Political theology in China: Difference between revisions
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'''Political theology in China''' includes responses from Chinese scholars and Christian leaders who deal with the relationship between Christianity and politics. This relationship can be seen from the religion's earliest encounters with the country during the imperial period, with the [[Church of the East in China|Church of the East]]'s interaction with the [[Emperor Taizong]] and [[Jesuit missions to China|Jesuit missionaries]] in the Ming court. But it has developed the most in the 20th and 21st centuries after the establishments of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] and [[People's Republic of China]]. This is particularly true through the establishment of the Protestant [[Three-Self Patriotic Movement]] and the [[Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association]], the rise of [[underground church|underground]] and [[House church (China)|house church]]es, and interactions with the secular academy. |
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== Imperial China == |
== Imperial China == |
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=== Academy === |
=== Academy === |
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In the late-1980s, there was a growing interest among academics in China's secular universities, known as [[Cultural Christian#China|Cultural Christians]], many of whom were not self-identified Christians, who were drawn to the value of Christianity in modernising the country. [[Liu Xiaofeng (academic)|Liu Xiaofeng]] at [[Renmin University of China]], one of the key figures of this movement, would in the 2000s be drawn to political theologians such as [[Carl Schmitt]] for engaging the Chinese political arena.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thechinastory.org/2015/10/carl-schmitt-in-china/|title=Carl Schmitt in China|last=Sapio|first=Flora|date=7 October 2015|website=The China Story|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=15 December 2017}}</ref> More recently, Xie Zhibin |
In the late-1980s, there was a growing interest among academics in China's secular universities, known as [[Cultural Christian#China|Cultural Christians]], many of whom were not self-identified Christians, who were drawn to the value of Christianity in modernising the country. [[Liu Xiaofeng (academic)|Liu Xiaofeng]] at [[Renmin University of China]], one of the key figures of this movement, would in the 2000s be drawn to political theologians such as [[Carl Schmitt]] for engaging the Chinese political arena.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thechinastory.org/2015/10/carl-schmitt-in-china/|title=Carl Schmitt in China|last=Sapio|first=Flora|date=7 October 2015|website=The China Story|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=15 December 2017}}</ref> More recently, Xie Zhibin from [[Tongji University]] in Shanghai, has drawn from the writings of [[Max Lynn Stackhouse|Max Stackhouse]] in [[Public theology|public theological]] engagement in China.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ctinquiry.org/program/bio_zhibin-xie|title=Zhibin Xie|last=|first=|date=|website=www.ctinquiry.org|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=15 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://blog.ctinquiry.org/2015/06/30/zhibin-xie-interview/|title=Zhibin Xie Interview|last=Mauldin|first=Josh|date=30 June 2015|work=Fresh Thinking|access-date=15 December 2017|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|language=en-US}}</ref> Most recently, Zhuo Xinping of the [[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] has advocated for the sinicization or Chinization ({{zh|s=中国化|p=Zhongguo hua}}) of Christianity both politically and culturally.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zhuo Xinping|title=Chinization: The Essential Path to Renewal for Christianity in China|journal=Chinese Theological Review|volume=26|date=2014|pages=73-79|url=http://www.amityfoundation.org/eng/sites/default/files/publication_pdf/CTR_26.pdf}}</ref> |
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== Key documents == |
== Key documents == |
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Revision as of 11:41, 15 December 2017
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Political theology in China includes responses from Chinese scholars and Christian leaders who deal with the relationship between Christianity and politics. This relationship can be seen from the religion's earliest encounters with the country during the imperial period, with the Church of the East's interaction with the Emperor Taizong and Jesuit missionaries in the Ming court. But it has developed the most in the 20th and 21st centuries after the establishments of the Republic of China and People's Republic of China. This is particularly true through the establishment of the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, the rise of underground and house churches, and interactions with the secular academy.
Imperial China
The history of the relationship between Christianity and politics in China could be traced to Tang Dynasty (618-907), when scholars believe that Christianity first came to China.[1] Emperor Taizong and his successors of adopted the policy of religious tolerance. They allowed the mission of Church of the East monks and invited them to translate scriptures for the empire. In 845, during the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution, the Church of the East was misunderstood as a sect of Buddhism and was banned by Emperor Wuzong. In Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), several Mongol tribes converted to Christianity through the Church of the East. During this time, the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church also sent envoys to the Mongol Empire capital Khanbaliq (present day Beijing).
In Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Jesuits initiated mission in China. Matteo Ricci would be the most well-known among these missionaries. Jesuits exerted considerable influence at court via the policy of accommodation and converted several senior officials, such as Xu Guangqi. In Qing dynasty (1636–1912), Catholic missionaries still played important roles at court as consultants of emperors. In the 18th century, the Chinese Rites controversy had raised tension between the Vatican and Qing dynasty's Emperors. Emperor Yongzheng was formally against Christian converts among Manchu people and banned the mission again.
After the First Opium War (1839-1842), with the aid of several unequal treaties, Christian missionaries were allowed to evangelize in China and continue to import the Western civilization to China. Due to an impression that missionaries were allies with foreign colonial governments, many Chinese became hostile to Christianity. This further influenced the relationship between Christianity and politics. Many anti-missionary riots (Jiao'an), the Boxer Rebellion, and anti-Christian movement, can be considered as the consequences of such relationship.
Republic of China
The 20th century witnessed the emergence of some indigenous theologians in China. Arising from the concern of national salvation in the background of foreign invasion, cultural crisis, and anti-Christian movement, Christian leaders like Y. T. Wu advocated Christianity as a way of saving China. Wu appealed to revolution theory and constructed indigenous Christian theology.[2]
People's Republic of China
Protestantism
After 1949, the founding of People's Republic of China, the Chinese Protestant leaders encountered new challenges— the new regime of the communist government is based on atheistic ideology of Marxism. They had to decide how to deal with the relationship with the atheistic government. There were different attitudes and theologies among Chinese Christians. Some of them, such as Y. T. Wu, who were willing to support the new government, helped to pen the Christian Manifesto and initiated the Three-Self movement (TSPM) in 1950s; they reconstructed theology in terms of cooperation. Others, such as Wang Mingdao, were unwilling to endorse the radical TSPM and refused to support the new government, are regarded as the forerunners of the present-day house church.[3]
In the 1950s Denunciation Campaigns, some Christian leaders, such as Wang Mingdao, Watchman Nee, from the opposing camp were arrested and sentenced in the name of counter-revolutionaries. During the ten years of Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), all the religious activities were banned and many Christians met and worshiped in the Christians' houses.
In 1980s, religious activities recovered and churches gradually opened. However, Christians who were unwilling to joined the TSPM churches and chose to gather in unregistered house churches which gather in personal houses or apartments.[4] K. H. Ting and Wang Weifan were leaders and representatives of the TSPM church. Wang Mingdao and Wang Yi would be representatives of the house church; the latter Wang is the pastor in the urban church in Chengdu which is not a traditional house church, but who still claims the link to the house church.[5]
Catholicism
In the 1950s, after Zhou Enlai saw the possibilities in Protestantism with the TSPM, a similar approach was taken with Catholicism leading to the formation in 1957 of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), severing ties with the Vatican. Those who chose not to affiliate with the CPCA and remain loyal to the Pope and the Vatican are often considered part of the underground church.[6]
Academy
In the late-1980s, there was a growing interest among academics in China's secular universities, known as Cultural Christians, many of whom were not self-identified Christians, who were drawn to the value of Christianity in modernising the country. Liu Xiaofeng at Renmin University of China, one of the key figures of this movement, would in the 2000s be drawn to political theologians such as Carl Schmitt for engaging the Chinese political arena.[7] More recently, Xie Zhibin from Tongji University in Shanghai, has drawn from the writings of Max Stackhouse in public theological engagement in China.[8][9] Most recently, Zhuo Xinping of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has advocated for the sinicization or Chinization (Chinese: 中国化; pinyin: Zhongguo hua) of Christianity both politically and culturally.[10]
Key documents
The Christian Manifesto
This document was published in July 1950 and its original title was "Direction of Endeavor for Chinese Christianity in the Construction of New China." The founding group of the Three-self Movement, including Y. T. Wu, drafted the document in consultation with Premier Zhou Enlai. During the Three-self Movement, 400,000 Protestant Christians signed on this document for public endorsement. The purpose of publishing of this document is:[11]
The 95 Theses of the Chinese Reformed Church
In August 2015, one of the most well-known Chinese urban church Early Rain Reformed Church led by its senior pastor Wang Yi in Chengdu posted a document titled "Reaffirming our Stance on the House Churches: 95 theses" in an attempt to reaffirm the Chinese house church's position in the relationship between government and society. These 95 theses demonstrates his opinion of the state-church relationship from the perspective of the house church.[12]
See also
Key figures
- Y. T. Wu (1893–1979)
- K. H. Ting (1915–2012)
- Wang Yi (b. 1973)
Related topics
- Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association
- House church (China)
- Political theology
- Three-Self Patriotic Movement
- Underground church
References
- ^ Bays, Daniel H. (2012). A New History of Christianity in China. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 4–16. ISBN 9781405159555. OCLC 707263763.
- ^ Kwok Pui-lan (May 2016). "Postcolonial Intervention in Political Theology". Political Theology. 17 (3): 223–225. doi:10.1080/1462317x.2016.1186443. ISSN 1462-317X.
- ^ Brook, Timothy (1996). "Christianity Under the Japanese Occupation". In Bays, Daniel H. (ed.). Christianity in China: From the eighteenth century to the present. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 334. ISBN 9780804736510. OCLC 33983799.
- ^ Liu Tongsu; Wang Yi (2012). Guan kan Zhongguo cheng shi jia ting jiao hui [Observations on the China's house churches in cities]. Taipei: Ji wen she Chuban. pp. 37–45. ISBN 9789868637962. OCLC 829939895.
- ^ Chow, Alexander (May 2014). "Calvinist Public Theology in Urban China Today". International Journal of Public Theology. 8 (2): 158–175. doi:10.1163/15697320-12341340. ISSN 1569-7320.
- ^ Bays, Daniel H. (2012). A New History of Christianity in China. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 192–193.
- ^ Sapio, Flora (7 October 2015). "Carl Schmitt in China". The China Story. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Zhibin Xie". www.ctinquiry.org. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Mauldin, Josh (30 June 2015). "Zhibin Xie Interview". Fresh Thinking. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Zhuo Xinping (2014). "Chinization: The Essential Path to Renewal for Christianity in China" (PDF). Chinese Theological Review. 26: 73–79.
- ^ Documents of the Three-Self Movement. New York: National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 1963. pp. 19–20.
- ^ "95 Theses: The Reaffirmation of Our Stance on the House Church". China Partnership. Retrieved 27 November 2017.