Churches in Hong Kong have served as contractors to the state since its British colonization. To secure their political and social privileges, these churches have often been fashioned into apologists for the state. This mentality was not widely challenged until the 1980s. Since the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, some Hong Kong church leaders, theologians, and laypeople have started to articulate a democratic vision for civil society. This paper employs the notion of “religious activism” as an analytical framework to examine the role of Hong Kong Christianity in the pro-democracy movement. The influential voices and actions of Christians in 1984, 1989, 2003, 2014, and 2019 are chronologically summarized. Each political event triggered divergent reflections on the political participation of Christians. This paper offers an analysis of genealogical narratives of Christian activism and offers a prediction on the future of this political participation, particularly under the imposition of the National Security Law.
香港教會自英國殖民時期以來,就一直承包政府的社會福利合約。為了確保教會的政治及社會特權,教會經常為政權辯護,而這種心態直到 1980 年代才開始面對挑戰。自 1984 年中英聯合聲明簽署,香港教會領袖、神學家和平信徒開始表達他們對公民社會的民主願景。
本文採用「宗教行動主義」作為分析框架,探討基督教在香港民主運動中的角色。本文歸納基督宗教信徒在 1984 年、 1989 年、 2003 年、 2014 年和 2019 年期間,在民主運動中的行動及發出的聲音。每件政治事件都引發了基督宗教信徒不同程度的政治參與。本文提供香港基督教行動主義的系譜敘事分析,並預測在港區國安法實施後,基督宗教信徒能如何繼續投入政治參與。
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
Brown, Deborah Ann. 1993. Turmoil in Hong Kong on the Eve of Communist Rule: The Fate of the Territory and Its Anglican Church. San Francisco: Mellen Research University Press.
Brown, Deborah Ann. 1996. “The Role of Religion in Promoting Democracy in the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.” In Church and State Relations in 21st Century Asia, edited by Beatrice Leung, pp. 79–114. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Brown, Jeremy. 2021. June Fourth: The Tiananmen Protests and Beijing Massacre of 1989. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chan, Shun-hing. 2015. “The Protestant Community and the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 16 (3): 380–395. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649373.2015.1069052.
Chau, Candice. 2022. “Hong Kong Catholic Group Will Not Hold Tiananmen Crackdown Masses Citing Fears over National Security Law.” Hong Kong Free Press, May 24. https://hongkongfp.com/2022/05/24/hong-kong-catholic-group-will-not-hold-tiananmen-crackdown-masses-citing-fears-over-national-security-law/ (accessed June 4, 2023).
Cheng, Edmund W., and Samson Yuen. 2019. “Memory in Movement: Collective Identity and Memory Contestation in Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Vigils.” Mobilization: An International Quarterly 24 (4): 419–437. https://doi.org/10.17813/1086-671X-24–4-419.
Chin Pak-tau 錢北斗, ed. 1984. Shidai xinnian kaocha 時代信念考查 [Bible Studies on Contemporary Christian Convictions]. Hong Kong: Fellowship of Evangelical Students.
Chow, Christie Chui-shan, and Joseph Tse-Hei Lee. 2016. “Almost Democratic: Christian Activism and the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong.” Exchange 45 (3): 252–268. https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543X-12341402.
Christian Communications, ed. 1984. 1997 Yu jiaohui shiming 1997與教會使命 [1997 and the Church’s Mission]. Hong Kong: Christian Communications.
Christian Times. 2021. “Aiminyun ditiao jiesan” 愛民運低調解散 [The Hong Kong Christian Patriotic Democratic Movement Is Disbanded Quietly], June 4. https://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews.jsp?Nid=165743&Pid=2&Version=1762&Cid=767&Charset=big5_hkscs (accessed June 4, 2023).
Chui, Jane C. L 徐珍妮. 1992. Hui ying jiu qi: Jidu tu qun ti de jian zheng 回應九七: 基督徒群體的見證 [Some Christian Responses on 1997 Issues]. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Christian Institute.
Chun, Michael H. C. 2009. “Hong Kong Democracy Protests.” In The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, edited by Immanuel Ness, pp. 1604–1606. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp0714.
Darieva, Tsypylma, and Jeanne Kormina. 2023. “Religious Activism in Eastern Europe and Beyond.” Religion, State & Society 51 (1): 2–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2023.2187656.
Guo, Ting. 2022. “Beyond ‘Sing Hallelujah to the Lord’: Diffused Religion and Religious Co-Optations in Hong Kong.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 90 (4): 937–953. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfad006.
Ho, Ming-sho. 2019. Challenging Beijing’s Mandate of Heaven: Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement and Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
HKSAR. 2022. Hong Kong Yearbook 2021. https://www.yearbook.gov.hk/2021/en/index.html (accessed June 4, 2023).
Hong Kong Diocesan Liturgy Commission. 1989. Zhiyuan “aiguo minzhu yundong” liyi daowen zhuanji 支援「愛國民主運動」禮儀禱文專輯 [Liturgical Prayers in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement]. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Diocesan Liturgy Commission.
Hong Kong Christian Council and Divinity School of Chung Chi College, CUHK. 2022. Survey Report on Public Perception of Protestantism in Hong Kong 2021. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Christian Council and Divinity School of Chung Chi College, CUHK. https://www.theology.cuhk.edu.hk/sites/default/files/Survey%20Report%202021_SECURED.pdf (accessed June 4, 2023).
Hong Kong Christian Council Public Policy Committee. 1982. Xianggang jiao hui yu xianggang qiantu香港敎會與香港前途 [Hong Kong Church and Hong Kong’s Future]. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Christian Council.
Huaizhao 懷昭. 2016. “Qiyi da youxing de qianshi—Shou ren min zhen zhaoji ren huluqian boshi fangtan” 七一大遊行的前世——首任民陣召集人胡露茜博士訪 [The Story of the July 1st March—Interview with Dr. Rose Wu, the First Convener of the Civil Alliance]. The Initium, July 4. https://theinitium.com/article/20160704-notes-71rally/ (accessed June 4, 2023).
Kung Lap-yan 龔立人. 1999. Jiefang shenxue yu xianggang kunjing 解放神學與香港 困境 [Liberation Theology and Hong Kong’s Predicament]. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Christian Institute.
Kwok Nai-wang 郭乃弘. 1990. Gong mi qian lu: Jiu qi dang qian de jiao hui shi ming 共覓前路: 九七當前的教會使命 [In Search of a Future: 1997 and the Mission of the Church in Hong Kong]. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Christian Institute.
Kwok Nai-wang 郭乃弘. 2004. Wo de mu zhi 我的牧職 [My Ministry]. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Christian Institute.
Kwok Nai-wang 郭乃弘 and Agatha M. Y. Wong 黃美玉, eds. 1991. Yun cai pian pian: She guan jian zheng ji 雲彩翩翩: 社關見證集 [Christian Witnesses in Hong Kong]. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Christian Institute.
Kwok Pui-lan 郭佩蘭, ed. 1983. 1997 Yu xianggang shenxue 1997與香港神學 [1997 and Hong Kong Theology]. Hong Kong: Chung Chi College Theology Division.
Kwok, Pui-lan, and Francis Ching-wah Yip, eds. 2021. The Hong Kong Protests and Political Theology. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Kwok Wai-luen 郭偉聯. 2014. Zibao yu guanhuai: Xianggang jiaohui de shèhui ji zhengzhi canyu 自保與關懷: 香港教會的社會及政治參與 [Self-defence or Social Concern? The Social and Political Participation of Hong Kong Church]. Hong Kong: China Alliance Press.
Kwok, Wai-luen. 2015. “Reconsidering Public Theology Involvement of Hong Kong Protestant Christianity in the Occupy Central Movement.” Journal of Dharma 40 (2): 169–188.
Lai, Tsz-him. 2021a. “A Liberation Narrative of Religious Presence Amid the Protests: Hong Kong Theology.” In The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities, edited by Katie Day and Elise M. Edwards, pp. 235–249. New York: Routledge.
Lai, Tsz-him. 2021b. “Understanding the Use of Violence in the Hong Kong Protests.” In The Hong Kong Protests and Political Theology, edited by Pui-lan Kwok and Francis Ching-wah Yip, pp. 75–89. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Lai, Yan-ho. 2020. “Discernment of Spirits and Pastoral Circle in Social Movement: A Theological Reflection on Hong Kong’s Anti-extradition Movement.” Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies 11: 138–191.
Lau, Emily 劉慧卿. 1988. “Jidu jiaohui de fei shensheng tongmeng” 基督教會的非神聖同盟 [An Unholy Alliance of the Christian Church]. Ming Pao, January 4.
Lau Siu-lun 劉紹麟. 2018. Jiema xianggang jidujiao yu shehui mailuo: Xianggang jiaohui yu shehui de hongguan hudong 解碼香港基督教與社會脈絡: 香港教會與社會的宏觀互動 [The Interaction of the Church and Society in Hong Kong]. Hong Kong: Chinese Christian Literature Council Limited.
Lee, Joseph Tse-hei. 2021. “Christian Witness and Resistance in Hong Kong: Faith-based Activism from the Umbrella Movement to the Anti-Extradition Struggle.” Tamkang Journal of International Affairs 24 (3): 95–139. https://doi.org/10.6185/TJIA.V.202101_24(3).0003.
Leung, Beatrice. 2009. “The Hong Kong Catholic Church: A Framing Role in Social Movement.” In Social Movements in China and Hong Kong: The Expansion of Protest Space, edited by Klrun Eng Kualr-Peace and Gilles Guilreux, pp. 245–258. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Leung, Beatrice, and Shun-hing Chan. 2003. Changing Church and State Relations in Hong Kong, 1950–2000. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Lo, Sonny Shiu-hing. 2013. “The Role of a Political Interest Group in Democratization of China and Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.” Journal of Contemporary China 22 (84): 923–943. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2013.795308.
Ma Ngok 馬嶽. 2012. Xianggang 80 niandai minzhu yundong koushu lishi 香港80年代民主運動口述歷史 [An Oral History of the Democratic Movement of Hong Kong in the 1980s]. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press.
Mok, Lea. 2022. “2 years of Hong Kong’s national security law—Explained in data.” Hong Kong Free Press, June 30. https://hongkongfp.com/2022/06/30/2-years-of-hong-kongs-national-security-law-explained-in-data/ (accessed June 4, 2023).
Nedilsky, Lida V. 2014. Converts to Civil Society: Christianity and Political Culture in Contemporary Hong Kong. Waco: Baylor University Press.
Nedilsky, Lida V., and Bruce Van Voorhis, eds. 1997. 1997: Building a Global Civil Society. Hong Kong: July 1 Link.
Ng, Ka Sing. 2017. “Rethinking the Political Participation of Hong Kong Christians.” Social Transformations in Chinese Societies 13 (1): 37–55. https://doi.org/10.1108/STICS-10-2016-0017.
Ng, Nancy, and Andreas Fulda. 2018. “The Religious Dimension of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement.” Journal of Church & State 60 (3): 377–397. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcs/csx053.
School Education Statistics. 2023. Student Enrolment Statistics, 2022/23. The Hong Kong Education Bureau. https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/about-edb/publications-stat/figures/Enrol_2022.pdf (accessed June 4, 2023).
Sing, Ming. 2000. “Mobilization for Political Change—The Pro-democracy Movement in Hong Kong (1980s–1994).” In The Dynamics of Social Movement in Hong Kong, edited by Stephen Wing Kai Chiu and Tai-lok Lui, pp. 21–53. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Smith, Carl T. 1985. Chinese Christians: Elites, Middlemen, and the Church in Hong Kong. New York: Oxford University Press.
Smith, Christian. 1996. “Correcting a Curious Neglect, or Bringing Religion Back In.” In The Dynamics of Social Movement in Hong Kong, edited by Christian Smith, pp. 1–25. New York: Routledge.
Snarr, C. Melissa. 2011. All You That Labor: Religion and Ethics in the Living Wage Movement. New York: New York University Press.
So, Alvin Y. 1999. Hong Kong’s Embattled Democracy: A Societal Analysis. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
SoCo Editorial Team. 2022. Shi jin ren jian ku, cang mang qi feng yun: Shexie wushi nian 事盡人間苦, 蒼莽起風雲: 社協五十年 [Fifty Years of Society for Community Organization]. Hong Kong: Society for Community Organization.
Soper, J. Christopher, and Joel S. Fetzer. 2020. “Church and State in Post-Handover Hong Kong.” Taiwan Journal of Democracy 16 (2): 121–145.
Tai, Benny Yiu 戴耀廷 et al. 2013. Gong min kang ming yu zhan ling zhong huan: Xianggang Jidu tu de xin yang xing si 公民抗命與佔領中環: 香港基督徒的信仰省思 [Civil Disobedience and Occupy Central: Hong Kong Christian Reflections]. Taipei: Christian Arts Press.
Tai, Benny Yiu-ting 戴耀廷. 2013. “Gongmin kangming de zuida shashang li wuqi” 公民抗命的最大殺傷力武器 [The Most Destructive Weapon of Civil Disobedience]. Hong Kong Economic Journal, January 16. https://www1.hkej.com/dailynews/commentary/article/654855/%E5%85%AC%E6%B0%91%E6%8A%97%E5%91%BD%E7%9A%84%E6%9C%80%E5%A4%A7%E6%AE%BA%E5%82%B7%E5%8A%9B%E6%AD%A6%E5%99%A8 (accessed June 4, 2023).
Tai, Benny Yiu-ting 戴耀廷. 2020. Ai yi he ping: Wei wan de kang zheng zhi lu 愛與 和平:未完的抗爭之旅 [Love and Peace: A Journey of Unfinished Struggle]. Hong Kong: Step Forward Multi Media.
Tam, Yik-fai. 1993. “Strategy and Identity of a Social Movement Organization: A Case Study of the Justice and Peace Commission of Hong Kong Catholic Diocese.” M. Phil. thesis. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Baptist College.
Tang, James T. H., and Frank Ching. [1994] 2015. “The MacLehose-Youde Years: Balancing the ‘Three-Legged Stool,’ 1971–86.” In Precarious Balance: Hong Kong between China and Britain, 1842–1992, edited by Ming K. Chan, pp. 149–170. New York: Routledge.
Tilly, Charles, and Sidney Tarrow. 2015. Contentious Politics. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Tong Wing-sze 湯泳詩. 2005. Jiaohui liangxin yi gaoshi fenzi: Xianggang jidujiao gongye weiyuanhui lishi zhi yanjiu「教會良心」抑「搞事份子」:香港基督教工業委員會歷史之研究 (1959–2004) [“Conscience of the Church” or “Troublemaker”: The History of Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee (1959–2004)]. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong. https://repository.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/en/item/cuhk-325919 (accessed June 1, 2023).
Tse, Justin K. H. 2015. “Under the Umbrella: Grounded Christian Theologies and Democratic Working Alliances in Hong Kong.” Review of Religion and Chinese Society 2 (1): 109–142. https://doi.org/10.1163/22143955-00201002.
Tse, Justin K. H., and Jonathan Y. Tan, eds. 2016. Theological Reflections on the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Tso, Jessica Hiu-tung. 2021. “Hong Kong ‘Freedom Cunt’: Sexual Violence and Crucifixion.” In The Hong Kong Protests and Political Theology, edited by Pui-lan Kwok and Francis Ching-wah Yip, pp. 117–131. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
van Dijk, Rijk, Thomas G. Kirsch, and Franziska Duarte dos Santos. 2019. “Family Resemblances in Action: An Introduction to Religiopolitical Activism in Southern Africa.” Journal of Religion in Africa 49 (3–4): 233–256.
Wong, Helena P. W 黃碧雲, ed. 1990. Guo nan, min yun, xin yang fan si 國難、民運、信仰反思 [Some Christian Reflections on the June 4 Massacre and the Democratic Movement]. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Christian Institute.
Wong Jin-hei 黃展曦. 2019. “Sibai duo renxing minzhu kulu wei zhanzhong jiuzi daogao zhuyaoming: Shizijia de xisheng shouku yindao qian lu” 四百多人行民主苦路為佔中九子禱告 朱耀明:十字架的犧牲受苦引導前路 [More Than 400 People Walk the Way of the Cross and Pray for the Occupy Central 9, Chu Yiu-ming: The Sacrifice and Suffering of the Cross Leads the Way Forward]. Christian Times, April 1. https://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews.jsp?Nid=157550&Pid=1028&Version=0&Cid=2141&Charset=big5_hkscs (accessed June 4, 2023).
Wong, Pik-wan. 2000. “The Pro-Chinese Democracy Movement in Hong Kong.” In The Dynamics of Social Movement in Hong Kong, edited by Stephen Wing Kai Chiu and Tai-lok Lui, pp, 56–90. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Wong, Wai-Yin Christina. 2019. “An Ecumenical Experiment in Colonial Hong Kong: The Start of the Tsuen Wan Ecumenical Social Service Centre (1973 to 1997) and Its Local Praxis.” Religions 10 (5), article 5. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10050294.
Woodman, Sophia, ed. 1997. Hong Kong’s Social Movements: Forces From the Margins. Hong Kong: July 1 Link.
Yan, Huen-wai, ed. 2022. “Stories of Post Hong Kong” [special issue]. in God’s image: Journal of Asian Women’s Resource Centre for Culture and Theology 41 (June).
Ying Fuk-tsang 邢福增. 2018. Bian ju xia de pai huai: Cong zhan hou dao hou jiu qi Xianggang jiao hui she guan shi lun 變局下的徘徊: 從戰後到後九七香港教會社關史論 [Wandering in a Changing Situation: The History of Hong Kong Churches in Social Concern from Post-World War II to Post-1997]. Hong Kong: InPress Books.
Ying Fuk-tsang 邢福增. 2019. “Wo de sheng ming yi you shui bian jiu: Chen jian min de xin yang yu shi jian” 我的生命已由水變酒 陳健民的信仰與實踐 [My Life Has Transformed from Water to Wine: Chan Kin-man’s Faith and Practice]. Christian Times. https://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews.jsp?Nid=157458&Pid=103&Version=0&Cid=2017&Charset=big5_hkscs (accessed June 4, 2023).
Ying Fuk-tsang. 2021. “The Entanglement between Religion and Politics: Hong Kong Christianity in the Anti-Extradition Bill Movement.” Review of Religion and Chinese Society 8: 111–142. https://doi.org/10.1163/22143955-20200004.
Yu, Carver 余達心. 1984a. “Cong shengjing kan minzhu zhidu” 從聖經看民主制度 [Democracy from the Bible]. In 1997: Zhuanbian yu gengxin (Zengxiuben) 1997: 轉變與更新 (增修本) [Articles on 1997 (Revised Edition)], edited by Pak-tau Chin 錢北斗, pp. 62–67. Hong Kong: Fellowship of Evangelical Students.
Yu, Carver 余達心. 1984b. Xinnian shu quanshi (zengding ben) 信念書詮釋 (增訂本) [An Interpretation of Contemporary Christian Convictions]. Hong Kong: Fellowship of Evangelical Students.
Zen, Cardinal Joseph Ze-kiun. 2009. “Mass in Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of ‘June 4’ Homily by Cardinal Zen.” Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, May 29. https://catholic.org.hk/v2/en/message_cardinal/y2009_64.html (accessed June 4, 2023).
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 1263 | 1263 | 166 |
Full Text Views | 35 | 35 | 16 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 58 | 58 | 14 |
Churches in Hong Kong have served as contractors to the state since its British colonization. To secure their political and social privileges, these churches have often been fashioned into apologists for the state. This mentality was not widely challenged until the 1980s. Since the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, some Hong Kong church leaders, theologians, and laypeople have started to articulate a democratic vision for civil society. This paper employs the notion of “religious activism” as an analytical framework to examine the role of Hong Kong Christianity in the pro-democracy movement. The influential voices and actions of Christians in 1984, 1989, 2003, 2014, and 2019 are chronologically summarized. Each political event triggered divergent reflections on the political participation of Christians. This paper offers an analysis of genealogical narratives of Christian activism and offers a prediction on the future of this political participation, particularly under the imposition of the National Security Law.
香港教會自英國殖民時期以來,就一直承包政府的社會福利合約。為了確保教會的政治及社會特權,教會經常為政權辯護,而這種心態直到 1980 年代才開始面對挑戰。自 1984 年中英聯合聲明簽署,香港教會領袖、神學家和平信徒開始表達他們對公民社會的民主願景。
本文採用「宗教行動主義」作為分析框架,探討基督教在香港民主運動中的角色。本文歸納基督宗教信徒在 1984 年、 1989 年、 2003 年、 2014 年和 2019 年期間,在民主運動中的行動及發出的聲音。每件政治事件都引發了基督宗教信徒不同程度的政治參與。本文提供香港基督教行動主義的系譜敘事分析,並預測在港區國安法實施後,基督宗教信徒能如何繼續投入政治參與。
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 1263 | 1263 | 166 |
Full Text Views | 35 | 35 | 16 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 58 | 58 | 14 |