Overseas Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs in Modern China , livre ebook

Anthem Press - Joy Kooi-Chin Tong

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180 pages

English

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Examines the influence of Christianity on overseas Chinese entrepreneurs working in modern China.

Inspired by Max Weber’s thesis on the Protestant ethic, ‘Overseas Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs in Modern China’ sets out to understand the role and influence of Christianity on Overseas Chinese businesspeople working in contemporary China. Through its in-depth interviews and participant observations (involving 60 Overseas Chinese entrepreneurs from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and the United States), the text discusses how Christianity has come to fulfill an increasingly visible and dynamic function in the country, most notably as a new source of business morality.

Acknowledgments; List of Tables and Figures; Chapter 1 Introduction: Studying Christian Ethics and Business Life in Post-1978 China; Chapter 2 Religion and Economic Life: The Protestant Ethic and Max Weber’s Legacy; Chapter 3 Overseas Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs in Post-1978 China (Shanghai): Business, Faith and Ethics; Chapter 4 Religious Motivation and Entrepreneurial Spirit; Chapter 5 Business–Faith Integration: Three Types; Chapter 6 Communities of Faith: Fellowships for Overseas Chinese Christian Businesspeople in Shanghai; Chapter 7 Female Entrepreneurs: Four Stories; Chapter 8 Conclusion and Research Implications; Bibliography; Index

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Sociologie, société et politique

Informations

Publié par	Anthem Press
Date de parution	01 octobre 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781783080878
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0080€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Overseas Chinese Christian
Entrepreneurs in Modern ChinaOverseas Chinese Christian
Entrepreneurs in Modern China
A Case Study of the Inﬂ uence of
Christian Ethics on Business Life
Joy Kooi-Chin TongAnthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition ﬁ rst published in UK and USA 2012
by ANTHEM PRESS
75-76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK
or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK
and
244 Madison Ave. #116, New York, NY 10016, USA
Copyright © Joy Kooi-Chin Tong 2012
The author asserts the moral right to be identiﬁ ed as the author of this work.
Cover image © Shawn Ng Wee-Kian 2012
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright
owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Overseas Chinese Christian entrepreneurs in modern China : a case
study of the inﬂ uence of Christian ethics on business life / Joy
Kooi-Chin Tong.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-85728-353-5 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Business ethics–China. 2. Christian ethics–China. 3.
Entrepreneurship–China. 4. China–Economic conditions–1976–2000.
I. Title.
HF5387.5.C6T65 2012
241’.6440951–dc23
2011045757
ISBN-13: 978 0 85728 353 5 (Hbk)
ISBN-10: 0 85728 353 7 (Hbk)
This title is also available as an eBook.This book is dedicated to my parents,
Tong Geok Poi and Lee Siew Bee,
who have struggled throughout their lives to be honest in their
faith and business and who have set an example for me.
献给我的父母：童玉杯与李秀美CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
List of Tables and Figures xi
Chapter 1 Introduction: Studying Christian Ethics
and Business Life in Post-1978 China 1
Religion and Economics 1
China’s Economic Reforms: The Transition to
Capitalism, Foreign Investments and Business Ethics 5
Reemergence of Religion: “Christianity Fever”
in Post-1978 China 9
Research Questions and Design 16
Research Methods and Proﬁ le of Respondents 19
Plan of the Chapters 29
Chapter 2 Religion and Economic Life: The Protestant
Ethic and Max Weber’s Legacy 33
The Protestant Ethic Thesis: Calvinism and Capitalism 34
Weber’s Study on China and Confucianism 41
Conclusion: Belief and Action 47
Chapter 3 Overseas Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs
in Post-1978 China (Shanghai): Business,
Faith and Ethics 53
General Portrait of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs
and Their Business Ventures in China 54
Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs in Shanghai:
Investments and Relationships with Local People 58
Christian Entrepreneurs among the Overseas
Chinese in China 65
Christian Ethics and Economic Life 70viii OVERSEAS CHINESE CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEURS IN MODERN CHINA
Chapter 4 Religious Motivation and Entrepreneurial Spirit 73
Religious and Entrepreneurial Spirit of Overseas Chinese
Christian Entrepreneurs in Shanghai 73
Success 74
Self-Discipline 78
A Sense of Calling 81
Frugality 83
Integrity 84
Innovativeness 86
Chapter 5 Business–Faith Integration: Three Types
of Christian-Based Companies 91
Three Types of Business–Faith Integration 92
Business as Mission (A “Christian” Company) 93
Business or Mission 99
Mission in Business 102
Chapter 6 Communities of Faith: Fellowships
for Overseas Chinese Christian
Businesspeople in Shanghai 107
How Religious Community Affects Economic Behaviors:
Networking and Mutual Accountability 107
Communities of Overseas Chinese Christian
Entrepreneurs in Shanghai 109
Two Case Studies: Chinese Businesspeople Fellowship
and Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship 112
Chapter 7 Female Entrepreneurs: Four Stories 123
Gender Differences in Ethical Performances 124
Women, Rational Business Behavior and
Social Networking 125
Formations and Expressions of
“Female Protestant Ethics” 129
Conclusion 141
Chapter 8 Conclusion and Research Implications 143
Implications of the Research 144
Bibliography 151
Index 165ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am signiﬁ cantly indebted to many people for helping me make this book
possible.
First, I am indebted to my PhD adviser, Bryan Turner, for providing constant
guidance and insightful comments to make this work possible. Bryan was the
one who suggested that I take up a topic on China for my PhD research.
And he consistently guided me through the writing process with his expert
knowledge, even after he left the National University of Singapore.
I was also fortunate to beneﬁ t from the advice of Fenggang Yang of Purdue
University. Without his encouragement and support, I would never have made
the effort to work on this book project. I must also thank my former professors
at the National University of Singapore, especially Douglas Kammen, for his
patient and stimulating encouragement, Maribeth Erb, Duncan McCargo
and Vineeta Sinha, for their valuable ideas and academic support, as well as
my dissertation examiners, Jack Barbalet, Fenggang Yang and Robin Goh,
for their critical and constructive feedback. I am also indebted to the three
anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments. It was partly through
their suggestions that I arrived at the intellectual focus of this book.
Above all, I owe important debts to many people on my ﬁ eldwork in
Shanghai. These are ﬁ rst, Jiaying (and also Guo An, as well as the sisters and
brothers of the Songjiang Fellowship), Shain and Chad, Anxian, and Surina
and Lawrence, who invited me to stay in their homes, participate in their lives
and use their resources. I can never adequately express my appreciation to
them. I am also very grateful to Prof. Liu Ping from Shanghai Fudan University
for spending time to maintain a continuing dialogue and Pastor David Lin and
Prof. Li Xiangping for their assistance on my research. My heartfelt gratitude
belongs to the 60 entrepreneurs that I interviewed and other members that I
talked to of the Chinese Businesspeople Fellowship (Huashang Tuanqi). They
allowed me to pick their brains and listen to their sometimes very personal
and difﬁ cult stories. I am deeply grateful for their generous help and trust
in me. Most of them will remain anonymous here, but their help is greatly
appreciated and will always be remembered.x OVERSEAS CHINESE CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEURS IN MODERN CHINA
I am also deeply grateful to my friends, Daniel and Taberez, for taking the
pains to proofread the manuscript; to Shawn for designing the wonderful book
cover; to friends who have known me for a long time – Jesse, Yimin, Constance,
Yanhua, Agnes, Yuhao, Jianwei, Kuo and Wangyi – for their very faithful supports
and prayers; and to a new but special friend, Charlie, who shared my anxiety yet
managed to motivate me in a powerful way to press on.
The ﬁ nal and most important debt is to my family. My beloved parents and
sisters – Christine, Ruth, Esther and Faith – have supported me at each stage
of this research and constantly afﬁ rmed, encouraged and upheld me when I
was about to lose hope. They share my joy and will be the happiest people to
see me ﬁ nish this research and embark on a new journey.LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Tables
Table 1.1 Foreign direct investment in China,
1979–94 (millions of US$) 6
Table 1.2 Proﬁ le of respondents 26
Table 3.1 Sources of foreign capital in China (cumulative 1979–93) 57
Table 5.1 Three types of business–faith integration
in Christian-based corporations 105
Figures
Figure 3.1 Thanksgiving Church in Shanghai 67Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION: STUDYING
CHRISTIAN ETHICS AND BUSINESS
LIFE IN POST-1978 CHINA
This book is a sociological study of religion which analyzes the inﬂ uence of
the Christian values of Overseas Chinese entrepreneurs on the emerging
market economy of China. The purpose of the book is to examine how, and to
what extent, Christian values and ethics, that is, how Christians see the world
and interpret the meaning of their actions, affect the business practices of
Overseas Chinese Christian entrepreneurs in China, as well as their possible
social consequences. It is important in this introductory chapter ﬁ rst to
discuss the uneasy relationship between religion and economics in general as
groundwork for this research. Following this, the chapter moves on to provide
the background for the economic and religious changes in China after 1978,
emphasizing foreign investments, as well as Christianity in post-1978 China,
to set these issues in context. This chapte