Cooperation and confrontation

A conflict analysis between Rhenish Missionary Society (RMG) and German Missionaries in China

Datos Bibliográficos

ID20209907
AutoresRuotong Shi (0009-0007-0467-3615, Nanjing Normal University), Hanyi Zhang (0009-0007-0822-8893, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, autor de correspondencia)
Año2026
Volumen23
Número1
Páginas99-116
Fecha de publicación2026-01-01
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Journal of Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1479-5914 • E-ISSN: 1479-5922
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1479591425100132
OpenAlexW7108320882
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas9

Conflict among missionary societies and missioners in Asia and Africa has been a defining feature in the history of missionary work. In 1879/80, German missionary Ernst Faber and three others were expelled from the Rhenish Missionary Society (RMG) due to a leadership dispute over the Canton Central missionary school. This conflict involved RMG inspectors, missionaries and institutional power distribution, differences in dogmatic Lutheran and liberal confession, knowledge perceptions and missionary methods within the colonial context. The expulsion of Faber had a lasting impact on RMG’s missionary course in China. However, there is a research gap concerning the causes and consequences of this conflict. Guided by the theoretical framework of entangled history, this study employs a historical material qualitative research method, drawing on the source An die General-Versammlung der Rheinisch-Westfaelischen Missions-Gesellschaft to analyze the reciprocal competition among the parties involved. It aims to examine this historical event as a microcosm of the entanglement between missionary, church and colonial histories

China · Colonialism · German · Qualitative analysis · Christian Theology and Mission · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Globalization, Historical Perspectives, and International Relations