Grace Dyer Taylor
Encyclopedia
Grace Dyer Taylor (31 July 1859 – 23 August 1867) was the eldest surviving daughter of James Hudson Taylor and Maria Jane Dyer
Maria Jane Dyer
Maria Jane Dyer was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China, and "Mother" of the China Inland Mission with her husband, founder James Hudson Taylor. She was a pioneer missionary and educator there for 12 years . In 1858, she married Taylor and was an invaluable assistant and influence...
, Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionaries to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The event of her death of meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
at the age of eight near Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
has been cited by mission historians such as Ruth Tucker, Roger Steer, and John Pollock among others as being a turning point in the history of the China Inland Mission.
A short life
Grace was born in NingboNingbo
Ningbo is a seaport city of northeastern Zhejiang province, Eastern China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, the municipality has a population of 7,605,700 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 3,089,180 in the built up area made of 6 urban districts. It lies south of the Hangzhou Bay,...
during the Second Opium War
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...
, the day after rioting broke out in parts of the city. The Taylors had only one means of escape if the church building where they lived ever came under attack: a rope hanging from a second story window down to the narrow canal behind their home. The last instance that they came close to needing it was the day before Grace was born.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
with them and while there, her father founded the China Inland Mission
China Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
in 1865. She spent the next six years in London where three younger brothers joined the family.
In 1866 Grace was one of the four Taylor children to journey with the "Lammermuir Party
Lammermuir Party
The Lammermuir Party of 1866 was a British Protestant Christian group of missionaries to China with the China Inland Mission led by James Hudson Taylor, who were identified with the tea clipper Lammermuir which brought them to China. Mission historians have indicated that this event was a turning...
", the largest group of Protestant missionaries that had ever sailed, returning to China in 1866.
Her father was criticized for taking unmarried women missionaries into China, and replied in this way,
On board the tea clipper Lammermuir, Grace shared a cabin with Emily Blatchley
Emily Blatchley
Emily Blatchley was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China with the China Inland Mission. She pioneered the work of single women missionaries in China and served as personal secretary to the founder of the mission, James Hudson Taylor.-Biographical sketch:Blatchley lost her mother and...
, who was in charge of teaching the Taylor children. Jennie Faulding
Jennie Faulding Taylor
Jane Elizabeth "Jennie" Faulding Taylor , was a British Protestant missionary to China with the China Inland Mission. She pioneered the work of single women missionaries in China and eventually married the founder of the mission, James Hudson Taylor, after the death of his first wife, Maria Jane Dyer...
was one of the first to take note of Grace's apparent conversion to Christianity along with a number of the crew while they sailed across the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. The Lammermuir was almost wrecked by two typhoons before arriving in battered shape at Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. No lives were lost, but the passengers and crew were weary and exhausted on their arrival.
In China during 1867 the young missionary agency was troubled by internal divisions that nearly frustrated the widest evangelistic endeavor since the time of Paul the Apostle. Grace's father's policy that all should wear the native Chinese clothing—missionaries and children alike—was controversial among the Protestant British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in China. During the critical first year of the China Inland Mission in Hangzhou, Grace suffered from a fever and died. Her death shook the Taylor family severely, but it also aroused sympathy for and brought a realization among the missionaries and the Chinese that no cost was too great to the Taylors in bringing the Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Internal differences among the missionaries were shortly resolved and the work continued in scope.
Tucker writes:
Hudson recalled his daughter's Christian faith for years afterward. His memory of taking Grace and Bertie, Freddie and Sammie for a walk shortly before her death is repeated in several biographies. Hudson had wanted to have some quiet prayer with them under a shady tree in the heat of summer. He held Grace’s hand as they were walking into the woods up a steep stony path made for the Buddhist pilgrims. Soon they came upon a man making an idol
Cult image
In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents...
by the side of the path. Grace asked him if he were really making one of the idols that they would worship instead of God. When he told her that it was- she said “Oh papa, that man does not know Jesus! He would never make an ugly idol like that if he knew Jesus. Do tell him about Jesus!” Hudson stopped and spoke kindly to the man about Grace's request. The man went on finishing his idol and did not seem to care. Taking Grace’s hand again, they went on walking. Even when she looked back- the man was still at his work. When they stopped under a big tree, Hudson asked, “What shall we sing, Gracie, dear?” She said, “Let us have “Rock of Ages, cleft for me”. Her father recalled the moment decades later:
Grace's younger siblings that survived went on to become missionaries in China: Herbert Hudson Taylor
Herbert Hudson Taylor
Herbert Hudson Taylor , British Protestant Christian missionary to China, author, speaker and eldest son of James Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission and Maria Jane Dyer...
, Frederick Howard Taylor
Frederick Howard Taylor
Frederick Howard Taylor a.k.a F. Howard Taylor , was a British pioneer Protestant Christian missionary to China, author, speaker and second son of James Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission , and Maria Jane...
, and Maria Hudson (Taylor) Coulthard.
In a letter dated Thursday 29 August 1867, Hudson Taylor wrote to William Thomas Berger
William Thomas Berger
William Thomas Berger was a Christian starch manufacturer in London and owner of Samuel Berger & Co., a patent rice starch manufacturer, who became the first home director of the China Inland Mission with James Hudson Taylor in 1865. At this time the headquarters of the mission agency was located...
in England:
Grace's remains were buried in an above-ground tomb in the rock-garden
Chinese garden
The Chinese garden, also known as a Chinese classical garden, is a style of landscape garden which has evolved for more than three thousand years, and which is inspired by Chinese literature, Chinese painting and Chinese philosophy...
on the property of the China Inland Mission compound in Hangzhou. Wang Laijun
Wang Laijun
Wang Laiquan or Wang Laijun was a Chinese Protestant Christian pastor and missionary in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China in the late 19th century. "One of China's great, if unsung Christians, after Pastor Xi Shengmo.....
spent several weeks making her a heavily lacquer
Lacquer
In a general sense, lacquer is a somewhat imprecise term for a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required...
ed wooden coffin. Her funeral was held on the anniversary of the Lammermuir Party's arrival in Shanghai. However, due to fears that human remains being interred on the premises might create misunderstandings and possibly violent conflict with local sensibilities, her remains were moved by boat on the Grand Canal
Grand Canal of China
The Grand Canal in China, also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou...
to Zhenjiang
Zhenjiang
Zhenjiang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Jiangsu province in the eastern People's Republic of China . Sitting on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Changzhou to the east, and Yangzhou across the river to the north.Once...
, where her mother and two brothers had been laid to rest not long after her death. The small Protestant cemetery where she was buried in Zhenjiang was where Hudson wanted to be laid to rest as well. He followed his wife and four children there in 1905. The cemetery itself was destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution by Red Guards in China
Red Guards (China)
Red Guards were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people in the People's Republic of China , who were mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution.-Origins:...
as part of the Destruction of the Four Olds
Four Olds
The Four Olds or the Four Old Things were Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Ideas. One of the stated goals of the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China was to bring an end to the Four Olds...
campaign. Today there are industrial buildings over the site.
Chronology
1859-1860- born 31 July 1859 in Bridge Street, NingboNingboNingbo is a seaport city of northeastern Zhejiang province, Eastern China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, the municipality has a population of 7,605,700 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 3,089,180 in the built up area made of 6 urban districts. It lies south of the Hangzhou Bay,...
(Ningpo), ZhejiangZhejiangZhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
, ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture... - sailed to England (via Cape of Good Hope) with her parents aboard the Jubilee (clipper) Wednesday 18 July 1860 – sailed 19 July
- the Jubilee arrived Monday 20 November 1860 anchor off GravesendGravesend, KentGravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
: 4 months & 3 days (126 days aboard)
1861-1865
- moved with parents Tuesday 9 April 1861 in #1 Beaumont Street, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
- moved with parents Wednesday 6 October 1864 in #30 Coborn Street, London
1866-67
- Sailed to China (via Cape of Good Hope) aboard the Lammermuir (clipper)Lammermuir (clipper)The second ship to bear the name Lammermuir was an extreme composite clipper ship built in 1864 by W. Pile & Co of West Hartlepool for John "Jock" "White Hat" Willis & Son, London...
(part of the "Lammermuir Party", with her parents Saturday 26 May 1866 - 13 August 1866: evident to Maria & Hudson that Grace is converted to Christ
- September 1866: sailing through 2 typhoons in the East China SeaEast China SeaThe East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...
& Pacific OceanPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World... - The Lammermuir arrived 29 September 1866 in WusongWusongWusong,Chinese: s , t , p Wúsōng. formerly Woosung, was a port town located fourteen miles downriver from Shanghai.The Battle of Woosung occurred on 16 June 1842 between British and Chinese forces during the First Opium War. It was the site of China's first telegraph wires and first railroad, both...
, China - 27 October 1866 departure from ShanghaiShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
along the Grand Canal of ChinaGrand Canal of ChinaThe Grand Canal in China, also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou... - 22 November 1866 Arrival in HangzhouHangzhouHangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
- Died of meningitis at Pengshan Temple 8:50pm Friday, 23 August 1867: 8 years & 24 days old