RSS 1.0Ching Feng : a journal on Christianity and Chinese religion and culture
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Originally published under the title Quarterly notes on Christianity and Chinese religion since 1957, Ching Feng journal is one of the major publications of the Christian Study Centre on Chinese Religion and Culture (CSCCRC), Chung Chi College, Shatin, Hong Kong, by which it seeks to promote critical and constructive studies of all aspects of Chinese Christianity, Chinese religion and culture, and inter-religious dialogue between Christianity and other religious traditions in Asia.
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The Globethics.net library contains vol. 4(2003) to current (1 year embargo).
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Comparative study of religion and faith speaking to faith : a “Nestorian narrative” in plural ChristianitiesThe history of Christianity is on a global horizon, entailing a polycentric character and multifaceted reality. It tells a story of human life embedded with the creativity of the religious career, social institutions, and power relations, calling for dialogue with its place, effect, and problem. This paper deals with a story of the Church of the East in exploring its distinctive place, contribution, and interfaith engagement in China and with Islam. Comparative historical inquiry of religious diversity and social institutions in the history of religion worldwide facilitates a sociological study of multiple modernities in distinction from the Eurocentric model of modernity.
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Profit-making, colonizing or proselytizing? Rethinking the relationship between Karl F. A. Gützlaff, the opium trade and Opium War=獲利、殖民還是傳教? ― 郭實獵與鴉片貿易、鴉片戰爭關係再思The Prussia-born Protestant missionary Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff embarked on his Chinese missions in 1831. Over 20 years, he had turned “many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3). However, because of his close relationship with opium traders and the British government, most scholars regarded him as a collaborator of opium traders. Based on abundant first-hand historical materials, this paper undertakes in-depth research on Gützlaff’s life around the times of the Opium War, and argues that Gützlaff used multiple strategies in his missionary work, and he never forgot his identity as a missionary. In addition, it proves that Gützlaff has made pioneering contributions in the evangelism and development of Christianity in China, and in steering China towards modernization.
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Comparative religion, neuroscience and multi-dimensional salvation : reconsidering religious diversity and interreligious dialogue=宗教比較、神經科學與多維度的拯救 - 再思宗教多樣與宗教對話Apparently, there are radical differences among religions in their understandings of the nature, way and goal of salvation. If one considers religions as different ways to the same destination, their differences may be largely neglected. If one considers them as entirely divergent, the possibility and desirability of inter-religious dialogue may be ruled out. Based on the methodological discussion in religious studies, especially the comparative studies of salvation(s) and the neuroscientific studies of religious experience, this essay examines the multiplicity of salvation in religions, and further explores the significance of a multi-dimensional understanding of salvation for the issue of religious diversity and inter-religious dialogue.
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Time : a scientific and theological survey=時間― 科學與神學的追問Newton’s concept of an absolute, mathematical time applies for all observers at all places equivalently: time flows constantly and uni- formly everywhere in the universe. However, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity urges us to think that an event which is present for an ob- server in one inertial frame may be future or past for another one in another inertial frame; no one can claim that his or her perspective is privileged in which there is an absolute present by which all universal events can be divided into past and future. In theological tradition, Augustine and Boethius argued for a kind of timeless divine time, that is, the simultaneity of all time. On the contrary, Barth understood God’s time in a temporal way: by positing God himself in a threefold relationship with time, that is, pre-, supra- and post-temporality, God reveals his eternity as temporal. Such a Trinitarian time could possibly shed some new light on our scientific understanding of time.
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A nonviolent model of liberation theology in Hong Kong : a dialogue with MaoismThis paper aims to argue that Father Franco Mella, an Italian Catholic missionary in Hong Kong, is a forerunner of Hong Kong Christians who strive for a just society. First, Mella’s thoughts on liberation theology, rooted in the teachings of Vatican II and the thoughts of Lorenzo Milani and Maoism, are introduced. Second, how his practice serves as a living example of Mao’s struggle ethic and a preferential option for the poor is illustrated. Through the praxis of hunger strike, he transforms the violent ethics of revolution into a form of nonviolent resistance. To conclude, his fight against injustice is an exemplar of liberation theology for Hong Kong Christians in responding to injustice in the post-Umbrella Movement era.
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From pagan virtues to the salvation of non-Christians : father Wang Changzhi’s contribution to Chinese ChristianityThis article proposes to assess the contribution of Wang Changzhi, S. J. (Joseph Wang Tch’ang-Tche 王昌祉, 1899–1960), one of the most important Chinese Catholic thinkers before Vatican II, by examining his foundational works published in French in the 1930s: his two dissertations, one on Wang Yangming’s moral philosophy (La philosophie morale de Wang Yang-ming, 1936), and the other on Augustine and pagan virtues (Saint Augustin et les vertus des païens, 1938). By reading them in light of one another while situating them in the global Catholic context in which they were created, I intend to show how, by systematically delving into the thorny problem of the salvation of non-Christians, Wang participated significantly in the theological movements that ultimately culminated in Vatican II.
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Worship music localization : a case study of the revival Christian church of Hong Kong=敬拜音樂的本土化實踐 - 香港基督教復興教會的個案研究In the musical scholarship of the past, Christian music was studied mainly in terms of genre, repertory, and its practitioners. This article proposes an ethnographic study of the “contemporary praise-andworship music” in Hong Kong by analyzing the music of the Revival Christian Church of Hong Kong, one of the most influential Pentecostal churches in Hong Kong and Mainland China, in its social and cultural context. This study illuminates the significant function of worship music in connecting modern Christian churches of Hong Kong to their local environment. The social functions of this kind of music are also explored, adding to a theoretical understanding that is significant to ethnomusicology and theology.
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The indigenized characteristics of modern ministry poetry in the Chinese mainland during the republican period=民國時期大陸事工新詩的本色化特徵The modern ministry poetry is non-singing poetry written by Christians for the missionary purpose. In this paper, the modern ministry poetry in the Chinese mainland flourishing from 1921 to 1949 will be studied against the background of the Christian Indigenization Campaign in the 1920s. Compared with western religious poetry, the objective of modern ministry poetry is clearly directed to missionary work. The contents of the poetry widely involve secular life, and the quality and writing skills of different modern ministry poems are disparate. These characteristics came from the special period of the Republic of China (1912–49) and gradually faded after 1949.
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The creation of “Sino-Christian hymns” : from the perspective of the indigenization of Chinese Christianity=「漢語讚美詩」的生成 - 以中國基督教的本土化為視野This paper aims to present the creation of “Sino-Christian hymns” from the perspective of “Genetic Structuralism,” and the inner logic of the indigenization of Chinese Christianity. Since the early twentieth century, indigenous sects construct their sectarian identity by writing, editing, and singing their own hymns. Among these hymns, on the one hand, both intellectual writing and popular writing present Christian faith via traditional images and historical narratives. On the other hand, specific Sino-Christian hymns are selected by individual sects to present their identities and theological purport, which have shaped the distinctive developments of different indigenous sects.
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“I’m on the way”: Shi Tiesheng’s viewpoint of Christianity based on the human world=「我在路上」 - 論史鐵生基於人間本位的基督教觀Shi Tiesheng, a famous contemporary writer, expands the doctrine of original sin in Christianity to include the disability and limitation in humanity, and advocates making the wish of love in human world to transcend the limitation. His perspective always focuses on the world, advocating to combine the purpose with the process and to cope with the suffering of real life by believing in Christianity. He also distinguishes religious spirit from religious belief. In this paper, the actual attitude of Shi Tiesheng towards Christianity will be laid out by scrutinizing four aspects of his viewpoint of Christianity based on the world. His profound philosophical ideas and consciousness for social concern, which are reflected in his works, will be presented, thus facilitating future research on his achievement in literature.
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“Does the sick need a doctor?” : the debate over divine healing in the reform-era Protestantism=有病的人需要醫生？- 改革開放以來基督新教的神蹟醫病論爭Focusing on the magazine of the Protestant churches in China entitled Tian Feng, the article examines the debate over the issue of divine healing in the Reform-era Protestantism. It is widely thought that Christians get ill because they have sinned against God or are attacked by the Devil. Therefore, those who hold on to the conviction of divine healing believe that Christians who suffer from maladies should be healed by (and frequently only by) praying and/or exorcism. Accordingly, the Three-Self Church leaders who oppose to the advocates of divine healing interpret some biblical texts in arguing that “the sick needs a doctor.”
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Strive for a healthy “body”: investigating the Christian anti-opium discourses in the late Qing New Age novels=富國．強身 - 清末時新小說的基督教治鴉片害表述After the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), John Fryer (1839– 1928) advertised to call for “New Age Novel” written in “Christian tone” concerning three late Qing social problems: opium smoking, eight-legged essay, and foot binding. The manuscripts, being rediscovered in 2006, can enhance our understanding of how Chinese Christians in late Qing thought about the issue of national survival. In this paper, the anti-opium discourses in Christian tone of the entries will be discussed under several themes. It aims to show how Christianity has shaped the interpretation of reality, and how the social contexts have shaped the interpretation of the Bible, among the participants. This paper is expected to contribute to the study of contextualization of Christianity and contextual interpretation of the Bible in China.
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Reconstruction of Christianity in early nineteenth century China from Confucian views of religion: Yao Ying and Kangyou Jixing=從儒者宗教觀重探基督宗教"This article focuses on Yao Ying (1785–1853) and his travel memoirs, Kangyou Jixing, to discuss his view of religions and understanding of Christianity. His experience of serving the Manchu court in diplomatic and religious affairs is crucial in the construction of his religious view. While “Tian Dao” in Confucianism was the core of his religious view, he admitted that diversified international society would give birth to different religions. Though all religions are assumed to be derivatives of “Tian Dao” and hierarchical, Yao did not propose Confucianism as the ultimate destination of other religions. His criterion for evaluating religion was its ability to maintain the order of human society, which is also the core of “Tian Dao.” Finally, this article points out that scholars should situate the study of Chinese Christianity in the context of Chinese intellectual and religious history. "
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Reassessing on the authenticity of two Jingjiao manuscripts possessed by Kyou-shooku in Japan : an investigation from the perspective of Syrian-Chinese translation=日本杏雨書屋藏兩件唐代 景教寫本真僞再辨 - 基於敘漢譯詞角度之考察"Over the past few decades, the authenticity of The Discourse on Monotheism and The Jesus Messiah Sutra—two Jingjiao manuscripts which are collected by Japanese scholars Tomioka Kenzô and Takakusu Junjirô, have been questioned by Lin Wushu and Rong Xinjiang. They proposed that these two manuscripts were probably fabricated in the early twentieth century. One of the evidences is that the translations of “Jesus” or “Messiah” in the two manuscripts appear suspicious. In this article, the author finds out that the so-called evidence is not valid. On the basis of many Chinese characters translated from Syriac in the two manuscripts, we come to a completely opposite conclusion. "
