A Fragrant Village in Weiqi: Fujian Union University

Author: Xie Bizehen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: Over fifty years ago, with the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the missionary universities in mainland China ceased to exist. Chinese missionary universities were long regarded as strongholds of cultural aggression by imperialism against China, sparking resentment among many Chinese people. Indeed, some missionary organizations and universities had varying degrees of connection with Western colonialism and the fanatical religious zeal of "Christian conquest of China." However, from the perspective of half a century later, this resentment, though not entirely unfounded, is overly general and biased. It fails to distinguish the educational role of missionary universities as the primary function from their increasingly detached religious and political functions, nor does it differentiate between the normal educational staff of the schools and Western colonialism's policies. In fact, from another angle, Chinese missionary universities were also a product of modern Sino-Western cultural exchange, and their development and changes are an important part of the history of modern Sino-Western cultural exchange. Although the number of Chinese missionary universities was not large, they played a certain role in the modernization of Chinese education, cultivating a batch of outstanding professionals and thus having a rather profound impact on Chinese academia and society. At the same time, for many Westerners, missionary universities were also a window, not too small, to observe and understand Chinese culture and society. Today, in the 21st century, we review the history of Chinese missionary universities with a calm and prudent attitude, which can also be seen as reopening a window, not too small, to observe and understand the history of modern Chinese education and cultural exchange.