From jacket flap:
At a time when the new China appears ready to open her doors more widely than ever before to Western science and technology as well as to play an increasingly active role in the sphere of international relations, it is useful to be reminded of some of the efforts that were made to introduce Western methods and values into China in the past.
The work of Jesuit missionaries of the 17th and 18th centuries in placing their knowledge of mechanics, astronomy and medicine at the disposal of the Chinese imperial court has often been described. Less well known are the experiments made by Protestant missionaries of the early 19th century towards creating a basis for mutual understanding between the cultural and scientific traditions of China and the West.
The author of this book presents the story of the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca on the Malaysian peninsula as an example of one such experiment which was carried out while waiting for China to open her doors to the missionaries and merchants of a new century. He discusses not only the educational aims and achievements of the College, but also its wider significance in relation both to the Western approach to China and to the painful process of change and modernization which was eventually to shape the China of today.
Contents include:
The Road to Malacca
Malacca Beginnings
Planning a college
Morrison’s visit: Malacca or Singapore?
College teachers
College students
Mission schools
