Double vision hermeneutics of a Chinese pastor’s intersubjective experience of Shì engaging Yìzhuàn and Pauline texts
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Date
05/07/2013Item status
Restricted AccessEmbargo end date
31/12/2100Author
Ooi, Hio Kee
Metadata
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to unfold the multilayered intersubjective experience
of the author himself, a Chinese pastor. The author postulates himself as the subject
in whom the said experience was evident, so that it can be analyzed and interpreted.
The author argues for a cultural-linguistic experience of shì勢 as the locus at which
the intersubjective experience takes place. He then shows that such experience
embodies a Chinese Christian’s ‘two texts’ inheritance, and argues that it is through
unfolding or revealing of such experience that the nature of his relationship with
them can be demonstrated. The author will show that his relationship to these “two
texts” is a continuing appropriation of them. The appropriation is not done through
arbitrary readings of the texts, but careful exegetical study of both biblical and
Chinese classic. The subjective appropriation will be studied by paying attention to
the texts with their literary and historical contexts considered, not simply for the sake
of reconstruction but for their relevancy to what the subject experiences. To unfold
this experience, the author identifies five key texts that are found in his
intersubjective experience: Text A1: Shì勢, Text A2: Yìzhuàn易傳, Text B1: Pauline
notion of principalities and powers, Text B2: Pauline Texts I and II: Galatians and 1
Corinthians, and Text 0 (zero), his initial or seminal experience of shì. The author
provides the hermeneutical rationale in dialogue with Michael Polanyi and Hans
Georg Gadamer, and proposes that a double vision hermeneutic will help interpret
the multilayered intersubjective relationships between texts and the subject. The
thesis will reveal, through the double vision hermeneutic, a unique way of
conceiving Chinese Christian self that embodies fusion, intermingling and layers of
understanding of texts and notions from the Bible and Chinese tradition. The author
argues that study of this intersubjective experience reveals a vital facet of Chinese
Christian self, and significantly enhances the study of Chinese theology. The author
also hopes that the double vision hermeneutic as demonstrated will contribute to the
understanding of a facet of Chinese Christian way of being.