Johan Alfred Rinell (originally Johansson) (November 27, 1866 – July 3, 1941) was a Swedish missionary to China sent by the Baptist Union of Sweden (). In China his mission work included philanthropy, disaster relief, postal work, and education.Hermansson, A. R. (2019). East of the mountains: Fifty-five years with bible and school bag in China. (M. L. Jonell, Trans.). Watermark Publishers. , page 19. [Note: the book is also published in Swedish under the title of Öster om bergen: Femtiofem år med Bibel och skolväska i Kina. Ekerö, Sverige: Narin förlag. ].
Early days in Sweden and Norway Johan Alfred, as he was known, graduated from Stockholm's Bethel Seminary in 1891. During his time at seminary Rinell was encouraged toward mission work by the British missionary John Hudson Taylor who was lecturing at the seminary. After a short period of time as a pastor in Fredrikshald in Norway, where Rinell married the Swede Hedvig Jansson, the couple sailed for China via England in 1893 and arrived in China in 1894.Jakobsson Byström, Jakob och Fredrik Emanuel Hedvall (1926). Betelseminariet 1866-1926; porträtt och kortfattade biografiska uppgifter över lärare och elever samt ledamöter av styrelseutskottet, utg. till sextioårsjubileet den 7 juni 1926 [Bethel Seminary 1866-1926: portraits and brief biographical information about teachers and students and members of the board committee, published for the sixtieth anniversary on 7 June 1926] (PDF) , page 70.
Journey to China On Thursday, November 9, 1893, Johan Alfred and Hedvig set sail on the ship Torsten from Gothenburg, Sweden, bound for London, England. For three and a half months they studied English, which would be more useful than Swedish during their travels and in their future in China.Hermansson, East of the mountains: page 21
On Friday, March 2, they made their way to the Port of Tilbury where their ship, the Victoria, was docked.Hermansson, East of the mountains: page 21
The ship lifted anchor at 3:30 pm on a beautiful sunny day and sailed toward the Strait of Dover and the English Channel. On board were about 200 people including other missionaries bound for various countries. Among the other missionaries was Anna Holtz who would join Johan Alfred and Hedvig in China.Hermansson, East of the mountains: page 14
Over the course of several weeks they sailed by way of Gibraltar, Malta, Brindisi, Egypt, Aden, Columbo,In Columbo Johan Alfred, Hedvig and Anna transferred to the smaller ship, SS Surat. Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and ended their journey on Friday, April 22 at the port town of Chefoo (Yantai). Their ocean travel by sea with a few short stops in between lasted 52 days (one month and 21 days).Rinell, Johan Alfred. Jag är född i Krokebo Dagbok Kina Missionär Johan Alfred Rinell 1891-1903, pages 21-34
Their final destination would be the town of Jiaozhou () in Shandong province.
Early days in China
From Chefoo the Rinells and Anna together with another Swedish missionary, Johan E. Lindberg,Lindberg had preceded Johan Alfred Hedvig and Anna to China having arrived in 1891. He would accompany them on their journey to Jiaozhou hired donkeys, mules and a driver for the 88 kilometers (55 miles), two day, journey southeast to Jiaozhou (Kiaochow). The women each rode in a luózi 骡子, consisting of a large basket suspended by two poles with a mule in front and one behind. Each of the men rode a baggage-laden mule or walked to give the mules a break.Hermansson, East of the mountains: page 15
Johan Alfred and Hedvig had been in China only five months when the First Sino-Japanese War broke out between China and Japan putting them and other internationals in possible danger.
The American consul in Chefoo arranged for the American warship USS Charleston to bring American citizens to Chefoo for their safety.Davids, Jules, editor. American Diplomatic and Public Papers, the United States and China: Series III, the Sino-Japanese War to the Russo-Japanese War, 1894-1905. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resource Inc. 1981, pages 121-123. The Swedes were invited to come along. The party left Jiaozhou for Pingdu (平度) on Saturday, February 2, 1895. In Pingdu together with other Swedes, Americans, and now British headed toward San San SaddleA geologic feature comprising three hills with a fishing village at their base. See Charles James Bullock, The China Sea Directory, Vol. III: Comprising the Coasts of China from Hong Kong to Korea; North Coast of Luzon, Formosa Island. London: Published by Order of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1874, page 507. (San Shan Saddle) on the northern Shandong coast.
On the way the group, now numbering 14, tried to enter the fishing village of Laizhou (莱州市) on the northern coast. The villagers, alerted that foreigners were approaching, began firing cannon from the hillsides and from boats on the coastline in hope of scaring off these foreigners. They thought they were invading Japanese.
The party retreated and found accommodation “together with barrels, chickens, donkeys, and dirty children” Hedvig wrote, in another village. Some of the villagers even gave up their kangs for their unexpected guests.Hermansson, East of the mountains: page 45.
After arriving at the coast they boarded the American gunboat USS Charleston which brought them to the port town of Chefoo and safety.Hermansson, East of the mountains: pages 45-46.
Johan and Hedvig fled Jiaozhou again in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. While fleeing the German custom house in Mato in which they were staying was set on fire. No one was hurt during their flight and all made it to Chefoo safely. Though they and their party escaped injury it was not the same for many others.
During the Boxer Rebellion 136 Protestant missionaries including 53 children were killed, 2,000 Chinese Protestants, 47 Catholic priests and nuns, 30,000 Chinese Catholics, and 200 to 400 Russian Orthodox Christians were estimated to have been killed. Of the approximately 230 Westerners killed during the Boxer Rebellion, about 56 were Swedish men, women and children, about a quarter of the Westerners who died.Nyberg, K. (n.d.). The Boxer Rebellion and the Chinese Swedes. The shifts of time. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from https://kennethnyberg.org/boxarupproret-och-kinasvenskarna/See also: Rinell, Johan Alfred and Johan H. Swordson. Boxare-upproret och förföljelserna mot de kristna i Kina 1900–1901 [Boxer Rebellion and the persecution of Christians in China 1900–1901]. Stockholm: Baptistmissionens Förlagsexpedition, 1902.
Last days Johan Alfred died in Qingdao and was buried in the International Cemetery of that city in 1941. The Chinese Christians of Jiaozhou raised a stone memorial commemorating his work.Yin Ying. Reminiscence of My Golden Years in Ruihua, pages 173-75 and 265-68. . [Chinese and English]. The International Cemetery was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.Murphy, Marcus. "Qingdao History: Tombstone News." Qingdaonese. https://·www.qingdaonese.com/qingdao-history-tombstone-news/. Accessed 20 August 2024.Seufert, Wilhelm. "History of the International Cemetery in Tsingtau (1899 to 1966)." Tsingtau.org, 1959. Accessed August 20, 2024. https://tsingtau.org/geschichte-des-internationalen-friedhofs-in-tsingtau-1899-bis-1966/#more-424.
Written works
Books Rinell, Johan Alfred and Johan H. Swordson. [Boxer Rebellion and the persecution of Christians in China 1900–1901]. Stockholm, 1902. Rinell, Johan Alfred. [The Missions Problem: a word of advice to the Swedish Baptist community]. Östersund: Missionsbokhandeln, 1910. Rinell, Johan Alfred. [The Mission Mandate and Us]. Stockholm: B.-M:s bokförlag, 1932. Rinell, Johan Alfred. [The Swedish Baptists' China mission 1890–1905]. Stockholm: Westerberg, 1906. Rinell, Johan Alfred. [Swedish baptist mission in China – a 40-year remembrance]. Stockholm B.-M:s Bokförlags A.-B, 1931.
ArticlesJohan Alfred cut out his articles from various publications and pasted them into a scrapbook. A photocopy of that scrapbook numbering nearly 200 pages can be found at https://archive.org/details/johan-alfred-rinell-collected-articles-199-pages. Articles are in Swedish. Rinell, Johan Alfred and Johan H. Swordson. Missionsbilder Från Kina [Mission pictures from China]. Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1906. Rinell, Johan Alfred. T'ai-shan — Kinas heligaste berg [China's most holy mountain]. Betlehem: Kristlic Kalender för 1929, published in 1928, pages 45–49. Stockholm: B.M:s Bokförlags A.-B. Rinell Johan Alfred. "Upplevelser och minnen från ett 43-årigt arbete som kinamissionär" [Experiences and memories from a 43-year work as a missionary to China]. Betlehem: Kristlic Kalender för 1929. Stockholm: Ernst Westerbergs Boktryckeri A.-B.
References