伦敦会与在华英国教会中等教育——以“英华书院”为中心的考察

London Missionary Society and English Christian Secondary Education in China:A Study on ″Anglo-Chinese College″

伦敦会是近代率先派遣传教士来华的英国海外布道会,并率先将西方学校教育体制引入中国。19世纪后期至20世纪前期,伦敦会在中国创办了若干所统称为"英华书院"的学校,它们遂成为这一时期在华英国教会中等教育的主体,位于汉口的博学书院、天津的新学书院和上海的麦伦书院即为其代表。这类教会中等教育学校既沿袭了马礼逊所创立的马六甲"英华书院"的基本模式,又继承了英国公学教育的某些传统,并在此基础上进行了一系列本土化的改革,以求适应中国国情。在"西学东渐"的大背景下,以伦敦会"英华书院"为代表的在华英国教会中等教育形成了鲜明的办学特色,对促进中国近代中等教育的发展产生了较大影响。

London Missionary Society,which sent the first Protestant missionary to China in the modern times,was a pioneer in introducing the Western education system into China.From late 19th Century to the early 20th Century,London Missionary Society founded a certain number of Anglo-Chinese Colleges which constituted an important part of English Christian secondary schools in China during that period,notably Griffith John College in Hankou,Anglo-Chinese College in Tianjin and Medhurst College in Shanghai.Most early missionaries who came to China,like R.Morrison and W.Milne,were not well-educated or had only received short-term training at some theological colleges,but they endeavoured to enhance their understanding of the Chinese language and culture in their translation,school-running and publishing activities.From the late 19th Century,some professionals were called ″educational missionaries″ as they had received higher education and got involved in overseas missionary activities,among whom were A.J.Macfarlane,the first headmaster of Griffith John College,S.L.Hart,the first headmaster of Tianjin Anglo-Chinese College,W.Bevan,the second headmaster of Medhurst College in Shanghai.These well-educated professional missionaries＇ participation contributed to the enhancement of the academic level as well as the quality of the Anglo-Chinese Colleges.In general,these Christian secondary schools not only followed the pattern of the Anglo-Chinese College set up by R.Morrison and W.Milne in Malacca,but also acquired the English tradition of Public School system.Furthermore,some later leaders took reform measures to indigenize the schools to adapt them to the Chinese conditions.Under the impact of ″Eastward Transmission of Western Learning″,Anglo-Chinese Colleges established by the London Missionary Society developed their distinctive features and exerted great influences on the progress of the modern Chinese secondary education.