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Chinese Nationalism and the Anti-Christian Campaigns of the 1920s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Jessie G. Lutz
Jessie G. Lutz
Affiliation:
Douglass College, Rutgers University
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Extract

The definition of China as a nation has often been contrasted with the definition of China as a culture. The modern Chinese state, it is said, has to displace the Middle Kingdom concept of the Great Tradition. The culturalism of dynastic China had to be transmuted into nationalism as China accepted the challenge of modernization. Truly, China has experienced revolution in the twentieth century; the political and cultural definition of China in the 1970s does differ from that of the 1870s. But perhaps our concentration on Chinese tradition as a deterrent to modernization has obscured the continuities of Chinese history. Though certain aspects of the Great Tradition hindered change in China, others contributed to it. The Chinese heritage provided the framework and orientation as Chinese selected elements from Western civilization, and while transforming their own tradition they also translated and transformed those importations designed to bring wealth and power. Reinterpretations of the importations were informed by Chinese perceptions of the past as well as of the present.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , July 1976 , pp. 395 - 416
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

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References

1 For a discussion of the anti-Christian tradition, see Cohen, Paul A., China and Christianity: The Missionary Movement and the Growth of Chineses Anti-foreignism, 1860–1870 (Cambridge, Mass., 1963).CrossRefGoogle Scholar For statements by Chinese, see Lutz, Jessie G. (ed.), Christian Missions in China, Evangelists of What? (Boston, 1965).Google Scholar

2 Shao-nien chung-kuo, III, no. I (August 1, 1921). Also available in Ch'inshih, Chang, Kuo-nei chin-shin-nien-lai chin tsung-chiao ssu-ch'ao (The Tide of Religious Thought in China during the Last Decade) (Peking, 1927), pp. 147–54. This collection includes many of the important documents of the anti-Christian movement.Google Scholar

3 These and other discussions of ‘Tsung-chiao wen-t’i' (The Problem of Religion) were published in the following issue of Shao-nien chung-kuo, II, no. 8 (February 15, 1921); II, no. 11 (May 15, 1921); III, no. 1 (August 1, 1921) Wang was Professor of Chemistry at Peking University; and Chou later became Professor of Physics at National Chengtu University. Li Ta translated the wrings of a relatively obscure Dutch poet and socialist named Herman Gorter while Shen Yen-ping (Mao Tun) Provided a translation from Romain Rolland.

4 YüChia-Chü, ‘Chi-tu-chiao yü kan-ch'ing sheng-huo’ (Christianity and the Emotional Life), ibid. III, no. 11 (07, 1922); Ch'en Ch'i-t'ien, ‘Wo-men pu kai fan-tui yeh-chiao yün-tung ma?’ (Shouldn't We Oppose Christianity and Its Works?), ibid. III, no. 9 (04 1, 1922); Tu-hsiu, Ch'en, ‘Chi-tu-chiao yü chung-kuo jen’ (Christianity and the Chinese People), Hsin ch'ing-nien, VII, no. 3 (02, 1920);Google Scholar Pao Shih-chieh, ‘Chi-tu-chiao wen-t'i’ (The Problem of Christianity), ibid., VII, no. 5 (04, 1920); Yüan-p'ei, Ts'ai, ‘Chiao-yü tu-li i’ (Independence of Education), Hsin chiao-yū, IV, no. 3 (03, 1922); Po La-k'o nü-shih ch'ing-yen (Interview with Miss Dora Black), ‘Cheng-chih szu-hsiang yü ching-chi chuang-k'uang’ (Political Theory and Economic Conditions)Google Scholar, Chüeh-wu, 02 25, 1921.

5 An English translation of an abridged version of the Pi-hsieh chi-shih was made by Shantung Missionaries under the title, Death Blow to Corrupt Doctrines: A Plain Statement of Facts (Shanghai, 1870).Google Scholar For an analysis of the tract, see Cohen, China and Christianity, pp. 45–59. ‘What is Jesus?’ was published in Min-kuo jih-pao (Republic Daily), 12 25, 1919 and was reprinted in Fan-tui chi-tu-chiao yün-tung (The Anti-Christian Movement), a pamphlet published in Shanghai in 1924 and reissued in 1925. Chu Chih-hsin was a leading Tung-meng-hui propagandist and a close associate of Sun Yat-sen. He organized numerous uprisings against the Manchus and later against the government of Yuan Shih-k'ai. In 1918 he announced that he was abandoning military activities to devote himself to social and ideological reform and a year later he helped found Chien-she (Reconstruction), organ of the Kuomintang.

6 Chang, Tsung-chiao ssu-ch'ao, pp.187–8.

7 Stauffer, Milton T. (ed.), Youth and Renaissance Movements (N.Y. 1923), p. 34.Google Scholar

8 Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, ‘P'ing fei tsung-chiao t'ung-meng’ (A Comment on the Anti-Religious Federation), Tung-fang tsa-chih (The Eastern Miscellany), April 25, 1922.

9 LéonWieger, Chine Moderne, Vol. III, Remous et Ecume (Hsien-hsien, 1922), pp. 86–7;Google Scholar Chang, Tsung-chiao ssu-ch'ao, pp. 199–207. Hsiao Tzu-sheng, president of the Anti-religious Federation, had helped found the New People's Study Society in France and was a Member of its anarchist, anti-communist faction.

10 Ch'i-t'ien, Ch'en, ‘Wo-men pu kai fan-tui yeh-chiao yü chi yün-tung ma?’ Shao-nien chung-kuo, III, no. 9 (04 1, 1922);Google Scholar Yü Chia-chü, ‘Chi-tu-chiao yü kanch'ing sheng-huo’, ibid., III, no. 11 (07, 1922); WangChing-wei, Min-kuo jih-pao, April 15, 1922, trans. in Wieger, Chine Moderne, III, 83–5.

11 See letters and essays in Chüeh-wu, April 7, 16, 17, 1922; Hsin ch'ing-nien, IX, no. 6 (July, 1922), p. 128, reports on the first congress of the Socialist Yount League.

12 Trans. in Wieger, Chine Moderne, III, 40–1; The North China Herald, April 15, 1922 lists numerous educational institutions issuing anti-Christian manifestoes. The Language of the resolution of the Shansi Normal College at Taiyuan resembles that of the Peking School of Fine Arts.

13 Liu, Po-ming, ‘Fei tsung-chiao yün-tung p'ing-i’ (Comments on the Anti-Religion Movement), Hsüeh heng (Critical Review), no. 6 (06, 1922);Google Scholar Ching Ch'ang-chi, ‘Lunhsüeh-sheng yung-hu tsung-chiao chih pi-yao’ (A Discussion of the Importance of Student Support for Religion), ibid.

14 Yü Chia-chü of the Young China Association claims to have coined the slogan, Restore Educational Rights, in his Article, ‘Chiao-hui chiao-yü wen-t'i’ (The Problem of Church Education), Chung-hua chiao-yü chieh (Chinese Educational World), 10, 1923.

15 Christian Education in China (N.Y., 1922), p. 416.Google Scholar For a detailed study of the Protestant colleges in China, See Lutz, Jessie G., China and the Christian Colleges, 1850–1950 (Ithaca, 1971).Google Scholar

16 Stauffer, Milton T. (ed.), The Christian Occupation of China (Shanghai, 1922).Google Scholar

17 A Summary of the recommendations is given on pp. 361–75.

18 ‘Fan ti-kuo-chu-i yü fan ch'u pu-p'ing t'iao-yüeh chih yün-tung’ (The Movement to Oppose Imperialism and to Abrogate the Unequal Treaties), Tung-fang tsa-chih, XXI, no. 6 (08, 1924), pp. 127–41.Google Scholar

19 Latourette, K. S., A History of Christian Missions in China (N.Y., 1929), p. 697.Google Scholar

20 See Grieder, Jerome B., Hu Shih and the Chinese Renaissance: Liberalism in the Chinese Revolution, 1917–1937 (Cambridge, Mass., 1970), pp. 175–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

21 Wieger, , Chine Moderne, VI, Le Feu aux Poudres (Hsien-hsien, 1925), pp. 78–9.Google Scholar

22 Typical statements are: T'ai-hsüan, Chou, ‘Fei tsung-chiao chiao-yü yü chiao-hui chiao-yü’ (Against Religious Education and Church Education), Chung-hua chiao-yü chieh, XIV (12, 1924); Lu Jen, ‘Ti-kuo-chu-i to pao-chih wai-chiao-chia chi-tu chiao t'u yü chung-kuo chih min-tsu chieh-fang yün-tung’ (Imperialistic Journalists, Diplomats, Christian Missionaries and the Chineses People's Emancipation Movement)Google Scholar, Hsiang-tao chou-pao, August, 1925; ‘Kuang-chou hsüeh-sheng lieh-ho-hui shou-hui chiao-yü ch'üan yün-tung wei-yüan hui ti-erh-tz'u hsüan-yen’ (The Second Proclamation of the Restore Educational Rights Movement Commitee of the Canton Student Union), Chüeh-wu, December 9, 1924.

23 Ch'en Tu-hsiu, ‘Shou-hui chiao-yü ch'üan’ (Restore Educational Rights), Hsiang-tao chou-pao (July, 1924); Cheng Ch'ao-lin, ‘Tui ti-kuo-chu-i wen-hua ch'in-lüeh chih yu-i kang-i, Ya-li pa-k'a shih chien’ (Another Protest against the Cultural Invasion of Imperialism, the Strike at Yale-in-China), ibid., December, 1924; Wei Ch'in, ‘Ti-kuo-chu-i yü fan chi-tu-chiao yün-tung’ (Imperialism and the AntiChristian Movement), ibid., 01, 1925; ‘Wo-men wei shen-ma fan-tui chi-tu-chiao?’ (Why Are We Against Christianity?), Chung-kuo ch'ing-nien, 1923, no. 8.

24 ‘Chiao-yü-chieh hsiao-hsi’ (News of the Educational World), Chiao-yü tsa-chih (The Educational Review), XVI, no. 6 (06, 1924), 4–6.Google Scholar

25 Chang, , Tsung-chiao ssu-ch'ao, pp. 338–9.Google Scholar

26 K'o wrote under the pseudonym, Li Ch'un-fan, during the 1920s. Most of his articles were published in Chüeh wu; for example, see May 17, 1924, August 19, 1924, November 11, 1924, December 3 and 9, 1924. ‘Ch'uan-chiao yüti-kuo-chu-i’ (Evangelism and Imperialism) was reprinted in the pamphlet, , Fan-tui chi-tu-chiao yün-tung (The Anti-Christian Movement) (Shanghai, 1924). Jointly compiled by the Anti-Christian Federation and the China Youth Society (Chung-kuo ch'ing-nien she).Google Scholar

27 For some of the Christmas week tactics, see ‘Fei chi-tu-chiao chou’ (Anti-Christian Week), Chüeh-wu, 12 9, 1924./

28 The articles in the party periodicals are too numerous to list but see especially the issues of August, 1924, December, 1924, and December, 1925.

29 ‘Chi-tu-chiao yü ti-kuo-chu-i’ (Christianity and Imperialism), Fan chi-tu-chiao chou-k'an, February 25, 1925, pp. 3–6; ‘Liao Chung-k'ai yen-chiang’ (Lecture by Liao Chung-k'ai), ibid., March 4, 1925, p. 5. Some of material in this weekly was reprinted from Chinese Youth.

30 The China Christian Educational Association in 1925 asked schools to delay goverment registration until a satisfactory agreement on religious requirements had been reached. In 1926 it was still unable to make a positive recommendation for immediate registration but urged each school to do as it thought best. ‘Editorial Notes’, Educational Review, XVIII (July, 1926), 340.

31 For publicity concerning foreign control of education at Holy Trinity, Sacred Heart, Lingnan, and other Christian Institutions, see Ming, Chang, ‘Chiao-hui chiao-yü yü ti-kuo-chu-i’ (Church Education and Imperialism), Hsin Hsüeh-sheng, 06 1, 1924, pp. 163–5. Also, ‘Kuang-chou sheng-san-i hsüeh-chiao hsüeh-sheng fan-k'ang nu-li chiao-yü chih hsüan-yen chi ch'i-ta t'uan-t'i chih yüan chu sheng’ (Declaration against Slavish Education by the Holy Trinity College students at Canton and statements of Support by Other Groups),Chiao-yü tsa-chih, XVI (July, 1924). Almost every issue of Chüeh-wu during 05, 1924 includes articles condemning Christian education. See, for example, the essays of Li Ch'un-fan, wu Hsaio-fan, and Yang Yü-chiung.Google Scholar

32 Hsin-ch'eng, Shu, Chin-tai chung-kuo chiao-yü shih-liao (Historical Materials on Modern Chinese Education) (Shanghai, 1928), III, 180–3;Google Scholar‘Wai-kuo chiao-yüto ya-p'o’ (Oppression of Foreign Education), Chung-hua chiao-yü chieh, XV, no. 2 (08, 1925).Google Scholar

33 Correspondence of Edward H. Hume to Palmer Bevis, December 13, 14, 17, 19, 23, 1924 (Yali Archives, Box 28). Hume was president of Yale-in-China at the time.

34 Hail, William J., ‘Yali and the Chinese Revolution’ The Yali Quarterly, X (06, 1927), 4.Google Scholar ‘W. H. Hail to the Student Union of the Middle School,’ December 3, 1926 (Yali Archives, Box 30).

35 A brief report issued by Canton Christian College in 1927, entitled ‘Carrying On’, gives details on the strikes (located in Missionary Research Library, N.Y.C.), An English translation of the ‘Demands of the Staff Union of Canton Christian College’ is included in the correspondence of D. H.Leavens, April 23, 1927 (Yali Archives, Box 30).

36 See the various articles listed above, also the special on restoration of educational rights of the Chung-hua chiao-yü chieh, February, 1925.

37 Corbett, Charles H., Shantung Christian University (Cheeloo) (New York, 1955), pp. 173–4. According to Corbett, the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Committee of the Kuomintang in Tsinan aided and advised the small groups of Cheeloo activists, and negotiations had to be conducted with party representatives as well as with student leaders.Google Scholar