Table Of ContentCHRISTIANITIES OF THE WORLD
Taiping
Th eolog y
The Localization of Christianity
in China, 1843–64
Carl S. Kilcourse
Christianities of the World
Series Editors
Peter C. Phan
Georgetown University
Washington DC , USA
Dale T. Irvin
New York Theological Seminary
New York, USA
The early modern period was witness to an incipient process of transcultur-
ation through exploration, mercantilism, colonization, and migration that
set into motion a process of globalization that continues today. The pur-
pose of this series is to bring together a cultural studies approach—which
freely and unapologetically crosses disciplinary, theoretical, and political
boundaries—with early modern texts and artefacts that bear the traces of
transculturalization and globalization in order to deepen our understand-
ing of sites of exchange between and within early modern culture(s). This
process can be studied on a large as well as on a small scale, and this new
series is dedicated to both. Possible topics of interest include, but are not
limited to: texts dealing with mercantilism, travel, exploration, immigra-
tion, foreigners, enabling technologies (such as shipbuilding and naviga-
tional instrumentation), mathematics, science, rhetoric, art, architecture,
intellectual history, religion, race, sexuality, and gender.
More information about this series at
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Carl S. Kilcourse
Taiping Theology
The Localization of Christianity in China, 1843–64
Carl S. Kilcourse
Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham, UK
Christianities of the World
ISBN 978-1-137-54314-1 ISBN 978-1-137-53728-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-53728-7
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For Sinitta and my nana Audrey
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
I must fi rst thank Zheng Yangwen, my PhD supervisor, for her constant
support and guidance. Yangwen has always pushed me as a scholar and has
encouraged me, through her work and her feedback, to situate my project
within broader historical debates. I must also thank my other panel mem-
bers, Jeremy Gregory and James St. André, for their support and encour-
agement during the PhD. Jeremy always found time for my work despite
an abnormally heavy workload, and his positive feedback encouraged me
throughout my doctoral research. James’ unparalleled attention to detail
has helped me to tighten my argument and many of the key analytical
points in my work. I am truly grateful for his input.
I would like to thank Hans van de Ven, my external examiner, for
his incisive comments and his suggestions on converting the thesis into
a book. His advice has helped me to fi lter out superfl uous details and
develop some of the most essential points in my work. Other China schol-
ars to whom I am indebted include Benjamin Elman, Adam Chau, Gary
Tiedemann, Michel Hockx, Lars Laamann, and Tim Barrett, whose posi-
tive and constructively critical responses to my work have helped me to
strengthen certain aspects of my analysis.
I thank the teachers and scholars who helped and inspired me during
my time at the University of Manchester. David Law, my BA dissertation
supervisor and my internal examiner, was the person who fi rst made me
believe that I could carry out postgraduate research and pursue a career
in academia. Tim Stanley also encouraged me to think about postgradu-
ate study as a fi rst-year undergraduate—his words of encouragement have
always stayed with me. Aaron Moore gave me my fi rst opportunity to
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
teach at the University of Manchester and offered some useful feedback on
my thesis during the early stages of writing. I also benefi ted greatly from
discussions with Pierre Fuller during the later stages of my PhD. Finally, I
thank David Woodbridge, Bart van Malssen, and Chris Courtney for their
friendship and support during and after the PhD.
I am extremely grateful to Brian Stanley, who introduced me to the
Yale-Edinburgh research community and gave me my fi rst publication as
a junior scholar. I thank Nelson Jennings for his useful and encouraging
response to a paper I gave at the Yale-Edinburgh conference in 2012. I
would also like to thank Alexander Chow, Mark McLeister, and other
friends that I have met during conferences and research seminars at the
University of Edinburgh. Alex, in particular, has provided useful feedback
on various papers I have given, and several paragraphs within this work are
direct products of our discussions.
I thank all of the archivists who have facilitated my research of the
Taipings. In particular, I thank Sara Chiesura (British Library) and Charles
Aylmer (Cambridge University Library) for their patience and support in
helping me to locate some of the most important documents for my proj-
ect. I also thank Zhu Weibin and Li Qingcheng for enabling my research
in Guangdong.
I would like to thank Peter Phan and Dale Irvin for their enthusiastic
response to my manuscript and their recommendation for its inclusion in
the C hristianities of the World series. At Palgrave Macmillan, I thank Phil
Getz and Alexis Nelson for their editorial support and patience in dealing
with my many questions about the manuscript.
Outside the academic world, I thank Brian and Mandy Atwell for their
moral support and for helping me to see what I wanted to be.
I am deeply thankful for all that my mum and dad have done for me
and for the love that they have shown me in their own unique ways. My
mum’s inability to fulfi ll her potential inspired me to fulfi ll mine, and her
encouragement and prayers strengthened my faith in what I was doing. I
also thank my brother, Nathan, for recently showing that a determined
mind can overcome great personal diffi culties and realize its dreams.
I would like to thank my nana Audrey, who always told me to keep
going with my studies and looked forward to the day when I would get
my cap and gown. I wish she could be here now. I am also grateful for the
support of my granddad Bernard and nana Susan, who have always kept
their door (literally) open for me.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
I thank my girlfriend’s parents, Kwok Wa Yu and Yuk Mui Yu. Without
their fi nancial support, encouragement, and many wonderfully cooked
dinners, I could not have completed the doctoral research on which this
book is based. I also thank my girlfriend’s grandparents, Sui Chiu Ng and
Kiu Yu Ng (aka Agong and Apo), for embracing me as one of their own.
The biggest thanks must go to my girlfriend, Sinitta. Her steadfast love
and faith in my ability kept me going during the lowest points of my life
as a university student. She made me strong whenever I felt weak, and
she alone truly understands the effort that has gone into this work. Louis
and Jewel, thank you for the many relaxing walks at Tandle Hill and for
constantly reminding me that the greatest happiness lies outside the offi ce.
Ralph, thank you for making me smile with your crazy ways.
Lastly, I must express my gratitude for the support of the Arts and
Humanities Research Council. Without its doctoral scholarship, I
would have found it impossible to complete the PhD. I also thank the
Universities’ China Committee in London for their contribution to my
overseas research costs.
