Eastward Transmission of Western Learning and the Evolution of Modern Sports in Shanghai, 1843–1949

Abstract

The eastward transmission of Western learning refers to the transmission of Western cultures in China in the mid-1800s and the process of conflict and fusion between the heterogeneous cultures of China and the Western world. Documentation and logical analysis revealed that through the influence of Western settlers, the instruction of the Young Men’s Christian Association and missionary schools, and the promotion of revolutionaries and returned overseas Chinese students, Shanghai citizens experienced a transformative process that ranged from bewilderment and repulsion to the acknowledgement and adoption of Western sports. This study analyzes four stages of the development of modern sports in Shanghai: germination, growth, thriving and depression. It is argued that modern sports in Shanghai emerged as a result of the combined influences of the city’s political, economic, cultural, educational and social forces. In addition to adopting Western sports culture actively, Shanghai was responsible for spreading it nationwide. This paper concludes that modern sports in Shanghai exemplify the confluence of the transmission of Western sports in China and the modernization of traditional Chinese sports.