God Aboveground

This ethnographic study of a Chinese Catholic village reveals how the rapid penetration of transnational processes into the People’s Republic of China during the post-Mao period has redefined and created new social and cultural structures in rural communities. In examining the resurfacing of a Catholic community in a Hakka village in Jiaoling county, Guangdong, the book shows what it means to be part of a global and modern rural village. The Hakka are members of a Chinese diasporic group that in the past few decades have mobilized international campaigns to strengthen ethnic solidarity. After surviving campaigns of persecution in the Maoist era, Catholic villagers incorporated their village church into the state religious administrative structure while remaining faithful to Catholic traditions. They managed this transformation despite a multiplicity of national and transnational processes that might have deterred them: the privatization of local sectors of the socialist economy; the global movement of people as workers, students, and tourists; and the swift modernization of Chinese production and consumption. Through a close examination of life-cycle rituals such as weddings, baptisms, and funerals, and community-wide events such as the building of a new church and a celebration of Christmas, the author shows how Catholic villagers pursued strategies to make their imagined futures a reality. For these villagers, Chinese Catholicism has defined a deterritorialized community’s boundaries while simultaneously connecting them to the rest of the world through an international religious tradition.

Managing God's Higher Learning offers a distinct empirical study of Lingnan University and addresses issues of adaptation and integration. Author, Dong Wang, demonstrates that many aspects of Lingnan -- governance, links with the local society, financial management, education for women -- have either never been made the subject of scholarly discussion or are different from what we think we know about U.S.-China relations in the past. As the first co-educational institution of higher learning in China, Lingnan made monumental strides in the management of programs for women, a fact which confounds the assumptions made by China historians. The author argues that Lingnan's growth, resilience and success can partly be accounted for by entrepreneurial operations. Wang also contends that Lingnan found ways to adapt and "layer" a Christian presence at a time when the nationalization and secularization of higher education was making rapid headway. Based on information from archives located across the Pacific, this book will appeal to scholars of Chinese history as well as those interested in Sino-American relations.

A New History of Christianity in China, written by one of the world's the leading writers on Christianity in China, looks at Christianity's long history in China, its extraordinarily rapid rise in the last half of the twentieth century, and charts its future direction. Provides the first comprehensive history of Christianity in China, an important, understudied area in both Asian studies and religious history Traces the transformation of Christianity from an imported, Western religion to a thoroughly Chinese religion Contextualizes the growth of Christianity in China within national and local politics Offers a portrait of the complex religious scene in China today Contrasts China with other non-Western societies where Christianity is surging

As critical voices question the quality, authenticity, and value of people, goods, and words in post-Mao China, accusations of emptiness render things open to new investments of meaning, substance, and value. Exploring the production of lack and desire through fine-grained ethnography, this volume examines how diagnoses of emptiness operate in a range of very different domains in contemporary China: In the ostensibly meritocratic exam system and the rhetoric of officials, in underground churches, housing bubbles, and nationalist fantasies, in bodies possessed by spirits and evaluations of jade, there is a pervasive concern with states of lack and emptiness and the contributions suggest that this play of emptiness and fullness is crucial to ongoing constructions of quality, value, and subjectivity in China.

font size="+1"A thrilling tale of adventure and deception set in 1950s Austria, from the queen of romantic suspense and author of Madam, Will You Talk?/font size font size="+1"'This zestful romantic adventure grips, amuses, frightens and delights' Sunday Telegraph/font size Vanessa March's husband Lewis is meant to be on a business trip in Stockholm. So why does he briefly appear in newsreel footage of a fire at a circus in Vienna, with his arm around another woman? Vanessa flies to Austria to find her husband - and inadvertently becomes involved in a mystery surrounding the famous dancing stallions of Austria's Spanish Riding School . . . Praise for Mary Stewart: 'Mary Stewart is magic' New York Times 'I'd rather read her than most other authors' Harriet Evans 'One of the great British storytellers of the 20th century' Independent 'She set the benchmark for pace, suspense and romance - with a great dollop of escapism as the icing' Elizabeth Buchan Reader reviews of Airs Above the Ground: 'You feel you are there in the story. This made my holiday perfect' 'This book has it all . . . thrilling action in a stunning Austrian setting, I loved it' 'A cracking good story, beautifully written. This is a most satisfying read' 'Mary Stewart specialises in novels which have you alternately holding your breath as to what might happen, or chuckling to yourself. This is one of her best'

Richard Wright is widely recognized as one of the most important African-American writers and as a significant 20th-century author. With the publication of Native Son in 1940, Wright established his enduring reputation as a man of letters. With the immense critical success of Native Son, Wright went on to author Black Boy, The Outsider, and Eight Men. His writings reflect his experiences growing up in the poverty and racial strife of the South, and his thoughts on major social issues. This volume traces the critical reception of Wright's major works, from the publication of Native Son to the present day. An introductory chapter overviews the critical response to his writings, while two biographical chapters discuss his writings in relation to his life. Sections are then devoted to Native Son, Black Boy, and The Outsider. Each of these sections presents reviews and articles reflecting the best criticism of Wright's works. A final section, Richard Wright Today, offers contemporary assessments of Wright's reputation, as well as fascinating discussions of the recent Library of America editions of his works.

A powerful book for men's groups and for personal growth. Failsafe reconnects men to their identity in Christ: made in the image of a loving God and remade as new creations no longer bound to the patterns of this world, thanks to the saving work of Jesus. As this connection with God is strengthened, men are reborn. Their emotional lives realign. Their character, spirituality, and emotional health come back into congruence, and they can face the hard things of the world with bold assurance, knowing that they are no longer slaves to their fear, their pain, or the expectations of others. They belong to the Lord, and he has overcome the world. Veteran men's ministry leader Kenny Luck helps men courageously face their insecurities and unlearn their unhealthy attachments to broken, worldly markers of significance: their jobs, their standing in the community, their physique, etc. Kenny teaches that it is impossible to be spiritually mature when you are emotionally immature and points men to Christ as a model for masculinity and an anchor for their identity. This book is a rallying cry for men to become grounded in Christ so they can be set loose to serve a hurting world.