PARADIGM SHIFT AND THE STATE OF THE FIELD IN THE STUDY OF CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN CHINA
Peter Tze Ming Ng
I. Introduction: The Shift of Paradigms
The history of Christian education in China has long been taken for granted as part of missionary history in China. Christian schools in China were all missionary schools and records of their educational activities were written by the missionaries who sent them as reports to their respective mission boards. It seemed natural that any history of Christian education in China be based primarily on the information and resources from the missionary archives and be understood from the missionary perspective. For instance, the ten volumes published by the United Board for Christian Colleges in China (later known as the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia) were mostly based on missionary archives and personal memories of surviving missionaries.1 Even
1 The ten volumes published by UBCCC include the following:
Scott, Roderick, Fukien Christian University. New York: UBCCC, 1954; Thurston, Lawrence & Ruth Chester, Ginling College. New York: UBCCC, 1955; Day, Clarence Burton, Hangchow University. New York: UBCCC, 1955; Lamberton, Mary, St. John's University, Shanghai 1879-1947. New York: UBCCC, 1955; Corbett, Charles H., Shantung
Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie 12 (2001) : 127-140.
