美国农业传教士与中国乡村建设(1907-1937)

Agricultural Missionaries of America and Rural Construction of China

20世纪初,随着社会福音思潮在美国教会的流行,农业成为继布道、医疗、教育之后的又一重要宣教媒介。一批农业传教士纷纷来华。他们将目光转向生活贫困人口比例极大的中国乡村,一方面他们希望通过传播农业科技传播基督福音,从而实现"乡村基督化";另一方面他们希望农民掌握农业科技,提高生活水平,改变乡村凋敝的状况。农业传教士们身体力行,倡导农业教育,开展乡村调查,推动中美科技交流与合作,改良和推广农作物品种,提出了一系列解决乡村问题的方案。然而,面临复杂的中国社会环境,农业传教士无法实现"基督化乡村"的愿景,客观上他们却充当了中国乡村建设的先驱者,农业现代化的推动者。

As social gospel became popular in the USA churches at the beginning of the 20th century,agricultural mission turned to be another important media except for sermon, medical service, and education. A lot of agricultural missionaries came to China and shifted their attention to rural area, where covered high ratio of poverty farmers. Missionaries expected to preach the gospel of Christ as well as dissemination of agricuhural science and technology to ＂Christianize rural China＂. Additionally, they hoped farmers to learn agricultural technologies, improve living standards, and overcome destitution of countryside. These agricultural missionaries did all things personally, advocated agricultural education, conducted rural survey, promoted Sino-US scientific and technological exchanges, and upgraded crop varieties. They proposed series of projects for solution of rural issues. However, missionaries were unable to create a vision of ＂Christianized rural in China＂. Actually, they became the pioneers on rural construction and facilitated China agricultural modernization