| As one of the most important institutions of Protestantism in China,church schools,a powerful aid to the Church in spreading Christian ideas,had a considerable impact on modern Chinese society,and in the mid-to-late 19 th century,American Protestant missions,mainly the Reformed Church,the Congregation for American Ministries,and the Methodist Church,entered Fujian one after another,actively engaging in educational activities and establishing church schools.As church schools took root in Fujian society,the number of schools gradually increased and their distribution became more widespread.In addition to primary,secondary,and higher education,the missionaries also established seminaries to train clergy and special schools for the disabled,and the types of schools became more diverse.This paper is a study of American Protestant church school education in Fujian in the mid-to-late nineteenth century,and consists of an introduction,a body,and a conclusion.The first part of the introduction is to analyze the current research results,and to explain the reasons for the selection of this paper,as well as the significance,innovation,and shortcomings of the research.Through the analysis and examination of the educational activities of the Protestant church schools,with the Anglo-Chinese College as a typical example,the church schools,on the one hand,disseminated advanced Western scientific knowledge and ideological concepts and promoted the liberation of people’s minds at that time;on the other hand,the essence of the church schools was,in the final analysis,to serve imperialism and spread Christian ideas.As a powerful tool for cultural invasion,they were intended to better preach the "gospel" rather than to promote the modernization of China.Part III concludes this paper with a general analysis of the American Protestant church schools in Fujian in the mid-to-late 19 th century.On the one hand,Protestant parochial schools in Fujian presented different characteristics from traditional academies in terms of language,curriculum,and student life management.First,in terms of language use,the church schools adopt a bilingual teaching system to further increase students’ understanding of the teaching materials;second,unlike the traditional academy’s curriculum that focuses on Confucian classics,the church school curriculummainly consists of three major parts: religion courses,Confucian classics and Western scientific knowledge,further broadening students’ knowledge;finally,the schools pay great attention to cultivating students’ character and have formed a set of Finally,the school paid great attention to the cultivation of students’ character and formed a strict system from performance assessment to life management.New-style church education coexisted with traditional education and became an important part of the Fujian education system.On the other hand,by analyzing and examining the educational activities of the church schools represented by the Hering Ying Hua College,the church schools on the one hand spread advanced western scientific knowledge and ideological concepts,promoting the liberation of people’s minds and the modernization of Fujian society at that time,on the other hand,the essence of the church schools was ultimately to serve imperialism,and their purpose was to spread Christian ideas.As a powerful tool for cultural aggression,the church schools seriously infringed upon our educational sovereignty and hindered the development of the modernization of our education. |
