Saving the Nation: Chinese Protestant Elites and the Quest to Build a New China, 1922-1952

by Thomas H. Reilly

Overview

While Protestant Christians made up only a small percentage of China's overall population during the Republican period, they were heavily represented among the urban elite. Protestant influence was exercised through churches, hospitals, and schools, and reached beyond these institutions into organizations such as the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) and YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association). The YMCA's city associations drew their membership from the urban elite and were especially influential within the modern sectors of urban society. Chinese Protestant leaders adapted the social message and practice of Christianity to the conditions of the republican era. Key to this effort was their belief that Christianity could save China — that is, that Christianity could be more than a religion focused on saving individuals, but could also save a people, a society, and a nation. Saving the Nation recounts the history of the Protestant elite beginning with their participation in social reform campaigns in the early twentieth century, continuing through their contribution to the resistance against Japanese imperialism, and ending with Protestant support for a social revolution. The story Thomas Reilly tells is one about the Chinese Protestant elite and the faith they adopted and adapted, Social Christianity. But it is also a broader story about the Chinese people and their struggle to strengthen and renew their nation — to build a New China.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190929527
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/18/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	14 MB
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About the Author

Thomas H. Reilly is Professor of Chinese History at Pepperdine University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Abbreviations A Note on Romanization Introduction Chapter One: The Mission to China Chapter Two: Social Reform and the Campaign to Christianize the Economy Chapter Three: The YMCA and the Gospel for the Urban Elite Chapter Four: Protestant Youth Save the Nation Chapter Five: Resisting Japan, Fighting Imperialism Chapter Six: The YMCA and the Protestant Elite Welcome the Revolution Epilogue Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

"This is a timely study for historians of Christianity and modern China... Reilly' emphasis on Protestant elites tied to the establishment is a helpful counterbalance to the many recent studies of popular or lesser known Chinese Christianities by the likes of Arrington, Christie Chow, Inouye, Ireland, Kilcourse, and Woodbridge." — Tim Yung, Religious Studies Review

"This book on Chinese Social Christianity fills a significant gap in the mission history of the Republican period. The historical background and organizational development are intertwined with lively and passionate figures who love China and God, albeit as complex characters." — Xiaoli Yang, Researcher and HDR Supervisor, Whitley College, University of Divinity,Box Hill, VIC, Australia, Mission Studies

"This book is a fine introduction to the importance of the Chinese Protestant urban elite'. Reilly has provided a solid foundation for understanding the impact of Chinese Protestant elite at a pivotal moment in modern China, and makes a strong case for their inclusion in the study of both the Church in China and China's twentieth-century story." — Church History

"this book provides a solid basis for future studies of social Christianity in China, and it will be of great value to scholars interested in the history of Christianity in China and global history of social Christianity" — Zhixi Wang, China Information

"This is a thoughtful history of the role of the Chinese Protestant elite in the struggle to build a new nation during the critical years from 1922 through 1952... Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." — S. C. Pearson, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville

"Thomas Reilly brilliantly demonstrates how Chinese leaders of the YMCA and the Protestant elite argued the case for national salvation, citizenship, and resistance against Japanese aggression...Saving the Nation has great appeal and significance for scholars and students of Chinese Christianity and modern Chinese history." — Alexander Chow, author of Chinese Public Theology: Generational Shifts and Confucian Imagination in Chinese Christianity

"This radical, opinionated, and immensely energetic account of early twentieth century American missionaries and Chinese Christians from the urban elite is a strongly argued defense of their contributions to Chinese society and the Chinese nation state. The subject matter ranges from YMCA campaigns against child labor to the dramatic story of an American woman missionary struggling to rescue young women during the Rape of Nanjing. It will compel many readers to rethink their assumptions." — Henrietta Harrison, University of Oxford

"With vivid detail, this book tells the story of people and institutions caught up in the encounter between Western social gospel Christianity and a China in the throes of war and revolution in the first half of the 20th century...This book will be of value not only to historians, but to social scientists and theologians - all who look for meaning in the fraught history of Sino-Western relations." — Richard Madsen, UC San Diego

From the Publisher