A scholar reviews the history of Protestantism in Hainan Province in the 19 century in an academic symposium.
In the conference themed “Individuals, Organizations, and Cultures Spanning across China and the West” held on September 25 in Shanghai, Yang Yuanmeng from Shanghai University shared her research on the spread and development of Christianity in the 19th Century Hainan island.
The scholar whose research focused on mission, medication, and education, said that Carl C. Jeremiassen, an independent medical missionary, started the mission in Hainan.
In the conference held by the Shanghai Society of History and the history faculty of Shanghai University, she introduced that Carl C. Jeremiassen was a Danish sea captain who worked for the Canton Customs Service from 1869. In 1879, Jeremiassen did a medicine apprenticeship in Canton Hospital, where he met Dr. John Glasgow Kerr, a missionary from the Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA). In 1881, he settled down in Haikou, Hainan and served as an independent medical missionary.
“Distributing Bibles in one hand and dispensing medicines in the other”, Jeremiassen found it hard to juggle with both medication and evangelism work. Therefore, he established further contact with the PCUSA in Canton, who sent Pastor Benjamin Couch Henry in 1882. Three years later, PCUSA Canton Mission sent Rev. Henry V. Noyes to Nada (Nodoa) Town, Hainan, who baptized nine believers. Jeremiassen joined PCUSA Canton Mission as well.
In 1886, Dr. H. M. McCandliss, Frank P. Gilman and his wife Marion Gilman, Pastor Benjamin Couch Henry and another two local missionaries joined the mission in Hainan.
In 1893, PCUSA Hainan Mission was established in Qiongzhou. With three main stations in Qiongzhou, Nada and Jiaji, Hainan Mission was the only mission organization ever to exist in Hainan, even still to this day. By the year of 1900, a total of 26 missionaries had been sent to Hainan.
Hainan Mission used church planting, gospel brochures, street evangelism and traveling evangelism as the primary evangelism methods, while they also set up schools and hospitals to assist evangelism indirectly, Yang added.
Language was the biggest barrier for early mission work. Upon their arrival in Hainan, foreign missionaries first learned Hainanese and languages of various peoples and tribes, as well as hiring local people to assist them. Jeremiassen translated a big portion of the Old and New Testaments into Hainanese using Romanized scripts.
As the first female missionary in Hainan, Mrs. Marion Gilman evangelized to local women passionately. Her loving service had been continuously remembered by women in Nada, whether Christian or not. No one else ever found a way into their hearts as Mrs. Gilman did.
Yang explained that missionaries built modern hospitals, delivered medicines and treatments and spread modern medical knowledge in Hainan, which effectively removed the hostility and prejudice towards missionaries.
During a cholera outbreak, missionaries prepared ventilated rooms for hospitalized women and frequently disinfected the rooms with carbolic acid to prevent its re-emergence.
Missionaries set up schools to provide both general and religious education. Although religious education was the original purpose, for local people, what attracted them to church was initially learning English.
She concluded, “Missionaries brought western culture and modern medicine to Hainan and thus promoted Hainan’s development. Christianity and Hainan culture experienced both conflicts and integration between each other, which facilitated the two-way communication between the cultures.”
- Translated by Grace Song
2021年9月25日，由上海市历史学会和上海大学文学院历史系共同举办的“跨越中西的个人、组织与文化”学术研讨会在上海举行。研讨会上，来自全国各地的28位学者讲员依次围绕主题进行分享。
上午场中，来自上海大学的杨圆梦以《19世纪海南基督教传播与发展述论》为题进行分享。她主要从海南的传教、医疗、教育三方面，概述19世纪基督教在海南岛的早期传播与发展。
海南岛传教事业的开启：19世纪来琼传教士冶基善
传教先驱冶基善，丹麦人，1869年在中国定居，曾任粤海关巡查员，1879年到广州的博济医院学医，结识了美国长老会传教士嘉约翰医生。1881年前往海南岛。作为医疗传教士，他到处施医赠书，并且定居海口。
由于在海南岛独自传教，冶基善精力有限，他渴望在治病救人的同事，将福音传给更多的人，于是和广东长老会建立了联系。于是广东长老会牧师来琼考察与指导，1882年，广东长老会牧师香便文(Benjamin Couch Henry)来海南岛。之后，广州长老会传教会派那夏礼（Rev. Henry V. Noyes）为新皈依者来施洗。1885年来到了那大，审查了20名报名者，为其中9人施洗。
1885年，美北长老会在海南传教正式拉开帷幕，冶基善成为美国长老会广东传教会的一员。1886年春节后不久，康兴利医生、纪路文先生（Frank P. Gilman）及夫人，香便文牧师及两名本地传教士来到海南岛。
1893年，海南岛北长老会在琼州正式成立，海南没有其他的宣教机构，这是岛上唯一的传教团。美北长老会海南区工设立三总站：琼州、那大、嘉积，到1900年，先后有26位传教士来海南岛。
传教士早期在海南岛的记录
传教士早期在海南岛主要借助于以下这些方式展开他们的工作：
1.主要通过建造教堂、散发福音小册子、街头布道、旅行布道等直接方式，又同时也展开学校、医院等辅助的方式。
2.传教士初期遇到的最大的困难是语言不通，传教士来到海南首先学习海南话，研究海南各族部族的语言，雇佣本地助手协助工作。
3.冶基善利用罗马拼音，注音字母将《圣经》大部分翻译成海南话。
4.巡回布道是在海南土著居民居住区传教的主要手段。
海南岛妇女的福音工作
纪路文夫人作为来海南岛的第一位女传教士，热情向妇女传教。那大的妇女们，不论是基督徒还是异教徒都不断的怀念被纪路文夫人充满爱的服事，没有人能像她一样找到进入她们内心的方法。
传教会的医疗工作是所有工作的开端
传教士在海南岛的医疗活动是其传教手段之一，但不可否认的是传教士施医送药，传播了近现代医药知识，带来了西方文明，促进了近代海南医疗卫生的事业起步。
在海南爆发瘟疫期间，传教士位住院的妇女们准备了通风的房间，频繁地用石炭酸为房间消毒，帮助他们免于一次次地感染。
医疗传教的方式也大大打破了人们对传教士的敌视和偏见。
传教士与教育
传教士所开的学校兼具信仰和教育的双重功能。从传教时的目的来看，办学是为了传教服务，但是对于民众来讲，进入教会学习英语是最初的诱因。
报告最后，杨圆梦总结到：“传教士传播了西学、西医，对海南地区的发展起了促进的作用。基督教与海南文化之间，既有冲突也有交融，推动了文化双向交流的进程。”
学者分享| 19世纪海南基督新教的开启与发展历史回顾
A scholar reviews the history of Protestantism in Hainan Province in the 19 century in an academic symposium.
In the conference themed “Individuals, Organizations, and Cultures Spanning across China and the West” held on September 25 in Shanghai, Yang Yuanmeng from Shanghai University shared her research on the spread and development of Christianity in the 19th Century Hainan island.
The scholar whose research focused on mission, medication, and education, said that Carl C. Jeremiassen, an independent medical missionary, started the mission in Hainan.
In the conference held by the Shanghai Society of History and the history faculty of Shanghai University, she introduced that Carl C. Jeremiassen was a Danish sea captain who worked for the Canton Customs Service from 1869. In 1879, Jeremiassen did a medicine apprenticeship in Canton Hospital, where he met Dr. John Glasgow Kerr, a missionary from the Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA). In 1881, he settled down in Haikou, Hainan and served as an independent medical missionary.
“Distributing Bibles in one hand and dispensing medicines in the other”, Jeremiassen found it hard to juggle with both medication and evangelism work. Therefore, he established further contact with the PCUSA in Canton, who sent Pastor Benjamin Couch Henry in 1882. Three years later, PCUSA Canton Mission sent Rev. Henry V. Noyes to Nada (Nodoa) Town, Hainan, who baptized nine believers. Jeremiassen joined PCUSA Canton Mission as well.
In 1886, Dr. H. M. McCandliss, Frank P. Gilman and his wife Marion Gilman, Pastor Benjamin Couch Henry and another two local missionaries joined the mission in Hainan.
In 1893, PCUSA Hainan Mission was established in Qiongzhou. With three main stations in Qiongzhou, Nada and Jiaji, Hainan Mission was the only mission organization ever to exist in Hainan, even still to this day. By the year of 1900, a total of 26 missionaries had been sent to Hainan.
Hainan Mission used church planting, gospel brochures, street evangelism and traveling evangelism as the primary evangelism methods, while they also set up schools and hospitals to assist evangelism indirectly, Yang added.
Language was the biggest barrier for early mission work. Upon their arrival in Hainan, foreign missionaries first learned Hainanese and languages of various peoples and tribes, as well as hiring local people to assist them. Jeremiassen translated a big portion of the Old and New Testaments into Hainanese using Romanized scripts.
As the first female missionary in Hainan, Mrs. Marion Gilman evangelized to local women passionately. Her loving service had been continuously remembered by women in Nada, whether Christian or not. No one else ever found a way into their hearts as Mrs. Gilman did.
Yang explained that missionaries built modern hospitals, delivered medicines and treatments and spread modern medical knowledge in Hainan, which effectively removed the hostility and prejudice towards missionaries.
During a cholera outbreak, missionaries prepared ventilated rooms for hospitalized women and frequently disinfected the rooms with carbolic acid to prevent its re-emergence.
Missionaries set up schools to provide both general and religious education. Although religious education was the original purpose, for local people, what attracted them to church was initially learning English.
She concluded, “Missionaries brought western culture and modern medicine to Hainan and thus promoted Hainan’s development. Christianity and Hainan culture experienced both conflicts and integration between each other, which facilitated the two-way communication between the cultures.”
- Translated by Grace Song
Scholar Reviews History of Protestantism in Hainan Province
