page_title: David Crockett Graham
section_title: China, 1911-1948
hierarchical_section_title: David Crockett Graham / China, 1911-1948
caption_attribution_description: English: Trackers pulling houseboat through rapids on the Yangtze River. Inscription on back claims 1925 or 1926, but this picture was published in 1913.
context_page_description: David Crockett Graham was a polymath American Baptist minister and missionary, educator, author, archeologist, anthropologist, naturalist and field collector in Szechuan Province, West China from 1911 to 1948. From 1921 to 1942, Graham collected and sent to the Smithsonian Institution nearly 400,000 zoological specimens, including more than 230 new species and 9 new genera, of which 29 were named after him. From 1932 to 1942 he was curator of the Museum of Art, Archeology and Ethnology at the West China Union University, which still stands as part of Sichuan University, in Chengtu. There, he taught comparative religions at the Theological College, and archeology and anthropology at the University. He wrote extensively and spent his retirement years, from 1950 to 1961, in Englewood, Colorado compiling his writings and research into three books that were published by the Smithsonian Institution. McKhann refers to Graham as "One of a handful of Western missionaries whose scientific work was respected by other scientists—and of even fewer scientists whose religious work was respected by other missionaries."
context_section_description: The years that Graham was in China, 1911-1948, were marked by instability and turbulence. They began with the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 (see Xinhai Revolution) while Graham was in transit from the United States and ended with the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949 following the Chinese Communist Revolution, which concluded less than a year after Graham retired and returned to the United States.
    
  Szechwan Province in West China was remote from the central government (normally in Nanking), and required a two-month trip up the Yangtze River to reach Suifu. The Western Provinces were ruled by warlords and were rife with bandits in the countryside. There were revolts in the West when Yuan Shikai declared himself emperor in 1915, and Yunnan Province invaded Szechwan. Suifu (where Graham was stationed) is on the Yangtze river near the border of Yunnan and was occupied by Yunnan troops.
  Throughout most of this period of time, there were conflicts with the Japanese. The Japanese declared war on Germany early in World War I and had a large contingent in Versailles to participate in treaty negotiations. The resulting Treaty of Versailles in 1919 awarded Germany's holdings in the Pacific, North of the equator, including Shandong, China, to Japan. This led to outrage among the Chinese and to the May Fourth Movement protesting imperialism and instigating violence against westerners. The 1920s was an ongoing period of instability and warlordism. Both Sun Yat-sen and Yuan Shikai died. Chiang Kai-shek consolidated power through the Northern Expedition against warlords in 1926 to 1928, but never really controlled all of China. The Nanking Incident in 1927 again demonstrated Chinese hostility toward imperialist powers. The Chinese Communist Revolution was underway in the late 1920s, and the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931. Both of these hostilities continued, and Japan declared all out war on China in 1937. The Chinese Nationalist government was relocated to Chungking in Szechwan Province, and many students and faculty evacuated from Eastern Universities were relocated to Chengdu, where Graham was from 1932 to 1948. Chengdu itself was bombed by the Japanese as early as 1938. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was engaged in military action in Xinjiang. Around 1942, Japan had taken over IndoChina and Burma, completely cutting off western China, except for flights over the Himalayas.
  As World War II was coming to a close, the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria. In the aftermath of the War, Chiang Kai-shek was severely weakened, the Chinese economy was ruined, inflation was rampant, and the Communist Revolution was gaining strength. The era of the Republic of China ended on the mainland, and the era of the People's Republic of China began in 1949.
  During the years that Graham was in China, there were numerous incidents in which foreigners, and sometimes missionaries or Christians in particular, were the targets of violence. The May Fourth Movement and the Nanking Incident were prominent examples (the Boxer Rebellion antedated his time in China). The Communist's animosity toward Christianity also resulted in killings (see for example, Murder of John and Betty Stam). Graham himself was held captive by Communist troops in 1933, but managed to talk his way out. There was also widespread violence in the countryside by bandits and brigands. Graham typically had to hire military guards on his field trips and nevertheless had many narrow escapes.
caption: Trackers pulling a houseboat through rapids on the Yangtze in 1913.
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