Ethics, Identity and Identification - moral values in China’s modern Christian community - 中欧社会论坛 - China Europa Forum

Ethics, Identity and Identification - moral values in China’s modern Christian community

Authors: Li Xiangping

Extract from ” Tian Feng, (« Heavenly Breeze »), Vol.9, 2007“

« The cultural role of Christianity in China’s social transition » is a study into the important role played by Christian ethics in transition economy China. It analyses the theory developed by Max Weber in his work « The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism », whereby Protestant ethics are a driving force of modern, rational capitalism; a role that classical Confucianism cannot fulfil.

The article contends that Christian ethics as they are practiced by Chinese Christians can be analysed in terms of how the latter identify with a hierarchical ethical system and adhere to it. Furthermore, in order to understand the status of the Christian community in China, it is important to note that this community identifies with hierarchical ethics as a result of individual faith and adherence to ethical norms in general.

The first part of this article is a critique of conclusions drawn by Weber based on his research of religions in China - research which, according to the author, neglected to consider one major point: in Chinese society, religion does not have the same unitary role it does in Western culture, since the Chinese have always taken a pluralist approach to religion. Weber’s analysis of Chinese ways of thinking from an entirely Confucianist perspective is therefore overly restrictive.

The article then studies how Christian believers in China identify with their religion in the current social context and the shape that this identification takes. The author highlights that religious identification among the Chinese Christian community as a subject of study is often neglected in favour of historical and political issues; this despite the fact that religious identity provides not only a basis for understanding the behaviour of Christian believers, but can also be a useful tool for resolving existing problems and guiding religious practices. The author points out the weaknesses of socially-based identification, self-identification strategies and union-based hierarchical identification.

In the third part of the article, the author, using evidence collected through interviews to study social definition and religious identity, discusses religious identification strategy, the notion of order, and the dual identity of Chinese Christians.

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