A Study Of Chao Tzu-ch’en’s Life Of Jesus From The Perspective Of Imagologie

Chao Tzu-ch’en was a famous Protestant theologian,religion educator,writer and social activist in modern China.His Life of Jesus,written in 1935,is the first detailed biography of Jesus written by Chinese.In this work,Chao Tzu-ch’en adapted the contents of the Bible to his situation,presenting a fleshly image of Jesus from the perspective of Chinese intellectuals in the 20th century.This study processes the work through the methodology of imagologie.This study is divided into five parts:The introduction starts with the origin of this study,as well as the status quo of domestic and foreign research related to it.On this basis,the methods,objectives and structure of this study are clarified.Chapter 1 systematically combs Chao Tzu-ch’en’s life and ideological tendency.Then the purpose why and the methods how Chao Tzu-ch’en wrote Life of Jesus are discussed based on the introduction chapter of this work.Chapter 2 discusses the image of the Jewish in Life of Jesus.In this biography,the image of the Jewish constitutes the historical field in which Jesus lives.The political,cultural and social crisis faced by the Jewish presents Jesus with urgent problems to be solved.In this work,the Jewish has a long history and a splendid culture,but under the impact of the Roman Empire and Greco-Roman civilization,its own political structure and cultural heritage are in the danger of extinction.However,religion elites of the Jewish are unable to be the back bone of the national revival,because they are unreformed and stuck in the restless quarrels among themselves.From the perspective of imagologie,the image of the Jewish reflects Chao Tzu-ch’en’s anxiety about the future of China.The problems faced by the Jewish are similar to those of China in the first half of the 20th century.Chapter 3 discusses the image of Jesus in this work from three aspects.First,the Jesus is more a common man with a sense of mission rather than a "son of God".Born into a carpenter’s family,he faces the same family problems as ordinary people.He develops his correct understanding of society,history,life,revolution and the way forward for the nation through the practice in his life instead of reveals.Second,Jesus is a revolutionary who sacrifices his life for righteousness.In the course of leading the "Movement for the Kingdom of Heaven”and developing it into a massive revolution all over Israel,he is brave,cautious and charismatic.When he finally goes up to Jerusalem to sacrifice himself,Jesus boldly blazes a new trail for Israel and even all mankind in a"purely humanly" way.Third,Jesus is a revealer of new culture.He has a deep understanding and empathy for the cultural traditions of his nation,but he is not stuck with them.Instead,he reassesses and interprets them based on the situation of his era,trying to lead the nation to break away from the rigid rituals and dogmas,so they will face the challenges of the new time with a new spirit.According to Jean-Marc Moura’s typology of imagologie,the image of the Jewish in Chao Tzuch’en’s work is an "ideological" image in the same situation as Chao Tzu-ch’en’s,while the image of Jesus is a "utopian" image separated from it.They form a unique tension structure in Life ofJesus.The image of Jesus provides an idealized solution to the problems of China in the first half of the 20th century.That is,by imitating the personality of Jesus and with the efforts of ordinary people,a cultural innovation would be launched all over the society.This innovation does not completely abandon the heritage of Chinese culture,but carries it on development in accordance with the new time.The image of Jesus origins from Chao Tzu-ch’en’s unique path of belief and his Confucian ethical background as Chinese.The Conclusion summarizes this study.The image of the Jewish and Jesus in Life ofJ esus are unique because of Chao’s special feelings related to his nation and era.Although Chao Tzu-ch’en’s solution to the problems of China,which is revealed through the image of Jesus Christ in this work,is somehow too idealistic,his precious patriotic consciousness and concern as a Chinese Christian intellectual in the 20th century still have a practical significance today.