Why hasn't Christianity caught on in China, Thailand, Japan, other Asian countries?

[blaskoman]

The history of the Far East region is complex, so an easy answer to this question may be wishful thinking.

 

[Ahimsa]

The history of the Far East region is complex, so an easy answer to this question may be wishful thinking.

Many of these Asian countries already have scriptural and spiritual traditions of immense complexity. The prime example, of course, is India. Also, India also has ideas of divine incarnations, so Indian traditions are able to interpret Christianity in Indian ways, without necessarily converting to Christianity.

Japan, Thailand, both are heavily Buddhist, and like the Hindu tradition, may be able to incorporate Christ as a Buddha, or a Bodhisattva, without having to convert to (Western) Christianity. There’s more than one way to be “Christian”, and the Asian nations tend to see Christianity from a more “pluralistic” perspective.

Christianity may have more of a chance to catch on in China, because of the vacuum that Communism and Maoism made in China: by undermining traditional Chinese religions (like Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism), Communism/Maoism created a space in which Christianity could more freely negotiate.

 

[LilyM]

One reason is the relative closedness of a lot of these countries (in particular China and Japan) to the West in general, and to Western missionaries in particular. Both China and Japan were almost literally completely shut off for centuries.

Unlike much of Africa and North and South America, China and Japan were never colonised by Western (Christian) powers either.

Mind you, there are a few places such as Vietnam, which has (or at least had in the past) a quite high population of Catholics, at least in the South. And the Phillipines, of course, a fervently Catholic country.

 

[Noesis]

The following is taken from here.

*Christianity has been met with varying levels of embrace in the past 450 years in Japan, but even now it has failed to catch on as one of the dominant religions. This essay will attempt to show exactly why this is the case—first, that the religion of Christianity did not “mesh” well with the native Japanese religions of the time, and second, that the rulers of the time saw it as a threat and possible prelude to increased European influence in Japan.

Christianity was first introduced to Japan in the form of a Jesuit mission led by Francis Xavier, arriving to the Japanese isles in 1549 CE (Packet 167). Christianity was actually embraced during this period, even so much so as to prompt some historians to label the years that followed Xavier’s landing as the “Christian Century”. The people took to this new religion out of curiosity and to try something new, but also, as a recent exam question showed, because the extreme poverty and feelings of hopelessness of the common people at this time led them to seek redemption from a source outside of the traditional Japanese religions (EALC Midterm). Even some of the daimyos and shoguns of the time actively supported Christianity, the most prominent among them being Oda Nobunga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (although Hideyoshi’s support can be seen just as an offshoot of his intense hatred of Buddhism). While Nobunga rose to power, in fact, “Christianity approached the status of a state religion” (Packet 167).

This period of tolerance, however, abruptly came to an end in the early 1600s, culminating in the total banning of Christianity by the Tokugawa regime in 1640 (Hendry 127). When a young man named Amakusa Shiro led a popular Christian uprising at Shimabara in 1638, he and tens of thousands of his followers were massacred. Why the abrupt change of attitude?

First, as Lande quite succinctly puts it, “Christianity was strange to the Japanese.” (Packet 167) Most of the older Japanese religions were not mutually exclusive—one could be a Shinto kami worshipper as well as a believer in Buddhism at the same time without sacrificing the purity of either. It’s been noted that even all three of the major Japanese religions of the time—Buddhism, Shinto, and Confucianism—“had managed to coexist with remarkably little friction.” (Packet 190) Even today, it is commonplace for Japanese to still make pilgrimages to Shinto shrines at least once a year while still using Buddhism for funerals and formal ceremonies. Other mixtures of the dominant religions occur in similar ways. This contrasts with the “absoluteness of Christian claims” (Packet 167)—you either were a Christian or you were not a Christian, and the thought that you could be both Christian and something else at the same time was foreign to the missionaries trying to convert the Japanese. They believed that “Christianity was believed to be the only road to glory and salvation.” (Packet 167) Also, as stated earlier, many Japanese initially turned towards Christianity because they believed it proved new hope for them and a possible escape from their poverty. But, later, many felt that “the Christian God seemed unable to save his adherents from pain and misery. The fate of the crucified Jesus himself underlined the argument.” (Packet 167) This lack of divine protection offered by the native Japanese religions served to turn some away from Christianity.

Second, Christianity was seen as a foreign threat. The Japanese, and especially the Tokugawa rulers of the time, saw Christianity as a symbol of the “dangers of European colonialism” (Packet 167). The Japanese have always been somewhat distrustful of the West, lasting until Commodore Matthew Perry forcibly “opened” Japan in 1853. Christianity was thought of as a “foot in the door” through which the Western powers such as Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, and France were increasing their influence upon Japanese affairs. The Japanese rulers saw this as a threat to their unquestioned control, and so they began their merciless persecution of Christianity—over the next two hundred years, “all families were to be registered at a Buddhist temple…Christianity was virtually eliminated from the country.” (Hendry 127) They instead promoted Buddhism and Confucianism, especially Shinto as “National Learning”—undermining the “foreign” Christianity by playing to the patriotism of the Japanese people.

So, we can see that the failure of Christianity after 1600 was caused by two main points—the exclusiveness of the religion itself, and the Tokugawa’s desire to eliminate foreign threats and secure their own power. The effects of this purge can be seen even today, as Christians still number less than 2 percent of the Japanese population (Hendry 127). While “white weddings” and other Christian ideas have been imported to Japan, these can be seen more of the increasing Westernization and not of any embrace of Christianity itself. All in all, it remains a fringe religion. *

 

[autdrew]

Christianity is thriving in South Korea. According to the govt, fully 1/3 of the people are Christian. If you ever came to Korea in general & Seoul specifically, at night, you would see blazing red crosses everywhere. Somehow a tradition of identifying Christian churches with a neon red cross took hold. The growth here has been pretty quick, especially for a somewhat insular group. They were known as the “hermit kingdom” for a long time & did not open much until the 1800’s. The church started up in the late 1700’s & didnt get its first Korean born priest until 1845, who was martyred in 1846. There was a century long persecution & 103 of the martyrs were canonized in 94. In the last 10 yrs the Catholic Church has grown 70%! They had a big part in the democratizing of the country in the 70’s & 80’s & they also do a great deal for the poor. Most Koreans view the church favorably.
Korean churches I have been to are kind of east meets west in a funny way. The ladies are wearing chapel veils and very proper,some in beautiful hanbok (traditional dress) then the choir has the songs listed on a neon board lol, some tv screens appear . In Korea, there is still a system of “if I dont know you, you dont exist” its hard to explain but basically it is a way of not seeing everyone as a child of God worthy of respect. You give that to your people in your circle & dont think twice about not giving it to those you dont know. Christianity has helped change that here. It has a long way to go but it is beautiful to see. BTW, this isnt my opinion, this was explained to me by a lovely Korean lady at church.
Almost 2 yrs ago, a beloved cleric died & the line to sign the book & view the body was so long that it interrupted traffic in the downtown area.
It is really interesting here, that is for sure!

 

[Lieutenant_Kije]

Many of these Asian countries already have scriptural and spiritual traditions of immense complexity. The prime example, of course, is India. Also, India also has ideas of divine incarnations, so Indian traditions are able to interpret Christianity in Indian ways, without necessarily converting to Christianity.

Japan, Thailand, both are heavily Buddhist, and like the Hindu tradition, may be able to incorporate Christ as a Buddha, or a Bodhisattva, without having to convert to (Western) Christianity. There’s more than one way to be “Christian”, and the Asian nations tend to see Christianity from a more “pluralistic” perspective.

Christianity may have more of a chance to catch on in China, because of the vacuum that Communism and Maoism made in China: by undermining traditional Chinese religions (like Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism), Communism/Maoism created a space in which Christianity could more freely negotiate.

I think this post hits upon a large number of the important points.

One issue is plurality and syncreticism in East Asia. To put it simply, East Asia (for most of its history) did not approach religion in the same framework of exclusive covenants that we see in the Abrahamic faiths. Traditionally, most East Asians would not think of themselves as being strictly “Buddhist” or strictly “Daoist” or strictly “Confucian” unless there were part of certain small, elite classes–monk, sage, and scholar-gentry (respectively). Most people would have ordered their daily spiritual and ethical lives around a blend of these three religions (well, Confucianism is more a philosophy than a religion but that is getting off topic) without exclusively identifying themselves as one or the other. As a result, Christianity–and the idea of an exclusive salvific Christ-centered covenant–can seem at times to be a bit alien.

Now, with regards to China in particular? Maoism did a very good job of discouraging religious practice of any kind (there were in particular campaigns with the slogan “criticize Confucius”). This lead to a sort of vacuum that has only in recent years begun to open–and is still not completely open, as we can see from some of the difficulties with state involvement in the Chinese Catholic Church.

 

[aicirt]

Apparently,in 600 AD there were Nestorian Christians in Persia, Central Asia, and China until the Muslims came into the areas. By 1400, the vast majority no longer existed.

This was noted in Robert Spencer’s book, THE POLITICALLY INCORECT GUIDE TO ISLAM AND THE CRUSADES. He cites another work which sounds interesting called THE MONKS OF KUBLAI KHAN, EMPEROR OF CHINA.

Like the Zoroastrians, the Christians were forced into dhimmitude by the Muslims. That is a second class status which makes one’s life very difficult to the point you eventually convert to Islam.

 

[rossum]

The history of the Far East region is complex, so an easy answer to this question may be wishful thinking.

The attitude of the Indian religions (primarily Hinduism and Buddhism) to other religions differs from that of the Abrahamic religions. In very general terms the Abrahamic religions tend to say “We are right, you are wrong.” The Indian religions tend to say “We are right, you are partly right.” That attitude allows the Indian religions to more easily absorb and live with other religions. The gods of the local religion are taken into Hinduism or Buddhism as just more gods in the already large pantheon. In Buddhism some figures may be absorbed as Bodhisattvas – Jesus is usually treated as a Bodhisattva for example.

This means that local religions can affect the Buddhism that develops in their area. Ch’an/Zen Buddhism is influenced by Daoist ideas which it picked up on its way through China to Japan.

rossum

 

[Ahimsa]

The attitude of the Indian religions (primarily Hinduism and Buddhism) to other religions differs from that of the Abrahamic religions. In very general terms the Abrahamic religions tend to say “We are right, you are wrong.” The Indian religions tend to say “We are right, you are partly right.” That attitude allows the Indian religions to more easily absorb and live with other religions.

…which is why many Asian Catholic theologians have gotten in trouble with the Vatican. The Vatican is operating from a more exclusionary perspective, but the Asian Catholicism arising nowadays is operating from a more inclusionary perspective.

One good example is the Catholic priest Raimon Panikkar, whose father was a Indian Hindu, and whose mother was a Spanish Catholic. Panikkar, describing his history, has said: “I started as a Christian, I discovered I was a Hindu and returned as a Buddhist without ever having ceased to be a Christian”.

 

[Hesychios]

Unlike much of Africa and North and South America, China and Japan were never colonised by Western (Christian) powers either.

China was at the receiving end of a very abusive affair with western powers. Unfortunately missionaries became facilitators in the madness and are remembered for that.

Some areas were definitely just like colonies, most had a type of ‘extraterritoriality’ imposed upon them, where foreigners of a specific nationality were allowed to travel at will with foreign passports and without the need of visas in a vast region. They were subject to the European nation’s law, but not Chinese, and were to be handed over to the local European power if arrested. France, Germany and England had enormous zones with populations larger than the home countries.

This amazingly got it’s start with the Opium wars. British merchants were eager to tap into the Chinese market. There was a suitable demand for Chinese porcelain and lacquerware in Europe, but the Chinese didn’t need anything the British had to sell, so the ships would have to sail to China empty, which is inefficient and frustrating. The English controlled Assam and had a lot of tea to sell, but China didn’t need it.

Then some jerk, or a committee of jerks, decided that they could sell opium to China and get rich! They started to plant opium poppies on the tea plantations and shipping it in to China through Canton.

This, of course was eventually noticed, and quickly grew into a big problem for China. The imperial government sent a high government offficial with plenary powers (basically their top Narc) to Canton to enforce the law, which they did by seizing and burning the merchandise. They did not physically harm the British merchants however.

This provoked outrage among the British investors who demanded compensation (essentially just like one big government sale). The Chinese refused, and when it was discovered the Brits sent more valuable merchandise they burned that too.

At this point, the British government stepped in and declared war on China, despite the fact that selling opium was illegal in both countries! The Chinese army was no match for the small British military expedition, and the result was the first of a long string of uneven treaties which enabled foreign nations to exploit this very old and dignified civilization. These people were literate, even down into the lower classes and the elites were sophisticated by any European standard, but they lacked a strong central government and modern military. The treaties deeply affected how the average Chinese perceived westerners and their cultural values for generations.

The missionaries came in behind these treaties, and so were automatically associated with the alien powers, and their presence sometimes caused further strife. For instance, two Catholic priests were murdered in Qingdao (Tsingtao, where the beer comes from) and the Germans used that as an excuse to take control of the city and surrounding countryside. Besides planting even more churches, the Germans managed to set up a world class brewery which the natives learned to like even more than the religion.

The Japanese learned from this incident, and after they took over the German concessions - given to them by the western powers under the Versailles treaty - they became masters at exploiting small incidents and blowing them all out of proportion to extract big political concessions too. And that led to WW II in China.

The Chinese people become very intolerant of shenanigans by foreigners and clamped down on that sort of thing once they were able to reassert themselves. This is a big reason for the differences of opinion on how the Catholic church should be run in China. It is really quite free to operate, and it’s theology (I have learned), is very orthodox Catholic. But they insist that all of the pastors and bishops must be natives, chosen locally. There is no place for the Pope choosing the bishops, although it’s OK if he agrees to the selection (which in some cases has happened).

So some of the Chinese [CCPA] bishops are actually in good standing with Rome, while some are not. I believe that this strife has hurt the church here though. The Protestants are finally growing fast here, in the vacuum another poster mentioned, and the Catholic church is stagnant.