DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD: CHRISTIANITY AND TWENTIETH-CENTURY CHINESE FICTION

• Main Author: ROBINSON, LEWIS STEWART
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Subjects: literature, asian

The purpose of this dissertation is to help enlighten Western thought regarding Christianity as expressed through works of fiction by twentieth-century Chinese writers. The importance of these works is that they "separate the wheat from the tare," embracing what the authors perceive as vital in Christianity, and rejecting that which they perceive as destructive, nonproductive, or just superfluous.
The metaphor of the double-edged sword is borrowed from the New Testament (Hebrews 4:12) and is used in this dissertation to depict the dichotomies created by the presence of Christ's teachings in twentieth-century Chinese fiction. One important thrust of the sword distinguishes between the actions of various Christians and the original intent of Christ's message. In general, a distinction is made between Christ's teachings in their pure sense and the distorted form they assume under the influence of an adulterated institution.
Ch'en Tu-hsiu, the "Renaissance Man" of the May Fourth Movement, sets the stage for this dissertation in his 1920 article "Christianity and the Chinese People," in which he is careful to differentiate the exemplary character of Jesus from the pharisaic behavior of those who give Christianity a bad name. The broad sample of literary works included in this dissertation echoes this insightful demarcation between sterile, institutional Christianity and the creative process of inner development inherent in the person of Jesus Christ.
All selections are from the Republican Period (1912-1949), extended to include post-1949 Republic of China (Taiwan). The reason is twofold: (1) both modern Chinese literature of the type dealt with in this dissertation and the presence of Christianity in that literature began, by and large, with the Literary Revolution circa 1917, and (2) Christianity disappeared as a topic for fiction in post-1949 Mainland China, but enjoyed a revival on Taiwan, especially during the last two decades.
This dissertation discusses the impact of Christianity upon twentieth-century Chinese fiction by examining the authors' respective responses to the religion through their Christianity-related works. This dissertation takes the point of view that the Christian Church in China must learn from these writers and evolve accordingly.