"An encounter between Christian medical missions and Chinese medicine in modern history : the case of Benjamin Hobson" / Wong Man Kong 黃文江.

Religions 15 (2024).

This article belongs to the Special Issue Expressions of Chinese Christianity in Texts and Contexts: In Memory of Our Mentor Professor R. G. Tiedemann (1941–2019).

Local access dig.pdf [Wong-An encounter between Christian medical missions.pdf].

Abstract:

This article discusses how and why Christian medical missionaries established their foothold in Chinese society through the medical career of Benjamin Hobson, who was active in China from the late 1830s to the 1850s. Apart from his evangelical work among the Chinese, one of his key contributions was the new medical vocabularies he created to communicate medical knowledge. In addition to literary considerations, Hobson had his strategies for sharing modern medical knowledge. Moreover, he was prepared to debate with the Chinese over the validity of the pulse theory. The debate did not happen, however. His intention to establish the case for the superior position of Western medicine was not contested. His medical texts, at best, became the necessary underpinning for introducing modern Western medicine to China. When Western medical college projects took place in China at the turn of the century, biomedicine took over as the key paradigm, with Hobson’s medical texts being of limited use.

Christianity and education in modern China / edited by Wong Man Kong and George Kam Wah Mak.

Hong Kong : Hong Kong University Press, 2025

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part one : the contexts. Everything is my concern : characterizing modern Chinese education / Thomas H. C. Lee -- The crisis of mission education in republican China, 1922-1929 : the case of Harold Henry Rowley / Brian Stanley -- Part two : Christian educators. "Going forth to teach, we shall have learnt" : F. S. Drake at Shantung Christian University/Cheeloo University and his ebrace of Chinese culture / Wai Luen Kwok -- Christianity and medical education in China in the Second World War : Gordon King and his wartime adventures and the interconnectedness between China and Hong Kong / Wong Man Kong -- Christian efforts in mass education of republican China : Zhang Xueyan and Xie Songgao's Christian literary work as examples / Chen Jianming -- An unfulfilled ideal : Zhu Jingnong's educational ideas and practices / Jiafeng Liu

Part three : new initiatives. A project of national transformation in China : Yu Rizhang's promotion of social education / Peter Chen-main Wang -- A Protestant response to the drive for mass literacy in early republican China : the Phonetic Promotion Committee and its work, 1918-1922 / George Kam Wah Mak -- A college student's rural journey : early sociology and anthropology in China seen through fieldwork on Sichuan's secret society / Di Wang -- Part four : the legacies. Extracting the essence of Sino-Western interaction : insights from the educational endeavors of Chinese Christian colleges / Ma Min -- A competitive advantage in higher education : the practice and realization of whole-person education at Chung Yuan Christian University / Leah Yiya Lee -- Developing the whole person : revisiting the history and mission of Christian higher education in Asia / Wai Ching Angela Wong.