The Dialogue Between Christianity And Three Anti-Christian Trends Of Thought In The Age Of The May Fourth Movement

As an essential transnational and intercultural civilization factor,the Christian religion,described as "A Globalized God," has influenced modern history globally.Marx,Engels,and other classical Marxist writers have long attached importance to studying Christianity’s ideological significance and theoretical value.As both a world religious belief system and a transnational cultural organization,Christianity has had a multidimensional and complex dialogue and interaction with modern Chinese civilization that promoted integration,innovation,and transformation.In modern times,the Christian religious missionary movement is colonial,penetrating,exclusive,and culturally aggressive and is a vital carrier of the Western centrist discourse system.However,it is also characterized by conceptual,modern,non-violent,and other cultural dialogue features and served as a bridge and intermediary for the communication and interaction between Chinese and Western civilizations.The multidimensional dialogue between Christianity and Chinese civilization was a significant part of modern international cultural relations.At the micro-level,it mainly manifested itself in the continuous provision of alternative foreign ideological resources,cultural concepts for the Chinese in their ideas and social-cultural development,and the resort to relevant comparative and competitive social practices.On the macro level,the dialogue shows that the Christian religious thought and culture system,through its theological system and modern connotation,has participated in transforming modern Chinese civilization.Through impact and conflict,adjustment and adaptation have become an essential reference and even component in constructing contemporary Chinese culture and social institutions.This thesis takes religion in Sino-Western cultural/civilizational relations as the fundamental domain of discussion.It explores the basic background and typical dialogue between the two sides in the Age of the May Fourth Movement(1915-1928),revealing the dialogue’s effects and influences.The thesis begins by systematically tracing the reasons for the increasing prominence of religious issues in contemporary international relations and international cultural studies and reviews the development of "dialogue" and its theoretical model in global civilizational connections and international cultural interactions.While focusing on the nature of the relationship between religion and civilization(from a historical and philosophical point of view),the paper reviews and summarizes three basic paradigms of the study of Christianity-Modern Chinese cultural relations since the founding of the People’s Republic of China :(1)that of "cultural aggression and anti-aggression" from the perspective of colonialism;(2)that of "cultural input and local adaptation" from the perspective of cultural exchange between China and the West;(3)that of "globalization and localization" form the perspective of global history.By reviewing and analyzing relevant representative research,this thesis points out the respective strengths and weaknesses of these research paradigms regarding their cognitive framework and methodological orientation.Based on the theoretical development of the "Perspective of Plural and Pluralist Civilizations" and "Religions and Civilizations Dialogue" since the new century,it attempts to synthesize those previous research paradigms re-analyze the typical dialogue cases of the Age of the May Fourth Movement.The central part of the thesis begins with a review of the international background of the global Christian missionary movement and the essential characteristics of its spread in the Chinese cultural sphere.On this basis,through sorting out and probing into the specific ideologies,cultural claims,and arguments of the representative organizations and figures related,this thesis analyzes,on a micro-level,the complex relationship between Christianity and three opposing ideological trends,including scientism,cultural conservatism(conservative cultural nationalism)and anarchism in Age of the May Fourth Movement.It is both aggressive and dialogical,repulsive and alienated,but also complementary and integrated.The constructive effects of the dialogue,as well as its shortcomings,are particularly emphasized to reveal the deep-seated disparity and misalignment between the two sides,the logic of perception and interaction,and the achievements from their convergence and mutual benefit,to identify one aspect of the Sino-Western cultural relations and the sinicization of Christianity in this particular era.The conclusion of this thesis,based on the investigation of the three cultural dialogue processes and their characteristics,comprehensively summarizes and reflects the basic patterns and features of the dialogue between Chinese and Western civilizations at this stage,as well as the Enlightenment and reference to the deep sinicization process of Christianity in the future development of Chinese and Western cultures.First of all,the May Fourth Era saw unprecedentedly fierce debates of the ancient and the modern and that of China and the West,resulting in a series of movements in which old and new ideas,such as Enlightenment thought,radicalism,and even conservatism,opposed the Christianity(and other religions).These social trends continue to fluctuate in response to changing international and domestic environmental conditions.Still,on the whole,they adapt to the basic demands of the Chinese nation to achieve national salvation,Enlightenment,and oppose foreign aggression.In general,they were also in line with the fundamental direction of Chinese civilization to promote the transformation of modernity,reflecting the characteristics and tendencies of Chinese society and culture towards foreign religions.Secondly,based on the modern rational spirit and the inclusiveness of Chinese civilization,there were ideological and cultural estrangements and intense confrontations.Still,violent conflicts rarely occurred in those anti-religious movements,which show that they also contain cultural exchange,convergence,and innovation,i.e.,there also multidimensional and pluralistic dialogues based on rational cognition and mutually beneficial interactions.Thus those movements constituted,in a sense,a positive factor in the modern transformation process of Chinese civilization.Third,under the pressure of counter-religious movements in modern China,on the one hand,the superiority of Western centralism and the closeness of traditional theological doctrines have been shattered to a large extent;on the other hand,Christianity has been able to mitigate cultural antagonisms and prevent conflicts from intensifying through dialogues and interactions that are faith-based and rational,thus gaining time and space to accelerate its organization reform,doctrinal changes,and social role adjustment.To sum up,the author believes that "strong confrontation but thin dialogue" and "dialogue in confrontation" consisted the main patterns of intercultural relationship between Christianity and anti-Christian trends of thought in the Age of the May Fourth Movement.Also,there have had a variety of dialogue types like "potential dialogue," "marginal dialogue," and "practical dialogue."The relationship reflects the significant differences between Chinese and Western civilizations in their cultural connotations and ethos.It suggests that civilizations’ reasonable elements and positive content can achieve inclusive coexistence and mutual benefit through equal communication and rational dialogues.Furthermore,it reflects the essential characteristics of the relationship between Chinese and Western civilizations,and itself is also characterized by features of the prominent "transitional era." The relevant historical experience in this respect can reference the academic,political,and religious communities to promote Christianity’s deep sinicization today.