The Western Missionaries Seen Through Guangxi People: An Imagological Study On The Western Missionaries In Guangxi

In the culture and history of Guangxi, the western missionary's entry was of great importance. From the Xilin Church Case which gave rise to the Second Opium War, we can see the Western missionaries'negative influence not only in Guangxi area but also in the whole China. Since the event of Vatican's Canonization had occurred on October 1, 2000, the government and the folks in China both expressed their"overwhelming indignation and strong protest"to the event of Vatican's Canonization, which indicated that the problem of the Western missionaries from 1840 to 1949 in Guangxi still has high degree of political sensitivity in our country so far. The most Chinese's studies on the Western missionaries in Guangxi mainly have centered on the fields of history and sociology and these studies have been restricted to such dimensions: collecting historical facts, compiling materials and the retrospection of history, moreover, these studies generally showed opposition and criticism of"the foreign religions". At abroad, the researches related to the western missionaries in Guangxi have been conducted by the Christian scholars who firmly insist on their individual religious standpoints and have vivid theological characteristics.In this article, it aims at facilitating the openness of the researches on the Western missionaries in Guangxi through the openness of Image Studies in Comparative literature. We don't discuss whether the Western missionaries in Guangxi are"saints"or"criminals"and what relationships exist between their activities and the strong Western countries'aggression and other historical and political issues, whereas we apply the basic theories and approaches of the"Image Studies"in Comparative Literature, together with the theoretical resources of these disciplines, such as sociology, psychology, history and etc, to make a new contemplation of the image of the Western missionary from 1840 to 1949 in Guangxi in the eyes of the Guangxi people. we emphatically explore the characteristics of the image of the Western missionary and how this image of missionary has been constructed, furthermore, we reveal the psychology of the whole society, the profound cultural factors and"subjective, collective construct of Chinese nation"behind the constructed image of the Western missionary and point out how the image of the Western missionary has been widely disseminated and been strengthened and how the constructed image unceasingly influence the collective memories of the Guangxi people.In this article, we manage to show personal and special characteristics and make a breakthrough both in general approaches and research on the concrete image. We earnestly expect that this article can introduce this difficult problem (also can be called about a conclusion) related to the Western missionaries from 1840 to 1949 in Guangxi into a relatively wide research field and larger thinking space and sprout up several new academic questions, which not only provide some enlightenment about the image of the Western missionary in Guangxi but also about the image of the whole Western missionary in China. We believe that this dissertation research about the image of Western missionary would have beneficial effect on the benign communication, the mutual understanding and promotion between the China and the Western countries, the Guangxi people and the foreign people, the aboriginal religions of Guangxi and Christianity in the background of contemporary globalization.The thinking ways and marching steps of this dissertation:The introduction of this article is titled"facilitating the openness of the researches on the western missionaries in Guangxi through the openness of'Image Studies'in Comparative literature". And we argue the Methodology significance of applying the approach of the"Image Studies"in Comparative Literature to study the western missionary in the eyes of the Guangxi people from five dimensions in this dissertation.The first chapter of this article is titled"the three historical periods of the Western missionary's entering into China and the corresponding evolution of the image in the three historical periods". According to the different kinds of textual resources, such as the historical documents, the relics of the archaeology, the individual biographies, the books of the scholars'studies and so on, we briefly analyze the image of the Western missionary in China in order to provide a knowledge background for conducting the research on the image of the Western missionary in the eyes of the Guangxi people. The second chapter of this article is titled"'the other'image of the Western missionary in Guangxi". We induce and summarize several typical views or descriptions about the Western missionaries who were regarded as"the other","enemies"or"different creatures", and these typical views or descriptions included"Hong Maofan"or"Fangui"(who were foreign people with red hairs in the eyes of Chinese in ancient time),"the vanguards of cultural aggression","the lackeys and spies of imperial countries","the accomplices and helpers of the governments and the feudal powers in China."The third chapter of this article is titled"the Guangxi people's collective and discursive construct and stereotyping description about the western missionaries". According to the three kinds of texts——the reports of the government, the oral descriptions of the folk and the books of the scholars'researches in Guangxi, we analyze the words and the stereotypes which are used to describe the Western missionaries and point out how this set of descriptive system or speaking patterns continuously influence or even curb on the Guangxi government and the people's opinions and descriptions about the Western missionaries, which still provide words, images and kinds of rhetoric skills to describe the Western missionaries for contemporary texts in every fields.The fourth chapter of the article is titled"the self-constructed image of the Western missionary". we conversely observe what the western missionaries define themselves and construct themselves——in their words, they are"the redeemers of souls","compassionate helpers"and"civilized messengers"to the Guangxi people, moreover, we want to see what the Western missionaries really do in Guangxi and whether they are monsters and devils, the vanguards of cultural aggression, the lackeys and spies of imperial countries, the accomplice and helpers of the feudal governments and feudal powers in China or not.The fifth chapter of this article is titled"probing the reasons of great differences between'the other'image and the'self-constructed image'". From the above chapters, we know that there are great differences between'the other'image and the"self-constructed image"of the Western missionaries in Guangxi, and why? In this chapter, we will explain it from three dimensions: the military and historical contests between the China and the Western countries aggravate the ethnic conflicts between the both sides, the disparity of social development between the China and the Western countries make their communication difficulty, the differences of cultures and religions between the China and the Western countries. Finally, we will explore the process and rules of the Western missionaries'being constructed and reveal the psychology of the whole society, the profound cultural factors and"subjective, collective construct of Chinese nation"behind the constructed image of the Western missionaries.In conclusion, we will explore"the cultural sequela and the necessity and possibility of treating it". As a kind of cultural sequela which still exists in modern society, there is no doubt that"the other"image of the Western missionary in Guangxi has historical rationality and even authenticity to a certain extent, however, it is in modern time when multiculture coexists harmoniously that treating this cultural sequela is necessary and also is possible. We should pay attention to the positive factors of the Western missionaries and the constructive sense of communication between the culture of the western countries and the culture of China, explore what Christianity which owns the unique system of cultural values contributes to the China today's social modernization. Only we have wide vision and containing attitude it can be advantage to the coexistence of the Chinese culture and the foreign culture in their mutual communication and exchanges.