The Study On The Learning And Researching Of The Chinese Language Of The Westerners Coming To China In The Late Qing Dynasty

In 1807, Robert Morrison came to China for the dissemination of Christianity, which marked the beginning of the Protestant missionary enterprise, and also raised the curtain of the learning and researching of the Chinese language of the Westerners who came to China in the Late Qing Dynasty. In face of a variety of adversities, Morrison, relying on his affirm will and persistent efforts, soon grasped the Chinese language and became the renowned sinologist of his time. Morrison realized that the learning of Chinese was crucial to ensure the success of the dissemination of Christianity in China. Therefore, he appealed for the extending of Chinese learning, and established the training schools for the promotion of Chinese learning and teaching. In addition, Morrison himself compiled the first Chinese-English dictionary of China, translated the whole version of Bible into Chinese for the first time, and published a series of works on Chinese learning and researching. His work provided other Westerners with huge help in the aspect of Chinese learning and researching.Following Morrison, many American and British missionaries who came to China also joined the tide of Chinese learning and researching. The Chinese Repository, which was the first periodical issued in China, based on its objective reports and accurate data, became the major media through which the West knew China. Form 1832 to 1851, the missionaries coming to China, published large quantities of academic articles in the Chinese Repository, setting off animated discussions on problems related to Chinese learning and researching from various perspectives, which represented the highest level on Chinese learning and researching.The Chinese door was forced to open after the First and Second Opium Wars. With the development of missionary enterprise, missionaries coming to China had to face various Chinese dialects. Therefore, the learning and researching of Chinese dialects had become a new feature at that time. On the other hand, consuls of Western countries joined the tide of Chinese learning and researching, too, in order to meet the demands of their work. Besides, the development of the training schools had brought about the shift from the model of individual-centered learning to the model of school-centered course teaching effectively.As a special language formed in the Late Qing Dynasty, Pidgin English was greatly influenced by the Chinese language in the aspect of phonetics, vocabulary and grammar, etc. Therefore, Pidgin English not only removed the linguistic barrier between Chinese and Westerners, but also became a special way to understand and learn Chinese for Westerners'coming to China.Systematizing and summarizing the learning and researching of the Chinese language of the Westerners coming to China in the Late Qing Dynasty, will not only help to fill in the blank in the academic field as well as perfect the development of the related disciplines, but also provide rich and valuable historical data and experiences for Westerners of today who want to study Chinese. At the same time, this research also has the historical and realistic significance for the deepening of the theories in the field of Chinese learning and teaching to Westerners.