“Kingdom-Minded” People Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies
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“Kingdom-Minded” People Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies Edited by Andrew Davies, University of Birmingham William K. Kay, Glyndŵr University Advisory Board Kimberley Alexander, Pentecostal Th eological Seminary Allan Anderson, University of Birmingham Mark Cartledge, University of Birmingham Jacqueline Grey, Alphacrucis College, Sydney Byron D. Klaus, Assemblies of God Th eological Seminary, Springfi eld, MO Wonsuk Ma, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies Jean-Daniel Plüss, European Pentecostal/Charismatic Research Association Cecil M. Robeck, Jr, Fuller Th eological Seminary Calvin Smith, King’s Evangelical Divinity School VOLUME 8 Th e titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/gpcs “Kingdom-Minded” People Christian Identity and the Contributions of Chinese Business Christians By Denise A. Austin LEIDEN • BOSTON 2011 Th is book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Austin, Denise A. Kingdom-minded people : Christian identity and the contributions of Chinese business Christians / by Denise A. Austin. p. cm. -- (Global Pentecostal and Charismatic studies, ISSN 1876-2247 ; v. 8) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-20402-7 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. China--Church history--20th century. 2. Businesspeople--Religious life--China--History--20th century. 3. Business--Religious aspects--Christianity--History--20th century. I. Title. II. Series. BR1288.A97 2011 261.8’5089951009041--dc23 2011028625 ISSN 1876-2247 ISBN 978 90 04 20402 7 Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Th e Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to Th e Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. For my wonderful husband and best friend, Garry CONTENTS Foreword ........................................................................................................ ix Preface ............................................................................................................ xi Acknowledgements ....................................................................................xiii List of Illustrations and Tables ...................................................................xv List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................xix Note on Romanisation ...............................................................................xxi Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 PART A CHRISTIAN IDENTITY AND THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF PROTESTANT BUSINESS CHRISTIANS IN MODERN CHINA 1. Th e Rise of the Chinese Christian Merchant Class ........................... 11 2. Th e Making of Chinese Business Christians ...................................... 33 3. Christian Identity and Social Contribution ........................................53 4. Doing Business as a Christian in Early Twentieth Century China ........................................................................................71 5. Where Eastern Philanthropy and Western Charity Collide ...........107 6. Building the Indigenous Church in China ....................................... 133 PART B A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 7. A Comparison with Chinese Business Catholics .............................161 8. Chinese Business Christians in Early Twentieth Century Australia ................................................................................................ 185 viii contents 9. ‘Kingdom-Minded’ Contemporary Chinese Business Christians .............................................................................................. 213 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 239 Bibliography ............................................................................................... 245 Index ........................................................................................................... 275 FOREWORD History is a literary art pursued by a socially-engaged observer. On one hand, the historian attempts to establish the externalised fact base – a catalogue of available literary, material and oral elements which speak in non-objective ways about the non-present past. On the other hand, the observer is always called upon to bridge the gap between the present and past through empathy. In turn, empathy requires a refi ned, humanised imagination informed by experience. Th is is what we fi nd in this work on Chinese business Christians by Denise Austin. While informed by a masterful command of the available sources, Austin’s text is not merely satisfi ed with telling the story. She is interested in retrieving that most diffi cult of historical quanta, human motivation. Th e forgotten element in many studies of Chinese business people, and indeed, many other signifi cant groups, is religious identity. Most social scientists, historians included, look for economic, political, cul- tural and social ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors, and so therefore tend to reduce religion into a refl ection of one or another of these elements. Th e result is a ‘fl attening’ of personal motivations through the process of fi ltering out the data which individuals themselves present. When a historical actor says “Th e Lord was leading me to…”, historians automatically translate this into terms such as “[subject name] was pushed by their economic circumstances to …, for which they sought justifi cation through religious language.” Th is is the social science fi lter in action. Historians oft en do not feel comfortable in talking about faith, or inte- rior motivations, in part because they wish to avoid trespassing upon the territory of the psychologist or sociologist. By taking the available “wealth of historical and missiological literature” seriously, Austin is able to restore religion as a dynamic factor in the shaping and maintenance of specifi c Christian communities. As a person with experience in Christian settings in Asia, Austin calls upon her knowledge of real peo- ple in real places to restore human motivation as a factor in economic and social contribution. Here indeed is “a refi ned, humanised imagina- tion informed by experience.” Austin’s fi ndings are important both for the business scholarship and economic history of Asia, and for the historical understanding of global Christianity. If one wants to discover the reason why Chinese Malay business people are able to maintain their promise in economies that are x foreword oft en racially and religiously antagonistic, Dahles shows that one has to understand the central role that Christianity (particularly Pentecostal/ charismatic Christianity in recent times) plays in providing mobile, coherent community identities to diasporic peoples.1 As I have noted elsewhere: In wealthy but oligarchical Singapore, charismatic Christianity has expanded rapidly among (particularly English educated, ethnic Chinese) youth cultures squeezed out of meaningful public discourse by the expan- sion of the state and the post-colonial repression of mainline forms of the faith.2 Th is highly globally engaged and highly educated cohort may be found in transnational companies all around the world.3 It is not a coincidence that they are also an important element in the congregations of transna- tional mega-churches, both in Asia and the West. Th e importance of the growth of Christianity in China is sometimes overstated.4 Nevertheless, Austin here provides an important counterbalance, demonstrating that it is the ability of Christianity to provide communities, both within China and beyond, with mobile, coherent identities that may in the end prove to be the reason for the long term impact of Chinese Christians. I welcome this book, which is a confl uence not just of good scholar- ship but of the sort of personal experience which permits the author the critical faculty of historical empathy. It has much to contribute to con- temporary discussions of the interplay between economics, culture, social structures and religious conviction. Mark Hutchinson Head, History and Society Program, Alphacrucis College & University Historian, University of Western Sydney. 1 Heidi Dahles, “In Pursuit of Capital: Th e Charismatic Turn Among the Chinese Managerial and Professional Class in Malaysia”, Asian Ethnicity, 8, 2 (June 2007), 90. 2 In M. Hutchinson and J. Wolff e, A Short History of Global Evangelicalism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012 forthcoming). 3 Malaysian Christian businessmen such as Khoo Kay Peng and Quek Leng Chan, for instance, own a signifi cant slice of the hotel industry in London. Michael Backman, Th e Asian Insider: Unconventional Wisdom for Asian Business (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 112. 4 Philip C. Holtrop, “On Simplicity, Balance, and Wearing Spectacles: A Discussion of David Aikman’s Jesus in Beijing”, Calvin Th eological Journal, 40, 1 (April 2005), 111. Aikman’s book is: David