ABSTRACT
Zhang Zhongmu' s preaching was decisive in the conversion of the Zeng brothers in Yuankeng, an important addition since many belonging to the Zeng lineage became staunch Christians and several subsequently served as evangelists.3 Zhongmu also had a role in the recruitment ofLai Xinglian as an evangelist. Having obtained a New Testament and Christian tracts from his brotherin-law, Xu Fuguang, Lai attended his first Christian service in 1854. At the religious ceremony held in Xu Fuguang's home, Lai also encountered Zhang Fuxing, Zhang Zhongmu, and Zhang Yunfa. Afterwards Zhang Zhongmu engaged Lai in a conversation which ranged from a discussion of Christian doctrines to a comparison of Christian and Confucian teachings. Lai employed quotations and citations from the Confucian classics to illustrate the compatibility of Christian ethics with Confucian teachings, but he also argued for Christianity's superiority to Confucianism, a technique which immediately impressed Zhang Zhongmu and Zhang Fuxing. Reasoning that Lai could help in countering the objections of those committed to Confucianism and possibly even conve:t some literati, they persuaded Lai to join the small core of evangelists. Some days later Zhongmu and Zhang Yunfa took Lai out on his first itineration in the environs of Gaozhai. Together, they proselytized in Huangzhaoliang, Shuangtou and Dabuping.
