Christian scholar Ran Yunfei said in a lecture that he is researching Chinese biographies of foreign missionaries in China, which is often neglected.
In a lecture titled “The Preliminary Study of Chinese Biographies of Foreign Missionaries to China”, Ran who converted to Christianity in 2015, claimed on October 16 that after suggesting to believers that they read one missionary biography a month, he realized that this field was rarely researched.
Many studies focused on the history of church schools, Chinese churches and Christianity in China. But a wide variety of these works were written by foreigners; there was little research on these three areas done by the Chinese themselves.
“Why would I study this area? Because there are many missionary biographies written by Westerners and few works done by Chinese. The study of missionary biographies is weak (in China). Biographies are the accounts of ‘preaching their life and work’. They are not totally reliable, requiring analysis and judgment to determine the degree of authenticity,” said the famous writer, who was born in Chongqing in 1965.
“Reading biographies is a person’s special hobby. You can target a person whom you attempt to understand when reading them. For Christians, those missionaries to China can give people strength in addition to that emanating from our Great Savior. the Lord Jesus Christ. We are easily stirred when reading them. For example, some missionaries preached in one’s hometown and had close ties to Chinese Christians. This will help to understand the Lord’s work more clearly.”
He added that there was a lack of textbooks about missionaries.
“The advantage in producing missionary biographies is that they have a natural spiritual background. This involves grammar, logic and rhetoric and demands a high amount of knowledge on literature. Many dialogues they contain are very important,” explained Ran.
Foreign missionaries contributed to the birth of Baihua, or written, vernacular Chinese. “The Chinese Bible translated by the Society of Jesus adopted Mandarin Chinese. The (Chinese) translation of John 6:48 in 1805 had the style of vernacular Chinese. But the Chinese in modern China hardly understand the early scripts, so the earliest modern vernacular Chinese version of the Four Books (The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects, and the Mencius) was translated by German missionary Paul Kranz in 1910.”
The famous public intellectual stressed that reading these biographies was very helpful in understanding the history of Chinese churches as well as Chinese pastors,
John Livingstone Nevius formulated the “Nevius Plan”, making him the first person who proposed the “three-self” principle (self-governance, self-support, self-propagation), but Hudson Taylor and Robert Morrison proposed the idea even earlier.
An autobiography, “The Sons of Han: Stories of Chinese Life and Mission Work” by a British missionary, claims that the development of the church in the 1850s traded a life-for-a-life. Basically speaking, 50 people followed Christ at the sacrifice of 50 missionary lives.
Ran added that we should value the spiritual heritages of missionaries to China such as Robert Morrison and Hudson Taylor and remember the contributions of those spiritual giants to the Chinese church. What they had gone through in missions could inspire the Chinese to preach the Gospel in their own native land. The year 1866 was a landmark in the history of Chinese missions. Their work in Wenzhou and northeastern China influenced the future of missions in the entire country. “You will grasp a more clear sight of God's grand blueprint after reading their biographies. It reminds me of Acts 29.”
Ran warned that we should not judge missionaries by our own current understandings, but instead only comment on them while respecting the objective facts.
Citing the example of the death of a young missionary at age 16, he said,“This was the will of God. We need to ponder over how God viewed the matter. . . . We must see the glory of God and the unseen spiritual heritage when studying this. We must discern the spiritual legacy of Robert Morrison. They are our respected spiritual ancestors, but we are permitted to assess their work.”
“In the early days of church schools, faith was not a requirement when enrolling students. As a result, many children of non-Christian elite officials were admitted and non-Christian teachers were hired. During the late Qing Dynasty and early period of the Republic of China, many elites were trained in 13 church schools, yet many of the graduates preferred materialism over Christianity. This is my assessment.”
In the Q&A part, a question was raised on “how to regard missionaries who were engaged in Sinology”. Ran answered: “Missionaries were confronted with two temptations while doing Sinology: to think too highly or too lowly of Chinese culture. For example, James Legge did a good translation of Chinese classics, but to me there was no Gospel in them. Missionaries should avoid overrating or underrating of Chinese culture, for the world has no culture higher than that of the Gospel. Missionaries who looked down on China put Western culture above Chinese culture. Many Western missionaries shared Western civilization instead of the Gospel. Particularly when referring to real problems, they tended to believe Western civilizations were wiser than Chinese culture. It is correct to view all cultures soberly when preaching the Gospel."
- Translated by Karen Luo
2021年10月16日，青年学者、作家、基督徒冉云飞受邀在网上上分享一场题为《两百年来中国传教士中文传记的初步研究》的讲座。
冉云飞，基督徒、作家、青年学者。生于酉阳，1987年毕业于四川大学中文系，长居成都。先后著有《尖锐的秋天：里尔克》、《手抄本的流亡》、《沉疴：中国教育的危机与批判》、《从历史的偏旁进入成都》、《庄子我说》、《像唐诗一样生活：中国人心灵栖息的诗意追寻》等书。
冉云飞分享自己为何开始对“两百年来中国传教士中文传记的初步研究”这个话题开始有兴趣。他说到，自己先开始读一些关于马礼逊来华的传记等，“我发觉整个传教士的传记领域时缺少人来研究的”，他于是开始带领身边一些弟兄姐妹每个月读一本不同的传教士传记。他说到，无论是从教会学校、中国基督教教会，还是基督教来华的历史，这些一直以来国外的研究比较多，不少的著作也是国外的人写的，而中国自己对这三个领域的研究都很少。
一，为什么要研究这个领域：
“我为什么要研究这个领域？”冉飞云说，“因为关于传教士传记，西方人写的多，中国人写的少，基督教来华的传记领域的研究是薄弱的。传记是对传主的生活和工作的记录，传记不都是全然可靠，需要人的分析和判定，最终确定真实的程度。”
他谈到读传记的意义：“读传记是一个人特别的喜好。传记可以让人在读的时候找到一个效法的对象。对于基督徒来说，除了伟大的救主耶稣基督以外，那些来到中国的传教士也可以给很多人力量。我们读的时候会特别容易感动，比如，传教士到过你的家乡做工，就会与中国的基督徒产生内在的关系，会让人更清晰的看到主的工作。”
二，关于编辑历史教材的看见：
冉云飞补充说，关于传教士的教材是缺乏的，任何东西的编撰都有它的前设，这个前设就是它的假设。任何所谓的中立背后都有学术的前设，比如，数学这个稳定的领域都需要假设，如果没有假设，数学大厦也无法成立。同样，人文社会主义科学更是需要前设，涉及到人的部分更为复杂，我们需要更多的去研究和了解。“写传教士传记的好处是有天然的属灵遮盖，其涉及到写作文法、逻辑、修辞需要很高文学素养。很多传教士传记中的对话是非常重要的。”
——传教士对白话文的影响：
冉云飞说：“耶稣会翻译的《古今圣经长稿》用的是北京的官话，1805年翻译的【约翰福音6:48】的翻译就是带着白话性质的。”他讲到了中国的白话文的需要和出现，是有传教士的贡献和帮助的。近现代的中国人很难读懂过去早期的文字，因而最早《四书》的白话文版本是由德国传教士安保罗在1910年翻译出来的。”
三，关于中国教会历史
读传教士传记对中国教会历史理解和中国的牧者是非常有帮助的，可以知道起初他们是如何做教会和门徒培训的，冉云飞介绍说，我们除了看传教士的伟大图景和作为，我们还要看中国教会历史，很多学者写的教会历史有很高的水准，但其整理度和材料的收集和细微的侦辨还有巨大的工作要做。比如，来华传教士倪维思形成了“倪维思计划”，使他成为最早提出中国教会“自治、自养、自传”三自原则的人。但其实戴德生和马礼逊在之前就提出这个看法了。
在一本英国传教士的传记《汉人》里记载：早期教会在50年代的发展是以命换命，培养50个人基本上要一对一的牺牲50个传教士。早期在中国开疆扩土的传教的过程是非常不容易的。
冉云飞强调说，我们需要看重来华传教士的属灵遗产，比如马礼逊、戴德生，我们需要纪念这些来华传教的属灵伟人对中国教会的祝福，他们在传教过程中所经历的一切可以激励中国人如何在中国的禾场上怎么传扬神福音。
四，我们要了解中国传教的“地土”
在很多传记中，涉及到中国的很多“地土”，比如，有的传教士在南方温州传教的岁月，有的在中国东北的传教历史......这些传教士的走过的“地土”是宏伟而又细腻的。
1866年是中国传教历史上非常标志性的年份。一是温州，二是东北，他们走过的这些“地土”和布局都影响了未来中国传教的进展。冉云飞说：“你读了他们的传记 ，就会对神宏伟的蓝图看地更加清晰，让我想到了使徒行传29章。”
他还提醒说，我们的服事不应该在表面的部分，不要为了得到人的称赞而去服事； 对于基督徒来说，我们读传教士传记，不是要论断，要尊重事实本身，但尊重事实的本身，我们可以发表自己的看法；同时判断传教士的时候，不要只凭眼见。他举例说，比如，看到一个传教士曾经在中国在她16岁就去世了，我们会用自己的眼光看这个事情，“但是都有神的旨意。我们要想到神是如何看这个事情的.....研究传教士的时候，我们要看到神的荣耀，要看那看不见的属灵的遗产。”
“看马礼逊的属灵遗产，他们是我们尊重的属灵的前辈，但是依然有可以探讨他们的作为。”他举例说：“比如起初办教会学校的时候，录取的学生对信仰没有要求，所以收了很多没有信仰的官宦人家的孩子们做学生，和聘用了没有信仰的老师。清末民初，13所教会学校带出了很多精英阶层，但也教出了很多唯物主义和反对基督教的精英。这就是我的一种评判，”冉云飞说道。
讲座最后，冉云飞总结说，从马礼逊来华开始的基督新教入华看，我们认可福音来华的伟大影响，福音进入任何一个文化，必然穿透任何一个文化和族群，在近现代100多年的历史中，教会在发展，神大大的祝福了中国。我们在这个过程中愿意匍匐在神面前，有份于成为神的儿女和与神同工，这是都是祂美好的安排。
如何看待来华传教士研究汉学？
讲座后的提问环节，一位参会者提问说：“如何看待传教士做汉学？”，冉云飞回答说：“传教士在做汉学时要面对两个试探 ：一个是高看中国文化，一个是太低看中国文化。比如，理雅各翻译中国的典籍意思传递的很好，但是在我看来没有福音在里面；做传教士的时候，要避免高看或低看中国文化，世界上没有任何文化高过福音。低看的传教士，把西方文化看的比中国文化高，很多西方传教士来中国分享的不是福音，而是西方文明。尤其是处理现实问题上，容易觉得西方文明比中国文化高明，传福音的时候，应该要看世界所有文化看得合乎中道是对的。”
https://www.christiantimes.cn/news/35747/%E5%AD%A6%E8%80%85%E5%86%89%E4%BA%91%E9%A3%9E%EF%BC%9A200%E5%B9%B4%E6%9D%A5%E6%9D%A5%E5%8D%8E%E4%BC%A0%E6%95%99%E5%A3%AB%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87%E4%BC%A0%E8%AE%B0%E7%9A%84%E5%88%9D%E6%AD%A5%E7%A0%94%E7%A9%B6
学者冉云飞：200年来来华传教士中文传记的初步研究
Christian scholar Ran Yunfei said in a lecture that he is researching Chinese biographies of foreign missionaries in China, which is often neglected.
In a lecture titled “The Preliminary Study of Chinese Biographies of Foreign Missionaries to China”, Ran who converted to Christianity in 2015, claimed on October 16 that after suggesting to believers that they read one missionary biography a month, he realized that this field was rarely researched.
Many studies focused on the history of church schools, Chinese churches and Christianity in China. But a wide variety of these works were written by foreigners; there was little research on these three areas done by the Chinese themselves.
“Why would I study this area? Because there are many missionary biographies written by Westerners and few works done by Chinese. The study of missionary biographies is weak (in China). Biographies are the accounts of ‘preaching their life and work’. They are not totally reliable, requiring analysis and judgment to determine the degree of authenticity,” said the famous writer, who was born in Chongqing in 1965.
“Reading biographies is a person’s special hobby. You can target a person whom you attempt to understand when reading them. For Christians, those missionaries to China can give people strength in addition to that emanating from our Great Savior. the Lord Jesus Christ. We are easily stirred when reading them. For example, some missionaries preached in one’s hometown and had close ties to Chinese Christians. This will help to understand the Lord’s work more clearly.”
He added that there was a lack of textbooks about missionaries.
“The advantage in producing missionary biographies is that they have a natural spiritual background. This involves grammar, logic and rhetoric and demands a high amount of knowledge on literature. Many dialogues they contain are very important,” explained Ran.
Foreign missionaries contributed to the birth of Baihua, or written, vernacular Chinese. “The Chinese Bible translated by the Society of Jesus adopted Mandarin Chinese. The (Chinese) translation of John 6:48 in 1805 had the style of vernacular Chinese. But the Chinese in modern China hardly understand the early scripts, so the earliest modern vernacular Chinese version of the Four Books (The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects, and the Mencius) was translated by German missionary Paul Kranz in 1910.”
The famous public intellectual stressed that reading these biographies was very helpful in understanding the history of Chinese churches as well as Chinese pastors,
John Livingstone Nevius formulated the “Nevius Plan”, making him the first person who proposed the “three-self” principle (self-governance, self-support, self-propagation), but Hudson Taylor and Robert Morrison proposed the idea even earlier.
An autobiography, “The Sons of Han: Stories of Chinese Life and Mission Work” by a British missionary, claims that the development of the church in the 1850s traded a life-for-a-life. Basically speaking, 50 people followed Christ at the sacrifice of 50 missionary lives.
Ran added that we should value the spiritual heritages of missionaries to China such as Robert Morrison and Hudson Taylor and remember the contributions of those spiritual giants to the Chinese church. What they had gone through in missions could inspire the Chinese to preach the Gospel in their own native land. The year 1866 was a landmark in the history of Chinese missions. Their work in Wenzhou and northeastern China influenced the future of missions in the entire country. “You will grasp a more clear sight of God's grand blueprint after reading their biographies. It reminds me of Acts 29.”
Ran warned that we should not judge missionaries by our own current understandings, but instead only comment on them while respecting the objective facts.
Citing the example of the death of a young missionary at age 16, he said,“This was the will of God. We need to ponder over how God viewed the matter. . . . We must see the glory of God and the unseen spiritual heritage when studying this. We must discern the spiritual legacy of Robert Morrison. They are our respected spiritual ancestors, but we are permitted to assess their work.”
“In the early days of church schools, faith was not a requirement when enrolling students. As a result, many children of non-Christian elite officials were admitted and non-Christian teachers were hired. During the late Qing Dynasty and early period of the Republic of China, many elites were trained in 13 church schools, yet many of the graduates preferred materialism over Christianity. This is my assessment.”
In the Q&A part, a question was raised on “how to regard missionaries who were engaged in Sinology”. Ran answered: “Missionaries were confronted with two temptations while doing Sinology: to think too highly or too lowly of Chinese culture. For example, James Legge did a good translation of Chinese classics, but to me there was no Gospel in them. Missionaries should avoid overrating or underrating of Chinese culture, for the world has no culture higher than that of the Gospel. Missionaries who looked down on China put Western culture above Chinese culture. Many Western missionaries shared Western civilization instead of the Gospel. Particularly when referring to real problems, they tended to believe Western civilizations were wiser than Chinese culture. It is correct to view all cultures soberly when preaching the Gospel."
- Translated by Karen Luo
Christian Scholar Ran Yunfei: 'Chinese Biographies of Missionaries to China is Often Neglected'
