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Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons

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Religion

2024

Missionary Work

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Full-Text Articles in Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity

Protestant Missionaries Catalysts In The Abolition Of Foot-Binding In China, Aaron Anderson May 2024

Protestant Missionaries Catalysts In The Abolition Of Foot-Binding In China, Aaron Anderson

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Known as the "custom that lasted a thousand years," the binding of women's feet in imperial China was practiced by women of all social classes. 1 When Protestant missionaries began to establish mission stations in Qing Dynasty China during the 1800s, they came face to face with foot-binding at its zenith. 2 In the absence of official statistics documenting how prevalent the custom was, a missionary observer's estimate that roughly 90% of the Chinese women had bound feet serves as a revealing clue of the practice's universal acceptance.3 Considering how widely practiced and long-lasting the tradition of foot-binding was, the …


Pleas For Toleration Against The Call Of Treason: The 1890 Shanghai Protestant Missionary Conference And The Controversy Over Chinese Rites, Joseph Seeley May 2024

Pleas For Toleration Against The Call Of Treason: The 1890 Shanghai Protestant Missionary Conference And The Controversy Over Chinese Rites, Joseph Seeley

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On May 7,1890, a colorful assortment of Western Protestant missionaries, stationed in all corners of late Qing-dynasty China, gathered in Shanghai for a thirteen-day mission conference. Some came to the conference clad in native Chinese dress, complete with Manchu-style ponytails or queues, while others were dressed more formally in the proper Victorian garb preferred by their non-missionary Western counterparts. Regardless of perceived differences in dress or ecclesiastical affiliation in the multi-denominational assembly, all sought to enjoy what was later described by conference organizers as "an occasion of the highest social enjoyment... as well as spiritual profit." As over four hundred …