Yang Gefei (1831-1912), whose original name was Griffith John, was one of famous missionaries from the London Missionary Society, and the forerunner of propagandizing Christianity in Central China.

He was born in a poor Christian family. He began to preach when he was 16 years old. In 1850 he entered university to study theology. In 1855 he became a priest and went to China. At the first beginning, he learned Chinese in Shanghai. In 1956, he began to missionize independently.

Later, he once visited the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, received a warm welcome and got the freedom of preaching there. In 1861 he got to Hankou City of Hubei Province to do missionary work. He was one of the first foreign missionaries who arrived in the region. He had been engaged in missionary work for 50 years. In 1888 he was elected as chairman of the National Conference of British Congregational Church.