王盈方醫師瘋狂之旅 Dr Yvonne Wang's Blabberings

Abstract: Christian scholar Jonathan Hill felt that Christianity in Asia before the twentieth century was the story of missionaries, and that development during and after the twentieth century has been dominated by indigenisation. This essay explores whether Hill’s statement is applicable to the church history in Taiwan. Indigeneity is hard to define in Taiwan as the population is comprised of people from three major waves of migration very distinct in terms of historical origin, language, custom, and culture. Having been under the control of various rulers they did not choose, the population is in an acute multilayer identity crisis. This crisis even threatens the unity of the Church, as evidenced by the ostracisation of the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan from other denominations. Through examining the three waves of missionary influx, we see a changing trend in Taiwan’s church development from paternalistic attempts at forced assimilation into the Western paradigm during Dutch colonisation to the promotion of indigenisation during the Victorian era, and finally the age of mass migration and globalisation today. Missionaries taking a paternalistic Western approach did not seem to make as much impact as missionaries that worked hard to learn the native culture and bond with the natives. The indigenisation of resources already occurred with Taiwan’s churches during the twentieth century, and a good number of renowned Taiwanese theologians also emerged. Rather than indigenisation, the world trend is now towards globalisation. Missionaries will continue playing a crucial role in the story of Christianity in Asia as the emerging non-Western missionaries make their contributions to global Christian expansion.

Jonathan Hill stated 'If the story of Christianity in Asia before the twentieth century was, to a considerable extent, the story of missionaries, then development during and after the twentieth century has been dominated by indigenisation.[1]' This essay explores into the establishment and growth of the church in Taiwan to determine whether Hill’s statement is applicable in this Asian country.

Firstly, it is important to define indigenisation in the context of missions. From the middle of the nineteenth century much has been said about the “three self” formula: self-support, self-government and self-propagation. However, over the passage of time it has been discovered that many churches achieved the “three selves” but were still not truly indigenous to the cultures in which they had been planted. For example, they were still very Western in patterns of worship, organisation, belief (theology), witness, ceremony and educations.[2]

Taiwan’s church history is uniquely complex. Even on the topic of national identity, there are vast differences in perspectives. There were three major waves of migration to Taiwan: 1) the ancient Austronesia immigrants constituting the aboriginal tribes in Taiwan; 2) the Hoklo and Hakka[3] immigration after the Koxinga occupation of Taiwan and during the following Manchu empire. A strong “Taiwanese” identity has been formed among the Hoklo group which comprises 72% of the current population[4]. 3) the followers of the Chinese Nationalist Government which retreated to Taiwan after it was defeated in the Chinese civil war[5]. These groups are quite distinct[6] in terms of historical origin, language, custom, culture and political power, making it hard to define indigeneity. An ironic phenomenon is that the latecomers were able to seize political and economical power over the earlier settlers. A multilayer identity conflict is thus rooted deeply in this historical fame[7].  

Missionaries also came in three waves. The Dutch entered the south of the island in 1624 and the Spanish entered the north in 1627. The first of 34 Dutch Reformed church missionaries arrived in Taiwan in 1627. The Spanish Dominican missions began their work in 1628, but the Dutch drove out all the Spanish by 1642[8]. By then, the invasive Chinese have already drove the aborigines to the foothills which made the aborigines revert to head-hunting as a means of defending their holdings[9]. Missionary records inform us Dutch missionaries had real love for the aborigines and learned their languages[10], but ignored Taiwan’s Chinese[11]. In 1650, the number of baptised members of the native church came to “over 7,000”[12].

When Christianity first came to Asia, it had a distinctive Western character, coincided with Western colonial expansion, and therefore carried with it the sigma of Western imperialism. There was no attempt to understand Asian culture and values.[13] The Dutch viewed the aboriginal people as “stupid, blind, ridiculous heathen” and wanted to change that savage culture.[14] In 1662, missionary work came to an abrupt end when the legendary warrior Koxinga expelled the Dutch out of Taiwan[15]^,[16].

Some scholars say the first wave of missionaries hardly left any trace of Christianity behind[17]^,[18]. Others noted[19] that when Jesuit de Manilla encountered natives of southern Taiwan in 1715, not only did some natives remember the Dutch language, but they had a fair grasp of the Christian doctrine as well. Headhunting had stopped in Southern Taiwan[20]. The Dutch certainly made an impact on the natives’ culture[21]^,[22]. Interestingly, Koxinga gave permission to Vittorio Ricci, a Jesuit priest, to minister to those Catholics who had kept their faith through the decades of proscription by the Dutch. The key to this permission lays in the fact that some of north Taiwan’s Catholics were Chinese settlers rather than natives. Although this work was not followed up and died out in time, it suggests that an opportunity for continuing on may have been had if the Reformed church developed a Chinese constituency[23].

The Manchus gained control over Taiwan in 1683[24] and closed the door to the gospel until 1858. The missionary movement began for the second time in the 1860s under the influence of the “Great Missionary Movement” of the West[25]. In 1865, Dr. James Maxwell from the English Presbyterian Church entered south Taiwan[26]. In the first few years of this new missionary penetration, only the brave and God trusting could survive, as the preaching, teaching and medical ministries were hindered by suspicion, jealousy, wild rumours, fierce antagonism, grim persecutions and rioting mobs. There were incidents when missionaries narrowly escaped with their lives. In 1872, George Leslie Mackay from the Canadian Presbyterian church entered north Taiwan. Mackay was one of the most remarkable missionaries in the late Victoria era, whereby during his three decades in Taiwan he single-handedly established the groundwork of the northern Presbyterian mission, leaving at his death in 1901 sixty churches and more than two thousand baptised communicants, with a much larger pool of non-baptised enquirers[27]. Blessed with a prodigious memory, he learned to write one hundred new Chinese characters daily and spent the rest of his time speaking with anybody who would listen to him.[28] When the mission committee in Toronto instructed him to give up on his efforts to go native, build a Western-style home, establish a more normal Presbyterian mission, and wait for a “charming” Canadian lady to be sent out to share his work, he married a local woman Tiu Chhang Mia instead. He insisted upon indigenous leadership in every facet of ministry. Throughout his life he showed a marked aversion to correspondence with other missionaries, and is still a folk hero loved by the Taiwanese today, Christians and non-Christians alike.[29]

The Japanese colonised Taiwan in 1895 and tried to Japanise the Taiwanese during its reign.[30] Inhabitants of the island were notoriously rebellious[31]^,[32], so the Japanese had a difficult task when it received Taiwan. At first the Japanese officials were quite resigned about the presence of the Church, so this gave missionaries a measure of freedom[33]. This attitude changed in 1940 and all foreign missionaries were evacuated[34]. From 1915 onward, some local church leaders, notably Gou Hi-eng, began to advance the missionary principle of “self-support, self-government, and self-propagation.” Missionaries began to ordain native ministers in 1895. The Taiwanese Churches became increasingly autonomous and grew,[35] from 3,183 Protestant communicants and 1,300 Dominican conversions in 1895[36] to 24,000 Protestants in 1940[37] and 9,000 Dominicans in 1938[38].

The third wave of missionaries came post World War II after Japan’s retreat. In 1947, the exiled Chinese Nationalist Government and over one million mainland refugees fled into Taiwan. Among these groups were missionaries and thousands of Chinese Christians who upon arriving in Taiwan immediately established contact with their denominational missions. The depressed and disorientated refugee population, whose roots had been so violently severed from their homeland, formed a receptive community for the gospel. Almost overnight a formerly little-known island in the Pacific Ocean became a major new mission field[39]. Church growth was practically spontaneous[40], and went from four denominations[41] to thirty three denominations[42].

Unfortunately, only two years after the Chinese Nationalist domination of Taiwan, the “228 massacre” took place, in which more than 20,000 Taiwanese elites were killed indiscriminately by Chiang Kai-shek’s military. Following that was the “White Terror Control” under the Martial Law[43], and the decree that Mandarin Chinese be the official language[44]. Some view this as the Nationalist government’s strenuous efforts to guard the ancient and beautiful ancient China cultural heritage while some view this as the imposition of an alien culture and government on unwilling islanders[45].

Meanwhile, Northern and Southern Presbyterian Churches united to form the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) in 1951 and became independent of the Western missionary societies[46]. It actively participated in international ecumenical communities and became the only organisation that was able to give voice to the people and be in solidarity with them in their protests during the Marital Law rule.[47] It became ostracised from the denominations that had moved into Taiwan after WWII, not so much by disagreement on biblical or theological matters, but by the differences of political and ideological positions derived from their perception of self-identity and from their historical experiences[48]. Therefore, the political split between the local Taiwanese and Mainlanders has seriously affected the unity of the Church[49]. By 1971, this strong, well organised indigenous church was perceived to be the biggest threat on the island to the Nationalist’s regime[50], so the government closely monitored the church and threw some pastors into jail[51]. Some missionaries that aided the PCT got blacklisted and kicked out of the island; Wendell Karsen is one such example. He went to Taiwan knowing nothing about Asia, emerges with a deep understanding of the nation’s complicated history and human rights problems, and identifying strongly with the political views of the PCT. Nevertheless, a review of the overall picture from 1945 to 1964 showed a jump from 60,000 Christians to over 540,000, from 1% of the population in 1945 to 5% in 1965[52]. Taiwan has seen one of the greatest post-war phenomena of church growth[53].

Another missionary from the post WWII era worth special mentioning is Doris Brougham[54], who is currently 88 year old, living in Taiwan, and identifies herself as a Taiwanese. At the same time as doing mission work focused on the aborigine, she also founded the nation's most popular English radio program, “Studio Classroom”, and magazine, “Let's Talk in English”. In 1962 she simply thought broadcasting was a great evangelical way to reach people, and to equip the Taiwanese with English skills so they can integrate globally. Eventually the national impact became so great that the president made her an honorary civil servant of the highest level.

The overall growth of the number of Christians in Taiwan slowed down since 1964[55]. Churches turned inwards, became pessimistic, and adopted the theology of defeatism[56]. In November 1971, Dr. Donald McGavran, dean of the Church Growth Movement, conducted the first church growth workshop in Taiwan[57]. This was also a time of rapid change. With increasingly experienced national church leadership, missionary activities shifted directions: some were freed for direct evangelism as they withdraw from church administration[58]. A good number of renowned Taiwanese theologians emerged[59], for example Shoki Coe, who was especially known for his proposal to replace the term “indigenisation” with “contextualisation”. Other theologies[60] that have emerged include “Homeland Theology” and “Liberation Theology”. There is also the world trend towards globalisation[61]: the extraordinary upsurge of people movements since the 1960s to the present period has been termed ‘the age of migration’. With overseas Chinese Christians in all parts of the world, there is an increasing cooperation and fellowship between the Taiwanese churches and evangelical Chinese around the world[62].

Although the PCT is still the largest denomination on the island today, its rate of increase is very slow. The churches with the fastest increase rate are the independent Christian churches and Little Flock. The development of the Bread of Life Christian Church has been most impressive since 1977.[63] It currently has 228 church branches outside of Taiwan[64]. It is the main organiser of the annual “Kingdom Culture” conference[65] in Taiwan, organised in collaboration with many other international churches and organisations such as the Bethel church from the United States and Mawar Sharon Church in Indonesia. With an aim to promote unity, the conference has approximately 107,000 attendees of all denominations from 21 different countries. I attended the conference multiple times myself. The worship songs are an international mix, eg. English songs translated into Chinese and locally written songs. The messages focus on incorporating the values of God’s kingdom into our culture to produce “Kingdom Culture”, because history has shown that revivals started by great revivalists often only last a few years, and only a shift in culture can bring lasting transformation. In 2009, the number of Christians in Taiwan stands at 1,417,925[66].

In conclusion, we see a changing trend in Taiwan’s church development from paternalistic attempts at forced assimilation into the Western paradigm during Dutch colonisation to the promotion of indigenisation during the Victorian era, and finally the age of mass migration and globalisation today. The process is extremely complicated and Hill’s statement is an overgeneralisation not applicable to Taiwan. For mission work to have more lasting impact, it is essential that missionaries follow Mackay’s example in having a strong desire to understand the indigenous culture and bond with the people in the host nation. The indigenisation of resources already occurred with Taiwan’s churches during the twentieth century, and a good number of renowned Taiwanese theologians also emerged. However, with globalisation, it becomes hard to define what true indigeneity is as no culture is truly static and impervious to change unless it is extinct[67]. Western missionary initiatives remain the most visible but are no longer the most dominant or consequential[68]. Missionaries will continue playing a crucial role in the story of Christianity in Asia as the emerging non-Western missionaries make their contributions to global Christian expansion and demonstrate that Christianity is not just a religion of the West.

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