在中国近代化的道路上,西方来华传教士究竟扮演了什么样的角色?人们历来对此颇有争议。从八十年代起,这场争论更加激烈,新的观点认为,应该客观公正地看待传教士尤其是新教教士在中西文化交流中所起的积极作用。忽视他们的存在,或否认他们的客观作用,都会给正确认识中国近代化问题造成障碍。目前,这一讨论仍然停留在总体上的概括性研究与探讨阶段,对其主要代表人物尚缺乏深入细致的分析。笔者拟对近代著名寓华传教士李提摩太的社会变革思想进行初步探讨,以求更加客观、公允地评价李氏其人其事,并籍以考察其主张对近代中国思想界的影响。落千丈 一 李提摩太（1845—1919）是近代寓华达四十五年之久的著名新教教士,1845年生于英国南威尔斯省的一个小乡村,父亲是一位小农场主,又是一位虔诚的基督徒。李提摩太有兄弟姐妹9人,因为人口多,家境贫寒,他在小学毕业后便被迫辍学,后又断断续续上过两年中学,因经济拮据,他在温西师范学校尚未毕业便提前担任小学教员。李家宗教气氛十分浓厚,李提摩太14岁便受洗入教,并将毕生精力投入宗教传播事业,他认为中国是“在未受基督教化国中最高 In the course of China’s modernization, what kind of role did the Western missionaries come to China? People have always been quite controversial about this. Since the 1980s, the debate has intensified. The new view is that the missionary missionaries, especially Protestant priests, should play an active and objective role in the cultural exchanges between China and the West. Neglecting their existence or denying their objective role will create obstacles to the correct understanding of China’s modernization. At present, this discussion is still at the stage of general research and discussion in general, and its main representative is still lack of thorough and detailed analysis. The author attempts to make a preliminary discussion on the thought of social reform of modern famous Chinese immigrant Lee Timothy, in order to appraise Lee’s behavior more objectively and impartially, and to examine its influence on the modern Chinese ideology. Lost in Thousands Li Timothy (1845-1919) is a famous Protestant priest who lived 45 years in modern China. He was born in a small village in South Wales Province in 1845 and his father was a small farmer. Another devout Christian. Timothy had nine brothers and sisters. Due to the large population and poor family, he was forced to drop out of school after graduating from elementary school and then took up his two-year secondary school on and off intermittently. Due to financial constraints, he graduated earlier at Winsor Normal School As a primary school teacher. Lee’s religious atmosphere is very strong, Timothy Timothy was baptized into education at the age of 14, and devoted his life to the cause of religious communications, he believes that China is "the highest Christian education in the country