In the Province of the Dragon
The Flower Mountain Quartet, Volume 3: A Pioneer Deaconess in Southern China from the Boxer Uprising to the Communist Insurgency
- History & Biography
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
This book provides a close-up account of a singular woman's life and work. Sophie Newton's desire to serve God led her to the forefront of missionary work in Southeast China from the last years of the Imperial Dynasty. She lived through the tumultuous events of the Boxer Rebellion, the Nationalist Revolution, the Warlord Conflicts, and the rise of the Communist Movement. Newton spent her life empowering females through establishing schools, training Bible-women, and adopting children as well as challenging infanticide, child marriage, foot-binding, and the opium trade. Drawing on a wide range of family journals, personal letters, archival records, newspaper reports, and personal interviews, this book tells her story: one that shows how personal conviction, selflessness, and single-minded compassion can make a real and lasting difference to people in a village, provincial city, capital, or province.
Endorsements (2)
“In the Province of the Dragon is a beautifully realistic and at times poignant portrayal of a single lady missionary to China—battling with loneliness and ill health amongst other challenges as part of the cost of answering God’s call. Through the authors’ extensive research and thoughtfulness, they have brought to life their grandaunt’s love for China and the Chinese people and her courage against the backdrop of an ever-changing political context. This book is definitely a precious record and resource for Christians, missionaries, and missiologists!”
“In The Province of the Dragon by Robert and Linda Banks delivers a heartfelt and meticulously researched account of Sophie Sackville Newton, a missionary who devoted her life to serving in China’s Fujian province during a tumultuous era of East-West conflict and misunderstanding (1890s–1930s). Through Sophie’s personal stories and rich historical context, the Banks’ illuminate the extraordinary challenges she faced and the profound impact she had. As a New Testament scholar from Fujian, I was deeply moved by Sophie’s legacy and the enduring contributions of missionaries like her, which have become an integral part of our lives. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Christianity in China.”
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