ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book deals with very different regions from the Middle East to Japan and with such diverse aspects as the clothing of missionaries, the variety of their roles at court, and the seclusion of Asian households, the contributions largely adhere to the central questions outlined by the editors. Just as important as the will to conduct missionary activities, however, would have been the willingness on the ground to tolerate or even promote such efforts. The danger of suffering martyrdom permanently accompanied the missionaries in Asia. The promotion of patrons, who gave the missionaries access to places and people and paved their way from the province to Beijing, proved to be so influential that neither the movement patterns of the missionaries nor the geographical expansion of the mission in China could be explained without the patronage factor.
