Dr. Ailie Gale was one of many twentieth-century women missionaries in China whose letters to supporters played an important role in American conceptions of a special Sino-American friendship. This book shows how these letters from China reveal as much about the strivings of readers at home as they do about China during the tumultuous period from 1911 to 1949.

Traditional Chinese medicine developed over thousands of years, but changes introduced from 1835-1935 by American missionary doctors initiated a landslide of cultural revolution in the city of Canton and medical modernization throughout China. Focusing on medical missionaries' ideas and approaches in a principal city of the period, Canton, Guangqiu Xu, a native of Canton, describes the long-term impact of American models of medical work, which are still in place in China today. Despite stiff resistance to change and Chinese suspicion of foreign ideas, the impact of American medical missionaries was profound. They opened medical schools, trained modern doctors, and promoted public health education. These transformations in turn led to major social movements in the modernization of Canton, such as the women's rights movement, modern charity and welfare systems, and modern hygiene campaigns. This book focuses on the changes American doctors brought to Canton, their implementation, what remains of their influence today, and how some of these transformations have spread across China. It shows that the Chinese have themselves become more responsive to cultural relations with the US as part of the acceptance of these changes, and demonstrates how the unique blend of modern Western and traditional Chinese medicines has helped modernize China and make Canton the cradle of modern reform and revolution in China.

This is the first full length study of the medical ministries of Kang Cheng and Shi Meiyu. Know in English speaking countries as Drs. Ida Kahn and Mary Stone, these two Chinese women opened a small Western style medical practice for women and children inthe Jiujiang, China in 1896. At its broadest level, this study contributes to the development of a transnational women's history, deepening our understanding about how ideas about women have traveled across boundaries.

At both the theoretical and practical level, the relationship between women, gender, and international relations has become increasingly controversial in recent years. This collection of essays by twenty leading scholars and diplomatic practitioners from China, Hong Kong, the United States, and Great Britain crosses national, disciplinary, cultural, professional, and gender boundaries to approach this subject from a wide variety of comparative perspectives, designed to stimulate further debate and research. On the theoretical front, this volume explores the manner in which women and their contributions are represented within the discipline of International Relations; discusses whether women have unique contributions to make to both the academic study and the conduct of foreign affairs; and makes recommendations as to how women’s concerns and viewpoints might be better incorporated into the field of international relations in both intellectual and practical terms. Moving to the level of practice, chapters on and by assorted women diplomats reflect on the official careers and foreign policy contributions of women—including the first two US female secretaries of state and the first Asian American ambassador—in both China and the United States. Several highlight the career handicaps women diplomats have faced in China, the United States, and Europe alike. A variety of historical and contemporary case studies, the majority of them dealing with foreign women living in China or Hong Kong, also focus on women in nontraditional diplomatic roles, as wives, missionaries, peace activists, reformers, teachers, businesswomen, and journalists. “It is rare that the published record of a conference contributes to the design and definition of a new field of study, but that is the case with this remarkable volume of essays collected and edited by Priscilla Roberts and He Peiqun. Its very first chapter raises the central question: why we should focus on women/gender and IR. The rest of the volume proceeds to answer it brilliantly. There are essays on familiar aspects of the subject—war war and peace—but also on varieties of formal and informal diplomacy. A concluding section outlines future lines of inquiry. This indispensable collection will make it difficult, at the least, to imagine that it is possible to discuss international relations without also discussing gender.” —Marilyn B. Young, Professor, Dept of History, New York University “1. The product of brilliant scholars from three continents, this book looks beyond the veil to tell us about the constructive roles that women play in international relations. 2. Bigots beware! 3. The lesson of this timely and brilliant Shanghai project is that women are beginning to shape our international community, and very possibly for the better.” —Rhodri Jeffreys Jones, Department of History, University of Edinburgh "This collection of essays, drawn from the first international conference held in China on the role of women in international affairs, offers an intriguing look at the ways women have gained and wielded influence in foreign affairs both formally and informally. These essays, written by historians and political scientists from Australia, China, Great Britain, and the United States, reveal that female social activists, journalists, and diplomats focused world attention anew on human rights and environmental issues, highlighting the degree to which women were disproportionately the victims of wars, illicit crime rings, and environmental disasters. Yet this collection rightly cautions against assuming that women were always more compassionate international actors, noting that women in power often assumed the same belligerent stance as their male counterparts. As administrative positions within foreign ministries opened up to women they also formed a key component of the middle-strata, but even today women remain consistently shut out of high-level diplomatic appointments. These illuminating essays reveal both the achievements and challenges for women who sought to influence the direction of international relations, demonstrating conclusively that one cannot understand the diplomatic history of the twentieth century without understanding the role of women in international affairs.” —Jennifer D. Keene, professor of history, Chapman University, Orange, California USA" “The essays in this excellent collection explore and elucidate the power and potential of women on the international scene—whether as actors in the public sphere in positions of authority or as private citizens working to shape and improve the policies of the global community. For scholars and practitioners alike who seek to understand how gender and feminist theory offers a new paradigm for the international system, or the degree to which women may serve as agents of peace, or the process by which women in power undergo masculization in order to succeed in a male-dominated world, [Bonds Across Borders] is an essential read and indispensable resource.” —Edward P. Crapol, Pullen Professor, Emeritus, College of William and Mary

This book describes the adaptation of American women to cross-cultural situations in Hong Kong from 1921 to 1969. The Maryknoll Sisters were first American Catholic community of women founded for overseas missionary work, and were the first American sisters in Hong Kong. Maryknollers were independent, outgoing, and joyful women who were highly educated, and acted in professional capacities as teachers, social workers and medical personnel. The assertion of this book is that the mission provided Maryknollers what they had long desired - equal emplyment opportunities - which were only later emphasized in the women's liberation movement of the 1960s.

China's recent economic reforms have opened its economy to the world. This policy, however, is not new: in the late nineteenth century, the United States put forward the Open Door Policy as a counter to European exclusive 'spheres of influence' in China. This book, based on extensive original archival research, examines and re-evaluates China's Open Door Policy. It considers the policy from its inception in 1899 right through to the post-1978 reforms. It relates these changes to the various shifts in China’s international relations, discusses how decades of foreign invasion, civil war and revolution followed the destruction of the policy in the 1920s, and considers how the policy, when applied in Taiwan after 1949, and by Deng Xiaoping in mainland China after 1978, was instrumental in bringing about, respectively, Taiwan's 'economic miracle' and mainland China’s recent economic boom. The book argues that, although the policy was characterised as United States 'economic imperialism' during the Cold War, in reality it helped China retain its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

This second volume on Christianity in China covers the period from 1800 onwards up to the present, divided into three main periods, and dealing with the complexities of both Catholic and Protestant aspects. Also in this volume the reader will be guided to and through the Chinese and Western primary and secondary sources by carefully selected major scholars in the field. Produced with financial support from the Ricci Institute at the University of San Francisco Center for the Pacific Rim.

The memoirs of Sister Ying Mulan describe her experiences as a Chinese Christian living in a turbulent era marked by the Communist takeover, the Cultural Revolution, and many momentous political reforms. Born into a family of politically active Catholics, Ying Mulan was eventually imprisoned in Shanghai and later sent to serve in labor camps for over twenty years. While living through such difficult circumstances, Ying Mulan derived strength from her faith. At the age of 60, she became a religious sister, and twenty-five years later she decided to write her autobiography. In this book, Francis Morgan offers the first English translation of Sr. Ying’s memoirs, providing explanatory notes based on historical research and a series of extensive interviews with Sr. Ying. As she recounts the trials that she and others endured, Sr. Ying speaks with a remarkable tone of gratitude, giving thanks to God for the tests that steeled her character, tempered her pride, and increased her compassion. While her work stands out as a modern spiritual autobiography, it also deserves recognition as a political text. Sr. Ying’s memoirs offer valuable and rare insights into the realities of religious life in China, the hidden world of labor camps and prisons, and the extremes of Cultural Revolution.

Freedom of religious belief is guaranteed under the constitution of the People’s Republic of China, but the degree to which this freedom is able to be exercised remains a highly controversial issue. Much scholarly attention has been given to persecuted underground groups such as Falungong, but one area that remains largely unexplored is the relationship between officially registered churches and the communist government. This study investigates the history of one such official church, Moore Memorial Church in Shanghai. This church was founded by American Methodist missionaries. By the time of the 1949 revolution, it was the largest Protestant church in East Asia, running seven day a week programs. As a case study of one individual church, operating from an historical (rather than theological) perspective, this study examines the experience of people at this church against the backdrop of the turbulent politics of the Mao and Deng eras. It asks and seeks to answer questions such as: were the people at the church pleased to see the foreign missionaries leave? Were people forced to sign the so-called “Christian manifesto”"? Once the church doors were closed in 1966, did worshippers go underground? Why was this particular church especially chosen to be the first re-opened in Shanghai in 1979? What explanations are there for its phenomenal growth since then? A considerable proportion of the data for this study is drawn from Chinese language sources, including interviews, personal correspondence, statistics, internal church documents and archives, many of which have never previously been published or accessed by foreign researchers. The main focus of this study is on the period from 1949 to 1989, a period in which the church experienced many ups and downs, restrictions and limitations. The Mao era, in particular, remains one of the least understood and seldom written about periods in the history of Christianity in China. This study therefore makes a significant contribution to our evolving understanding of the delicate balancing act between compromise, co-operation and compliance that categorises church-state relations in modern China.

Although Christianity has been a minority religion in Chinese societies, Christians have been powerful catalysts of social activism in seeking to establish democracy and rule of law in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and diasporic communities. The chapters gathered in this collection reveal the vital influence of Christian individuals and groups on social, political, and legal activism in Chinese societies. Written from a range of disciplinary and geographical perspectives, the chapters develop a coherent narrative of Christian activism that illuminates its specific historical, theological, and cultural contexts. Analyzing campaigns for human rights, universal suffrage, and other political reforms, this volume uncovers the complex dynamics of Christian activism, highlighting its significant contributions to the democratization of Greater China.