华北宗族的弱化与基督教在乡土社会的发展——以豫西李村为中心的考察

The Weakening of Lineage and the Development of Christianity in Rural Northern China——Case Study on Village Li of Western Henan

历史考察表明,宗族组织的控制和宗族观念的影响,是阻碍基督教在中国传播的重要原因。对豫西李村的研究发现,随着社会的分化和专门化进程,宗族的部分功能被市场代替,宗族组织与宗族观念亦随之弱化。从历史考察与现实的个案来说,宗族的弱化有利于基督教的发展,反过来,基督教的发展也进一步弱化着宗族的力量。这一双向互动的过程,慢慢地改变着中国文化与社会结构。尽管如此,笔者并不认为基督教是宗族的功能替代项。

According to the historical investigation,the control from lineage organization and the influence of lineage consciousness are the important reasons of stopping Chinese conversing to Christians.The research on Village Li finds that some of functions of lineage have been replaced by market with the process of social differentiation and specialization.At the same time,lineage organization and consciousness are becoming more and weaker.Historical investigation and case study have approved that the weakening of lineage is in favor of the development of Christianity,and in turn,the development of Christianity is weakening the power of lineage.This bilateral and interactive process is gradually changing Chinese traditional culture and social structure.Although the social assistance and networks based on faith have shown their function and value,I don＇t think that Christianity will be the functional substitute for lineage.