沈宗瀚与南京时期的教会金陵大学农业改良(1927-1937)

Shen Zonghan and Agricultural Improvement at the Missionary University of Nanking, 1927-1937

金陵大学在中国近现代农业改良过程中扮演了极其重要的角色。沈宗瀚先生是金陵大学农学家中对民国乃至20世纪中国农学有深刻影响的一位。20世纪20年代中期到30年代中期,伴随着中国社会由割据混战到形式统一、民族主义情绪高涨、国内农业科学逐渐近代化,教会背景的金陵大学经历了一个转折、探索的时期。以沈宗瀚为代表的农学家改变了早期与政府疏离的态度,在通过发展农学来服务中国的尝试过程中,以中立、世俗的态度强调农业的科学性,一方面充分利用既有教会机构的农学网络,一方面与各级政府和学术机关加强互动,从而共同推动中国农业改良事业。沈宗瀚在金陵大学的活动可作为范例来探索教会大学在这一历史时期的发展方略。

The Missionary University of Nanking played a role of remarkable significance in the modernization of Chinese agriculture. Dr. Shen Zonghan, one of the leading agricultural scientists and activists at the University of Nanking, had made unneglectable contribution to agricultural sciences in twentieth-century China. During the 1920s to 1930s, the Nationalist government unified China in form through a series of wars. Nationalism gradually raised in this country. The College of Agriculture at University of Nanking was faced with great challenge during this era because of its foreign missionary background. As one of the most influential agriculturalists in Republican China, Shen Zonghan＇s works at the College may serve as a typical example of how the University of Nanking decided its development strategies and how agricultural scientists chose their ways to improve Chinese agriculture. Agriculturalists at missionary universities, such as Shen Zonghan, emphasized scientific agriculture with a secular and neutral attitude. They combined the desire of serving the country through agricultural science with Christian charity, utilized the existing missionary networks, strengthened interaction and cooperation with diverse governmental organizations, and made efforts to improve agricul- ture in modem China. Shen Zonghan and his colleagues at the University of Nanking may serve as model cases to explore missionary colleges＇ shifting strategies during the Nanjing Decade （1927-1937）.