Education is one of the most important tasks in the course of human history. While teaching people to "see" God, how do missionaries envision education in its general or more secularized sense? How have foreign Christian missionaries contributed to education in Taoism- and Buddhism-dominated Taiwan?
In the Bible's Book of Revelation, Saint John sees "a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." The woman "brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne."
Images drawn from the Book of Revelation can be found in places all around the world, including Taiwan. On the emblem and flag of Fu Jen Catholic University in Hsinchuang, Taipei County, twelve stars form a circle that, according to the Catholic reading of the Book of Revelation, symbolizes the Virgin Mary. The Latin words on the emblem signify the school's ideals: Truth, Goodness, Beauty and Holiness.
Twelve stars. An image. Harold Bloom, America's foremost literary and religious critic, writes in his 1996 book Omens of Millennium about "images of human spirituality." "Images have their own potency and their own persistence," he says. "They testify to...a transcendent frontier that marks either a limit to the human, or a limitlessness that may be beyond the human. I return here to...'a suprasensible world which is neither the empirical world of the senses nor the abstract world of the intellect.' In that intermediate world, images reign." For Divine Word Missionary Father Matthias Christian, chaplain and associate professor at Fu Jen Catholic University, his school is supposed to be that "intermediate world" where subjective belief and objective knowledge come to be connected and integrated. Neither empirical nor abstract, the interdisciplinary principle that transcends the limits of each particular field of learning seems a fitting subject for a religious university to explore.
Fu Jen, now one of the most distinguished private universities in Taiwan, was established by the Holy See in Beijing in 1925, and entrusted to the Benedictine Fathers of St. Vincent's Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. In 1933, the Holy See asked the Society of the Divine Word to take charge of the university, because the worldwide economic depression at the time had caused too great a financial strain on the Benedictine Order. The Chinese Communists entered Beijing in 1949, and took over the university in 1950. In the following year, the university was confiscated and annexed to Beijing Normal University.
In 1950, Pope John XXIII requested that Fu Jen be re-established in Taiwan, and the school started to receive success ful candidates for the Joint University Entrance Examination in 1963. Nowadays, Fu Jen Catholic University is jointly administered by three constituent groups: The Chinese Bishops Conference is in charge of the colleges of liberal arts, fine arts, and medicine; the Society of the Divine Word, the colleges of foreign languages, science and engineering, and human ecology; and the Society of Jesus, the colleges of law and management.
"The Christian culture has been firmly established with substantial temporal and spatial extension," says Father Matthias, who is from Austria and has lived in Taiwan for thirty-one years. "It can serve as the basis for the integration between such learning specialties as natural science, sociology, psychology and religious experience." He conceives the difference between Christianity and Buddhism largely in terms of their attitude toward earthly life. Buddhism takes living on earth to be a continuation of suffering, which needs a perspective to explain such suffering away; Christianity adopts a positive attitude toward everyday reality--a stance some would see as compatible with that of Zen Buddhism, which is in turn strongly influenced by the practical philosophy inherent in traditional Chinese culture.
Today, Fu Jen Catholic University appears, along with other major universities, on the wish lists of those who take the Joint University Entrance Examination. Few students enter Fu Jen just because it is a Catholic institution. There was a time that most of its department chiefs were priests and nuns, but the number of teachers who believe in the Catholic faith has fallen greatly through the years. This situation, however, does not worry Father Matthias too much. "There is some kind of life energy within the Christianity here. Believers and clergy are showing greater concern and reflection toward their faith," he observes. "They are independent thinkers who feel a responsibility. Christianity still has great potential here, in spite of the absence of a major breakthrough."
With a view to promoting coordination between spiritual faith and earthly things, Father Matthias organized a group called "Think and Seek" in the 1970s, in which believers and nonbelievers met for two-hour sessions. The open and free talk created an atmosphere that encouraged him to form the Cross-College and Cross-Department Dialogue Group through Fu Jen's Religious Center. Ongoing monthly meetings among teachers from different colleges and departments include topics such as "The Scientific Spirit and Whole Person Education," and "The Human Being." The center plans to raise the issue of "Life Education." "Our religious efforts may seem too passive and too few for some people," says the chaplain. "But we don't want to impose anything upon students or teachers. What we can do is display things for them to choose."
Religion as a choice also concerns Connie Wieck, a United Methodist who was assigned to teach English at Wesley Girls' High School in Taipei. "The religious activities that all students must attend here, like the video class I was teaching, are not a matter of forcing Christianity upon students," she explains. "This is a matter of opening a window of opportunity for them to make a decision in their lives. Whether the decision is made today, tomorrow, or ten years down the road, it doesn't matter. But the opportunity is open to them to understand what Christianity is, and what it means to live a Christian life."
Under the direction of Madame Chiang Kai-shek--herself a staunch Methodist--Wesley Girls' High School was established in Taiwan and began enrolling students in 1961, with financial aid for housing and facilities provided by the Women's Society for Christian Service (now known as United Methodist Women) and the Board of Global Ministries of the Methodist Church. Bible study, choir, religious celebrations, and service projects are all part of the school's curricu lum, with religious teachers coordinating the Methodist-related classes. Wesley's 1,300 female students, all housed in dormitories, are expected to develop self-awareness and edifying interpersonal relationships, as well as intellectual and physical abilities.
In the "My Role Model" section of the June 1999 issue of the English-language The Wesley Garden, a student writes about her Christian English teacher: "I especially look up to her because she has a kind heart due to her firm belief in God. Her thoughts and lifestyle affect me a lot." As Wieck explains, "That's what I mean by saying that students begin to see Christianity at work through us and through our lives. Even though we may not be teaching the Bible at times, we do teach about the value system of Christianity. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives within us. We try to concentrate on teaching here with love and understanding." According to the English teacher, teaching itself is already closely related to the Christian faith, whether the material is religious or otherwise. "You can't separate Christianity from your profession. Everything you do is based upon your religion."
In the eyes of Connie Wieck, religious power is very strong in the value system taught to students. "We're a commu nity of love, and our love comes from God, from Christ. Not all the teachers in Wesley are Christians, of course, but I believe they also feel the love of God," she says. "That's why people enjoy coming to teach here, rather than in other schools." At Wesley, around a third of the students are Christians, while others are Taoists, Buddhists or non-religious. "I think we need to keep an open dialogue and understand one another better," remarks Wieck. "Some people like to see immediate conversion. But I firmly believe that if a person is drawn to the Christian faith, then it will happen. And I don't need to see that; God will see that happen."
A similar attitude has been adopted by Doris Brougham, known to many as Peng Meng-hui. She did missionary work in mainland China, but moved to Taiwan in 1951 after the Communist revolution. Now, her name is a household word that is synonymous with English instruction on the island. "I don't think we have to try to convert anybody, really. Every person in the whole world has a kind of place in their heart where they are seeking some other power, no matter what their religion is," says the well-known educator. "We just tell people what the Bible says, not what we think, and then they decide for themselves. Everybody has to make their own decision." Still, she does point out the distinction between Christianity and other religions. "In Christianity, God says He is God, but Buddha never says 'I am God.' I think Buddha himself never wanted to be worshipped, really. He just wanted people to follow his teachings," she explains. "Christianity kind of changes your life, while other religions tell you the good way to go but do not always change your life."
Brougham, a native of Seattle, Washington, was presented with a special plaque in a 1998 award ceremony by ROC Premier Vincent Siew for her continual dedication to the teaching of the English language on the island. Earlier in 1997, the Ministry of the Interior had granted her the Foreign Missionary's Award, and in 1989 she received the Golden Tripod Award for outstanding contributions to education in Taiwan.
In the early 1950s, Brougham bought a tape recorder--an item that was quite new and rare in Taiwan at the time. With several people to sing, a local pastor to preach, and herself to play trumpet, Taiwan's first Christian radio program was recorded in her living room. This later developed into the Evangelical Alliance Mission radio ministry. In 1960, Brougham founded Overseas Radio and Television (ORTV), the Taipei-based multimedia production company of which she is today the international director. Two years later she started Studio Classroom, thereby establishing one of the most successful and prestigious English-teaching institutions in Taiwan. Today, Studio Classroom and Let's Talk in English, ORTV's English-teaching radio and television programs for beginners, are supplemented by magazines that sell more than 100,000 copies each month.
In fact, Brougham did not really come to Taiwan to be an English teacher. She is gifted with musical skills, and has taught music at the National Taiwan Academy of Arts in Taipei County for many years. "I don't think being an English teacher may be the best thing for me to do, particularly. However, it seems to be the best thing for the people here, because you need English more," she remarks. "You have your own people who are very good at teaching music. I don't need to help you with something you don't need. If I want to help you, I should help you with what you need. And I think Taiwan still needs good English." With various challenges such as increasingly expensive radio time, printing and copyright problems, and the need to keep learners (readers, listeners and viewers) interested, Brougham's dedication to education is still inspiring thousands of English learners who will someday in the future repeat the words of gratitude to her: "Without your program, I would never be where I am today."
Taiwan's economic growth and technological development have been very impressive indeed, but its spiritual dimen sion seems something of a wasteland. In the eyes of Father Matthias, Taiwan is now a place with a weakening traditional influence and a growing tendency toward relativism and pluralism. "There are many people in Taiwan who are trying hard to live a true and honest life," he says. "I believe that their efforts will someday be really fruitful." Foreign missionaries who come from different cultures and adopt different attitudes toward life may help more people live a real life that is "something more than ourselves," Brougham says while speaking of the spiritual aspect of the human being. With these special teachers, the truth can make one free indeed.