Early American Missionaries' Views On China And Their Chinese Studies

The dissertation makes a study of the early American missionaries' views of China and their Chinese studies. With early missionary work in China as the background, the dissertation takes E. C. Bridgman's views of China and his Chinese studies as the focus, and conducts a detailed study of the characteristics, origins, and influences of early American missionaries' views of China and their Chinese studies, and the relationship between views of China and Chinese studies.The dissertation includes two parts. In addition to the introduction and conclusion, the main body of the dissertation consists of three chapters.Chapter one, including two sections, explores the American views on China before E. C. Bridgman. Section one investigates early American businessmen and diplomats' views of China, while section two focuses on D. Abeel's views on China.Chapter two, with three sections, gives a study of E. C. Bridgman's views of China and his Chinese studies. Section one introduces his views on China, while the other two sections focus on his Chinese studies. Section two emphasizes Bridgman's studies of Chinese history, and section three presents his reports of the real situations in China. The dissertation undertakes a study of Bridgman's views of China and his Chinese studies against the background of early missionary work in China, and aims at the revelation of the inherent contradictions between early American missionaries' views on China and the missionary work. Based on the analysis of Bridgman's Chinese studies, the dissertation also tries to get to the origins of the China studies in the United States of American through longitudinal investigation.Chapter three explores S. W. Williams' views on China and his Chinese studies, a major impetus to Bridgman's undertaking. It is divided into three sections. Section one analyzes the characteristics of S. W. Williams' The Middle Kingdom, section two his views on China, and section three his influences on the China studies in the United States. This chapter lays emphasis on the relationship between S. W. Williams and early American missionaries' views of China and their Chinese studies. The chapter concludes that Williams' Chinese studies serves as a summary and distillation of early American missionaries' Chinese studies. His The Middle Kingdom symbolizes the initial shaping of the China studies in the U.S. in terms of research methodology, and imposes a profound influence on later China studies in the U.S.. Williams' views of China also supply objectively the China studies in the U.S. with multiple research perspectives and approaches.Early American missionaries' understandings of China are the product of their missionary work in China. Missionary work in China not only facilitates early American missionaries' understandings of China, but also contributes to insurmountable inherent contradictions in their own understandings of China.