清末传教士眼中的中国形象——以明恩溥、何天爵以及麦高温为考察中心

Image of China in the Late Qing Dynasty in Missionaries' Eyes With Arthur Henderson Smith,Chester Holcombe, John Macgowan as the Research Objects

在清末传教士所勾勒的中国全景图中,中国形象的正向价值可以说微乎其微,给予中国以落后、失败以及灾难感。传教士通过如下三方面来概括出中国的大致特征:重视繁衍,却无生命意识;伦理本位,以道德替代宗教;笃信教育,只为念书做官。传教士眼中的中国形象并非现实存在的中国,其原因在于以西方的工业文明形象来考量中国,以基督教学说来改变中国。

In the panorama of late Qing dynasty of China drawn by the missionaries, rhere was little postive image of China except backwardness, failure and disaster. The missionaries summed up the general features as follows： too much breeding without sense of life; ethics the first and morality as religion; stess on education but study only for office. But the image of China was not a true one because they looked at China with an eye of the western industrial civilization and tried to change China with Chistian doctrine.