宋尚节(1901-1944)是20世纪30年代具有巨大影响力的基督徒,在他短暂的15年传教生涯里,传教的足迹遍布大半个中国和东南亚,带领了成千上万的人信仰了基督,复兴了上百个教会。长期以来,有关宋尚节的研究主要基于他的自传体见证、二女儿宋天真选编的日记摘抄等资料。2014年3月宋天真儿子王天声将其外祖父生前所有的日记、书信、手稿等全部捐赠给耶鲁大学神学院图书馆,为深入研究宋尚节和民国基督教大开方便之门。本文以耶鲁新收藏的宋尚节档案为研究对象,详细阐述其内容、格式、历史等,并重点释读宋尚节的部分中英文日记以展现其极高的研究价值。文章最后简短探讨档案的使用、保护和数字化等问题。
John Sung (1901-1944) was a renowned Chinese Christian evangelist who played a leading role in the revival movement in China in the 1930s. During his brief fifteen years of public ministry, Sung converted thousands of Chinese believers and revived hundred of churches in China and Southeast Asia. Sung's reputation has long been based primarily on his autobiography and excerpts from his diaries that his daughter Levi Sung selected and published. Levi's son, Timothy Wang donated the complete collection of John Sung papers to the Yale Divinity Library in March of 2014, which shed new light on Sung's life and work, as well as Christianity in Republican China. This paper will give a detailed account of provenance, content, and format of all the materials included in the papers. It will closely examine selected English and Chinese diaries from Sung to demonstrate their high research value. This paper will end with a discussion of issues such as access, preservation and digitization associated with John Sung papers.