传教士对于近代中国的文化交流与思想文化发展，无疑具有重要的作用。一些西方传教士为了更好地向中国民众介绍基督教等教义，寻找中西文化的契合点，特别重视对中国社会风俗以及民间文学的调查和考察。其中，法国传教士禄是遒（Henri Dore）是有意识地认识中国、研究中国、记录中国社会风俗生活的一个典型代表。1884年，禄是遒来到中国，开始在中国的上海、江苏、安徽等地考察社会风俗生活和民间文学，编写成卷帙浩繁的《中国民间崇拜》系列著述。西方传教士的这一他者视角的调查和理解方式事实上形成了一种特殊形式的近代中国社会民族志，其中不仅呈现出西方传教士对中国近代社会风俗生活和民间文学的具体记录，也表达了他们对中国社会风俗生活和民间文学的他者理解认识，从而也就形成了别具一格的文化理论。

Missionaries undoubtedly made great contributions to cultural and intellectual exchange and development in modern China. In order to introduce Christianity to Chinese people more effectively based on the similarities between Western and Chinese cultures, some Western missionaries focused on the investigation and understanding of social customs and folk literature in China. Among them, Henri Doré was a representative who attempted to understand, study and record the social life and customs in China. When he came to China in 1884, Henri Doré started to investigate the social life and customs as well as folk literature in Shanghai, Jiangsu and An'hui, etc. and finally complied a series of Researches into Chinese Superstitions in a great number of volumes. In effect, Western missionaries' investigating and understanding from the perspective of the other has formed a special type of modern Chinese social ethnography, which contains not only concrete records but also a unique style of culture theory with Western missionaries' particular understanding from the other's angle.