Mission came to be the
cause of much irritation and tension among the missionaries for a long time. The missionaries
to the Muslims were of the opinion that the extent of the Chinese Mission was not justifiable
with regard taken to how few the Chinese were. And maybe they were right. It is quite
possible that the MCCS gave priority to the Chinese Mission, and that in accordance with a
general tendency at the time. Of course Waldenström’s visit to China in 1907 contributed to
increased mission efforts. In the same year, Högberg published a small booklet on Eastern
Turkestan where he writes about the exceedingly small number of Chinese within the
population:
“The question of how many percent of the population are Chinese is of special interest for us and for our
Mission. However opinions differ as to the number of Chinese here. The British Consul believes them to
be 0,33 % of the population. One of our Christian Chinese brothers thought they were only ‘one in a
thousand’. This seems however to be a very low estimate…in my opinion, the Chinese ‘in the six cities’
are more likely to be below than above the number of three percent of the population.” 71
Shortly afterwards, the Mission Secretary Sjöholm sent a letter to Törnquist, referring to
Högberg’s figures. Considering the fact that the number of Chinese in Eastern Turkestan was
negligible, the Chinese Mission must be relegated to a second place in planning the work.
Törnquist took offence and in a reply he points out that in certain parts of the country, the
Chinese population was about 50 %. According to him Högberg’s figures were totally
68 Törnquist, 1928, p. 447 f.
69 Ohldén, 1906, p. 102.
70 Lundahl, 1917, p. 544 f.
71 Högberg, 1907, p. 14 f.
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