Sacred Webs：The Social Lives and Networks of Minnan Protestants, 1840s-1920s

ISBN13: 9789004339163

E-ISBN: 9789004339170

Publication Date: March 2017

Format: Hardback

Imprint: BRILL

Language: English

Abstract

In Sacred Webs, historian Chris White demonstrates how Chinese Protestants in Minnan, or the southern half of Fujian Province, fractured social ties and constructed and utilized new networks through churches, which served as nodes linking individuals into larger Protestant communities. Through analyzing missionary archives, local church reports, and available Chinese records, Sacred Webs depicts Christianity as a Chinese religion and Minnan Protestants as laying claim to both a Christian faith and a Chinese cultural heritage.

Biographical note

Chris White, Ph.D. (2011), Xiamen University, MA (2006), University of Pittsburgh, is currently a Post-Doctoral Researcher with the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity.

Table of contents

Note on Terms and Spelling

List of Images, Chart and Maps

Introduction

Chapter 1 Setting the Minnan Stage

Section 1 Displaced Gods and Riceless Christians: The Processes of Conversion among Minnan Protestants

Chapter 2 Processing Conversion

Chapter 3 Converting Costs

Section 2 Movers and Shakers: Mobility and Conflict in Minnan Protestant Communities

Chapter 4 Minnan Protestants on the Move

Chapter 5 Understanding Chinese Protestant Conflicts

Chapter 6 Networking Conflicts

Chapter 7 Celebrating Protestant Networks

Section 3 The Liberating Gospel: Xu Chuncao and Spiritual and Social Activism of Minnan Protestants

Chapter 8 Incorporating Protestant and Secular Networks

Conclusion

Appendix 1: Instances of Minnan Protestant Converts Forfeiting their Employment to Join the Church, 1846–1866

Appendix 2: Index of Chinese Characters

References

Index