Uneasy Encounters

The book examines the dynamic processes of the various social, political, and cultural negotiations that representatives of Christian groups engage in within authoritarian societies in Greater China, where Christianity is deemed a foreign religious system brought to China by colonial rulers. The book explores the political and social cooperation and negotiations of two particular Christian groups in their respective and distinct settings: the open sector of the Catholic Church in the communist People’s Republic on mainland China from 1945 to the present day, and the Presbyterian church of Taiwan in the Republic of China in Taiwan during the period of martial law from 1949 to 1987. Rather than simply confirm the ‘domination-resistance’ model of church–state relations, the book focuses on the various approaches adopted by religious groups during the process of negotiation. In an authoritative Chinese environment, religious specialists face two related pressures: the demands of their authoritarian rulers and social pressure requiring them to assimilate to the local culture. The book uses two case studies to support a wider theory of economic approach to religion.

“This book adopts the economic approach to religion to study the development of Christianity in China from the perspective of the relationship between Church and state. … This book is a catalyst for advancing the study of Christianity in China and will be much appreciated by both specialists and students of Chinese Christianity.” (Wei Xiong, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 49 (1), March, 2023)“Uneasy Encounters, the author’s first book, is a laudable effort at marshalling an extensive review of church publications and scholarly literature … . Rychetská is to be commended for bridging scholarly conversations that have not always been in dialogue with each other. In particular, Rychetská’s review of published church documents and government policy documents relating to the church will interest scholars and teachers seeking to illustrate particular aspects of church-state relations in either context.” (Joshua Tan, Review of Religion and Chinese Society, February 20, 2023)

Mgr. Bc. Magdaléna Rychetská (b. Masláková), M.A., Ph.D. (b. 1991) received her Ph.D. from the Department of Study of Religion (2020) at the Masaryk University. Furthermore, she graduated from the Department of Chinese Studies (2017) at the Masaryk University in Brno, and China Studies at Zhejiang University (2019). She is currently a staff member at the Department of Chinese studies at the Masaryk University. In her research, she is dedicated to the study of Christianity in the Chinese context.