Chapter 3
Christianity in China: Adaptation to and Confrontation with Pluralistic Harmony

Mr. Kuhn:

The introduction of Christianity (including Catholicism and Protestantism) into China is a major event in the history of world cultural exchange. What can be said about the relationship between Christianity and Chinese society, China’s native culture? For example, what was the Chinese Rites Controversy?

When one culture spreads to a fundamentally different culture, the two will inevitably clash. This is especially true in matters of religion. The inroads made by Christianity into China, during the four periods in the Tang, Yuan, late Ming/early Qing and in the modern era, were, in a word, bumpy, each time signaling conflict with and adaptation to native or established religious culture.