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When the Reverend Halvor Ronning, his sister Thea, and fellow missionary Hannah Rorem set out in 1891 to found a Lutheran mission and school in the interior of China, they could not have foreseen the ways in which that decision would ripple across generations of the Ronning family. Halvor and Hannah would marry, and their son Chester, born in Hubei Province in 1894, would spend over half his life in China as a student, teacher, and a Canadian diplomat. Chester's daughter, Audrey, studied at Nanking University during the Chinese Civil War and later spent decades reporting on the People's Republic of China for the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and many other publications. "During the last century," Audrey Topping notes, "a member of our family was there for almost every event of importance." China Mission presents a personal history of her family's ties to their adopted home and the momentous events that radically changed one of the most powerful countries in the world.
The Ronnings found Imperial China at the end of the nineteenth century to be a nation on the cusp of change, and they were swept up as both observers and participants in these dramatic events. During their years as missionaries, the Ronnings witnessed the Boxer Uprising in 1898, the subsequent Palace Coup and the Siege of Peking, the death of the last emperor, and the collapse of China's dynasty system. They also endured personal challenges -- famine, births, deaths, and the almost constant threat of attack -- that were countered with songs, celebrations, friendship, and a deep appreciation for the culture of which they had become a part.
Later, Chester Ronning would return to China, as would his daughter Audrey, bringing their family's story to the end of the twentieth century. This extraordinary account, compiled from the diaries, letters, and photographs of three generations, offers modern readers a rare and remarkable look at a world long gone.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
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  1. Title Page, Copyright Page
  2. pp. i-vi
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-x
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  1. Foreword
  2. pp. xi-xiv
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  1. Preface and Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xv-xviii
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  1. Milestones in the Lives of the Ronning Family
  2. pp. xix-xxii
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  1. Author’s Note on Sources and Chinese Romanization
  2. pp. xxiii-xxvi
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  1. Prologue: China’s Incredible Find
  2. pp. 1-4
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  1. PART I. ARRIVING IN THE MIDDLE KINGDOM
  1. 1. Destination Shanghai
  2. pp. 7-19
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  1. 2. Crossing the Pacific
  2. pp. 20-27
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  1. 3. Sailing up the Yangtze River to Hankow
  2. pp. 28-37
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  1. 4. Culture Shock
  2. pp. 38-48
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  1. 5. The New Mission Field
  2. pp. 49-56
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  1. 6. Journey up the Han River
  2. pp. 57-63
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  1. 7. Opening the Ronning School
  2. pp. 64-69
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  1. 8. The Sino-Japanese War, 1894–1895
  2. pp. 70-75
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  1. 9. Carving up the Chinese Melon
  2. pp. 76-84
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  1. 10. Thea
  2. pp. 85-92
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  1. 11. Hundred Days of Reform, 1898
  2. pp. 93-99
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  1. 12. The Year of the “Boxers United in Righteousness”
  2. pp. 100-109
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  1. 13. The Gathering Storm
  2. pp. 110-114
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  1. 14. The Palace Coup in Peking
  2. pp. 115-123
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  1. 15. Escaping the Boxers
  2. pp. 124-132
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  1. PART II. HOME LEAVE AND RETURN
  1. 16. “Foreign Devils” in the Homeland
  2. pp. 135-141
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  1. 17. Hannah Returns Home
  2. pp. 142-154
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  1. 18. The Siege of Peking
  2. pp. 155-168
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  1. 19. The Ronnings Return to China, 1901
  2. pp. 169-177
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  1. 20. Roots of Revolution, 1904–1905
  2. pp. 178-183
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  1. 21. Sun Yat-sen
  2. pp. 184-187
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  1. 22. Famine
  2. pp. 188-193
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  1. 23. Missionary Conference in Peking
  2. pp. 194-198
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  1. 24. The Old Silk Road
  2. pp. 199-203
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  1. 25. The Last Years
  2. pp. 204-210
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  1. 26. The End of the Imperial Qing Dynasty
  2. pp. 211-214
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  1. PART III. SETTLING IN CANADA
  1. 27. New Frontiers
  2. pp. 217-220
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  1. 28. Vikings Go Forth
  2. pp. 221-227
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  1. 29. Three Greenhorns on the Edson Trail
  2. pp. 228-234
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  1. 30. Valhalla Homestead
  2. pp. 235-242
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  1. 31. Nelius
  2. pp. 243-246
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  1. PART IV. CHESTER RETURNS TO CHINA
  1. 32. In the Footsteps of Halvor, 1921
  2. pp. 249-260
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  1. 33. The Grand Canal
  2. pp. 261-264
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  1. 34. Return to Fancheng, 1923
  2. pp. 265-273
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  1. 35. Narrow Escape, 1927
  2. pp. 274-282
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  1. 36. Uncle Talbert
  2. pp. 283-292
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  1. 37. Camrose and Valhalla
  2. pp. 293-297
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  1. 38. Chungking
  2. pp. 298-307
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  1. 39. Chester’s Family Arrives in War-torn Nanking
  2. pp. 308-324
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  1. 40. Audrey and Top
  2. pp. 325-338
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  1. Epilogue
  2. pp. 339-348
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  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 349-352
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 353-364
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  1. Image Plates
  2. pp. 365-404
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