Expressions of Chinese Christianity in Texts and Contexts: In Memory of Our Mentor Professor R. G. Tiedemann (1941-2019)

The resilience of Chinese Christianity, characterized by diverse expressions of faith and practice, has garnered increasing scholarly attention as both a socio-cultural phenomenon and a field of study. This reprint presents innovative historical and social-scientific research on the transformations that have occurred within Chinese Christian movements. The contributors explore intra- and inter-church exchanges across Sino-Western linguistic, socio-cultural, and political boundaries, highlighting the trans-local networks that shaped Chinese Christianity. These articles argue that Chinese Christian expressions evolved either in analogy to or in resistance against Western missionary efforts, and in response to decades of socio-political upheaval that profoundly influenced Chinese churches and believers throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. All twelve articles explore the reciprocal nature of Sino-Christian encounters, highlighting linguistic innovations in knowledge exchange, Chinese Christians’ engagement with nationalism, and the consolidation of Cantonese and Wenzhou Protestant identities. These findings reveal the broader spectrum of Catholic and Protestant experiences in modern China. This reprint invites esteemed researchers to engage with novel source materials and examine the dynamics of Chinese Christianity within changing historical, socio-cultural, and transnational contexts.