"Accommodation and compromise in the contact zone : Christianity and Chinese culture in modern Hong Kong literature" / Yang Yi 楊一.

Religions 15 (2024).

This article belongs to the Special Issue Expressions of Chinese Christianity in Texts and Contexts: In Memory of Our Mentor Professor R. G. Tiedemann (1941–2019).

Local access dig.pdf [Yang-Accommodation and Compromise.pdf]

Abstract:

Situated in the unique historical context of Hong Kong—a contact zone between East and West—this study explores how Christianity’s introduction through British colonialism and missionary efforts has intertwined with and influenced Chinese cultural traditions. By examining selected works of Xu Dishan and Chen Zanyi, this study reveals the dynamic negotiations of identity and values between these two cultural and religious traditions. These literary works not only depict the complexities of cultural hybridity but also provide insights into the evolving nature of cultural identity in Hong Kong, illustrating how global religions and local traditions can merge and transform each other. This study contributes to understanding the intricate dance of religious exchange, conflict, and compromise in Hong Kong’s cross-culture setting, suggesting that such literary explorations can bridge Christianity with the socio-economic, cultural, and historical fabric of Chinese society.

Contents: Introduction, by C. T. Hsia -- Ch’ü Ch’iu-po: the making and destruction of a tenderhearted communist -- The phenomenon of Chiang Kuang-tz’u -- Lu Hsün and the dissolution of the League of Leftist Writers -- Aspects of the power of darkness in Lu Hsün -- Enigma of the five martyrs -- Twenty years after the Yenan Forum.

Keywords: literature, Japanese occupation, 1937-1945, Japanese-sponsored propaganda works, Aying, Ming mo yihen, Yao Ke, Qinggongyuan ; fatalism in literature, Qian Zhongshu, Weicheng, sardonic fatalism of Western authors, Huxley, Maugham, Waugh.