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Highland Christianity

Modern Transformations of the China–Southeast Asia Borderlands

Lian, Xi (Duke University) David Bradley (La Trobe University) Ralph A. Litzinger (Duke University)

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English
Pennsylvania State University Press
03 March 2026
Christianity has become one of the most powerful markers of identity in the mountainous borderlands of China and Southeast Asia, also known as Zomia. This region is home to tens of millions of people—including the Ahmao, the Kachin, the Lisu, and many other highlanders—all living at a far remove from the population centers of the lowlands. This volume explores how their creative engagement with Christianity has transformed their communities and reshaped their relationships with nation-states and dominant cultures.

Highland Christianity brings together indigenous, in-group scholars and external researchers to examine Christianity’s complex entanglement with ethnicity and modernity across eastern Zomia. Chapters investigate mass conversions, the creation of Bible orthographies, the indigenization of Christian practice, and the tensions Christianization generated with lowland states and majority populations. Contributors highlight the dramas and ambiguities of these changes while foregrounding the creative agency of highland peoples in reworking the faith to generate cohesion, cultural capital, and renewed forms of belonging. Moving beyond colonial frameworks, this interdisciplinary volume maps the profound and ongoing transformations of communities across this borderland region. It will be an essential resource for scholars and students of world Christianity, Asian studies, and anthropology.

In addition to the editors, the contributors to this volume are Aminta Arrington, Chijui Hu, Jianxiong Ma, Pum Za Mang, Lagai Zau Nan, Anh-Minh Nguyen-Dang, Yoichi Nishimoto, and Zhu Jili.
Edited by:   , ,
Imprint:   Pennsylvania State University Press
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 229mm,  Width: 152mm,  Spine: 26mm
Weight:   540g
ISBN:   9780271101262
ISBN 10:   0271101261
Series:   World Christianity
Pages:   274
Publication Date:  
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Further / Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Lian Xi Part 1: The Beginnings of Highland Christianity chapter 1 Christianity, Modernity, and the Karen in Burma Pum Za Mang chapter 2 Baptist Christianity in the Making of Modern Kachin Identity in Burma Lagai Zau Nan chapter 3 Beyond Belief: Conversion to Christianity Among the Highlanders in Kon Tum, Vietnam, 1850–1945 Anh-Minh Nguyen-Dang chapter 4 The Family of William Young Among the Lahu: Baptist Mission on the Border Between China and Burma Jianxiong Ma chapter 5 The Making of a Modern Ahmao Intellectual: Han Jie and A Brief History of the Flowery Miao Zh u Jili Part 2: Ethnic Christianity on the Margins of Nation-States chapter 6 Eschatological Beliefs in the Christianity of the Miao in Southwestern China, 1950–1960 Chijui Hu chapter 7 The Baptist Church’s Civilizing Project and the Lahu’s Appropriation of Christianity: A Case Study of the Christian and the Traditionalist Lahu of Northern Thailand Yoichi Nishimoto chapter 8 Performing Expressive Culture, Performing Governance, and Performing Togetherness: The Church as a Stage for the Display of Lisu Identity Aminta Arrington Part 3: Borderland Christianity in Comparative Perspective 201 chapter 9 Christianity and Writing on the China– Southeast Asia Border David Bradley chapter 10 Productions of Knowledge About Highland Christianity on China’s Southeast Asia Frontier: A Historical Review Lian Xi Selected Bibliography List of Contributors Index

Lian Xi is David C. Steinmetz Distinguished Professor of World Christianity at Duke University. He is the author of many books, including, most recently, Blood Letters: The Untold Story of Lin Zhao, a Martyr in Mao’s China, and Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Popular Christianity in Modern China. David Bradley is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at La Trobe University. He is the author of A Grammar of Lisu and coauthor of Language Endangerment. Ralph A. Litzinger is Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology and is affiliated with the Asian/Pacific Studies Institute and Global Health Institute at Duke University. He is the author of Other Chinas: The Yao and the Politics of National Belonging and coeditor of Ghost Protocol: Development and Displacement in Global China.

Reviews for Highland Christianity: Modern Transformations of the China–Southeast Asia Borderlands

“A compelling analysis of Christianity in highland Asia. It examines how their Christianity enables the Indigenous peoples of this region to creatively construct their identity and ethnicity on their own terms amid the bewildering forces of colonialism and nation-making processes. Instead of analyzing the origins of Christianity as simply a colonial encounter, the contributors demonstrate how it provides social cohesion and intellectual, cultural, and political capital.” —Arkotong Longkumer, author of Reform, Identity and Narratives of Belonging: The Heraka Movement in Northeast India


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