The Activities Of American Presbyterian Church (North) In South China (1837-1899)

Christianity (Protestantism) and its missionaries in China is a special community in 19 Century, which played an active role over a long period of time. the missionaries usually were the extremely active foreigners after arriving China, they tried introducing the Christian doctrine to China, and carry on the direct cultural intercourse and exchange with the common people. Meanwhile, China turned into a semi-colony and semi-feudal society gradually under the assault of western firearm policy. The relation between the west and China hence became invaders and victims. Under this historical background, missionaries in China were doubtless took for an important strength that invade to China. They sometimes act as the invasive tool consciously and unconsciously.Although the work of the missionaries were regarded as a kind of religious activity and behavior by the Chinese, but they discerned and went deep into China. Their activities went beyond the religious range, and entered into Chinese people's lives. Owing to the missionaries were a flock of westerners who could stay in China and observed Chinese development over a long period of time, they became an important group on cultural-exchange between Sino-Western.American Presbyterian Church (North), or Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.(North) (PCUSA) is one of missionary groups that arrived in south China to preaching early, its range of activity spreaded over Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong and Macau, including preaching, medicine, education, philanthropy and publication. There were more than one hundred missionaries had entered into the region by the end of 19th century, and it became the biggest missionary community. This thesis takes a narrative research in the activities of PCUSA in south China during the period from 1837 to 1899, and points out the influence of the Chinese missionary enterprise in China in the late Qing.This thesis has three parts, such as introduction, main part, and conclusion. the introduction is about why to choose this research, what have been done in this field, and the cardinal material, the research methods, and how to limit the time range of research subject. The main part has eight chapters. The first chapter is about the background of china and American before PCUSA arrived in China. The following four chapters are about the missionary activities of PCUSA in Singapore, Macau, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan in detail. The sixth chapter shows the missionaries of PCUSA arriving in south China in 19th century, the contact between the missionaries and the upper-class Chinese people, and the writing and publication enterprise of missionaries. The seven chapter specially introduces the development of the Canton Hospital (Pok Tsai Hospital), which reflects PCUSA brought about the main influence in western medicine entering into China. The eight chapter talks about the educational enterprise that PCUSA opened in south China particularly, which respectively takes Puiying School, True Light Seminary for Women and Girls, the Christian College (Lingnan College), and Ming Sum School for the Blind as research objects, reveals the important value of Christian school education on the enlightenment of Chinese modern newly education. At the end, the thesis gives a further research in the influence of PCUSA to modern Chinese and souch China. That is to say, the activity of PUCSA in 19th century in south China is a miniature of Chinese modern Christianity history, which involves the church history, the education history, the medicine history, the Sino-Western cultural-exchange history, philanthropy and welfare, etc. If understand the particular process of PCUSA in south China, we can strengthen further the research to the Chinese modern history and the history of south China.