The largest question I had after reading this chapter was: How was Christianity so threatening in comparison to other religions in China?
Well . . . I looked it up. To my knowledge, the religions/philosophies that were prevalent in China earlier on were Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.
Confucianism is the set of philosophical beliefs developed by Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher. It is not so much a religion as a set of ethics based upon Confucius’s moral thought and other philosophers who debated about his views and came up with their own variations. The core idea of Confucianism is that people must work to improve themselves by learning all they can and observing certain moral values such as filial piety (the respect that a son must show his father, living or dead) that was extended into the five relationships: ruler to subjects, father to son, husband to wife, older brother to younger brother, friend to friend, and vice versa for each. However, Confucianism did not pose a danger to China, seeing as it endorsed the idea of divine right wherein a ruler that comes to power has the mandate of heaven, and each subject owes him the utmost respect according to the relationship chart of filial piety. The Chinese government would only benefit from supporting and enforcing Confucianism amongst its people.
Buddhism is also a self-improvement philosophy based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (a.k.a. the Buddha), although it does have elements of a Hinduism. It is considered by some to be a religion, but it is also practiced by enthusiasts sometimes without the religious (god-related) components. It is based on or arose in the same geographic location and cultural setting as Hinduism. The eight-fold path outlines how to escape the cycle of life, death, and rebirth accepted as truth in Hinduism. However, it is similar to Confucianism in that it does not preach loyalty to a separate existing entity that could threaten the Chinese government’s leadership.
Taoism is a religion that preaches observance of the laws of nature in human interactions. It too does not pose a threat to the Chinese government for the same reasons.
However, both Catholicism and Protestantism preach loyalty to the Bible, Jesus, and the Church (or at least within Catholicism to the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestants not as much) that can compete with loyalty owed to the Chinese government. Christianity played a significant role in the fight to abolish slavery and helped to spur rebellion against the system. Even a few decades ago when JFK (a Catholic) was elected President, there was concern that he would have dual loyalties and act as a puppet of the Vatican. I think primarily, Christianity also presents an alternative lifestyle and culture than the traditional Chinese culture which threatened the status quo of the East. Even when China was going through turmoil during the Cultural Revolution and what-not, the culture was Eastern. Christianity introduced Western theology and culture to the East. As evident in the chapter, the Chinese government’s reaction was not pretty. Governments are generally one of those kinds of people or institutions that hate new things =).
