Griffiths John

1831-1912. Co-founder with Robert Wilson of the first Protestant mission in Inland China. Born in Wales, he was appointed to China by the London Missionary Society in 1855. The first mission was established in Hankow six years later. John traveled widely from Hankow through Hupeh and Hunan and up the Yangtze River into Szechwan, though no work could be started there until 1888, when a Chinese evangelist took up residence in Chungking. Land was purchased in Wuchang in 1863 despite the opposition of officials. John also prepared a translation of the NT in Mandarin, and started on the OT for the Bible Societies. He undertook too a translation into easy Wen-li. In 1901 the LMS under John's leadership established several stations in the long-resistant province of Hunan. John was undoubtedly one of the five most prominent missionaries in China in the nineteenth century.