Document Type
Journal Article
Department/Unit
Department of Religion and Philosophy
Title
Protestant ethics among Chinese missionaries, problems of indigenization, and the spirit of academic professionalization
Language
English
Abstract
Some of Weber's descriptions and evaluations of Protestant groups and their ethos are employed to reveal dimensions of Protestant missionary activities and their contributions in early 20th-century China and Europe. The main focus is on the German missionary Richard Wilhelm (1873-1930). Wilhelm distinguished himself while living in the German colony of Jiāozhōu as an educator and missionary-scholar, specializing in translating ancient Ruist ('Confucian') and Daoist scriptures. After the outbreak of World War I, he began to study the Book of Changes, a major factor in his later spiritual pilgrimage. Leaving missionary work in 1920, he was later offered a position as a cultural attaché to the German ambassador, serving two years in Beijing. In 1924 he was made the first lecturer in Chinese at Frankfurt University. During the 1920s Wilhelm passed through a radical spiritual transformation, ultimately adopting a Ruified form of Christianity influenced by Quaker sectarian spirituality. All of these factors are considered in the light of Weber's thesis about the development and modern demise of the Protestant ethos. Copyright © 2005 SAGE Publications London.
Keywords
Missionary-scholar, Rationalization, Sects, Sinology, Voluntary associations, Wilhelm
Publication Date
2005
Source Publication Title
Journal of Classical Sociology
Volume
5
Issue
1
Start Page
93
End Page
114
Publisher
SAGE Publications
DOI
10.1177/1468795X05050040
Link to Publisher's Edition
ISSN (print)
1468795X
ISSN (electronic)
17412897
Recommended Citation
Pfister, Lauren. "Protestant ethics among Chinese missionaries, problems of indigenization, and the spirit of academic professionalization." Journal of Classical Sociology 5.1 (2005): 93-114.