Serendipity: Hockey and Missionaries in China

Image from https://botanwang.com/articles/202109/〖微历史〗是谓“民主革命的伟大胜利”.html

One of my Chinese friends recently sent me this image. He knew I loved hockey and thought - quite correctly - that I would enjoy the image. The caption reads "In 1929, the hockey team of Yenching University had a friendly competition with that of an American university." (The name of the other university is not identified.)

Yenching University was founded by American Presbyterian missionary Stuart Leighton, one of the most important and influential missionaries in China during the first half of the twentieth century. And it looks like the western missionary effort included the introduction of the great game of hockey.

Like many Canadians, I look forward to Canada displaying its hockey prowess in the upcoming Winter Olympics. Sadly, this year we will not be able to send NHL players. But we still hope that our male and female hockey teams bring back Gold! We have read much about the readiness of the Chinese Olympic team, but, based on this picture, the Chinese have been preparing for almost 100 years.