A Conversation: Folk Customs or Pagan Customs?
I recently ran across a post called "Pagan Practice in China's Shanxi Province," which included some intriguing photos of traditional customs.
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The 2013 Grinch Award (is for your educational benefit)
Just because a Chinese Christian is in trouble doesn't mean they're in trouble just because they're a Christian. Their Christianity may have something to do with it, or it may have almost nothing to do with. China being as it is, the "whys" are usually a little more complicated and a lot more pragmatic. This is not the Mao Era.
Phases of Chinese House Church Development
The mainland think-tank Pacific Institute for Social Sciences recently translated an article by Professor Liu Peng, titled Three Issues Concerning Chinese House Churches. This article provides and excellent overview of the history and current situation for house churches in China.
Chinese Movies for Religious Eyes
It dawned on me recently that no one has commented on a recent phenomenon: famous Chinese movie directors injecting Christian and related religious elements into contemporary Chinese movies.
ZGBriefs The Weeks Top Picks, January 3 Issue
Three stories caught our eye this week, two serious, and one that will make you want to don all of your winter clothes, grab your camera, and head to Harbin, China.
The Space between Policy, Practice, and Persecution
Mention the church in China and the conversation invariably turns toward China's religious policy, the underlying assumption being that the Chinese government is bent on suppressing Christianity. In the most recent issue of ChinaSource Quarterly we take a closer look at this question. As with most things in China, both the stated policy and the observable reality belie a complexity that makes it extremely difficult to generalize about the relationship between church and state in China.
ChinaSource Top Ten 2013
To come up with the list of the Top Ten Most Read articles on ChinaSource this year, we took the top five from the ChinaSource Quarterly and the top five from the ChinaSource Blog. Here they are:
Video: A Christmas Eve Service
Video from a Christmas Eve service at a Three-Self Church in Northesast China
ZGBriefs: Readers Top Picks for 2013
Since it's the end of the year, we decided to jump on the "Top Posts" bandwagon that is careening through the blogosphere. However, since each ZGBriefs post includes dozens of stories, we are highlighting here the top ten most clicked links of the year in other words, your favorite stories.
Ten Commandments of Christmas
A Chinese Christian shares his tips on how to have a blessed Christmas.
Why China Celebrates Christmas
So here I am, eggnog latte in hand, seated in one of the ubiquitous branches of an internationally branded coffee chain. The city is not important. This could be Hong Kong or Beijing, New York or London. The festive holiday decor would be the same anywhere, along with the exhortations to "Create Wonder" and "Share Joy" stenciled on the front window.
ZGBriefs The Weeks Top Picks, December 19 Issue
What do Christmas, the one-child policy, and high end art collecting have in common? They are all subjects of the articles we selected as among the most interesting for this week.