Journal of Research for Christianity in China (JRCC)
Journal of Research for Christianity in China (JRCC, Semi-Annual) is an international, peer reviewed academic journal. It is edited and published by the Christianity and China Research Center in Los Angeles, USA. JRCC was launched in December 2013. JRCC is an Open Access journal and all articles are published under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. The aim of JRCC is to provide an platform for Chinese Christian studies, publishing scholarly articles and reviews in Chinese or in English on the history of Christianity in China, Chinese religions, culture and etc. All articles related to the Chinese Christian studies are welcomed. All submitted articles are free of charges.
Center of Christanity and China in Los Angeles, USA
Under the leadership of Professor Ye Nong, the Institute of Macao Studies at Jinan University has dedicated itself to compiling literature and historical records centered on Macao during the Ming and Qing dynasties, focusing on the Maritime Silk Road. Beyond academic research, the institute has collaborated with publishing institutions in Macao and Guangzhou to produce series such as Maritime Silk Road Series. Since 2016, the institute has published over 30 academic works, including bibliographies, dictionaries, archives collections, Westerner's writings, inscriptions and image materials, monographs, translations, and policy-oriented reports. These publications vividly illustrate Macao’s role as a bridge in Sino-foreign cultural exchange, significantly advancing academic fields such as Macao Studies, Sino-foreign relations history, and Sinology.
The Institute of Macao Studies at Jinan University, book publishing, Maritime Silk Road Series, Ye Nong
Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Contributions of Christianity to Humanity’s Civilization
The Christianity, since it formed, always opposed against the various barbarous, backward and ignorant habits and traditions, such as infanticide by drawing and abandoning infants, gladiatorial shows, suicide, promiscuous heterosexual sex, homosexuality, pederasty, child marriage, polygamy, widows buried alive, foot binding of women, slavery, etc.. The Christianity too advocated universal love, compassion, charity and praised highly arts. The Christianity made positive contributions to Humanity’s Civilization and social progress and made itself developing gradually to a most civilized religion which has the biggest power and influence in the world. Alvin J. Schmidt’s Under the influence: how Christianity transformed civilization expounds these completely, systematically, deeply and concentratedly, and becomes a synthesized work.
The Christianity, Various corrupt customs, Humanity’s Civilization; Under the influence
The Integration and Interaction of Laozi and Christianity
Yuan Bujia's Laozi and Christ is an excellent work that promotes the integration of Laozi and Christianity and the sinicization of Christianity. In Yuan Bujia's understanding, Laozi's theory of the Tao and the Christian theory of God are highly isomorphic. The sage mentioned by Laozi is a prophecy of Jesus who would come to the world through "the incarnation of the Word" six or seven hundred years later. Cultivating the Tao according to Laozi's teachings is an embodiment of truly believing in God and his incarnation, Jesus. Yuan Bujia's integration of Laozi and Christianity is very conducive to Chinese Christians' understanding and acceptance of China's inherent excellent traditional culture. It is also very beneficial for Laozi to go global and be understood and accepted by countries that believe in Christianity.
Yuan Bujia; Laozi and Christ; integration; sinicization of Christianity
The Trinity of Christianity in the Context of Religious Dialogue
The attribute of more in one of Trinity breaks through the natural exclusiveness of absolute monotheism, and the roles and functions of different persons give the support of dogmatic theory for the possibility of the dialogue between Christianity and the other religions. Although the Trinity has been accepted by Christianity as the basic doctrine, the situations and ideas of different eras always made debates for the Trinity, in order that the theory of the Trinity has often been understood and interpreted in different views. And then, the Trinity has the potential of being meaningfully expressed in the context of the pluralistic dialogues during religions. Therefore, the doctrine of the Trinity has become the resource of theory for the Christianity who wants to stand firmly in different forms of dialogues of religions while the Christianity is meeting, communicating and talking with other religions.
Religious dialogue, Christianity, Trinity, Understanding and interpretation
Study on the East Syriac Anaphorae and Their Theological Implications
The East Syriac liturgy is one of the major liturgical traditions within Christianity. Its anaphorae, as the central prayer of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, bears rich theological meaning and a profound ecclesiastical tradition. This study compares the structure and content of the three principal East Syriac anaphorae, which are attributed to Mar Addai and Mari, Mar Theodore and Mar Nestorius, revealing their shared structure and thematic elements. Special focus is given to the Anaphora of Mar Theodore the Interpreter, examining its textual composition and theological implications. This paper highlights the central role of the epiclesis in all three anaphorae, particularly emphasizing the Spirit’s divine power in the consecration of bread and wine. Furthermore, it explores the interpretations of this prayer by Gabriel of Qatar and Yohannan Bar Zoˁbi, unveiling the religious significance of the epiclesis in the East Syriac rite and illustrating the distinctive liturgical theology of the Church of the East.
Liturgy, Anaphora, the Church of the East, Jingjiao, the East Syriac Christianity
Starting from Paul’s expressions such as “born of a woman” and “descended from David according to the flesh,” this study adopts a methodological approach that privileges theological interpretation while integrating textual exegesis and interdisciplinary insights from historical-critical studies, spiritual theology, and liturgical theology. Its purpose is to clarify the intrinsic relationship between Mary’s relation to the Incarnation and the twofold economy of salvation (Law/Spirit) as reflected in Paul’s letters. Although Paul does not elaborate extensively on Mary, in Galatians 4:4 he emphasizes that Christ was “born of a woman,” thereby affirming Mary’s pivotal role in the divine plan of salvation. Through faith and obedience, she became the gateway of God’s salvific economy and the channel of divine grace; her free assent allowed the Word of God to assume human nature and inaugurated a new history of cooperation between God and humanity. Mary is thus not only the mother of Jesus but also the spiritual mother of all believers. While Paul’s theology does not explicitly develop a Marian doctrine, it provides the foundational framework upon which later Church tradition deepened and confirmed Mary’s place within the mystery of salvation.
Paul’s Letters, Mary, Incarnation, Plan of Salvation
In the Book of Revelation, who is the “woman” in Chapter 12? The author John did not provide an answer in this chapter or the Book of Revelation, so her identity remains a mystery! According to the research of Bertrand Buby, there have been 28 interpretations of “woman”, and the woman is like a “lady with many faces”. This article sorts out four main types of the woman's identity - Type 1 “Mary”, Type 2 “Church”, Type 3 “Israel”, and Type 4 “People of God”. The author uses two hermeneutical rules to examine the rationality of the four main types.
The Construction of the National Identity of the Israelites from the Perspective of Geographical Space Changes in the Book of Ruth
The Book of Ruth, as a short narrative in the Hebrew Bible, through the story of Ruth, a Moabite woman, migrating and integrating into the Israelite community, demonstrates the profound connection between geographical space changes and the construction of national identity. This article takes geographical space as the entry point, combining textual analysis, historical sociology, and cultural geography theories, to explore how the geographical space transformation from Moab to Bethlehem in the Book of Ruth symbolizes the crossing and reconstruction of the boundaries of the Israelite national identity. The Book of Ruth, through the fluidity and openness of geographical space, challenges the exclusive narrative of the traditional Israelite ethnic group, emphasizes the identity recognition model centered on moral law, and provides a model for identity integration for the Israelite community in the diaspora period.
Ruth, geographical space, national identity
Franciscan spirituality in Early Qing China
In the Sixteenth century, Franciscan spirituality started to disseminate widely all over the world. There has been a great deal of research on how Franciscan spirituality was transplanted in Latin America, but there is presently little research on East Asia. This paper shows how a Sixteenth century Franciscan treatise on meditation came to be translated into Chinese language and published in Canton in 1694. Based on textual analysis, it focuses on its Spanish sources and its efforts toward localization.
Chinese Catholicism, meditation, Pedro de la Piñuela (石铎琭), Pedro de Alcántara, Bonaventure
Adaptive Interpretation of Creatio ex Nihilo in Chaoxingxueyao
This article explores the adaptive interpretation of creatio ex nihilo by Ludovico Buglio in his translation of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae I, Q45, A1 (corresponding to ChaoXingXueYao, CXXX, Section I.3, Chapter 10.2.1). By analyzing Buglio’s textual structural adaptations and terminological choices, this study highlights his strategies for bridging Western theological concepts with Chinese cultural frameworks. The primary findings reveal that Buglio employs the Confucian term HuaCheng (化成) to translate creatio and creare, emphasizing the dynamic process of creation while adjusting the content’s organization in accordance with Ming-Qing literary conventions. His translation prioritizes readability for Chinese audiences, striking a balance between fidelity to Aquinas’s arguments and cultural adaptation. Furthermore, Buglio’s work exemplifies the early Jesuits’ efforts to negotiate theological terminology across cultural boundaries, striving to construct “equivalence relations” between Latin-Christian and Chinese philosophical terms amidst linguistic and philosophical tensions. These “equivalence relations” not only facilitated the dissemination of Christian theology in China but also provide methodological insights for the development of Sino-Christian theology in terms of translation and hermeneutics.
Ludovico Buglio, Chaoxingxueyao, creatio ex nihilo, cross-cultural communication, equivalence relations
The Eastward Spread of Thomas Aquinas' Theological Thought and Its Construction of the Theory of Human Nature in Catholic Theology and Philosophy of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China
The eastward spread of Thomas Aquinas' theological thought can be regarded as a path of "endogenous construction". It integrated into the internal logic of Catholic theology and philosophy in the Ming and Qing Dynasties of China based on its inherent theories and theological purposes and became a core resource for the construction of this philosophical system. Meanwhile, it was adjusted for localization in combination with the context of traditional Chinese philosophy. Therefore, it played a foundational role in the construction of Catholic theology and philosophy especially the Theory of Human Nature in the Ming and Qing Dynasties of China. Matteo Ricci's Tian Zhu Shi Yi and Giulio Aleni's Xing Xue Cu Shu are typical texts introducing Thomas Aquinas' theological thought. Especially in terms of the theory of soul and the theory of human nature,Tian Zhu Shi Yi basically inherits Aquinas' tradition of natural theology; Xing Xue Cu Shu realizes a systematic introduction to the Aristotelian-Thomistic theory of soul by using the expression of China's native "Xing Xue"; furthermore, Xing Shuo by Xia Dachang, a Confucian Catholic, initially constructed the "spiritual theory of human nature" by "adopting" Aquinas' theory of soul and integrating it with Confucianism's "theory of the goodness of human nature". Regarding the "endogenous construction" of Thomas Aquinas' thought, we need to pay attention not only to its role as a foundational cornerstone but also, more importantly, to its evolutionary characteristics in China and the responses from local scholars.
Thomas Aquinas, Endogenous Construction, Theory of Soul, Theory of Human Nature
A Study on Chiang Kai-shek’s Christian Faith in Ningbo, 1949
Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975), a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang, was both President of the Republic of China during the Chinese Civil War and a professing Christian. This article investigates the expression of Chiang’s Christian faith in 1949 by examining his participation in a range of religious activities while in Ningbo. Methodologically, the study combines historical analysis of primary sources with a sociological perspective on religion, enabling a nuanced interpretation of Chiang’s religious practices within their broader cultural and political contexts. The analysis demonstrates that Chiang’s Christianity was not an isolated religious identity but one deeply intertwined with Confucian ethical traditions and marked by enduring Buddhist influences. Moreover, as a political leader, Chiang’s choices concerning ancestral rites and other religious observances reveal the tension between personal belief, family traditions, and the exigencies of socio-political life. This case thus illuminates the complex interplay of faith, culture, and political authority in modern Chinese history.
Chiang Kai-shek, Christianity, ancestral rites, Ningbo, 1949
“Raising Enterprises to Evangelize and Relief”
During the late Qing Dynasty, with the opening of five ports for trade, Protestant missionaries flocked to China. Among them, the American Methodist Episcopal Church’s missionary, William N. Brewster, carried out his preaching activities in Hinghwa city, Fujian Province with the strategy of “Industrial Missionary Work”. However, at the same time, other missionaries opposed his “Industrial Missionary Work”, believing that it would lead to a secularization tendency. So, does Brewster’s method really work? What is its theological basis? And what are the actual effects and what kind of influence does it have? Based on these questions, this paper taking the historical background of that time as the starting point, re-examines and analyzes this strategy’s origin, characteristics, and the role it played in the development of Hinghwa indigenous church, aim to deepen the understanding of William N. Brewster and the Methodist Church. At the same time enrich the research on the history of Christian missionary work and the regional history of Christianity in Fujian.
William N. Brewster, Industrial Missionary Work, Methodist Episcopal Church, Hinghwa Fujian
An Examination of the Indigenization Pathways of Rural Churches
Christianity experienced widespread dissemination in rural Shandong. Taking the Anglican church as an example, both the number of rural chapels and adherents continued to increase, with Chinese workers playing a pivotal role in this process. In the sphere of doctrinal transmission, they translated theological concepts into local idioms, thereby strengthening emotional identification among the populace. In religious practice, they mediated the tension between Christian culture and indigenous beliefs through the integration of miracle narratives and ritual performances. At the organizational level, the kinship-based dissemination of faith fostered the formation of local faith community. Institutionally, Chinese workers assumed leadership in church governance, advancing the principles of self-propagation, self-support, and self-governance. Consequently, the indigenization of rural churches in central Shandong entailed not merely an adaptation of doctrinal transmission but also a reshaping of language, ritual, social structures, and institutional forms. The indigenizing trajectory of rural Christianity was neither a simple transplantation of Western models nor a wholesale accommodation to local culture, but rather a synthesis of universality and locality achieved within the framework of faith identity.
Shandong; Christianity; Rural Churches; Indigenization
The Making of a Mobile Society in Modern Guangdong and the Protestant Churches’ Response
Modern Guangdong society was characterized by high mobility, shaped by the development of modern transportation, the emergence of overseas Cantonese hometowns, and large-scale outward migration. In response to this dynamic context, Protestant churches in Guangdong strategically adapted their missionary routes, launched gospel watercraft to serve mobile populations such as the Dan people, established indigenous self-governing churches in the hometown of overseas Cantonese, and fostered Christian practices through faith networks that connected migrants with local believers. While this mobility posed significant challenges—such as the expansion of parish boundaries, the dispersion of congregants, and the destabilization of church communities resulting from extensive migration—Protestant churches in Guangdong responded proactively. Their adaptive strategies were manifested in three major transitions: from church planting to broader missionary outreach, from localized congregations to cross-regional missionary networks, and from ethnically defined churches to more inclusive, cross-cultural faith communities.
Mobile society, Protestant Church, Modern Guangdong, Population mobility, Transportation development
A New Interpretation of Paul Wei’s Life and Work in New Religious Reform and Independent Church Movements
Most secondary sources that mention the founding of the True Jesus Church tend to briefly state that “Wei Paul founded the True Jesus Church in 1917,” without examining in detail the developmental process behind his motivation to establish the church. This article argues that, in the early stages of his ministry, Wei Paul did not intend to create a new denomination. Rather, he sought to promote a religious reformation movement, one that included breaking away from the influence of Western mission societies and pursuing ecclesiastical independence. The name he gave the church, “True Jesus Church,” was meant to signify the genuine church of Jesus, rather than a denominational title. Likewise, the term “Universal Correction Christianity” referred to the goal of correcting all churches across the nations—it served as the programmatic title of this reform movement. Through an analysis of Wei Paul’s life and ministry, this article offers a new interpretation, hoping to contribute a fresh perspective to the study of the True Jesus Church.
True Jesus Church, Universal Correction Teachings, religious reformation, restorationism, church independence
This article adopts the methodology of life history to investigate the processes of religious conversion among multiethnic communities in Guangxi’s frontier regions during the late Qing and Republican periods. As a site of ethnic convergence, Guangxi was both politically marginal within the Chinese state and characterized by diverse religious and cultural interactions. Drawing on archival records of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C\&MA) and related sources, this study reconstructs the lived experiences of Zhuang, Yao, and Dong communities in their encounters with Christianity. The research demonstrates that conversion was not a unidirectional acceptance of religion, but rather a historical process shaped by the intersection of ethnic identity, local culture, and religious practice. The life history approach reveals the agency of individuals in conversion: on the one hand, religious transformation was closely tied to collective memory, vernacular language, and local social networks; on the other hand, the missionary strategies of the C\&MA and the responses of local believers jointly fashioned the multiple configurations of a “faith frontier.” This study argues that micro-narratives of life history deepen our understanding of the localization of Christianity and the multiethnic religious experience in Guangxi, while also supplementing existing church historiography that has primarily relied on macro-level narratives.
life history; frontier; Christian and Missionary Alliance; Christian faith; multiethnic communities
A Worldly Kingdom of Heaven in T. C. Chao’s Early Theology
This paper discusses the conception of an ideal world present in T.C. Chao’s (Tsu Chen Chao) (1888-1979) early theological works, based mainly on the text Jesus’ Philosophy of Life (or, A New Interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, written in late 1925). It concludes by pointing out that Chao’s view of a kingdom of heaven that ultimately eradicates the otherworld and does not transcend this world unconsciously echoes the Anti-Christian Movement within Chinese churches during the same period. This is, indeed, a tragedy in the development of T. C. Chao’s personal theological thought in the 1920s and 1930s.
Personality, T. C. Chao, Theology, Worldly Kingdom of Heaven
Reports of the Academic Workshop on the Sinicization of Biblical Interpretation
The Key to Biblical Studies in Chinese Academia: A Review of Professor Tian Haihua's New Work, The History and Methodology of Biblical Interpretation
The History and Methodology of Biblical Interpretation traces the historical development of biblical exegesis, dividing its history into the following periods: Medieval Jewish-Christian exegesis, Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment-era biblical interpretation and translation, modern historical-critical biblical studies, social science approaches to biblical interpretation, feminist biblical interpretation, postcolonial biblical criticism, and postmodern biblical interpretation. Spanning over three millennia, it is a veritable historical epic. Each chapter focuses on three representative exegetes or intellectual currents, employing a horizontal analysis that effectively integrates diachronic and synchronic research. A key feature of this book is its clarification of the sequential or relative relationships among scholars and schools of thought, offering readers a clear presentation of the academic lineage of Western biblical hermeneutics and the image of the scholarly community collectively constructed by these scholars. Simultaneously, the book integrates theory with methodology; in the interpretive process, abstract theories are translated into concrete methods. Through accessible yet profound analysis, it ultimately presents a rich array of hermeneutical achievements.
《圣经诠释的历史与方法》、田海华、历时研究、共时研究、学术共同体
Copyright (c) 2025 林艳 (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Author: Richard Wagner (1813–1883), German musician. Translator: XIi Wang, Assistant Professor at the College of Liberal Arts, Fujian Fuyao University of Science and Technology; PhD in Philosophy from Peking University. Proofreader: GUO Chun, Doctoral Candidate (Class of 2023), Department of Musicology, Central Conservatory of Music. This translation is adapted from Richard Wagner: Über Staat und Religion / Religion und Kunst, Berlin: Herausgegeben von Karl-Maria Guth, 2017. Unless specifically marked as original notes, all unmarked annotations in this text are translator's notes.
Substance and Accidence: Imago, Vestigium, and Relatio in Ockham’s Philosophy and Theology
In his Scriptum in Librum Primum Sententiarum, Ockham discusses the differing roles of traces and images in guiding human understanding of the Trinity. As a scholar of nominalist stance, Ockham argues that traces possess a certain empirical quality, thus granting them reality. Traces logically represent the real distinctions within the Trinity, while images, based on some productive principle, only have conceptual similarity or representation, and therefore lack reality and real distinction. However, to ensure the accuracy of theological doctrine, Ockham treats images as the concretization of concepts, thus giving images a representational capacity with substantiality. Although this conceptual concretization contradicts Ockham’s nominalist philosophy, it guarantees the correctness of theological teachings. This internal tension is also reflected in Ockham’s discussions on issues like “relatio” (as a category) and the dual nature of Christ. Despite Ockham’s view of relation as an accident and his demonstration of the absurd logical conclusions resulting from considering relations as substances, in order to preserve the real existence of the Trinity, the relationships among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit must necessarily be regarded as real items. In fact, Ockham's divergent approaches to the same issue from theological and philosophical perspectives reveal the tension between faith and reason in the Middle Ages—a dynamic interplay that medieval philosophers collectively sought to confront and reconcile.
Ockham, accident, substance, vestigium, imago, relatio
Christian views from the monthly magazine Thought and Time
Thought and Time is a journal founded during the movement to the southwest China during the Anti-Japanese War, and the magazine remains as interested in Christianity. This paper analyzes their views on Christianity by introducing the articles on Christianity in the magazine, and finds that intellectuals during the Anti-Japanese War had a deeper understanding of Christianity and a more three-dimensional understanding of Western culture than before, which is also a typical stage in the history of Sino-Western cultural exchange. Of course, there are also unavoidable limitations of The Times and thinking.
Thought and Time; Christian views; Chinese traditional culture
The Image of Gansu in the Writings of Missionaries in Gansu during the Late Qing and Early Republican Periods
From the Late Qing Dynasty to the Republican period, Missionaries entered Gansu Province, Which located in China's northwestern frontier, to propagate their faith. While engaged in preach and travel, missionaries in Gansu conducted detailed observations and descriptions of the region, producing a wealth of written accounts. Utilizing the writings of missionaries who either proselytized or traveled in Gansu as historical source material, this study extracts their descriptions of Gansu's overall image, its ethnic groups and religions, and specific accounts of Lanzhou (the provincial capital), as well as the Hexi Corridor areas including Zhangye, Wuwei, and Jiayuguan. This process roughly outlines the image of Gansu as presented in the writings of these missionaries. Analysis of the vocabulary used and their evaluations reveals that the missionaries' assessment of Gansu was predominantly positive. In their collective portrayal, Gansu held significant geopolitical importance and possessed abundant natural resources. These writings offer valuable reference points for the extraction of Gansu's contemporary cultural symbols and the development of its cultural tourism industry.
Late Qing and Early Republican periods; Missionaries; Image of Gansu
Meaning and Order: Typology and Responses of Theodicy in Kouduo Richao
In Kouduo Richao, missionaries provided theological explanations for suffering and offered compensatory promises for resolving suffering through forms of theodicy such as absolute obedience, human righteousness, otherworldly compensation, and Christology. The suffering that troubled believers ranged from personal misfortunes to social injustices on a collective level. Analyzing believers’ responses in Kouduo Richao reveals that their acceptance of theodicy was influenced by their social class and the dominant Confucian values of society. This also offers a glimpse into the distinctive spiritual lives of the community of literati-believers in late Ming China.
Kouduo Richao, Late Ming Theodicy, Problem of Suffering, Meaning Construction, Literati-Believer Community
Individual and Relationships: The "Deepened" Spirituality in Philip Teng's Thought
Philip Teng’s spiritual perspective revolves around the concept of "Deepened," emphasizing spirituality as a dynamic and relational practice that unites inner renewal with outward testimony through daily living. Teng’s approach moves beyond the static or fixed notions of spirituality often seen in traditional Chinese churches, advocating instead for growth through repentance, self-denial, and union with Christ. This study systematically examines Teng’s major works and sermons, employing textual analysis and historical interpretation to uncover the theoretical foundations and practical strategies underlying his spirituality. Key areas of focus include his experiential epistemology, his use of negative theology, and his insights into the relationship between spirituality and mental health. Furthermore, Teng highlights the inseparability of spirituality and psychological growth, advocating practical methods such as the "School of Spirituality," "Rest," and "Fasting Prayer" to provide a holistic pathway for spiritual and mental development. His teachings offer contemporary Chinese churches essential guidance for pastoral care, helping believers shift away from idealized spiritual aspirations and instead cultivate a grounded, actionable, and transformative faith practice.
Philip Teng, deepened spirituality, relational practice, negative theology, mental health
A Study of Henry Mckee Woods’s Missionary Work in China
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Christianity in China underwent significant expansion and localization. Henry McKee Woods (1857–1943), a missionary of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, dedicated over forty years to evangelism and social service in Zhenjiang, Qingjiangpu, and Huai’an, Jiangsu Province. He actively participated in the translation of the Mandarin Union Version of the Bible and published works such as A Commentary on the Four Books, Adapted to Modern Times and A Commentary on the Five Classics, Adapted to Modern Times, exploring the interaction between Christianity and Chinese culture. Woods also promoted medical missions, social relief, and anti-opium campaigns, creating a model of integrated ministry combining medicine, preaching, and education. His vision of “unity in diversity” emphasized spiritual unity amid denominational diversity, inspiring the Global Revival Prayer Movement and setting an enduring model for contextual mission work and cross-denominational cooperation in modern Chinese Christian history.
Henry McKee Woods, Presbyterian Church in the United States, Bible Translation, Sino-Christian dialogue, Church Unity
Cultural Politics in the Cold War Context: Political Discipline and Institutional Demise at Yenching University
Since the establishment of the new regime, the fate of Yenching University has been closely intertwined with changes in the international landscape and domestic political transformations. Following the campaigns of “Thought Reform,” the “Three-Anti Campaign,” and the “Campaign for Loyalty and Honesty,” Yenching’s academic and political orientations underwent dramatic realignments. These movements not only dismantled the American-style educational system administratively and shifted toward a Soviet-influenced model emphasizing specialization and practicality, but also profoundly reshaped the ideology of faculty and students through repeated collective study sessions, self-criticism, confessional meetings, and denunciation assemblies. This process ultimately paved the way for the administrative restructuring and closure of Yenching University. By examining the university's experience of political discipline, this paper explores the distinctive role and fate of Christian universities within China’s higher education and cultural policies. The political transformation of Yenching University not only reflects the rupture in Sino-Western relations within the Cold War context but also reveals how the logic of state governance deeply permeated the cultural and educational fields, offering important insights into the mechanisms of political control and cultural policy shifts in the early years of the People’s Republic of China.
Yenching University, Korean War, UBCCC, political discipline, Cold War
A Study on the Scientific and Technological Chinese Translation by Missionary Calvin Wilson Mateer
Although widely known as an “American missionary”, “translator of the Union Mandarin Version”, and “father of modern science education in China”, Calvin Wilson Mateer has made remarkable achievements, which are by no means limited to these fields. During his forty-five years in China, he has made outstanding contributions to the development of scientific translation by translating western academic books, defining scientific terms, and putting forward translation thoughts. Thanks to his accomplishments in spreading Western culture and popularizing scientific knowledge, he was called the initiator of the modernization of Chinese science and the pioneer of cultural exchanges between China and the West. Starting from the translation of Mathletics, this paper examines his scientific and technological translation practice, analyzes his translation thoughts, summarizes his outstanding contributions in this field, and then discusses his influence on the modernization of science and technology in China, to present a different aspect of Calvin Wilson Mateer.
Calvin Wilson Mateer, Missionary, The Translation of Mathematics; Translation Thoughts, The Modernization of Science and Technology in China
Miaphysitism and African Christian Legacy: A Millennium of Resilience and Localization in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, one of Africa’s oldest Christian traditions, traces its origins to the Christianization of the Aksumite Kingdom in the 4th century CE. Through the conversion of King Ezana and the missionary efforts of Frumentius, Christianity became a state ideology, closely tied to the Alexandrian Coptic Church and grounded in Miaphysite theology. During the medieval period, the Church navigated challenges such as Islamic expansion by consolidating monastic networks and aligning with the Solomonic dynasty, which legitimized its rule through the Kebra Nagast narrative. In the modern era, the Church faced Portuguese Jesuit missions, Oromo migrations, colonial resistance, and socialist reforms, ultimately achieving autocephaly in 1959. In the globalized world, it balances the preservation of Ge’ez traditions with competition from Evangelical movements, while its cultural legacy—exemplified by Lalibela’s rock-hewn churches, manuscript art, and Timkat festivals-continues to define Ethiopian national identity. The Church’s resilience and localized adaptation position it as a paradigm of African Christianity.
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Miaphysitism, Kingdom of Aksum, Frumentius, Lalibela Churches