Skip to main content
Cover of Children of the Massacre

Children of the Massacre

The Flower Mountain Quartet, Volume 1: The Extra-ordinary Story of the Stewart Family in Hong Kong and West China

  • History & Biography
  • Publisher: Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock)
  • Published: 2021

FritzSearch.com earns a commission on purchases made through Bookshop.org links.

Publisher's Description

Early morning on 1 August 1895, a group of armed insurgents attacked a remote mission station in China. An Irish couple, Robert and Louisa Stewart, and two of their young children were murdered. Three other children were wounded but escaped, while three older boys were away at school in England. From their early years, the six surviving Stewart children, most of whom were born in China, believed they had "unfinished business" there. One after another, each returned to their adopted country, where they founded and served schools, churches, student hostels, and hospitals. Their visionary contributions took place against the backdrop of the Nationalist Revolution, anti-Western demonstrations, and the Japanese invasion and occupation of China. More than seventy-five years ago, Bishop R. O. Hall of Hong Kong stated: "the story of the Stewart family needs to be told!" This thoroughly researched volume finally documents the lives and legacy of one of the most impressive families in missionary history.


Endorsements (2)

“This superb book is a rare combination of meticulous scholarship, clear organization, lively writing, and a warm evangelical tone. The authors draw upon correspondence, archives, newspapers, historical monographs, and interviews with eyewitnesses to weave a narrative that brings events of a hundred years ago to life. The photographs add immensely to the reader’s engagement with the truly outstanding family whose story is so powerfully told here. A significant contribution to the history of missions in China.”

G. Wright Doyle

“Too often, the contemporary critique of colonial missionary enterprise undermines the astonishing contributions and sacrifices Western missionaries had made to what is called ‘Chinese Christianity’ today. This book highlights these contributions through a fascinating account of the Stewart family across a century. . . . Readers will be inspired by this freshly told historical account of mission that is long overdue, and marvel at the undergirding faith compelled by the relentless love of God for China.”

Xiaoli Yang

See something wrong on this page? Report a problem