The Study Of Timothy Richard's Activities In Shanxi(1877-1887)

After the Opium War in 1840,Christian missionaries entered China on a large scale,which had a complex impact on Chinese society in the late Qing Dynasty.Generally speaking,modern Western missionaries spread the gospel in China through this process:from direct evangelism to convert the local people to God,gradually to a variety of detours,especially indirect missionary methods to change the Chinese society Christian orientation,and then achieve missionary purposes.In this process,the missionary's thought also experienced a "conversion" process.Timothy Richard of the Baptist Missionary Society has had an important influence in modern China.The academic research on him mostly focused on his thoughts and activities during the Reform Movement of 1898,but the research on his early activities and the transformation process of missionary thought was relatively weak.In 1870,Timothy Richard came to China.From 1877 to 1887,not until he was opposed by his colleagues he worked in Shanxi.He was in Shanxi for 10 years.The activities and thinking of himself during this period were the basis of his later thoughts and deserved the attention of researchers.Timothy Richard wrote many articles and unpublished communication diaries on missionary work in China.Examining these works under the specific historical and cultural background of modern China will help to analyze the correlation between his Chinese missionary career and the development of Chinese history.The spread of Christianity in modern China is also the process of conflict and integration of modern Chinese and Western civilizations.On the one hand,Timothy Richard worked hard to learn Chinese religious culture and became a missionary to meet the needs of the Chinese;on the other hand.Timothy Richard was committed to assisting China to promote the transformation of modernization,in the process of cultivating Chinese people who are more receptive to Christianity.Timothy Richard carried out activities such as famine relief,literary work,reform advocacy,and cross-cultural exchanges in Shanxi.These activities had a certain impact on the local society in Shanxi.The thinking and strategy of Timothy Richard consisted in extending the European modern Christian civilization model to China.Timothy Richard believes that religion and secularism can coexist.Christianity can promote the development of science,technology,education and political reform,and can cultivate Chinese people who accept Christianity in a modern way.As a missionary,Timothy Richard's identity has not changed.He did not give up the mission because of the difficulties he encountered in China.He hoped to lead the "Million Chinese convert" with the most appropriate missionary method he thought.Timothy Richard's missionary experience in Shanxi made himself believe that Christianity and the religious history of China have something in common,they can incorporate these ideas into their missionary processes without giving up the essential understanding of the Christian gospel,thereby broadening his theological perspective.When Timothy Richard continued to adapt to the specific conditions of China to carry out missions,his sympathy for the Chinese people and their culture grew,and his missionary ideas and methods matured.Timothy Richard believes Christianity values "finding the most valuable people",therefore,he supports the cultivation of local pastors.He combines gospel work with famine relief work.Most importantly,he is keen to influence Chinese officials.Timothy's missionary strategy of secularization has caused strong criticism among his colleagues.Timothy advocated a free and practical missionary strategy,which was unacceptable to his colleagues in Shanxi and other missionaries.Judging from the actual results,Timothy Richard's activities and missionary methods did not achieve the desired results.Other scholars' research on the impact of Timothy Richard on modern Chinese society is mostly based on the autobiography of Timothy Richard.However,the activities of Timothy Richard in Shanxi only had the role of missionary self-promotion,and had no obvious role in promoting the reform process in Shanxi.The warm welcome received by Timothy Richard was actually due to his role as a relief agent.However,it is the China Famine Relief Fund Committee and its officer William Muirhead who play a central role in the Western famine relief mechanism.However,most of the agency's activities are carried out behind the scenes,making it difficult for the world's attention.There are various opinions on the way of Timothy Richard's mission within the BMS,so his influence on other denominations is even weaker.In the end,it ended with Timothy Richard leaving Shanxi.The case of Timothy shows that there are different missionary orientations among the missionary groups who came to China in the late Qing Dynasty.Those missionaries who advocated adapting to the needs of modernization in Chinese society and adopted a new and more free and open missionary approach have greatly affected China at that time.But it is difficult to be accepted by the mainstream missionary community.The tension between freedom and conservative orientation in the missionary community has existed all the time.In this sense,it is not accidental that Timothy was ranked by his colleagues.