when the chinese met jesus

Missiology & Christology

St Alphonsus Theological and Mission Institute

Terence Wee C.Ss.R

When the Chinese Met Jesus


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Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1

Historical and Social Situation ................................................................................................... 2

Philosophical Background .......................................................................................................... 5

The Christian Offer ..................................................................................................................... 9

“The First Date” ........................................................................................................................ 11

The Chinese Christology ........................................................................................................... 17

The History of Encounter ......................................................................................................... 22

Learnings .................................................................................................................................. 25

China Today .............................................................................................................................. 29

The Second Encounter ............................................................................................................. 35

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 41


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Figures

Figure 1. Dynasties of China ....................................................................................................... 3

Figure 2. Jesus as the Western Teacher ................................................................................... 17

Figure 3. Jesus as the Moral Teacher (Among others such as Confucius, Lao Tze) ................. 18

Figure 4. Jesus as the Deity (among others such as Goddess of Mercy and Buddha) ............ 19

Figure 5. Jesus as the Sovereign God ....................................................................................... 20

Figure 6. Jesus as the Liang-You .............................................................................................. 21

Tables

Table 1. Summary of Important Schools During the "Spring and Autumn" Period .................. 7

Table 2. Mission Style and Mission Constants during the 16th Century in Asia ..................... 11

Table 3. The Chinese Situation and the Christian Offer........................................................... 12

Table 4. Samples of Similar Teachings between Analects and the Bible ................................. 13

Table 5. China Population and Projections (millions) .............................................................. 32

Appendixes

Appendix A. Summary of Major Philosophical Schools during the “Spring and Autumn” Period………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 42


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When the Chinese Met Jesus

Dear Jesus, you are a Jew, I am a Chinese, what on earth do we both really have in common???

Oh yes, I know!---- We both love money! Fr. Bernard Teo, C.Ss.R

Introduction

China is a land filled with exoticism and mystery. It has a history that spans more that

5000 years and has gone through many pivotal moments in time which have changed its

presence in shape and form. Its population of more than 1.3 billion people (up to 20% of the

world’s total population) was a culmination of evolution and revolution spanning more than 14

dynasties, a multitude of philosophical teachings, a wide array of political structures and also

anthropological, economical, social and cultural growth. What makes it stands out from other

ancient civilizations is that it was able to flourish up to the present time while most other great

ancient cultures and traditions perished into the face of history.1

Taking a closer look at the history of this magnificent country which spreads across and

land mass of 9.6 million square kilometres, one fascinating fact emerges. For a long period of

time, the historical drama of China has been, for a lack of a better word, rather ‘Ethnocentric”.

With its vast spread in geographical reach and the quest for elevation in living conditions, it did

come into contact with many foreign cultures and traditions through the necessity of trade.2

The Tang dynasty (618CE ~ 907CE) was marked as a dynasty open to foreign influences, in

particular, through the assimilation of various religious and cultural norms of the neighbouring

countries such as India, Persia, Central Asia and Middle Eastern countries through the silk road.3

However, these foreign influences were not able to drastically change the anthropological core

of the Chinese in their strong self-identification. The country never had much interest in

1 See Dr Bear, “从封闭政策的悲剧，谈中国文化的基因 [Studying the effects on China's Culture through the

Tragedy of its ‘Close-door’ Policy +,” Pheonix Report. (June, 2009), http://blog.ifeng.com/article/2809948.html 2Ibid.

3 ___. “Tang Dynasty.” Wikipedia. (2008) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Dynasty#Trade_and_ spread _

of_culture


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occupying foreign land, rather, the constant changes of dynasties and rulers had always been

centered on the dream of unifying the country and people as one through political power and

social system, exemplified in its ‘Fengjian 封建’(feudalism) system. This distinction was greater

amplified during the height of the capitalism development in the world scene, when China, in

the Ming and Qing dynasty (around 16th to 17th century), decided to close its door to practically

all foreign trade (particularly due to religious reasons).

This mentality has manifested in a general outlook of the split between China and the

world. The people lived within a comfort zone of culture, education, social etiquette with deep

roots, and are generally oblivious to anything foreign or look to them with a natural awe or

weariness.

With this background in mind, it is interesting to study in significant details the

encounter between the Chinese and Christianity. How did the Chinese, with their cultural,

anthropological, social and philosophical background, come to welcome this religion? How did

the encounter come about? What was the outcome? These are some of the aspects which I

would like to investigate, and hopefully, through better understanding, discover the

Christologies of the Chinese people and the appropriate missionary approaches.

Historical and Social Situation

In order to understand the minds and hearts of the Chinese, it is important to have a

basic grasp of the historical development of the nation. As been mentioned before, China has

gone through 14 major dynasty changes (with further significant changes and developments

within each dynasty). Each dynasty had its own unique social and political structure, and to a

certain extent, culture.

For the purpose of this paper, the historical and social development will be discussed in

order to shed light on the situation at the time of contact with Christianity. It is not a simplistic

matter to pinpoint an exact time of contact as there were many separate attempts in mission to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fengjian


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bring Christianity into China. Thus to have clarity on the discussion, we will specify the term

“point of contact” as the time of encounter with Christianity, in particular Catholicism, through

the Jesuits’ effort, in the person of Matteo Ricci during the 16th century. 4

Figure 1 shows the dynasty changes of China dating back to the beginning of its

civilization.

Figure 1. Dynasties of China

Similar to all civilization, China began with the primitive society (原始社会) during the

Stone Age period. By the beginning of the first known dynasty (Xia dynasty, ~2000BCE-

1700BCE) the societal system had evolved into feudalism (封建社会), which lasted in various

forms up till the end of Zhou dynasty (~200BCE)5. The feudal system was further divided into

4 Various sources documented missionary efforts in China as early as the 3

rd century. However, most of these

efforts were seen to be sporadic and bored localized and limited results. See ___. “Christianity in China.” Wikipedia. (2009). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_China and Jeroom Heyndrickx. “The Fifth Encounter between Christianity and China.” US Catholic China Bureau Website. (2009) http://www.usccb.net/resources/2009/The%20Fifth%20Encounter%20between%20Christianity%20and%20China.pdf 5 China’s feudal system is very different from that of Europe. The system operates through the Emperor delegating

power and land to his relatives, which in turn delegates further down to their subordinate. Such system allows a pyramidal form of control which ultimately allows the Emperor great influence and rule. See Zhang XF. “中国历史社

会阶段划分概论 *Overview of Chinese Historical Societal Development+,” Sina Blog, (2009), http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4a8cc4a20100e5jj.html


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Clan feudal society (Xia and Shang, ~2000BCE to 1027BCE), Clanlaw feudal society (Western

Zhou, ~1027BCE – 771BCE) and Landlord feudal society (Eastern Zhou, ~770BCE -221BCE).

During these times, the people were very much “within control”. Most ordinary citizens were

given plots of land to labour, and survival was guaranteed with willingness to work.

With the collapse of the Zhou dynasty and the dawn of the Qin dynasty (~221BCE),

China was unified through Qin Shi Huang, and the Absolute Monarchical society (君主专制社会)

was adopted. This societal system lasted for more than 2000 years and became the principle

system which affected the social and psychological development of the Chinese. The system

managed to weather through a plethora of opposing forces due to the solid and firm

foundation of the core values of the system. As Zhang XF puts it:

“The Chinese Absolute Monarchy societal system managed to last for such a long period of time and withstood a multitude of opposing forces mainly due to the executive style of the system. The system employed morality above the law, taking the essence of the four books (Da Xue, Meng Zhi, Zhong Yong and Analects) as the guiding moral principles. Such moral principles managed to bore deep into the minds and hearts of all, from the ordinary citizens up to the emperor of the various dynasties. Under the rule of Absolute Monarchy, the Emperor is the father, and traditional morality disallowed any disrespect or doubt against the absolute power of the Emperor. In addition to that, emphasis in agriculture and economical control forced the Chinese citizens to focus their minds and efforts to their daily labour. It tied the people down strongly to their land, and thus ensuring a strong control, but at the same time presented a hindrance to free societal and economical growth.”6

With this system, the people were very much within the control of the state and the

empire, and proper execution of the system ensured stability in theory. People were given

material satisfaction through the distribution of agricultural land. Mentally, they were unified

through the spirit and values drawn from the four great books. However, as much as the

system seemed feasible, on the ground level, many mishaps could and had occurred.

As the livelihoods of the people were very much tied to their land, survival was naturally

linked to nature. From history we see that due to the vast and varied geographical topology of

6 Ibid.


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China, the country was prone to periodical natural calamities (Eg. drought and floods). This,

compounded with the unavoidable corruption and oppression through the chain of political

ranks which stripped the people much more of what they were supposed to, naturally brought

economical anxieties and hardships to many. There were also many true occurrences of

tyrannical emperors who, for their selfish personal gain, stripped the people of their deserving

wealth.

Under such circumstances, what was in the minds of the ordinary people? What were

they searching for?

Survival and livelihood would probably be the most important thoughts that occupied

the ordinary of the time. The people would want the family to be well sustained in basic

necessities (food, clothing, house), and probably stability in livelihood. Redemption to them

would be liberation from unjust treatment, from possible oppression, and an elevation of life

conditions and social standing. Fairness would be the call of the people, justice and honour

would be their aim.

Thus far, the redemption is seen from the material point of view. However, what would

the people require in terms of liberation in mind and soul? To understand that, we would need

to study the philosophies that had strongly influenced the thinking and manner of the people.

This would be dealt next.

Philosophical Background

By the 16th century, the philosophical and moral system would have been very much

grounded. The ‘values’ of the Chinese would have already been bore into the ‘collective

consciousness’ of the people and became a way of life. However, how was these values

developed and came to be?

The philosophical epitome of China was no doubt born during the time of “Spring and

Autumn”(770BCE-476BCE), also known as the ‘golden age’:


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“The period, though marked by disunity and civil strife, witnessed an unprecedented era of cultural prosperity. The atmosphere of reform and new ideas was attributed to the struggle for survival among warring regional lords who competed in building strong and loyal armies and in increasing economic production to ensure a broader base for tax collection. To effect these economic, military, and cultural developments, the regional lords needed ever-increasing numbers of skilled, literate officials and teachers, the recruitment of whom was based on merit. Also during this time, commerce was stimulated through the introduction of coinage and technological improvements. Public works on a grand scale--such as flood control, irrigation projects, and canal digging--were executed. Enormous walls were built around cities and along the broad stretches of the northern frontier.”7

Besides the political stimulation, the rise of the “Spring and Autumn” were also caused

by new social situations. There were great social changes at the time, with new systems

replacing old and obsolete traditions, spurring thinkers to explore questions of life and

meaning.

So many different philosophies developed during the late Spring and Autumn and early

Warring States periods that the era is often known as that of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

From the Hundred Schools of Thought came many of the great classical writings on which

Chinese practices were to be based for the next two and one-half millennia.8

In actual fact, philosophers were only part of the “hundred schools” that emerged

during this great period, there were many thinkers during this time that specialized in other

fields, such as politics, agriculture and literature. Table 1 shows a simplistic summary of the

important thinkers and works of this time. The blossoming of these thinkers indicated that

people were already looking into various aspects of life and starting to “think” and search for

meaning and elevation of life situations within the various aspects.

7 Library of Congress Study, “China: Hundred Schools of Thought,” About.com: Ancient/Classical History. (1987),

http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_chinathehundredschoolsofthought.htm 8 Ibid.


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Schools Thinkers Works

School of Ru [儒家] Confucious, Meng Zhi, Xun Zhi “Analects”, “Meng Zhi”, “Xun Zhi”

School of Tao [道家] Lao Zhi, Zhuang Zhi “Dao De Jing”, “Zhuang Zhi”

School of Mo [墨家] Mo Zhi “Mo Zhi”

School of Law [法家] Han Fei “Han Fei Zhi”

School of Politics [兵家] Sun Zhi “Art of War”

School of Agriculture [农家] Xu Xin -

Table 1. Summary of Important Schools During the "Spring and Autumn" Period

Undeniably, it was the philosophical thinkers (eg: school of Ru, Tao, Mo) that affected

and changed the way the people look at life and relationship the most. Appendix A shows the

summary of major characters and thoughts of these philosophical schools.

The body of thought that had most enduring effect on subsequent Chinese life was that

of the school of Ru, or better known as Confucianism. Its main thought is the way of conducting

oneself in relation to society and country. It calls for people to know their place in all

situations, to cultivate themselves, and to grow in personal morality, leading to balanced

integration with politics and religion. It teaches that everything has its place in society, and thus

when society comes to order, it will naturally grow stronger. In also teaches the notion of

harmony between Heaven and Man, denoting a deep sense of the holistic relationship between

humankind and a transcendent principle.

The person who perfects all the teachings is known to be a Sage (君子/圣人), and this is a

stage in which all should strive to achieve. The 5 main principles leading to such attainment are

translated as i) love (仁), ii) righteousness (义), iii) proper conduct (礼), iv) wisdom (智) and v)

courage (勇).

Confucianism outshone most other philosophical thinking as time went by and later

became known almost synonymously as the thought of the Chinese. By the subsequent

dynasties, it had engraved its mark deeply into the social and cultural setting of the people. We

can safely say that this thinking penetrated all level of culture, namely the industrial technical,

domestic technical, symbolic culture, and most importantly, the world view of the Chinese.


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These teachings became the moral and guiding principles in which the people naturally lived by.

They saw that they had a unique role in their family, community, society and country.

Relationships were guided trough the principles (father vs son, ruler vs subjects). Everything

had its proper place.

As mentioned, Confucianism made its way into the world view of the people, and

therefore it naturally affected even the religious perspective of the people. In their major

religions of the people, such as Taoism and Buddhism, we do see traces of Confucian elements

within it. Fusing with these thinkings were also aspects of spiritual depth and contemplation

which were the advocacy of Taoist teachings. The era probably played a role in the highly

reflective and contemplative atmosphere of the religions, allowing the people to be strongly

rooted in personal centering and self-calm in order to achieve enlightenment.

Looking at both the social and religious perspective, we can say that Confucianism

shaped the social involvement of the people while Taoism mainly shaped the religious aspect,

emphasizing inner freedom achieved by solitude. It is often said that for an individual, the social

ideal is Confucianism and the personal ideal is Taoism.9

So with this philosophical mindset, what were the people looking for? And what was

their aim in life?

A simple answer to that would be the attainment of sage-hood. For when one becomes

a sage, it is parallel to achieving enlightenment. Thus, it was in the mind of the people to go

beyond, to be better, and ultimately, to be perfect.

With this understanding, we could now look into Christianity and ask, is there anything

that Christianity can offer?

9 See Rong Lina, “The Role of the Bible in Forming People of Authentic Faith in China”, National Catholic China

Conference (2008).


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The Christian Offer

If we try to gather materials written to answer the question “What does Christianity

offer?” or “What do Christians believe?” we could probably fill up libraries with all that we

gather. Therefore, to sum up the so called “Christian offer” in a short paragraph is a rather big

challenge or an attempt for an extremely great simplification of a rich mystery. However, we

will focus here on the message from an evangelizing front, and try to establish the most simple

and straight forward answers to be presented to someone who is totally ignorant to the faith.

The scope of Christianity covers a wide spectrum, ranging from dogmas, theologies,

practical life teachings, relationships, liturgies, etc. But within this abundance of understanding,

what stands out as the core message to be firstly introduced to a person new to the faith?

In the center of all the message and teachings, the summit of all is no doubt the person

of Jesus and the His message of the Good News: the Reign of God! Drawing from mission

documents, we see that the emphasis of this ‘Christian offer’ has been consistent and has been

repeatedly emphasize in different forms.

Ad Gentes, the document of the Second Vatican Council sparked off the call for Christian

mission, and in the core of it, it called for the proclamation of Jesus and His message:

“*AG4+ God… sending His Son, clothed in our flesh, in order that through Him He might snatch men from the power of darkness and Satan. … For Jesus Christ was sent into the world as a real mediator between God and men. … For Christ said concerning Himself, He whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world: “ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me; to bring good news to the poor He sent me, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim to the captives release, and sight to the blind” ” 10

Evengelii Nuntiandi, the apostolic exhortation of Pope Paul VI focusing on the aspect of

evangelization on the Kingdom of God, as proclaimed by Jesus Christ, also started the

document by stating the main message of our Christian evangelization:

10

Vatican II, Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church Ad Gentes (7 December 1965), no. 4.


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“*EN6+ The witness that the Lord gives of Himself and that Saint Luke gathered together in his Gospel -- "I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God"-- without doubt has enormous consequences, for it sums up the whole mission of Jesus: "That is what I was sent to do." These words take on their full significance if one links them with the previous verses, in which Christ has just applied to Himself the words of the prophet Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor." ”11

Following that, in Redemptorist Missio, the document by Pope John Paul II on the

centrality of Christ in our mission message, states that:

“[RM4] The Church's universal mission is born of faith in Jesus Christ, as is stated in our Trinitarian profession of faith: "I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father.... For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man." The redemption event brings salvation to all, "for each one is included in the mystery of the redemption and with each one Christ has united himself forever through this mystery." ”12

In recent discussions it was brought to light that, while introducing the person of Christ

Jesus and his message, one cannot only teach the knowledge about Jesus, but need to offer the

invitation for the listener to enter into a personal encounter with Jesus. Only in and through

knowing and experiencing Jesus (Jesulogy), can one come to appreciate the real identity of

Jesus and his message (Christology).13

And finally, we should be aware that although the message of Jesus and His Good News

remain universal through time, the bearers of the message present it differently due to

different situations and context. It is therefore beneficial for us to understand the context and

how the message was delivered during the time of interest (16th century).

11

Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation on Evangelization in the Modern World Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975), no. 10. 12

John Paul II, On the Permanent Validity of the Church Missionary Mandate Redemptoris Missio (7 december 1990), no. 4. 13

See Jacque Dupuis, “Jesus with an Asian Face,” SEDOS (August-September, 1999), http://www.sedos.org/english/dupuis_1.htm


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Taking Matteo Ricci as the point of contact between Catholicism and the Chinese, we list

down the style of delivery of the central Christian message and how the various missiological

constants were perceived at that time14. This is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Mission Style and Mission Constants during the 16th Century in Asia

Upon understanding both from the perspective of the Chinese and Christianity, we are

now ready to analyze the “contact” and see what the points of convergence are, or where they

both can meet eye to eye.

“The First Date”

We have established a basic understanding of the mindset of the Chinese, both in terms

of their sociological standings, and the psychological world view. We have also look into the

message and context of the Christian faith during the point of contact. It is now time to list

these down side by side and see what the commonalities are.

14

It is presumed that the readers have a basic understanding of the missiological constants. For more information, see Stephens Bevans and Roger Schoeder, Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today (Quezon City:Claretian Publication, 2004).

Stream of Christianity Roman Catholic Accommodational

Primary model Accommodational

Theological Typology B (emphasis on truth)

Christology High

Ecclesiology Mystical communion (sacrament)

Eschatology Realized - Individual

Salvation Spiritual

Anthropology Positive

Culture Positive (Translation model)

Mission Style

Mission Constants


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The analysis in this section will focus more on the theoretical comparison. That is to say,

we will see plainly from an objective point of view by comparing our understanding of the

situations. The reality of the contact will be discussed in later sections, for establishing the

‘ideal’ encounter would shed light on the real events, allowing us to draw learnings and

mistakes more clearly and impartially.

Table 3 is a simple summary of the situation of the Chinese and the Christian offer, as

discussed in previous sections. It is placed here side by side for an easier comparison and

analysis:

Table 3. The Chinese Situation and the Christian Offer

So, referring to the table, where would the two first get acquainted? As mentioned

before, Chinese tend to look at anything foreign with awe or weariness. The first acquaintance

between the two could probably be done best through the message of Jesus that could be

easily identified as liberating ideologies for the Chinese within their social situations.

For the masses that experienced varied forms of hardship, oppression and injustice, the

normal tendency was to turn to teachings of great men or traditional wisdoms from the

philosophers for directions and comfort. The way of life of the Christians and the teachings for

one to exercise the reign of God on earth could be easily identified as inspirational life

Chinese

Situation that requires attention:

- Economical hardship

-Oppresion/Injustice

General desires:

(Socially):

- Well being for self and family

- Liberation from unjust treatment

- Elevation of life conditions and social standing

- Fairness in life

- Justice and Honour

(Religiously/Psychologically):

- The strive to achieve sage-hood

- The seach for those who could guide one in achieving sage-hood

Jesus

(Jesulogy):

- The person of Jesus and the Humanity of Jesus.

- Jesus' life story and his relationship with people.

teachings:

- The way of life of a Christian.

- To exercise the reign of God on earth.

(Christology):

- The fullness of Jesus, divinity beyond humanity.

- The eschatological Kingdom of God

Teachings:

- Redemption/salvation

- The ultimate union with God


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teachings. The Chinese would not have problem taking in these teachings as words of great

wisdom and regard Jesus as a wise teacher. In fact, there are substantial amount of the sayings

of Jesus and teachings in the Bible that could be similarly identified within the writings

Confucius, namely the Analects. Table 4 gives a simple comparison between the similar

teachings found in the Bible and the Analects.

Table 4. Samples of Similar Teachings between Analects and the Bible

Introducing the teachings of Jesus through association with something that is familiar

within the Chinese sphere would ease peoples’ understanding with this foreign person of Jesus.

The accommodational mission model of the time would have suited this task. Missionaries

would have tried to understand the thinking of the Chinese and gently introduce the teachings

of Jesus to the people through their paradigm. Being people who were open to wise

philosophers and those who teaches ways to attain sage-hood, Chinese would have been easy

in accepting Jesus as a great teacher and a sage.

Analects Bible

6:30 己欲立而立人，己欲达而达人

"Now the man of perfect virtue, wishing to be

established himself, seeks also to establish others;

wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge

others."

Mt 7:12 " In everything do to others as you would have

them do to you."

12:2 己所不欲，勿施于人

"not to do to others as you would not wish done to

yourself."

Tb 4:15 "and what you hate, do not do to anyone."

12:11 君君、臣臣、父父、子子

"There is government, when the prince is prince, and

the minister is minister; when the father is father, and

the son is son."

Lk 20:25 "Give To Ceasar what belongs to Ceasar, and

God what belongs to God."

7:30 仁远乎哉？我欲仁，斯仁至矣

"Is virtue a thing remote? I wish to be virtuous, and lo!

virtue is at hand."

Rm 8:5 "Those who live according to the flesh set their

minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live

according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of

the Spirit."

14:27 君子耻其言而过其行

"The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds

in his actions."

Mt 7:24 - "Everyone then who hears these words of

mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built

his house on rock. … and everyone who hears these

words of mine and does not act on them will be like a

foolish man who built his house on sand."


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The deepening of understanding Jesus beyond a wise teacher would prove a much

greater challenge. The Establishment of an understanding and ultimately a relationship with the

person of Jesus, or what we now term as Jesulogy, would be something rather unique within

the culture of the Chinese.

Through the mentality of Confucianism, Chinese were very aware of their right place

within the society. In the Analects one important statement on ‘proper place’ goes by “There is

government, when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister, when the father is father,

and the son is son.”15 Within this we see that they were very aware of their place and distance.

A traditional Chinese would have had a very respectful relationship with his father, or with his

teacher. A real physical distance would have been maintained between the two. Therefore, the

idea of Jesus establishing a personal relationship beyond that of a teacher and a student would

be a rather new experience. This phenomenon is actually observable within a majority of

traditional Chinese Catholics who are more comfortable with doctrines and teachings, rather

than establishing a personal encounter.

Looking from this perspective, we would realize that even when the Chinese were able

to accept Jesus as a God, they would need much more adaptation to accept that Jesus is a God

who wants to establish a close personal relationship with them.

We would now firstly analyze the idea of Chinese accepting Jesus as a God. Within the

Chinese context, determining the boundaries of religious affiliation is a rather risky or

meaningless one. The concept of “diffused religions” is widely used when observers seek to

define the unique intertwining of social and religious rites, as well as the intermingling between

different religious traditions and practices that has taken place throughout Chinese history.16

Taking Folk-Taoism as an example, it is a religion that many Chinese affiliate themselves to, but

the religion do not emphasize on the philosophical teaching of Taoism, rather, they pray to a

multitude of Gods which they believe oversees different aspects of life. Under such mindset, it

would not be a difficult task to introduce Jesus as divine. However, the challenge would be to

15

Analects, no 12:11. 16

See Benoit Vermander, “Jesus-Christ and the Chinese Religious World”, eRENLAIMAGAZINE (February 2007).


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distinguish Jesus as the God of gods, who is unique within salvation history and is here to bring

the good news of the Kingdom of God. In order to achieve this, it would probably be wise to

appeal to their intellectual quest. The type B theological typology of the time, which

emphasizes on the truth, would probably serve as a good way in establishing the understanding

of Jesus as a unique God who brings redemption, salvation and the reign of God.

We would now then move on to analyze the introduction of the humanity of Jesus, the

Jesulogy, or the establishment of the personal and communal relationship with God which is

the deepest most core of the Christian faith.

As mentioned above, introducing a God who invites everyone to establish a very close

and personal relationship is a very foreign concept to the Chinese. However, the process is still

achievable. One of the ‘qualities’ within the Chinese culture is that, though they are weary of

anything foreign, they are also at the same time reflective. The philosophical upbringing would

allow the people to reflect on situations and adapt. Therefore the introduction of this personal

teacher, friend and God is new, but not impossible. The message of Jesus is firstly introduced

and made comfortable to them, allowing them to seek solace in the teachings of Jesus to deal

with their problems and desires. The teachings of Jesus is relevant to a Chinese seeking to make

sense of oppression and unjust treatment, Jesus teaches one to have the right attitude dealing

with one’s situation and provide the directions for a life of moral uprightness that leads to

personal enlightenment. Beyond the teachings, the divinity of Jesus is then introduced. Using

history and dogmatic teachings through means similar to philosophical ideas of the Chinese,

Jesus can be shown to be the one true God who was sent to bring salvation and the kingdom of

God to us. Following this, the critical question to pose would be, “Jesus, the divine God, came

down to earth in order to establish a relationship, to invite us to table fellowship, to know us as

friends and not slaves, thus, will you (the Chinese) be open to accept this invitation?”

To ease the Chinese to the close relationship with Jesus would require the breaking

down of the boundaries. That is, there is a need to break down the image of a wise, stern and

upright teacher. Jesus needs to be introduced as a friend and a brother and a wise-person. He is


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a mighty God, no doubt, but also, a man who can interact and relate to everyone just like you

and me.

A good means to achieve the introduction of the human Jesus would be to tap on the

strong sense of fraternal friendship within the Chinese that is embalmed within Confucian

teachings. Chinese has a very strong sense of loyalty and honour towards “fine” friends who are

termed as “Liang-You” (良友). Liang-You are seen as friends who could provide mutual aid in

achieving sagehood; they are the perfect company in life which helps one to tend towards good

and provide support and guidance. Some of the teachings of Liang-You in the Analects are

shown below:

1:4 : "I daily examine myself on three points: whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful; whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have been not sincere; whether I may have not mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher."

1:6: "A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love to all, and cultivate the friendship of the good. "

1:7: "if, in his intercourse with his friends, his words are sincere - although men say that he has not learned, I will certainly say that he has."

12:24: "The superior man on grounds of culture meets with his friends, and by friendship helps his virtue."

To introduce and relate Jesus to the Chinese, it is no doubt important to present him as

a teacher and God, but most importantly, beyond that, a good idea to show that he is a Liang-

You who wishes to establish a personal relationship, so that through the relationship with Him,

one could also relate to the triune God. The stories of Jesus are essential here in presenting the

way he relates in his earthly life. The cultural translation model would fit here in showing this

aspect of Jesus. Although relating to a God in such intimate manner might be new to the

Chinese, such presentation would probably enable them to reflect and subsequently lower their

guard and accept the God who came down to be one of us.

As seen from the above analysis, there are no doubt a lot of challenges in introducing

Jesus to the Chinese, but with the proper manner and approach, Jesus could be presented as


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someone the Chinese would find comfortable in relating with. They will be able to see him as

God who teaches ways to live the current life, and one who would lead them to an

eschatological salvation.

Therefore, what then are the images of Jesus for the Chinese who had been introduced

to Him?

The Chinese Christology

We have thus far studied the possible scenarios when the Chinese meet with

Christianity. There are many social and cultural barriers to overcome while introducing the

person of Jesus, but with the proper approach, the barriers could be broken down.

When the Chinese finally come to accept Jesus, what would the image of Jesus be in

their minds? How would an ordinary Chinese answer to the question “Who do you say I am?”

The answer to this can be manifold, but based on what had been discussed, the following

possible images of Christ are presented.

Jesus the Western Teacher

Figure 2. Jesus as the Western Teacher


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The very first and primitive understanding of Jesus for the Chinese would be to look at

him through a foreign eye (Figure 2). Jesus is a moral teacher coming from a different culture

and background, yet, he has something to offer in his teachings. Such imperfect and non-

inculturated view of Jesus is definitely a bad place to end, but it is not a bad place to begin.

Jesus the Moral Teacher

Figure 3. Jesus as the Moral Teacher (Among others such as Confucius, Lao Tze)

As the Chinese got a better understanding of the teachings of Jesus, this Christological

view of Jesus as a moral teacher would probably be adopted (Figure 3). He would be seen as

someone as great as Buddha, Confucius, and Lao Tze. Reflecting on this Christology, Tan KS

stated:

“Traditionally this has been bad news for Chirstian who impatiently pointed out that Jesus is Lord and God of the universe, but it is not a bad place to start! The moral teachings of Jesus in Bible can be studied and discussed with Buddhist, just as Christians need to study the moral teachings of Buddha and Confucius. The Sermons on the Mount, Parables and teachings of Jesus in the gospels, stories of Jesus’ interaction with the poor and marginalized are powerful stories for presenting Jesus as a moral teacher. … The parable of the Lost Son presented in this story-worldviews form functions potentially at a deeper level


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of transformation for the worldviews of Chinese Buddhist rather than presented typically as an evangelistic call for conversion.”17

Under such Christology, the full appreciation of the person of Jesus is still lacking. Jesus

is accepted as one of the many moral teachers, but His divinity is very much downplayed.

Jesus the Deity

Figure 4. Jesus as the Deity (among others such as Goddess of Mercy and Buddha)

Another common portrait inherent in many Chinese (an improvement beyond Jesus the

moral teacher) is the perception that Jesus is a deity similar to other well known deities such as

Goddess of Mercy, Bodhisattvas or “Tua Pek Kong” (the great Ancestor).18 This understanding

falls in line with the “diffuse religion” understanding where there are many gods in charge of

different disciplines. Viewed as a deity, Jesus would be seen as a variation in the many ways to

achieve enlightenment. He has the capability to protect sentient beings from harm, He is the

one we should turn to if we are sick, or need protection from the evil spirits.

17

Tan Kang San, “The Problem of an Alien Jesus for Asian Christianity”, Encounters Mission Ezine (Issue 16, 2007):2. 18

Ibid., 3.


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Although this Christology falls short of a full understanding of Christ, it does have its

usefulness. Cosmic Deity is a powerful image for the Chinese which foreign Christian might fail

to recognize or appreciate. Rationalist rejections of the supernatural and the playing down of

Jesus’ role as a healer and controller of nature would be a classic case of the blurring of biblical

Christ to suit Western enlightenment thinking.19

Jesus the Sovereign God

Figure 5. Jesus as the Sovereign God

As the divinity of Christ is further introduced and explained to the Chinese, the new

image that could surface would be Jesus as the Sovereign God. Inculcated in traditional

Confucian tradition, the Chinese who accepted Jesus as the sole God would revere Him as a

high and mighty God. The doctrines and teachings of almighty God who came down to us to

save us from our sins would be well leant and followed. A respectful distance would be kept, as

within such mind frame, God is to be worshipped and adored. Any attempt to cross the

boundaries beyond the Sovereign God-Human relationship would be seen as disrespectful.

Such relationship, though still short of the personal touch, produced believers who were

faithful and staunch. The Christology would best serve those seeking a top down guide to way

19

Ibid., 3.


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out of the social struggle. The sovereign God is the one who is here to bring liberation to all and

teaches the means and ways to break out of the current bleak situation.

Jesus the Liang-You (良友)

Figure 6. Jesus as the Liang-You

Probably one of the most integrated Christology of the Chinese would be to see Jesus as

a Liang-You, the wise, good and fraternal friend who accompanies us in our life journey and

helps us to walk the road towards sage-hood, or enlightenment. Such Christological view would

have already taken into account the divinity of Jesus, but at the same, the strict top-down

relationship between master and a follower is broken down, and a personal encounter and

relationship is established.

By looking at Jesus in this light, the Chinese will be comfortable to come to Him with

their sorrows and their pains, with their joys and their celebrations. They would turn to Him as

a personal friend who aids and guides, and the same time, see him as a divine God whose

teachings and doctrines were means to achieve the salvation and redemption which were

freely offered to everyone. He is a model of harmonious and fully developed relationships with

fellow humans, the cosmos and the Source of life.20

20

Vermander, Jesus-Christ and the Chinese Religious World, 7.


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The History of Encounter

We now take a look into the real history of missions in China. This would allow us to

compare the reality with the theoretical scenarios stipulated. By doing so, we could have a

more objective view and extract good pointers and important learning from our successes and

also our failures.

The most prominent person in the history of Catholic mission to China is no doubt the

Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci, known as the ‘father’ of the China mission, who spearheaded

evangelization effort during the 16th Century. However, prior to that, there were already many

individual efforts to bring Christianity into the country, dating as early as the 6th Century.

Some of the more prominent efforts included that headed by the Nestorians during the

7th century, who strove to be guided by adaptation to Chinese culture and extant religious

customs, and that initiated by the Franciscans in the 13th century, who strove to adapt the

church to the culture of the Mongolians who ruled the country at that time.21 However, both

these and other smaller efforts were crushed by political turmoil, leaving rather insignificant

pockets of Christian descendents.

Matteo Ricci arrived in China in 1582, with the mandate to evangelize the Chinese.

Instead of plunging right in and proclaiming the Gospel, Ricci started off by painstakingly trying

to understand the context of the people. He endeavoured to introduce Christianity to China

delicately, choosing to graft the faith more organically onto China’s existing culture rather than

Christianizing it by first westernizing the Middle Kingdom’s ancient traditions.22 He even went as

far as dressing as a Buddhist monk going into the country, but soon dressed as a Mandarin

instead when he realized that Confucians rather than the Buddhist were the literati. 23 He also

saw that China’s history and culture stood as a monument to the truth of One God, that the

21

See Heyndrickx. The Fifth Encounter between Christianity and China. 22

Anthony E Clark. “Weaving a Profound Dialogue between West and East:On Matteo Ricci, S.J.” Ignatius Insight. (27 May, 2009), http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2009/print2009/aclark_mricci_may09.html 23

See James Duncan. “The Chinese Rites Controversy: A Clash of Culture.” Centro Pro Unione (2009).


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minds reflects the perfect creation, and thus must lead through reason to the concept of the

Creator.24

In the effort to understand the people and to dialogue with them through reason and

intellect, Ricci started off by mastering the native language, and continued to take on the

complex task of mastering the Confucian classics. He quickly determined that Confucianism was

not a religion, but rather a philosophical school of thought which existed for the good of the

society.

Through the understanding of the people and their thoughts, he devised a steady and

systematic way to bring the message of God to the Chinese. He would firstly connect with the

intellectuals, enticing them with his knowledge, and through the intellectual exchange, arouse

in them the interest in God and Catholicism. He felt that in order to convert all of China he must

firstly convince the educated elite of the truth taught by Christianity.

He began his systematic evangelization by intriguing the Chinese with Western

materials, charming them with western maps, inventions such as clocks, and musical

instruments such as clavichords. Amidst such efforts, he managed to introduce his own religion

to them and started to draw converts to Catholicism.

One important approach of Ricci’s introduction of Catholicism has been the explanation

of the fact that Christianity was already latent in Chinese culture. A great example of this was

his introduction of the word ‘God’ (天主), which literally translates to “heaven- Lord”. Drawing

from the Chinese’ believe that “There is a divine 3 feet above the head, and there is a divine

(lord) 3 feet below the ground” (举头三尺有神灵, 地下三尺有主行). Thus, by merely introducing

the term ‘God’ in Chinese he managed to convince the people that the God of Catholicism is the

same God known to the Chinese.

24

Michael Billington. “Matteo Ricci, the Grand Design, and the Disaster of the 'Rites Controversy'.” Executive Intelligence Review (9 November, 2001): 2.


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Three important Chinese converts (namely Paul Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao and Yang Tingyun)

who were statesmen in constant contact with the emperor’s Court, were later know as “the

three great pillars of Chinese Catholicism”, as they played the paramount role of introducing

the religion into the locality of Imperial Court. Although Ricci himself died without meeting the

emperor, his successors managed to establish themselves as official court astronomers and

headed the government engineering bureaus. These positions were critical as the fist Emperor

of the Qing dynasty (Kang Xi) was placed under one of these Jesuit fathers for tutelage in

science.

Emperor Kang Xi generally had a favourable relationship with the Catholics scholars, and

in 1692, he issued an edict granting all Christians the right to teach, preach, and convert

throughout the empire.25 This was the golden period of Catholicism in China as it opened up the

extraordinary potential to Ricci’s goal of “universal conversion of the whole kingdom”.

Unfortunately, this was also nearing the dawn of a long and ugly battle known as the “Rites

Controversy” which totally destroyed this beautiful dream.

The controversy started when missionary from the Dominicans, Franciscans and

Augustinians order came over to China around the 17th century, often from the Spanish colony

of the Philippines. They were horrified by the Jesuits practices in accommodating various

Chinese customs and rituals. They ignited a heated controversy to Rome, and raised three main

points:

The usage of various terms for God: for example “天 Tian” (Heaven) or “上帝 Shangdi”

(Lord of Above / Supreme Emperor)

Prohibition for Christians to participate in the season rites for Confucius.

Prohibition for Christians of the use of tablets with the forbidden inscription "site of the

soul", and to follow the Chinese rites for the ancestor worship.

Following that, a long theological battle prevailed between the different orders existing

in China, and it later roped in more prominent characters including the then Pope Clement XI

and the Chinese Emperor Kang Xi into the conflict. To put the long story short, Pope Clement XI 25

Ibid.


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declared most of the Chinese rites to be ‘non-Christian’, which enraged the Emperor greatly,

and he soon overturned his preferential treatment to Catholicism and announced a decree in

1721 to totally ban western missionaries and preaching in China:

“Reading this proclamation, I have concluded that the Westerners are petty indeed. It is impossible to reason with them because they do not understand larger issues as we understand them in China. There is not a single Westerner versed in Chinese works, and their remarks are often incredible and ridiculous. To judge from this proclamation, their religion is no different from other small, bigoted sects of Buddhism or Taoism. I have never seen a document which contains so much nonsense. From now on, Westerners should not be allowed to preach in China, to avoid further trouble.”26

This decree lasted up till the 20th Century, forbidding a long period of Christian

evangelization, and crushing all hopes in large scale Christianization of the Chinese.

Learnings

A great deal of missiological learnings can be derived from the mission history in China.

Matteo Ricci had been a visionary in his missiological approach. In his efforts in the 16th

century, he was already adopting some of the main missiological thrust promulgated by Vatican

Council II and future church mission documents. Unfortunately, the unfolding of events did not

turn out as favourable as it could have been. Some of the learnings from this ‘history lesson’ are

listed and discussed below:

1. Slow and Steady

Evangelization and mission work is no longer a territorial conquering or forced

conversion. The whole idea of sharing and introducing the message of God with those who

have not heard it has to be done with respect and care. James Duncan, SJ, in analyzing the Rites

Controversy, stated that there is a necessity of proceeding mission slowly and prudently. We

cannot welcome and take on board everything, or can everything that is acceptable be

26

Dan J. Li, China in Transition, 1517-1911, trans. (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1969), 22.


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integrated and implemented at once. Change, particularly in respect to rituals, ceremonies,

customs and convictions, needs to be gradual.27

Great caution also needs to be taken in the accommodation of the Gospel to local

tradition and in the evaluation of the acceptability of local customs and usages. The

‘incarnation’ of the faith into a new tradition and culture takes time, but it is a necessary and

crucial step. The result speaks for itself, as Matteo Ricci started introducing Catholicism to the

Chinese elites, the faith was well accepted and Catholicism grew steadily. If not for the later

controversy and political turmoil, this place of initial mission would have been the seed bed of

Catholicism in China. The evidence of the success of such approach is still apparent though, as

there remain a strong , faithful, and growing Catholic community in Hebei province (a direct

result of the initial missionary efforts of Ricci), even until now, amidst all historical

adversaries.28

2. Don’t Force it Down People’s Throat

It was truly a sad historical event seeing the welcoming atmosphere of China towards

Catholicism turn into a sour scene of rejection and contempt. To look bluntly into the cause,

one can summarize it as the Church turning back to the road of confrontation.29 The new

missionaries opposing to the ‘Rites’ did not bother to spend even a little time understanding

the significance and meaning behind the rites. Rather, they were much more concerned in

properly transplanting the ‘western pot’, the ‘Traditional Western Theology’, into the hands of

these new ‘converts’.30 This whole act caused a spiral repercussion of resentment of the

Chinese towards Christianity in a whole, as they started to associate the religion with Western

aggression, and set up an invisible wall between them and the true essence of the Catholic

faith, preventing conversions or even simple encounter with the person of Jesus for many

generations to come.

27

Duncan. The Chinese Rites Controversy: A Clash of Culture, 24. 28

From Interview with Fr Zhang Shao Feng, Diocesan Priest in Hebei Province, China. (9 September, 2009). 29

See Heyndrickx. The Fifth Encounter between Christianity and China. 30

See Enoch Wan, “Christianity in the Eye of traditional Chinese.” Missiology.org. (July 1999).


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3. Dialogue, Dialogue, Dialogue

One cannot stress enough the importance of dialogue in the whole business of mission

and evangelization. We have already seen from the historical unfolding above that the lack of

dialogue had caused the disappearance of a whole era of possible Chinese conversion.

Dialogue entails the understanding of the context of the people, their life situation, their

beliefs, their history, their culture, their philosophy and their thinking. It calls for one to ‘take-

off’ their shoe and ‘put-on’ the shoe of the one they are trying to understand. Ricci in his best

effort did that through learning the local language and mastering their philosophical teachings.

Sadly his dialogical effort was later overthrown by missionaries more interested in control and

fast conversion. Many later studies on the “Rites Controversy” have stated that ‘dialogue’ was

the most crucial element revolving the issue.31 Vatican Council II has emphasized greatly on the

promotion of dialogue, and for more than 40 years the church and popes have been promoting

dialogue with China. Most studies have indicated that the only way to move forward for now is

to continue the promotion of dialogue, be it with the people, the existing church in China, or

with the political government.

4. Inculturation

The role of dialogue within a mission thrust is that, ultimately, the missionaries could

help to introduce the Christian faith to the people in a way that makes sense to them. The faith

must be immersed into the daily living, thinking and acting of the people. In other words, the

faith must be inculturated.

Once again, Ricci was exemplary in this aspect. It would be interesting to some to note

that as much as the concept of ‘Jesulogy’ (the emphasis of the encounter with the person of

Jesus) is highly emphasized in today’s missiology, Ricci did not approach his introduction

through the person of Jesus. This is not due to his difference in mission understanding or mere

ignorance in ‘Jesulogy’, but rather it was a conscious move due to his deep understanding of

the Chinese mind.

31

See Heyndrickx, The Fifth Encounter between Christianity and China. and Tan, The Problem of an Alien Jesus for Asian Christianity.


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Ricci understood that the Chinese, through their deep roots in Confucianism, Taoism

and Buddhism had a very deep respect for heavenly gods, and their relationship with their gods

was very top-down. Therefore, he spoke to them on their level and firstly introduced “God” (天

主) to them, allowing them to get acquainted with the Catholic God which was shown to be the

same as the God they were familiar with. Through their gradual acceptance of the Catholic God,

he furthered their understanding of the faith with the introduction of Jesus and further

doctrines, constantly drawing links and similarities with Chinese customs and thinkings.

No doubt, a balance needs to be strike when inculturating the faith into a new tradition

and custom, what is good needs to be preserved and assimilated while what is bad needs to be

pointed out. On the other hand, the lack of the mindset of inculturation in a missionary effort is

deemed to draw failure or even possible tragedy.

5. Leave the Politics Outside the Door

If one were to peel into the layers of causes of the Rites Controversy, boring down into

the deep core, a touchy but clear fact would emerge: Church politics.

Placed within the time when colonization was still strong and ongoing, many

missionaries who were around then were still strongly imbued with the sense of forced

conversion. The ‘potted plant’ mentality was strong. The Greco-Roman and European teachings

and rites of Catholicism were seen to be above all other traditions and were to be absorbed

fully and wholly. Missionary success was gauged by expansion of territorial, the direct result of

church planting. With such mentality, it was not the main concern of missionaries to come

together to share and discuss on the growth and understanding of the local church, rather, it

was a fight of power and governance.

This controversy was also a direct result of a fight between two great missionary

powers. Thus, when a mistake of the other party was spotted, no dialogue or discussion was

needed, rather a power play was more important (through appeals to greater authority: i.e. the

pope and the emperor). Such hard headed approach, which invited not the least of dialogue

and understanding, resulted in a total lose-lose situation.


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The succinct and clear message of this point is that missionaries have to be clear of their

‘mission’. If one were to work for the sole purpose of spreading the good news of God, then all

means have to be exhausted in achieving that goal. When other aspects (power and control)

blind the primary goal, devastating results might occur.

This analysis may seem to some rather one-sided or harsh, but another important point

to benefit such analysis is clearly to call a spade a spade. When a mistake is made, it will

probably be best if we bravely admit to our wrongdoings and learn from it. Our politics

destroyed a great part of our mission. We could continue to argue this point, or we could take it

as a strong reminder and move on with our mission being very conscious of it.

China Today

The China today is very different, if not a totally new place altogether as compared to

the 16th century. For the past 5 centuries, vast transformations had occurred within this

country, with changes in life and outlook in almost all aspects. We will now look into the various

aspects to study the evolution and change in order to understand the missionary implications.

1. Politics

Probably the most significant change in China would be the shift in political structure.

Founded as a party in 1921, the Chinese Communist Party took full control of the country’s

political power on 1 October 1949, and established the People Republic of China. It changed the

face of the country completely.

The ideology, which was initially based on Marxism-Leninism, soon evolved into a

unique strand of communism. It started with a rural focus based on China's social situations at

the time, but later with ideological clashes gone through a phase of Cultural Revolution (1966),

creating an ideology known better as “Maoism”. It later on morphed once again and developed

into Socialism with Chinese Characteristic under the leadership of Deng XiaoPing.


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During this period of time, the traditional values of the people were being strongly

challenged. The people were offered a form of secular religion,

“a religion that had supplanted the old imperial ideology founded on Confucian civic morality and Buddhist-Taoist religious believe. The successive assault by modern Western ideas and communist ideology erased the old imperial ideology, and the collapse of the communist model left China with a spiritual vacuum.”32

The new political arena of China has changed the face of the country dramatically. It

affected greatly the outlook, culture and traditions of the country. As Sisci puts it, the changed

created a spiritual vacuum within the country, and the government is starting to see the

importance of filling this vacuum with some form of religion, if not for the sole purpose of

retaining order and control.

Although open mission is still prohibited within China, in recent times, there seems to

be a friendlier reception of the government towards Christianity, for Christianity is seen as

inherently open to the modern world and a scientific outlook, and can be used as a modern and

beneficial means to unite the spiritual aspect of the people. The government also see

Christianity as a possible form of importation no different than socialist ideology two

generations earlier. In particular, Catholicism is said to be favoured above other protestant

counterparts as it is seen to be more institutionally organized and therefore can be better

controlled and utilized as a unifying force.33

Taking this situational analysis with a pinch of salt, we should nonetheless make full use

of the welcoming atmosphere of Catholicism. Regardless of what the reason behind the

welcome might be, we should tap on this opportunity and share the person of Jesus with

sincere hearts. This is an ever crucial time to introduce Jesus to the Chinese, not for them to be

controlled, but rather liberated.

32

Francesco Sisci, “China’s Catholic Moment”, Firstthings.com, (June/July 2009): 2. 33

Ibid.


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2. Economy

After 30 years of reform and growing freedom, China is emerging fast from poverty and

backwardness. Its economy is developing in an almost unprecedented pace. Today, China is the

world’s third biggest economy (after US and Japan) and third largest exporter. The poverty rate

fell from 53% in 1981 to only 2.5% in 2005.

Social and economic indicators have improved since various recent reforms were

launched. However, along with its phenomenal growth, the country is also experiencing an

extremely skewed income inequality between the more highly developed coastal provinces and

the less developed, poorer inland regions. According to UN estimates in 2007, around 130

million people in China—mostly in rural areas of the lagging inland provinces—still lived in

poverty, on consumption of less than $1 a day, and About 35% of the Chinese population lives

under $2 a day. As in most big economies, 80% of the wealth is in the hands of 20% of its

polulation.

On the other hand, social and ethical problems are surfacing; new social rifts are

becoming more serious each day. Traditional values are being challenged and society is

experiencing a crisis of trust. Corruption has become a very serious issue. 34

Under such economical situation, missionaries have to understand the full scale and

context of the people they work with in order to fully cater the message of Christ to their

situations and needs.

3. Social Situation

The social situations of China have also changed dramatically over the past few decades,

and have impacted the whole dynamism of the country. For the past 50 years, the population

of China had more than doubled, reaching up to a staggering amount of 1.3 billion citizens. (see

Table 5).

34

See John Zhang, “Who is Christ and what is the Church for the Chinese People and Society?”, East Asian Pastoral review, Vol 44. (2007).


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1980 2000 2005 2020 2030

Total 998.9 1,273.9 1.315.8 1.423.9 1.446.5

0 - 34 705.3 761.9 716.4 654.8 591.9

35-69 266.3 459.8 536.6 670.2 704.3

> 70 27.3 52.2 62.7 98.9 150.3

Table 5. China Population and Projections (millions) [from National Bureau of Statistics & Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]

With the population explosion, the government came up with a one child policy in 1979

for the purpose of ‘alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems in China’. Whether

the objective of this policy has been successful has yet to be studied, however, the direct

impact of the policy is already clearly seen.

The policy created a spike in a particular age group which is growing in age. At the

current time, this age group spike consists within the youthful generation between 0-34 years.

This, compounded with the extensive care and pampering given to the ‘single-child’ within the

family, which is the direct result of the policy, has generated a unique generation of Chinese

youth, sometimes aptly referred to as the ‘little emperors’ . These youths are the result of

“silver spoons”, who lived in a world of comfort and ease almost regardless of the economical

conditions of the family. They are seen as the hope of the family and have an almost distinct

culture and mannerism among them. As this generation of ‘little emperors’ starts to enter the

work force in recent years, the country is sensing a general attitude from them, some of the

characteristics include: 1) serious problems with authority figures 2) general disillusionment

with responsibility & reality 3) lack of passion/drive to stand out 4) problems with group

collaboration/communication 5) incapable of identifying fault/areas for improvement within

themselves. This might cause serious consequences to the society and country.

Besides that, the one child policy also generated other side effects such as gender-based

birthrate disparity, increase in abandoned or orphaned children, and infanticide, all serious

social issues to be dealt with.


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Apart from this, China has also morphed in terms of their “connectedness”. Although

media access is still highly controlled and regulated, China has become a country that is highly

wired. As of the present, although still small in percentage (25.3% of the total population),

China has an estimated 340 million internet users, the highest number of internet users within

a country, and constitute 20% of the total world internet users.

This strong pool of ‘cyber-generation’, a large part of it consisting of the ‘little emperors’

mentioned before, has generated a whole new culture. They socialize within cyberspace, and

obtained a great portion of their values and world view within this virtual realm.

These new social phenomena and trends are important aspects as new missionaries

make inroad into the country. They need to fully understand this new culture and work

comfortably within it. A difficult challenge no doubt, but a necessary one.

4. Philosophical Overview

With the new political systems and new social developments, the philosophical outlook

of the people as a whole has also altered. The traditional Confucian morals and values had

mostly dissolved, and a new and complex set of values are taking over.

The current Chinese are strongly influenced by the ‘Chinese-style Socialism’, putting

great emphasis on gains and benefits. Moral values are also starting to transform into a highly

relative one, strongly influenced by the cyber-culture, which eased the influence of foreign

values, especially that of the west.

In recent years, courtesy and politeness at home and abroad seem to have deteriorated. The

government has even described certain forms of ‘uncivilized behaviour’ as ‘the seven cardinal

sins and three vulgar habits of Chinese travellers’. The lack of courtesy and politeness has

damaged the image of China as an ancient civilized country.

Once again, this new philosophical development poses a serious missiological challenge,

but it is at the same time a crucial context to understand for fruitful mission.


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5. Catholic Situation

China today is no more ‘ignorant’ of Jesus. There exist a growing number of Christians

and Catholics even with the strong control of religion within the country. In a 2007 internal

survery conducted by China’s government, Chinese Christians amount to a substantial number

of 130 million, almost 10% of the total population.35 Putting figures aside, a rather saddening

trend is that Catholic growth has been rather stunted while protestant is growing steadily. From

1949 to the present, Catholics population is estimated to have increased by about 110% while

non-Catholic Christians increased by about 350%.36

Another crucial reality among Catholics in China is the split between the church that is

loyal and approved by the state ("Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association”) and the church that

remains loyal to the Holy See (also known as the “underground church”). The ‘underground

church’ is officially banned in the country, as the Chinese government demands that all Chinese

"Catholics" must be loyal to the State, however, it remains present through various methods

although it faces great persecution. It is estimated that there are 8 million Catholics following

the underground church still loyal to Rome and 5 million people following the Chinese Catholic

Patriotic Association.

In recent years, there have been various attempts of rapprochement between the

Vatican and the Chinese government. However, a major obstacle between the two sides has

been the Roman Catholic discipline that only the pope can appoint bishops of the Church. This

issue has proved a frequent aggravating factor in Sino-Vatican relations. That being said, even

though a full fledge unity is still far in sight, more efforts are now in placed to get the believers

from both sides to work together. This complexity of the current Catholic situation must be fully

understood and appreciated for a missionary to function well and cater to the people of faith in

China.

35

See Sisci, China’s Catholic Moment. There has been great debate as to the proper number of Christians in China, and difference in opinion has set the number between a few million to 130 million. What is certain from this is that the number is quite significant and growing. 36

See Zhang. Who is Christ and what is the Church for the Chinese People and Society?


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The Second Encounter

We have studied the minds of the Chinese, and have seen the historical unfolding of the

first encounter of the Chinese with Christianity. We tried to analyze all that had happened and

derive some learnings. We looked into the changing faces of China in this modern era.

Assuming we are to start a new initiative to proclaim Christ to the Chinese right now, how

should we go about doing it? What should the approach and manner be? What are the possible

methodologies?

Gathering all the previous learnings and experiences, some suggestions are listed below:

1. Don’t Plunge, Listen First

It cannot be overly emphasized that the first principle of any missionary endeavour is

DIALOGUE! Long gone is the time when we shaft the Catholic faith into the mouths of helpless

ones and ‘initiate’ them into a highly institutionalized Church, asking them to follow a whole

new set of culture and rules. Mission today entails a total understanding of the context of the

people we are dealing with, for the sole purpose of introducing Jesus and His good news in a

manner where it makes sense to them.

With the rapid change in a modern world, understanding the context of a locality is

becoming an ever growing challenge. One can hardly gain sufficient knowledge from books and

readings. Rather, only through personal experience can one be remotely close to begin to

understand the culture and tradition.

We have already seen that China has gone through a major face lift. What it is today is

almost alien from what it was. Yet, everything it is now is intimately connected to its past.

Therefore, a missionary have to be diligent in understanding the past and the present.

Knowledge of history is crucial, and the understanding of the people through various social

sciences and personal experience is just as vital. Such understanding would not take a day or

two. One needs to fully immerse in the place for months if not years, and be totally open to


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people and cultural differences before the true nature of the culture and tradition can be

appreciated. When that is done, then the missionary is ready to dialogue.

2. 这是耶稣 This is Jesus, as you Chinese Would Know It

It is through one’s context that one can come to fully appreciate the person of Jesus,

and today’s Missionaries are challenged to do just that: to introduce Jesus in context.

To begin the introduction of the person of Jesus, it would probably be wise to firstly

educate the people to accept the good of their culture.37 This serves as the basic foundation of

dialogue, for the audiences have to firstly appreciate and recognize their own culture, before

they could accept Jesus that is presented within that context.

Putting the above mentioned in concrete terms, we will see that things are easier said

than done. The culture and traditions of the Chinese had gone through a vast change. In the

present time, the term ‘culture’ is a very subjective term. Long gone is the time when we can

easily associate the traditional Confucianism, Buddhist and Taoist teachings and thinkings as the

main source of Chinese culture. With materialism, modernization and globalization engulfing

China, the modern Chinese culture is totally different and new.

Some theologians have argued that under such uncertain cultural phase, many people,

especially the younger generation experiences a “Cultural Alienation”, where they become

strangers to their own cultural identity. They affirm and defend their false identity as their own

real identity.38 However, instead of looking at these people as culturally alienated, I believe it

would of better help to be non-judgemental and take their current culture as is. After all, would

we not be doing exactly what we have be so cautious against when we make a statement that

they are not cultured and therefore need to change?

The important thing here would be therefore to fully understand the new culture. No

doubt there might exist some unfavourable elements in this ‘new culture’ (elements that go

37

See Tan. The Problem of an Alien Jesus for Asian Christianity. 38

See Jacob Theckanath, “The Asian Image of Jesus: Theological, Biblical, Catechetical & Liturgical Renewal”, FABC Paper No 92q. (2000).


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directly against the ‘common good’), but with careful study and dialogue, we could definitely

find the values of the current value, and begin the introduction of Jesus at where they are.

Besides this, other distinct Chinese phenomena, such as the cyber-culture, communism,

and the social policies are crucial aspects to understand for the missionary to truly be able to

communicate with them at where they are. Ultimately, the Jesus that is introduced must make

sense within these realities.

3. We will Always be Strangers

One important aspect the foreign missionaries have to bear in mind is that no matter

how long they might be in a mission land, they are ultimately still a stranger within that land.

What this implies is that the missionaries might be able to understand and appreciate the

context of the people, but they would not be able to think and function totally as a local. They

need to develop an Emic(insider) perspective39 , which is the attempt by foreigners to

understand local perspective of realities in order to accurately describe situations and

behaviours, but they have to be aware that they will always carry with them their own cultural

heritage, mannerism and prejudices.

It is therefore important for the missionaries to work with the locals. They need to move

from being the ‘producers’ to ‘facilitators’. Instead of trying to be the active theologians,

missionaries should bring the locals together in reflecting on their own understanding of Jesus

and His message. The Christology should come out from the people, facilitated through the

missionaries. The theology should also come out from the people, through the tools and

methods shared by the missionaries. The process of mission has to move from ‘giving a fish’ to

‘teaching how to fish’. This unique ability where only the persons who lived and breathed the

air could come out with their distinctive set of understanding is beautifully put by Fareed

Zakaria: being able to feel it in your bones is one powerful way!40

39

See Tan. The Problem of an Alien Jesus for Asian Christianity. 40

Fareed Zakaria, “The Power of Personality”, Newsweek. (December, 2007).


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4. Correct the Misunderstandings

Another important task for Missionaries in China would be to correct the non-Christian’s

misunderstandings of the portraits of Jesus.

As have been described above, China is no more ignorant of Jesus. The image and idea

of Jesus is well known to many. However, the understanding is strongly varied, and to some

extent, rather erroneous. These misconceptions of Jesus probably originated from the historical

developments of mission and general social misunderstanding. Some of these portraits are

cultural misunderstandings (Jesus is a Westerner), some are historical marks (Christianity as

imposer), and some are derived from non-Christian teachings of scriptures (Jesus as a mere

prophet in the Quran).

If the first task had to deal with cultural misunderstandings from the transmitter’s

culture, the second task relates to cultural misunderstandings associated with the recipient’s

culture. The Jesus Christ of the Bible must take over these wrong believes and

misunderstandings. Therefore, missionaries need to learn how to address the socio-religious

misunderstandings of who Jesus is.

In executing this task, sensitivity is the key. It was greatly due to “insensitivity” of the

past that have led to many of the current misunderstandings among the people. Therefore, to

break down this wall of prejudice, total respect for the culture and tradition is a must. The key

method to this is probably still the ever emphasized dialogue. It is through the facet of sincerity

and open dialogue that we can reach out to those who have been holding an undue bias against

Catholicism and Christianity.

5. Play the Game

As known by now, China in a very different political state as compared to the time of the

first encounter. Communism strongly prohibits the strong spread of religion that would

destabilize the control or balance of the people. However, it was also stated that in this


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situation of tight controls and regulations, religions still find the ways and means to survive,

sustain and grow. It is within such trying environment that the faith grows resilience and deep

rooted. There have been indications of relaxation in the part of the government in allowing

growth of Christianity, especially Catholicism, within the country. However, this friendly gesture

is also veiled by a strong political motive.

It is therefore important for missionaries to truly understand the implications of these

regulations. As much as they should not get involved or be a pond in the political plots, the

missionaries have to fully analyze the situation and make the best use of the opportunities. This

might be difficult in the ground level, but probably the fundamental principle would be to seize

all possible opportunities for sincere dialogue and introducing the encounter with Jesus.

Missionaries will probably also need to be equipped with the tactfulness to deal with

bureaucracies or dialogue with civil authorities, for that would be necessary for the smooth

operations of evangelizations and missions.

Apart from that, new missionaries have to also be clear in the current church situations

in China. The split between the underground and patriotic church is a complex situation, and

missionaries need to understand the situation properly in order to function effectively. Differing

sentiment and opinions have surfaced on how to deal with this split. While some favour the

rapprochement efforts, others believe that it is just wishful thinking and should support only

one side of the church. No matter where one stand on the issue, one thing is for sure, this

complex situation is not going to be resolved for a long time to come.

How then, can missionaries effectively work within such conditions? Again, the

fundamental principles apply: firstly, understand the situations and be ever so sensitive while

dealing with them. Secondly, grab on to all opportunities to dialogue with the people and

introduce Jesus to them in a way and context that makes sense to them. Ultimately, if the

missionaries stick on to their conviction to share this special encounter with the person of Jesus,

it could be done under varying circumstances.


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6. A local Jesus

After all that is being said, missionaries should ultimately aid in the flourishing of a local

Jesus.

The understanding of the context, the honest dialogue with the locals and the sincere

introduction of the person of Jesus is ultimately meant to help in creating a local Christology.

Missionaries of today are meant to be the tools in aiding the locals come to terms with their

own relationship with the person of Jesus, and ultimately find their own expression of who this

Jesus is. By doing so, the missionaries fulfil the contemporary missionary thrust of bringing

Jesus to the people through dialogue.

The process of the creation of a local Christology is also a “missionary course” in a sense.

When the locals are taught this process, they will not only experience the creation of their

encounter and relationship with Jesus through the birth of their own Christology, they will also

at the same time learn the process of attaining the Christology. With that, they could easily

understand the importance and meaning of the process, and become missionary themselves in

the future, aiding others in creating their own Christology.

Following this, the missionaries should go a step further and help in building up a Sino-

Theology: a unique theological orientation specifically designed for the Chinese people in

contra-distinction from traditional western theology, employing the Chinese cognitive pattern,

Chinese way of social interaction and social themes.41 The Chinese should ultimately be trained

to reflect on the presence of God in their lives and situation. They should claim their theology,

and express their faith through their culture and way of life. The missionaries’ work here would

be to plant the seed by providing the tools for theologizing, and assist the locals in their

theologizing efforts. Ultimately, the locals should be able to be comfortable and grow in their

theological understanding of their faith.

41

Enoch Wan, “Practical Contextualization: A Case Study of Evangelizing Contemporary Chinese”, Missiology.org, (March 2000): 1.


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When this is achieved, when the Chinese can see Jesus and accept the message of God

through their own paradigm, and when they can finally theologize through their context and

mind set, the missionaries will be able to be truly jubilant of their great works.

Conclusion

China is a country filled with rich history and culture. For 5000 years, the country had

gone through countless changes and developments. For a long time, its ‘absolute monarchy’

system had forced the people to be inward looking, focusing on an ethnocentric birth of a

unique and rich identity and culture.

Therefore, the study of the theory, history and development of Christology and

Missiology in this country will shed valuable light and provide good lessons and learnings for

those who are actively involved in spreading the Word of God to others.

The unique social situation and philosophical outlook of the Chinese had brought about

their specific Christology. They looked at Christ through their paradigm and their understanding

and ultimately came out with a Christ that they could call a friend and a God.

The mission history of China was a great lesson on methods and mentalities of

spreading the word of God. The second look at ‘China today’ also brought out the complexity of

mission and cautioned one in attempting to preach without proper preparation.

Ultimately, the whole study provided an overview of how missionaries today should

treat and reflect on a mission. The understanding of context is of utmost importance. Dialogue

and not force is the means in bringing the message of God to the people, and most of all,

missionaries should always remember the simple yet most critical objective of mission, to

introduce the person of Jesus and His message of the Kingdom to other. They should never lose

sight of this mission and exhaust all means in achieving this definitive mission.


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Appendix A:

Summary of Major Philosophical Schools during the “Spring and Autumn” Period

Schools Thinkers Date Philosophy

School of Literati

(Confucious School)

Confucius

Mencius

551-479 B.C

372-289 B.C

-Believed that the only way such a system could be

made to work properly was for each person to act

according to prescribed relationships. "Let the ruler be a

ruler and the subject a subject."

the functions of government and social stratification

were facts of life to be sustained by ethical values. His

ideal was the JUNZI, which came to mean gentleman in

the sense of a cultivated or superior man.

-Declared that man was by nature good. He

expostulated the idea that a ruler could not govern

without the people's tacit consent and that the penalty

for unpopular, despotic rule was the loss of the

"mandate of heaven."

School of Tao

(Taoism)

Lao Zi

604-531 B.C

-The individual in nature rather than the individual in

society. It holds that the goal of life for each individual is

to find one's own personal adjustment to the rhythm of

the natural (and supernatural) world, to follow the Way

(dao) of the universe.

School of Mo

Mo Zhi

470-391 B.C

-Believed that "all men are equal before God" and that

mankind should follow heaven by practicing universal

love. Regarded warfare as wasteful and advocated

pacificism. He believed that unity of thought and action

were necessary to achieve social goals. He maintained

that the people should obey their leaders and that the

leaders should follow the will of heaven.

School of Law

Han Fei Zi

?-233 B.C

-maintained that human nature was incorrigibly selfish

and therefore the only way to preserve the social order

was to impose discipline from above and to enforce

laws strictly. The Legalists exalted the state and sought

its prosperity and martial prowess above the welfare of

the common people.


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