Networking through the Y: the role of YMCA in China’s search for new national identity and internationalization

Abstract

The paper will investigate the role of Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in China’s search for new national identity and internationalization. It will focus on two issues which have had deep impact on China’s modern development. The first is on the role of YMCA played in introducing modern sports to China at the turns of twentieth century. In the first part of this paper, I will investigate the following questions: why it was YMCA which brought modern sports to China? And what was the link between Chinese embracing western sports and their obsession with international recognition and Beijing’s eventual hosting Olympic Games? The second is about YMCA’s influence in Chinese laborers’ lives in Europe during the First World War when 140,000 Chinese went to France in supporting British and French war efforts against Germany. In this part of paper, I will address the issues such as why did China want to develop closer relations with liberal West and how the journey of the Chinese laborers affected both the world and China’s modern history, and finally and more importantly, how did the contributions of these laborers help us address the questions “what is China” and “who are Chinese?”