253
BOOK REVIEW
NICOLE CONSTABLE (1994), Christian Souls and Chinese Spirits: a Hakka Community in Hong Kong, Berkeley and Los Angeles University of California Press.
This book studies the complex identities of the Hakka Christians in Shung Him Tong of the New Territories of Hong Kong. It discusses how the Hakka identity is constructed through the eyes of their fellow Hakkas, by Hakka historians, European missionaries as well as local institutions like the church and family. According to Constable, the Hakkas were always regarded as poor and stingy in Chinese popular belief. They never enjoyed equal status with other ethnic Chinese. However, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, through the writings of Hakka historians and European missionaries, the Hakkas reconstructed their ethnic identity and claimed to be "orthodox Chinese" (Chapter 2). In the process of identity reconstruction, they transformed negative Hakka characteristics into positive ones, and then belief in Christianity reassured them that they were on the right track. In order to be good Christians, the Hakkas in Shung Him Tong secularised and rationalised Chinese customs and religious practices (Chapters 5 and 6). For instance, feng shui (geomancy) is re-interpreted as "common sense or as a purely aesthetic consideration" (p.126). The dual Chinese and Christian identity of the Hakka Christians was not at all stable. It had to be negotiated from time to time because of continuing social and cultural changes.
Constable argues that to understand the Shung Him Tong Hakka Christian's ethnic identity, one has to adopt three anthropological approaches. The first is to identify the cultural markers of the Hakkas, for instance their architecture, language, skin colour, etc., and to know how these characteristics were adapted to new social and cultural environments. The second is to understand how their social and economic boundaries are drawn to define social groupings, but also how church and other cultural symbols are used to redefine ethnic identity. And the third is to see how the shared history and ancestry consolidate the ethnic identity. These three approaches to the study of ethnicity complement one another. Constable skilfully incorporated interviews and observations with the Basel Mission Archives to illustrate the ethnic identities constructed by the early founders of the Christian community and how the identity varied in different times and places. Through her discussions,
253
BOOK REVIEW
NICOLE CONSTABLE (1994), Christian Souls and Chinese Spirits: a Hakka Community in Hong Kong, Berkeley and Los Angeles University of California Press.
This book studies the complex identities of the Hakka Christians in Shung Him Tong of the New Territories of Hong Kong. It discusses how the Hakka identity is constructed through the eyes of their fellow Hakkas, by Hakka historians, European missionaties as well as local institutions like the church and family. According to Constable, the Hakkas were always regarded as poor and stingy in Chinese popular belief. They never enjoyed equal status with other ethnic Chinese However, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through the writings of Hakka historians and European missionaries, the Hakkas reconstructed then ethnic identity and claim to be "orthodox Chinese" (Chapter 2). In the process of identity reconstruction, they transformed negative Hakka characteristics into positive ones, and then belief in Christianity reassured them that they were on the right track. In order to be good Christians, the Hakkas in Shung Him Tong secularised and rationalised Chinese customs and religious practices (Chapters 5 and 6). For instance, feng shu (geomancy) is re-interpreted as "common sense or as a purely aesthetic consideration" (p.126) The dual Chinese and Christian identity of the Hakka Christians was not at all stable. It had to be negotiated from time to time because of continuing social and cultural changes
Constable argues that to understand the Shung Hun Tong Hakka Christian's ethnic identity, one has to adopt three anthropological approaches. The first is to identify the cultural markers of the Hakkas, for instance their architecture, language, skin colour, etc, and to know how these characteristics were adapted to new social and cultural environments. The second is to understand how their social and economic boundaries are drawn to define social groupings, but also how church and other cultural symbols are used to redefine ethnic identity. And the third is to see how the shared history and ancestry consolidate the ethnic identity, ese three approaches to the study of ethnicity complement one another Constable skilfully incorporated interviews and observations with the Basel Mission Archives to illustrate the ethnic identities constructed by the early founders of the Christian community and how the identity vaned in different time and places Through her discussions
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