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Qiuwen (Bibliomancy): Enlivening the Chinese Union Bible

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2020

CHRISTIE CHUI-SHAN CHOW
CHRISTIE CHUI-SHAN CHOW*
Affiliation:
City Seminary of New Yorkchui-shan.chow@ptsem.edu
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Abstract

The production of the Union Bible was designed to provide Chinese Protestants with a standardised sacred text to better understand and approach the Christian faith in their native language. While believers regard the translated Scripture as a moral compass that gives spiritual references to everyday challenges, the methods of acquiring these references point to individual creativity and improvisation. When the Union Bible was banned from circulation in the public domain during the Maoist period (1949–1976), Chinese church leaders were jailed and reading the Bible was deemed to be subversive, how did ordinary Protestants draw on their reading of the Union Bible to sustain their religious commitment beyond initial conversion? How did they construct a biblically-centered faith against the socialist indoctrination? This study investigates the centrality of the Union Bible among Chinese Seventh-day Adventists in Wenzhou from the 1950s to 1970s. In particular, it explores how two female Adventists enmeshed the Chinese mode of divination with their daily Bible reading for spiritual insights as they confronted personal and congregational crises in the Maoist era. It argues that this indigenous mode of Bible reading sheds light on the ways in which Chinese Adventists asserted and empowered their scriptural-textual authority, interpretive agency, and personal piety against the state's relentless atheistic propaganda.

Keywords

BibliomancyChinese Union BibleInterpretive AgencySeventh-day AdventistsWenzhou
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , January 2020 , pp. 119 - 133
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 2020

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References

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2 The term qiuwen in Chinese refers to beg, ask, request, entreat, seek information from, and inquire. See Jingrong, Wu 吴景荣 and Zhenqiu, Cheng 程镇球, (eds.) Xinshidai hanying dacidian 新时代汉英大词典 New Age Chinese – English Dictionary (Beijing, 2004), pp. 1263; 1614Google Scholar.

3 It was possible to access these materials at the municipal archives in Shanghai and Wenzhou throughout the 2000s, but recent archival regulations have restricted public access to these primary sources.

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6 Today's Ruian is a county-level city 22.7 mile from Wenzhou and is administratively managed by the Wenzhou municipal government.

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18 Interview with Chen Dengyong, August 26, 2012.

19 Interview with Chen Dengyong, August 6, 2012; Young, (ed.) Zhonghua shenggongshi, pp. 303.

20 Shu Chengqian 舒成虔, Wushi nian jiaohui shenghuo huiyi 五十年教会生活回忆 Memoir of Church Life in the Last Fifty Years (internal circulation, 2003), p. 153; interview with Chen Dengyong, August 6, 2012.

21 Zhongguo gongchandang zhejiangsheng wenzhou difang weiyuanhui 中国共产党浙江省温州地方委员会 Local Party Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, “Zhuanshu qiaowuchu, zongjiao shiwuchu guanyu qiaohui, fujing guanli, shenqing chuguo he zongjiao deng wenti de baogao, han专署侨务处、宗教事务处关于侨汇、赴京观礼、申请出国和宗教等问题的报告、函 Reports by the Municipal Departments of Overseas Chinese and Religious Affairs Concerning Remittances, Requests for Visiting Beijing, Applications for Traveling Abroad, and Local Religious Affairs”, Tongzhanbu 统战部 The United Front Archives, 1965, Call No.: 92-11-5, Wenzhou Municipal Archives, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.

22 Zhongguo gongchandang zhejiangsheng wenzhou difang weiyuanhui 中国共产党浙江省温州地方委员会 Local Party Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, “Diwei tongzhanbu huizong de youpai zhaijie, renmin daibiao anpai, jiaotang jiaotu deng tongjibiao 地委统战部汇总的右派摘揭、人民代表安排、教堂教徒等统计表 Statistical Materials Collected by the Municipal United Front about Rightists, People's Representatives, and Church Memberships in Wenzhou”, Tongzhanbu 统战部 The United Front Archives, 1953, Call No.: 92-11-5, Wenzhou Municipal Archives, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.

23 Interview with Chen Yajun, August 18, 2012; interview with Chen Dengyong, August 6 and 26, 2012.

24 Shu, Wushi nian, pp. 156-157.

25 Shu, Wushi nian, pp. 156-158.

26 Luo Guohua 罗国华, “Ruia̠n chengguan anxirihui jiaohuishi 瑞安城关安息日会教会史 History of Chengguan Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ruia̠n”, Zhejiang, 2010; Chen Dengyong, “Baogao报告A Report,” (a petition to the Ruia̠n municipal religious affairs bureau for economic compensation from 1960 to 1979), Zhejiang, May 30, 2002.

27 Liang Yikun 梁亦琨, “Huiyi wo zai ruian jiaohui de rizi 回忆我在瑞安教会的日子 Remembering my days in the Ruian Church”, in Shu, Wushi nian, p. 163.

28 Shu, Wushi nian, pp. 154-155.

29 Shu, Wushi nian, p. 153.

30 Entries for November 11, 16, 24, 1965. Huang Meide's diary.

31 Entry for November 20, 1964. Huang Meide's diary.

32 Entries for November 1, 1985, November 2, 1986, and November 2, 1986. Huang Meide's diary.

33 Entries for April 28 and July 1, 1981. Huang Meide's diary.

34 Entries for November 25, 1980; April 29 and July 22, 1981; September 18, 1982; September 1 and December 7, 1983; January 15 and April 8, 1985; August 14 and 29, 1986; February 9, 1987; November 15 and December 9, 1990. Huang Meide's diary.

35 Entry for May 20, 1987. Huang Meide's diary.

36 Entries November 25, 1980; April 29 and July 22, 1981; September 18, 1982; September 1 and December 7, 1983; January 15 and April 8, 1985; August 14 and 29, 1986; February 9, 1987; November 15 and December 9, 1990. Huang Meide's diary.

37 Entries December 7, 1983 and March 1, 1989. Huang Meide's diary.

38 Entries June 19 and July 12, 1981. Huang Meide's diary.

39 Entry November 14, 1984. Huang Meide's diary.

40 Entry May 20, 1987. Huang Meide's diary.

41 Interview with Chen Dengyong, August 6, 2012.

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45 Paul R. Katz has provided one example of this deep history in Demon Hordes and Burning Boats: The Cult of Marshal Wen in Late Imperial Chekiang (Albany, 1995)Google Scholar.

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48 “Sermon theme #260” in Chen Dengyong, Five Hundred Sermon Outlines (internal circulation, 2013).

49 “Sermon theme # 246” in Chen, Five Hundred Sermon Outlines.

50 “Sermon theme #325” in Chen, Five Hundred Sermon Outlines.

51 “Sermon theme #341” in Chen, Five Hundred Sermon Outlines.

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