The Influence of Missionary School on China’s Foreign LanguageEducation

李敏 駱定鑫

【Abstract】：The activities of foreign missionaries served colonial invasion in the late Qing Dynasty. However， education is different from other forms of invasion， which was not only invasive but also contributed to the communication of Chinese and western cultures. New teaching notions and teaching methods were brought to China by missionary schools. These schools have turned out some first-rate scholars and provide opportunities to be educated for a lot of students. Theres no doubt that they have some good influence on Chinas educational reform and development though their real intention is to propagate religion teachings utilized by imperialists for cultural aggression against China.

【Key words】： foreign language teaching， missionary school， education， modern history of China

1. Introduction

Missionaries brought a broad mandate to China in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As an important tool of missionary work， missionary schools were founded extensively. They spread science and technology and improved the development of culture and education in China. On the other hand， they also brought negative influence.

2. The Written Background and The Origin of Missionary School

The missionary schools and foreign language teaching in China dates back to the time when the British， American and other trading empires sought access to Chinese markets and Christian missionaries took their responsibilities to save the Chinese souls. However， as we know， the Qing Dynasty held a closed door to Western countries at that time. The missionaries changed their way of preaching by setting up many missionary schools in China to teach Chinese people in areas of study such as geography， medicine and mathematics. Kids accepted by them became their audience. In 1950s， some missionary schools didnt ask for tuition fees， even offered textbooks， food and clothes but not many people went into the class.

4. The Development of Missionary School

After Qing government signed several unequal treaties， missionaries living in China tried to spread their religion teachings and start foreign schools one after another. It can be divided into three periods from 1840 to 1900.

In the first period， which is between the First Opium War and the signing of the Convention of Peking between China and France， missionaries opened up schools attached to churches which are small and similar to elementary school. With the purpose of spreading the gospel， the schools admitted kids of those poor followers or homeless children. There were about 50 schools of this kind and 1000 students at that time， according to the incompletely statistics. The Anglo-Chinese College， the first missionary school in which English language was taught to the Chinese， was found in this period. They also tried to start school for girls but failed because only a few of girls were willing to be admitted who finally gave it up under the pressure of public opinion.

Things are different in the second period. After the Second Opium War in 1856 came a strong awareness that only when Chinese learn from those Western countries can they survive and continue to develop. With the rising of the Westernization Movement（1860s-1890s）， all kinds of westernization enterprises and foreign-capital enterprise came into being and created a lot of jobs. Many modern schools were built to meet the needs of great talents. However the knowledge was not available in Chinese traditional schools， and at the same time， new schools built by them were numbered. Therefore， many students went to missionary schools for further education so that they could know more outside China. And missionary schools grow rapidly with the increasing of western education. The number of them increased to more than 800 until 1875， in which about 20000 students learned. During that time， although most of the missionary schools were primary schools， a few missionary middle schools had been founded taking up 7% of all. Girls schools also had been accepted by people. The college of Shantung founded in Dengzhou， Shantung by Calvin Wilson Mateer who was a missionary to China with the American Presbyterian Mission was one of the famous missionary schools in this period.

The third stage is from 1875 to 1899. The total of missionary schools had increased to 2000 approximately and the students was more than 40000. Middle schools occupied 10% among those schools. Universities and colleges came into being from then on. As a matter of fact， colleges at that time was changed to college from middle school by adding college courses and classes， such as the Saint Johns University， Soochow University and Lingnan University.

In this period， most of the missionary schools became more educational and less regional. They didnt admitted students for free anymore. Rich kids were the main stream because of the school fees which was a little expensive. The reason said by Young John Allen， an American Methodist missionary in the late Qing Dynasty China with the American Southern Methodist Episcopal Mission who is best known in China by his local name Lin Lezhi， was as following： Why we missionary schools should welcome the beggars and provide voluntary education constantly？ If we let those rich people get our teachings and publicize them widely for us， couldnt we spend less manpower and material resources but have an influence on Chinese to no end？ After 1899， no students in missionary schools are not self-financing.

5. Conclusion

Missionary universities played an important role in the communication between Chinese language culture and English language culture. Its missionary schools that brought western colonialism culture to China and Chinese students. Nevertheless， its also missionary schools that contribute the spread of English Language and further the English education in China. Missionaries and missionary schools made English popular in Chinas knowledge industry. More and more people realized the importance and necessity of learning from the west， such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. The Qing government were pushed to begin the reform of education.They provided an important way to know those advanced technology in the west for Chinese intellectuals.

Works Cited：

[1][Mary Lumberton： St. Johns University， Shanghai， 1879—1951， Page 78， quote from Hao Ping： John Leighton Stuart and China， Peking University Press， 2002]

[2][Lin Yutang： Lin Yutangs Autobiography， Page 24 and 25， Shanxi Normal University Press， 2005]

[3][C. W. Mateer： The Relation of Protestant Missions to Education， Records of the Conference， 1877， Page 177]