A Study Of Qi Zhiwen's "Selected Works Of Chinese Dialects In Guangzhou"

In the middle of the nineteenth century, with the arrival of the Elijah Coleman Bridgman,the United States had started the preaching of missionary in China. More and more missionaries came to China, but the first problem they had faced was to learn the local language so that they can preach easily. He was the first American who came to China and laid a solid foundation for the development of Sinology in the United States. Besides he made important contributions to the understanding of China in the United States.In the meanwhile he played a vital role in the process of Chinese going out of China to the world. The dual identity of missionaries and sinologists allowed him to make a splash in the history of the America. Therefore, there are more and more scholars began to study him, and there are a lot of research articles about him whether from the perspective of missionaries in China in the late Qing Dynasty,or from the perspective of the spread and development of the Gospel in China, However, few articles are writing about the history of the development of Chinese education in the world. This thesis will try to study the life of Elijah Coleman Bridgman in China in the perspective of the Chinese education history in the world as well as the first Cantonese textbook,"Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect".In the introduction of this thesis, the author reviews the current research articles about Elijah Coleman Bridgman and his works, and points out the shortcomings of these researches.Among the various articles on the study of Elijah Coleman Bridgman, there are few about the Cantonese textbooks, "Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect" written by Elijah Coleman Bridgman. Therefore, as a language teaching textbook, "Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect" need to study deeper.So,the first chapter of this thesis is to explain the personal experience of Elijah Coleman Bridgman, and how his personal experience impacted the writing of the teaching textbook.The second?third and fourth chapter have a comprehensive study and analysis of the first Cantonese textbooks written by an American.I was Combined with the local historical and social background, to further study and explore the position and influence of him and his works in the world Chinese education history. As the first language textbook written by an American, the Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect which plays an irreplaceable role in the spread and development of Cantonese. At the end of the article, the author will link the life of the writer and his works, Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect, and explore how the ecclesiastical experience influence the writing of the book.