Across the board, it is hard to deny certain continuities of East Asian folk religion. In Taiwan, some so-called “Daoist” rituals are very much akin to those described in The Life and Hard Times of a Korean Shaman delves into Korean folk religion. Spirit mediums (media?) are posessed by the spirits of ancestors or other [...]

I encountered this recently in an unpublished PhD dissertation I’ve been engrossed in: “In the turbulent 1920′s the Christian ranks among the missions and churches were tragically split. Consequently the two opposing factions to a large degree canceled out each other’s effectiveness. The Missouri Synod mission staff espoused neither liberalism nor fundamentalism. Although Lutherans may [...]

The photos below came to me on a bunch of ancient glass slides via Dr. Henry Rowold, a dear professor who has much experience with and love for the Chinese people. These slides got me thinking, I wonder what really happened with the Lutherans along the Yangtze River at Ouchikou, Hankou, Shashi, Chongqing, and a [...]