On The History And Culture Of Christianity In Ordos Plateau

The Ordos plateau is not only the forefront region where mutual cultural exchanges between agriculture civilization and nomadic civilization happen, but also the important region where the mutual integration and fuse between Eastern and Western civilizations occur. Because of its unique history, culture and geographical location, the Ordos plateau becomes one of the earlier regions where Christianity was introduced into China, which has made its history longer than other areas. In this region, Nestorianism, Catholic as well as Protestantism all spread.Especially after the modern time, Christianity has reached the most prosperous period in this region. In different historical time, there are some relevant Christian sites and relics retained. Their spatial distribution can be the reflection of the propagation characteristic of Christian. The Christian church(or called missionary society) has launched various social activities which helped to promote social civilization development of the Ordos plateau. Meantime, the missionaries encountered all kinds of difficulties in the mission, and their activities has caused serious conflicts between church and people. The Christian missionary in Ordos plateau plays a critical role in the Chinese Christian history.The thesis is divided into five parts:The introduction part explain the main research content from the following five parts:the significance of theme, the definition of concepts, the summary of the related researches and the methodology of the thesis.The first chapter mainly discusses the Christian missionary history including the introduction, spreading and development in the Ordos plateau. Based on the literature and archaeological evidence, the paper makes an illustration of the development history of Nestorianism, Catholic and Protestantism during the different history periods in the region.The second chapter sorts out the spatial distribution of ancient Christian culture relics and sites and modern Christian churches in the Ordos plateau. Based on the relevant statistics and data, the thesis comes to summarize the characteristic of spatial distribution of these Christian sites and churches and the factors which have affected the locations.The third chapter elucidates the social activities that Christian churches(or called missionary society) launched in the Ordos plateau in modern time. There are mainly five kinds of activities including rural construction, education and culture, medical services, charity, and the improvement of social atmosphere. Afterwards, the thesis analyzes the impacts of these social activities.The fourth chapter mainly discusses the missionary dilemmas and difficulties that modern Christian church (or called missionary society) encountered in the Ordos plateau, and focuses on the analysis of the interest conflicts between the spread of Christianity and non-Christian group, for which the paper intends to explore the underlying reasons.Based on the historical background, the conclusion part makes a macroscopic investigation to the introduction and spreading of Christianity in the Ordos plateau region, and makes an evaluation of the crucial place of the Ordos plateau in the process of Christianity’s spreading in China.