Construction And Reality:the Chinese Children In The Perspective Of Westerners Coming To China During Late Qing Dynasty

During late Qing dynasty, people from western world came to China in a throng and the Chinese children broke into their view of care. From their perspective, children in China-did not enjoy a good protection like western children, which is mainly reflected in aspects including infanticide, gender inequality, backward medical condition, monotonous games and rigid education etc. The loss of children’s rights essentially showed the poverty of China, political corruption and cultural lag. Comparing with that, the westerners coming to China exhibited a sense of superiority about their culture and suggested that China is in desperate need of the Christianity, which comes from more than the pride or construction of colonists. Chinese going abroad at the same period made reflections towards the children in late Qing dynasty after learning the conditions of western children, which to some degree served as a proof for the judgment of westerners in China towards the Chinese children. Abroad Chinese also agreed that western children enjoyed a more civilized life. Thus, in the view of westerners coming to late Qing dynasty, Chinese children reflected an embarrassment of our ancient culture facing western culture, which should be regarded as a basic judgment for the fact. Acknowledging this fact is the foundation of introspection and even reform. Conversely, if this fact is oversaw, while mistakenly conclude this disparity to a kind of discourse construction or emphasize the local characteristics, which is actually ingnoring some more crucial questions.