Let the world come to union and union go into the world:Union theological seminary in the city of New York and the quest for indigenous Christianity in twentieth century China

摘要

Founded in 1836, Union Theological Seminary sought to be a school where moderate theological views could be taught in the heart of America’s most important city, New York City. Scholars have recognized Union’s role in thefundamentalist-­‐modernist controversy of the 1920s, but few have noticedits impact in Chinese Protestantism. From 1911-­‐1949, 196 Union alumni—anaverage of five students for each graduating class—went to China.Thirty-­‐nine of these former students were Chinese nationals.Many of these Chinese graduates became key leaders in China’s Young Men’sChristian Association, the Christian colleges in Republican China and theThree-­‐Self Patriotic Movement. Men such as Y. T. Wu (Wu Yaozong), K. H. Ting(Ding Guangxun), Timothy Tingfang Lew (Liu Tingfang), William Hung (HungYe), and Andrew Y. Y. Tsu (Zhu Yuyue) provide interesting case studies intohow Union influenced Chinese Christianity. I apply insight from two sociologists,James Davison Hunter and Mark Granovetter, to new archival findings to contendthat Union Seminary developed a dense network of influential Chinese andAmerican Christians in the Sino-Foreign Protestant Establishment. The NewYork seminary acted as a social hub where Christian leaders establishedand strengthened their relational ties. Over time these ties formed a dense socialnetwork that influenced Sino-­American relations and Chinese Protestantism.Union advanced the indigenization of Christianity in twentieth century China,helping “Christianity in China” become “Chinese Christianity.” Union’s role inChina has been largely unnoticed until now.