Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword -- Preface -- Conventions -- List of Figures and Tables -- Introduction --  1 Wang Hengtong, the Christian Community in Shanghai and the Textbook Market --  1 Wang Hengtong and Hangchow Presbyterian College --  2 Wang Hengtong and the Christian Community in Shanghai --  3 Wang Hengtong as Christian Teacher and Textbook Writer --  4 Wang Hengtong and His Literacy Textbooks --  5 Conclusion --  2 An Innovative Approach: Progressive Teaching Method --  1 Background: Literacy Education Campaign in late Qing China --  2 Wind from the West: Chinese Language Teaching Reform --  3 Comparison: Wang Hengtong’s Primers and Non-Christian Chinese Textbooks --  4 Conclusion --  3 Captivating Children: Hybrid Elements in Literacy Textbooks --  1  / Quwei 趣味 (interest; interesting): the Prevalence of New Educational Ideas --  2 The Use of Illustrations: with Children’s Interests at Heart --  3 Making Tradition Modern: Re-creating Exemplary Children in Traditional Chinese / mengshu --  4 Conclusion --  4 Literacy Textbooks as Children’s Literature: Making Aesop Chinese --  1 Aesop’s Fables for Literacy Education --  2 A Comparative Study of Three Chinese Versions of Aesop’s Fables --  3 Contextualizing Aesopic Fables for Chinese Children --  4 Conclusion --  5 Textbooks as a Bridge to a World of New Knowledge --  1 The Concept of / Gezhi : a Christian Perspective --  2 The Content of / Gezhi Learning in Wang Hengtong’s Textbooks --  3 The Circulation of Useful Knowledge: a Comparative Analysis --  4 Conclusion --  6 Traversing the Boundaries between Confucianism and Christianity --  1 The Bible and Christian Content in Wang Hengtong’s Literacy Textbooks --  2 New Hermeneutic Exegesis of Ancient Chinese Scriptures: Searching for a Common Humanity --  3 Reinterpreting the Concept of / xiao : Christian Appropriation of Confucianism --  4 Conclusion --  7 Education for a New China: a Multifaceted Perspective --  1 Education for a New China: a Comparison of Christian and Non-Christian Views --  2 Textbook Market: Shared Source Materials, Common Features and Diversity --  3 Different Approaches to the Fusion of East-West and Past-Present --  4 A Key Difference between Christian and Non-Christian Textbooks --  5 Enlightenment and Late Qing Reforms: Education for Girls --  6 Conclusion --  Conclusion --  Bibliography --  Index.

In Fusion of East and West, Limin Bai presents a major work in the English language that focuses on Chinese textbooks and the education of children for a new China in a critical transitional period, 1902–1915. This study examines the life and work of Wang Hengtong (1868–1928), a Chinese Christian educator, and other Christian and secular writings through a historical and comparative lens and against the backdrop of the socio-political, ideological, and intellectual frameworks of the time. By doing so, it offers a fresh perspective on the significant connection between Christian education, Chinese Christian educators and the birth of a modern educational system. It unravels a cross-cultural process whereby missionary education and the Chinese education system were mutually re-shaped.