Andrew space: Culture watch

Confucianism - and the person

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:32:43 GMT

Over the last short while I've put up some articles on how Confucianism works. And we've seen how Confucianism puts the focus on observing the rules of propriety in the five li roles you may find yourself in (see previous post). But what implications does that have for the Chinese person's view of him or herself?

Stephen Cheng runs East Asia Access Consulting, a company that trains people wanting to do business in China. He points out that Confucian values heavily influences the Chinese person's conception of the self, and thus their behaviour - leading to a very different outcome from those influenced by Western values.

In this first diagram, he outlines the Western psychological paradigm, with its emphasis on the values of individuality, autonomy and conflict - and the outcome of this, at the level of needs, behaviours, and assertive personhood.

Contrast this to his next diagram, showing the Chinese psychological paradigm. In this case, the Confucian values of filiality, propriety and harmony lead to radically different outcomes in terms of needs, behaviours - and a diminished self.

As a result, behaviours that seem pathological in the West - such as being overly dependent on what others think about you - are normal in Confucian countries. And in Confucian countries behaviours that are seen as pathological - such as independent behaviour and thought - is normal in Western cultures.

In the case of Confucianism, Confucian values lead to a need for approval, which shows itself in approval seeking behaviours such as the following:

choosing careers that will please parents, even though you don't really want to do that work;
behaving in the expected manner, even though you feel otherwise;
suppressing conflict and pretending that everything is okay in public, even though there is obviously tension.

Ultimately the person is a non-being, only a persona. Yes, they are a father, a son, a member of a group - they are in relationship with others - but their feelings and personal preferences don't really matter. Just that they behave in the approved way within those roles.

Now this is not to say that the Western world has gotten personhood entirely right - not at all! Trinitarian theology tells us that ultimate reality is beings in relationship - just as the Father, the Son and the Spirit are three persons, eternally in loving relationship with one another. And it can be easily seen that the view of the self that arises from the Trinity is just as different from the Western view of the person, as it is from the Confucian view of the person.

Here is a diagram I shared with some fourth-year students at Moore College recently:

Western individualism has generated a society where the focus is on the individual, and not so much on loving relationships. The highest good is to be "true to yourself" - no matter what everyone else thinks. And you see this reflected in many Hollywood movies! However Confucianism has generated a society where people have roles in interconnected relationships - but personal feelings and desires are not important. The highest good here is to do your duty, even at great personal cost...

If such a Confucian view of the person influences Christianity, this leads to a Christianity that focuses on our duty to God. On right behaviour. On reading the Bible. On making sacrifices for God. But minimises the affections - loving God, longing for the return of Christ, thirsting for God's word.

In Mark 7 Jesus talks about a people who love God with their lips - but whose hearts are far from him. Instinctively, Chinese people might think that God would be pleased by such sacrificial obedience. However, God is not honoured - ultimately, Jesus calls such people 'hypocrites'...

[ PS: things like loving God, longing for the return of Christ, thirsting for God's word are called 'affections'. You'll find some posts on the affections back in January and February... ]

Understanding China's generations

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:22:51 GMT

In the West we have names for people of different generations. There are the Baby Boomers, the Busters, then we have Gen X, Gen Y and so on. And it's useful in showing some of the broad differences in culture in each of these generations.

But what about non-Western nations ... such as China? What kind of generations do they have?

I've spoken to a number of people, and they commonly describe the following generations in China.

Pre '80s generation - conservatism

This generation grew up during the early years of the Communist era, and lived through the difficulties of the Cultural Revolution. They tend to be much more conservative, and hold traditional Chinese values, such as Confucianism.

Post '80s generation - privilege

This generation grew up after the introduction of China's One Child policy (introduced in 1979). The only society they have ever known has transformed itself upside down from a Confucian society where elders are obeyed and shown reverence, to a Little Emperors society where the single, precious child is spoilt and given every privilege by their parents and grandparents.

Post '90s generation - prosperity

In the 1990s the leaders of China introduced a new policy of economic liberalism. It was during this decade that China moved from a centrally planned economy to a socialist market economy. And so the post 90's generation grew up only knowing a very prosperous China. And of course during this time the One Child policy is still in operation, and so they have also grown up being doted on by their parents and grandparents.

Not only that, the teachers and parents of the post 90's generation are increasingly those of the post 80's generation. Thus those who are influencing the current post 90's generation have not been as influenced by conservative Chinese ideas (eg. Confucianism) as in the past.

Returnees generation - Western ideas

This is not really a generation, but a significant sub-group of the post '80s generation. Some of the post-80's generation travelled overseas to study (eg. Australia and the United States), and have now returned to China with overseas degrees - but more importantly, with a taste for the freedoms and lifestyles of the West, and a greater awareness of Western ideas...

China has transformed itself in absolutely massive ways within one lifetime. If you think the difference between Baby Boomers and Generation Y is big, then consider the very huge generational differences opening up in China!

[ PS: if you're doing ministry among Chinese migrants, it's helpful to know what has influenced their generation... ]

"Walk with Jesus" - Catholic style

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:11:17 GMT

So I'm at the website of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, looking around (here). And on that page there was an advertising banner that catches my eye, with the words, "Walk with Christ".

I thought to myself: "great, it must be some Bible teaching event, maybe a conference, and people are learning about following Jesus." Because that's what you would imagine, with a name like that ... right?

So I clicked the link (to here) - and discovered what "Walk with Christ" really means for Roman Catholics...

The way a devout Roman Catholic "Walks with Christ" is with a priest blessing a host (a wafer of bread), and placing that into an elaborate metal holder (called a monstrance, pictured in the promotional banner). And then the priest holds up the monstrance and carries it through the streets with people walking along with him, and others lining the route making the sign of the cross as the consecrated host passes by. That is what it means to "Walk with Christ."

"Walking with Christ" is not really about Christlike living at all - it's actually about physically walking along with a wafer of bread, that they believe has changed (or transubstantiated) into the actual body of Christ. This is all part of the feast of the blessed sacrament, an annual procession through the streets of Sydney.

They have also put up a YouTube video here promoting the event - and it's worth watching. Because the video shows up quite explicitly how different Roman Catholicism is from biblical Christianity.

The website explains that what is going on isn't just people watching - the key verb is actually 'adoration'. And according to the words of the previous Pope, you could also use the verb 'worship'. That is what is actually going on at this event!

There is a particular need to cultivate a lively awareness of Christ’s real presence, both in the celebration of Mass and in the worship of the Eucharist outside Mass.

Pope John Paul II, Mane Nobiscum Domine

And if you think this event is merely a minor quirk of Roman Catholicism, think again. At one point in the video, a voice explains how "this is the central belief of our Catholic faith" (1:28).

Perhaps you might be fooled into thinking that Roman Catholics are close to biblical Christianity - at least on a superficial level. They are passionate about God, so are we. They sing similar songs to us. They love Jesus, so do we. They stand against many of the same things we are. But here you begin to see how significantly different Roman Catholicism is. How tradition has taken the language of biblical Christianity - and amazingly, unbelievably, brashly - given it their own, completely new meaning.

[ PS: some good analysis on World Youth Day and Will's blog here. ]

English congregations in Sydney's Chinese churches

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:48:55 GMT

I have recently been looking at how many Chinese churches there are in Sydney - and how many English congregations there are in particular. Some people argue over the definition of what constitutes a Chinese church, but here I'm going with a list compiled by a Chinese parachurch organisation. And this is what I found...

This first graph is broken up into the different regions of Sydney (eg. North, North West, South, etc.). The red line graph shows you the number of Chinese churches in each of those regions. The bar graphs show you the number of congregations in each of those regions, broken up into the different languages (eg. English, Cantonese, Mandarin).

Some larger and more established churches will have multiple congregations, and others that are smaller or newer will only have one congregation - this accounts for the difference between the line graph, and the bar graphs.

This next graph isolates just the Chinese churches. Here I've presented it as a pie graph, so you can see the distribution of Chinese churches as a proportion of the whole.

I also have that in a bar graph form here, in case you find that better suits your purposes. The bar graph is useful for comparing with the following two graphs...

This bar graph shows how many English congregations there are in the different regions of Sydney. Be aware that some churches have two English congregations. And bilingual congregations with English as one of the languages do not count.

In some regions, there are very few English ministries! But even the bars that seem quite healthy can actually be deceptive. And this becomes clear with the next graph...

This one shows you the need for English ministry. These are the Chinese churches that currently do not have an English congregation.

While some churches have one, and sometimes even two English congregations, quite a few churches don't even have one. But they will increasingly feel the need to set up an English congregation to reach the second generation...

What is also interesting to note is that regions that seem strong in the previous bar graph (eg. the North and North West) still also have a great need for English ministries!

This next set of small pie graphs show you the English ministry situation for the Chinese churches in each of the eight regions in Sydney. The numbers inside the pie graphs indicate the number of churches with, and without English ministries.

Here you can see which areas are really in need of English ministries - the South, the East, and surprisingly the North!

And this last pie graph shows you how things are going as a whole in Sydney in terms of English ministry.

The Chinese churches that do have English ministries are already finding it hard to get pastors to serve in them. But this graph shows that even if we do fill all those current vacancies, we still have a long way to go to serve the needs of all those Chinese churches without English ministries! And that's not even to take into account the extra Chinese churches we need to plant to reach the Chinese of Sydney...

[ PS: Melbourne was cold for the ANZCCOE conference ... so I ended up with the 'flu the last few days! ]

Confucianism - and leadership

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:34:44 GMT

In case you're wondering why I'm into all this stuff about Confucianism, it's mostly for a Master of Arts in Theology subject I was doing earlier this year. It's about Leadership Development in a Cross-Cultural Context - and one of our deacons suggested I do my essay on traditional Chinese leadership styles - and Confucianism does in fact has a very distinctive take on leadership...

1. Confucianism and leadership

The Confucian style of leadership involves the ruler remaining in the palace and observing the rites of his office. By applying himself to these rites, virtue would emanate from the palace and out into the rest of the country, as the influence of virtue spreads.

The Master said, 'If a man is able to govern a state by observing the rites and showing deference, what difficulties will he have in public life? If he is unable to govern a state by observing the rites and showing deference, what good are the rites to him?'
Analects IV, 13

In fact Confucius envisaged that you don't necessarily even need to have a ruler - as people see the value of observing their obligations in the li relationships, virtue will surely take over.

The Master said, 'Barbarian tribes with their rulers are inferior to Chinese states without them.'

Analects III, 5
The Master wanted to settle amongst the Nine Barbarian Tribes of the east. Someone said, 'But could you put up with their uncouth ways?' The Master said, 'Once a gentleman settles amongst them, what uncouthness will there be?'
Analects IX, 14

The reason government is not so central is because the government shouldn't need to create and enforce external rules, because it is better anyway for people to be kept in check by an internalised sense of shame when they do not observe what is required in the li relationships.

The Master said, 'Guide them by edicts, keep them in line with punishments, and the common people will stay out of trouble but will have no sense of shame. Guide them by virtue, keep them in line with the rites, and they will, besides having a sense of shame, reform themselves.'
Analects II, 3

In reality, no ruler ever embodied the Confucian ideal of rule by virtue and observance of rites alone. The Qin dynasty rejected Confucianism and adopted Legalism as its policy. But even when they were overthrown by the Han who adopted Confucianism as the state orthodoxy, Han rulers (and those of subsequent dynasties) still relied on punishment and reward to keep the empire in check!

And today, people don't really follow Confucian ideals when it comes to exercising leadership in business say, or in a church setting. However, Confucianism does strongly influence other aspects of the leadership task...

2. Confucianism and relationships

Three of the five key li relationships are: the ruler-subject relationship, the parent-child relationship, and the older-younger relationship. These are significant because they govern how people relate to one another (or expect people to relate to them). In a leadership situation then, the older will expect the younger to defer to them. The parent will expect reverence from their children, and rulers obedience from their subjects.

However in these li roles, the rule of the ruler over the subject is absolute, as is that of the parents over their children, and older over younger. In practice then, Confucianism can lead to an abuse of position because there is no higher authority outside of the li relationship. Not only that, there is also nothing to protect the son from sinful demands made by a father, let alone a subject from the ruler.

Because in many instances the function of leadership involves taking on the acknowledged role of a leader, we must be aware of the tendency for those influenced by Confucianism to insist that others to relate to them in a Confucian manner, and to see their decisions and wishes as being beyond challenge.

And in Australia, this can be particularly troublesome because of the history of Chinese migration. Because the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 was only repealed in 1973, Chinese churches have only a short history in Australia (see post on the age profile of Chinese migrants). This means that for that vast majority of Chinese churches, the OBC congregations are the older and more dominant congregations, while the ABC congregations are younger and generally contain the children of those in the OBC congregations.

Consequently, church leaders tend to come from the older OBC congregations, and tend to relate to the younger ABC congregation as a parent does to their son - because some of them are in fact their children! This therefore means that Chinese church leaders expect their direction to be obeyed and for them to be shown reverence, in much the same way as in the li of ruler-subject, elder-younger, and even father-son.

Theologically this is dangerous as it does not account for sin! Theologically driven leadership will always be glad of checks and balances to prevent sin in the leader from damaging gospel ministry (see SCCCA discussion paper).

3. Confucianism and the past

In terms of the broad drama of history, Confucius looked to China's past and revived the rituals of the ancestors. And in terms of the individual stories of family households, Confucius directed that sons should always care for, obey, and show reverence to their parents - even after they had died, and even if they were doing wrong (see post on filial piety).

And so in both the broad and the narrow of human history, Confucius elevated the past. This brought stability to a turbulent time - but it also means that change is difficult, new ideas are seen with suspicion, and decisions made in the past are never open to question. This is well illustrated in the following from the Analects:

Duke Ai asked Tsai Wo about the altar to the god of earth. Tsai Wo replied, 'The Hsia used the pine, the Yin used the cedar, and the men of Chou used the chestnut, saying that it made the common people tremble.'
The Master, on hearing of this reply, commented, 'One does not explain away what is already done, one does not argue against what is already accomplished, and one does not condemn what has already gone by.'
Analects III, 21

When the gospel comes to any human culture, that culture will need to be critiqued and tested as people grow in their understanding of God's revelation. Even the Reformers reminded themselves of this with the saying, Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda secundum verbum Dei ("the church reformed, always being reformed according to the Word of God"). And so Christian leadership will necessarily require an openness to test and review their past with the word of God.

This is particularly important in Chinese churches, which are increasingly bi-cultural (with both OBCs and ABCs together). This is because what is merely a cultural expression of one group's love for God may be demanded of another group as tests of spiritual maturity. Christian leaders therefore need to be particularly careful to not allow elements of one culture to become elevated to the level of gospel, and to have only biblical requirements for unity (Eph 4:1-6). And the past-revering aspect of Confucianism makes the task of the Christian leader in leading a re-evaluation of their culture particularly challenging.

4. Confucianism and conflict

Confucius sought to restore order and harmony to a divided China - and as a result social harmony is highly prized in Confucianism. However the pursuit for social harmony also meant that conflict was not appropriate for the virtuous man. The nearest thing to conflict that should be, Confucius taught, was an archery contest!

Master said, 'There is no contention between gentlemen. The nearest to it is, perhaps, archery. In archery they bow and make way for one another as they go up and on coming down they drink together. Even the way they contend is gentlemanly.'
Analects III, 7

However as people grow as Christians at different paces and are therefore at different levels of Christian maturity, conflict is inevitable. Not only that, in bi-cultural Chinese churches with some people adopting a Confucian, and others a Western paradigm of conflict, conflict situations can be explosive! Those influenced by Western conflict styles can be very outspoken in their opposition to ideas and ready to challenge leaders. And leaders influenced by Confucianism may react by demanding submission, and challenging opponents with threatening the unity of the church. This can be oppressive, and so leaders must be equipped to handle conflict well with those used to a more Western style of interaction.

The high premium placed on Western education (even in Asian countries) can mean that a lot of prominence is given to Western philosophical approaches. By contrast, Confucianism is neglected and its powerful influence not challenged. However it does influence the Chinese strongly - and if we are not careful, shape our approach to Christian leadership.

[ PS: how then do you think this influences the training of new and current leaders? ]

Uni students from China

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:15:46 GMT

From the previous post you can already see that university students make up a significant part of the Chinese migrant population.

Information on international students is tracked by Australian Education International (AEI). Here are figures for enrollments from some Asian countries in all sectors of education (data from here).

Country	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	Change from 2002 to 2007
China	48,236	60,301	70,741	81,843	90,048	107,071	122.0%
Hong Kong	21,984	23,765	22,816	21,266	20,424	19,742	-10.2%
Taiwan	10,006	10,607	10,151	9,584	9,889	9,646	-3.6%
Malaysia	17,540	19,827	19,994	19,336	19,118	19,874	13.3%
Singapore	12,074	11,852	10,860	9,898	9,229	8,853	-26.7%

This is summarised in the following graph:

As you can see, China is sending a lot of students to Australia compared to other countries - and over five years the numbers have more than doubled!

However not all of these students are actually university students. This next table shows only the figures for the higher education sector alone (eg. universities).

Country	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	Change from 2002 to 2007
China	16,311	22,394	30,203	40,054	45,873	48,695	198.5%
Hong Kong	8,376	10,182	10,974	10,703	9,895	9,180	9.6%
Taiwan	3,883	4,113	4,165	3,964	3,814	3,706	-4.6%
Malaysia	13,595	15,426	15,895	15,375	14,897	15,200	11.8%
Singapore	10,442	10,186	9,229	8,349	7,855	7,516	-28.0%

This is summarised in the following graph:

Again, a huge increase in students from China - the figures have almost tripled over a five year period! China is the largest sending nation of students - and accounts for 22% of overseas students.

But overseas students tend to head to certain universities over others. This graph shows the top ten universities that overseas students attended in 2006, by number of students. As you can see, in NSW Macquarie University actually had 9.7 thousand overseas students.

If you're wanting to do ministry to overseas students, this shows you strategic unis. But from the previous post, you can see that many of these university students don't actually stay in Australia long-term. This means they are generally only here in Australia for a short while, before returning to their home countries.

[ PS: I'll be flying off to Melbourne on Tuesday for the ANZCCCOE conference! ]

Age profile of the Chinese migrant population

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:47:09 GMT

Here is information about the age profile of the migrant population from Hong Kong and China in particular, and North-East Asia in general.

1. Age profile of Hong Kong migrant population

First off, those migrants who originally came from Hong Kong. Note that these graph shows the age profile of the population for several years, given in different colours. The most recent one is the bright blue one (2007p).

In this graph you see two distinct bumps - one in the 15-29 age bracket, and another in the 40-55 age bracket. This corresponds to parents and their children who migrated to Australia after Tiananmen Square and before the handover of Hong Kong to China.

You can see that after 1996, the 40-55 age bracket bump hasn't increased very much - it's just shifted to the right as that age group grows older. Hardly any of that age group have migrated since then - in fact numbers even seem to have dropped a little! However the 15-29 age bracket has increased quite significantly - particularly the 20-24 age bracket. It looks like students and young workers have continued to migrate to Australia from Hong Kong.

Note that these graphs only cover migrants, and doesn't include those born in Australia to migrant families - the second generation! Stay tuned however, those graphs are for another day.

But already you can see that this next generation is a significantly growing area in the Chinese community. Not only is it important to pour resources into them to raise the next generation of church leaders - we also need to pour more resources into them for the simple fact that there is increasingly more of them!

2. Age profile of China migrant population

Next we have those migrants who originally came from China.

This graph also shows two bumps - but I think you'll find that unlike the previous graph for Hong Kong, these two sets of migrants are unrelated. The first spike at the 20-24 year age group is university students and young workers (more on them in a future post). The next bump is the 40-44 year age group. This group is also growing, though not in the same dramatic way as those university students. But who are they? These 40-44 year olds aren't actually the parents of the university students - they're not old enough - they are unrelated young families who have migrated to Australia.

And so if you want to reach Chinese migrants, these are two distinct groups you need to be reaching out to. Just reaching out to university students is not going to reach all those young families. You need to have strategies to reach students as well as young families!

Pay attention also to the scale of the two graphs above (with peaks of 15,000 and 45,000 people respectively). The increase in Hong Kong uni students/young workers looks significant - but it is well and truly dwarfed by the increase in the number of students from China!

3. Age profile of North-East Asian migrant population

This last graph shows you migration from the North-East Asian region as a whole, which includes China and Hong Kong, but also Macau, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia.

Again, we see a big spike in the 20-24 year age group, and a bump at the 40-44 year age group. However you can see that this parent age group is not as sharp as the China graph - it's much more rounded, reflecting the fact that other nationalities have migrated to Australia as whole families.

If you go back to the second graph, you can see that over this 10-year period, China increased it's share of the 20-24 year olds by 40,000 people. This means that about four-fifths of the increase of 20-24 year olds in this graph is actually due to China alone!

[ PS: anything else you can say from these graphs? ]

How many Australian Chinese are Christians?

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:37:30 GMT

So. How are we going at reaching the Chinese in Australia?

Earlier this year the ABS released Perspectives on Migrants 2007, and part of it contains information that correlates birthplace and religion. It's based on the 2006 ABS census, and you can find it on this page at the ABS website. This reveals the religion of those living in Australia who were born in China, and Hong Kong.

First off, a pie chart of the religious belief of Australian residents born in China.

And here is a pie chart showing the religious belief of Australian residents born in Hong Kong.

Because the Chinese aren't culturally predisposed to identify themselves as Christians (compared to Anglo Aussies, say) these figures for Christianity are a lot more believable than the Christianity figures for the general population.

And so it's quite encouraging to see how many people born in Hong Kong call themselves Christians - 38.6% of the whole! But by comparison we still have a long way to go with people born in China - only 15.1% identify themselves as Christians. And of course, these figures don't include the second-generation Chinese - those who are ethnically Chinese, but who were born here in Australia.

The ABS' Census Ethnic Media Package provides even greater detail, and from that we can see the following:

Country of birth	Religion	Percentage	Persons
China	No religion	58.1%	119,501
	Buddhism	17.6%	36,278
	Christianity	15.1%	31,111
	Hinduism	0.0%	14
	Islam	0.3%	522
	Judaism	0.1%	262
	Other religions	0.2%	379
	Not stated	8.6%	17,709
	Total		205,857
Hong Kong	No religion	43.3%	30,997
	Buddhism	10.6%	7,579
	Christianity	38.6%	27,635
	Hinduism	0.2%	121
	Islam	0.2%	119
	Judaism	0.1%	47
	Other religions	0.3%	213
	Not stated	6.8%	4,846
	Total		71,557

What's also interesting to observe from this is that the primary worldview that we are dealing with, for both people born in China and Hong Kong, is 'no religion' (58.1% of residents born in China, and 43.3% of residents born in Hong Kong). Buddhism, by comparison, only accounts for 17.6% and 10.6% of residents born in China and Hong Kong respectively.

[ PS: it's also interesting to see the figures for the other countries... ]

All-in-one statistical document on the Chinese in Sydney

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:38:41 GMT

Over the past year or so I've published some statistical information here and there on this blog about the Chinese population in Sydney.

What I've now done is pulled together the most useful graphs and statistical data from all of that, and put them into one PDF document. It contains information about ancestry, language, immigration, and where the large, and fast-growing Chinese populations are in Sydney. This means it's ten pages long, but having it all in one document means it's much easier to share that information with others.

You can download a copy of the PDF file from the SCCCA English website here (you download by clicking on the blue arrow).

A lot of the information has already appeared on this blog, but some are new. Statistical data has been drawn from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Department of Immigration.

Feel free to share with your church leaders - your church may find it useful to discuss and contribute to the planning of future gospel ministry. And hopefully it'll help us all to reach the Chinese in Sydney with the gospel!

[ PS: if you're going to print it out, I recommend printing it in colour... ]

Religious affiliation in Sydney over the last 20 years

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:57:35 GMT

At the last ABS census (held in August 2006) there were just over 4 million people living in Sydney. But what kind of things did they believe? This pie graph shows you the proportion of different religions in Sydney from the 2006 ABS census.

Of course, the ABS classification for 'Christian' also includes Roman Catholics, and groups such as the Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses - plus heaps of people who are only nominally Christian!

But how have things changed over the past twenty years? This table shows you the changing numbers for the 'religion' question for the past four ABS census (spaced 5 years apart).

	1991	1996	2001	2006
Buddhism	54,129	76,077	135,971	153,259
Christianity	2,623,825	2,645,486	2,680,679	2,626,705
Hinduism	20,186	32,691	48,462	70,121
Islam	73,162	96,792	134,366	161,159
Judaism	28,137	31,450	32,941	34,612
Other religions	9,161	15,547	22,166	27,560
No religion	379,290	503,131	469,449	580,025
Other religious affiliation	9,250	11,979	62,389	23,005
Not stated	321,633	292,381	361,592	425,599
Total	3,518,773	3,705,534	3,948,015	4,102,045

If you turn that into an area graph, you can (kind of) see how things change for the number of adherents for the different religions at the 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006 census.

It may be hard to see what's actually going on, so this next graph shows you the change in the numbers of religious adherents from one census to the next (eg. between the 1991 and 1996 census).

Over the last four census periods taken all together then, how has Sydney changed in terms of its religious break up? This next bar graph shows you the cumulative increase for the different religions from the 1991 to the 2006 census. Over this period Sydney as a whole grew by 396,511 people.

And this bar graph shows you the growth for the different religious groups, expressed as a percentage since their 1991 figures. Over this period Sydney as a whole grew by 10.7%.

What can we say from all this? Here are a few things.

Firstly, you pretty much need to discount the 'Christianity' figures. Because there are so many non Christians counted in that figure it makes it practically meaningless. When someone becomes a real Christian, and they used to tick 'Christian' before anyway, nothing seems to have changed from the perspective of the ABS - but in reality they have actually become a true Christian. The same goes for a Roman Catholic who becomes a Christian. The actual amount of growth of real Christians is practically impossible to discern from this data!

Secondly, Buddhism is (on the face of it) the fastest growing religion in Sydney by numbers, and both Buddhism and Hinduism have grown by over 100% since 1991. However in both cases this growth is from a very small base, as can be seen from the area graph above.

Thirdly if you believe the media, Islam seems to have become a huge force in Sydney. However these figures, on the face of it, don't really show this to be the case - their numbers have been close to Buddhism over the past four census counts. But when we look at the age profile of the different religions (in a future post) we'll see a slightly different picture!

[ PS: what else can you say from this data? ]

Where in Sydney do recent Chinese migrants live?

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:57:17 GMT

Chinese churches tend to be regional churches - not really local churches. That means, people tend to be happy to drive for a bit before going to a church that they like. This means that in planning a new ministry, you should consider regions, not just individual suburbs. What then is happening at a regional level? And if you're wanting to reach new migrants, whether from China or Hong Kong, what areas are they moving into once they arrive in Australia?

The ABS census data can also tell you the country of birth of people, broken up into the year of their arrival into Australia. Combine that by statistical regions, and you can find out where people move to, once they migrate to Australia from, say, China or Hong Kong. The following set of graphs use a geographic region used by the ABS, called Statistical Subdivisions. This is one step larger than Statistical Local Areas - I've used this because there's less data to manage, and produces less cluttered graphs.

The first lot of four pie graphs tell you where people who were born in China live, according to their year of arrival in Australia (here I'm only showing the years from 2003 to 2006). The labels tell you the number of migrants, as well as the percentage of the whole this represents. Note that the 2006 figures are smaller than the others - that's because the census was held in August 2006.

Then you'll see a key telling you what Statistical Subdivisions these coloured segments represent (this key works for all the pie charts in this post).

And at the bottom you'll find another set of four pie graphs telling you the same kind of information, but this time for recent migrants who were born in Hong Kong.

If you want to reach new migrants, this information is very helpful. It tells you at a glance that migrants from China have been moving into areas that are sometimes quite distinct from areas that migrants from Hong Kong are moving into.

Recent migrants from China tend to favour St George-Sutherland, Lower Northern Sydney, Inner Western Sydney and also Inner Sydney. And generally, there are quite a lot of these new migrants moving in each year!

However, recent migrants from Hong Kong tend to favour the Eastern Suburbs, Lower Northern Sydney, Central Northern Sydney and recently Inner Sydney. Although if you take note of the actual numbers involved, you'll see there aren't actually very many of them...

[ PS: in case you're wondering, ND is in the Central Northern Sydney statistical subdivision (the yellow segment). ]

Fastest growing Chinese areas in Sydney

Tue, 27 May 2008 13:59:24 GMT

In a previous post there was a graph showing you where the Chinese population of Greater Sydney were distributed at a certain point in time - namely, the 2006 ABS census (see previous post). That's useful to know - but what's also good to know is the dynamics of the Chinese population. Yes, there may be many here right now - but is the Chinese population actually growing in this area? or is it in fact declining?

To work this out, we can compare the data from the 2006 ABS census from the 2001 ABS census to see how things have changed over a five year period.

Now, the Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) used in the 2001 census are a little bit different from the ones used in the 2006 census. Some of the larger SLAs from the 2001 census were split up into several smaller ones for the 2006 census (eg. Bankstown, Parramatta, Hornsby). However you can easily put them together to get a picture of what's been happening in Greater Sydney.

The following stacked bar graph shows you the population increase in Statistical Local Areas between the 2001 and 2006 census, of people in Sydney who were born in Hong Kong or China.

In contrast to the graph in the previous post that told you where the large Chinese populations are, this graph shows you where the growth areas are. These are the places that Chinese people are moving into (or away from).

You'll notice that in some cases the Chinese population for an SLA has decreased (eg. Fairfield, Leichhardt). And when you compare it to the graph from the previous post, some areas that have large amounts of Chinese people haven't actually grown a lot since 2001 (eg. Canterbury), while others have grown tremendously. And across the board, it's largely those born in China who are moving into new areas!

[ PS: in case you're wondering, ND is in the "Hornsby - South" Statistical Local Area for the 2006 census, and "Hornsby" for the 2001 census... ]

Where Asians live in your suburb

Sun, 25 May 2008 07:16:59 GMT

The previous post told you, in broad terms, where Chinese people live in Greater Sydney (see previous post).

But what if you really want to zoom down into one of those suburbs? What level of detail can you get? Surprisingly, you can get quite a lot of information - down to the collection area of individual census collectors!

The ABS also presents data in a hotmap format, called MapStats. The following is a map of Epping and the surrounding areas. Each of those coloured areas represents one "Census Collection District" - basically this is the smallest geographic area used by the ABS, and represents the area that one census collector walks around to collect forms on census night. This particular map shows the percentage of people in the Epping area who were born in North-East Asia (that includes China and Hong Kong).

As you can see there is a strong cluster of North-East Asians living close to Epping train station, and opposite Macquarie University. You may have already guessed that would have been the case - but now you really know.

Clearly this sort of information is particularly useful if you want to doorknock an area or do a letterbox drop to reach as many Chinese people as you can.

Want to find information for your own area? Here is what you need to do:

Go to www.abs.gov.au and click on "Census data" on the left.
Click on "2006 MapStats" on the right.
In the search box, type in the suburb you want and hit "Search".
This will bring up a list of areas that match your suburb. Select one of them, and the page will refresh, showing you a map of that area. If you're happy, click "Select topic >" at the bottom.
In the drop-down box, select "Birthplace".
This will bring up a list of data that relate to birthplace. Unfortunately, you can't get it to tell you "people born in China" - the closest you can get is "Proportion of people born in North-East Asia". So select that and click "Select sub-location >" at the bottom.
Click "View MapStats".
This will show you your map! Copy that if it's good enough for you. Or, if you want a nicer version, click on the "Details" tab. This will give you a link to download a slightly more detailed map, either as a PDF file or PNG image.

[ PS: what did you learn about the area around your church? ]

Where in Sydney do Chinese people live?

Thu, 22 May 2008 12:59:38 GMT

Where in Sydney do people born in Hong Kong or China live nowadays? An important question, if your church is looking for strategic places to do ministry. And the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) census data has lots of useful information!

In the following stacked bar graph, Greater Sydney is divided up into what is known as "Statistical Local Areas" (SLAs). These are not necessarily the same as a suburb or a council area, but is the ABS' own geographic division. If you really need to know what the boundary divisions for an SLA is, you can look at maps on the ABS website. But this graph will give you a pretty good idea of the lie of the land.

This graph gives you a pretty clear indication of where the majority of Chinese people are living - and where you may want to target your next outreach to reach lots of Cantonese or Mandarin speakers - or their English speaking children.

In pulling the data together, I was surprised again and again by how many more people there were in Sydney who were born in China. People born in China (green) almost always outnumber those born in Hong Kong (red)! This shows just how important Mandarin ministry will be in reaching the Chinese of Sydney in years to come!

However, there is one other thing. See, I'm all for Chinese churches, because I believe that they are the best way to reach the Chinese in Sydney. But looking at this data made me realise that realistically, we will not be able to plant Chinese churches in every area. Some places have so few Chinese living there that it's just not possible to start a brand new Chinese ministry among them (eg. Gosford, Pittwater, or the Blue Mountains). However, those Chinese still need to hear the gospel. And if we are not to abandon them, we must instead work with local churches to help them reach out effectively to the Chinese in their area!

[ PS: where is your church located? and what are the areas like near your church? ]

Confucianism - and filial piety

Mon, 05 May 2008 12:36:29 GMT

The aim of Confucianism is to develop oneself into a cultured, virtuous person (ren). A key part of this is performing the required rites in the five key relationships of life. But as I flagged in an earlier post (see previous post), filial piety was the cornerstone of these rites.

The important place of filial piety comes out very clearly in the Analects of Confucius:

Yu Tzu said, 'It is rare for a man whose character is such that he is good as a son and obedient as a young man to have the inclination to transgress against his superiors; it is unheard of for one who has no such inclination to be inclined to start a rebellion. The gentleman devotes his efforts to the roots, for once the roots are established, the Way will grow therefrom. Being good as a son and obedient as a young man is, perhaps, the root of a man's character.'

Analects I, 2

The Master said, 'A young man should be a good son at home and an obedient young man abroad, sparing of speech but trustworthy in what he says, and should love the multitude at large but cultivate the friendship of his fellow men. If he has any energy to spare from such action, let him devote it to making himself cultivated.'

Analects I, 6

In these two quotes, notice that there is a differentiation in age: first you are a 'son', and then you become a 'young man'. However observe that what is required of sons is that they are 'good', and of young men that they are 'obedient'. We will also see later on that a son's obedience is even expected to continue beyond the death of the father. In Confucianism, there is no point at which a virtuous man might cease being obedient to his parents!

Not only does filial piety secure virtuous conduct in the individual, it was also seen as vital in securing virtue in the nation as a whole:

Tseng Tzu said, 'Conduct the funeral of your parents with meticulous care and let not sacrifices to your remote ancestors be forgotten, and the virtue of the common people will incline towards fullness.'

Analects I, 9

Someone said to Confucius, 'Why do you not take part in government?' The Master said, 'The Book of History says, "Oh! Simply by being a good son and friendly to his brothers a man can exert an influence upon government." In so doing a man is, in fact, taking part in government. How can there be any question of his having actively to "take part in government"?'

Analects II, 21

Remember that through this, Confucius sought to bring about stability and harmony in a land divided by warring states.

The filial son should not think for himself, but almost live vicariously for his parents. Here are some quotes showing that the filial son should worry about his parents. That the filial son should not go too far away from his parents (should his parents require something of him). And even if his parents are doing wrong, the filial son should remain reverent and wear himself out in obedience of them!

The Master said, 'A man should not be ignorant of the age of father and mother. It is a matter, on the one hand, for rejoicing and, on the other, for anxiety.'

Analects IV, 21

The Master said, 'While your parents are alive, you should not go too far afield in your travels. If you do, your whereabouts should always be known.'

Analects IV, 19

The Master said, 'In serving your father and mother you ought to dissuade them from doing wrong in the gentlest way. If you see your advice being ignored, you should not become disobedient but should remain reverent. You should not complain even if in so doing you wear yourself out.'

Analects IV, 18

That last quote mentions the key word, 'reverence'. Because throughout the life of the parents, filial piety involves more than mere obedience and looking after the physical needs of parents - that would make your parents no different from pets! A filial son should also show reverence for his parents:

Tzu-yu asked about being filial. The Master said, 'Nowadays for a man to be filial means no more than that he is able to provide his parents with food. Even hounds and horses are, in some way, provided with food. If a man shows no reverence, where is the difference?'

Analects II, 7

Tzu-hsia asked about being filial. The Master said, 'What is difficult to manage is the expression on one's face. As for the young taking on the burden when there is work to be done or letting the old enjoy the wine and the food when these are available, that hardly deserves to be called filial.'

Analects II, 8

What you think under the expression of your face is irrelevant. Crucially, the test of whether you are filial (and therefore a virtuous man) is not whether you think you are doing a good job of looking after your parents or in showing them reverence - but in what your parents think of you:

Meng Wu Po asked about being filial. The Master said, 'Give your father and mother no other cause for anxiety than illness.'

Analects II, 6

This is because his own illness is the only thing that the filial son cannot do anything about! Everything else - including the expression on his face, or how he responds to his parent's wishes, or even his travel plans - must be turned to please his parents.

Not only does the duty of a filial son extends throughout all of life, it even extends beyond the grave. The filial son is expected to continue in obedience to the ways of their father for at least three years, and must continue to show reverence for his parents in performing the rites.

The Master said, 'Observe what a man has in mind to do when his father is living, and then observe what he does when his father is dead. If, for three years, he makes no changes to his father's ways, he can be said to be a good son.'

Analects I, 11

Meng Yi Tzu asked about being filial. The Master answered, 'Never fail to comply.'
Fan Ch'ih was driving. The Master told him about the interview, saying, 'Meng-sun asked me about being filial. I answered, "Never fail to comply."'
Fan Ch'ih asked, 'What does that mean?' The Master said, 'When your parents are alive, comply with the rites in serving them; when they die, comply with the rites in burying them; comply with the rites in sacrificing to them.'

Analects II, 5

While Confucianism has not been officially taught since the cultural revolution in China (and your parents probably haven't been officially instructed in it), the Confucian value of filial piety continues to be passed down from generation to generation - and has even influenced Chinese growing up in the Western world!

What are some indications of being influenced by filial piety? Here are some ways it can show itself today:

You feel you have a life-long duty to please your parents.
You feel a strong obligation to fulfill your parents’ expectations about your studies and career.
You are not truly successful unless your achievements are appreciated by your parents.
Your parents' expectations, and your desire for their approval motivate your pursuit for success.
If you failed a subject, you would be more worried about your parents being disappointed than your own pride.
If your father committed a crime, you would not not feel guilty concealing it from the police.
It means more to you than anything else that your parents think of you as a good son or daughter.

Do things on that list describe your experience? Now you know where it all comes from!

[ PS: how do you think this should relate to the Bible's command to obey/honour/care for one's parents? ]

Confucianism - what it's all about

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:10:00 GMT

So what does Confucianism say? what's it all about?

Confucius lived during a turbulent and chaotic period of China's history. China was not united, and different states were at war against each other. This meant widespread social instability - and it was this that Confucius sought to deal with.

His answer was to look to the past and revive the rites and rituals of earlier generations. He particularly liked the way the state of Zhou maintained the practices of the previous two dynasties, seeing that this was the best way of maintaining order in a disorderly world. From the Analects of Confucius:

The Master said, 'The Zhou is resplendent in culture, having before it the example of the two previous dynasties. I am for the Zhou.'

Analects III, 14

The Master said, 'I transmit but do not innovate; I am truthful in what I say and devoted to antiquity. I venture to compare myself to your Old P'eng.'

Analects VII, 1

Instead of maintaining social order through external rules and regulations, Confucianism sought to regulate human activity by cultivating an internalised system where one punishes oneself with shame for violating the social order. Here again, from the Analects:

Lead the people with administrative injunctions and put them in their place with penal law, and they will avoid punishments but will be without a sense of shame. Lead them with excellence and put them in their place through roles and ritual practices, and in addition to developing a sense of shame, they will order themselves harmoniously.

Analects II, 3

For instance, according to Confucius a ruler was not meant to govern by leadership and making decisions. Instead, he was to remain in his palace and perform the required rituals! The idea behind this is when those around him saw that he was calm and behaved in the way required of him, others would follow - and so calm and order would radiate out from the palace into the nation. From the Analects:

The Master said, 'The rule of virtue can be compared to the Pole Star which commands the homage of the multitude of stars without leaving its place.'

Analects II, 1

The Master said, 'If a man is able to govern a state by observing the rites and showing deference, what difficulties will he have in public life? If he is unable to govern a state by observing the rites and showing deference, what good are the rites to him?'

Analects IV, 13

Confucianism was not all about the ruler - the cultivated person, according to Confucianism, was a person who observed the rules of propriety in the five key relationships, or li, of society. They are:

ruler and subject
father and son
older brother and younger brother
husband and wife
friend and friend

The heart of all these is the concept of filial piety - where the child worries about the father, never travels too far away from the father, and obeys the will of the father - even if the wishes of the father are bad, and even beyond the grave! Again, from the Analects:

Yu Tzu said, "It is rare for a man whose character is such that he is good as a son and obedient as a young man to have the inclination to transgress against his superiors; it is unheard of for one who has no such inclination to be inclined to start a rebellion. The gentleman devotes his efforts to the roots, for once the roots are established, the Way will grow therefrom. Being good as a son and obedient as a young man is, perhaps, the root of a man's character."

Analects I, 2

The idea behind Confucianism is that by observing the past, they could develop cultured, humane people and bring order to chaos - and following the will of one's parents was the simplest and most concrete way for the common person to do this.

Interestingly, one of the most important practices of Confucianism (apart from reciting the Odes and learning rituals) is actually ... the playing and listening to music! One of the goals of Confucianism is harmony - and music was seen as a means of attaining harmony. From the Analects:

The Master said, "It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused.
It is by the Rules of Propriety that the character is established.
It is from Music that the finish is received.

Analects VI, 8

The idea behind this is when the sovereign's court (or even a family) sits down together to listen to music, their individual desires and feelings are regulated and shaped into one, by the one piece of music - they participate in harmony. And so to be a Confucian scholar you had to become proficient in music.

All this created a society where the past is prized, elderly people (especially parents) venerated, social harmony made sacrosanct, and rules of society were deeply ingrained inside people.

In China, Confucianism ceased being taught officialy from the time of the cultural revolution - the Confucian worldview clashed with that of communism, which desired that the state (and not the family) to be the only object of devotion. However, the influence of Confucianism still continued on for many in China, and many who fled from the cultural revolution...

[ PS: filial piety is an important feature - more on it later! ]

New suburbs ... with no churches

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:27:10 GMT

Due to the housing shortage in Sydney, property developers are making billions. They are buying up paddocks on the edges of Sydney, and are transforming them into brand-new suburbs, filled with expensive houses and apartments. These new suburbs are springing up everywhere - just think of Constitution Hill or Blair Athol. Think also of newly redeveloped areas like Newington or Rhodes.

And they are really packing these houses in - observe how small the backyards are, and how tight the streets are! The reason is because these houses make the developers a lot of money - and the more high value housing they can stack on what used to be a paddock, the more money flowing into their pockets.

However you will notice that these new suburbs often don't have any place for a church building. Sure, there will be a generic community centre built into the plans - but no real opportunity for a church to build a building on the land.

And the reason is because it doesn't earn the developers as much money to do that.

Why set aside a double-sized block of land for a church, when you could build six executive apartments on it? There is simply no financial incentive for property developers to set aside land space for church buildings - particularly if their shareholders are expecting them to provide them with maximum value on their investment!

But this is where state and local governments can step in. Unless state and local governments require developers to set aside parcels of land and offer denominations the opportunity to decide whether they want to do a church plant in this new suburb, they will never get a foot into the door.

Sure, there are alternatives to building a church building - a church could set up inside a community centre, or in a local school. There are advantages to this model of church - for instance you don't have as huge a capital investment up-front, and you don't have to pay the upkeep of a building.

But let's be honest that churches that rent halls will also have to compete with other groups wanting to make use of that one community centre - a yoga group will want to use the hall on Friday nights. A charismatic church will have gotten the best Sunday booking first. A Buddhist group will also want to use the school hall on Sunday nights. And let's also be honest that there are advantages in having a building that is permanent and recognisable, where you can put up posters on the walls...

Yes, it's good to have a non-church-like building that isn't threatening to newcomers - but there are also heaps of good reasons in having a building that you control and can use any time or any way you like. And I have known people in ministry whose job it has been to set up a church in new suburb - and without a physical presence, they've found it really hard.

But consider this: why would state and local governments intervene on behalf of churches? Why would they bother to place such restrictions on property developers?

State and local governments would only do so if there are sufficient numbers of people on councils or in government who are aware of the issue and willing to take a stand on it.

This certainly means that first of all Christians should lobby their state and local representatives about these sorts of issues. Get them to make it a condition of rezoning that parcels of land (preferably a corner block) be set aside for churches to build a church building!

However we all know that when money is involved, lobbying will only go a certain distance realistically. Developers will still have the ear of state and local governments, and so this means that secondly, some Christians must be willing to stand for public office in state and local governments. Sure, we want to get on with the job of preaching and teaching the gospel, and standing for public office seems to be a tiresome distraction from that goal. However, unless some Christians are willing to give their time to stand for public office, then there will be no one to stop developers from filling every available area with expensive housing - and leaving no foothold for churches.

With these new suburbs, Sydney is spreading out. In fifty years' time where will our churches be? Will they be concentrated in the old suburbs? Will we find ourselves with stunted opportunities in these new areas? Or will Christians in our day have realised what was at stake?

[ PS: back to Confucianism soon... ]