A Study On Presbyterian Missionary Divie Bethune McCartee

Since Treaty of Nanking was signed in 1842, China had entered the period of five-port trading. At the same time, American Protestant missionaries came to the treaty ports one after another, and Presbyterian missionary Divie Bethune McCartee was an outstanding respresentative of them. McCartee's missionary life can be divided into two phases: The first phase was from the year of 1844 when he arrived at Ningpo to the year of 1872 he went to Japan. During this period, McCartee mainly did missionary work in Ningpo and Chefoo, meanwhile, he also acted as U.S.Consul, or in consular employment in the aforementioned places. The second phase was from the year of 1872 when he went to Japan with the Chinese envoy Chen Fuxun to rescue the cheated Chinese labors to the year of 1899 when he came back to America, McCartee principally worked in Japan during these 27 years, he once acted as the professor of law and of natural science at the university of Tokio, and was employed by Chinese Embassy in Japan as its translation officer and advisor. From 1889 to 1899, he served for the Presbyterian Mission in Japan.The main part of the thesis is composed of 6 chapters. Chapter One mainly introduces McCartee's family background, his understanding toward Christianity and the reason why he became a medical missionary. Chapter Two narrates the whole journey started from America, through Hongkong, Macao, Zhoushan to Ningpo in detail. Chapter Three not only describes the missionary activities, such as medical mission, setting up schools and text sermons etc. he did with other missionaries, but also discusses his missionary approach and thinking. Furthermore, it makes textual criticism on some facts, such as his consular experiences in Ningpo and negotiation with the Taiping Rebels. Chapter Four narrates his missionary activities in Chefoo, and studies how he dealed with the ecclesiae case of and exercised the consular jurisdiction when he held United States consular to Chefoo. Chapter Five describes his experiences as a foreign advisor for Qing's embassy in Japan, and approaches his special effects on Sino-Japanese dispute over Loochoo. Chapter Six focuses on McCartee's activities in Japan.McCartee was both a missionary and diplomat, as well as a disseminator of the culture. As a missionary, his work displays the profile of the missionary activities did by the protestant missionaries who had been to China in the early times; As a diplomat, McCartee acted as U.S.Consul in China for a long time, studying his diplomatic activities will help people understand the features of the early U.S.policy toward China, in addition, as a foreign advisior for Qing government, McCartee also had a special impact on modern Sino-Japanese relations; As a disseminator of the culture, McCartee introduced the western natural science and humane knowledge to China and Japan, and made his own contribution to the spread of western learning in the far east.