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Protestant and Online: The Case of Aiyan*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2009

Gerda Wielander
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Abstract

This article presents Aiyan, an electronic house church publication, as a case study of a resistance community using up-to-date technology in the dual context of China's modernization and government repression. Based on detailed content analysis supported by results from fieldwork, the article introduces Aiyan's background as an underground publication, its online existence, its visual character, its content and its aims. It then analyses Aiyan's attempts at identity formation within the complex realities of religious activity in China, and finally identifies five main areas of political engagement within Aiyan: freedom of religious belief and legalization of status; rights awareness and rights education; defiance against the regime; rural–urban co-operation; and engagement of liberal intellectuals. The article concludes with an evaluation of the possible influence this sector of the house church community may have on China's political transformation.

Type
Articles
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 197 , March 2009 , pp. 165 - 182
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2009

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References

1 For example White, Gordon, Howell, Jude A. and Xiaoyuan, Shang, In Search of Civil Society in Contemporary China (London: Clarendon Press 1996)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. One example in the religious context is Madsen, Richard, China's Catholics. Tragedy and Hope in an Emerging Civil Society (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998)Google Scholar.

2 Yan Xin, “Cong ‘minyun,’ falungong dao jiating jiaohui” (“From ‘minyun’ and falun gong to the house churches”), 2004 http://www.boxun.com/hero/yanxin/46_1.shtm, last accessed 22 February 2008.

3 Edmond Tang warns against the ready acceptance of this paradigm which can lead to negligence of the multi-faceted developments at the grassroots. Tang, Edmond, “‘Yellers’ and healers – Pentecostalism and the study of grassroots Christianity in China,” in Anderson, A. and Tang, Edmond (eds.), Asian and Pentecostal (Oxford: Regnum 2005)Google Scholar. For an analysis of this dualistic paradigm see also Goossaert, Vincent, “Jindai Zhongguo guojia yu zongjiao: zongjiao zhengce yu xueshu dianfan” (“State and religion in modern China: religious policies and scholarly paradigms”), Academica Sinica, No. 54 (2005), pp. 169–210 at pp. 192–95Google Scholar.

4 Shining, Gao, Dangdai Beijing de jidujiao yu jidutu. Zongjiao shehuixue ge'an yanjiu (Christianity and Christians in Beijing Today. A Case Study in Sociology of Religion) (Institute of Sino-Christian Studies Monograph Series 18, Hong Kong, 2005)Google Scholar.

5 According to one of the leaders of the Three Self Patriotic Church, China's official Church, Ji Jianhong, there is no Chinese underground church, only unregistered churches. According to him “not-registered,” “underground” or “house-church” are all one and the same. As quoted in Aiyan issue 12 in the domestic news section. http://www.aiyan.org/2005/05-1-12/21.html, last accessed 8 March 2008.

6 Thornton, Patricia M, “The new cybersects. Resistance and repression in the reform era,” in Perry, Elizabeth J. and Selden, Mark (eds.), Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance, 2nd ed. (London: Routledge 2003), p. 248Google Scholar.

7 Ibid. p. 265 n. 2.

8 Preece, Jenny and Maloney-Krichmar, Diane, “Online communities: design, theory and practice,” in Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, Vol. 10, No. 3 (2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, article 1. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/voll0/issue4/preece.html, last accessed 26 March 2008.

9 Ibid.

10 The state network information centre of China formed in 1997. http://www.cnnic.cn/.

11 “Zhongguo hulian wangluo fazhan zhuangkuang tongji baogao” (“Statistical report on the development of the Chinese internet”), CNNIC, July 2007. http://www.cnnic.net.cn/uploadfiles/pdf/2007/7/18/113918, last accessed 13 September 2007.

12 Castells, Manuel, The Power of Identity. Vol 2. The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004), p. 9Google Scholar.

13 Ibid.

14 The Banquet is the English translation used by the editors. Love Feast probably refers to the Christian Eucharistic practice of the “love-feast” or agape, although the choice of title is not explained by the editors.

15 This analysis is primarily based on the online edition of Aiyan which can be found at www.aiyan.org. I was also able to obtain some issues in hard copy.

16 I spoke to a number of Hong Kong-based academics with intimate knowledge of urban and rural house churches. In Beijing I met a number of different Christian intellectuals, some of them personally involved in the political activities outlined in this article, some of them politically uninvolved house church leaders, and Christian academics who described to me their Christian commitment in their professional life. In order to protect individuals, no names are given in this article.

17 Cai Zhuohua was imprisoned for three years and has since been released. For a report on his case see China Human Rights Forum, No. 3 (2006).

18 A number of rather cryptic messages are on display. While Aiyan's homepage runs a short message stating that it had ceased publication “due to certain reasons,” asking for the readers' prayers, it also features a rather enigmatic message addressing “Teacher Wu” on the first page upon entering the site. http://www.aiyan.org/index1.html, last accessed 28 March 2008.

19 I checked a number of times in 2006 and 2007. All my interview partners in China were familiar with the publication, both the hard copy and the online edition.

20 I am certain that the China Aid Association is one of the financial contributors to the journal. It was founded by Bob Fu, who was involved in the Tiananmen protests in 1989, converted to Christianity in the same year and was able to flee the PRC after imprisonment in 1997. The China Aid Association monitors and reports on Christian persecution in China and provides educational, technical and financial help to Chinese house churches. http://chinaaid.org.

21 Dunch, Ryan, “Protestant Christianity in China today: fragile, fragmented, flourishing,” in Uhalley, Stephen and Wu, Xiaoxin (eds.), China and Christianity: Burdened Past, Hopeful Future (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000), p. 203Google Scholar. See also Hunter's, Alan and Chan's, Kim-Kwong benchmark study Protestantism in Contemporary China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22 See Ling, Kimberley et al. , “Using social psychology to motivate contributions to online communities,” Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, Vol. 10, No. 4. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue4/ling.html, last accessed 26 March 2008Google Scholar.

23 The site hosting the discussion forum seems riddled with technical difficulties, so it has unfortunately not been able to access any of the discussions that take place on it (if any), either from inside China or from abroad.

24 All issues of Aiyan have now been updated and are all presented in the same way.

25 Compare http://www.aiyan.org/2005/05-5/17.html, last accessed 22 February 2008.

26 Compare http://www.aiyan.org/2005/05-5/16.html, last accessed 22 February 2008.

27 Students abroad will always be enrolled on other courses but may take advantage of opportunities to study theology as an extra subject.

28 For example see http://www.aiyan.org/2005/05-7/18.html, last accessed 7 March 2008.

29 For example see http://www.aiyan.org/2005/05-2-13/24.html, last accessed 7 March 2008.

30 For example see http://www.aiyan.org/2005/05-3/26.html, last accessed 7 March 2008.

31 Dunch, “Protestant Christianity.”

32 Ibid. pp. 196–97.

33 Dongfang shandian. For an evaluation of the sect by China's Three Self Church see http://www.chineseprotestantchurch.org/church%20Ministry/shi_dongfang.htm, last accessed 10 October 2007.

34 See http://www.aiyan.org/2005/05-3/12.html and http://www.aiyan.org/2005/05-3/13.html See also Richard Madsen, “Chinese Christianity. Indigenization and conflict,” in Perry and Selden, Chinese Society. Change, Conflict and Resistance, p. 277.

35 http://www.aiyan.org/2005/05-7/24.html, last accessed 7 March 2008.

36 Most of my interviewees in Beijing did not question the government's crackdown on falun gong. Yu Jie agreed that the freedom of religious belief also extended to non-Christian groups and that they were looking into a possible co-operation with falun gong. However he conceded that this potential collaboration was fraught with difficulties, partly because of individual disagreements and partly because of the widespread intolerance of falun gong by Chinese Christians. The fact that falun gong has been declared illegal further complicates any possible collaboration as it puts the Christian community at risk.

37 This registration process is governed by the Regulations re the Formation of Social Groups, 1998. A full English version of the Regulations can be found at http://www.chinadevelopment brief.com/node/298, last accessed 11 September 2007. To put the current regulations in historical context see Goossaert, State and Religion in Modern China.

38 Zhongguo jidutu weiquan lüshi tuan.

39 http://www.aiyan.org/2005/06-15/20.html, last accessed 8 March 2008.

40 Information obtained in an interview with one of the people closely involved in the association.

41 http://www.aiyan.org/2005/05-2/12.html, last accessed 8 March 2008. The readers' letters section of issue three in which the explanation of the legal framework was published has since been removed. A copy of the document is now held at http://leiden.dachs-archive.org/citrep/wielander2008.

42 http://www.aiyan.org/2005/05-7/19.html, last accessed 8 March 2008.

43 See news section of Aiyan issue 13 www.aiyan.org/2005/05-2-13/24.html, last accessed 2 February 2007.

44 http://chinaaid.org/our-work/publications, last accessed 23 September 2007.

45 http://www.aiyan.org/yueyufa/tongyong.html, last accessed 8 March 2008.

46 http://chinaaid.org/.

47 http://www.monitorchina.org/.

48 Book of Romans 13 is called “Submission to authorities” and starts with “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established” (New International Version). See for instance www.biblegateway.com.

49 Article 36 of the Chinese Constitution reads: “Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination.” http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/consitution/consitution.html.

50 All this information was obtained during fieldwork in Beijing in September 2006.

51 Both these examples are taken from Zhiming's, Yuan film Shizijia. Yesu zai Zhongguo (The Cross. Jesus in China) (Petaluma: China Soul for Christ Foundation, 2003)Google Scholar.

52 Ibid.

53 Zhongguo jiating jiaohui lianhe zuzhi. An announcement can also be found in The Gospel Herald at http://ca.gospelherald.com/template/news_view.htm?code=mis&id=252, last accessed 24 October 2006.

54 Another occasion at which the Association issued a statement was in the context of an American evangelist's remarks regarding the Chinese government. See http://chinaaid.org/2005/11/29/the-washington-timeschristians-slam-evangelists-pro-beijing-remarkspersecution-watchdogs-counter-palaus-remarks-on-religious-freedom-in-china-a-respond-to-luis-palaus-concern-for-chinese-believers/, last accessed 26 March 2008.

55 Fangzhou Congregation is a small but well known Beijing house church whose members include Yu Jie and Li Boguang. The congregation publishes a very highbrow journal called Fangzhou (The Ark) (from issue three Ganlanzhi [The Olive Branch]).

56 http://chinaaid.org/engage-your-organization/education-kit/stories-for-illustration/, last accessed 12 October 2007.

57 Kindopp, Jason, “Fragmented yet defiant: Protestant resilience under Chinese Communist Party rule,” in Kindopp, Jason and Hamrin, Carol (eds.), God and Caesar in China. Policy Implications of Church–State Tensions (Washington: The Brookings Institution Press, 2004), p. 136Google Scholar.

58 An English version of the list can be found at http://www.gbcc.org.uk/31article3.htm, last accessed 13 November 2007.

59 Yi, Wang, “Yu shen qin zui: jinri zhongguo de jiduhua he minzhuhua” (“Kissing God: democratization and Christianization in today's China”), Ganlanzhi, Vol. 3 (2006), pp. 32–41Google Scholar.

60 Ibid.