In 1882 the author's father sailed for Central China to take charge of a small mission hospital singlehanded. Within the next sixty-eight years his wife, sister-in-law, two sons and a daughter had all given their hearts, their medical skills, and in the case of the senior generation - their lives, to that country. It was a period of danger, revolution and disease, but successful surgical operations were achieved then that even today would be regarded as amazing. They also believed and proved that physical and spiritual healing are inter-related. In "The Cross and the Dragon" the Gillison family's story and the account of the author's own work and spiritual search is complemented by portraits of some outstanding contemporaries and the background history of a China in the throes of turbulent growth.