The Study On Preaching Activities In The Late Qing Dynasty

The present paper is mainly targeted at preaching which is an importantway to enlighten underclass people in the late Qing Dynasty. It is composedof introduction and body part.Academic research on this subject is reviewed in the introduction.Otherwise, it includes the background and meanings, main points, domesticresearch status, and interpretation of the relevant concepts.There are four chapters in this text, disserting as following:Chapter one traces the formation and evolution of preaching activitiesin the late Qing. In the Ming dynasty, to preach Emperor Sacraments wasgradually becoming a major item of local rules with the system of officiallocal rules establishing. By the Emperor Guangxu and Xuantong’s reign,it was still alive, and formal preaching places were increasinglyappearing. Based on that, the first part discusses the process ofpreaching activities from original preaching Emperor Sacraments,transition to reading and explaining news, then by founding formalpreaching places, and falling into a subsequent slump.Chapter two divides the main content of preaching in the late Qinginto four sections according to its subject. Firstly, localself-government and Chinese current situation becomes politically one ofthe main contents of preaching. Next, preaching the promotion of industryis economically an indispensable content, involving the business, craftand agriculture. Then, it is a priority for forbidding countrymen to smokeopium,dissuading women from binding foot, and encouraging free marriagein means of preaching. Lastly, it is an effectual way to carry out socialmovements, such as census checks, anti-American boycotts and nationaldonations. Those bearing on the practical significances reflect thatpreaching as a medium played an important role in people’s livelihoodto a certain extent in the late Qing.Chapter three points out the procedure and elements of preaching. Theoperation of preaching activities were planned, taking into consideration of the administration of preaching places and the development of preachingactivities. Thereupon, the first quarter illustrates its series ofprocess in details. With that, the second quarter centers on the threeelements below: the preacher, speaking drafts and preaching places.Chapter four tries to dig out the social root of how preachingactivities prosper in the late Qing dynasty. Preaching activities cameon to prosperity in the late Qing for a specific period. At that time,its educational policy and cultural atmosphere was changing. Based on thisbackground, this chapter deeply researches the social situation in whichpreaching activities prospered.Through the above four chapters, this paper attempts to discuss thepreaching activity in the late Qing dynasty at large. In addition, itconcludes and summarizes what preaching, as a mode of transmission, wasrecognized during that time.