A Study Of The Missionary Schools During Recent And Modern Ages In Guangxi

The missionary schools here refer to various kinds of schools in China during recent and modern ages set up by the missionaries from the Roman Catholic Church and the Christian Church in the U.K, the U.S.A, France and other countries. The establishment of these schools aimed at training clergymen and teachers as assistants for the Church, and labourors for imperialistic enterprises and facilities in China. (For convenience of discussion, this paper just focuses on the missionary schools in Guangxi).CathoIicism and Christianty firmly resist other religious beliefs and bear a strong will to idealize the commonism. So, gaining special approval from the colonial government by series of unfair treaties signed after the Opium War, the Roman Catholic Church and the Christian Church sent batches of missionaries to China to engage in missionary work.Various ways were adopted in order to christianize China. One of them was to run schools.Catholicism and Christianity were introduced into Guangxi very late due to all sorts of reasons. It was only after the China-France war that missionary schools were started in Guangxi. During the years from 1886 to the eve of the foundation of P.R.C., The Roman Catholic Church opened in Guangxi 12 monasteries and convents, 34 primary and middle schools; while the Christian Church established 11 divinities, 3 training classes and 74 primary and middle schools. The above mentioned schools can be classified into two kinds: divinities and common missionary schools. The former refers to the schools specially set up for training clergy, which Rolds an important position and exerts significant funtions among the missionary schools. The latter refers to the Church-run primary and middle schools, kingdergardens, vocational schools, classes for teacher training and classes for illiterates persons, etc. The common missionary schools is different from the divinities, though they share the same purpose of spreading Christian doctrines and enrolling more Christians. It is much more mundane and more closely linked with social life; and for its wide-spread existence, it imposes greater influence upons the society.As compared with their counterparts in other provinces, churth schools in Guangxi were set up relatively late. They appeared less varieties and lower grade in education. Their appearance was a cultural invasion with positive effect. Such being the case they should not be simply judged in a Yes-or No attitude. On the one hand, all the church schools had violated China's sovereignty in education. During 1920s none of them had been registered. They had remained independent from the administration of the Chinese government, like kindoms over the Chinese territory. Like spiritual opium, they weaken the will of the Chinese students and their national consciousness by religious misguidance and enslaving education. On the other hand, they brought a striking impact upon the Chinese fuedal educational system. This positive contribution is proved by the church schools in Guangxi: They offered great help for thebirth of modem education in this region. In these schools the local people learnt to read and write. They were like small windows, from which China could introduce into western education system and advanced culture and technology. Since then Guangxi made a way for women school education, special education and chances of abroad education.Recently though the studies on how Catholicism and Christianity did their missionary work in Guangxi have attracted the attention of researchers,yet analyzing this issue according to the history of church schools remains a weakpoinL This paper attempts to go deep into this issue by discussing the history and the effect of Church schools in Guangxi from the beginning to the end. As its writer, I sincerely hope to receive any different pointview.