Christian Generals

[Ian_Lee]

In Chinese and Japanese history, there are quite a few "Christian Generals" -- Commander of force who was a devoted Christian ( a rare species by that time).

The most famous Christian General in China was General Feng YuXiang. In reality he was actually a warlord in the early ROC period.

Feng was famous in the following acts:

(1) Unlike other warlords who had no ideology at all, Feng was a devoted Christian who tried to convert his farming kid-turned solders into Christians by teaching them Bible.

(2) His soldiers broke the ROC agreement with Qing Court and kicked abdicated Emperor Puyi out of the Forbidden City in 1924. It is rumored that his soldiers raided Empress Dowager's tomb and found her corpse undecayed even 15 years after her death.

(3) Professed Christian Feng could not get along with nominal Christian Chiang and waged a big bloody civil war in 1930. However, Christain Feng got along very well with atheist CCP. In fact, Feng was the only warlord that received praise from CCP after his death.

On the other hand, the famous daimyo Konishi Yukinaga was also a devoted Christian. His most notorious act was the two-time invasion of Korea launched respectively in 1592 and 1597. In fact, Konishi was the main architect of the second invasion.

But even though they were Christians, both Feng and Konishi were warmongers and kind of brutal.

But Feng was a little bit luckier than Konishi. After his defeat in the 1930 civil war with Chiang, he just needed to give up his military power under the Gentleman's agreement during the warlord period.

But for Konishi, he chose the wrong side and defeated in the Battle of Sekigehara in 1600. Tokugawa ordered him to commit seppuku. But as a Christian, Konishi refused to commit suicide. Later he was executed.

[bhchao]

Same exact thread: http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/3373-the-christian-general&highlight=Christian+General

The pearl necklace in the Empress Dowager's tomb was given to Soong Meiling as a gift.

[wushijiao]

Wasn't Jiang Jieshi also a christian, at least in name?

[Outofin]

Wasn't Jiang Jieshi also a christian, at least in name?

Yep, that's why Ian called him "nominal Christian Chiang".

太平天国 were Christians. I don't know if they were real or nominal.

[bhchao]

Wasn't Jiang Jieshi also a christian, at least in name?

He converted to Christianity just to marry Soong Meiling. Her Methodist mother would not allow him to marry her unless he converted.

[woodcutter]

The Taipings were fervent christians, not "nominal" ones, but their theology was so creative that westerners deemed them heretics.