Resources for Chinese History and Culture
– Introductory
– Chinese History and Culture
– Chinese Religions
– Christianity in China
– Cross-Cultural Christianity
Fiction about China
Useful Websites

RESOURCES FOR CHINESE HISTORY AND CULTURE

Note: Many of the titles listed below can be found in Trinity's Resource Center. Resources for purchasing books can be found at sellers such as Amazon, ABEBooks, and Alibris.

Introductory
An Introduction to the Mainland Chinese Soul, Raleigh, NC: LEAD Consulting, 2001
A diverse team of more than 30 people volunteered to contribute anonymously to this project. Most have actively studied or ministered to Chinese for more than a decade. This booklet serves as an introduction to the Chinese life in a way that reveals the soul of the culture. It focuses on the Mainland Chinese people.

Chinese History and Culture
Wild Swans: 3 Daughters of China, by Jung Chang, 1993
A sketch of 20th-century Chinese history through the eyes of three women (grandmother, mother, and daughter), the first a concubine to a Chinese warlord, the second a functionary in the Communist party, and finally a woman after Mao.

China: Ancient Culture, Modern Society, by G. Wright Doyle and Peter Xiaoming Yu, 2009
This book provides a quick survey as well as ample resources for further learning about this great civilization and increasingly important nation. In addition to covering mainland China, there are also portraits of Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and the many Chinese people living overseas. The reader will discover interesting facts concerning the population, languages, and geography of China. Additionally, the rich heritage of China comes to life through descriptions of the history, religions, literature, art, calendar, festivals, medicine, education, and major monuments of the culture.

China: A New History, by John King Fairbank and Merle Goldman, 2006
John King Fairbank was the West's doyen on China, and this book is the full and final expression of his lifelong engagement with this vast ancient civilization. It remains a masterwork without parallel. Distinguished historian Merle Goldman brings the book up to date, covering reforms in the post-Mao period through the early years of the 21st century, including the leadership of Hu Jintao. She also provides an epilogue discussing the changes in contemporary China that will shape the nation in the years to come

China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power, by Rob Gifford, 2007
Route 312 is the Chinese Route 66. It flows 3,000 miles from east to west, passing through the factory towns of the coastal areas, through the rural heart of China, then up into the Gobi Desert, where it merges with the Old Silk Road. The highway witnesses every part of the social and economic revolution that is turning China upside down.

China's Second Revolution: Reform after Mao, by Harry Harding, 1987
The author is unusual among America's China-watchers in keeping his eye on the big picture. According to The Economist, he has written the most comprehensive and clearest analysis of the first ten years of the post-Mao era. He sketches the origin of the reform and its content, and speculates on its future.

East Asia Before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute, by David C. Kang, 2010
The author gives a great historical overview of China's "tribute system" as well as its dealings with the nomadic peoples to the northwest, and compares/contrasts this with the European Westphalian system.

Ancient China: Chinese Civilization from its Origins to the Tang Dynasty, by Maurizio Scarpari, 2006
A lavishly illustrated coffeetable book (over 400 pictures) by a professor of Chinese studies at a university in Venice. Chinese history is sketched from the Neolithic period to the fall of the Tang Dynasty in 907. Then the religion, civilization, and culture of ancient China are sketched, followed by a long section on art. The book finishes with a tour of archaeological sites.

Revolution and Its Past: Identities and Change in Modern Chinese History, by R. Keith Schoppa, 2011
This is a great overview textbook for modern Chinese history.

China: Fragile Superpower, by Susan L. Shirk, 2007
An excellent overview of the many domestic and international issues China is facing in the midst of its current rise.

The Search for Modern China, by Jonathan Spence, 2013
Beautifully written by a leading scholar, this new edition of The Search for Modern China brings to life the characters and events of China's turbulent modern history. The narrative is detailed and balanced, integrating political and cultural history with social and economic developments. Spence has streamlined and thoroughly updated the text in light of new scholarship and the major new steps China has taken in the last ten years. The Search for Modern China features a visually striking art program that includes more than 150 illustrations by world-famous photographers, plus 50 maps and many helpful tables.

Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Popular Christianity in Modern China, by Xi Lian, 2010
This book is the first to address the history and future of homegrown, mass Chinese Christianity. Drawing on a large collection of fresh sources—including contemporaneous accounts, diaries, memoirs, archival material, and interviews—Lian Xi traces the transformation of Protestant Christianity in 20th-century China from a small, beleaguered "missionary" church buffeted by antiforeignism to an indigenous popular religion energized by nationalism and millenarianism. Lian shows that, with a current membership that rivals that of the Chinese Communist Party and the ability to galvanize China's millions into apocalyptic convulsion and messianic exuberance, the popular Christian movement channels the aspirations and the discontent of the masses and will play an important role in shaping the country's future.

Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah, 1999
An autobiography written about the author's childhood growing up in an affluent family in 1940s China and having to fend for herself in the face of a real-life wicked stepmother. Powerful personal memoir.

China in Ten Words, by Yu Hua, transl. by Allan Hepburn Barr, 2011
Good overview detailing the Chinese experience over the past few decades. The author, a famous Chinese writer, characterizes this by means of ten two-character words: people, leader, reading, writing, (the author) Lu Xun, revolution, disparity, grassroots, copycat, and bamboozle, illustrating by means of his own experience as a child and teenager during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) and the following years up to the publication date.

Chinese Religions
Asia's Religions: Christianity's Momentous Encounter with Paganism, by Lit-sen Chang, 1999
Here is a biblical key to understand and respond to the faiths of the teeming billions living in Asia today. Lit-Sen Chang, former promoter of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Zen, offers succinct summaries and biblically based critiques of the traditional religions of Asia. Lit-Sen Chang (1904–96) was professor of missions at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and author of several books.

Introducing Chinese Religions, by Mario Poceski, 2009
The author, an experienced teacher of Chinese religions, explores the three main traditions of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism, as well as the development of Western and popular religions in the region, such as Christianity and Islam. The book introduces students to the richness and diversity of Chinese religious life, pointing out mutual influences and intersections of the religions of the region, and how they interact with other elements of Chinese culture and society, including politics, literature, and art.

Faith of Our Fathers: God in Ancient China, by Chan Kei Thong, 2009
The author provides an interesting discussion about the relationship between God, China, and its language. He thinks that China and Israel both share a long history with rich cultures. Due to the many similarities, including belief in God as the only Creator, the author points out in detail how Chinese characters manifest historical evidences and many aspects recorded in the Bible. He claims China's 4000 years of history as proof to support that God has never left this country.

Mountain of Fame: Portraits in Chinese History, by John E. Wills Jr., 1994
Through biographies of China's most colorful and famous personalities, John Wills displays the 5000-year sweep of Chinese history from the legendary sage emperors to the tragedy of Tiananmen Square. This unique introduction to Chinese history and culture uses more than 20 exemplary lives, including those of statesmen, philosophers, poets, and rulers, to provide the focus for accounts of key historical trends and periods. What emerges is a provocative rendering of China's moral landscape, featuring characters that have resonated in the historical imagination as examples of villainy, heroism, wisdom, spiritual vision, political guile, and complex combinations of all of these.

Christianity in China
Jesus in Beijing, by David Aikman, 2003
Written by a former Time magazine Beijing bureau chief, this book describes how the Christian underground has spread in China, winning over key members of the Communist Party; why the Chinese believe that Christianity was crucial to the rise of the West, and that it will be crucial to the rise of China; why China might be America's next ally against radical Islam.

Reaching Chinese Worldwide, by G. Wright Doyle, 2013
The author sketches his own pilgrimage in reaching out to Chinese, followed by lessons he has learned along the way. We need preparation for the task; presence with those we are seeking to reach; insight into the best means of proclamation; awareness of points of contact; wisdom in discipling, partnership and good works; and dependence on God. Includes a substantial bibliography.

Builders of the Chinese Church, G. Wright Doyle, ed., 2015
Biographies of Chinese and Western pioneers in the modern Chinese church.

The 'Inscrutably Chinese' Church: How Narratives and Nationalism Continue to Divide Christianity, by Nathan Faries, 2010
The first half of the 21st century promises to be a time of great change for the Christian church in the People's Republic of China. The situation is complex and fluid, and the information gap between those on the inside and those outside of China is still significant, though shrinking. The 'Inscrutably Chinese' Church moves readers nearer to the Chinese Christian experience, as Faries helps foreign readers to see with greater clarity just how Chinese Christians view their government and themselves in relation to those ruling powers. There still exists a measure of inscrutability about China and its complex relationship with religion that must be explained to the outsider. It is this gap in understanding—between insider points of view within China and those outsiders seeking knowledge about the Christian faith in China—that Faries seeks to close.

Salt and Light: Lives of Faith that Shaped Modern China, by Carol Lee Hamrin and Stacey Beiler. Three volumes, 2009
Salt and Light presents the life stories of outstanding Chinese Christians who, as early modernizers, promoted China's nation building and moral progress in the early twentieth century. Lively anecdotes and photographs highlight the strong character of ten pioneers in the modern professions of education, medicine, journalism, and diplomacy. These professionals were motivated by faith to introduce practical social reforms and build up China's civil society. They modeled and promoted virtues essential to social progress during the "golden age" of Chinese Protestantism.

Saving God's Face: A Chinese Contextualization of Salvation through Honor and Shame, by Jackson Wu, 2012
A helpful discussion of attempts to present the Gospel to the Chinese culture, with or without attempting contextualization. The author holds firmly to the reliability of Scripture, but feels that the Western Church has tended to present the Gospel in a guilt-innocence framework. He argues that it can also be validly presented in an honor-shame framework, and suggests how this might work.

Cross-Cultural Christianity
Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church, by Soong-Chan Rah, 2010
The United States is undergoing the most rapid demographic shift in its history. By 2050, white Americans will no longer comprise a majority of the population. Instead, they'll be the largest minority group in a country made up entirely of minorities, followed by Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans. Past shifts in America's demographics always reshaped the county's religious landscape. This shift will be no different. Soong-Chan Rah's book is intended to equip evangelicals for ministry and outreach in our changing nation. Borrowing from the business concept of 'cultural intelligence,' he explores how God's people can become more multiculturally adept. From discussions about cultural and racial histories, to reviews of case-study churches and Christian groups that are succeeding in bridging ethnic divides, Rah provides a practical and hopeful guidebook for Christians wanting to minister more effectively in diverse settings. Without guilt trips or browbeating, the book will spur individuals, churches, and parachurch ministries toward more effectively bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News for people of every racial and cultural background. Its message is positive; its potential impact, transformative.

FICTION ABOUT CHINA

The Judge Dee Mysteries, by Robert H. van Gulik
Novels featuring Judge Dee, a Chinese magistrate of the Tang dynasty (600s). A good picture of life in medieval China. Based on real Chinese detective stories, but (like the King Arthur stories) set some centuries later than the real Judge Dee.

Waiting, by Ha Jin, 1999
In Waiting, PEN/Hemingway Award-winning author Ha Jin draws on his intimate knowledge of contemporary China to create a novel of unexpected richness and feeling. This is the story of Lin Kong, a man living in two worlds, struggling with the conflicting claims of two utterly different women as he moves through the political minefields of a society designed to regulate his every move and stifle the promptings of his innermost heart.

Wolf Totem, by Rong Jiang, 2008
This book is fictional, but based on historical events and told from the perspective of one of the "sent-down youth" who is sent to live in Inner Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution. Beautifully written. This book is also very popular in China right now.

The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun, 2009
Lu Xun was and continues to be a very influential modern Chinese author. Many of his short stories are characterized by satire and criticism of certain aspects of Chinese society. A very compelling author.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, 2006; Peony in Love, 2007; Shanghai Girls, 2009; Dreams of Joy, 2011. By Lisa See
Historical fiction. Her novels are beautifully written, page-turning books with compelling plots, but also guided by very legitimate historical and cultural research.

USEFUL WEBSITES

China Partnership Blog
China Soul
China Source
Ambassadors for Christ—Resources
Overseas Campus Ministries
Third Millennium Ministries
Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity