ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the process by which missionary educational institutions and the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) promoted Western physical education and sport in China during the period 1908-1919. It highlights both how missionary educational institutions and YMCA went about developing their programs and promoting them among local population, and how indigenous population responded to their efforts. The chapter focuses on YMCA's physical educational and sport engagement in China from 1908 to 1919. The YMCA School of Physical Education was the first institute of its kind in China to offer professional physical education training in Western sports for Chinese people. The period 1908-1919 saw significant expansion and consolidation of YMCA's activities in China. The chapter examines YMCA's physical education work in China from perspective of its leadership training in order to illustrate the rapid expansion of these activities and various forms they took; namely, physical education including activities inside and outside YMCA gymnasia and physical education program for youth.
