ABSTRACT

The Chen family saga begins around 1860. Chen Chunghai learned the trade of barrel carpentry. Chen’s grandfather joined the American Episcopalian mission church while he was young, and Chen Renbing's father joined the American Swedish Covenant Church congregation. In 1926, Marcus Chen and family left Zhangjiakou for Suiyuan, about 30 miles east of Baotou, to work in the China Inland Mission. Chen Renbing discovered three things about himself that day. First, he was interested in politics, second he was good at public speaking and third, he enjoyed the attention he received. Chen Renbing crossed the Pacific on board the S. S. President Taft on his way to study for a master degree at the University of Southern California. Chen joined Pearl in Chicago that summer and he and Pearl worked at the World's Fair.