Being 'Hakka' and Christianity: Exploring the tensions between the 'Hakka' ethnic identity and Christianity in northwestern Taiwan

This study is concerned with the small size of the "Hakka" Chinese Christian community in Taiwan despite evangelistic efforts on this island for more than one hundred and forty years. Its goal is to help Christians better understand how those who are being "Hakka" in northwestern Taiwan are interacting about Christianity so they can more effectively and intentionally engage these "Hakkas.";This study uses the social constructionist lens on ethnicity to explore the tensions between being "Hakka" and Christianity in northwestern Taiwan and how "Hakka" Christians are responding in the context of these tensions. It first explores how "Hakkas" talk about being "Hakka"---the meanings and boundaries they associate with this ethnic identity ---and then investigates "Hakka" non-Christian categorizations of Christianity and "Hakka" Christian ministry responses in the context of these categorizations. In doing so, it moves beyond the limitations of Homogeneous Unit Principle thinking and rather engages the social science scholarship on ethnicity and ethnic groups.;This study used basic interpretive qualitative research methodology and involved interviews of a diverse group (in age, education, and residence) of thirty-six "Hakkas" living in Hsinchu, Taoyuan, Miaoli, and Taipei counties and Taipei and Hsinchu cities. These informants were located through reputational case and chain referral sampling, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with them primarily using the Hakka language.;This research reveals that the tensions between being "Hakka" and Christianity in northwestern Taiwan are rooted in the cultural "stuff" of being "Hakka," "stuff' that is both "fixed" and "fluid" and shapes the perceptions and actions of "Hakkas." This study also reveals that these tensions surface in the negative categorizations that non-Christian "Hakkas" have of Christianity, categorizations that relate to "Hakka" history, family, reciprocal relationships, "everyone," and Christianity and are constructed using the raw materials of their cultural "stuff' when these "Hakka" encounter cultural differences in Christian practices. This study further reveals that Christian "Hakkas" who are reaching out to non-Christian "Hakkas" respond, in the context of these categorizations, by emphasizing the "Hakka" aspect of their ministries to different extents, contesting these categorizations, and constructing "Hakka" in ways that justify prioritizing ministry to "Hakkas."...