Arthur Henderson Smith Arthur Henderson Smith ( July 18 , 1845 – August 31 , 1932 ) ( Chinese name 明恩溥 Ming Enpu ) was a missionary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions famous for spending 54 years as a missionary in China and writing books which presented China to foreign readers . These books include " Chinese Characteristics " , " Village Life in China " and " The Uplift of China " . In the 1920s , " Chinese Characteristics " was still the most widely read book on China among foreign residents there . Biography . He was born in Vernon , Connecticut , served as a soldier in the Civil War before graduating from Beloit College , then briefly attended Andover Theological Seminary before taking a degree from Union Theological Seminary . After marrying Emma Jane Dickinson , he was ordained into the Congregational ministry . The couple sailed for China in 1872 . They then established themselves at Pangjiazhuang , a village in Shandong , where they stayed until the Boxer Uprising , which did not harm their establishment . The Boxer Rebellion . In 1898 and 1899 an indigenous anti - foreign movement arose in Shandong province . One of the missionaries there , possibly Smith , named the participants , mostly farmers , the “ Boxers ” because of their athletic rituals . The Boxer movement rapidly spread to several provinces in northern China and , eventually , received the support of the Chinese government . Smith and his wife were attending a missionary conference in Tongzhou in May 1900 when all the missionaries in Northern China found it necessary to seek safety from the Boxers by fleeing to Beijing or Tianjin . The missionary William Scott Ament rescued Smith , 22 other American missionaries and about 100 Chinese Christians in Tongzhou and escorted them to Peking . They took refuge in the Legation Quarter during the famous siege of the legations from June 20 to August 14 , 1900 . Smith ’ s role in the siege was a minor one as a gate guard , but he gathered material for his book , " China in Convulsion " , which is the most detailed account of the Boxer Rebellion . In 1906 , Smith helped to persuade President Theodore Roosevelt to devote the indemnity payments China was making to the United States to the education of Chinese students . 。 More than $ 12 million was spent on this Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program . Later Life and Legacy . Due to his books , Smith was probably the most famous American missionary of the day . His prominence was recognized in 1907 when he was elected the American co - chairman of the China Centenary Missionary Conference in Shanghai , a conference attended by more than 1 , 000 Protestant missionaries . He retired as a missionary in 1926 , 54 years after his arrival in China . His wife died the same year . He died in California in 1932 , 87 years old . Famous Chinese author Lu Xun has written that he was influenced by Smith ' s " Chinese Characteristics " , which was translated into Chinese , as well as Japanese and several European languages . He is remembered for speaking out against the Chinese practice of killing baby girls and drawing attention to this problem that was often ignored , even among other missionaries . — — — . " Village Life in China ; a Study in Sociology " . New York , Chicago [ etc . ] : F . H . Revell Company , 1899 . Various reprints . — — — . " Proverbs and Common Sayings from the Chinese , Together with Much Related and Unrelated Matter , Interspersed with Observations on Chinese Things in General " . New York , 1914 . Reprint , Paragon 1965 .