Birth: 1870
Home Calling: 1939
Native Place : Leeds
Country: England
Place of Vision: China
Isaac Mason was a member of the ‘Religious Society of Friends’ initially started by George Fox. In his youth, Mason was a headstrong person and was difficult to handle. But under the influence of his fellow members of the ‘Religious Society of Friends’ like Caroline Southall, Mason became a humble and loyal person. He used to work as an iron molder in Leeds and did his education during his free time. Inspired by Caroline Southall and few others, Mason offered his services with the Friends Foreign Missionary Association (FFMA) to serve in China.
After his marriage to Esther Beckwith, the couple moved to China in 1894. There they settled in Szechwan Province and did pioneer missionary work in She Hong and Suining. Within few years into the ministry, Mason was facing the riots of the Boxer Rebellion, which was an uprising against foreigners. Many missionaries fled their mission stations took shelter in other countries temporarily. But Mason and his wife patiently weathered the terrible Boxer Rebellion and also the Xinhai Revolution.
Mason mastered Chinese quickly and traveled a lot preaching the Gospel. He was especially interested in the lives of Chinese Muslims and documented their lives in detail during his travels. His documentation became an important preparatory material for the subsequent missionaries. He translated a lot of Christian literature into Chinese, adapting the Confucian ethical style. He rewrote Shakespearean stories with hidden Christian ideas and highlighting themes related to Christian ethics, such as mercy, forgiveness, and justice. This indirect approach of propagating Christian thoughts actually made fruitful inroads into the lives of the Chinese.
After 22 years in Western China, Mason moved to Shangai and concentrated on publishing his translated works. He published dozens of Christian books and pamphlets and helped compile a Chinese dictionary of the Bible.
