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

by Reid L. Neilson Available March 10, 2026 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 co