By: Dan Kreiss on June 12, 2018
One advantage of being off the grid in Kenya for 3 weeks is that there is time to read thoroughly. None of this talking about books that have not been read nonsense. (My apologies to both Jason Clark & Mr. Bayard.) I am not certain how the rest of you managed to skim Wild Swans…
By: Greg on June 10, 2018
I don’t believe that the end justifies the means. To look at Hong Kong today, we see a thriving society and a highly developed economy. The British empire at the end of the 19th century was at its peak and spreading all across the world. Its influence was strong and the East India Trading company…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on June 9, 2018
As a part of my doctoral research, I have been studying the theology of Koinonia- fellowship, participation and community. Fellowship and community sit at the core of the Christian Faith. Fellowship and community are a part of the human condition. Within the creation narrative it is evident that communion with God and others was foundational…
By: Trisha Welstad on June 9, 2018
Steve Tsang’s A Modern History of Hong Kong is a comprehensive while accessible history, spanning just over 150 years. Tsang, born in the latter portion of Hong Kong’s modern era is a scholar and historian who writes to further the national and international perspective on Hong Kong. Taking more than a decade to compile his…
By: Jason Turbeville on June 8, 2018
As I was reading Steve Tsang’s book A Modern History of Hong Kong, one thing kept bothering me. What right did Great Britain have to demand what they did from China? I read statements like “The prestige, dignity and honour of the British Empire were now at stake, but this important development received no recognition from…
By: Shawn Hart on June 7, 2018
“A Modern History of Hong Kong is clearly written and easily read; it is fully referenced, but unobtrusively so. Tsang offers a mix of narrative and analysis, and covers social and economic history as well as politics .” This review by Daniel Yee seems to demonstrate the instructive benefits of learning the history of Hong…
By: Kyle Chalko on June 7, 2018
One Country, two Systems. How does all that work? It’s a confusing, and contradictory accident of history. A complex dance of competing political agendas and incompatible ideologies. Reading A Modern History of Hong Kong by Steven Tsang was eye-opening. Going into this I knew that Hong Kong was part of China, kind of, but…
By: Jean Ollis on June 7, 2018
It is fascinating to read Steve Tsang’s text, A Modern History of Hong Kong chronicling Hong Kong’s political and economic history when my own knowledge and understanding of HK comes from one person’s historical trauma and lived experiences (those of our exchange student, Keira). Keira lived with us for a total of three years (attended…
By: Stu Cocanougher on June 7, 2018
I had an interesting conversation last week. Last Sunday I talked with a Ph.D. student from Southwestern Seminary about theology and worldview. I was interested in her thoughts about some issues because she is a Korean woman. She attends a conservative seminary that strongly holds to a complementarian view of men and women. She asked…
By: Kristin Hamilton on June 7, 2018
I grew up in a Catholic parish with quite a few Japanese neighbors. That means my neighborhood looked a little bit like this: I loved it, but really all I learned about the statues and shrines is that they were ‘wrong’ because they meant the people inside ‘worshipped’ someone other than Jesus. I wish I…
By: Jake Dean-Hill on June 7, 2018
Surprisingly, Steve Tsang’s Modern History of Hong Kong, A: 1841-1997 was actually pretty readable for containing a boatload of history packed into one book. I learned some interesting facts about China and Britain that I will highlight and comment on. The first starts with the following: “At the height of its power in the early…
By: Jay Forseth on June 7, 2018
When I tell my friends and family that I get to study in Hong Kong this September, invariably the first question they ask is, “Why Hong Kong?” It has taken me a while to figure out how to answer their question, but this week’s book by Steve Tsang, Modern History of Hong Kong, A: 1841-1997, [1] has…
By: Mary Walker on June 7, 2018
An Asian theology is about the Christian faith in Asia. Simon Chan In his book, Grassroots Asian Theology: Thinking the Faith from the Ground Up, Simon Chan contends that most of what the West believes about Asian theology consists of what the “elitist’ Asian theologians have written. The elitist theologians do not take…
By: Jennifer Williamson on June 7, 2018
In September of 1988, when I was 17 years old, I travelled to Hong Kong with my parents. My father was in charge of the Asian market for a high-tech company based in Oregon, and having made several trips across the Pacific, he had fallen in love with the city and was eager to share…
By: Mark Petersen on June 7, 2018
Steve Tsang, in his well-written and comprehensive overview of modern Hong Kong history, reviews key events leading to the iconic and unconventional status of this bustling city-state. Emerging from fishing villages of China’s Pearl River Delta, the status of Hong Kong begins with the upheaval of 19th century colonial expansion. As the century progressed, Western…
By: Chip Stapleton on June 7, 2018
I ran out of room for what has become my customary blog title procedure, where I give part of the title and then add, ‘or . . . .’ The first part of the title was just too long this week. That doesn’t mean, however, that I don’t have an ‘or’, because I most definitely…
By: Dave Watermulder on June 7, 2018
In both style and substance, Steve Tsang’s in depth work, A Modern History of Hong Kong is well worth the read. Surveying the history of Hong Kong from 1842 with its founding as a “Crown Colony” in the aftermath of the First Anglo-Chinese War (also known as “The First Opium War”), Tsang traces the development of the…
By: Lynda Gittens on June 7, 2018
“Miriam-Prophetess and Sisters” http://www.asianchristianart.org/art_d’souza.html Author Chan explored the views, culture, philosophy, tradition, and theology of faith and beliefs in the Christian community. His discussions focused on how Asian Theology should be developed. He also included the views of other religions including the Muslim, Catholics, and Jewish. He stated that the Church and tradition need…
By: Jim Sabella on June 7, 2018
The Global Church is a fascinating topic. It is incredible how many expressions of Christian faith there are around the world. One would think that with all of the expressions of Christian faith that it would somehow weaken the faith. However, that is not the case. As we look at the world today and the…
By: Mike on June 7, 2018
Steve Yui-Sang Tsang’s Modern History of Hong Kong offers a perceptive 156-year historical look at how a small fishing port developed into the seventh largest stock exchange in the world while balancing the superpower influences of Imperial Britain and Communist China. Tsang has a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford and currently serves…
