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Hakka Chinese Confront Protestant Christianity, 1850-1900: With the Autobiographies of Eight Hakka Christians, and Commentary
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Comments/Reviews
Description: The Basil Society's China mission, one of the more successful Protestant missions in the nineteenth century, was distinguished by the fact that most of the initial proselytizing was conducted by Chinese converts in the interior rather than by Western missionaries in the treaty ports. Thus the first viable protestant communities were not only established by Chinese evangelists, they were established among an ethnic minority in south China, the Hakka people.
The autobiographies of eight pioneer Chinese missionaries featured in this book offer an unusual opportunity to view village life and customs in Guangdong during the mid-nineteenth century by providing details on Hakka death and burial rituals, ancestor veneration, lineages and lineage feuds, geomancy, the status of Hakka women, widespread economic hardship, and civil disorder. They also illustrate the appeals of Christianity, the obstacles to conversion, and Chinese opposition to Christianity and Western missionaries.
The authors' commentary addresses the issue of conversion, which was fueled by individual desire for solace and salvation, the building of a support community amid social chaos, and the possibility of social mobility through education. Despite an expanding role by Western missionaries, the Chinese origins, the rural interior locale, and the status of the Hakka as a disadvantaged minority contributed to successive generations of Christian families and to early progress toward an autonomous Hakka church.
Selected Contents:
Preface; Note on Romanization; Abbreviations; List of Maps and Tables ; Map of Mission Stations
1. Introduction
2. Biography of Jiang Jiaoren
3. Biography of Zhang Fuxing
4. Biography of Dai Wenguang
5. Biography of Xu Fuguang
6. Biography of Zhang Zhongmu
7. Autobiography of Lai Xinglian
8. Biography of Zhang Yunfa
9. The Life of the Departed Deacon Li Zhenggao
10. Poverty in the Highlands
11. Geomancy, Spirits and Souls, Death and Burial Rituals
12. Social Disorder, Lineage Feuds, and Banditry
13. Hakka Women
14. Appeals of Christianity and Chinese Religious Sects
15. Deterrents and Hardships
16. Arrival of Westerners and Persecution
17. Challenges to Confucian Society: Women
18. Parochial Education
19. Autonomy, Expansion, Indigenization
20. Epilogue
Bibliography, Glossary, Index
Review(s): "Autobiographies of eight pioneer Chinese missionaries ... offer an unusual opportunity to view village life and customs in Guandong during the mid-nineteenth century by providing details on Hakka death and burial rituals, ancestor veneration, lineages and lineage feuds, geomancy, the status of Hakka women, widespread economic hardship and civil disorder. They also illustrate the appeals of Christianity, the obstacles to conversion, and Chinese oppositiion to Christianity and Western missionaries." -- The Midwest Book Review
"Two outstanding characteristics of this collaboative work by Jessie and Rolland Lutz are first, that it attempts to base missiological reflection mainly on biographical sketches or autobiographies of Basel Mission Hakka Chinese converts, and second, that these Hakka converts are viewed as the principal agents of evangelization among the Hakka people. ... Persons wishing to study early Protestant mission work in south China from a non-British or American perspective will find this novel of immense value. ... The high quality of the research and the sensitive portrayal of the movement of the Hakka people to Christianity in this volume cannot be overstated. ...the book represents an important contribution to our understanding of missiology in the Chinese context." -- Mission Studies vol. XIX-2, 38
"A remarkably rich and insightful study. ... This is a fine study that should appeal to mission historians and scholars of religion, as well as sinologists." -- International Bulletin of Missionary Research
"The biographies themselves are full of interesting tidbits on life in nineteenth century south China...They illuminate both the faultlines of nineteenth century Chinese society and the thought patterns of the Basel missionaries...The reference matter includes a thorough index, bibliography, and glossary of relevant Chinese characters with pinyin, German, and Hakka/Cantonese romanizations. The reference matter and the inclusion of the biographical material will make this book an important source for all those interested in missionary work in China and the genesis of Hakka ethnicity." -- Journal of Asian History
    
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