A Comparative Study Of The Indigenous Chinese Christian Thoughts Between Francis Wei And T.C. Chao

The indigenization of Chinese Christianity is an important part in the development of modern Christianity in China.In the early twentieth century,China faced internal and external troubles,especially the invasion of Western forces,prompting Christian scholars and church leaders to deeply reflect on the issue of indigenization.Francis Wei and T.C.Chao were Chinese Christian scholars and educators known as the “South Wei North Chao” in the last century.They were in the same era and received their education in schools and universities in the Western Christian system.On the one hand,they emphasized the doctrine of the Christian faith.On the other hand,they also attached importance to the inheritance of Chinese traditional culture,and eventually developed a profoundly influential Chinese Christian thought.They advocated the indigenization of Christian thought and had an important position in the history of modern Chinese Christian thought.In the past,scholars have done a lot of studies on Francis Wei and T.C.Chao.So far,there has not been any research on the similarities and differences of “South Wei North Zhao”,especially the removal of cultural aggression and western slavery from the Chinese Christian thought that they advocated,in addition,patriotic education and patriotic spirit embodied on the education platform.In the dimension of modern Chinese history,this study based on the history data,which consisted of Francis Wei and T.C.Chao’s writings,biographical files,self-reports,the school overviews and school affairs information of Huazhong University and Yenching University,correspondence with people in the country and abroad;combining with relevant Chinese and English materials stored in Central China Normal University Archives,Peking University Archives,University of London Archives,Yale University Divinity School Archives,Union Theological Seminary Archives at Columbia University,Shanghai East China Theological Seminary Archives,etc.,applying traditional literature research methods,interdisciplinary research(the studies of history,religions,cultures and education),comparative research,etc.,the author analyzedFrancis Wei and T.C.Chao’s Chinese Christian thoughts of indigenization with patriotic characteristics.This article is divided into six parts of analysis.The introduction delineates the purpose and significance of this study,summarizes the current research on Francis Wei and T.C.Chao,followed with the outline of the thinking,structure and research methods of this study,and then defines the related concept.Chapter 1 explores Francis Wei’s and T.C.Chao’s growth and development of the indigenous Chinese Christian thoughts,from their embarking on the path of Christian faith,attending missionary schools,study and experience in the Western world,and returning from Western culture to China to take charge of university administration,discussing their origin and intersection with church universities.Mainly through the important historical events in China in the first half of the twentieth century,as well as their experiences in exchanges with the West,the study shows that their Chinese Christian thoughts with patriotic spirit.The second chapter explicates Francis Wei’s indigenized Christian thought.From the promotion of the recognition of self-identity and the search for the integration of Eastern and Western cultures,he proposed the equal status of Chinese and Western cultures,and developed an indigenized Christian cultural concept.This concept not only could be embodied in university education,but also unleash the unity of the nation and the unity of denominations.The third chapter scrutinizes T.C.Chao’s indigenous Christian ideas,according to the important period of his two different central ideas in Christian thought,and explores how he integrated Christian thought into Chinese traditional culture,integrating Chinese living and ethics,and interpreting the core of faith in Christianity with Chinese cultural elements,establishing an indigenous Christian ideological system with patriotism.In Chapter 4 Francis Wei’s and T.C.Chao’s concepts and practices of indigenous Christianity are compared.Wei and Chao put emphasis on the value of Chinese culture,believed that Christianity could fulfill Chinese traditional Confucian culture.In addition,they both took neo-orthodoxy ideas as their bases.Due to their different research approaches,they used philosophical and cultural approach,as well as approach of Biblical studies and Christian doctrines separately to be their entry points.Therefore,in the concepts and practices of indigenous Christianity,they were both committed to integrate Christianity and Chinese culture,promoting the development of indigenous Chinese Christianity.While contributing to the country and the people,they also showed their difference in the embodiment of Chinese Christianity,thus developed into the patriotic education at university in China,as well as the patriotic Chinese Christian Church and Chinese Christian thoughts.Finally,the conclusion points out that during the development of indigenous Chinese Christian thought,Francis Wei and T.C.Chao constructed a kind of patriotic indigenous Christian thought.This indigenous spirit was not only manifested in their lives,they also embodied it in the field of education.Based on the respect for the cultures of different nations they advocated that every nation can absorb the inherent cultural essence in the interpretation of Christian thought.Chinese culture is a culture of equal status to Western Christian culture.While Wei and Chao promoted the development of indigenous Christian thought,they also showed the same emphasis on Chinese culture,interpreting Christian thought in the spirit of Chinese culture.This kind of patriotic indigenous Chinese Christian thought inherits the Christian tradition and core values,is also an ideological system without being enslaved by the West,in addition,opposing Western hegemony.Both Francis Wei and T.C.Chao were modern Chinese Christian thinkers and educators.The former,in a cultural synthesis,embodied the spirit of Christ in the general education of the university,whereas the latter advocated the sinicization of Christian doctrines.The result of their efforts is a kind of patriotic indigenization Christianity and a kind of patriotic university general education.The most meaningful that they have in common in the history of modern Chinese Christianity is the embodiment of the patriotic elements in Chinese Christianity.In this study,the results show that for the critical moment of the development of Chinese Christian thoughts,Francis Wei and T.C.Chao has laid the foundation of indigenous Christian thoughts.