A Christian artist urges Chinese Christians to study Chinese culture in order to understand their own people and country.
For a variety of complex reasons, Chinese churches and Christians in general have for a long time paid little attention to traditional Chinese culture. Many Christians believe it is enough to concentrate on faith itself and pay little attention to other matters. Some believers state though that the concept of not valuing Chinese culture needs to change.
Brother Le Dao, who once pastored a church, said: “We are citizens of heaven, but we do have another layer of identity—we are also citizens of the earth. Therefore, Christians need to learn not only theology but also the culture of their own people and country."
His observation is that, generally speaking, the church and pastors in China know little about Chinese culture. “Many people don’t have a basic understanding of it, let alone mastering it.”
"Every nation has its own culture and has developed a certain human spirit. God has allowed them to exist, and the cultures of all peoples and nations are allowed by God. Therefore, we as Christians should not only read theology but also study culture, especially Chinese culture. We should imitate Moses and Paul. Moses learned the Egyptian culture, Paul studied the Greek culture, and so we also need to learn Chinese culture. Culture is not here to resist the truth, but rather to be used by the truth."
He offered an example: "Many of our pastors today, even PhDs out of seminary, go out and talk to people and basically don't understand anything but Jesus: ‘I know Jesus and if you don't - you're finished!’ But how can others understand us if we talk like that? This is no way to talk."
Le Dao then explained his convictions through the story of Wang Xianzhi, a famous Chinese calligrapher. Arranged by his parents, Wang married his aunt’s daughter, Chi Daomao. Wang was fond of Chi, a very beautiful lady from a rich and influential family. Their marriage was happy. Since generals came out of the house of Wang for generations, the then-Emperor Jianwen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, named Sima Yu, summoned Wang to meet him and offer him an official position.
The emperor took a strong liking to him and said: “I will introduce my sister to you, you two get married and you repudiate your original wife.”
After hearing this, Wang Xianzhi was in great pain because he loved his wife very much. In order not to marry the princess, Wang Xianzhi went so far as to mutilate his own feet and burn his legs with mugwort, but he still could not stop the approaching marriage.
In the end, Wang Xianzhi had no choice but to write a letter of repudiation and divorce his original wife, Xi Daomao, which became a lifelong wound for him. Shortly after the forced divorce, he created the famous calligraphy named: “Feng Dui Tie for Chi”.
“The calligraphy example records his marriage change and the inner pain. There are dozens of words. We can see clearly from it that the characters were scribbled, and that the latter words seem more careless than the previous ones. Why would that happen? Because Wang Xianzi was so enraged and distressed. The more words he wrote, the more agitated he became.”
“Through it you come to know this person, enter into his life and understand his career, bumps, pains, pressures, grief, loss, depression, and even his hopelessness.”
The speaker added that the works of those literary giants passed down to us are full of blood and tears. They are very vivid. We the later generations need to see the spirit and essence behind this art. “Through imitating their calligraphy, I reread the Bible. I came to see a deeper world through these texts. For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.”
- Translated by Karen Luo
因着种种复杂的原因，长期以来，中国教会和基督徒更是普遍不太重视中国传统文化。很多基督徒认为，专心与信仰本身就已经足够了，对其他方面的事情不需要关注太多。有一些基督徒认为，教会和信徒“不重视中国文化”的观念需要得到修正，需要更加的重视中国文化。
华东一名有过牧会经历的基督徒艺术家乐道弟兄说。“我们是天上的国民，但是同时还有另外一层身份——地上的公民，因此，基督徒不仅需要学习神学，也需要学习和了解我们自己民族和国家的文化。”
他谈到自己的观察，看到在中国整体上教会和牧者对中国自身的文化了解甚少，非常不重视，“很多人连基本的了解都谈不上，更谈不上融会贯通了。”（==当summary）
乐道弟兄谈到这方面我们需要有想法的更新：“每个国家都有自己的文化并且形成了某种人文精神。上帝允许它们存在，各个民族和国家的文化都是有上帝的允许的。因此，我们作为基督徒，不仅要读神学，还要学习文化，尤其是中国文化。就像摩西跟保罗一样，摩西学习了埃及文化，保罗学习了希腊文化，我们也需要学习中国文化。它不是来抵挡真理的，相反却是被真理所使用的。”
他举例说：“我们今天很多的牧者甚至于神学院毕业的博士出去跟别人一谈，基本上什么都听不懂，就只懂耶稣——“我就懂耶稣，你不信你就完了！”——如果这样说话的话那还怎么跟别人聊天？实在没办法聊。”
随后，乐道弟兄举了书圣王羲之的儿子同样也是大书法家的王献之的故事作为具体的例子来表达自己的思考。
王献之结婚时候婚姻是他的父母包办的，他娶了他姑姑的女儿，也就是他的表姐郗道茂。郗道茂长得非常美丽，而且又是大家闺秀，王献之很喜欢她，他们的婚姻非常幸福美满。结婚之后，因为王家历代都出将相，，所以皇上东晋简文帝司马昱就宣召了王家子弟王献之，让他入仕。
皇帝一看他，就喜欢上他了，说我把我妹妹介绍给你，你们俩结婚，你把原配妻子休掉吧。
听了以后，王献之非常痛苦，因为他很爱他的妻子，了不和公主结婚，王献之甚至不惜自残双脚，用艾草把自己的双腿给烧伤了，就算使出了这招，也没能阻止这场突如其来的婚事。最后没有办法，王献之只好写了休书，跟原配妻子郗道茂离婚，这也成了王献之一生的痛。
与原配妻子郗道茂离婚以后不久，就给郗道茂写下了后来举世闻名的《奉对帖》。
乐道弟兄说，“通过这个书法贴记录他的婚姻变故和他心里的痛苦，一共就几十个字，看过他的帖子的话我们就会明显看到，帖子中的字写的非常潦草。而且是越往后越潦草，为什么会这样？因为当时王献之又气愤又难受，他是越写越激动。所以，通过这篇帖子，我们就能够感受到王献之当时的情和心，也可以说这字帖里面就有王献之的“道”。”
透过这个帖子你认识了这个人，进入他的生活当中，了解他的仕途和人生中所经历的无数的坎坷、痛苦、压力、难过、失丧、沮丧甚至绝望。”
那些著名的文学巨匠们，他们能流传到今天的那些作品都是饱藏着他们的血泪的，是非常鲜活的。所以观看、临摹的后人不能只看到这些作品的表面、皮毛，更加要看到作品里边的精神、内涵。“通过临帖的过程我就重新读圣经，在读经的过程中不断看到圣经文字背后更深刻的世界，字句是叫人死的，精意是叫人活的。”通过临帖，乐道弟兄对于圣经内容的理解也不断地变得更加深刻。
观点华东一牧者&艺术家：中国基督徒不仅需要学习神学，也需要学习中国文化
A Christian artist urges Chinese Christians to study Chinese culture in order to understand their own people and country.
For a variety of complex reasons, Chinese churches and Christians in general have for a long time paid little attention to traditional Chinese culture. Many Christians believe it is enough to concentrate on faith itself and pay little attention to other matters. Some believers state though that the concept of not valuing Chinese culture needs to change.
Brother Le Dao, who once pastored a church, said: “We are citizens of heaven, but we do have another layer of identity—we are also citizens of the earth. Therefore, Christians need to learn not only theology but also the culture of their own people and country."
His observation is that, generally speaking, the church and pastors in China know little about Chinese culture. “Many people don’t have a basic understanding of it, let alone mastering it.”
"Every nation has its own culture and has developed a certain human spirit. God has allowed them to exist, and the cultures of all peoples and nations are allowed by God. Therefore, we as Christians should not only read theology but also study culture, especially Chinese culture. We should imitate Moses and Paul. Moses learned the Egyptian culture, Paul studied the Greek culture, and so we also need to learn Chinese culture. Culture is not here to resist the truth, but rather to be used by the truth."
He offered an example: "Many of our pastors today, even PhDs out of seminary, go out and talk to people and basically don't understand anything but Jesus: ‘I know Jesus and if you don't - you're finished!’ But how can others understand us if we talk like that? This is no way to talk."
Le Dao then explained his convictions through the story of Wang Xianzhi, a famous Chinese calligrapher. Arranged by his parents, Wang married his aunt’s daughter, Chi Daomao. Wang was fond of Chi, a very beautiful lady from a rich and influential family. Their marriage was happy. Since generals came out of the house of Wang for generations, the then-Emperor Jianwen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, named Sima Yu, summoned Wang to meet him and offer him an official position.
The emperor took a strong liking to him and said: “I will introduce my sister to you, you two get married and you repudiate your original wife.”
After hearing this, Wang Xianzhi was in great pain because he loved his wife very much. In order not to marry the princess, Wang Xianzhi went so far as to mutilate his own feet and burn his legs with mugwort, but he still could not stop the approaching marriage.
In the end, Wang Xianzhi had no choice but to write a letter of repudiation and divorce his original wife, Xi Daomao, which became a lifelong wound for him. Shortly after the forced divorce, he created the famous calligraphy named: “Feng Dui Tie for Chi”.
“The calligraphy example records his marriage change and the inner pain. There are dozens of words. We can see clearly from it that the characters were scribbled, and that the latter words seem more careless than the previous ones. Why would that happen? Because Wang Xianzi was so enraged and distressed. The more words he wrote, the more agitated he became.”
“Through it you come to know this person, enter into his life and understand his career, bumps, pains, pressures, grief, loss, depression, and even his hopelessness.”
The speaker added that the works of those literary giants passed down to us are full of blood and tears. They are very vivid. We the later generations need to see the spirit and essence behind this art. “Through imitating their calligraphy, I reread the Bible. I came to see a deeper world through these texts. For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.”
- Translated by Karen Luo
Opinion: Chinese Christians Need to Study Chinese Culture
