A political figure, religious believer, educator and founder of three universities, Ma Xiangbo left a profound legacy in all of these areas of life and thought. This study of his life includes three lengthy essays as well as translations of nine important articles by Ma Xiangbo himself.

Ruth Hayhoe is professor and chair of the Higher Education Group, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Her teaching and research interests include comparative higher education, international academic relations, higher education in Asia, and dimensions of Chinese education in interaction with the West. She is the author of China's Universities and the Open Door (1989), and China's Universities 1895-1995: A Century of Cultural Conflict (1995). Her edited books include Knowledge Across Cultures: Universities East and West, Education and Modernization: The Chinese Experience (1992), and China's Education and the Industrialized World: Studies in Cultural Transfer (1987). Fifteen years of her adult life were spent in China, teaching in secondary and tertiary institutions, as well as heading up the cultural and academic affairs section of the Canadian Embassy in Beijing from 1989 to 1991.,
Yongling Lu is a doctoral candidate in Higher Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Introduction, Ruth Hayhoe; Part 1 The Political, Religious and Educational Worlds of Ma Xiangbo; Chapter 1 Statesman and Centenarian: Ma Xiangbo as Witness of China's Early Modernity, Weizheng Zhu, Xiaoming Wu; Chapter 2 Christianity and Cultural Conflict in the Life of Ma Xiangbo, Tiangang Li, Ruth Hayhoe; Chapter 3. Standing Between Two Worlds: Ma Xiangbo's Educational Thought and Practice, Yongling Lu; Part 2 Selected Translations of Ma Xiangbo's Essays and Speeches, Ruth Hayhoe, Xiaochun Hu, Yongling Lu; Chapter 4 The Need for Political Parties and Their Responsibilities (1908); Chapter 5 A Letter to the Pope Asking Him to Promote Education in China (1912); Chapter 6 The Hanxia Academy of Humanities and Sciences (1913); Chapter 7 Nine Documents on the Hanxia Academy of Humanities and Sciences (c. 1914); Chapter 8 Some Suggestions on Setting up a French-Style Academy (c.1913); Chapter 9 Should a Head of State Preside Over Religious Ceremonies ? (1914); Chapter 10 An Introduction to Philosophy Published in 1926; Chapter 11 Using Scholarship to Spread Religion (1932); Chapter 12 Religion and Culture (1933)Part3 A Bibliographic Index to the Life and Work of Ma Xiangbo (in Chinese), Yongling Lu;