China's American-educated youths and the quest for the Kingdom of God: A case study of the Chinese Students' Christian Association in North America (1909--1951)

One of the most striking phenomena in the first half of the 20th century was the influx of Chinese intellectuals into America to receive Western education. Studies in the past, however, often depicted the history of American-educated Chinese students simply as the history of Chinese students returning from America. For a long time the foreign exposure and experience of the Chinese intellectuals did not draw enough attention from the academia. If we agree that one of the valuable contributions that the West can make to China was the spiritual values in Western civilization, the encounter between the intellectuals and the Christian idealism would probably be a very important issue. It is not the purpose of this research to re-write the history of American-returned students in any depth. The author would like to focus on a group of "China's American-educated youths" who has encountered modern Christianity. Although they were not all followers or baptized Christians, they adhered to the principles of Christianity as the highest standard for measuring the changing circumstances in China and in the world.To unite the Chinese Christians in the United States, the Chinese Students' Christian Association in North America was founded in 1909 by a group of Chinese Christian students. The objective of the Association was similar to the Young Men's Christian Association. Through a case study of the Chinese Students' Christian Association in North America, the author attempts to depict the spiritual feature of the American-educated Chinese students as a single group. This dissertation argues that they intentionally chose the social gospel, which adopted the Kingdom of God as the key concept, in the quest fort he modern religious belief. By making critical assessment and judgment on the non-Christian order in the society, political arena and the internationals cene, they longed for the realization of the earthly democratic kingdom which suited to the home country and the world. Disappointed in politics, the China's American-educated youths did not turn into mere spectators. The Christian idealism made them profoundly aware of the sociopolitical realm of China and the world. This thirst for a Kingdom of God became the driving force for the continuous development of the students' Christian movement.