Gilbert Reid And Chinese Society Of The Late Qing Dynasty And Early Republic

Gilbert Reid (1857-1927), who came to China as a foreign missionary in 1882 and died in Shanghai in 1927, lived in China for 45 years all together. He was a famous and active missionary in Chinese society of the late Qing and the early Republic of China and exerted influences on Chinese politics, culture, education and Chinese-foreign relations. There is relatively few case study on the missionary in China of late Qing and the early Republic of China period, and researches on Gilbert Reid are even less. Taking Gilbert Reid's activities in China as breakthrough point, this thesis discusses two issues, one being the relation between the missionary in China of the period of late Qing and early Republic and transformation of Chinese society, the other being the conversion of the role in Chinese society of missionary itself. Thus the thesis bears certain academic and realistic significance.The thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One introduces the educational background of Gilbert Reid and his activities as a missionary in Shandong provinces in his early years in China. Influenced by his family when he was young, Gilbert took great interest in China. During the Second Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Mission, Gilbert volunteered to China as a missionary. He called for"wearing Chinese costumes and wearing braid"in missionary, following the conventions and rules and treating Chinese cultural tradition with positive attitudes of adaptation. In his mission, he also paid close attention to the social problems of China. He gave some advice on the harness of flood of Yellow River and the relief after the flood. He once involved in a legal case concerning the mission because he purchased house property for the Christian church, the event had deeply affected his thoughts to preach to the upper class of China.Chapter Two analyzes the relation between Gilbert Reid and China's politics of late Qing and the early of Republic. The change of Chinese society after Jia Wu War provided the right time and stage for his participation in Chinese political activities. In the period of reform movement, he entered into the upper class of Chinese society; he made friends with the reformers and attacked the social evils of those days; he advocated reform and furthered the reform movement together with other missionaries. As a result, he established and increased his fame and influences. In the period of"New Deal", he transformed from the leader of the reform movement to the supporter of the dynastic reform. He gave his concern to the reform of political restructuring, publicized the achievement of the educational reform and suggested to reconcile the relation between China and foreign countries. All these showed his positive attitude towards the Qing government's attempt to save itself. Gilbert Reid had limited understanding of the revolution of 1911. His attitude towards the abdication of the Puyi, emperor of Qing; his evaluation of Sun Yat-sen, first president of the Republic of China; his relation to Yuan Shikai, his position on the dispute over constitution all showed that he believes in the progress of the society, however, he opposed to realize the reform by means of revolution. In the early Republic of China, Gilbert Reid's political activities had gone beyond a missionary, thus enabled him to be an influential and renowned social activist.Chapter Three focuses on the relation between Gilbert Reid and Chinese culture. Establishing and taking charge of the daily activities of The International Institute of China, which reflected his religious thought of the union of different religion, consisted of the most important activities of Gilbert Reid in China. Concerning his attitudes towards Chinese and western culture, he advocated a coexistence of Chinese and western culture, a reconciliation of new and old school. In the beginning of the twentieth Century, he had shown his increasing admiration towards Chinese culture. He advocated preservation of antiquity and researches on ancient China and ancient Chinese culture; he expressed great esteem towards the ethical function of Confucianism. He has gone so far that he supports the movement of the Confucius religion in the beginning of the Republic of China, which produced some negative effect.Chapter Four deals mainly with the attitude and position Reid takes on the Chinese and foreign relations. Upon the breakout of the First World War, Reid persisted in China's maintaining of the neutral position in the war and strongly opposed to China's participation in the war. He even took the risk of offending US government. In the years of warlord scuffle, Gilbert Reid dedicated to the peace and union of China and to the furthering of cause of ceasefire of China in 1920s as he had the ideal of peace in China in his mind. In foreign affairs, considering China's sovereignty and interest, Reid supported the abolition of the privilege of foreign nations in China, which presented his sympathy towards the national movement of China to some degree. However, his preference of reform rather than radical revolution proved to be unacceptable in Chinese people. This thesis holds that Gilbert Reid was such a historical figure that he took the characteristics of a missionary, a social activist and a pacifist in one. Reid came to China as a missionary, but his activities had gone beyond the religious one. He participated in the political, cultural and foreign affairs of China, therefore he was a multi-sided figure and his impact on Chinese society was multiple. He influenced China on the one hand; on the other hand, he bore much influences of Chinese culture, which could not be overlooked. The western cultural background and the brand of Chinese culture on him reechoed. Therefore, Gilbert Reid is typical. The twist and turns in his personal experiences were also a reflection of the tendency of the influence on China which foreign missionary in China exerted. We should point out that Gilbert Reid was a missionary with strong Chinese perplex and at the same time, a westerners who identified Chinese culture. The purposes of most of his activities in China were to help China and furthering the improvement of Chinese society. However, he was neither a politician nor social revolutionist; he, as a missionary, transformed to and was merely a reformist and social activist who sympathized and supported Chinese reform and progress. He lived in China for a long time and showed his sympathy to Chinese people. He had a sentimental attachment to the land of China, where a scene of devastation met the eye. He dedicated all his life to the progress of Chinese society and his body finally reposed in the land.