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"Politicized faith : the transformation of the discourse “character, China’s salvation” of the Chinese YMCA, 1908–1927"
Chung, Cheuk-Chi Cecilia
Chung, Cheuk-Chi Cecilia
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Abstract
This paper argues that, while David Z. T. Yui coined the term “Char- acter, China’s Salvation,” the prototype of this concept already exist- ed within the discourse of the members of the Chinese YMCA and Sherwood Eddy between 1908 and 1917 prior to Yui’s articulation. The Association members advocated that Christian morality was the panacea of China’s self-strengthening and took the lead in politiciz- ing, and thereby indigenizing, the mission of the YMCA. In the 1910s, Eddy took the turn to enrich these discourses and succeeded in popularizing this conception. It was not until 1917 that Yui began to adopt the concept of “Character, China’s Salvation” at his work and subsequently launched the Civic Education Campaign. Therefore, the advocate for a politicized Christian character within the YMCA orig- inated from its members and was sustained by its leaders; its in- digenization in early twentieth-century China was, therefore, first a bottom-up and then top-down process.
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This paper argues that, while David Z. T. Yui coined the term “Char- acter, China’s Salvation,” the prototype of this concept already exist- ed within the discourse of the members of the Chinese YMCA and Sherwood Eddy between 1908 and 1917 prior to Yui’s articulation. The Association members advocated that Christian morality was the panacea of China’s self-strengthening and took the lead in politiciz- ing, and thereby indigenizing, the mission of the YMCA. In the 1910s, Eddy took the turn to enrich these discourses and succeeded in popularizing this conception. It was not until 1917 that Yui began to adopt the concept of “Character, China’s Salvation” at his work and subsequently launched the Civic Education Campaign. Therefore, the advocate for a politicized Christian character within the YMCA orig- inated from its members and was sustained by its leaders; its in- digenization in early twentieth-century China was, therefore, first a bottom-up and then top-down process.
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2019
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Christian Study Centre on Chinese Religion and Culture, Chung Chi College, Shatin, Hong Kong