Thoughts and some Reflection on Chistianity and the Chinese Culture
n*drea - for redemption & glory~* says:
I detest this paragraph:
Christianity is NOT a western view... if they say that we have become more educated, then this sentence is a contradiction. We didn't get more educated, we simply got influenced by the west!
I cannot agree with Andrea more. My being an English educated person has nothing to do with my decision to be a Christian!!
If that is the case why not say once a person is Chinese Educated, they are destined to be Buddhists or Taoists? That's not true also right??
I know of many Chinese Educated people who are as Christian as I am & it has nothing to do with a Western ideal kinda theory.
They were simply touched by His love for them just as I was... I see his signature all over my life - and if you don't or that I am a nut or freak or just plain biased - it's okay. =) I know WHOSE I am and I have a great relationship with Him and so it is okay what people say/think about me.
You can't use sociology to dissect Christians and their belief in Christ. It doesn't work that way. =p Oh well... =)
Another article:
Mum's SMS: 'You cannot be baptised until I die'
Ms Ng, a Christian and her husband Timmy at the Zion Bible Presbyterian Church in Bishan. Her mother is upset that her baptised daughter will not be able to perform her funeral rites.
A SINGLE text message from her staunchly Buddhist mother said it all: 'You cannot be baptised until I die.'
Ms Cindy Ng had been a closet Christian for five years, but wanted to 'come out' and be baptised with her mother's blessing.
But each time Ms Ng, now 28, raised the subject, she was stonewalled. After that terse text message, she wrote her mother a letter.
'I explained why Christianity was important to me...I wanted her to realise I was not betraying her.'
Her mother, 53, eventually told her to do what she wanted, which she interpreted as a blessing. That was when she stopped practising Buddhism and Taoism.
Ms Ng had attended secular schools and grown up in a home with at least three shrines, including one to the Goddess of Mercy. Family life was leavened with religious activities, such as visiting temples and ancestors' urns to make offerings. Her mother was born Taoist, but embraced Buddhism later in life.
But Ms Ng said Buddhism did little for her, adding: 'It makes good sense and teaches good morals...But making offerings for blessings seemed too much of a transaction.'
She had a tough time in junior college. Teased for being overweight, she found acceptance and comfort in the services held at Zion Bible Presbyterian Church in Bishan, a place introduced to her by a friend.
Then her sister, who is three years younger, dropped a second bombshell on her mother - she, too, was to become a Christian.
Her mother was even more vexed because her second daughter had, after all, gone through a formal Buddhist induction.
It has been some years, but the sisters' conversions continue to spark tension, notably on red-letter days.
When Ms Ng got married last year, for example, her mother wanted the almanac to decide the wedding date. But she and her husband, church worker Timmy Ng, 26, had their hearts set on 07.07.07.
The couple had the traditional tea ceremony, but rejected the idea of offering joss sticks to the ancestral altar or the Goddess of Mercy; neither did they want a feng shui master's advice on how to decorate their new home.
This upset her mother. Ms Ng said: 'She could not understand why. We told her we knew she was trying to be helpful, but we believe in something else.'
And then when her paternal grandmother died earlier this year, Ms Ng had to tread a fine line with funeral rites.
Along with others in the family who had turned Christian, she made herself 'useful' at the wake by serving food and drinks. But she refused to hold joss sticks or take part in the other rituals.
'There is no point doing something you don't believe in,' she said.
She does not think religious differences have opened up a gulf between her and her mother.
She said: 'We may be mother and child, but she has to realise that she is mother to an adult child. It's not that I am being unfilial or not a good daughter.'
ARTI MULCHAND
I struggled at first with the whole paying respect for non-Christian relatives at their funerals as (well as during Qing Ming and death anniversaries).
As a kid, growing up in a Catholic family, I was made to do it anyway - full blown with offering joss sticks , offerings and burning of paper money and all of that stuff. My parents said it is to respect the dead person's beliefs. Mum said the priests said it was okay to do that.
But now, I see it differently I guess.
To respect my living elders, I will do a polite bow to the one who has already moved on & say a prayer for them, as opposed to offering joss sticks. I show respect but I don't go back on my beliefs or stumble/confuse others through my actions.
A cousin asked me what if I were born to non-Christians, then how?
I said I guess I'd organize the funeral the way they'd want it out of respect to them and their living relatives of the same faith.
I'd pray for them and do respectful bows, but I draw the line at offering joss sticks and paper offerings - I will let another relative who shares the same faith as they do, do it on my behalf.
What would you do? =)
Anyway, for my wedding I did honour my Mum by doing the banquet thing her way and respecting her views on dowry or si dian jing (Teochew form of dowry) etc. But I drew my line clearly at consulting fortune tellers for the perfect timing and date etc. because I believe how successful my marriage is depends not on these stuff, but on whether the marriage is built upon Christ.
Thankfully she was okay with that altho' we had a fiasco about my not piercing my ears. It went something like that -
"What do you mean you don't want to pierce your ears? Where got teochew bride don't pierce ears one?"
"What has being Teochew got to do with piercing my ears?"
"You just have to take good care of it."
"But everytime I pierece my ears they get infected even when I put alcohol and clean and keep it hygienic. It hurts and I don't want to have a swollen ear on my wedding day."
"There is one day you pierce right, guarantee your ears won't swell."
"What day?"
"One day lah."
"You think I don't know which day is it? You forgot you told me once that it is on Kwan Yin's birthday. So no... no way I am piercing my ears especially on that day."
I mean what's the deal about piercing my ears?? I honestly tried to do it twice - not becoz of the Teochew thing - but because I wanted to wear pretty, dangly earrings. It just really isn't worth the pain imho. Lol.
I told her that instead of buying earrings, we can buy a more expensive bracelet or ring or pendant to make up for that. Also, I theorised, if you count the chain - it is four items still. Lol.
She was okay with it in the end, but she was very offended at the start. Sighs. =)
Fox News interviewed this guy who is the son of a Hamas leader and who converted to Christianity. He is now living in the States to be safe.
As you know, if one converts from Islam the is considered an infidel and the family must break all ties with him.
He was asked if it was easy to leave his family and all that he knew behind to embrace Christ and in his answer he mentioned -
Saying goodby to culture, traditions... this is the same paradox many of us face in our decision to follow Christ.
Chinese culture, a huge chunk of it, is tied up in Taoist beliefs I feel. So sometimes it is hard to differentiate between what is culture culture and what is culture mixed with Taoism.
I am blessed in that my parents are Catholics which is at least not Taoism or Buddhism... but I know friends from Taoist families who have a hard time when it comes to certain practices and traditions of their family. It gets quite tricky trying to stand by your belief and trying to honour your parent's feelings at the same time.
Some of them, like the lady in the news article, did not dare to tell their parents about their belief. When a few eventually did - WWIII broke loose at home!
I am still a baby Christian - I was baptised last year and only accepted Christ as a Christian 3 or 4 years ago. (Funny thing was I did accept Him when I got a Gideon bible in primary 3 whilst in school. I recited the sinner's prayer and signed my name where they said to sign. Lol. But then I thought it was like Catholicism and I was so steeped in that for most of my life, so I felt truly redeemed only when I finally left the Catholic Church & its rituals/traditions/laws.) My knowledge of the bible is still growing. I cannot quote the bible verbatim yet hehe, but I know the gist of the verses and the promises.
I don't believe in being disrespectful to my elders regarding religion, and whilst I am more careful about evangelizing to family (because sometimes like Jesus wasn't accepted in his home town, it just isn't as acceptable to our elders/family members when it is coming from us), I believe in praying for their salvation anyway.
Like a younger cousin of mine once said to me : P U S H - Pray Until Something Happens.
What we can do is to keep interceding for them because they have not the revelation to do so for themselves.
I am a Christian and I am happy that I am in Christ. I hope you can be happy for me too. =)
I detest this paragraph:
Christianity has grown here amid an evolving social context: The population has
become more educated. English has also grown in use, and brought with it a
Western world view and culture. ( - National University of Singapore sociologist Alexius Pereira)
Christianity is NOT a western view... if they say that we have become more educated, then this sentence is a contradiction. We didn't get more educated, we simply got influenced by the west!
I cannot agree with Andrea more. My being an English educated person has nothing to do with my decision to be a Christian!!
If that is the case why not say once a person is Chinese Educated, they are destined to be Buddhists or Taoists? That's not true also right??
I know of many Chinese Educated people who are as Christian as I am & it has nothing to do with a Western ideal kinda theory.
They were simply touched by His love for them just as I was... I see his signature all over my life - and if you don't or that I am a nut or freak or just plain biased - it's okay. =) I know WHOSE I am and I have a great relationship with Him and so it is okay what people say/think about me.
You can't use sociology to dissect Christians and their belief in Christ. It doesn't work that way. =p Oh well... =)
Another article:
Mum's SMS: 'You cannot be baptised until I die'
Ms Ng, a Christian and her husband Timmy at the Zion Bible Presbyterian Church in Bishan. Her mother is upset that her baptised daughter will not be able to perform her funeral rites.
A SINGLE text message from her staunchly Buddhist mother said it all: 'You cannot be baptised until I die.'
Ms Cindy Ng had been a closet Christian for five years, but wanted to 'come out' and be baptised with her mother's blessing.
But each time Ms Ng, now 28, raised the subject, she was stonewalled. After that terse text message, she wrote her mother a letter.
'I explained why Christianity was important to me...I wanted her to realise I was not betraying her.'
Her mother, 53, eventually told her to do what she wanted, which she interpreted as a blessing. That was when she stopped practising Buddhism and Taoism.
Ms Ng had attended secular schools and grown up in a home with at least three shrines, including one to the Goddess of Mercy. Family life was leavened with religious activities, such as visiting temples and ancestors' urns to make offerings. Her mother was born Taoist, but embraced Buddhism later in life.
But Ms Ng said Buddhism did little for her, adding: 'It makes good sense and teaches good morals...But making offerings for blessings seemed too much of a transaction.'
She had a tough time in junior college. Teased for being overweight, she found acceptance and comfort in the services held at Zion Bible Presbyterian Church in Bishan, a place introduced to her by a friend.
Then her sister, who is three years younger, dropped a second bombshell on her mother - she, too, was to become a Christian.
Her mother was even more vexed because her second daughter had, after all, gone through a formal Buddhist induction.
It has been some years, but the sisters' conversions continue to spark tension, notably on red-letter days.
When Ms Ng got married last year, for example, her mother wanted the almanac to decide the wedding date. But she and her husband, church worker Timmy Ng, 26, had their hearts set on 07.07.07.
The couple had the traditional tea ceremony, but rejected the idea of offering joss sticks to the ancestral altar or the Goddess of Mercy; neither did they want a feng shui master's advice on how to decorate their new home.
This upset her mother. Ms Ng said: 'She could not understand why. We told her we knew she was trying to be helpful, but we believe in something else.'
And then when her paternal grandmother died earlier this year, Ms Ng had to tread a fine line with funeral rites.
Along with others in the family who had turned Christian, she made herself 'useful' at the wake by serving food and drinks. But she refused to hold joss sticks or take part in the other rituals.
'There is no point doing something you don't believe in,' she said.
She does not think religious differences have opened up a gulf between her and her mother.
She said: 'We may be mother and child, but she has to realise that she is mother to an adult child. It's not that I am being unfilial or not a good daughter.'
ARTI MULCHAND
I struggled at first with the whole paying respect for non-Christian relatives at their funerals as (well as during Qing Ming and death anniversaries).
As a kid, growing up in a Catholic family, I was made to do it anyway - full blown with offering joss sticks , offerings and burning of paper money and all of that stuff. My parents said it is to respect the dead person's beliefs. Mum said the priests said it was okay to do that.
But now, I see it differently I guess.
To respect my living elders, I will do a polite bow to the one who has already moved on & say a prayer for them, as opposed to offering joss sticks. I show respect but I don't go back on my beliefs or stumble/confuse others through my actions.
A cousin asked me what if I were born to non-Christians, then how?
I said I guess I'd organize the funeral the way they'd want it out of respect to them and their living relatives of the same faith.
I'd pray for them and do respectful bows, but I draw the line at offering joss sticks and paper offerings - I will let another relative who shares the same faith as they do, do it on my behalf.
What would you do? =)
Anyway, for my wedding I did honour my Mum by doing the banquet thing her way and respecting her views on dowry or si dian jing (Teochew form of dowry) etc. But I drew my line clearly at consulting fortune tellers for the perfect timing and date etc. because I believe how successful my marriage is depends not on these stuff, but on whether the marriage is built upon Christ.
Thankfully she was okay with that altho' we had a fiasco about my not piercing my ears. It went something like that -
"What do you mean you don't want to pierce your ears? Where got teochew bride don't pierce ears one?"
"What has being Teochew got to do with piercing my ears?"
"You just have to take good care of it."
"But everytime I pierece my ears they get infected even when I put alcohol and clean and keep it hygienic. It hurts and I don't want to have a swollen ear on my wedding day."
"There is one day you pierce right, guarantee your ears won't swell."
"What day?"
"One day lah."
"You think I don't know which day is it? You forgot you told me once that it is on Kwan Yin's birthday. So no... no way I am piercing my ears especially on that day."
I mean what's the deal about piercing my ears?? I honestly tried to do it twice - not becoz of the Teochew thing - but because I wanted to wear pretty, dangly earrings. It just really isn't worth the pain imho. Lol.
I told her that instead of buying earrings, we can buy a more expensive bracelet or ring or pendant to make up for that. Also, I theorised, if you count the chain - it is four items still. Lol.
She was okay with it in the end, but she was very offended at the start. Sighs. =)
Fox News interviewed this guy who is the son of a Hamas leader and who converted to Christianity. He is now living in the States to be safe.
As you know, if one converts from Islam the is considered an infidel and the family must break all ties with him.
He was asked if it was easy to leave his family and all that he knew behind to embrace Christ and in his answer he mentioned -
When you decide to convert to Christianity or any other
religion from Islam, it's not (enough) to just say goodbye and leave, you know?
It's not like that. You're saying goodbye to culture, civilization, traditions,
society, family, religion, God — what you thought was God for so many years! So
it's not easy. It's very complicated.
Saying goodby to culture, traditions... this is the same paradox many of us face in our decision to follow Christ.
Chinese culture, a huge chunk of it, is tied up in Taoist beliefs I feel. So sometimes it is hard to differentiate between what is culture culture and what is culture mixed with Taoism.
I am blessed in that my parents are Catholics which is at least not Taoism or Buddhism... but I know friends from Taoist families who have a hard time when it comes to certain practices and traditions of their family. It gets quite tricky trying to stand by your belief and trying to honour your parent's feelings at the same time.
Some of them, like the lady in the news article, did not dare to tell their parents about their belief. When a few eventually did - WWIII broke loose at home!
I am still a baby Christian - I was baptised last year and only accepted Christ as a Christian 3 or 4 years ago. (Funny thing was I did accept Him when I got a Gideon bible in primary 3 whilst in school. I recited the sinner's prayer and signed my name where they said to sign. Lol. But then I thought it was like Catholicism and I was so steeped in that for most of my life, so I felt truly redeemed only when I finally left the Catholic Church & its rituals/traditions/laws.) My knowledge of the bible is still growing. I cannot quote the bible verbatim yet hehe, but I know the gist of the verses and the promises.
I don't believe in being disrespectful to my elders regarding religion, and whilst I am more careful about evangelizing to family (because sometimes like Jesus wasn't accepted in his home town, it just isn't as acceptable to our elders/family members when it is coming from us), I believe in praying for their salvation anyway.
Like a younger cousin of mine once said to me : P U S H - Pray Until Something Happens.
What we can do is to keep interceding for them because they have not the revelation to do so for themselves.
I am a Christian and I am happy that I am in Christ. I hope you can be happy for me too. =)
Hey hey.. you're writing faster than i can read girl! ;p
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to share smthg on the holding jos-stick thing. Quite many years back, Mic's grandfather passed away. His grandfather has 8 children i think and only 1, the youngest daughter is a christian. (She's Nick's mom. the one with the broken ankle) So anyway, Gugu, being a christian, didn't wanna pay her last respect by offering the josstick. At that time, my thinking was such that because that was her stand, I will stand by her as fellow christian and not offer the josstick too cos i didn't want her to look bad. Besides, all her siblings weren't happy with her alr. At that time, to me, a josstick is just a josstick. it doesn't mean anything to me. but if it pleases the elders just to see the younger generation do so out of respect, for their peace of mind, i'll do it. I dunno if this is the doing a of plegmatic cos plegmatics are ppl pleaser haha. they hold up peace signs. Ultimately, I believe God knows my heart.
But now, if you ask me if i would still do that... i guess i'll probably see the situation? I believe the HS will prompts us at the very minute what is and not appropriate.. ;p
I'm not sure if such thinking is correct so let's see what others say about this. ;)
Sorry just wanna add that if in a case where it's my family that requires me to do so (offer the dead or deities josssticks), then i would definitely reject it. For example during my traditional wedding, we were asked to offer josssticks to the deities of which i rejected and they understood.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of moms, my mom is very similar to yours. i can identify the frustration you face at times. really. haha.. :p
LOL... I think the mummies of our parent's generation share similar traits. I can play "snap" with the mums of a few friends of mine.
ReplyDeleteGrins.
LOL... I think the mummies of our parent's generation share similar traits. I can play "snap" with the mums of a few friends of mine.
ReplyDeleteGrins.
Some of the very first Christians in China, first documented Christians at least came during the Tang Dynasty in the earlier 7th century AD. They were Nestorian Christians, associated with the Orthodox sect of Christianity and associated with Byzantium.
ReplyDeleteThe Nestorians set up a quite nich'e for themselves in the western mountains and they have flourished until the end of the Yuan Dynasty. The Mongols actually tolerated the Nestorians and Oriental Orthodox quite well.
Well, I know I posted out of date but I came across your blog and I wanted to say something.
Chirstianity did not start in China with Mateo Ricci or even Marco Polo, it goes back earlier, just after the fall of Rome and during the peak of the Byzantium empire. But the first Christians were part of the Eastern Orthodox group than with the western Latin Catholic group.
Feel free to email me at silpika@aol.com, why email me? Because I dont have a blogspot...I tried using it once and I hated it.