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26 pages, 533 KB

Open AccessArticle

An Early Attempt at Sino-Western Intellectual Dialogue: A Historical Study of Translation of Texts on Logic by Western Missionaries at the Turn of Ming–Qing Dynasties

by Shengbing Gao and Yuhang Li

Religions 2026, 17(4), 476; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17040476 - 11 Apr 2026

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Abstract

During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the introduction of Western scientific knowledge to China, facilitated by Western missionaries, included logic as a critical element of Western philosophy and scientific culture. This concept was translated, interpreted, and disseminated, carrying both academic contribution [...] Read more.

During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the introduction of Western scientific knowledge to China, facilitated by Western missionaries, included logic as a critical element of Western philosophy and scientific culture. This concept was translated, interpreted, and disseminated, carrying both academic contribution and a historical mission of cultural integration and intellectual enlightenment. The development of the Chinese conceptualization of logic mirrors the intricate process of cultural negotiation and conceptual accommodation between Chinese and Western intellectual traditions. This process went beyond simple terminology translation, representing a significant epistemological shift that introduced into traditional Chinese thought a mode of systematic reasoning previously underdeveloped in the indigenous scholarly tradition. Unlike the systematic formalization of logic in the Western tradition, logical reflection in classical Chinese culture took different forms without coalescing into a comparable systematic field. This paper finds that the introduction of Western logic, with its emphasis on formal deduction and systematic reasoning, constituted an early but significant encounter that contributed to the longer-term transformation of Chinese philosophical discourse in three aspects: it introduced a cognition-centered methodological framework that offered an alternative to the ethically oriented traditional Chinese concepts; it provided intellectual resources that encouraged a gradual shift from purely moral speculation toward incorporating empirical investigation and logical demonstration; and it laid the essential conceptual groundwork for the eventual establishment of logic as a modern academic discipline in China. Collectively, these translated texts and concepts introduced new conceptual possibilities into the Chinese intellectual landscape, contributing over time to a gradual shift from prioritizing moral introspection and analogical reasoning toward increasingly valuing empirical investigation, formal demonstration, and systematic argumentation. Ultimately, the translation of logic was not a passive reception but an active intellectual engagement that introduced new conceptual possibilities into Chinese philosophical discourse, contributing over time to a broader reorientation toward rationality and systematicity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

23 pages, 1064 KB

Open AccessArticle

Evangelizing “Home”: Laura M. White’s Translation and Intellectualizing of Home Economics in China (1891–1931)

by Caiping Yan

Religions 2026, 17(3), 397; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030397 - 20 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Since the late Qing, Christianity helped reconfigure China’s modern intellectual landscape not simply by importing “Western knowledge” but by constructing the epistemic frameworks through which knowledge was named, classified, and circulated. This article examines how the Christian idea of “homemaking” was scientized through [...] Read more.

Since the late Qing, Christianity helped reconfigure China’s modern intellectual landscape not simply by importing “Western knowledge” but by constructing the epistemic frameworks through which knowledge was named, classified, and circulated. This article examines how the Christian idea of “homemaking” was scientized through translation and became jiazheng (家政, Home Economics) in Republican China, emerging as a new discipline within women’s education. It centers on Laura Marsden White (1867–1937), an American Protestant missionary and pioneer of women’s education who founded China’s first Christian women’s monthly, Nüduo (The Woman’s Messenger, 1912–1951) and initiated its jiazheng column as an institutional infrastructure for domestic science knowledge. Foregrounding White as a missionary–translator and translingual mediator, this study argues that her work participated in the construction of modern home economics rather than merely transmitting a ready-made field. Strategically aligning her translation with Confucian gendered ethics, White rendered home economics intelligible as jiazheng while simultaneously reorganizing household practices into a systematic, science-based curriculum. By circulating scientific knowledge, standardized curricular categories, and credentialed forms of expertise, White recast women’s domestic responsibilities as socially recognized knowledge and employable labor. Her translation offered Chinese women a historically specific route into schooling, writing, and public service, allowing them to negotiate the traditional gender divide without abandoning the culturally legible language of the family. Translation thus serves as both a medium of Protestant moral pedagogy and an engine of disciplinary formation and gendered social change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

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12 pages, 363 KB

Open AccessArticle

Jesuits, Kangxi Emperor, and the Compilation of European Mathematics

by Qi Han

Religions 2026, 17(3), 316; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030316 - 4 Mar 2026

Viewed by 615

Abstract

The Kangxi period (1662–1722) is a pivotal time in the history of Chinese science. Deeply influenced by the conflict between Yang Guangxian (1597–1669) and the Jesuits in the 1660s, the Kangxi emperor (1654–1722) began to study European sciences. He not only learned Western [...] Read more.

The Kangxi period (1662–1722) is a pivotal time in the history of Chinese science. Deeply influenced by the conflict between Yang Guangxian (1597–1669) and the Jesuits in the 1660s, the Kangxi emperor (1654–1722) began to study European sciences. He not only learned Western science himself but also encouraged his sons to learn from the Jesuits. In 1713, he established the Academy of Mathematics to promote the calendar reform. Using both Chinese and European sources, I will reconstruct the activities of the Academy of Mathematics within a global and social context, as well as its connection to the grand celebration of Kangxi’s sixtieth birthday in 1713. I also aim to highlight the roles of the Jesuits, the Kangxi Emperor, Prince Yinzhi (1677–1732), and the scholars involved in the translation and compilation of the mathematical encyclopedia Shuli jingyun (數理精蘊, Imperially Commissioned Basic Mathematical Principles) from an institutional perspective. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

17 pages, 2061 KB

Open AccessArticle

On the Local Reception and Dissemination of Christian Novel Illustrations in Late Qing Guangdong

by Jinbei Wen, Xuelai Pei and Guoping Li

Religions 2026, 17(1), 108; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17010108 - 16 Jan 2026

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Abstract

Since the 19th century, Protestant missionaries in Guangdong have extensively engaged in the translation and publication of religious texts, employing localized strategies in the illustration of Christian novels. Within the local cultural context of late Qing Guangdong, missionaries collaborated with local scholars, used [...] Read more.

Since the 19th century, Protestant missionaries in Guangdong have extensively engaged in the translation and publication of religious texts, employing localized strategies in the illustration of Christian novels. Within the local cultural context of late Qing Guangdong, missionaries collaborated with local scholars, used Cantonese for writing, and designed novel illustrations to overcome barriers in doctrinal dissemination, thereby facilitating the spread of Christianity. The illustrations in missionary-published novels, such as The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular and The Spiritual Warfare in Vernacular, adopted the stylistic features of Ming and Qing novel woodcuts in terms of lines, composition, character attire, and settings. Furthermore, they skillfully incorporated the Confucian moral framework of loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness, as represented in the Sacred Edict, into their narrative ethics, while integrating elements such as Buddhist causality and Daoist imagery into a “didactic” system. This localization strategy, combined with a “trinity” reading guidance model comprising images, text, and biblical annotations, visually elucidated the tenets of the Bible and encouraged the public to embrace Christianity. The localized practice of missionary novel illustrations served as a conscious and effective visual strategy aimed at bridging cultural divides and promoting the dissemination of the Gospel. It profoundly reflects the visual agency in modern Sino–Western cultural exchanges and significantly advanced the propagation of Christianity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

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18 pages, 398 KB

Open AccessArticle

From the Debate over the City God to the Transformation of Cosmology: 口鐸日抄 (Kouduo Richao) and the Introduction of the Catholic Concept of God in Late Ming

by Shiyu Wang

Religions 2026, 17(1), 102; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17010102 - 15 Jan 2026

Viewed by 509

Abstract

This paper takes the interaction between late-Ming Jesuits and Chinese City God (chenghuang, 城隍) worship as a case study, employing the “Great Tradition/Little Tradition” framework to examine the confrontation between “humans-becoming-gods” and “God-creating-angels”. It argues that the Confucian Great Tradition integrated [...] Read more.

This paper takes the interaction between late-Ming Jesuits and Chinese City God (chenghuang, 城隍) worship as a case study, employing the “Great Tradition/Little Tradition” framework to examine the confrontation between “humans-becoming-gods” and “God-creating-angels”. It argues that the Confucian Great Tradition integrated popular beliefs through using the divine way to implement moral instruction (shendao shejiao, 神道設教), maintaining state–religion unity and a monistic cosmology. By contrast, Catholicism, centered on monotheism and a transcendent God, reallocated mystical power from imperial and local deities to the Christian God, thus implicitly reconstructing traditional Chinese knowledge systems under an apparent compromise. The article concludes that Catholicism in late Ming China signified not merely religious transmission but also the penetration of a transcendent God-concept and a dualistic cosmology dividing the otherworldly from the this-worldly into China’s this-worldly monistic cosmology, thereby clarifying the intellectual tensions revealed by the Jesuit encounter with Chinese cosmology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

24 pages, 487 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Evangelistic Imperative and the Modernity of Knowledge Production: Tibetology at the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1857–1952

by Libin Xiong and Peirong Li

Religions 2026, 17(1), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17010055 - 4 Jan 2026

Viewed by 945

Abstract

The Tibetological research of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (NCBRAS) traces a historical process by which a missionary-led membership drove shifts in Tibetological knowledge production and research paradigms, thereby exposing the constitutive tensions of its modernization. In the nineteenth [...] Read more.

The Tibetological research of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (NCBRAS) traces a historical process by which a missionary-led membership drove shifts in Tibetological knowledge production and research paradigms, thereby exposing the constitutive tensions of its modernization. In the nineteenth century, the Society operated under a triad of aims—evangelization, empire, and scholarship—and oriented its output toward the Western world. Its Tibetology bore a marked Orientalist imprint. After 1900, missionary members such as J. H. Edgar and T. Torrance introduced modern disciplinary methods, including anthropology, into Tibetological study, placing the field on a more scientific and professional footing. Yet this transformation was simultaneously shaped by colonial politics and the Christian missionary enterprise. Even as the Society secularized in the 1920s, missionary research continued to serve evangelistic ends. Taken together, the trajectory of NCBRAS Tibetology offers a microcosm of missionary knowledge production in modern China and illuminates the interplay among mission, empire, and scholarship. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

26 pages, 1215 KB

Open AccessArticle

“Making” Testimonies: Charismatic Phenomena and Speech Practice in the True Jesus Church of a Southern Fujian County

by Zhehong Hong

Religions 2026, 17(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17010010 - 22 Dec 2025

Viewed by 1038

Abstract

Moving beyond the debate on cultural continuity, this article investigates the micro-mechanisms by which charismatic experiences are produced and authenticated in a True Jesus Church (TJC) community in Southern Fujian. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2022 and 2024, the study proposes the [...] Read more.

Moving beyond the debate on cultural continuity, this article investigates the micro-mechanisms by which charismatic experiences are produced and authenticated in a True Jesus Church (TJC) community in Southern Fujian. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2022 and 2024, the study proposes the concept of “making testimonies” to trace the social production of charisma. The analysis identifies three consecutive stages in this mechanism: (1) in everyday interaction, pastoral rhetorical prompting anchors believers’ scattered sensory experiences to church-recognized experiential types; (2) in ritual settings, complex life histories are disciplined into standardized narratives of “grace and conversion” to align with communal identity; and (3) through mediatization, oral accounts are verified, edited, and fixed into an authoritative archive of collective memory. The study argues that these practices are not expressions of “indigenization” but are strategically employed to construct an authenticity that validates the TJC’s theological claim as the “exclusive church of salvation.” By revealing how modern organizational power and media technologies configure the local “landscape of the Spirit,” this research offers a dynamic, practice-oriented framework for understanding Chinese Christianity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

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18 pages, 824 KB

Open AccessArticle

Transmitting the Body: Benjamin Hobson, Quanti Xinlun, and the Dawn of Western Anatomy in China

by Shuang Ma, Ningjun Li and Wenwei Mao

Religions 2026, 17(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17010004 - 20 Dec 2025

Viewed by 1171

Abstract

This study focuses on Quanti Xinlun (1851), translated and compiled by the Protestant missionary Benjamin Hobson in the late Qing dynasty, examining how the Western anatomical knowledge it introduced challenged and reshaped the traditional Chinese conception of the body grounded in Visceral Manifestation [...] Read more.

This study focuses on Quanti Xinlun (1851), translated and compiled by the Protestant missionary Benjamin Hobson in the late Qing dynasty, examining how the Western anatomical knowledge it introduced challenged and reshaped the traditional Chinese conception of the body grounded in Visceral Manifestation theory. The research finds that the book’s influence was achieved through multiple mechanisms, including conceptual innovation, visual representation, and the creation of terminology. Although Hobson’s original motivation for translation was rooted in Natural Theology, its scientific core was selectively appropriated by the late Qing intellectual community, becoming a tool to address indigenous academic and ideological predicaments. This study argues that Quanti Xinlun facilitated a significant paradigm shift: on the level of the conception of the body, it used the physical body to challenge the traditional perception of a functional, qi-based organism; on the epistemological level, it invoked the authority of empirical positivism to challenge the scholarly method of text-based classicism. This fundamental shift in epistemology not only spurred the medical trend of thought known as “Convergence of Chinese and Western Medicine” but also laid the cornerstone for the modernization of modern Chinese medical education and even the entire knowledge system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

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27 pages, 2126 KB

Open AccessArticle

Western Knowledge in Print: The Chinese Weekly and the Reading Integration of China’s Modern Elites

by Yanhua Song and Shulin Tan

Religions 2025, 16(12), 1511; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16121511 - 28 Nov 2025

Viewed by 1865

Abstract

The Chinese Weekly, published by the Christian Literature Society for China, functioned as a key platform for the negotiation between Western knowledge and Chinese intellectual culture in late Qing and early Republican China. Supported by an official consignment system and a nationwide [...] Read more.

The Chinese Weekly, published by the Christian Literature Society for China, functioned as a key platform for the negotiation between Western knowledge and Chinese intellectual culture in late Qing and early Republican China. Supported by an official consignment system and a nationwide distribution network, the newspaper participated deeply in China’s transformation of modern knowledge. Through the introduction of Western concepts in astronomy, geology, medicine, and education, it helped shape new cognitive frameworks through which Chinese literati interpreted the world. The “Illustrated Columns,” containing commentaries from officials and letters from gentry-merchants, illuminated the evolving thought patterns of Chinese intellectual elites as they encountered and reinterpreted Western learning. In the late Qing period, the paper penetrated local administrative structures and cultivated among officials and gentry the belief that “Western newspapers must be read.” Entering the early Republic, it increasingly emphasized reader interaction and inter-journal dialogue, fostering a renewed sense of community among the nation’s knowledge elites. Thus, while The Chinese Weekly served as a major medium for disseminating Western learning, it also became a space where Chinese intellectuals appropriated and localized such knowledge, demonstrating their agency in the processes of cultural and epistemological exchange. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

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19 pages, 1639 KB

Open AccessArticle

Science Translation in Late Qing Christian Periodicals and the Disciplinary Transformation of Chinese Lixue

by Mingyu Lu and Aiai Lin

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1472; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111472 - 20 Nov 2025

Viewed by 1506

Abstract

Missionary periodicals during the late Qing dynasty played a crucial role in introducing, translating, and systematizing Western scientific knowledge, thereby facilitating China’s transition from the traditional epistemic frameworks of “Lixue” to modern academic disciplines. Situated within a framework of knowledge transmission and disciplinary [...] Read more.

Missionary periodicals during the late Qing dynasty played a crucial role in introducing, translating, and systematizing Western scientific knowledge, thereby facilitating China’s transition from the traditional epistemic frameworks of “Lixue” to modern academic disciplines. Situated within a framework of knowledge transmission and disciplinary formation mediated by Chinese Christianity, this study moves beyond prior scholarship that mainly focused on individual missionary figures such as Young John Allen or specific publications like The Church News. Instead, it adopts a broader perspective, employing an integrated quantitative and qualitative analysis to examine their collective role in scientific modernization and disciplinization. The research argues that translational activities in these publications fundamentally reshaped China’s knowledge landscape. It specifically traces the semantic evolution of “Gezhi” (格致) and the transformation of “Lixue” from a moral-philosophical tradition toward the modern natural sciences. By reconstructing this process, the paper illuminates how Chinese Christianity contributed to knowledge structuring and academic modernization, highlighting its significant impact on contemporary disciplines such as Translation Studies. The findings underscore the multifaceted interactions among religious media, knowledge production, and social change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

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15 pages, 369 KB

Open AccessArticle

Big History and Little People: The Historical Images of Ordinary Individuals in Quan Huo Ji

by Jianbin Guo

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1458; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111458 - 17 Nov 2025

Viewed by 1130

Abstract

The Boxer Rebellion, as a significant historical episode in modern Chinese history, has been primarily studied through official archives and Boxer propaganda Posters. Chinese Christian literature remain underutilized in current scholarship. Quan Huo Ji 拳祸记 (The Record of Boxer Rebellion), is an important [...] Read more.

The Boxer Rebellion, as a significant historical episode in modern Chinese history, has been primarily studied through official archives and Boxer propaganda Posters. Chinese Christian literature remain underutilized in current scholarship. Quan Huo Ji 拳祸记 (The Record of Boxer Rebellion), is an important ecclesiastical document, compiled by the Catholic priest Li Wenyu. While reflecting an apologetic stance, it nonetheless provides valuable insights from the perspective of common people and narrates the experiences of marginalized individuals, offering a systematic account of the suffering endured by various dioceses. Within this text, three categories of common people emerge. First, the lay faithful, who, under the violent threat of “apostasy or death”, remained steadfast in their faith. Second, anti-Christian civilians, whose motivations—though often framed as expressions of national or social grievance—may in fact reflect a release of personal frustrations and desires. Third, those sympathetic to Christians either maintained a neutral stance or offered assistance within their limited capacity. These individual experiences, often overlooked by mainstream historiography, compensate for the limitations of conventional analytical frameworks. They also vividly illustrate how ordinary people navigated between forced compromise and active resistance. Through a microhistorical lens, these personal trajectories offer a multi-dimensional portrayal of the survival dilemmas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

16 pages, 413 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Debate on the Chinese and Western Concepts of Hell in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

by Yan Zhu

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1406; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111406 - 5 Nov 2025

Viewed by 1999

Abstract

The introduction of Christian culture to China during the late Ming Dynasty marked a pivotal moment in Sino–Western cultural exchanges. Jesuit missionaries, adhering to a strategy of aligning with Confucianism while rejecting Buddhism, encountered significant challenges in gaining acceptance. Their discourse on “hell” [...] Read more.

The introduction of Christian culture to China during the late Ming Dynasty marked a pivotal moment in Sino–Western cultural exchanges. Jesuit missionaries, adhering to a strategy of aligning with Confucianism while rejecting Buddhism, encountered significant challenges in gaining acceptance. Their discourse on “hell” provoked opposition from both Confucian scholars and Buddhists. This paper focuses on key missionary works from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, specifically Tianzhu shilu 《天主实录》 (True Record of the Lord of Heaven), Tianzhu shiyi 《天主实义》 (The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven), Sanshan lunxue 《三山论学》 (The Records of Debate in Fuzhou), Tianzhu shengjiao shilu 《天主圣教实录》 (True Record of the Sacred Teachings Concerning the Lord of Heaven) and Kouduo richao 《口铎日抄》 (Diary of Oral Admonitions). Exploring this notable cultural controversy and analyzing the intricate process of rejection and acceptance within this cultural collision will undoubtedly provide special insights into deepening our understanding of different religions’ beliefs about the afterlife and facilitating dialogue among civilizations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

18 pages, 444 KB

Open AccessArticle

Periodization, Functions and Impacts: Nineteenth-Century Chinese Periodicals by Protestant Missionaries

by Shuqin Han and Dongsheng Ren

Religions 2025, 16(10), 1313; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101313 - 15 Oct 2025

Viewed by 2391

Abstract

The 19th century witnessed an upsurge of periodicals in China, among which the Chinese newspapers and periodicals by Protestant missionaries were of profound impact. This paper begins with a chronological division of Protestant missionary Chinese periodicals, highlighting the most memorable and influential titles, [...] Read more.

The 19th century witnessed an upsurge of periodicals in China, among which the Chinese newspapers and periodicals by Protestant missionaries were of profound impact. This paper begins with a chronological division of Protestant missionary Chinese periodicals, highlighting the most memorable and influential titles, and analyzes the three-phase development of initiation, development and transformation within the broader sociohistorical context. Additionally, the study explores their evolutionary instrumental functions in terms of content and readership, ranging from the handmaid of religion, the bridge of eastern–western cultures to the carrier of diverse knowledge and the manipulator of politics. This shows that the knowledge selected and translated by Protestant missionaries functioned as a dynamic tool in adaptation to historicized requirements. Ultimately, the study argues that these periodicals served as an enlightener of Chinese minds, a promoter of Chinese press and a facilitator of China’s sociopolitical revolution, advancing religious communication, knowledge dissemination and political reform in China during the contemporary and subsequent eras. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

17 pages, 361 KB

Open AccessArticle

Celibacy, Chastity and Self-Cultivation in the Thought of Jesuits and Chinese Catholics in Late Ming and Early Qing China

by Biyun Dai

Religions 2025, 16(10), 1310; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101310 - 15 Oct 2025

Viewed by 1699

Abstract

This article examines Catholic celibacy from the late Ming to early Qing dynasty, revealing how Jesuit missionaries and Chinese Catholics interpreted and advocated for chastity. It highlights how missionaries such as Matteo Ricci and Giulio Aleni connected chastity with the ethical knowledge of [...] Read more.

This article examines Catholic celibacy from the late Ming to early Qing dynasty, revealing how Jesuit missionaries and Chinese Catholics interpreted and advocated for chastity. It highlights how missionaries such as Matteo Ricci and Giulio Aleni connected chastity with the ethical knowledge of self-cultivation and the doctrine of salvation, while adapting it to Chinese culture through Confucian concepts like subduing one’s self. The article also explores the conflicts and integrations of chastity ideals among different intellectual traditions, such as the critiques by Buddhist monk Yunqi Zhuhong and Confucian scholar Xu Dashou, as well as how supporters like Yang Tingyun and Zhu Zongyuan reconciled Christian chastity with Confucian ideals of self-restraint and virtuous conduct. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

18 pages, 727 KB

Open AccessArticle

Evangelism in Translation: A Critical Study of Missionary-Scholar Walter Henry Medhurst’s Rendering of Chinese Agricultural Classic Nongzheng Quanshu

by Yanmeng Wang

Religions 2025, 16(9), 1156; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16091156 - 8 Sep 2025

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1708

Abstract

In 1807, a group of Protestant missionaries driven by evangelistic ideals arrived in China, dedicated to “winning China for Christ.” Walter Henry Medhurst of the London Missionary Society was among them. In addition to his preaching and study of Chinese orthodox classics, he [...] Read more.

In 1807, a group of Protestant missionaries driven by evangelistic ideals arrived in China, dedicated to “winning China for Christ.” Walter Henry Medhurst of the London Missionary Society was among them. In addition to his preaching and study of Chinese orthodox classics, he translated the agricultural work Nongzheng Quanshu by Xu Guangqi, the very influential scholar-official of the late Ming dynasty, into English. This study explores how Medhurst’s unwavering missionary convictions influenced his secular translation praxis by examining his translational motivation, methodology and quality. He aimed to dispel Western misconceptions regarding Chinese silk-weaving techniques and then secure institutional patronage and integrate Chinese civilization under the auspices of Christian culture. Driven by the missionary mandate to convey the real China, he meticulously selected the Chinese version; and adopted a bilingual juxtaposition methodology for translating agricultural terms, thus inspiring prospective missionary students to acquire Chinese. Moreover, his scheduled missionary priority, assigned by the affiliated mission, constrained his engagement with the “amateur issues,” resulting in the translated language being less semantically equivalent, which in turn provides a pragmatic justification for the need to “civilize” China. Medhurst’s translation not only advanced his missionary enterprise, but also boosted Britain’s silk-weaving industry during the Industrial Revolution and prepared the way for the Western understanding of Chinese agricultural science from the late 19th century to the present. To this end, this analysis clearly revealed that translation was inextricably linked to the propagation of Christianity in religious communication. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

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17 pages, 266 KB

Open AccessArticle

Telling the Redemptive Story of Chinese Female Leprosy Victims in the Late Qing and Early Republican for Western Readers: The Missionaries’ Narrative in Without the Camp

by Donghua Zhou and Yan Xu

Religions 2025, 16(9), 1146; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16091146 - 4 Sep 2025

Viewed by 1608

Abstract

Leprosy relief efforts were a key part of the Christian mission of salvation in China. During the Anglo-American Protestant overseas missionary movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many missionaries recorded stories about relief work of Chinese female lepers in Without [...] Read more.

Leprosy relief efforts were a key part of the Christian mission of salvation in China. During the Anglo-American Protestant overseas missionary movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many missionaries recorded stories about relief work of Chinese female lepers in Without the Camp: The Journal of The Mission to Lepers in India and the East. First, the missionaries portrayed Chinese female lepers as marginalized figures, symbols of moral suffering and victims in need of salvation, reinforcing their religious mission and humanitarian spirit. Second, through the relief and conversion stories, the missionaries appealed to Anglo-American Christianity to participate in the overseas missionary movement and to fund the leprosy relief cause in China. Finally, the missionaries’ stories of converted Chinese women leprosy victims served as discourses for the spread of the gospel and civilization in China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

20 pages, 2832 KB

Open AccessArticle

Knowledge Transmission and Transformation of Chinese Architecture by Expatriates and Missionaries in Late Qing English and Chinese Newspapers

by Mingqi Lu

Religions 2025, 16(7), 926; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16070926 - 18 Jul 2025

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1780

Abstract

Expatriates and missionaries in China played a significant role in the development and transformation of Chinese architecture in the Late Qing period. However, a systematic comparison of their discourses and proposals on Chinese architecture has been hindered by a lack of historical literature [...] Read more.

Expatriates and missionaries in China played a significant role in the development and transformation of Chinese architecture in the Late Qing period. However, a systematic comparison of their discourses and proposals on Chinese architecture has been hindered by a lack of historical literature and the complexities of fragmented data and methodologies. This article examines and compares the two most influential non-native newspapers: The North-China Daily News in English, edited by expatriates, and The Review of the Times in Chinese, founded by missionaries. By analyzing these two groups’ discourses and narratives on Chinese architecture, the study explores their similarities and distinctions, revealing the characteristics, strategies, attitudes, interests, and opinions of expatriates, missionaries, and non-missionaries in China on the transmission and transformation of architecture knowledge. The research highlights differences in their preferences for specific text types, subjects, and themes on Chinese architecture, as well as their attitudes toward native and foreign architecture, professional education, and architecture regulations in individual and official spheres. Despite these differences, overlapping characteristics and proposals existed among the three groups. The study further investigates the underlying reasons and mechanisms for their similar or divergent mindsets and behavioral patterns, drawing on human responsive psychology rather than relying on postcolonial or cultural theories. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

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16 pages, 420 KB

Open AccessArticle

Translating Euclid’s Elements into Chinese: Western Missionaries and the Enlightenment for Modern Chinese Mathematics During the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties

by Jiyun Huang, Shangqing Hu and Yafeng Li

Religions 2025, 16(7), 921; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16070921 - 17 Jul 2025

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3499

Abstract

During the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, China underwent a period of broad-based economic and societal transformation. Among the cultural forces at play, the Christian culture has significantly impacted the trajectory of Chinese history. At the time, responding to a distinct socio-political [...] Read more.

During the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, China underwent a period of broad-based economic and societal transformation. Among the cultural forces at play, the Christian culture has significantly impacted the trajectory of Chinese history. At the time, responding to a distinct socio-political environment, Western missionaries employed a variety of religious methodologies to pursue the goal of proselytizing. As part of missionary efforts, they introduced Western scientific and cultural knowledge into China alongside Christian doctrines, coinciding with a period of political and cultural transformation and development in China. Accordingly, this influx of new ideas from the West had a far-reaching impact on Chinese society. This paper focuses on the Chinese translation of Euclid’s Elements, examining the intercultural dissemination of Western mathematical knowledge through missionary activities. Furthermore, the study also elucidates the positive impact of Western mathematics carried with religious efforts on the Chinese traditional mathematical system via presenting a comparison of paradigms in mathematics. Finally, this study argues that the translation practice by Christian emissaries from the West in the natural sciences during the Ming and Qing Dynasties engendered novel intellectual currents, thereby facilitating the development of a contemporary Chinese knowledge framework and a shift in religious research toward comprehensive perspectives. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

17 pages, 807 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Functional Imperative: The Practical Role of Christian Angelic Beliefs in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

by He Sun

Religions 2025, 16(6), 709; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16060709 - 30 May 2025

Viewed by 1730

Abstract

The introduction of Christian angelology during the Ming and Qing dynasties was driven by strong practical needs. As intermediaries bridging the sacred and the secular, angels were endowed with crucial functions in core sacraments such as baptism and the Mass, including the purification [...] Read more.

The introduction of Christian angelology during the Ming and Qing dynasties was driven by strong practical needs. As intermediaries bridging the sacred and the secular, angels were endowed with crucial functions in core sacraments such as baptism and the Mass, including the purification of sins, protection, and the connection between God and humanity. Their participation in these rituals not only enhanced the sanctity of the ceremonies but also facilitated a dialogue with traditional Chinese spirits. Missionaries deliberately avoided abstract theological discussions about angels, instead emphasizing their role in accompanying and guiding believers in daily life. The concept of “guardian angels” addressed the spiritual needs of believers, while the imagery of angels in funeral rites helped reconstruct expressions of filial piety, thereby mitigating cultural conflicts between China and the West. At the same time, the localized understanding of angels among Chinese Catholics during this period focused on ritual practices and the affirmation of their own identity. The introduction of Christian angels during the Ming and Qing dynasties, with their practical dimensions, facilitated the indigenization process of Catholicism in China and provided new perspectives and pathways for interreligious and intercultural dialogue. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

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