ABSTRACT
Much more fundamental was the question of family versus individual. Like Lai Xinglian initially, many of those attracted to Christianity aspired to be a Christian in private and on an individual basis, but found this impossible. The decision to accept Christianity involved not simply the individual convert, but the fortunes of the family and even the lineage. An action by Hamberg early in his mission career reveals the possibilities for misunderstanding. On one of Hamberg's visits to the home of an assistant, he found pictures of gods and ancestors on the wall of the central room and immediately took them down.3 The father of the Chinese preacher was enraged and ordered Hamberg out of the room. The son might be a convert, he said, but the house belonged to the family, not the son. If the family desired to do homage to their ancestors and the deities, they had the right to do so. The issue of family versus individual also entered into the response of women to Christianity. Chinese and Western evangelists repeatedly expressed regret that there were so few female converts, for the women were essential to building Christian families and socializing the children. One explanation offered was that women were more dependent upon their parents-in-law than on their husbands and, in the face of opposition from the older generation, they were afraid to accept Christianity even if their husbands had done so.
