Politicized Faith: The Transformation of the Discourse "Character, China's Salvation" of the Chinese YMCA, 1908–1927

This paper argues that, while David Z. T. Yui coined the term "Character, China's Salvation," the prototype of this concept already existed within the discourse of the members of the Chinese YMCA and Sherwood Eddy between 1908 and 1917 prior to Yui's articulation. The Association...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChing feng (English edition) Vol. 18; no. 1/2; pp. 123 - 147
Main Author Cecilia, Chung Cheuk-Chi
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hong Kong Christian Study Center on Chinese Religion and Culture 01.01.2019
EditionEnglish edition
Subjects
Associations
Campaigns
Christianity
Christians
Citizenship education
Discourses
Indigenization
Morality
Nationalism
Personality
Politicization
Prototypes
Transformation
China
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Summary:This paper argues that, while David Z. T. Yui coined the term "Character, China's Salvation," the prototype of this concept already existed within the discourse of the members of the Chinese YMCA and Sherwood Eddy between 1908 and 1917 prior to Yui's articulation. The Association members advocated that Christian morality was the panacea of China's self-strengthening and took the lead in politicizing, and thereby indigenizing, the mission of the YMCA. In the 1910s, Eddy took the turn to enrich these discourses and succeeded in popularizing this conception. It was not until 1917 that Yui began to adopt the concept of "Character, China's Salvation" at his work and subsequently launched the Civic Education Campaign. Therefore, the advocate for a politicized Christian character within the YMCA originated from its members and was sustained by its leaders; its indigenization in early twentieth-century China was, therefore, first a bottom-up and then top-down process.
ISSN:0009-4668