The Many Faces of Christianity in China:
Navigating Sino-Christian Studies

 

Różne Oblicza Chrześcijaństwa w Chinach: 

Wyznaczanie Kierunku Badań Sino-Chrześcijańskich

 

The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland, 

August 2nd - 5th, 2023

 

 

CTW building, Room 113
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland

 

 

 

 

In his The Many Faces of Christ (London 2014), Michele Bacci intriguingly showed the complex iconography of Christ during the early Middle Ages in the Mediterranean world, with some fascinating incursions into other Eurasian regions as well.  Later, Song Gang presented, in his “The Many Faces of Our Lady: Chinese Encounters with the Virgin Mary between 7th and 17th Centuries” (Monumenta Serica, 2018), diverse depictions of Mary in China from the Middle Ages to the early modern era, providing a kaleidoscope of Marian devotional images in different Chinese contexts. These ‘many faces’ are at the core of a larger network of visual and textual sources interweaving various historical encounters between the Christian faith and Chinese culture. Starting in the mid-late 16th century, Catholic missionaries established more enduring missionary activities in different areas of Asia, including India, the Philippines, China, and Japan.

 

In China, Jesuit, Franciscan, and Dominican missionaries, among representatives of other Catholic religious orders, undertook evangelization in different Chinese communities with distinctive approaches. Using their knowledge formed in the early modern European cultural milieu, with each missionary’s talent, these European Catholic missionaries traveled and worked in the land of China to spread the Gospel in different ways. Some missionaries excelled in visual art, others in philosophy, mathematics, and medicine, others, quite differently, in astronomy, cartography, and hydraulic engineering. Chinese individuals from different social strata, from important literati to commoners, responded to these newly-introduced messages and ways of life from the European-Christian tradition in different ways. This legacy promoted both a cross-cultural encounter between very different individuals and profound communication between different traditions, encompassing philosophical ideas, religious beliefs, and daily practices. In recent years, this field of study has thrived, with fascinating accounts that have enriched our understanding of the varying expertise of the missionaries and the diverse adaptations of Christianity from Chinese Christian converts. This rich tapestry of discussion on the interfaith encounter of Christianity, Confucianism, Buddhism, and folk religious beliefs in early modern China is even more inspiring to us today, considering the changes and challenges of our time.

 

This conference aims to be a hub for speakers and participants to discuss new ideas on Sino-Christian studies, and various topics related to this encounter and communications from the early modern era to current times. These topics have been widely addressed in recent scholarship, providing a rich philosophical and hermeneutical foundation for Sino-Christian studies. Recent works have offered new insight into several topics, from philosophy to history, and from religion to science and art.

 

Together with renowned international scholars who have debated Sino-Christian topics for decades, we will be welcoming various scholars engaged in different approaches at the forefront of Christianity in a variety of Chinese contexts. We would also like to welcome anyone to join the conference, either in person or online.

 

Conference speakers

 

Keynote speakers

  • Lauren F. Pfister (Hephzibah Mountain Aster Academy & Hong Kong Baptist University)
  • Ping-Cheung LO (Fuller Seminary & Hong Kong Baptist University)
  • Thierry Meynard (Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou)

 

Speakers

  • Cindy Yik-yi CHU (Hong Kong Baptist University)
  • Piotr Adamek (Monumenta Serica & Fu Jen Catholic University)
  • Daniel Canaris (University of Sydney)
  • Wei JIANG (University of Zurich)
  • Raissa De Gruttola (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)
  • Antonio De Caro (University of Zurich)
  • Monica Romano (Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome)
  • Zhenxu FAN (The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin)
  • John E. Vesey (Priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn & missionary in Latin America and China)

 

 

 

 

Conference venue

 

 

Organizing institutions

 

  • Faculty of Philosophy and Faculty of Humanities, the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland

 

Conference organizers

 

  • Zhenxu Fan, Maciej Kret (The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland)
  • Antonio De Caro (University of Zurich, Switzerland)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Autor: Andrzej Zykubek
Ostatnia aktualizacja: 02.08.2023, godz. 22:26 - Andrzej Zykubek