7. Francis C.M. Wei: Bridging National Culture and World Values

Abstract

A pioneer in comparative cultural studies, Dr. Francis C.M. Wei became a channel for the cultural exchange between the Western world and China. He was an outstanding Chinese intellectual, yet unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not despise Christianity or Western cultures. Early on, he had great interest in the study of Christian religion and Western philosophies, and was baptized into the American Protestant Episcopal Church. He possessed a strong sense of Christian identity yet he did not forsake his own Chinese identity, but kept up a keen interest in the exploration of his national culture. Wei attempted a new way of synthesizing Eastern and Western cultures, by interpreting Christianity in terms of Chinese culture and by transforming Chinese culture with Christian world values, hence demonstrating a vivid interplay between Chinese and Western cultures and the construction of ?an ideal, universal and ecumenical culture'. Keywords:Chinese culture; Christianity; Francis C.M. Wei; national culture; religion; Western cultures; world values