From Submission to Subversion? The Aidaoyuan Boarding School for Chinese Girls in Qingdao, 1904–1914

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the Aidaoyuan, a boarding school for girls jointly run by two German Protestant missionary societies, the Berlin Mission and the Morgenländischer Frauenverein für Mission in the German Leasehold of Kiaochow (Jiaozhou) in Shandong Province between 1904 and 1914. Based on published and archival materials from both societies, it argues that without explicitly challenging the patriarchal framework informing both the missionary community and the traditional Chinese multigenerational household, the school prepared students to navigate the complexities of the equally conservative Chinese Confucian and German Lutheran visions of proper behavior for women. By supporting students in choosing a life that encompassed both family and teaching, it empowered them to envision their own lives beyond the duality of submission and individual agency.