‘To favourably impress the Oriental mind with western knowledge’: Xiaohai yuebao (The Child’s Paper, 1875-1915) and International Print Culture

Abstract

"The first section of the essay situates Xiaohai yuebao in the context of late nineteenth-century missionary publishing and delineates the relationship between the periodical and international print culture. It outlines how the editor acquired lithographic prints, electrotypes and other materials from the American Tract Society (ATS) and the Religious Tract Society of London (RTS) to help produce the paper. It also discusses the transfer of printing and engraving skills to students of mission schools, and the circulation and distribution of Xiaohai yuebao. Second, I discuss the ways in which Xiaohai yuebao was influenced by the trend of publishing popular science articles in late nineteenth-century English-language children's periodicals, examining how Western knowledge was spread to Chinese children via translated texts and original works produced collaboratively by Chinese Christians and Protestant missionaries. Using annual reports of the American Tract Society, Chinese Religious Tract Society, and The Religious Tract Society Record of Work at Home and Abroad, I argue that the case of Xiaohai yuebao highlights the significant role Protestant missionaries played in the 'transnational diffusion of knowledge' (Finkelstein and McCleery vi): the periodical was distributed in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Japan, India, the 'Sandwich Islands', the 'Straits Settlements', 'the Islands of the Ocean' and parts of Europe where Chinese communities resided."