华美协进社 人文协会 3月21日线上演讲 Prof John Haddad

“The Fruits of Failure: How Chinese Resistance to Missionaries Led to Modern Institutions in China” 

In 1860, the interior of China opened up to foreign missionary activity following the ratification of treaties linked to the Second Opium War.  In the United States, missionaries who saw the hand of God in China’s opening streamed into China to start saving souls.  Their sole objective: the conversion of the Chinese people to Christianity.  As their evangelical method, the missionaries chose “itinerant preaching.”  Traveling long distances on mules, they established a Christian presence in the countryside, delivered street sermons, opened chapels, and trained Chinese converts to be ministers.  They believed that, as the result of their effort, indigenous Chinese churches would mushroom across China.  This generation of missionaries saw any activity other than church-building – such as teaching in schools – as a distraction that wasted precious time, energy, and money.  Their project was about spreading the Gospel – and nothing else.  Absalom Sydenstricker, the father of the novelist Pearl Buck, epitomizes this kind of missionary. 

If we fast-forward 40 years to 1900, we observe that a dramatic change took place.  With the exception of a few old stalwarts, missionaries dropped itinerant preaching.  What were they doing instead?  They were establishing schools, colleges, hospitals, medical schools, museums, printing presses, and YMCA chapters.  They were, in short, engaged in institution building. Henry Winters Luce – the father of Henry Luce, who founded Time, Life, and Fortune magazines – exemplified this model of missionary.  Instead of preaching in the streets, these men and women taught English and biology, coached basketball and track, managed hospitals, trained medical students, published scientific textbooks, ran YMCA chapters, and administrated colleges.  Many of these institutions have long since vanished.  However, a few have not only survived, they have evolved into elite institutions.  Beijing University, Qinghua University, and Peking Union Medical College stand out as salient examples, but there are others.  Taken collectively, these institutions contributed to China’s modernization in the twentieth century.  How and why did the American missionary movement reinvent itself before 1900?  This presentation tells that story. 

John R. Haddad teaches in Penn State Harrisburg’s B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. programs in American Studies.  In the past, he has taught at Nankai University and Hong Kong University.  He is the author of three books that explore the American experience in China.  The material for this presentation comes from Cultures Colliding: American Missionaries, Chinese Resistance, and the Rise of Modern Institutions in China (Temple University Press, 2023).  He has also written The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture, 1776-1876 (Columbia University Press, 2008) and America's First Adventure in China: Trade, Treaties, Opium, and Salvation (Temple University Press, 2013).  Dr. Haddad resides in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with his family. 

 

来自失败的成果：中国对传教士的抵制是如何将现代西方机构领入中国的

 

1860年，第二次鸦片战争不平等条约签订以后，中国内地对外国传教活动全面开放。 在美国的传教士在此开放中看到了上帝之手在运作， 纷纷涌入中国去拯救灵魂。 他们唯一的目的就是让中国人信基督教。 他们的传教方式可被称作“云游布道”。驴背上长途旅行，传教士在中国农村建立了基地，在大街中央宣道， 开放教堂，培训中国信徒当传教士。 他们深信自己的努力会让土生土长的教堂如雨后春笋一样遍地生长。 在这一带传教士眼里，任何与修建教堂无关的事情，比如在学校教学，是在浪费时间，人力和金钱。 他们的事业是传福音，只此无它。

 

时间推进40年，到1990年，传教发生了巨大变化。除了少数坚守分子之外，传教士大多放弃了“云游布道”。 那他们做了些什么呢？ 他们建学校，大学，医学院，博物馆，印刷馆和YMCA团会。简而言之，他们在营建各种机构。不在街中传道了，这些传教士反而去教英文，教生物，当篮球、田径教练，管理医院，培训医科学生，印刷科学课本，开YMCA团会，管理大学。这些机构很多已经销声匿迹了，可是也有少许不但生存下来了，而且成为精英机构。北京大学，清华大学和北京协和医学院是此精英机构的代表。这些精英机构作为一个整体为中国二十世纪的现代化做出了贡献。 美国在华传教运动是如何在1900年之前重新打造自己的呢？ 本演说将此故事细细道来。

 

约翰 海达德教授在滨州州立大学哈里斯堡分校美国研究系任教。他曾在中国南开大学及香港大学任教。海达德教授出版了三本探索美国人在中国经历的著作。本演说的内容出自由美国天普大学2023年出版的《文化碰撞：美国传教士，中国人的抵制和中国现代机构的崛起》。另外两本著作是哥伦比亚大学2008年出版的《中国传奇： 美国人眼里的中国 》和天普大学2013年出版的《美国人闯中国：贸易，条约，鸦片和赎罪》。海达德博士和家人居住在滨州兰卡斯特市。