Performing Religion: Chinese Catholic Biblical Drama in the Republican Era

Abstract

In the aftermath of the collapse of the Qing regime in 1911, a corpus of dramatic texts, chiefly rewritings of biblical stories, was published by the Catholic presses in China during the Republican era (1912–1949). Some biblical tales were creatively represented in a variety of dramatic genres, including traditional Chinese opera, folk performing arts, and modern spoken drama. These performative texts were periodically put on stage in Catholic churches, schools, and orphanages during religious festivals and celebrations. The staging of biblical dramas performed important religious functions: dramatizing the history of salvation, providing edifying entertainment, facilitating community building and transformation, and presenting the Catholic Church as a morally relevant and socially engaged community in Republican Chinese society. This pioneering study of Chinese Catholic biblical dramas shall deepen our understanding of the Chinese reception and transformation of the Bible through dramatic texts, and the ...