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Dissertation Information for Hoi-lap Ho

NAME:
- Hoi-lap Ho

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Chicago (USA) (1979)

ADVISORS:
- Tsuen-hsuin Tsien

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Howard W. Winger
- Anthony C. Yu

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: PROTESTANT MISSIONARY PUBLICATIONS IN MODERN CHINA, 1912-1949: A STUDY OF THEIR PROGRAMS, OPERATIONS, AND TRENDS

Abstract: ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature, motivation,
and goals of the Protestant missionary publication activities, through an
examination of the programs and operation of these Protestant presses and
a critical analysis of the subj ec.t matter and distribution of their
publications.

The investigation concerns itself primarily with Chinese books and
periodicals that were aimed at the general reading public, published by
agencies or presses established or supported by the Protestant missionaries
in China, from the inception of the Chinese Republic in 1912, when the
Constitution first guaranteed religious freedom for all, to 1949, when all
missionary activities were brought to a halt after the establishment of
the People's Republic.

Altogether about 3,000 books, 2,700 pamphlets, and 260 periodical s
were published by Protestant publishers during the Republican period. The
monographic publications were largely prepared by Western missionaries or
translated from Western sources. The number of titles published under
Chinese Christians was low, about 25 percent of books and 40 percent of
pamphlets. Throughout the early period, from 1912 to 1927, the major
concern of Protestant publishers was the building up of a strong Chinese
church. Publications put out by these publishers were overwhelmingly religious
materials, intended for consumption of the Christian community.
Publications in the next decade, from 1928 to 1937, were more
project-oriented and prepared for a specific purpose. The close cooperation
,between Protestant publishers and the National Christian Council was
the major factor in this change.

Publications during the wartime, from 1938 to 1949, were characterized
by the large number of reprints. Newly-prepared materials were mostly
tracts, Sunday School textbooks, apologetic works, and novels for young
adults. Efforts to prepare materials that would reflect the needs of the
time and to translate se lected Christian classics for students and intellectuals
were suffocated by the extending wars.

Like the publication of books, except for a short period., there is
no united national program for the publication of periodicals. They were
largely distributed gratis. The contents of these periodicals included
mainly church or mission news and activities, sermons for pastors, devotional guides for families, Biblical stories, religious fiction, and
materials for Sunday Schools. There was, however, a relatively small
number of periodicals whose subjects were not limited to religious matters,
but included also discussions on contemporary political, social, and
economic issues. Such periodicals as the Christian Farmer, Happy Childhood,
and Women's Messenger brought their readers a variety of materials from
religion and ethics to national and international affairs. Publications
on the character-building and social gospel enabled their readers to percei
ve the issues of personality development, fami ly, and public affairs in
a Christian framework that is different from that of other secular publications.
Protestant publishers were mostly located in big cities along the
coastal provinces, among which Shanghai was the largest and the center of
missionary activities in China. These publishers, which numbered sixtynine
in 1933, were not only international, but also inter-denominational
in their financial support and composition, and officers of these societies
were responsible to a wide constituency of the world. Their business was
conducted at an operation loss which was met by annual grants from mission
boards, local supports, and other proceeds . The majority of these publishers
were under the direction of foreign missionaries. Financial matters
militated against turning over their control to the native people,
though the need for the transference of editorial and executive responsibility
to the Chinese was cl early indicated by the mood of the time,
especially after the Anti-foreign Movement in 1922.
Generally speaking, the contribution made to the Chinese society
by Protestant publications in the Republican period was important, but
their influence was limited if compared with that of the nineteenth century.

During the earlier stage, Protestant publications on modern learning
were the major media by which Western civilization was transmitted to
China. After 1911, with the growth of many large and highly-capitalized
secular publishing agencies, which took over the publication of textbooks
and general works of new knowledge, Protestant publishers had to concentrate
their efforts on the publication of religious materials. Because
of the lack of a united program in literature production, the meager support
by the mission boards for literature work, the scarcity of competent
writers, and the foreignness of the Christian religion, readership of
these publications was restricted. Besides the Bible, which had been the
best seller in China, other Protestant publications had comparatively small
circulation and were consumed mainly among the Christian community. To
most of China's intellectuals, the literary style of Christian literature
was generally inferior, the contents shallow, and its messages offered
little help to the urgent needs of contemporary Chinese society.

MPACT Scores for Hoi-lap Ho

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:15:18

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Students under Hoi-lap Ho

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None