由于西方基督教文化与中国传统文化的巨大差异，基督教在近代中国的传播一直遭到中国民众的强烈抵制。近代来华传教士为了促进基督教在中国的传播，可谓煞费苦心。一部分传教士在深入考察与研究中国国情的基础上敏锐地认识到中国社会风俗问题的严重性和落后性，他们不仅日益关注起中国的社会风俗问题，而且逐渐将目光集中在社会陋俗方面，进而选择社会陋俗作为宣播基督教的突破口，一直鼓吹只有依靠基督教才能使这些社会风俗问题得以解决。基督教对中国传统社会风俗诸如祭祖祀孔、多神崇拜、风水等造成了很大冲击，同时传教士对缠足陋俗、鸦片陋俗、妇女风俗等进行了大力抨击，并为改造这些风俗做了许多切实有效的工作。近代反缠足运动、反鸦片运动的兴起都与传教士的推动紧密相连；中国妇女生活处境的改善，妇女地位的提高也与传教士的宣传与鼓动密不可分。此外，传教士还在一定程度上改变了中国的婚姻风俗，教会医疗事业的创办与发展对中国传统医俗以及生活卫生习俗也产生了不小的影响。传教士的上述活动深刻影响了中国社会风俗的改良化趋势，促进了中国社会风俗的近代化演变。总之，传教士不仅在近代中国社会风俗变迁中发挥了重要的作用，而且在很多领域充当了近代中国风俗变革的先导。传教士在中国的一切活动都以宣播基督教为最终目标，他们改造中国社会风俗的一系列活动在根本上是为了促进基督教的传播，因此这些活动实质上是基督教传教事业的“副产品”。然而，传教士从改良陋俗的角度宣播基督教义，毕竟是一种聪明而有效的策略。传教士改造中国社会风俗的活动引起了部分中国人的好感，不仅对近代基督教的传播有着重要的促进作用，而且在一定程度上使得自明代以来封建士大夫加给基督教的“伤风败俗”罪名得以纠正。从总体上看，近代中国社会风俗的演变是多种力量共同作用的结果，传教士改造中国社会风俗的活动只是其中因素之一。基督教作为一种外来的宗教，来华传教士作为外来宗教的宣播者，它们对中国社会风俗的影响毕竟是有限的。总之，基督教、传教士不可能完全解决中国的社会风俗问题，中国的问题必须依靠中国人自己才能得到真正的解决。

Western Christian culture and Chinese traditional culture differed greatly, so the propagation of Christianity in modern China was violently rejected by Chinese people all the way. Missionaries coming to China from the west meditated deeply on how to promote the propagation of Christianity. Basing on observing and studying Chinese national condition deeply, some missionaries acutely had a quick eye for backwardness of Chinese social customs. They not only gave consideration to Chinese social customs with passing day, but also concentrated their attention on some social undesirable customs gradually. They regarded these undesirable customs as a breach of propagating Christianity and preached that these social customs can only be improved by Christianity.Christianity lashed Chinese social customs such as offering sacrifice to ancestors, worshipping idols and geomantic omen in modern China. Missionaries inveighed against foot-binding, opium addiction and women customs and did a great deal of practical work to transform these customs. Anti-foot-binding movement and anti-opium movement in modern China were pushed forward by missionaries. The improvement of living condition and social status of Chinese women was related with missionaries’ propagation and agitation. In addition, missionaries improved marriage customs, medical customs and sanitation customs on certain degree. These activities deeply gave an impetus to the trend of reformation and modernization of Chinese social customs. In a word, missionaries acted as forerunners of Chinese transformation in many social customs fields.Missionaries’ ultimate aim was to propagate Christianity, so their activities to transform Chinese social customs were by-products of their missionary work. It was a wise and useful strategy that they took advantage of improving social customs to propagate religion creed. Their activities not only obtained favorable impression of some Chinese people so as to urgent the missionary work, but also redressed the accusation given to Christianity by feudal scholar bureaucrats in the Ming Dynasty which said that Christianity was harmful to society’s morals.In short, the transformation of social customs in modern china owed to several factors which acted on jointly and missionaries’ activities was only one of them. After all, missionaries’ influence on the transformation of Chinese social customs was limited. Missionaries can not completely settle the Chinese customs problems.