Unlocking the Chinese Realm: Apostle David O. McKay and Latter-day Saint Encounters in East Asia, 1852-1921

Unlocking the Chinese Realm: Apostle David O. McKay and Latter-day Saint Encounters in East Asia, 1852-1921

$25.95

by Reid L. Neilson

Available March 17, 2026 in print and ebook. Preorder today!

"Unlocks a spiritual and academic feast of story and soul, history and insight regarding China and her neighbors." — R. Lanier Britsch
"The history of the Church in China is one of the most important and least well-known chapters in Latter-day Saint history. . . . Highly recommended!" — John Hilton III
"An indispensable volume that gives a wonderful examination of key past events that shaped subsequent direction and efforts in the Chinese realm." — Dr. Po Nien (Felipe) Chou

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Book Description:

In Unlocking the Chinese Realm, historian Reid L. Neilson offers a comprehensive account of Latter-day Saint early encounters with China and its surrounding regions. Spanning from Brigham Young’s 1852 call for missionaries to Hong Kong through Apostle David O. McKay’s 1921 dedicatory prayer in Peking, the book traces nearly seventy years of evolving religious aspiration, cultural encounter, and global vision. Drawing on diaries, reports, and periodical accounts, Neilson illuminates how McKay’s prayer symbolically “turned the key” to China, consecrating the nation and its people to receive the restored gospel while reflecting broader Western attitudes toward the East at the dawn of the twentieth century.

Blending biography, theology, and global religious history, Unlocking the Chinese Realm situates McKay’s mission within a longer narrative of Latter-day Saint engagement with East Asia—from early Hawaiian and Californian contact with Chinese migrants to later apostolic rituals of dedicating lands in preparation to share the gospel. With detailed analysis and rare archival sources, Neilson reveals how McKay’s 1921 act echoed across generations of church leaders and members, shaping the faith’s hopes for China and its diaspora well into the modern era. This deeply researched study opens new perspectives on the Church’s international expansion and the sacred geography of global Christianity.

Praise for Unlocking the Chinese Realm

"Reid L. Neilson’s latest book takes on the important topic of Latter-day Saints missionary interest in the Chinese Realm. With Reid’s constant attention to detail, he has unlocked a spiritual and academic feast of story and soul, history and insight regarding China and her neighbors.
"Three parts of the book focus strictly on China: the Latter-day Saint attempt in Brigham Young’s time to missionize the country in 1852-1853; Japan missionary Alma Taylor’s fact-finding tour of China in 1910; and Elder David O. McKay’s dedicatory visit in 1921. The remainder is fascinating information about the expansion of the Church in this large realm as well as in parts of the Pacific.
"Dr. Neilson is a bibliographic sleuth. If the information is in an archive, a basement, or someone’s grandma’s cedar chest, he will find it. This book is the important result of many years of seeking, collecting, and dogged determination to tell this story right." — R. Lanier Britsch, author of From the East: The History of the Latter-day Saints in Asia, 1851-1996 and Unto the Islands of the Sea: A History of the Latter-day Saints in the Pacific

"The history of the Church in China is one of the most important and least well-known chapters in Latter-day Saint history. Reid Neilson has captured the fascinating story. Highly recommended!" — John Hilton III, Professor, Religious Education, Brigham Young University

"Reid L. Neilson should be commended for this insightful history of the Church in China, East Asia, and beyond. Unlocking the Chinese Realm provides new insights and details to the discussions and decisions of Church leaders regarding the work among the Chinese and others in East Asia. It is an indispensable volume that gives a wonderful examination of key past events that shaped subsequent direction and efforts in the Chinese realm." — Po Nien (Felipe) ChouI, Professor, Religious Education, Brigham Young University-Hawaii, and director for the Chinese channel of Scripture Central

About the Author:

The award-winning author and editor of more than three dozen books, Reid L. Neilson worked as the managing director of the Church History Department from 2010 to 2019 and was appointed Assistant Church Historian and Recorder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2015. He joined the faculty of Brigham Young University in 2022, where he currently oversees the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, the Religious Studies Center, and BYU Studies. He and his wife, Shelly, have five children and live in Bountiful, Utah.