Religious liberty for the Chinese child: missionary debates in the 1930s

ABSTRACT

In 1931, liberal and conservative Christians debated the possibility of replacing Bible Study with a comparative religions course for elementary-school students, in order to comply with regulations of the Republic of China. Made possible by the ecumenical and indigenization movements within Christianity, this debate intersected with multiple issues: Western accommodation to the rise of Chinese nationalism; Christian resistance to growing secularization in the West, including elements of the social gospel; and clerical responses to child-centered pedagogies. Furthermore, liberals also promoted religious studies as a method for increasing cross-cultural understanding and world peace after World War II. While previous scholars have situated government registration of parochial schools within the rise of Chinese nationalism, this article asserts that missionaries in the 1930s viewed children’s religious education within the framework of both Chinese indigenization and global secularization.     

宗教研究与文化关怀:从各宗教史研究析陈垣的中华文化观

陈垣的宗教研究蕴涵着深刻的文化关怀。在基督教研究中,陈垣的文化关怀体现在"使基督教在中华文化史上占有地位"的基督教本色化观,认为基督宗教不可能也不会替代中华文化,只能成为中华文化的一部分。这可以并入他在研究各种外来宗教中体现出来的以中华文化为本位的"中华文化观",即包括基督教在内的外来宗教、文化无不融入中华文化,但是不能改变后者;中华文化海纳百川似地容纳外来宗教、文化,本身得以丰富,但是本质不变,强调中华文化的包容性。抗日战争时期,陈垣的"民族文化关怀"表现为用佛教道教著述,表彰遗民,阐扬气节,并论述宗教保存发展民族文化的观点,侧重的是中华文化的长久生命力。陈恒的文化关怀体现了陈垣对自身和国家民族处境的深刻思考,在现实中都有对应,基督教本色化观对应陈垣的宗教信仰以及基督教与中华文化的关系问题,中华文化观对应全盘西化和文化保守观点,民族文化观对应外族入侵的文化保存和发展问题。我们分析陈垣的宗教研究时需要考虑这些因素。     

The Complexities of a New Faith: Xu Guangqi's Acceptance of Christianity

Xu Guangqi (1562–1633) was one of the most important early Chinese Catholics closely associated with Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), the legendary founder of the Jesuit China mission. In spite of his widespread fame since the seventeenth century, the precise nature of his religious experience has not so far been adequately investigated. To understand his complex relationship with Christianity and thereby gain insight into the fateful East–West intellectual interaction in the early modern period, this article closely probes various aspects of Xu's spiritual journey including his family history, his reception of baptism, and his association with Jesuit missionaries both before and after his conversion, and the particular character of his Catholic faith.     

Covert and Overt Activism: Christianity in 1950s Coastal China

The phenomenal growth of Catholic and Protestant churches-both officially-registered Three-Self patriotic churches and unofficial house churches-in China has drawn attention to the underlying dynamics of Chinese Christianity.This article draws on archival research and ethnographic findings to investigate the interactions between the officials and Christians in the coastal regions of Shantou (Guangdong province) and Wenzhou (Zhejiang province) during the 1950s and 1960s.The Chaozhou-speaking Catholics,Baptists and Presbyterians in Shantou succeeded in transcending sectarian boundaries and helped each other to cope with political pressure.The Seventh-day Adventists in Wenzhou did likewise by organizing clandestine house gatherings with other Protestants.They held onto their faith,continued their worship activities on Saturday,and maintained a distinct,though not independent,identity under the broad spectrum of Protestantism.These local stories show that as a collective force,Chinese Christians not only employed a variety of tactics to help each other but also reinvented congregational,kinship and cross-regional networks as conduits for pursuing religious goals.Their covert and overt activism highlight the need to combine archival research and fieldwork to assess the revival of Christianity in present-day China.     

我国改革开放以来基督教发展的原因探析

我国改革开放以来基督教得到迅猛发展,其原因主要有两个方面:从纵向看,共和国成立后的30年间,基督教经历了革新、联合、沉寂的曲折演进历程,这是它在改革开放以后得以复兴的内部因素;从横向看,改革开放后社会处于转型期,价值观念变迁、贫富差距拉大、腐败现象滋生泛滥等社会问题和基督教自身的特点对其发展亦产生了重要影响,这是促其发展的外部因素。总之,社会变革是基督教快速发展的根源,其自身的不断调适决定了它对社会正常运转发挥着积极的功能。与此同时,基督教发展的新形势、出现的新问题,也给党和政府处理宗教事务、加强自身建设提出了新的要求。     

Yangjiao or the ��Other��? Christianity and Chinese society in the second half of the nineteenth century

This article explores the relationship between Christianity and Chinese society in the second half of the nineteenth century by re-examining the primary sources of anti-Christian movements. The first part shows how Christian churches broke the dominance of the Qing government over local society. Conflicts between Christianity and Chinese religion were often transformed into political confrontations between churches and the Qing bureaucracy. The second part analyzes how Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism interpreted Christianity, with an emphasis on how to understand the perception of Christianity in Chinese society. Exploring broader societal perceptions of Christianity—and not just those expressed in the writings of the Confucian literati—allows for a more nuanced understanding of Chinese interpretations of Christianity. The third part studies the relationship between churches and Chinese religious sects. On the one hand, in the language of anti-Christian movements such as those of the Zaili and Cai sects, Christianity was the hateful “Other.” On the other hand, in the process of preaching Christianity, churches themselves experienced a period of transmutation: they recruited into the church not only non-religious civilians but also the followers of popular religions. For a long period, Christianity was called yangjiao, the “foreign religion,” making it the “Other.” Missionaries started to feel an urgency to reject their identity as the “Other” after the harrowing experience of the Boxer Movement.     

Analysis of Japanese influence on the three major historiographical trends in early modern China

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the intrinsic relationships between Japanese historiography and the three great historiographical trends of New Historiography, Debates on Ancient History, and Marxist historiography, from the macroscopic perspective of the transformation, development, and early modern growth of modern and early modern Chinese historiography, exploring how Chinese historical researchers selected, deviated from, and assimilated Japanese historiography, while also particularly focusing on how the recipients utilized Japanese historiographical methods and concepts as well as the achievements of Japanese scholars in researching Chinese history to construct their own interpretation of Chinese historiography, in a study of the academic trend of indigenization.     

“The Country Christ Knew”: New Zealanders' Interactions with Christianity in the Middle East,Greece, and Italy during the Second World War

During the Second World War, New Zealanders of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) interacted with Christianity throughout the Mediterranean from 1940 to 1945. Stationed in the Middle East, New Zealanders saw the birthplace of Christianity in Egypt and Palestine. In Greece, Crete, and Italy, New Zealanders saw countries where Christianity was deeply ingrained in the landscape and social fabric. This article explores New Zealanders' interaction with Christianity in the Mediterranean during the Second World War on two levels: Firstly, by discussing New Zealanders' visits to Christian religious sites; secondly, by examining New Zealanders' observations on religious practice and the place of religion in society in the Middle East, Greece, and Italy. The article will argue that New Zealanders demonstrated a keen interest in religious tourism during the war, and more broadly, that Christianity was an important lens through which New Zealanders viewed the places in which they served in the Mediterranean.     

基于西方学生化理论建构的中国本土研究进展及思考

近20年来,学生化现象呈全球化趋势,与城市空间交互密切。西方城市地理学界最早关注学生化现象,并系统建构学生化理论。约10年前,该理论被引入中国,开始了本土化研究。鉴于助推学生化理论中国本土化建构的研究仍较少,本文首先介绍了中西方学生化现象及其理论建构的时代背景,阐释了针对学生化理论本土化思考的必要性及意义。随后,通过梳理西方学生化理论建构及其本土化研究,思考了中西方共同关注的理论焦点和研究理论框架,以及对研究中国学生化可能有益的研究方法。最后,文章探讨了基于中国国情的学生化概念界定思考的重要性。     

Accounts of early Christian history in the thought of François Guizot,Benjamin Constant and Madame de Staël 1800–c.1833

This article compares different historical accounts of early Christianity written by François Guizot, Benjamin Constant and Madame de Staël and shows that they played a significant role in the construction of their ideas about religious tolerance and political liberty in ancient and modern states. In his 1812 translation of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Guizot used his editorial footnotes to oppose Gibbon’s sceptical representation of the early Church and to assert that the development of Christianity had been crucial in condemning slavery, establishing religious toleration and fostering individual liberty. Benjamin Constant also opposed Gibbon’s representation of early Church history but he argued in his posthumously published Du polythéisme romain (1833) that the key achievement of the early Christians had been to revive the idea of individual religious sentiment against the anti-individualist Roman state. As Guizot developed his historical research in the 1820s he rejected this view and came to see the early Christians as demonstrating the inherently social nature of all religious practice. Some of these ideas were anticipated by Madame de Staël in De la littérature (1800), but all three thinkers sought to reintegrate religion into their ideas of modern liberty in ways that merit greater attention.     

中国旧石器时代遗址中赭石的功能

赭石的使用是现代人行为的标志之一,是除石制品之外更能反映现代人认知能力等深层次精神世界的载体,但是国内对该类物质的研究还比较少。本文主要参照西方学者的研究成果,讨论中国遗址中赭石的功能,认为赭石在旧石器时代的中国地区主要被用作颜料、兽皮防腐和药物,同时它还被用于原始宗教活动。与旧大陆西侧遗址中的赭石相比,除了相似的使用功能,西方的古人类利用赭石的时间更早,所以本研究推测中国地区古人类对赭石功能的认识可能源于西方并在现代人迁徙的过程中流入中国地区。这些证据指示着中国地区的现代人由北向南的迁徙路线。     

西方传教士对中国地理学的影响

西方宗教在传入中国的过程中不可避免地产生了中西文化的碰撞与交流,而地理学是其中比较激烈的部分。西方传教士作为基督教传播的主要媒介,理所当然地在中西文化交流的过程中起到了穿针引线的作用,其中对中国地理学的影响也是相当巨大的。本文结合传教士在中国发展的兴衰过程,相应地对西方传教士对中国地理学的影响的研究分三个时期来进行描述:唐元时期、明末清初时期以及鸦片战争以后。最后,本文用辨证的观点评价了西方传教士对中国地理学的影响:它在促进了中国地理学的发展的同时又造成中国对地理科学认识的误导。     

中国祆教艺术中的犬神形象

琐罗亚斯德教(Zoroastrianism)教徒对犬具有特殊的感情,在他们的日常生活和宗教礼仪中,犬都占据着重要的地位。本文以国内最新发现的祆教考古材料为基础,集中讨论了古代祆教艺术中的犬神形象。作者将祆教犬神形象分成三秧:普通犬神、带翼犬神、森穆夫或犬首鸟,对流传中国的祆教犬神形象进行了梳理,期望对研究祆教文化的传播、交流有所补益。     

现代艺术运动发展演变的地理学研究

现代艺术是目前唯一在国际上占统治地位的艺术现象。本文从地理学角度出发研究现代艺术的发展演变。首先回顾了现代艺术的发展过程,重点分析了现代艺术的地域性特征,指出国际现代艺术体系有"中心-边缘"性的分布格局,从流派数量和艺术主题的变化方面总结了其发展演变特点,并且总结了历史上三次重要的艺术扩散过程。其次分析了我国现代艺术发展的时空分布和地理格局,指出我国现代艺术的中心位于东部沿海大城市,具有分布不均、在国际体系中地位不高的特征。最后指出我国城市积极参与国际现代艺术体系、提升文化艺术地位的重要性和途径。     

Men Want Something Real: Frank Buchman and Anglo-American College Religion in the 1920s

In 1925 a Princeton University alumnus told a group of faculty that "men want something real." He felt that students at Princeton and other universities were trapped in institutions historian George Marsden later described as increasingly secularized and secularizing. Their education was too theoretical and their Christianity was too conventional. Caught in such a place, young men wanted some kind of real-life experience, unmediated by books or instructors. They wanted excitement and intensity, the kind their predecessors found in the Great War. In place of immorality, or conventional Christianity, evangelist Frank Buchman organized a cell group movement where men could get an exciting religious experience. He repackaged Anglo-American evangelicalism so it would appeal to modern young people. The movement began in America, but soon included elite college students in Britain as well. It focused particularly on "key men," vital to Buchman's goal of remaking the world.     

Scab Ministers,Striking Saints: Christianity and Class Conflict in 1894 Chicago

Throughout 1894, Chicago's churches were as divided by class as the nation itself. During the Pullman strike and boycott, the city's leading Protestant and Catholic authorities hewed to an ideology of contract freedom that precluded support for the American Railway Union. Meanwhile, a handful of young Protestant ministers championed the strikers, echoing the criticisms of those working-class Protestants who had long decried the established churches’ ties to capital. This latter bloc expressed its frustration not merely with words but also through uprisings within local churches and even by founding a church of its own. In light of these findings, the author argues that a grassroots social Christianity preceded an elite Social Gospel; and furthermore, that the participation of working-class persons in the contests over the shape of modern Christianity demands a rethinking of the boundaries of both religious and working-class history.     

“贵文贱艺”思想与近代知识分子阶层重心的转移

近代以降,随看中国内忧外患形势的日益加剧,知识分子阶层勇敢地承担起了救国救亡地历史使命。他们或以艺见长,或以突出。然而由于中国传统之重轻艺思想的深远影响,近代知识分子阶层只能遵循“学而优则仕”这条中国传统知识分子所走过的老路子。随着中国日益走向世界,此种情形直接阻碍了中国进一步现代化的进程。     

中国的"村上春树热"

中国当代文学受到市场经济和西方现代派的双重影响呈多元化的走向。日本纯文学作家村上春树的创作准确地反映了当今社会,特别是生活在繁华都市的青年人的精神世界。村上作品的出现不仅给日本文坛带来震撼,也给多元化的中国文坛带来了新的气息。其作品独特的艺术魅力、特别是西化的思想性引起了当代中国年轻一代的共鸣。中国的“村上春树热”现象说明中国的当代文学已日趋接近西方现代艺术的潮流,同时也向中国作家提出了挑战,要求我们的作家进行新的探索和尝试,创作出既受读者欢迎,又有高度艺术性的文学作品。     

自养与本色之深入：1929年世界经济危机冲击下的华北基督教

1929年世界经济危机发生后,西方基督教差会被迫减少对华传教事业经费,裁减传教士人数,对华北基督教产生重要影响。华北教会为此提倡受托主义,鼓励教徒捐献,并减少职员薪金;同时,教会为减轻经济负担,还组织各种义工训练班,注意培养义务工作人员为教会服务;教会学校与医院在差会经费减少的形势下,通过裁员减支、增收学费与住院费及向政府、社会力量请求援助等多种形式维持运营。此次经济危机有利于增强中国教会及教会机构的自养,破除教徒的依赖心理,推动了中国教会的本色化进程,但不能从根本上使其摆脱对西方经费的依赖。     

Public Faith and the Common Good A Radical Messianic Proposal

Abstract

The article inquires into the implications of Christianity not being a religious perspective among others in the contemporary Western debate on religious pluralism. A quick glance at a recent debate in Sweden serves to demonstrate how Christianity, although marginalized in its traditional forms, remains a dominating cultural interpretative scheme that continues to influence the majority’s view on private and public, individual and collective, rational and irrational. Against this background, the author argues, it is imperative that any Christian theologian who engages in the question of religion in the public sphere in the Western world, also must critically confront the question of Christianity’s particular status. Not least in light of contemporary right-wing rhetoric about the West as an exclusively “Christian civilization,” theologians need to reflect on how to avoid articulations of the Christian vision of the common good that manifest themselves at the expense of other religious traditions. The article ends by sketching a possible direction for such reflection.