New chinese mobility and religious enchantment: Case study of chinese christian s practices in Chiang Mai City

Abstract

The proliferation of new wave of Chinese migrants has been moving outbound dramatically since 1990s onward. In Thailand, and particularly in Chiang Mai, the new Chinese migrants do not only incorporate with secularly economic opportunity during their mobility, but they also engage with sacredly social-cultural activities they participate religiously within Thai locality. Today, there are the more increase of Chinese Christian churches, and especially the Christianity participations of the new Chinese migrants in several mobile Chinese groups of: 'peidu' mama or study mothers, businesspeople, students, and retirees. This research explores the situation of new Chinese migrants temporarily residing in Chiang Mai city and their engagement in religious practices and the converted experiences to Christianity. I examine how religious enchantment of the new Chinese migrants have been formed newly, and what roles of Chinese Christian churches are in encouraging religious enchantment among the new Chinese migrants. Particularly, the study addresses the issue of Chinese gender and family norms, how the new Chinese migrants interpret Christianity to negotiate with traditional Confucian gender and family values. The study is sociological research, employing the notion of 'religious enchantment' to investigate the non-belief Chinese migrants converting to Christianity conceptually perform within the three stages of encounter, initiation, and commitment process. The study applies qualitative methods: formal and informal interviews, fieldwork, and participant observation when volunteering for several months at the Chinese churches. The semi-structured interviews with 25 Chinese migrants converted to be Christian members in three Chinese Christian Churches in Chiang Mai are conducted ethnographically. The finding of this dissertation is as follows. 1) Under the economic rise of China in which gaining more global economic power but pressuring the actively forced modernization and intensively ideological socialism in China, International mobility practices of the new Chinese migrants has provided relative opportunity to them not only to engage secular world in economic and business outside China, but it also allows them to experience newly the sacred world and religious enchantment. 2) The case studies of Chiang Mai Chinese Christian churches have revealed that Chinese Christian churches have played an important role in the religious enchantment of the new Chinese migrants. They help the new Chinese migrants enlarge their family relationships and provide them a social platform in a new unfamiliar place. Particularly, the Christian churches become a site of spiritual rescuer for Chinese women, who are attracted by the family-alike social communities living in a new unfamiliar place. The Chinese Christian Churches and its religious practices also assist new Chinese migrants to regain a sense of moral values and life realization during the mobility outside China. 3) The research finds that the new Chinese diapora's religious conversion is a continually three-stage process (encounter, initiation, and commitment), the Chinese migrants converts cultivate a sense of belonging in both Christianity (religious conversion) and the Chinese Christian church (Chinese community belonging). Hence, their religious conversion can be seen as a process of 'believing through belong'. 4) The research also finds that Christianity is enchanted intensively and expansively by particularly female Chinese mothers, becoming female Chinese Christians at the church. It is found that the female Chinese Christians have strategically utilized Christianity interpretation, deploying the tactics of 'obedience' and 'reversed patriarchal bargaining', to negotiate with traditional gender and family relationship. This is an attempt, as an ongoing desire, to reduce the inferior status encountered paradoxically by traditional Confucian gender and family values.