NEWS FEATURE: Hong Kong ministry seeks to remove ‘Western trappings’ of Christianity

c. 1997 Religion News Service HONG KONG _ On a lofty mountaintop overlooking Hong Kong’s modernized Shatin Valley, a round white temple with vivid red columns and pagoda-shaped roofs dominates the Tao Fong Shan compound. At first glance, the temple appears similar to many of the ornate Buddhist temples that dot Hong Kong’s congested city […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

HONG KONG _ On a lofty mountaintop overlooking Hong Kong’s modernized Shatin Valley, a round white temple with vivid red columns and pagoda-shaped roofs dominates the Tao Fong Shan compound. At first glance, the temple appears similar to many of the ornate Buddhist temples that dot Hong Kong’s congested city streets and lush rural areas.

But this is the”Christ Temple,”dedicated to Jesus and not to Buddha.


It is part of the Tao Fong Shan Christian Center, an unusual Hong Kong ministry seeking to”remove the Western trappings of Christianity”so the faith can be interpreted in a Chinese context.

Although Christianity may have first appeared in China as early as the 7th and 8th centuries when the Nestorian church movement _ a heretical sect that believed two distinct natures existed in Jesus, one human, one divine _ traveled eastward, the religion did not take hold widely until the modern colonial era.

Today, tens of millions of people in mainland China are Christians, as are nearly 10 percent of Hong Kong’s 6.3 million citizens. Yet many on the mainland and in Hong Kong still consider Christianity a”yangjiao,”a foreign religion connected with foreign subjugation.

Hong Kong’s British colonizers are set to leave by July 1, when the territory reverts to the People’s Republic of China. The implications of the changeover remain uncertain for Hong Kong’s churches.

But at the Tao Fong Shan Christian Center, ministry leaders are working to”contexualize the Gospel”to prove that Christianity can relate well in a Hong Kong no longer ruled by the British.”We try to show that Christianity is as much for the Chinese as for the Westerner,”says the Rev. Rolv Olsen, the Norwegian pastor who serves as Tao Fong Shan’s president.”Only by contexualization, by being rooted in the life and culture of the people, may the church survive and grow in China, or for that matter, anywhere.” The ministry’s objectives include encouraging the development of indigenous Chinese theology, seeking liturgical and spiritual renewal within churches, promoting Chinese Christian art, and encouraging dialogue and understanding between Christians and followers of other faiths.

Olsen describes the ministry as”Lutheran-based, but ecumenical in spirit.”The center’s staff consists of both Westerners and ethnic Chinese.

While its work has taken on new significance with the imminent return of Hong Kong to China, the ministry’s roots actually reach back to the early 1900s, when Karl Ludvig Reichelt, a Lutheran from Norway, went to China’s Hunan province to work with the Norwegian Missionary Society. While there, Reichelt began studying Chinese Buddhism and engaging Buddhist monks in theological discussions.

As his work progressed, Reichelt increasingly felt the need to share his faith in a context the Buddhist monks could better understand.


In 1919, Reichelt established the Religious Studies Institute in Nanjing, China. But as civil strife began spreading in the late 1920s, Reichelt moved his work to Hong Kong, and in 1930, the Tao Fong Shan Christian Center was officially established at its present site in the New Territories district near the Chinese border.

From its earliest days, Tao Fong Shan has been criticized by those who feared the ministry was promoting”syncretism,”or the blending of Christianity with Buddhism. Olsen denies this, asserting the ministry has always been”genuinely Christian.” According to Olsen, Tao Fong Shan can be translated as”the mountain where the Christ wind blows.”Most of the center’s work still takes place at the pastoral mountaintop compound, a retreat and educational center that seems far removed from Hong Kong’s teeming commercial districts.

The compound itself is laden with symbolism. The most dramatic expression is the Christ Temple, whose design and landscaping were modeled after traditional Buddhist patterns.

Hanging from an outer wall of the chapel is a large cast-iron bell, similar to the bells used in large Buddhist monasteries in ancient China to wake the monks and nuns. Inside the chapel, a golden cross is mounted on the white wall across from the entryway. The altar is a red and gold table, covered with flowers and candles.

The chapel is open daily for Christian worship and prayer services in the morning, at noon and in the evening. Services are held in Chinese, English and Latin, and often incorporate lengthy periods of silent prayer.

In the basement is the Lotus Crypt, a small dark stone chapel where individuals can come for private prayer and meditation. At the front of the crypt, a crucifix stands in a small alcove, surrounded by flowers and candles.


A large incense burner hangs from the ceiling in front of the crucifix. According to Olaug Karin Olsen, Rolv’s wife, the incense”visualizes what the Bible says, that prayers are like fragrant incense to God.” Thin glimmers of sunlight shine through a small stained glass window designed with Tao Fong Shan’s symbol, a cross rising from a lotus flower, which symbolizes spiritual awakening in much of Asia.

Rolv Olsen says the symbol depicts”Christianity planted into Asian culture.” From the temple, visitors can walk though the thick green foliage along a steep winding path to the Tao Fong Shan Cross, another prayer and meditation site. Here, a 40-foot high white cross looms over the numerous skyscrapers being constructed in Shatin, one of the”new cities”emerging as Hong Kong’s incessant urban life continues to expand.

The compound also contains simple lodging and dining facilities, as well as meeting rooms and lecture halls. Individuals and groups frequently use the center for personal retreats, conferences and training courses.

In addition, the Center houses the K.L. Reichelt Memorial Library and religious research center and the Institute of Sino-Christian Studies, a nonprofit academic institute founded in 1995.

The Institute, a joint effort of Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, sponsors theological study and inter-religious dialogue with followers of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. The campus of the Lutheran Theological Seminary of Hong Kong is adjacent to the compound.

At Tao Fong Shan’s art center, located across from the Christ Temple, artists hand paint porcelain plates with biblical scenes that blend the Chinese art form with the story of Christianity. Boldly-colored tapestries with biblical scenes are also woven in the traditional style of China’s ethnic Tujia people.


According to Olsen, all the pieces of the Tao Fong Shan’s ministry work together to show that”Christianity is not some Western religion,”but a faith that has”relevance”for the Chinese people. Olsen says the message is an important one as Hong Kong prepares to once again become part of China.

The impending political changes are creating an identity crisis for many Hong Kong residents, and in that, Olsen sees new ministry opportunities for Tao Fong Shan. “Maybe out of necessity, many (Hong Kong residents) seem to be going back to their roots and stressing the Chinese … Maybe we’re able in some way to be a bridge, or at least to walk on this different road together,”he says.”We don’t have all the answers, but we can be a place where people together can address these issues and find answers.” DEA END LAWTON

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