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.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!