1901 - James Greig

August 7, 1901

Jilin

James Greig.

Dr. James A. Greig was an Irish Presbyterian missionary who died tragically in 1901. Greig arrived in China in 1889, and soon proved himself a gifted and effective worker in God’s harvest. After marrying in 1896, the Greigs laboured in Manchuria, especially within the borders of today’s Jilin Province. The 1900 Boxer Rebellion was a time of intense suffering for the Chinese Church. The time of testing caused the Manchurian church to become like pure gold after it has passed through fire. According to one commentator, the Boxer persecution was

“the epoch of the purifying of the native church. The departure of the absolutely worldly-minded, gain-seeking element, which after experiencing such rough handling desired no more to bear the name of the Church, was a help toward the end of pure spirituality…. The road of persecution had been transformed into the way of re-birth to those who, though exercised, perhaps even beyond their strength, remained to faithfully rally round the Christian standard. The great majority of the believers, when their native land cast them off, clung with new tenacity to the comforting hope of a better country. The treasures of spirit, which cannot be stolen, were esteemed at last as of greatest value.”[1]

Manchuria, with its abundant natural resources, became the prize in a three-way tug-of-war for control. The Russians laid claim to much of the region and had extended their Trans-Siberian Railway deep into China. The Japanese—in a precursor to their later plans for world domination—were also active in Manchuria, while the Chinese struggled to match the technical know-how and military might of their encroaching neighbours. The growing tensions in Manchuria resulted in strong anti-foreign sentiments among the people, and in the summer of 1901, emotions were reaching boiling point. Russian soldiers were particularly hated, having abused many Chinese women and girls.

On August 7, 1901, an anti-foreign riot broke out in Jilin Province and James Greig was ruthlessly murdered by soldiers. Greig was one of the many Presbyterian missionaries who helped sow the seed that brought such tremendous revival to Manchuria between 1903 and 1908.