God and Man at Yali College: the short, troubled history of an American College in China

Revisiting religious higher education in China: comparative analysis of Furen University narratives

“…The Christian colleges also played a vital role in transmitting new ways of life and shaping modern Chinese social and civic values (Ris 2020). Their growth accompanied the emergent process of Chinese society's modernization in the first half of the twentieth century, when the urban manufacturing industry was developing and the number of modern schools and colleges was increasing.…”

“…According to this regulation, religious courses could not be mandatory. However, on Christian college campuses, as Rigdon (2009) and Ris (2020) argued, the interplay between Christian educators and the government was complicated. Quoting the original regulation, Chen (2004) noted that the Nationalist Party had allowed teaching religion in universities since 1938; however, Furen chose not to make religious courses mandatory because "the university environment was already heavily Catholic because of the presence and activities of the missionaries and the Catholic discipline" (Chen 2004, p. 120).…”

“…In recent decades, interest has grown in the history and legacy of Chinese Christian colleges both within and outside mainland China (e.g., Barwick 2004;Graham 1994;Hayhoe 1983;Li 2017;Liu 2009;Ng 2001Ng , 2009Perry and Xu 2020;Rigdon 2009;Ris 2020;Xu 2006;Wong 2012;Zhang 1991). Contemporary PRC scholars have been 1 3 keen to study the interplay between the Christian colleges' Western religious elements and Chinese politics and culture.…”