Negotiating the Christian Past in China

At the turn of the twenty-first century, Xiamen’s pursuit of World Heritage Site designation from UNESCO stimulated considerable interest in the city’s Christian past. History enthusiasts, both Christian and non-Christian, devoted themselves to reinterpreting the legacy of missionaries and challenge...

Deskribapen osoa

Gorde:
Xehetasun bibliografikoak
Egile nagusia: Liu, Jifeng
Formatua: Online
Hizkuntza:ingelesa
Argitaratua: Penn State University Press 2025
Gaiak:
Sarrera elektronikoa:ONIX_20250417_9780271093192_62
Etiketak: Etiketa erantsi
Etiketarik gabe, Izan zaitez lehena erregistro honi etiketa jartzen!
_version_ 1869527792248422400
author Liu, Jifeng
author_browse Liu, Jifeng
author_facet Liu, Jifeng
author_sort Liu, Jifeng
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description At the turn of the twenty-first century, Xiamen’s pursuit of World Heritage Site designation from UNESCO stimulated considerable interest in the city’s Christian past. History enthusiasts, both Christian and non-Christian, devoted themselves to reinterpreting the legacy of missionaries and challenged official narratives of Christianity’s troubled associations with Western imperialism. In this book, Jifeng Liu documents the tension that has inevitably emerged between the established official history and these popular efforts. This volume elucidates the ways in which Christianity has become an integral part of Xiamen, a Chinese city profoundly influenced by Western missionaries. Drawing on extensive interviews, locally produced histories, and observations of historical celebrations, Liu provides an intimate portrait of the people who navigate ideological issues to reconstruct a Christian past, reproduce religious histories, and redefine local power structures in the shadow of the state. Liu makes a compelling argument that a Christian past is being constructed that combines official frameworks, unofficial practices, and nostalgia into social memory, a realm of dynamic negotiation that is neither dominated by the authoritarian state nor characterized by popular resistance. In this way, Negotiating the Christian Past in China illustrates the complexities of memory and missions in shaping the city’s cultural landscape, church-state dynamics, and global aspirations. This groundbreaking study assumes a perspective of globalization and localization, in both the past and the present, to better understand Chinese Christianity in a local, national, and global context. It will be welcomed by scholars of religious studies and world Christianity, and by those interested in the church-state relationship in China.
format Online
id doab-20.500.12854ir-158605
institution Directory of Open Access Books
language eng
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher Penn State University Press
publisherStr Penn State University Press
record_format ojs
spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1586052025-04-18T04:20:10Z Negotiating the Christian Past in China Liu, Jifeng Protestantism and Protestant Churches Christianity Religion and politics Asian history Social groups: religious groups and communities At the turn of the twenty-first century, Xiamen’s pursuit of World Heritage Site designation from UNESCO stimulated considerable interest in the city’s Christian past. History enthusiasts, both Christian and non-Christian, devoted themselves to reinterpreting the legacy of missionaries and challenged official narratives of Christianity’s troubled associations with Western imperialism. In this book, Jifeng Liu documents the tension that has inevitably emerged between the established official history and these popular efforts. This volume elucidates the ways in which Christianity has become an integral part of Xiamen, a Chinese city profoundly influenced by Western missionaries. Drawing on extensive interviews, locally produced histories, and observations of historical celebrations, Liu provides an intimate portrait of the people who navigate ideological issues to reconstruct a Christian past, reproduce religious histories, and redefine local power structures in the shadow of the state. Liu makes a compelling argument that a Christian past is being constructed that combines official frameworks, unofficial practices, and nostalgia into social memory, a realm of dynamic negotiation that is neither dominated by the authoritarian state nor characterized by popular resistance. In this way, Negotiating the Christian Past in China illustrates the complexities of memory and missions in shaping the city’s cultural landscape, church-state dynamics, and global aspirations. This groundbreaking study assumes a perspective of globalization and localization, in both the past and the present, to better understand Chinese Christianity in a local, national, and global context. It will be welcomed by scholars of religious studies and world Christianity, and by those interested in the church-state relationship in China. 2025-04-18T04:20:08Z 2025-04-18T04:20:08Z 2025-04-17T09:49:54Z 2022 book ONIX_20250417_9780271093192_62 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/100952 9780271093192 9780271092874 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/158605 eng World Christianity open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/100952/1/9780271093192.pdf Penn State University Press Penn State University Press e4e05b94-0f85-49a1-ba66-543b1dd40087 Penn State University 25eaec65-b556-4602-ba6d-ed286e74dde5 9780271093192 9780271092874 Penn State University Press 252 University Park [...] open access
spellingShingle Protestantism and Protestant Churches
Christianity
Religion and politics
Asian history
Social groups: religious groups and communities
Liu, Jifeng
Negotiating the Christian Past in China
title Negotiating the Christian Past in China
title_full Negotiating the Christian Past in China
title_fullStr Negotiating the Christian Past in China
title_full_unstemmed Negotiating the Christian Past in China
title_short Negotiating the Christian Past in China
title_sort negotiating the christian past in china
topic Protestantism and Protestant Churches
Christianity
Religion and politics
Asian history
Social groups: religious groups and communities
topic_facet Protestantism and Protestant Churches
Christianity
Religion and politics
Asian history
Social groups: religious groups and communities
url ONIX_20250417_9780271093192_62
work_keys_str_mv AT liujifeng negotiatingthechristianpastinchina