American Missionary Elijiah Coleman Bridgman And Macao

In the 19th century, with the great development of technical conditions, the contacts between different countries were increasing. At the same time, more and more missionaries went out of their own country with the purpose of preaching Christianity. They went to India, China, Japan and other countries to do their missionary work. Among these missionaries, Elijah Coleman Bridgman (1801 - 1861), as the first American Protestant missionary to China, played an important role in the history of Sino-American cultural communication. Bridgman was born in Massachusetts in 1801. Influenced by his family when he was young, he became a Protestant and received education in Amherst College and Andover Theological Seminary. He was fond of reading since he was a little boy. From Missionary Herald and some other religious magazines, he learned a lot about the story of overseas missionary work, and became interested in this enterprise. When he was looking forward to be able to join the overseas activity, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions just needed to send some people to do missionary work in China, so Bridgman became the right man for this job. Hence in October 1829, Bridgman was invited by the American Board to set out on the journey to China. From 1829 to 1861, Bridgman spent more than 30 years in China, with only a few times of going back to his motherland. His whole soul was absorbed in missionary work in China. Not only did he learn Chinese language and culture in order to understand China deeply and push the development of missionary work, but also he established Chinese Repository to introduce China to the United States and other western countries. Meanwhile he actively promoted the establishment and development of all kinds of educational and medical missionary organizations, and served as an interpreter in the official negotiations between China and the United States. In addition, he wrote a book in Chinese titled Brief Account of the United States of America in order to introduce the United States to the Chinese in details, and he also wrote an English book titled Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect to help American people understand Chinese language and culture. Above all, he is definitely the pioneer of Chinese-Western cultural communication.The main topic of this paper is about Bridgman's activities in Macao as well as the significance and influence of these activities. This paper is divided into seven main parts. The introduction part includes the origin and significance of the paper, literature review, points of innovation. Chapter one introduces the Bridgman's life story and what Macao looks like in the 19th century. Chapter two to four are the main body of this paper. Chapter two analyzes his academic and publishing activities in Macao, including his Chinese studying, the publication of Chinese repository, the articles about Macao in Chinese repository and his own book Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect. Chapter three demonstrates his educational activities in Macao which are also his most important contribution in Macao. He contributed to the establishment of the Morrison School which ushered in western style education in China. This school had also trained a number of talents for the development of modern China. Chapter four introduces Bridgman's other activities in Macao, including his help to Liang Afa who as a Chinese missionary was hunted by the Qing government, his promotion of medical missionary work in China, and his involvement in the first direct negotiation between Chinese and American officials. Chapter five combs the influence and significance of Bridgman's main activities in Macao. This chapter sums up his contribution to the communication between China and the United States, to the development of China's modern and contemporary education and Chinese medicine. The last part is the conclusion of this paper. Through all these discussions and analyses, the link between Bridgman and Macao as well as his activities in Macao can be concluded. Furthermore, the profound implications of his activities can also be summarized.Through this paper, some results could be achieved. Firstly, this paper could complement the Chinese scholarship on Bridgman, and make it clearer his activity in China. Secondly, this paper will highlight Bridgman's contributions to the Protestant missionary enterprise in China and the communication between China and the United States in modern times. Thirdly, through the study of Bridgman's activities in Macao, this paper will show the important position of Macao in the communication between China and foreign countries in the 19th century.