近代伴随西方对华侵略活动的扩张，大量传教士来华。这些传教士通过布道、教育、医疗、慈善等各种方式在中国进行传教，深入参与近代中国的政治、经济、文化活动，对中国近代历史的发展造成了一定的影响。同时，传教士和各个阶层的中国人接触，用文字记录了他们在中国的所见所闻所感，向西方传递了特殊视野下的中国形象。因此，西方来华传教士不仅是近代中国历史的见证者和参与者，也促进了中西文化交流和中西方之间的对话。美国传教士伊萨克·泰勒·何德兰（Isaac Taylor Headland,1859-1942）正这一特殊群体中的一员。

何德兰是美国美以美会（The Methodist Episcopal Church）传教士，1890年至1907年间在华传教，在华期间主要担任了北京汇文书院（The Methodist Peking University）的文科和神科教习。何德兰在中国生活了16年的时间，与中国人尤其是中国上层社会进行了密切接触，对中国社会和中国文化有着较为深入的了解，出版或发表过大量的书籍和文章，内容集中于对晚清中国社会的细致刻画，以及对基督教和传教工作的宣扬。其中国书写的特别之处在于他对清朝宫廷和贵族生活的观察记录，以及对中国儿童和中国家庭生活的书写。其中，何德兰对中国儿童的观察与书写在传教士群体中极为特别。何德兰尤其关注中国儿童的生活、教育和游戏以及童谣，致力于向西方传达鲜活生动的中国儿童形象，这在当时的传教士群体中是非常少见的。何德兰也是最早收集中国童谣的先行者之一，他的作品《孺子歌图》（Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes,1900）是第一部译介到海外的北京童谣集。

何德兰的著述相对深入地介绍和研究了当时中国的政治、社会、文化状况，其中也渗透着何德兰的儿童观、传教观与中国观。何德兰始终保持着对基督教的虔诚信仰，力图实现中国的基督教化，其中国书写始终带有一定的宗教优越感。但是和多数西方传教士对中国的看法不同，何德兰并不是一味地强调中国社会的黑暗面和中国国民性中的弱点，把中国塑造成落后邪恶的形象，而是较为客观地反映了当时的中国社会。他对中国有很高的赞扬，但也说出了不足，更重要的是，何德兰能站在中国人的角度上思考问题，他秉持善意，而且具有同理心。而何德兰中国观的形成既受到当时中国政治改革和社会变化的影响，也与自身在华的经历和感受密切相关。

对于何德兰的中国书写，我们应当客观看待。一方面，何德兰的这些著述看到了中国好的一面，纠正了西方人的一些错误印象，促进了西方人对中国的了解，对近代中西文化交流产生了积极影响。但另一方面，虽然何德兰尽量让自己保持客观，但出于西方强势文化的心理，再加上其根深蒂固的基督教思想，仍旧逃脱不了“西方中心主义”的影响和“基督教拯救中国”的错误观念。

The expansion of Western aggression against China in modern times was accompanied by the arrival of a large number of missionaries in China. These missionaries preached in China through various means, such as preaching, education, medical treatment, and charity, and were deeply involved in the political, economic, and cultural activities of modern China, which had a certain impact on the development of modern Chinese history. At the same time, missionaries came into contact with Chinese people from all walks of life, recorded in writing what they saw and felt in China, and conveyed to the West an image of China from a special perspective. Thus, Western missionaries to China were not only witnesses and participants in the history of modern China, but also promoted cultural exchanges between China and the West and dialogue between China and the West. The American missionary Isaac Taylor Headland (1859-1942) was one of this special group.

Headland was a missionary of The Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States who served as a missionary in China between 1890 and 1907, primarily as an instructor in liberal arts and theology at The Methodist Peking University in Beijing. He lived in China for 16 years and had close contact with the Chinese people, especially the Chinese upper class, and had a deeper understanding of Chinese society and culture. He published or published a large number of books and articles, focusing on a detailed portrayal of Chinese society in the late Qing Dynasty and on the promotion of Christianity and missionary work. The special features of his Chinese writing are his observations and records of the life of the Qing court and aristocracy, as well as his writing on Chinese children and Chinese family life. Among them, Headland's observation and writing about Chinese children is extremely special among the missionary community. He was particularly concerned with the life, education and games of Chinese children and nursery rhymes, and devoted himself to conveying a vivid and lively image of Chinese children to the West, which was very rare among the missionary community at that time. He was also one of the first pioneers in collecting Chinese nursery rhymes, and his work Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes (1900) was the first collection of Beijing nursery rhymes to be translated and introduced overseas.

Headland's writings introduced and studied in relative depth the political, social and cultural conditions of China at that time, and they were also permeated with Headland's views on children, missions and China. Headland always maintained his devout faith in Christianity and sought to Christianize China, and his Chinese writing always carried a certain sense of religious superiority. However, unlike the views of most Western missionaries on China, Headland did not simply emphasize the dark side of Chinese society and the weaknesses of Chinese national character, portraying China as backward and evil, but reflected Chinese society at that time in a more objective manner. He had high praise for China, but also stated the shortcomings. More importantly, Headland can think from the perspective of Chinese people, he upholds goodwill and has empathy. The formation of Headland's view of China was influenced by both the political reforms and social changes in China at that time, as well as closely related to his own experiences and feelings in China.

We should take an objective view of Headland's Chinese writings. On the one hand, Headland's writings saw the good side of China, corrected some wrong impressions of Westerners, promoted Westerners' understanding of China, and had a positive impact on the cultural exchange between China and the West in modern times. But on the other hand, although Headland tried to keep himself objective, he still could not escape the influence of "Western centrism" and the wrong concept of "Christianity saves China" due to the mentality of Western dominant culture and his deeply rooted Christian thought.