포럼

Confessions of a Confucianist:
IMPLICATIONS for MISSIONS

ETS, November 15, 2007

Sheryl Takagi Silzer[1]

I. Introduction

I’ve been a Christian for over fifty years and a missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators for forty years, but it has only been in the last ten years that I’ve realized how much my Christianity has been influenced by my Confucian heritage as a Japanese American. Reflecting back on my missionary experience, I’ve discovered a number of ways in which Confucianism contributed to the on-going cultural stress that I experienced. One of the main ways was reluctance to speak to authority figures when I disagreed with them. Even though I felt they were wrong or did not understand the whole story, I didn’t feel it was appropriate for me as a woman to speak to them about the issue or to suggest they might not have understood the situation correctly. Instead I would get knots in my stomach and suppress my negative feelings. Rather than addressing my concerns with authority figures, I would take my complaints to others. Over a period of time these negative feelings built up and I would release them in some negative way. I would get angry at my husband, my children, and just about everyone else. I would complain about the situation to others, but not to the appropriate people. Although I knew the Bible allowed me to angry but not to sin, I didn’t know how to stop being angry. Since I thought I was following the Biblical commands to submit to authority figures, I didn’t understand why my emotions and behavior were so unbiblical.

This paper reviews how I as a Japanese American missionary recognized and addressed my Confucianistic practices and the implications this has for mission. First, I discovered Confucianism and then realized how much my own life was impacted by Confucianistic values. Then I looked more deeply into Scripture and began to understand how I had replaced Biblical values with cultural values. In summary I discuss the mission implications of understanding Confucianism.

II. DISCOVERING Confucianism

In my research I discovered that Confucius was an actual person named K’ung-fu-tzu who lived from 551-479 BCE. He was a scholar and a teacher who was concerned about the social ills that characterized China at that time. His teachings sought to educate people to become the best human being they could be by developing their inner selves. His teachings were aimed at leaders as he felt they were responsible for the social turmoil of the country. Confucius felt that if the leaders acted appropriately, they could improve the social condition of society as a whole.[2]

Confucius’s thinking, as well as his actions and dialogues with his disciples, were recorded in a book entitled Analects.[3] Confucius taught a code of ethics for self realization through interactions with others.[4] This code of ethics is based on appropriate behavior in five major relationships through which individuals can cultivate their true inner self in order for the family, state, and world to function appropriately.[5] Each of these relationships enabled the development of a particular virtue. If these virtues were practiced, he believed they would reduce the rampant social ills.[6]

The five relationships are defined hierarchical relationships between ruler and subject, husband and wife, parent and child, older and younger, and friend to friend. The lower person is always to be subject to the higher person. Within each relationship a specific virtue is developed—duty between ruler and subject, distinction of roles between husband and wife, love by the son for the father, precedence of older over younger, and faith between friends. Confucius believed that developing these virtues through these relationships would produce an ideal society.

…to teach the people human relationships: love between father and son, duty between ruler and subject, distinction between husband and wife, and precedence of the old over the young, and faith between friends.[7]

The main virtue upon which these relationships were established and modeled is the child’s love for the parent or filial piety in which the virtue of love is to be developed. This has also been described as mutual indebtedness, e.g. the parent’s care for their children indebt them the rest of their life. If this is learned well within the home, a person is prepared to serve society as well.[8] To demonstrate filial piety a person treats his/her parents with the proper actions or li. This refers not only to the outward behavior, but also to the inward disposition of mind and heart.[9] It is also based on reciprocity for what the parents have done in bringing up, training, and providing for them. With filial piety children repay their parents for their kindnesses. Filial piety is demonstrated through respect or love to parents. This takes various forms and should also be extended to anyone who is older or higher in status. This love/respect is seen in every aspect of life in the home as well as in public. Children are to provide care and services by serving favorite foods, giving gifts, and speaking with respectful language as well as submitting to their parents’ desires. Children are also to respect/show love to their parents by being courteous, giving them special seats or places, celebrating their birthdays, and remembering them after they have died.[10] These activities parallel the care that the parents had for their children in raising them. These activities continue on even when the children become adults, leave their childhood home, and even after their parents have died.[11]

The daily practice of these respectful behaviors forms a behavior pattern in which a son learns to "suppress his own desires, anticipates the wishes of his father, and takes his father’s commands as sacred edicts." [12] This was not the original intention of the Confucian scholars who taught that if parents were wrong, they were to be gently corrected.

…filial piety consists, during the lifetime of our parents, in conforming ourselves to their wishes, and giving them not only physical care and nourishment, but nourishing their wills; while should they fall into error, it consists in reproving them and leading them back to what is right.[13]

On the other hand, the Asian cultural practice of saving or protecting the face of the family or group has reinforced suppressing individual desires and disagreement with parents or those in higher positions of authority. The concept of face includes everything regarding one’s birth, one’s degree of education, sophistication, and fate.[14] Children are socialized from an early age to act in ways that preserve the dignity of their family name. Disagreeing with an elder or confronting them in public causes elders to lose face. In fact face is a concept that has been described as a mechanism for Asian conflict management. That is, in order to preserve face, conflict is avoided.[15] Face is saved to preserve social harmony and children are trained at a young age to have smooth relationships by not being aggressive. They do this by learning to suppress their own desires by giving in to others, and particularly those who are older.[16] A strong sense of community loyalty automatically suppresses bad feelings between extended family groups and not just the individuals involved. These bad feelings are often passed on from one generation to the next.[17]

Additionally, Confucianism has a very low position for women. In fact, submission characterizes a woman her whole life—first as a child she is to submit to her father, then as a wife to her husband, and finally as a widow to her oldest son. Therefore, a woman is potentially more unequal than a man.[18] As a woman is suppressed her whole life, she may release her suppressed negative feelings by taking control in other culturally sanctioned areas such as championing the success of her children or trying to control her daughter-in-law.

These two consequences are frequently found in Confucianistic societies. One is the development of an authoritarian attitude by those who are older and resentment and bitterness by those who are younger. This inequality of the hierarchical system creates the situation where elders can easily develop an authoritarian attitude. The norm is for those in the higher position to make decisions and have the right to decide what those under them do. Younger people who learn to submit all their lives to older people can easily develop bitterness and resentment from having to always submit. Women as always being in submission generally develop a very submissive attitude, however, there are women who rebel against this characterization and try to take control in other ways. On the other hand, young men become old and eventually receive the respect due an older person. This inequality is embedded in the Confucianistic system and the natural consequence is authoritariaism by the elders and bitterness by the younger. The Confucian system creates these attitudes that are both regarded as acceptable and allowed to exist. Bitterness is often considered a positive trait that can encourage a person to do something good. However, it is more often demonstrated by a negative response. [19]

III. HOW CONFUCIANISM IMPACTED ME

As I studied Confucianism, I began to understand how Confucian values had impacted me. Previously, as a third generation Japanese American, I thought I was thoroughly American and not affected by my Asian heritage. However, my grandparents lived with us when I was growing up since my father was the oldest and only son. Both my grandmother and mother were very submissive to their husbands (the husband and wife relationship). I never heard a disagreement between them. Additionally my mother never thought her mother-in-law liked her.

I was also taught not to talk back to my parents or to question what they did. I was to obey because they were my parents and I was their child (the parent and child relationship). My older brother and I were given responsibility for our two younger brothers and we made sure they followed our orders as well (the older and younger relationship). Since they were eight and twelve years younger, they were too young to contradict our authority.[20]

I also remember my parents telling me to not express myself by being overly noisy or by drawing attention to myself. I was also to control my emotions and not show them.[21] At the time I thought that was just the proper way of acting and wondered why my Caucasian friends were trained so differently. Their parents allowed them to express their emotions, talk loud, and draw attention to themselves. I would feel uncomfortable when they were emotional, talked loud, disagreed in public, or talked disrespectfully about their parents. When I read the Japanese proverb that says, "the nail that stands out gets pounded down," I realized that my parents were following Japanese culture in teaching me not to make myself stand out from the group by making a lot of noise or drawing attention to myself. The Japanese proverb was opposite to the American proverb that says "the squeaky wheel gets the grease."[22] I began to understand why I was different from my friends and why some of their behaviors made me uncomfortable.

When I went to college and took a required class on public speaking, I had a very difficult time speaking up. For one assignment the class went outside and we took turns standing on a small raised hill above others and shouted out our speeches while the other students criticized loudly. This was a very difficult thing for me to do. First, I wasn’t used to raising my voice and second, I wasn’t used to people criticizing me in front of others. This incident created a painful memory that I still have. For many years public speaking was very difficult for me. My knees would knock, I would get butterflies in my stomach, and my voice would quaver.

Shortly after college I felt God’s call to join a mission organization (Wycliffe Bible Translators). During my forty years with the organization I have had difficulty with various supervisors. Although I was trained as a Bible translator and had been in translation work as a single, one supervisor treated me differently than my husband. He only talked to my husband and expected my husband to pass the information along to me. Although I might have expected this in an Asian situation, I was disappointed to find it in a non-Asian Christian context. However, I couldn’t bring myself to confront the supervisor or tell him how I felt. Instead I suppressed the negative feelings inside me. Another time when I wanted to get official permission from my supervisor to do graduate studies, my supervisor told me it wasn’t necessary because my husband had a graduate degree. I was very disturbed again but couldn’t bring myself to talk to my supervisor. My husband spoke to him on my behalf, but, I was still angry with him and suppressed my negative feelings.

In response to the unequal Confucian hierarchy, I responded in three different ways. One was to consider myself unequal or not as good as men in God’s eyes, secondly was to do a lot of things in order to please God, and thirdly try to control others. These responses were all unconscious. My Confucian background had unconsciously made me believe that men were better than women. That is, God preferred men over women. This was also reinforced in my own family life. I was the only daughter with three brothers and had two sons and no daughters. I felt my duty was to take care of the men in my life and make sure they succeeded. Anything I wanted for myself should be denied for the sake of the males.

In order to compensate for this feeling of inadequacy, I developed a drive to do many things in order to please God. I didn’t realize that this action was similar to Confucian value of "duty" as well as the Buddhistic value of "good works." In my drive to do many things, I also didn’t know how to say "no" and would get myself in a bind by taking on more things than I was actually able to do.

I also tried to control others by suggesting different things they could do especially different jobs women could do on the mission field. I know I offended a number of people as one woman told me her husband did not want her to talk to me anymore. I made her feel guilty about not doing more. I also tried to control my daughters-in-law, but to no avail as they are not Asian. However, I had unconsciously expected that they would do what I asked them to do. It didn’t take long to learn that they did not have the same Confucian value I did.

The downside of Confucianism was not being able to deal with conflict, address authorities appropriately, resolve resentment and bitterness, and control other women. I would often brood and wonder why God didn’t like me or why things never went my way. I would complain to anyone who would listen and often pass on my bitterness to others. At one point my children even asked me what was wrong.

After many years of suppressing my emotions, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and later with uterine cancer. In fact my whole family has had some form of cancer. Both my grandmothers died of cancer—breast cancer and ovarian cancer. My father died of prostate cancer that went to his brain and my older brother of prostate cancer that went to his bones. My mother has had breast cancer twice but is still alive. I tested positive for a cancer gene and realize that years of suppression from Confucian values affected my family’s immune system and health and made us susceptible to cancer. It was actually after I was diagnosed with cancer that God began to get a hold of me and help me understand how much Confucianism impacted my life and how I needed to turn to Him and His Word to get the help I needed. I began to realize that I had believed the lies of the Confucian system—I was not as good as men, and I had resorted to "good works" to fill the void of who I really was in Christ.

IV. CONFUCIANISM AND SCRIPTURE

Prior to studying Confucianism, I had interpreted my Confucianistic behaviors as Christian. I thought I had obeyed the verses that spoke of submission to rulers (Romans 13:1; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13) especially when I kept silence when I disagreed with them. I did not want to rebel against God by disagreeing with authority figures (Romans 13:2). In the same way I was submissive to my husband and did not contradict him or question his authority (Ephesians 5:24; Colossians 3:18; 1 Peter 3:1), but I would suppress negative feelings when I felt he was wrong. I was outwardly obedient to my parents as a child (Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20) and kept my disagreements inside me.

However, I didn’t understand where my feelings of inadequacy came from. I felt God was not pleased with me as a woman and in particular an Asian woman. It just seemed to me that he was more pleased with men and white men in particular.

The particular passage of Scripture that was a breakthrough for me was Genesis 1:27. "So God created man in His image, in the image of God created he him, male and female he created them."  As various seminary professors used this passage in their classes,[23] I began to consider what it meant to be made in God’s image. God began to reveal His love to me was just the same as to men—Asian or White. He had created both male and female to reflect His image, not just one to the exclusion of the other. Men and women were to reflect God’s image together through godly relationships and acceptance of one another. This was a wonderful new thought for me. I began to see how cultural values distorted God’s image and made Asian women feel inadequate in relation to males. I was able to look back on my life and see how God’s truth had been distorted in my life.

As I reflected more on what it meant to be made in God’s image, I began to understand that Christ completed the work on the cross for my sin once and for all (1 Peter 3:18). It was through His work of grace that Christ provided redemption for me. I could in no way earn my salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). I did not need to continue doing lots of good things to earn God’s pleasure. He was pleased with me through Christ’s work on the cross. (Colossians 1:19-20). In fact I was denying Christ’s power through His work on the cross by trying to do good things or having my own form of godliness (2 Timothy 3:5). I had a tendency to say "yes" to all the things that sounded like opportunities a missionary should be involved in. I had to learn to ask God if He wanted me to take advantage of each opportunity.  I found myself learning to say "No, I don’t think God wants me to do that." God also convicted me that my need to work resulted in prioritizing work over people and that I needed to do less "work" and spend more time with people, including Him. This was so contrary to the past years of my life. As I moved more towards this new lifestyle, my heart was lifted and the burden of work reduced. I was no longer responsible for having to say "no." I began to experience joy (John 16:24) and peace (John 14:27) rather than worry whether I was doing enough or if I was pleasing God (1 Thessalonians 4:1). I began to enjoy doing things for God.[24] It was like a conversion experience for me even though I made a profession of faith at five years old.

As I looked again at the verses on submission, I began to notice it wasn’t just the submission that was important, but the attitude behind the submission. I was to submit as to God and not just because it was my duty to submit, but because of who He was. I also noted that rulers were supposed to look out for the good of the ones under them, to govern diligently cheerfully showing mercy (Romans 12:8) and to be like the one who serves (Matthew 22:26). Scriptures didn’t say that rulers are always right or never do any wrong. Rulers are human and affected by the same sin nature as the rest of us. My submission had unconsciously been affected by the desire to not disturb the outward harmony.[25]

In realizing that I had believed the lie that God didn’t love me as much as He loved men I could replace the lie with the truth that God loved me equally with men. He loved me so much that He made me in His image, I began to thank God for His love for me and He began to give me love for those around me—both authority figures and others.

The beginning of change came with a conflict I had with a supervisor.  I had been shamed in public[26] and was very angry. I complained about the situation to others for several years. I had previously felt there was nothing I could do about it except complain. Armed with the truth about myself, I prayed about this conflict and God gave me the thought to take my husband to speak with this supervisor. God knew that I needed that support. The result was that the misunderstanding was cleared up immediately. I couldn’t believe that was possible. I had spent several years brooding over the situation and to have it cleared up in a moment was unbelievable. I was so thankful to God and began looking for other ways that God would help me recognize this lie.

As my journey continued I wondered if difficulties with supervisors might haunt me the rest of my life. Several years ago I was in a situation where I needed to find a new position within Wycliffe. When one supervisor invited me to discuss this with him, I decided it was time to be honest and tell him my history with supervisors. I did not give him all the details, but as we talked, he felt comfortable becoming my supervisor and the situation has been the best ever. Although I wanted to hide my past difficulties, God convicted me that I needed to be honest and tell him. Through this new position God has done amazing things that never happened to me before.

Another aspect that God had to deal with me was from the downside of the Confucian hierarchy. This was the depression and bitterness that came with always being at the bottom. I seemed to have a sixth sense when men were favored over women. I would get upset easily at this injustice and brooded over the injustices to myself as well as other women. My inability to question these things grew and festered over the years. I knew things weren’t right but thought it was wrong to question them. The bitterness made me feel bad about myself. The only way I could respond was to allow the resentment to grow.

Because I had thought my actions were Christian and not Confucianistic, I denied this bitterness over the years. I thought God wanted me to unquestioningly submit to authority figures but I couldn’t understand the bitterness that was growing. I would complain about the supervisors to everyone who would listen. Some were very kind and let me go on and on, while others disagreed with me. Others were also dissatisfied with the supervisors and so we spent time complaining together, but we were unable to resolve our bitterness.

I was very stressed out because I thought I was acting in a Christian way, so I didn’t understand where the negative feelings were coming from or how to address them. This stress affected my health. I would not be able to sleep well at night and woke up early in the morning rehearsing how to address the situations. I had no peace and was very miserable. I also made other people miserable with my continuing complaints.

I had to face the facts that I had bitterness and that it was evil (Romans 3:14) and that I needed to get rid of it (Ephesians 4:31). I knew that my complaints were affecting others and causing them to become bitter as well (Hebrews 12:15). Knowing what generated my bitterness helped me to be able to address it. I first needed to change my thinking that unquestioning submission to authorities was not all that God wanted, but He wanted to change my attitude and my heart. He wanted me to submit to earthly authority figures because of my love for Him and not because I was following some rules for behavior. God also gave me His Spirit to help me desire His will and convict me of my sin (John 16:8), and to guide me into His truth (John 16:13).

Confucianism focuses on proper conduct in an attempt to create an orderly, harmonious, and peaceful society. Christianity focuses on relationship with God and how Christ enables us to become a reflection of Himself. The ability to become a better person within Confucianism lies with the individual alone, while the ability to become a better person within Christianity lies in the individual’s relationship with God based on God’s truth and guided by His Spirit. The main difference is that Confucianism focuses only on human relationships, while Christianity focuses on a relationship with God. Confucianism presents the five relationships for a person to follow, while Christianity presents a relationship with God that enables them to submit to others. One is done out of duty, and the other is done out of love for what Christ has done for us.

V. IMPLICATIONS FOR MISSIONS

At the turn of the twenty first century one of the biggest changes has been the rise of Christianity outside of the North and the West. Jenkins says that "…the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward to Africa, Asia and Latin America."[27] The number of Western Christians has been surpassed by the number of African, Asian, and Latin American Christians.[28] In 1960 30% of the Non-Western world was Christian, but predicted to be 78% by 2000.[29] The increase in the Asian world has been significant—35% Korea, 14% Hong Kong, 13% Indonesia, 12 % Singapore, 9% Vietnam, 7% India and Malaysia, and 5% People’s Republic of China,[30] This global church will have a different look than the Western church. Samuel Escobar describes this church as grassroots Christianity characterized by…

a culture of poverty, oral liturgy, narrative preaching, uninhibited emotionalism, maximum participation in prayer, worship, dreams and visions, faith healing, intensive search for community with belonging.[31]

 This shift from a Western church to a Global church has many implications for what Christianity might look like in the future. In order to adequately address this shift, missiologists need to grapple with the challenge of how to present the Gospel in a way that fosters rather than inhibits this growth. One of the main challenges is to equip missionaries to present the gospel without cultural trappings both of the West and the East. The American way of life has shaped Christianity into a product to be distributed to the consumer with the perfect tool of technology.[32] The Asian way of life influenced by Confucianistic and Buddhistic values has shaped Christianity into duty to a social role characterized by good works. A major challenge will be to counter the cultural preferences that missionaries consider to be Christian.[33] In fact, Christians are so influenced by their environment that the historian Walls says Christians from different parts of the globe might not be recognizable to others.[34] Escobar exhorts mission-sending churches to be very careful that they are not exporting cultural distortions to the emerging churches.[35]

Along with this shift has come the rise in the non-Western missionary movement and particularly from Asia. Asians from Bangladesh, India, Burma, Japan and Korea have been sending out missionaries for over 100 years.[36] In the 1970s Asian churches were sending out their own missionaries and by 1973 the Asia Missions Association started in order to coordinate mission efforts throughout Asia.[37] The Asian Missiological Society held its first conference in Bangkok, Thailand October 30 to November 1, 2007 to forward to work of missions in Asian churches through research and academic discussions as well as networking. One goal of the Asian Missiological Society is to recognize and avoid the pitfalls that hindered Western missions particularly in Asia.[38]

In our globalized world there is an increasing need to better understand our co-workers as well as those we are targeting with our mission efforts. The Joshua Project listing unreached people groups places three large groupings out of 16 in Asia (East Asians, Southeast Asians, and South Asian peoples).[39] The need for mission work in Asian countries and the increase in the number of missionaries from Asian countries necessitates greater understanding of Asian peoples by themselves as well as others.

The influence of culture on Christianity has been discussed for a number of years going back as far as 1951 when Niebuhr presented various ways of looking at Christ and culture. He presented "Christ against Culture," "Christ of Culture," "Christ Above Culture," "Christ and Culture in Paradox," and "Christ the Transformer of Culture."[40] The Laussane II conference addressed the model of  "Christ in Creative Tension with Religions" as an important theme for present day missions.[41] Understanding ethnicity and religious background is key to mission work. For example, Malaysia as a mixture of three main religions—Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism has to be understood as they are also influenced by local folk religions. These religions fulfill everyday needs of family, finances, and business. Therefore in order to present the Gospel appropriately in Malaysia, it is necessary to consider Christ’s encounter with these religions.[42] Western evangelicals might also learn from other religions. [43]

Another reason for understanding culture and other religions comes from the need to work with people from other cultures. A recent comprehensive study of mission attrition[44] revealed that one of the main reasons for attrition is the inability to get along with co-workers. In a period of rising interest on the part of Asians to join the mission task force,[45] it is imperative that Asians themselves as well as others understand their own cultural heritages. The well-known missiologist Samuel Escobar says that missionaries need to recognize how their cultural background shapes their version of the gospel which might even be in contradiction to Scripture.

Missionaries need to become more aware of how their culture shaped not only their missionary methodologies, but also their versions of the gospel, in ways that were in open contrast with biblical teaching and theological conviction continue to refuse the self-analysis that would open their eyes to flagrant contradictions between their theology and their practice.[46]

Missiologists, mission organization, mission trainers, and missionaries themselves need to consider the extent to which cultural and religious backgrounds impact and influence not only Christianity but the Gospel message they take to other places. Cultural discovery training was not a part of my pre-field orientation forty years ago. However, missiologists have identified this as a needy area for research and training. Much more reflection needs to done in considering the extent to which one’s own cultural and religious background distorts the Gospel message. This is true not only for Asians and Asian Americans, but all missionaries.

Although out of the scope of this paper, other theological issues that Asians need to grapple with in light of their cultural heritage are the biblical concept of grace versus good works, identifying and dealing with sin, and good works versus sanctification—obeying as unto the Lord rather than out of social duty.[47]

[1] Sheryl Takagi Silzer is an Intercultural Consultant with Wycliffe Bible Translators, 11221 John Wycliffe Blvd, Orlando, FL 32832. She also teaches adjunct at Talbot School of Theology, 13800 Biola Avenue, La Mirada, CA 90638.

[2] Tu, Wei-Ming.  "Confucius and Confucianism." Confucianism and the Family. Slote, Walter H. and George A. DeVos, eds. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1998, pg. 9.

[3] Ibid. pg. 3-4.

[4] Ibid. pg. 9.

[5] Tu, Wei-Ming. "Probing the "Three Bonds" and "Five Relationships" in Confucian Humanism." Confucianism and the Family. Slote, Walter H. and George A. DeVos, eds. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1998, p. 121.

[6] Yao, Xinzhong. "Confucius, the Founder of Confucianism." Dialogue & Alliance, 12 (2), 1998, pgs 20-23.

[7]  Mencius, IIIA, Lau, D.C., tr. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1984, pg.4.

[8] Hsiao Ching. Teachings of filial piety. Legge, J.Tr., 1989. Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 3. London: Oxford. Originally published 1879-1885, Chps 7 & 9.

[9] de Bary, William Theodore. "Personal reflections on Confucian filial piety." Filial Piety and Future Society. Kyunggido, Korea: The Academy of Korean Studies (Hyo-wa Mirae-Sahoe), 1995, pg. 1936.

[10] Sung, Kyu-taik. "Elder Respect Exploration of Ideals and Forms in East Asia." Journal of Aging Studies, 2001, Vol. 15, Issue 1.

[11] Liu, Qingping. Filiality Versus Sociality and Individualism. On Confucianism as Consanguinism." Philosophy East & West, 00318221, Apr2003, Vol. 53, Issue 2, pg. 240.

[12] Tu Wei-Ming. "Selfhood and Otherness in Confucian Thought." Culture and Self: Asian and Western Perspectives. Marsella, Anthony J., ed. UK: Routledge, 1985, pg.234.

[13] Fung, Yu-lan. A History of Chinese Philosophy.  Bodde, D., tr. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1952, pg. 359.

[14] Kim, Kun-Ok. What is Behind "Face-Saving" in Cross-Cultural Communication?* Intercultural Communication Studies III:1, pg. 1.

[15] Oetzel, John G. and Stella Ting-Toomey. "Face Concerns in Interpersonal Conflict: A Cross-Cultural Empirical Test of the Face Negotiation Theory." Communication Research, 3 (6), 2003, pg. 600.

[16] Bond, Michael Harris. Beyond The Chinese Face: Insights from Psychology. NY: Oxford University Press, 1991, pgs. 15, 59.

[17] Ibid., pg. 47.

[18] Wu, John C. H. "The Status of the Individual in the Political and Legal Traditions of the Old and New China." In The Chinese Mind: Essentials of Chinese Philosophy and Culture.  Moore, Charles R., ed. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1968, pg. 348.

[19] Park, Andrew Sung. "The Bible and Han." In The Other Side of Sin: Woundedness from the Perspective of the Sinned Against. New York: State University of New York Press, 2001, pg. 47-48.

[20] cf. Fah, Yong Chen. "The Spirituality of Chinese Social Obligations."  Transformation, 9 (1), January 2002, pg. 34.

[21] Maynard, Senko K. Japanese Communication: Language and Thought in Context. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 1997, pg. 12.

[22] Markus, Hazel Rose and Shinoku Kitayama. "Culture and the Self: Implications for Cognition, Emotion, and Motivation." Psychological Review, 1991, 98 (2), pg. 224.

[23] Saucy, Robert. "Theology of Human Nature." In Christian Perspectives on Being Human: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Integration. Moreland, James Porter and David M. Ciocchi. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 1993, pgs. 22-23

[24] cf. Bruggeman, Walter. "Duty as Delight and Desire (Preaching Obedience That is Not Legalism). Journal for Preachers. 18(1), 1994, pgs. 2-14.

[25] James Patrick Holding call this "holy harmony" or wah in Japanese. "Returning Japanese: Some Lessons from Another Culture."     http://www.tektonics.org/af/cu…..egram.html, accessed October 5, 2007.

[26] "The Japanese word, haji, means "anything but shame." A person has this when they have been criticized in public. This justifies revenge. Ibid.

[27] Jenkins, Phillip. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, pg. 2.

[28] Walls, Andrew. The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996, pg. 22.

[29] This number was predicted in 1996. Myers, Bryant L. The New Context of World Mission. Monrovia, CA: MARC Publishers, 1996.

[30] Stewart, John and Edna Valtz, eds. Mission Handbook, 1998-2000. Monrovia, CA: MARC Publishers, 1997, pg. 34.

[31] Escobar, Samuel. "The Global Scenario at the Turn of the Century." In Global Missiology for the 21^st Century: The Iguassu Dialogue. Taylor, William D., ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2001, pg. 27

[32] Padilla, C. René. Mission Between the Times: Essays. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1985, pg. 16-17.

[33] Ibid. pg. 108-112.

[34] Walls, Andrew. The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies of the Transmission of Faith. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996, pg. 7.

[35] Escobar, Samuel. "The Global Scenario at the Turn of the Century." In Global Missiology for the 21^st Century: The Iguassu Dialogue. Taylor, William D., ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001, pg. 63.

[36] Cho, David J. "Asian Mission: Historical Perspective." Paper presented at the Asian Missiological Society Conference, Bangkok, October 30-November 1, 2007.

[37] Ro, Bong Rin.  "Asia." Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions. Moreau, A. Scott, ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000, pg. 83.

[38] http://www.asiamissiology.org, accessed October 2, 2007.

[39] http://www.joshuaproject.net, accessed October 17, 2007.

[40] Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ and Culture. New York, NY: Harper Torchbooks, 1951.

[41] Tan, Kang San. "Evangelical Missions from an East Asian Perspective: A Study on Christian Encounter with People of Other Faiths." In The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, pg. 300.

[42] Ibid., pg. 316.

[43] McDermott, Gerald. Can Evangelicals Learn from World Religions? Jesus, Revelation, and Religious Traditions. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000.

[44] Taylor, William D. et. al, Too Valuable To Lose: Exploring the Causes and Cures of Missionary Attrition. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1997, pg. 95.

[45] Ma, Wonsuk. "Asia, Church, Mission, and a Journal." Journal of Asian Missions, 1999, 1 (1); pgs. 5-6.

[46] Escobar, Samuel. In One World or Many? The Impact of Globalisation on Mission. Tiplady, Richard, ed. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2003, pg. 5 Preface.

[47] Silzer, Sheryl Takagi. "Dutiful Obedience: Confucius’ Legacy for Asian Christians." Paper presented at the Evangelical Theological Society conference, San Diego, November 14, 2007.