ABSTRACT
Amongst all the missionary press publications in nineteenth-century China, without doubt, Wanguo Gongbao1 stood out as the most influential periodical. Its peak time, however, arrived at the later stage of its thirty-three-year existence at the end of the nineteenth century, when it became fully engaged with social and political affairs and as the Chinese national crisis deepened. In this chapter, we will explore how an ordinary Protestant periodical grew to make a considerable impact on the Chinese high mandarins, élite scholars and the Reform Movement of 1895-8. To begin with, we will investigate the humble origins of Wanguo Gongbao.
