What were Chinese children reading about Australia and the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Dr Shih-Wen (Sue) Chen uses the National Library of Australia’s rich collection of reading materials for children published by Protestant missionaries and Chinese reformers to discuss how texts and cultures were shared between Britain, America and China during a period of uncertainty and political unrest in Chinese history.

Dr Shih-Wen (Sue) Chen is a National Library of Australia Fellow, supported by Ryan Stokes.

Image: Yaquan Du, Hui tu wen xue chu jie, 1903 (detail), nla.cat-vn848005