|
Abstract
Although the missionary enterprise in China was extensive and varied, for many years its historical records were largely ignored by the scholarly community in China and the West. To some extent, the prevailing political and ideological climate precluded any meaningful and objective investigation of the Christian Church in China. Indeed, for several decades after 1949 the work of foreign missionaries during the preceding century was heavily criticized in often highly polemical attacks by the authorities on the Chinese mainland. In the West, too, those scholars who did venture to study the Christianization of China tended to focus on the confrontational aspects of this encounter between foreign religion and Chinese society. In this connection – and in a more general context –, the longstanding and often acrimonious feuds between anthropologists and missionaries are well known. But historians, too, tended to neglect the missionary enterprise and its archival resources. For many the voluminous material preserved in various repositories in China, Europe, North America and elsewhere was regarded as not worthy of serious scholarly consideration. Such works as did appear in print were in the main produced by members of missionary societies or theological seminaries, but rarely by secular academics.
However, in recent years the important role played by missionaries in the interaction between China and the West has been increasingly recognized by historians as well as scholars from other disciplines interested in historical developments in their specific fields. As this paper endeavours to demonstrate, the Christianization process itself is now subjected to serious investigation. While the confrontational aspect of this obviously deserves further attention, the missionary’s role both as agent of change, especially in the area of education and medical services, and as cultural mediator between China and the West, as well as keen observer of life and events in China should also be recognized. In the 1920s and 1930s a number of missionaries were engaged in agrarian developments and rural reconstruction. The writings of a diligent and conscientious evangelist, when used with care, can thus make important contributions to knowledge in a variety of fields. For instance, missionary observations on local events and developments, particularly in the countryside, can usefully supplement Chinese material. Indeed, in many cases the missionary record is the only one available. At the same time, by studying Chinese Christianity a better understanding of Chinese folk religiosity may be gained. The missionary’s involvement with minority peoples contributes to knowledge in the field of historical anthropology.
These examples are intended to show that the missionary enterprise and its records can provide a field for fruitful research. Young scholars ought, therefore, to be encouraged to seek out and sift through the rather voluminous material on the missionary enterprise and Christianity in China. Needless to say, such material and the information it contains must be preserved for posterity as valuable resources for comprehending more adequately the past in China and the West.
|
