Mission in Suzhou: Sophie Lanneau and Wei Ling Girl's Academy, 1907-1950

My dissertation is about the history of the Baptist women's mission in Suzhou, China. Sophie Lanneau, a Southern Baptist missionary from North Carolina, brought gospel for the Chinese women in northern Suzhou. She created Wei Ling Girl's Academy as a base for her mission. Between 1907 and 1950, both Lanneau and Wei Ling experienced such major historical events as the Chinese Republican Revolution, the Nationalist Revolution, the Sino-Japanese War, the civil war, and the Communist takeover. Gradually, Lanneau accepted Suzhou as her home while Wei Ling incorporated itself into the Chinese educational system. Despite this transformation the mission ended with Lanneau returning to America and Wei Ling being confiscated by the Chinese government.; The history of Wei Ling proves the Baptist mission to be a two way street in which Lanneau as well as the Chinese families and Christians contributed to both its success and failure. On one hand, Lanneau adjusted local society and accommodated to Chinese educational demands. Her tions enabled her to lead the school's growth sometimes hostile environment under Chinese nationalism. Yet underneath her pragmatic concessions was her firm commitment to the Christianization of China, a commitment that caused her continued disputes with Wei Ling's students and their parents. On the other hand, all of Wei Ling's students came to the academy hoping to use its Christian education to raise their social status and help them find better jobs. They thus favored Wei Ling with their tuition payments and enthusiasm. They nevertheless refused to convert to Christianity and often resisted Lanneau's evangelism. The two sides always had a hard time in reconciling their goals. As a result, Wei Ling's focus shifted back and forth between evangelism and education. Although the school eventually prospered under Nationalist rule, it finally met its institutional end as China became a Communist country.