John T. P. Lai 黎子鵬
NTU & HYI Academic Book Series No. 2
National Taiwan University Press, July 2017
About the book: Attuning the Gospel makes a critical and holistic analysis of a representative corpus of Chinese Christian novels of the late Qing period. Part I “On Translated Works” examines the first German-Chinese translated Christian novel Jinwu xingyi (金屋型儀Thirza, oder die Anziehungskraft des Kreuzes, 1852); the Christian allegory Shenglü jingcheng (勝旅景程 Pilgrim’s Progress, 1870) making profuse annotations from the Confucian classics; and the children fiction Anle jia (安樂家Christie’s Old Organ, 1882) portraying vivid imagination of the heavenly paradise. Part II “On Original Works” investigates Shifei lüelun (是非畧論 Brief Discussion of Right and Wrong, 1835) with a reconstructed image of Britain as the “supreme nation”; Yuese jilüe (約瑟紀畧 Life of Joseph, 1852) which transforms the biblical narratives into a Chinese historical-biographical novel; and two “New Age Novels” from the 1895 fiction contest, namely Wuming xiaoshuo (無名小說 Unnamed Novel) and Qumo zhuan (驅魔傳 Story of Demon Banishing), seeking effective ways to purge Qing China of the social vices of opium-smoking, foot-binding, and the eight-legged essay. Through the multiple lens of religious themes and narrative characteristics, this study displays a kaleidoscope of writing strategies of the Protestant missionaries and Chinese Christian authors in attuning the Gospel against the socio-cultural contexts of late imperial China.
About the NTU & HYI Academic Series: The book series, published by National Taiwan University Press, is a collaboration between the Harvard-Yenching Institute and the College of Liberal Arts of National Taiwan University. The Series publishes scholarly monographs in Chinese which make a major original contribution to the humanities and social sciences. Interdisciplinary studies are especially welcome. Submissions are encouraged from all Chinese-speaking regions and beyond. For more information about the NTU-HYI series, please visit the NTU Press website.