James Hudson Taylor committed himself to going to China as a missionary at the age of 17. Less than four years later, and before completing his medical studies, he set out for China, arriving in Shanghai in 1854, in the midst of a civil war. At first he encountered a poor reception for his preaching efforts, but things improved when he started wearing the same style of clothing as that worn by the Chinese. Taylor suffered a number of hardships, including losing all his medical supplies in a fire and being robbed of nearly everything he had. In 1858 he married the daughter of a London Missionary Society missionary, and in 1860 he returned to England on furlough.
While in England, Taylor worked on a translation of the New Testament into the Ningbo dialect and completed his medical studies. He travelled extensively around Britain promoting the needs of China. In 1865 he founded the China Inland Mission (now known as the Overseas Missionary Fellowship), and within one year 24 missionaries had been accepted for service. Like the London Missionary Society, the China Inland Mission was non-denominational. Taylor then returned to China is 1866 with the largest party of missionaries ever sent to China, all dressed in Chinese clothing, to the amusement of other foreigners in Shanghai.
Taylor served in China for 51 years. The work of the China Inland Mission was very extensive over that period of time, with the Mission bringing over 800 missionaries to China, 125 schools being founded, and 18,000 Chinese people becoming Christians before Taylor’s death at the age of 73.