3. Dissemination Strategies of Christianity in China

     The dissemination strategies of Christian in China are many and various; I will analyze its strategy mainly in three significant aspects, its cultural adaptation, institutional settings and talent development.  

3.1Cultural Adaptation

According to the long-term spreading practice overseas, missionaries learned the particularity of variety of cultures and the differences between different customs. So they paid much attention to suitability and flexibility of the ways of preaching.文献综述

3.1.1Interpretation of Christianity with Confucian Philosophy

In order to adapt to the local culture, the missionaries not only wore scholars’ silk gowns, shaved beard and took the palanquins, but also realized the problem was how to blend Christianity with Chinese culture. Matteo Ricci studied China’s traditional Confucian classics and interpreted Christianity with them. For example, he compared the Confucian view of God with the Christian concept of God, and used ‘Tian’ or ‘Shangdi’ in Confucian classics to refer to God.

3.1.2Spreading Western Science and Technology

Society of Jesus entered into China in late Ming and early Qing Dynasty when the Qing government carried out maritime prohibition and excluded foreign culture. So, it was unpractical to spread “Gospel” directly in China. It not only wouldn’t appeal to the interests of Chinese people, but arouse their rejection.