The bitter tea of General Yen

"The bitter tea of General Yen" by Grace Zaring Stone is a novel written in the early 20th century. It follows Megan Davis, an idealistic American bound for missionary work in China, whose path crosses an influential warlord amid Shanghai’s turmoil, challenging her convictions and drawing her into a fraught cultural and moral encounter. The story foregrounds civil conflict, faith, and the tension between duty and desire. The opening of the novel places Megan in rain-soaked Shanghai beside the French Concession, where she witnesses a car crash involving a poised Chinese gentleman and an injured chauffeur, meets a matter-of-fact priest, and senses the strained frontier between Europe and China. Taken in by the Jacksons, she recalls her New England past—early adoration of Bob, a missionary doctor, the loss of youthful beauty, and a fervent turn toward service—while local gossip introduces the powerful General Yen. A restless evening with a naval officer exposes treaty-port nightlife and Russian refugees; soon the city falls to the Cantonese, refugees stream past, and Megan sees Northern soldiers shot trying to break into the Settlement. Doctor Strike arrives, recounts his complicated bond with the General and his unwavering love for the Chinese people; when fires engulf Chapei and an orphanage is threatened, he secures a perilous safe-conduct from Yen (with help from a mission-schooled concubine) and, before dawn, sets out with Megan through barricades toward the North Station—only to find the promised guard absent as this opening section ends.