On the Local Reception and Dissemination of Christian Novel Illustrations in Late Qing Guangdong

Abstract

Since the 19th century, Protestant missionaries in Guangdong have extensively engaged in the translation and publication of religious texts, employing localized strategies in the illustration of Christian novels. Within the local cultural context of late Qing Guangdong, missionaries collaborated with local scholars, used Cantonese for writing, and designed novel illustrations to overcome barriers in doctrinal dissemination, thereby facilitating the spread of Christianity. The illustrations in missionary-published novels, such as The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular and The Spiritual Warfare in Vernacular, adopted the stylistic features of Ming and Qing novel woodcuts in terms of lines, composition, character attire, and settings. Furthermore, they skillfully incorporated the Confucian moral framework of loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness, as represented in the Sacred Edict, into their narrative ethics, while integrating elements such as Buddhist causality and Daoist imagery into a “didactic” system. This localization strategy, combined with a “trinity” reading guidance model comprising images, text, and biblical annotations, visually elucidated the tenets of the Bible and encouraged the public to embrace Christianity. The localized practice of missionary novel illustrations served as a conscious and effective visual strategy aimed at bridging cultural divides and promoting the dissemination of the Gospel. It profoundly reflects the visual agency in modern Sino–Western cultural exchanges and significantly advanced the propagation of Christianity.

1. Protestant Missionary Context and the Publication of Novel Illustrations

Since the 19th century, Protestant missionaries have actively engaged in publishing religious literature in Guangdong. Missionaries such as James Legge, George Piercy, and Emma Young compiled a considerable number of biblical literary works. For example, William Milne adopted the narrative framework of the Chinese text Ru Jiao Xin 儒交信 in his work Zhang Yuan Liang You Xiang Lun, 張遠兩友相論 which depicts a Christian convincing a friend to convert through dialog. Similarly, James Legge utilized the traditional Chinese chapter-novel format in his Brief Account of Joseph. The term “modern missionary novels” as used in this paper refers to fictional stories created by missionaries who came to China from the mid-19th to the early 20th century, based on the Bible. These works were written in the Cantonese dialect, with at least one narrative level or one functional language primarily in Cantonese. They underwent a certain degree of conscious fictionalization and artistic elaboration, and their main body consists of non-verse narrative literary works (Zhou 2024, p. 156). Notably, these Protestant missionaries innovatively adopted the format of traditional Chinese chapter-divided novels and produced seven Christian works in Cantonese dialect. Among them, missionaries compiled seven Cantonese-dialect novels by imitating the chapter-based narrative style of traditional Chinese fiction. These works were characterized by the use of written Cantonese (Guangzhou dialect) and the inclusion of traditional Chinese illustrations, aiming to facilitate the acceptance of Biblical teachings among local readers in Guangdong. Although scholars have conducted some research on the illustrations in late Qing missionary novels, such studies remain insufficiently in-depth. This paper employs an interdisciplinary approach, analyzing the relationship between literature and images to explore how missionaries utilized illustrations to localize Biblical narratives during their evangelization efforts, ultimately promoting the spread of Christian faith.1 These publications were characterized by their use of Guangzhou vernacular writing and incorporation of traditional Chinese-style illustrations, aiming to facilitate the acceptance of biblical teachings among local Guangdong readers through localized expression. Academics have conducted preliminary explorations in related areas: Alexander Wylie systematically documented 19th-century missionary Chinese novel publications, Patrick Hanan investigated the historical development of missionary novel publishing, and Chen Pingyuan analyzed the narrative function of illustrations in The Pilgrim’s Progress. However, a comprehensive study examining the localization strategies of Christian novels from the perspective of visual art remains absent. Domestic and international research on the dissemination of Christianity in China has yielded substantial results. In the study of novel illustrations, a representative work is Chen Pingyuan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress as an Illustrated Novel” in Book Town (No. 9, 2003). Regarding textual transmission practices, a notable example is Cao Zhengyong’s “The Walking Sacred Word: A Preliminary Study of the Dissemination of the Christian Missionary Work The Pilgrim’s Progress in China” in Christianity (No. 1, 2019). In the field of textual translation, key research includes Patrick Hanan and Yao Dahui’s “Chinese Christian Literature: The Writing Process” in Studies in Chinese Literature (No. 1, 2012). Considering the cultural context faced by Protestant missionaries in Guangdong, this study reveals the transformation patterns between text and images in modern Christian novels. On the one hand, the lower-class populace in Guangdong had limited literacy, and their knowledge structure and ethical beliefs differed significantly from the doctrines in the Bible, as they were more inclined toward popular vernacular novels. On the other hand, missionaries composed and rewrote works in the Cantonese dialect. For instance, missionary Yung Yee-mei explained in the translation of The War of the Soul into local dialect: “Having often read this book, which greatly benefits both body and soul, I specifically translated it into the language of the Central Land and the local tongue of Canton, so that readers may understand it not only with their mouths but also in their hearts, truly desiring them to walk together on the path of eternal life.” 因常覽是書，大益身靈。故特將此書譯成中土文字，羊城土話，俾讀者了於口而亦明於心，實欲其同步永生之路焉. To better convey the Bible to the people of Guangdong, employing a localized strategy—that is, using the Cantonese dialect to write popular literary stories accompanied by traditional Ming and Qing-style illustrations—could achieve widespread acceptance among readers. Therefore, we argue that the illustrations in late Qing Guangdong Christian novels demonstrate the Protestant missionaries’ emphasis on integrating biblical themes with local cultural ethics, employing visual localization strategies in promoting religious doctrines.

In the 19th century, Protestant missionaries in Guangdong faced a unique cultural context. The Cantonese dialect served as the primary daily language among the local population, with low literacy rates among the lower classes who were deeply influenced by popular culture such as chapter-based novels and local operas. The gentry class adhered firmly to Confucian traditions, and folk belief systems, such as ancestor worship and Buddhist-Daoist rituals, were deeply entrenched. To overcome these cultural barriers, the missionaries adopted a localization strategy, translating the Bible and religious stories into the Cantonese dialect while actively drawing on the narrative styles of classical Chinese fiction and the illustration traditions of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

1.1. The Social Context Faced by Protestant Missionaries

These novels, rewritten from the Bible and stories of Jesus, were collaboratively produced by missionaries alongside Guangdong-based tutors and scholars. Composed in the Cantonese dialect, their purpose was to encourage moral conduct and ultimately foster belief in Christianity. According to Zhou Shimin’s research, there were seven such missionary-compiled Cantonese dialect novels in the 19th century, listed chronologically as The Prodigal Son Repents (Lang Zi Hui Gai 浪子悔改), Cast into the Furnace Unharmed (Luo Lu Bu Shao 落爐不燒), A Simple Translation of Biblical History (Shu Shi Qian Yi 述史淺譯), The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular (Xv Tian Lu Li Cheng Tu Hua 續天路歷程土話), The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular (Tian Lu Li Cheng Tu Hua 天路歷程土話), The Spiritual Warfare in Vernacular (Ren Ling Zhan Ji Tu Hua 人靈戰紀土話), and Gusu’s Journey (GuSuLi Cheng 辜蘇歷程). With the exception of Cast into the Furnace Unharmed, these novels were accompanied by illustrations. These images, with their lines and composition imitating the style of Ming and Qing novel illustrations, Chen Pingyuan observed: “The illustrations in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Local Dialect are almost entirely Sinicized, from the character designs to the clothing, architecture, and objects. Except for a few details such as the cross, one can hardly tell that the work being interpreted is originally an English novel.” (Chen 2003, p. 68). Li Zipeng also noted: “The architectural illustrations in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Local Dialect undoubtedly imitate the distinctive features of traditional Chinese architecture. Upon closer inspection of the ornaments on the roof ridges, it becomes evident that the illustrator intentionally integrated elements of Christian faith into them.” (Z. Li 2012, p. 182). These illustrations were widely circulated among readers from all social strata in Guangdong, including scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

During the 19th century, Protestant missionaries in Guangdong’s treaty ports engaged in preaching by establishing churches, publishing periodicals, producing biblical novels in Cantonese, and designing illustrations that aligned with Chinese esthetic preferences. Their collaboration with local Cantonese tutors and scholars in writing biblical-themed novels accompanied by “Chinese-style” illustrations reflected an active adaptation to the regional cultural context. As early as the beginning of the 19th century, missionaries such as Robert Morrison, Walter Henry Medhurst, and William Milne founded numerous periodicals and wrote theoretical articles to elucidate the tenets of the Bible and spread the Christian gospel. For instance, Morrison published essays like “Philosophy and Paganism” and “On the Logos” in The Indo-Chinese Gleaner, exploring the relationship between Christian doctrine and Confucianism. However, William Milne soon realized that “a purely Christocentric evangelical approach did not yield the expected outcomes” (Milne 1820, p. 163). Thus, missionaries faced the challenge of translating Christian texts into local forms. As noted, “theological works were largely written from a Western perspective by missionaries and were not well-suited to the Chinese context.” It was, in fact, Chinese Christian scholars who facilitated missionary work, as “the most satisfactory achievements in apologetics came from Chinese Christian scholars… who strove to interpret Christian teachings in ways accessible to Chinese believers” (K. Li 1998, p. 289). This situation indicated that the dissemination of the Bible and Christian literature was hindered in the late Qing Cantonese-speaking context, necessitating adjustments in publication strategies by pastors and editors to effectively communicate doctrinal messages. Missionaries needed to rely on representative Chinese texts to reformat biblical content for local cultural integration. At the same time, they sought to contrast rewriting biblical narratives with indigenous religious ethics, aiming to “distinguish the ethical and moral categories of Chinese culture from the moral system of Christian teachings” (Si 2016, p. 187). The government-promoted moral text Sacred Edict, widely circulated in late Qing society, drew missionary attention. Missionary organizations included the Sacred Edict in examination materials for prospective missionaries: “The Church Missionary Society and the London Missionary Society in Hankou required candidates to be able to read and translate any passage from it” (Z. Li 2012, p. 127). In 1870, the Shanghai-based Christian publishing house American Presbyterian Mission Press published the Sacred Edict, and in 1872, George Piercy translated it into Cantonese. In the context of late Qing society, the Sacred Edict not only conveyed individual moral concepts but also represented the ethical standards of local society, making it a primary resource for missionaries studying Qing social ethics. As Uchida Keiichi noted, “The study of the Sacred Edict by Protestant missionaries persisted throughout the 19th century, becoming a tradition within missionary circles for learning Chinese” (Si 2016, p. 174).

Early Protestant missionaries like William Milne and Robert Morrison observed that the Sacred Edict gained popularity through oral dissemination in communities, and “The preaching ceremony itself could provide a formal reference for the ‘direct preaching’ of Protestantism in local contexts” 宣講儀式本身也可以為新教在地方上的‘直接佈道’提供一種形式上的參照 (Milne 1820, p. 8). The missionaries valued the publication and translation of the Sacred Edict both for the applicability of its oral propagation methods and for its social utility in promoting Confucian familial virtues. For example, Milne translated Shengyu Guangxun Yan 聖諭廣訓訓衍, hoping “to enhance the Chinese people’s inherent inclination toward virtue through the Christian gospel” (Kangxi 1860, p. 1). Missionaries integrated biblical themes such as enduring suffering, practicing charity, encouraging virtue, and repenting from wrongdoing with the maxims of the Sacred Edict—filial piety, harmony, kindness, and propriety—thereby accurately addressing the Confucian beliefs and cultural ethics of Guangdong residents.

Moreover, the educational level of Chinese Christian converts was generally limited. As Calvin W. Mateer observed, “Who believes the gospel we preach? Who fills our churches? It is those who have not attended school, the poor… If the spoken language is beneficial for preaching the gospel, then writing in the spoken language is also beneficial” (Muirhead 1877, p. 222). In this context, missionaries recognized the popularity of novels among urban readers and began employing Chinese Shengyu lecturers to adapt biblical stories into widely accepted chapter-tale fiction. For instance, after the establishment of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Guangzhou in 1852, The Church News documented the composition of the mission: “In the year of Our Lord 1857, this mission entered China… There were 11 foreign preachers, 1 foreign physician, 7 Chinese doctrinal lecturers, and 178 congregants of all ages and genders… 13 schools were established, with 15 teachers and 386 students in total” (Allen 1846a, p. 11).

The adaptation and reconstruction of novel texts such as The Pilgrim’s Progress and Gusu’s Journey 姑蘇歷程 (this book is Robinson Crusoe), by late Qing missionaries, focused on three key aspects: abridging or expanding plotlines, employing Cantonese vernacular, and rewriting illustrations. Notably, the copperplate illustrations from the original Western novels were often rewritten into woodblock prints in the style of the Ming and Qing dynasties to cater to the reading preferences of urban audiences. Protestant missionaries active in the coastal areas of Guangdong, such as Young John Allen of the American Southern Methodist Episcopal Mission, George Piercy of the British Wesleyan Methodist Church, and Miss Emma Young of the American Southern Baptist Convention, had fully recognized the significant role of illustrations in popular reading. When founding periodicals and publishing religious novels, they rewrite stories into Chinese-style illustrations based on biblical themes to facilitate missionary work. As Chen Pingyuan pointed out, “The discovery of The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular at the very least makes us realize that readers in Guangzhou at the time indeed tended to appreciate this book as a ‘full-length novel.’ This can be clearly observed from the composition of the book’s thirty illustrations” (Chen 2003, p. 66).

1.2. The Production of Cantonese Dialect Novels and Illustrations by Missionaries

From the perspective of reader reception, missionaries at the time had a keen understanding that novel illustrations could broaden the readership and convey the profound meanings of the Bible in an accessible manner. For example, in 1868, Young John Allen, a missionary from the Methodist Episcopal Church, founded the church newspaper Church News, which featured “Biblical Pictures” at the beginning of each issue. In his later article The Purpose of the Church News, Allen responded to readers, explaining that publishing “Biblical Pictures” in the headline section aimed to uphold the status of Jesus’ Bible by emulating Chinese readers’ reverence for Confucian and Mencian classics. He stated, “As for the Bible, illustrations make it easier to comprehend, reflecting the ancient tradition of ‘illustrations on the left, text on the right.’ China venerates the classics of Confucius and Mencius; our religion venerates the classics of Jesus. Preaching and honoring scriptures are our fundamental purpose. Thus, they must be placed at the forefront and cannot be omitted” (Allen 1846b, p. 65). The publication of biblical illustrations in newspaper headlines emulated the traditional Chinese format of integrating images with text in books. This approach aimed to leverage the intuitive and easily understandable nature of visuals to achieve mass dissemination to the greatest extent possible, thereby embedding the teachings of the Bible deeply into the public consciousness. An examination of Cantonese rewritten biblical novels reveals that their illustrations adopted traditional forms, utilized Chinese titles, and preserved the narrative style of chapter-based fiction illustrations, with the core objective remaining the popularization of biblical themes. Based on a survey of library collections both domestically and internationally, we have compiled the publication details of Christian novel illustrations in the late Qing Cantonese dialect, as presented in the table below.

As shown in

Table 1. Publication Statistics of Late Qing Guangdong Christian Novel Illustrations ¹.

Novel Title	Compiler	Publishing Institution	Publication Date	Number of Illustrations	Illustration Format	Location
The Prodigal Son Repents	James Legge	Hong Kong	1848	1	Copperplate Engraving	Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Cast into the Furnace Unharmed	James Legge	Hong Kong	1848	4	Woodcut Illustrations	Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
A Simple Translation of Biblical History	Mrs. Faunce	Guangzhou Gospel Hall	1866	4	Woodcut Illustrations	Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular (Continued)	George Piercy	Guangzhou Wesleyan Chapel	1870	28	Woodblock Prints	British Library
The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular	George Piercy	Guangzhou Wesleyan Chapel	1871	30	Woodblock Prints	Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province
The Spiritual Warfare in Vernacular	Miss Emma Young	Guangzhou Baptist Church	1887	15	Woodblock Prints	Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, Macau
Gusu’s Journey	William Chalmers Burns	Guangzhou Zhenbaotang	1902	26	Copperplate Engraving	National Library of Australia

¹. These novel illustrations were documented through surveys conducted in domestic and international libraries. The images selected for analysis in this article are representative examples. All copyrights belong to the respective domestic and international libraries.

, As evidenced by the seven novels in the table, missionary publishing activities were concentrated in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The biblical themes reflected in these novels were rendered into woodcut illustrations that aligned with the esthetic preferences of Ming and Qing Chinese readers. To facilitate the integration of images into the local culture, missionaries provided visual interpretations of biblical teachings. They employed the character lines, costumes, and landscapes characteristic of Ming and Qing woodblock prints, depicting figures with elements reminiscent of deities and spirits from classical Chinese novels. Traditional Chinese woodcut illustrations are fundamentally characterized by their linear modeling technique, employing fluid yet resilient engraved lines to delineate forms with rhythmic precision. The compositions consistently pursue structural equilibrium through deliberate contrasts between density and void, emphasizing the expressive potential of negative space while often manifesting a consciously flattened, decorative esthetic. Figures and settings adhere rigorously to the conventions of gongbi 工筆畫 (meticulous brushwork) tradition, wherein landscapes, architecture, costumes, and objects are meticulously infused with both period-specific characteristics and prevailing folk sensibilities. It was this distinctive visual system that later served as a direct formal reference for missionary illustrators seeking cultural adaptation in their printed works. With the exception of a few Christian symbols such as the cross, the implements, attire, and characters in the illustrations were all rendered in a Chinese style. These approaches demonstrate that, when publishing religious illustrated texts, missionaries selectively rewrite, interpret, and cater to Chinese readers’ esthetic sensibilities based on local cultural ethics. However, returning to the images themselves, any form of adaptation generates derived meanings. “Using the tradition of illustrated novels to interpret and represent The Pilgrim’s Progress results in intriguing transformations in narrative focus, character portrayal, scene depiction, as well as specific lines and composition” (Chen 2003, p. 68). On one hand, missionaries needed to leverage images to identify points of convergence with local culture, enabling biblical teachings to be widely understood and embraced. On the other hand, they had to guard against the risk of the images being reduced to mere popular literature, thereby losing their evangelistic purpose. From the examination of these seven novels, it is clear that the use of Cantonese writing and novel illustrations had already established fundamental conditions for dissemination. The focus then shifted to how to imbue the images with ethical significance, deeply integrate them with local culture, and highlight Christian doctrines. Missionaries were well aware that the ultimate purpose of publishing illustrations was to evangelize and preach to the masses, rather than to produce purely literary works. To this end, they incorporated the Confucian ethics of the Sacred Edict into the illustrations, depicting didactic content of “speaking and listening”, promoting the concepts of divine grace and good works in Christian teachings, and establishing a visual narrative focused on Christian redemption and salvation.

2. Localization Strategies in Missionary Novel Illustrations

In the 19th century, the primary goal of missionaries in translating the Bible was to preach among the common people and attract a broad following. Their audience consisted largely of the lower classes, as noted by George Piercy of the British Wesleyan Methodist Mission in his 1861 Cantonese translation of Elementary Catechism: “Some may say that the ways of God are inherently profound, so why is this book written in such a vulgar style? How can it properly educate the young? Yet, it is deliberately made this simple to bring joy to the hearts of children and make it easy for them to understand.” 或者有人話，上帝嘅道理，原本好高深，做乜呢部書，講得咁粗俗，點樣教得嫩仔好呢？誰知特登做成咁俗，係攞個嘅內仔心中歡喜，易得明白嘅。 (Hui Shi Li Tang 1862, p. 1). Similarly, the 1892 edition of Gusu’s Journey published by Guangzhou Zhenbaotang Press stated: “The original text has been translated into the local dialect of Guangzhou. Although not every detail is fully captured, the main ideas are made clear. This edition is intended for women and children to read, allowing them to grasp the meaning both visually and intellectually.” 茲將原文，譯就羊城土話。雖未盡得其詳細，而大旨皆有以顯明。聊備婦孺一觀，了然於目，亦能了然於心。 (Zhen Bao Tang 1902, p. 1). The readership of modern missionary novels exhibited distinct stratified characteristics, its core audience consisted of the lower-class populace, including women and children with limited literacy, who relied on vernacular narratives and illustrations to comprehend religious teachings; secondly, there were locally educated literati, whose identification missionaries sought to win by aligning Confucian ethics with the narrative form of chapter-based novels (Yin 2013, p. 128); additionally, the readership included mission school students and the emerging urban citizen class, as these texts served dual functions of religious enlightenment and secular knowledge dissemination. Zhou Shimin points out that Cantonese-dialect missionary novels employed a “localized narrative strategy” to penetrate both rural communities and emerging urban spaces (Zhou 2024, p. 156), forming a cross-cutting reader network that operated both “top-down” and “bottom-up.” The dissemination of these texts essentially constituted “a process of religious propagation and ideological permeation through cultural adaptation” (Wu 2007, p. 215). Judging from this perspective, the target audience of missionary work was women and children with limited literacy; the use of novel illustrations in preaching proved more accessible than relying solely on religious textual narrative.

2.1. The Reception of the Sacred Edict Through Visual Imagery

To facilitate missionary work, the illustrations in missionary novels deliberately incorporated the ethical system of the Sacred Edict, which was promoted by the Qing government. In late Qing Guangdong society, moral principles such as “loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness” and “encouraging virtue and reform” advocated by the Sacred Edict, the Sixteen Maxims, and novels based on the edicts had become important value standards for the public. “These principles extended from family ethics to economic life, and from educational concepts to legal norms, constructing the entire social order” (Yang 2023, p. 17). Here, the term “sacred” (sheng) within the public belief system encompassed various entities, including the emperor; the founders of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism; and local deities. It relied on established ethical standards and values to persuade people to fully embrace goodness. As stated in the edict-themed novel Tong Deng Dao An: “It seems that these two words, ‘sacred edict,’ are meant to exorcize ghosts and ward off evil. Even for a good person, they can still resolve grievances” 看來這聖諭二字，都是逐鬼驅邪的，為個好人，尚可解冤 (Anonymous 1890, p. 24). This highlights the authority of edict-themed stories in society. The core of the sacred edicts was that “if one speaks for two or three days without discussing cases of loyalty, filial piety, chastity, or righteousness, it does not align with the sacred intention of teaching people to prioritize fundamental virtues. Such negligence may bring about blame, and this must be understood” 若宣講二三日而不論忠孝節義案者，則不符合聖神教人首重大本之意，恐自取罪戾，不可不知 (Shuchizi 1887, p. 14). Thus, loyalty, filial piety, chastity, righteousness, harmony, and friendliness became key criteria of the sacred edicts.

Missionary novel illustrations adopted this framework by adding chapter titles and imitating the didactic style of the edicts, establishing a visual and textual system that resembled local ethics. For example, both The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular (Continued) and The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular contain thirty chapter titles each, closely linked to the Sacred Edict. Below are the titles from The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular (Continued) as an example:

Recalling Father’s Admonition to the Son 憶父訓子; Attempting to Halt the Journey 欲阻行程; Commencing the Heavenly Path 始行天路; Lifting a Compassionate Heart 扶起心慈; Secretly Plucking the Forbidden Fruit 私摘惡果; Focused on Earthly Matters, Forgetting the Divine 顧下忘上; Observing Chickens to Expound the Dao 觀雞論道; Using Trees to Illustrate Human Nature 指樹言人; Escorting Travelers 護送行人; Displaying Corpses to Punish Evil 懸屍懲惡; Enduring Hardship Together 同歷艱苦; Advising Evildoers to Desist 勸止惡人; Welcoming into the Beautiful Palace 迎進美宮; Illness Met with a Skilled Physician 病遇良醫; Beholding Jacob’s Ladder 觀雅各梯; Reading a Stele for Warning 觀碑知警; Fearing Upon Encountering Demons 遇魔心怯; Inviting Others to Discuss the Dao 邀人論道; First Meeting an Honest Heart 初逢心直; Self-Doubt and Hesitation 自疑畏縮; A Traveler Sighs for Judah 客歎猶迦; A Woman Twice Welcomes the New 婦兩迎新; Bidding Farewell to Judah 辭別迦猶; Burning the Fortress of Doubt 焚毀疑寨; Steadfast Endurance of Humiliation 堅韌受辱; Praying to Resist Temptation 祈禱拒惑; A Letter from the Heavenly City 天城來信; The Female Disciple Departs the World 女徒辭世.

In such vernacular Christian novels, there were no chapter titles; the aforementioned headings actually served as captions for the illustrations, functioning to divide the text into sections. The content of the images corresponded to episodic stories, with each illustration capturing the climax of a segment, collectively forming a narrative chain of the Christian’s suffering, deliverance, and enlightenment, all thematically serving the doctrinal tenets of the Bible. In terms of narrative style, this approach closely resembled the literary model of late Qing “Sacred Edict” preaching novels, where multiple short stories revolved around the theme of the emperor’s sacred instructions. The illustrations, acting as titles for the novel’s episodic stories, mimicked the thematic form of “Sacred Edict” preaching in both their naming and content relationship. Each title in the novel’s illustrations symbolized a story segment and embodied the ethical themes of “loyalty and filial piety”, “good and evil”, “chastity and licentiousness”, and “fortune and misfortune” found in the Sacred Edict. In other words, the missionaries, in writing The Pilgrim’s Progress series and the illustrations for The Spiritual Warfare in Vernacular, cleverly borrowed the vocabulary and framework of mainstream Chinese ethics while infusing them with the core Christian concept of personal salvation. For example, the missionaries imitated and transformed the Confucian notions of “loyalty and filial piety”. Illustrations such as “Remaining Loyal unto Death” and “Approaching the Heavenly City” in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular emphasized the Christian’s absolute loyalty to the “Heavenly City’s Monarch (God)”. The depiction of the Christian’s entire journey to the Heavenly City in the illustrations was a response to the call of the Monarch, aligning with the Confucian core concept of “loyalty” to the ruler. In the visual narrative, titles often referenced the “Heavenly Father”, and the protagonist’s actions aimed to ultimately return to the “Father’s home” (the Heavenly City), imitating the Confucian ethical framework of “filial piety to the father”. However, in the specific use of images for preaching, the missionaries altered the core meanings of “loyalty” and “filial piety”. In Confucian thought, the primary focus of “loyalty” is allegiance to the earthly ruler and the dynasty, whereas the illustrations in The Pilgrim’s Progress portrayed “loyalty” as directed toward a God who transcends worldly rulers. The narrative themes of images such as “Breaking Free from the Worldly Net”, “Gaining Freedom in the Land”, and “Approaching the Beautiful Mountain” in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular conveyed that, “when God’s call conflicts with worldly opposition (e.g., family and neighbors in ‘Attempting to Halt the Journey’), Christians explicitly advocate loyalty to God” (Z. Li 2012, p. 85). This shifted the object and ethical principle of Confucian loyalty. Similarly, the core meaning of “filial piety” was reinterpreted. In the Sacred Edict, Confucian “filial piety” is the foremost virtue and the cornerstone of social ethics. However, in illustrations such as “Beginning the Heavenly Path” and “Approaching the Narrow Gate”, Christians abandon their wives and children and leave home—actions that, from a Confucian perspective, violate family ethics and represent extreme unfilial behavior within the patriarchal system. Yet, through the accompanying textual narrative, such behavior was portrayed as a greater form of “filial piety” toward the “Heavenly Father”, a “great love” aimed at saving the souls of family members. This essentially subverted the priority of “blood-related filial piety” in traditional patriarchal society, replacing it with “filial piety to the Heavenly Father” that transcends “earthly filial piety”. The missionaries used images to mimic the traditional Sacred Edict but made fundamental changes to the core tenets of loyalty and filial piety. The same cultural acceptance strategy was applied to concepts such as “good and evil”, “chastity and licentiousness”, and “fortune and misfortune”. The illustrations borrowed familiar ethical vocabulary—loyalty, filial piety, goodness, evil, chastity, licentiousness, fortune, misfortune—closely associating them with the popular Sacred Edict teachings. This not only lowered the barrier to cultural acceptance but also advanced the popular interpretation and dissemination of Christian doctrines.

From the perspective of specific visual themes, the illustrations in Christian novels like The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular utilized the format of the Sacred Edict to create intertextuality with the written content. The illustrators of missionary woodcut novel illustrations were typically anonymous local Chinese draftsmen and engravers. Under the guidance of the missionaries, they specifically created or thoroughly localized adaptations for the Chinese translations. These illustrations were not simple reproductions of Western originals but consciously embedded Christian narratives within a Chinese visual context (e.g., employing traditional line drawing techniques, Chinese architecture, and attire) to achieve cultural adaptation and dissemination. Scholar Lai Zipeng, in The Transfiguration of a Classic: A Study on the Chinese Translation of The Pilgrim’s Progress in the Late Qing Dynasty (2012), points out that the “Sinification” of such illustrations was a key component of the missionaries’ “localized narrative strategy,” and their anonymity also reflects the obscured authorship in late Qing folk print production (Z. Li 2012, p. 85). Therefore, the primary purpose of these illustrations was to promote the teachings of the Bible and encourage the public to convert to Christianity. For example, the first illustration in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular, titled “Pointing to the Narrow Gate”, clearly conveys this missionary objective. The image depicts a preacher guiding a Christian to establish faith in Christ, while the accompanying verse elucidates the theme: “Fortunate are we to receive the gospel from saints, who show us the path from death to life.” This strategy of using “sacred instruction for evangelism” through imagery aligns with the pattern seen in late Qing Sacred Edict novels, which often began with moral exhortations. Similarly, the first illustration in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular (Continued), titled “A Widow Instructing Her Children”, continues the story by portraying a Christian wife, under divine guidance, teaching her children to embark on a pilgrimage to heaven. “Instructing the Children in Her Husband’s Stead” relates to the Sacred Edict’s emphasis on marital harmony and a woman’s virtue in supporting her husband and educating their children. The illustration’s theme interweaves with the text—“earnestly imploring the Heavenly Father to bestow grace and lead us to Mount Zion”—to express the female Christian’s faith in following her husband’s path to pilgrimage (Burns 1872, p. 8). The opening illustrations of both volumes of The Pilgrim’s Progress reflect the traditional Chinese ethical teaching of “a wife following her husband”, while skillfully connecting the visual and textual themes with biblical teachings. In other words, while the Sacred Edict promoted the Confucian ethics of “self-cultivation, family regulation, state governance, and world peace”, the missionaries’ illustrations in Christian novels emphasized how individuals should face God and seek salvation, focusing on personal redemption to advance the spread of Christian doctrine. The illustrations in works such as The Pilgrim’s Progress, The Spiritual Warfare in Vernacular, and Gusu’s Journey were cloaked in the Confucian values of “loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness”, strategically integrating with popular culture. Although the core of the story—such as scenes of Christians leaving their families to embark on a heavenly journey—remained centered on devotion to God, the thematic focus, narrative ethics, character attire, and scene settings were deeply infused with local Chinese flavor.

2.2. The Reception of Traditional Chinese Didactics Through Visual Imagery

The illustrations in Christian novels skillfully integrated China’s indigenous “didactic” educational system. When designing novel illustrations, missionaries cleverly incorporated “Confucian ethics”, “Buddhist causality”, and “Daoist imagery” endowing them with the significance of traditional Chinese-style “didacticism” and “moral instruction”. For example, illustrations such as “Observing Chickens to Discuss the Dao” and “Using Trees to Illustrate Human Nature” in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular (Continued) drew inspiration from the Confucian concept of “investigating things to extend knowledge” and the “analogical” tradition of the Book of Songs. The thematic focus of these images was to observe natural phenomena like chickens and trees to comprehend the greater truths of life. Didactic methods such as “discussing the Dao” and “illustrating humanity” were widely accepted forms of education among scholars and commoners alike. Furthermore, missionaries also incorporated Buddhist and Daoist concepts to convey warnings and teachings through imagery. The illustration “Displaying Corpses to Punish Evil” in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular (Continued) strongly reflects the concept of karmic retribution—“good begets good, evil begets evil”—which resonated deeply with the prevailing Buddhist and folk beliefs in society. The title of the image served as a verbal admonition, while its content depicted a “hell” scene from Buddhism, aiming to caution the audience. In illustrations such as “Approaching the Heavenly City” and “Welcoming into the Beautiful Palace”, missionaries portrayed imagery of a heavenly city and a magnificent palace, which easily evoked associations among the common people with Daoist beliefs of “immortal realms” and “Penglai”. This localized the abstract concept of a “foreign heaven” into a tangible and idealized Daoist afterlife. Within this didactic framework, missionaries did not directly challenge or replace indigenous moral principles but instead executed a subtle “transformation” or “symbiosis”. It is widely known that the official didactic text Sacred Edict (Shengyu Guangxun) was promulgated by the emperor. Local officials delivered its contents—covering topics such as filial piety, fortune and misfortune, and neighborly harmony—to the common people monthly during xiangyue (community covenant) ceremonies. This practice exemplified the imperial authority’s direct dissemination of moral education to the populace, a mechanism keenly observed and utilized by missionaries. The illustrations in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular series adopted widely relatable “preaching” and “teaching” scenarios, exhibiting ethical characteristics such as “explaining causality” and “ordering human relationships”. Although the ultimate goal was to propagate Christian teachings, the approach borrowed from the instructional model of the Sacred Edict. In other words, missionaries identified superficial connections between Christian doctrines and Chinese indigenous morals, leveraging the reading habits most familiar to the Chinese public to promote the acceptance of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the local context. The illustrations in Christian novels like The Pilgrim’s Progress accurately targeted the local readership in Guangdong, integrating into China’s traditional didactic system and enhancing cultural affinity to facilitate the acceptance of Christian teachings. These illustrations were not standalone “foreign stories” from the Bible but rather “moral tales” infused with local ethics, indigenous didactic forms, and a localized path of spiritual practice. However, only when the core message of the story—“the faith in Jesus Christ redeems the toiling masses”—was revealed could Christian doctrines be widely propagated. By this point, the audience had already accepted the overarching narrative framework, psychologically reducing their resistance to Christian teachings. This demonstrates the success of missionary novels in adopting the illustrations of Chinese novels.

3. The Dissemination of Biblical Doctrines Through Novel Illustrations

Just like the propagation of the Sacred Edict, the ultimate purpose of these illustrations designed by missionaries was to promote Christian teachings among the local populace. As stated in the preface to The Pilgrim’s Progress: “Whether scholars, commoners, women, or children, all can understand it. Compared to the initial translation, this version is even easier to comprehend. However, this book is entirely allegorical from beginning to end… and it clearly cites the specific book, chapter, and verse of the Bible for reference. Now, following this method, it has been translated into the Cantonese dialect” 無論士民婦孺，咸能通曉，較之初譯尤易解識。然是書自始至終俱是喻言，……並註明見聖書某卷幾章幾節，以便考究。今仿其法，譯為羊城土話。 (Burns 1872, p. 8). The missionaries translated the work into Cantonese and included biblical references within the story to enhance evangelization, and the design of the novel’s illustrations served the same purpose. How, then, did these illustrations convey the essence of the Bible?

3.1. The Intertextual Strategy of Illustrations, Text, and Biblical Themes

The intertextuality among the novel text, illustrations, and the core themes of the Bible formed a strategic tool employed by missionaries to facilitate evangelization. The illustration “Advancing in the Beautiful Palace” from The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular depicts the Christian arriving at the gate of the holy realm of Christ. In this chapter, the image corresponds to the text where the Christian seeks wisdom from a sage in the beautiful palace, expressing his doubt: “The homeland I now yearn for is even better—it is in heaven.” The homeland the Christian longs for is the heavenly city in the holy realm (see Figure 1). A marginal note in the text reads: “See Hebrews vol. 11, pp. 15–16” (Burns 1872, p. 7). These verses in Hebrews state: “If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews vol. 11, pp. 15–16). The illustration portrays the scene of Christ’s holy realm and, combined with the text, conveys the message that Christians must steadfastly hold to their faith to ultimately reach the heavenly city. The architecture of the beautiful palace in the illustration carries symbolic meaning: the high walls represent God’s protection, and the single gate alludes to Jesus Christ’s declaration: “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John vol. 10, p. 9). Pilgrims entering through this gate visually represent the doctrine of “a new and living way opened for us through the curtain” (Hebrews vol. 10, p. 20). The layout of the palace, including its corridors, courtyards, and halls, symbolizes God’s order, truth, and light, contrasting with the errors, dangers, and darkness Christians face in the external world. The eighteenth illustration in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular, “Remaining Faithful unto Death”, further emphasizes the doctrine that steadfast faith in Christ leads to eternal life. This section of the story describes the Christian and Faithful traveling together to a town called Vanity Fair, filled with worldly temptations, false doctrines, and sinful transactions. Faithful rejects the false teachings and adheres to Christ’s truth, ultimately facing judgment by the worldly authorities. Jesus sends a chariot to carry Faithful into the heavenly city. The novel’s illustration depicts the scene of Faithful’s execution: the crowd brandishes hammers and spears against him, yet he remains fearless, dying for his faith. Above the image, Jesus sends a chariot to welcome him into the heavenly city (see Figure 2). The marginal note for this story cites “Daniel vol. 3, p. 6”, the account of “King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image”. The Babylonian king erected a massive golden statue and decreed that all must bow down and worship it, stating, “Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” Three Christians, steadfast in their faith, refused to kneel and were ultimately cast into the fiery furnace. The illustration’s title, “Remaining Faithful unto Death”, itself highlights the theme of faith. Faithful’s death is not a defeat but a triumphant testimony—choosing physical death over betraying his faith, setting an example for future Christians. As the concluding verse of this chapter states: “Grieve not for the faithful brother,/In death, faithfulness brings the Lord’s glory./Those who harm the saints harm themselves,/Though they kill you, you yet live.” In the eyes of the world, Faithful’s brutal burning was a complete failure, but from the perspective of Christian faith, the death of the body marks the moment his soul attains eternal life and enters the kingdom of heaven, as verified by the descending chariot. The illustration, combined with the text and annotations, creates intertextuality and interprets the essence of the Bible for the general public.

In all these cases, at the climax of the story corresponding to each illustration, the missionaries would cite biblical passages such as Hebrews, Proverbs, Exodus, Daniel, Matthew, Luke, Genesis, Revelation, and Numbers, using the images to support doctrinal teaching. Publications like The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular (Continued), The Spiritual Warfare in Vernacular, and Gusu’s Journey all adopted this model of pairing story texts with biblical annotations. For example, the thirteenth illustration in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular, “Resisting the Seductress”, conveys biblical teachings even more directly. The image shows the Christian, while climbing the Hill of Difficulty, being seduced by a village temptress and firmly rejecting her advances (see Figure 3). This illustration serves as a visual sermon on the Book of Proverbs, vividly narrating the teachings in Proverbs 5–7 about resisting the adulteress. In the Cantonese version of the novel, the corresponding text reads: “At that time, I remembered the Bible says, ‘The house of the adulteress leads down to death,’ so I closed my eyes, fearing I might be deceived by her beauty.” The illustration depicts the Christian with a resolute expression, eyes tightly shut, and hands raised to reject temptation, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to the path toward the heavenly city. A marginal note by the missionaries beside this text reads: “See Proverbs vol. 7, p. 27!” This verse in Proverbs states: “Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.” The combination of image and text clearly elucidates the biblical teaching: the path the Christian walks is narrow and arduous, while the seductress represents a seemingly smooth and comfortable path of Depravity. She symbolizes all worldly, fleshly temptations opposed to God, inviting the Christian to abandon the difficult heavenly path in favor of immediate, earthly pleasures. For ordinary believers or illiterate commoners at the time, these vernacular illustrated editions served as the primary means of understanding complex Christian doctrines. Preachers could point to these images and narrate the stories in the local dialect, making the exhortation and evangelism direct and profound. In other words, through the trinity of images, text, and annotations, the missionaries rewrote biblical stories. The illustrations served as visual focal points, providing preachers with narrative cues for “storytelling by pointing at the images.” The dialect text could be directly adapted into oral discourse, while the embedded scriptural annotations provided readily citable authoritative references. Such texts were often publicly preached in settings like village covenants, marketplaces, and teahouses (Yin 2013, pp. 112–18), a design tailored to the cultural context of limited literacy yet familiarity with “listening to stories and viewing pictures” among the grassroots society of China at the time. Thus, these publications were not merely reading materials but scripts for ritualized oral transmission, embedding Christian narratives within localized audiovisual experiences to achieve the dissemination of doctrine. These religious novels, written in Cantonese and accompanied by exquisite illustrations, spread rapidly among the masses. The preface to Gusu’s Journey states: “Since its publication, this book has been repeatedly reprinted and sold out. People of all social strata and ages vied to purchase it… The entire text has been translated into Cantonese. Although not every detail is captured, the main ideas are made clear. This edition is prepared for women and children to read, allowing them to grasp the meaning both visually and intellectually.” Soon after their publication, the Cantonese versions of Gusu’s Journey and The Pilgrim’s Progress evoked strong responses in Guangdong society. After the publication of the Cantonese editions of Gusu Journey (a localized adaptation of Robinson Crusoe) and The Pilgrim’s Progress in Guangdong, significant sales were achieved within a short period. According to a report by British missionary John Chalmers in 1867, the Cantonese translation of The Pilgrim’s Progress sold over 3000 copies in cities such as Guangzhou and Foshan within two years, with multiple reprints issued (Chalmers 1867, pp. 212–15). Meanwhile, Gusu Journey, owing to its adventure narrative that aligned more closely with popular tastes, even saw the emergence of pirated editions, reflecting robust market demand. In terms of reception, these works reached a broad audience encompassing literati, women, children, and market vendors. For instance, the periodical Chinese and Foreign Weekly News excerpted plots from Gusu Journey as “Western moral fables.” This cross-class dissemination effectively lowered the barrier to literacy access, highlighting the successful integration of visual storytelling with local ethical frameworks. The missionaries’ localized dissemination strategy for the Bible achieved the goal of promoting Christian teachings, allowing them to take root in this land and overcome the dual barriers of language and culture.

3.2. How Illustrations Disseminate Biblical Themes

It should be noted that the success in disseminating Cantonese dialect novel illustrations lay in their popularized communication strategy, which made them more accessible to the general public. If preached directly to people with a Chinese cultural background, images played an indispensable role in the dissemination of these novels. In 19th-century China, where literacy rates were low, visual representations served as the most direct and effective medium of communication. As Emma Young explained in her translation of The Spiritual Warfare in Vernacular, “Thus, the purpose of this book is to hope that readers recognize the profound grace of the true God and the great work of Jesus the Savior, learning how to carefully choose good over evil, abandon falsehood and return to truth, which is the essence of the spiritual warfare” 故是書之著，冀讀者識得真神深恩，耶穌救主大功，當如何謹慎從善拒惡，棄假歸真，是誠人靈戰紀之要也 (Rong 1887, p. 1). The preface to the vernacular edition of The Pilgrim’s Progress also states, “It enables those who aspire to walk the heavenly path, regardless of whether they are scholars, commoners, women, or children, to fully comprehend it. Compared to the initial translation, this version is even easier to understand” 使有志行天路者，無論士民婦孺，咸能通曉，較之初譯，尤易解識 (Burns 1872, p. 1). Through didactic narratives and annotations, the novels intuitively explained the essence of Christian faith to illiterate individuals. The woodcut illustrations, combined with the text and annotations, allowed women and children to read without barriers. The missionaries were well aware of this; they inserted numerous exquisite woodcut illustrations into the books, each employing a localization strategy to convey religious teachings clearly and vividly. For example, the illustration “Advancing in the Beautiful Palace” in The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular depicts a Christian gazing up at a magnificent palace, visually representing the longing for a “better homeland” as described in Hebrews. Such pictorial expressions transformed abstract religious concepts into tangible experiences, enabling even illiterate elders or children to grasp the basic meaning through the images. Accompanied by stories written in Cantonese, these elements fostered a sense of familiarity and connection among readers.

It is important to note that the sophistication of missionary novel illustrations lies in their construction of a trinitarian reading guidance system comprising doctrine, imagery, and text. As stated in the preface to Gusu’s Journey: “Now following this method, it has been translated into the Cantonese dialect. All who read this book should keep a copy of the Old and New Testaments on their desks for cross-reference, so that the meaning of the Bible may naturally harmonize in their minds” 今仿其法，譯為羊城土話。凡閱是書者，務於案頭，置新舊約書，以備兩相印證，則《聖經》之義，自能融恰胸中矣 (Luo 1871, p. 1). The combination of text and illustrations guided readers through these popular novels while encouraging them to consult the original biblical texts, creating a cognitive path from the simple to the profound, from story to truth. This design allowed readers to be first captivated by the engaging visual narratives, then develop an interest in the original biblical texts, and deeper understanding by studying the biblical text intensively. The immediate success of novels like The Pilgrim’s Progress and Gusu’s Journey, which saw repeated sell-out printings and were eagerly purchased by people of all ages and social classes, demonstrates the effectiveness of the missionary novel illustrations. In other words, the localization strategy employed in missionary novel illustrations reflects the missionaries’ wisdom in respecting their audience and adapting to the environment. This context-sensitive approach enabled Christian doctrines to transcend cultural barriers and genuinely enter the lives and minds of ordinary people. The impact of these illustrations extended far beyond their time; the communication model they pioneered—combining images with dialect writing—exerted a profound influence on subsequent cultural dissemination. From the late Qing dynasty to the Republican era, many enlightenment publications adopted this format, using plain language and vivid illustrations to spread new Western knowledge and ideas. The cross-cultural communication experience accumulated by missionaries through their practice in novel illustrations provided valuable reference for later Sino–Western cultural exchanges.

From the perspective of dissemination effects, the integration of illustrations with biblical themes in missionary novels generated multi-layered reception and transformation within society. On one hand, through localized visual symbols—such as Chinese attire and architecture—the images diluted the foreignness of Christian doctrine, allowing the public to subtly absorb its core ethics within a familiar esthetic framework. On the other hand, the intertextual structure of images and text lowered the barrier to literacy, not only facilitating the circulation of the books themselves among groups with limited literacy but also transforming religious narratives into subjects of street gossip and folk performance. Furthermore, this new book format, which blended traditional chapter-based fiction with woodcut illustrations, even sparked interest among some literati in the “Western learning with Chinese form” creative model, becoming an implicit driving force behind literary innovation in the late Qing. Ultimately, illustrations served not merely as vehicles for doctrinal propagation but as hubs of cultural grafting—while facilitating the permeation of faith, they also reshaped local society’s mechanisms for accepting “foreign knowledge,” providing a visual foundation for the legitimacy of Christian culture’s localized existence in China.

The successful dissemination of missionary novel illustrations in Guangdong can be attributed to the authors’ profound understanding and respect for the local population’s cognitive habits and cultural psychology. By transforming complex doctrines into accessible stories, replacing unfamiliar foreign languages with relatable dialects, and supplementing textual limitations with vivid imagery, they effectively achieved their goal of propagating religious teachings.

4. Conclusions

In summary, the illustrations in the Cantonese-dialect novels created by Protestant missionaries in nineteenth-century Guangdong were far from mere textual accessories or artistic embellishments. Rather, they constituted a meticulously designed visual evangelism strategy. These illustrations comprehensively imitate the woodblock print style of Ming and Qing novels in their lines, composition, and character scenes, while skillfully borrowing the ethical framework of the Sacred Edict and the traditional “didactic” system. This successfully transformed the abstract doctrines and unfamiliar narratives of the Bible into visual content and moral allegories that resonated with local readers. Through a “trinitarian” narrative structure composed of images, Cantonese text, and biblical annotations, the missionaries effectively guided readers from appreciating “Chinese-style” stories to understanding and accepting their core Christian message, achieving a creative fusion of cultural form and religious essence. This localized practice not only significantly facilitated the spread of the Gospel within grassroots society in Guangdong but also vividly demonstrated the flexibility exhibited by foreign cultures in seeking to take root in unfamiliar terrain during late Qing Sino–Western cultural exchanges. Although the borrowing of Confucian ethical vocabulary and traditional artistic styles in these illustrations remained superficial, they transcended their initial religious mission. These illustrations have become a classic case study in the history of modern Chinese visual culture, translation studies, and cross-cultural communication, offering profound insights into the dynamics of cultural adaptation and the power of visual media in bridging diverse worldviews.