International Symposium of Confucius Institute at Boğaziçi University: “Encounters of Confucianism, Christianity and Islam: The Missionary Experience in Modern China and Turkey”

November 15-16, 2014, Confucius Institute at Boğaziçi University (CIBU) co-organized an international symposium entitled: “Encounters of Confucianism, Christianity and Islam: The Missionary Experience in Modern China and Turkey,” together with the Asian Studies Center of Boğaziçi University and Center for the Study of Religion and Chinese Society of Shanghai University. Turkish Director of CIBU Prof. Arzu Öztürkmen chaired the opening, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Prof. Taylan Akdoğan had a welcome address. 20 Scholars from China, Turkey, America, France and Lebanon attended the conference. In the first panel, Christine B. Lindner traced the boundaries that are drawn by various missions to the Ottoman Empire during the “long nineteenth century,” and showed that the events “on the ground” played an important role in the distribution of mission activities and the location of Protestant institutions. Wang Lixin argued, “Protestant missionary movement in modern China left two legacies, cultural imperialism and cultural internationalism, in terms of its relationship with traditional Chinese culture and religion.” In the second panel, Tao Feiya described China’s policy to Catholicism across the three emperors Kangzi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, as well as its influence on modern China after the Opium War. Emrah Şahin used an interesting metaphor to explain how American missionary encountered with imperial state officials over the production and distribution of missionary propaganda in the Ottoman Empire. In the third panel, Nora Şeni discussed the Jewish philanthropy and its impact on Protestant missionaries. She argued that “Secularization gave way to new paradigms of benevolence, beneficence, and to new approaches towards human suffering and misery.” Cengiz Şişman argued that although the Protestant mission to the Jews and Dönmes failed due to less conversion; but it was successful, since it contributed to the transformation and modernization of the Ottoman Jewish and Dönmes communities. ” In the fourth panel, Hala Auji examined “the role of the American missionary press in Beirut, al-matba’a al-Amirkāniyya, as a space of visual and textual production which the varied, and often divergent, interests of American missionary and Ottoman Arab interests converged.” Liu Jiafeng indicated that Christianity and Islam first came to China as foreign religions almost at the same time, and the Protestant mission work among Muslims in Northwest China brought a new age of encounters and dialogues. In the fifth panel, Yan Kejia told the story of Xu Guangqi, a great scholar-official and one of the “Three Pillars of Catholicism in China,” as well as his influence in China-Western encounters. Liu Xian discussed the Catholic document “The Maximum Illud”, and its contribution to indigenization of Catholicism in China. In the sixth panel, Lale Babaoğlu gave a speech reported “Between Mission, Education, and commerce: The Lazarist Past of Istanbul st. George Avusturya Lisesi.” And Saadet Özen presented “Photo-albums of French High Schools: Advertising the Denominational Education in the Late Ottoman World”. In the seventh panel, Li Xiangping described a theoretical framework of Christian-Islamic dialogue in China, and proposed the model of “citizenship-ethnicity-religion.” Liu Yi told the story of a local Christian community in Shanxi, as well as its relationship to local society and culture. Chinese Director of Confucius Institute Dr. Yi Liu chaired the conclusion of the conference. Prof. Selçuk Esenbel of Boğaziçi University emphasized the significance of missionaries from the perspective of global history. Prof. Feiya Tao of Shanghai University discussed the paradigms of missionary studies. This is a key program of the celebration of “Confucius Institute Day” and the fifth anniversary of Confucius Institute at Boğaziçi University. A research initiative of CIBU, the proceedings will be published in English.