The Disability Studies Study Group is pleased to present:

Chao Wang, Ph.D. Candidate in History
Christian Missionaries, Blind Converts, and Braille Literacy in China (1874-1911)
Rosenwald Hall 329
February 9th*, 12:30-2:00
refreshments will be provided
*please note non-standard time and date*

This paper examines braille communication in Late-Qing China through the lens of missionary education for the blind. It charts a transformation in the way China’s blind people were “rescued” by Christian charity from stigmas of poverty and illiteracy, and were reconceived as members of Christian community by their ability to read the Bible in Chinese braille (modu zifa 摩讀字法), an adapted tactile writing system first taught in missionary schools. William H. Murray (1843-1911), a Scottish Presbyterian and former Bible colporteur in Beijing, worked out a mandarin-based braille system and used it to teach both blind and sighted beggars to learn simple Chinese characters. After its initial success, Murray managed to open a private school for the blind (Beijing xungu xuetang 北京訓瞽學堂) in 1874 with the support of the Scottish Bible Society, and recruited many blind children from poor families. I argue that the institutional advocacy of Chinese braille not only challenged the norm of written Chinese (i.e. the blind and sighted sharing the same tactile-phonetic medium to read Chinese without learning its characters), but also provided a form of religious inclusion for both blind and sighted people. The paper thus contributes to questions of conversion, literacy and the institutional management of disability.

The article, to be read before the meeting can be accessed here (available starting 2/4): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1d482dTkFcoUXFGZ1JzNjlnYWs?usp=sharing