ABSTRACT
THE ORIGIN AND development of the Chinese women's emancipa-tion movement cannot be understood without first placing it in the context of the changing image of the female body, and this fundamental change in Chinese culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries cannot be understood itself without an examination of the influence of the Christian missionaries and their powerful impact on Chinese women's physical education and education. The task of this chapter, therefore, is to examine and assess first, the significance of the missionary influence as an 'agent of change', 1 and second, Chinese reformers resulting attitudes and actions. The focus is on the body, cultural confrontation and social change resulting from exogenous and indigenous ideas and actions.
