| dc.description.abstract | Through the life process of three Hakka women’s conversion to Christianity, this
study explored the significant events of these Hakka women in three dimentions: their
growth history, the causes and course of their conversion, and their lives after the
conversion. In the pursuit of independent religious beliefs, they established their
subjectivity, self-awareness and confidence in this new field of religion with virtues of
diligence, rationality, perseverance and kindness that were heritages of Hakka Culture.
During the process, with the integration and link between the old and the new culture,
they went through crises in their lives, and found their way and interpretation of the
meaning of life.
The main purpose was to explore the tension created by ethnicity′s encounter with
Christianity；The purposes of the study are as follows: I. understanding the reasons and
courses of these Hakka Women ′s Reformation to Christianity. II. Analysis of Hakka
women’s situation as Christians and response measures. III. The impact of Christianity
on their lives. By adopting semi-structured interviews, the data was analyzed by means
of narrative research from three aspects: female self-consciousness, religious faith
reformation, and ultimate care. The findings of this study were: I. The ＂ancestor
worship＂ in Hakka culture was influenced essentially for these Hakka women’s
conversion to Christianity, but the stereotype of Hakka characteristics of ＂thrift
housekeeping, reluctant donations＂ is inconsistent. However, the taboo in tradition was
not affected. II. Hakka women′s belief autonomy was restricted in the family by the
follows: 1. Egoistic and submissive patriarchy. 2. Different beliefs. 3. Tedious chores
and job. III. Hakka women’s motives to convert to Christianity were as follows: 1. To
lift crises in life. 2. Interpersonal care prompted sensation in spirit. VI. The difficulties
that Hakka women encountered after their conversion to Christianity were as follows: 1.
The conflict between family responsibility and religion. 2. The conflict of values in
belief. 3. Families did not understand their motives of faith. 4. Spiritual struggle. Their
coping strategies were: 1. Negotiation and conciliation; 2. Withdraw and endurance; 3.
The spirit of Don Quixote. V. Hakka women’s interpretation of the meaning of life and
changes after conversion to Christianity were: 1. They were willing to forgive, learned
humbly, and believed that the suffering of life is the blessing of God. 2. Put down
worries and had faith in God. 3. Fear was reduced and was willing to bear the cross of
life.
The conclusions are as follows: I. Worshiping ancestors, and the taboo is ＂out＂:
From God, they have been comforted and protected. There is no taboo in their lives.
There is no exchange of conditions with God. II. Female autonomy is the basic nutrient
for empowerment; It is important to establish a good relationship with family members
with ＂love＂ III. There were more conflicts from their marriages than from their families
toward their conversion to Christianity IV. The pursuit of independent religious beliefs
and the integrity of the family co-existed. The three Hakka women express that although
their marital status is in jeopardy, having a ＂complete and healthy family＂ and ＂pursuing
an autonomous religious faith＂ are the goals and aspirations of their efforts. V. The
power of life, hope and sovereignty lied in God. The three Hakka women think that only
when they entrust themselves to God, hand the sovereignty of life to God can they get
the power and richness from God in peace and stability.
Through the life stories of the believers, this study expounded the meaning and
value of life, presented the experience of the Christian faith in the believer′s life
experience and application, and hoped to give readers a deeper understanding of
Christian faith.
Keywords: feminine consciousness, religious belief, Christian, narrative study | en_US |