The "Self Strengthening" Movement was proposed in essays written in 1860 by scholar Feng Guifen. In them, he urged China to adopt a reform policy and to incorporate West ideas and especially Western technology. He urged the dynasty to include foreign languages, mathematics, and science in the schools. Feng also said that the top priorities for the Chinese must be cannon-making and shipbuilding from the "barbarians".
Feng presented these ideas to General Zeng Guofran who largely embraced them and made them a reality. Although the Chinese did not have as much success with the Self-Strengthening movement as they might have liked, it had a significant effect on the way China dealt with the West. Even while the Chinese realized that they were weak in comparison to the Westerners, they believed that the self-strengthening movement would help them to catch up with and eventually surpass the West.
They realized that a strong navy would allow them to prevent the West from bombarding Chinese cities at will and would go a long way towards ensuring Chinese sovereignty in China. The readiness with which Zeng Guofan sent envoys to the United States to buy war materials and the readiness with which he established Western style shipyards and arsenals on the Chinese coast, is a testament to just how radical a departure the self-strengthening movement was from thousands of years of Chinese history. For the first time, the Chinese realized that they simply HAD to learn aspects of Western culture (i.e. Western science and technology).
Although the ability of the Protestant missionaries in China was limited, they had a profound influence on China. They established schools, hospitals, and orphanages and helped distribute Western culture through books and by interacting with the Chinese directly. Some of the books they distributed introduced the Chinese to Western history, science, governments, philosophy, and medicine as well as theology.
They also lobbied against foot-binding, opium, and offered some limited opportunities for women. In their stated task of converting as many Chinese as possible to Christianity, the Protestant missionaries failed. In spreading other aspects of their culture, however, the missionaries were tremendously successful. The extent to which their influence aided in the modernization of China and to the self-strengthening movement itself is incalculable. Although there were frequent clashes between the missionaries and some Chinese, their mostly benevolent presence in China helped a great many Chinese and helped China "catch up" with the West to a certain extent.
