Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2000

Prof. Archie Lee Prof. Angela Wong Head of the Department of Religion Prof. Archie Lee Chi-chung pointed out that the different projects share a c ommon aim, a nd t hat is to ' u n d e r s t a n d wh a t contributions Christianity has made to Hong Kong's development, what issues it has brought up, and how Hong Kong people have been trying to resolve two d i f f e r e nt cultures.' They fil l a historica l gap by r e i n t e r p r e t i ng and recording h ow Christianity ha s impacted on Hong Kong society and culture. The project led by Prof. Archie Lee and Prof. Angela Wong is a case in point. They discovered that, prior to 1949, the Christian church disapproved of many Chinese customs. Insisting that Christians mus t be monogamous and all human beings are equal, it attempted to challenge practices such as foot-binding, concubinage, the keeping of young girls as bondsmaids, and polygamy. The church also instigated the Anti-bondsmaid Movement in the 1920s, and the practice was finally outlawed in 1933. Prof. Wong said,' Al t hough the position of the Ch r i s t i a n chu r ch h a d the b a c k i ng of the colonial government, the Chinese often used culture as a basis for retort, such as that the bondsmaid system could prevent poor girls from starving to death or resorting to prostitution. Christians among the Chinese were caught in the middle. While they treasured Chinese culture, they also appreciated Western respect for women. Consciously or subconsciously they tried to combine the essence of both cultures. This may have been the origin of the well-known bicultural characteristic of Hong Kong people.' Prof. Lee added, 'Hong Kong's Christians attend Sunday worship on the one hand, and follow traditional Chinese customs and rituals during births, deaths, and weddings. The study of the relationship between Christianity and Hong Kong allows us to reconstruct Ho n g Kong 's early history , u n d e r s t a n d the r e l a t i on s h ip b e t we e n t r a d i t i on a n d mode r n i z a t i on, and h a nd l e a hybrid cultural identity. Through the conflicts and h a rmo n y of being Christians and Chinese at the same time, we c a n also reexamine the un i qu e n e ss of Hong Kong society, reflec t on issues such as who we are, what identity means, and h ow we should develop our society.' Board of directors of the committee against the system of bondsmaids Preservin g and Illuminatin g Hon g Kong's Cultura l Heritage . Exploring the Social Impact of Religions 19