Fr John B. Zhang
A Look into the Values of Young People in China Today

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We all know that a person's sense of values include his/her faith and ideals. At the same time, the sense of values is something we seek in our lives and in our work. It is a spiritual strength within us. In the last 20 or so years, the sense of values of Chinese youth has undergone a great change. Moreover, because youth are a `weathervane' for social change, in a certain sense their thoughts, actions and sense of values are a reaction to the changes taking place in society as a whole at a certain point in history. They point in the direction towards which society will develop. Therefore by understanding the sense of values of young people we can grasp the pulse of the times and the direction of social development. Understanding the needs of youth and of society can help the church to plan a response. The present essay takes a look at the changes and directions of the sense of values of Chinese young people and reflects on how the church can strategise a response to them. Because Christian youth are part of Chinese youth culture, and because their faith is an important part of their sense of values, we will take faith and the sense of values as the main thread in our investigation.

A change in a sense of values among today's youth

The period of faith's renewal and taking root:
From the late ‘70s to the early ‘80s was the period of faith's reawakening in China. Many religious persons who survived persecution, one after another returned to their religious communities and religious activities gradually started up again. A generation of young people who grew up under atheism and lived through the catastrophe of the Cultural Revolution came into contact with religious faith. The youth of those days were still mired in a situation critical of idealism, of rectifying faults and of heated discussion. Nevertheless the young people, realising the losses of the catastrophic years, began to think about the future. to search for the meaning of life and to touch upon religious faith and religious life. Christian youth had another worry: they were concerned whether new riots or new movements might take place again. However under the influence and guidance of the older generation of believers. Christian youth bean to participate again in religious activities. This was a period of a reawakening of faith.

At that time, no matter whether in the midst of winter cold or the blazing heat of summer, regardless of the wind and rain, everybody, without complaint, participated in open air religious services, which were extremely moving. After being suppressed for so many years, a real `resurgence of religious faith' took place. Although regarding religious faith, the youth felt that it was mysterious and holy, nevertheless they blindly and emotionally believed.

Then full scale reconstruction of the church got underway. Clergy, who had just been released from prison or work camp. concerned themselves with how to guarantee normal religious life, how to restore religious venues and how to acquire religious articles and Bibles. At that time they had no time to pay attention to the changes in the sense of values of young people.

The period of establishing the faith:
The ten year period of the `80s was a time when everything in China followed the path of openness and change and it marked an important period in the development of the faith among China's youth. Every new wave of thought, and new ideas and opinions, all led to a complete change of direction for Chinese society. The sudden changes in the various aspects of life, the economic, political, cultural, moral and religious, all had a great impact and an influence on the youth. The young people began to seriously study religious belief and to positively seek religious faith. In the early ‘80s, at the beginning of the changes in China, a segment of the Christian youth answered the invitation of their faith communities and entered religious academies (seminaries, convents, theological and Bible schools) to train to become successors to the older clergy and superiors. This was a period of rapid development in the faith of the young people. Conversions took place in several places and the faith of Christian youth became firm and developed.

In the time of social change. the knowledge of the faith among most of the young people was comparatively weak, even to the point of perplexity. Some of the Christian youth, under the impact of all kinds of new trends of thought and new senses of value, lost the direction of their faith. At that time the church concentrated its energy on rebuilding churches and opening seminaries and convents, in order to train new clergy to perform the liturgy. Because society's knowledge and acceptance of the function and usefulness of religion was extremely limited, therefore in this time of social change the church's influence on society and on the misguided youth was also extremely limited. However, the church did privately and publicly publish some religious books, held 'formation classes', and made use of the limited opportunities to preach the gospel, to guide and encourage the young people. The conversions that resulted are a concrete example of the church's positive response to the needs of the youth.

The period of deepening development of faith:
The ‘90s were a period of deepening and developing of faith among Chinese youth and a time for grasping their faith more firmly. Along with the expansion of the openness and change in the country at large, the sense of values of the youth became more objective and practical. Regarding ideals, family and faith, as well as the future. they were full of hope and longing. In the midst of the wave of 'going into business' and consumerism, making money, or the idea of money above all things, became the sense of values for some people. The meaning of life and life's ultimate principles were forgotten. This led to a loss of a sense of direction and of hope among some young people. The phenomenon of suicide among young poets shook people up. In 1989, the Beijing University poet. Hai Zi, killed himself by lying on the railroad tracks in Shanhaiguan. In 1991, Ge Mai, another Beijing University poet, committed suicide by throwing himself into a lake near Yuan Mini? Yuan Park. In 1993, Gu Cheng killed his wife and then himself while overseas. A crisis of faith and of the meaning of life seriously affected people, especially the younger generation.

In the latter half of the ‘90s and into the new century, people of all walks of life, from the president to the person in the street, began to discuss religion and religion's function in society. Intellectual circles continuously held seminars on religion. The president himself said that he is not only interested in religion but that he has even read the Bible, the Koran, and other famous religious books. People finally discovered that in the absence of faith in Confucius and Lei Feng, if there is no more religious faith or the ethical values of religion, then we cannot imagine the kind of society that will exist in the future. In the future there would be no meaning of life or hope to speak about. In this period of great reflection, the government recognised that it must change from a passive position to a more positive attitude towards religion. It began to bring out all the beneficial factors of religious ethics, which could be put at the service of society. Therefore, people once again called out for religious ethics and morality and praised the sense of values embodied in a religious faith. This led to a large segment of the youthful population bravely and firmly seeking a religious faith. By witnessing, publishing and service, the church positively responded to the needs of the youth and of society. In 1998, the first Catholic non profit NGO, Beifang Jinde, a Catholic Social Service Centre, registered with the government. At the same time, many dioceses also set up social service offices. They also established libraries, catechetical classes, theology classes and correspondence courses. Christian young people began to participate in religious research, and even established religious research organisations.

From this time on, from the standpoint of social science within the country, research into religion became developed and practical. All kinds of religious or Christian institutes emerged. Through translation, research and publishing, they introduced to Chinese society, in a positive and systematic way, the theological thought and the sense of values of religious ethics from every country in the world. Young people increased their knowledge of religion and social science. The beauty of religious ceremonies, the love of Christ and the profundity of theological thought influenced many young people and among intellectuals they became known as ‘Culture Christians'. At each Christmas during the 1990s, young students used to swarm to the church. Their conversion is still in the process of unfolding.

During this period of rapid social change, young people have already gone through the waves of criticism and idealism of the past and are now on the road of stable thought and research. New converts among the young people have made their own exploration, research, reflection and positive pursuit of faith and only afterwards have become members of the Christian community. Because the young people did not experience the disaster of the Cultural Revolution nor other painful tests, they are more loyal to the faith and their search for truth is more determined. They work to build a church of justice and love.

Analysis of some characteristics of modern youth's sense of values

In comparison to the youth of the 1960s and ‘70s, we can say that modern youth are much luckier. This especially goes for the 1990s. The young people's personalities seem much brighter. They do not just drift with the current. Although the activeness of 'Spring' is still present, their behaviour is more practical and reasonable. They survive by adaptation and they seek development through creativity. In other words, the manifestation of their sense of values regarding faith, knowledge, spirituality, work, modernisation, marriage, consumerism, and other areas of life, all have a special personality and reflect trends in society's development. Below we will cite a few examples for analysis.

With bright personalities arid a positive attitude towards learning:
The special characteristic of today's youth is an emphasis on ‘personalising' things. They are a generation, which has energy, ideals, courage. an interest in increasing knowledge, and is very rational and creative. Their strong ideas about learning have their own value, and are a motive for seeking higher education. Although in the latter attitude there is some flavour of ‘advantage', and is due to the pressure of work and receiving a financial income, still youth's spirit of striving to better themselves is really commendable.

During the 1980s a large group of catechumens and Christian youth were in the habit of coming to the church for a weekend catechism class. They would do this for three months or half a year. This indicates how diligently and resolutely they sought to enrich their faith life. Today, with some middle aged and elderly included in the group, they actively participate in theology classes, or sign up for correspondence courses. Some young people even give up their jobs or go abroad to immerse themselves in religious studies. Evidently even four to six years of theological education in China are not enough to satisfy the intellectual yearnings of today's Christian youth. From the 1990s up to the present, groups of priests and pastors have been going abroad to study theology, philosophy, liturgy, Scripture and other subjects. Because only a few are able to go abroad for further studies, other Christian youth have entered universities in China to study literature, philosophy, psychology, foreign languages and education. This all for the purpose of raising their educational standards and adapting themselves to the needs of people in society and in the church.

From the second half of the 1980s, young scholars have been going abroad to study all kinds of subjects, including Christianity. Since the 1990s these young scholars have displayed their talents by publishing books and promoting the establishment of research institutes, and in this way have made a contribution to society. At the same time. because intellectual circles have undertaken their research into Christianity from the point of view of society, they are in urgent need of the participation of Christian scholars. At present, due to the uniqueness of religious research, intellectual circles regret that the church lacks personnel. Actually, historical and human elements brought about this situation. It is not that the church is lacking in personnel or does not seriously regard religious research. It is because the environment and conditions are not ripe. Following on the conditions of today's Christian youth continuously entering the ranks of research, and Chinese society becoming more and more open and positive regarding religious research, this unique situation will experience a breakthrough in the future. Young Christian scholars will definitely play an important role in this field of social research. Therefore, we clearly see that the church not only has to train successors to the older clergy. She also needs research institutes, in order to adapt to the times and to the needs of society. and to offer youth a fertile environment for research and development.

Because the internet has found favour with Chinese youth, and in order to use modern means of mass communication, since the year 2000, the internet has developed rapidly among the churches of China. Wisdom Press of Beijing, Faith Press of Hebei. Guangqi Press of Shanghai, as well as the dioceses of Shaanxi, Guizhou, Chongqing and Shenyang, have all set up websites. Personal websites, which are both creative and lively, are also springing up like bamboo shoots among Christian youth. Because the internet is a simulation world which is difficult for people to hinder, it provides a free space for young people to creatively explore life's meaning and values. For instance, Faith Press' chat room and forum is just such a place for young people to discuss the meaning of life and a sense of values. Every day, youth from around the world visit our website. One can see that the opportunities for pastoral work, preaching, and spiritual guidance are very great, and the influence far reaching.

A comparison on the level of spirituality between the sense of values of today's youth and that of an older tradition:
Under attack from a market economy and globalisation, the sense of values of today's youth has undergone a great change. They not only emphasise the life of the spirit, but they pay even greater attention to material life and the quality of life. In fact, they seem to be moving more in the latter direction. For example, the traditional Chinese attitude towards life is: be content with your lot, be hardworking and thrifty, study hard and bear your burdens. But today's youth seek a life of quality and beauty. They raise doubts about the traditional sense of value, and challenge it. Some youth do not understand why, though life is now good. their parents repeatedly emphasise industriousness and hard work. As for the atmosphere of consumerism which prevails in the land, Chinese people having a traditional outlook lend great weight to duty. practicality, steadfastness and patience. But today's youth seek novel things, name brands. good performance, values, travel. gatherings of family and friends. They even seek stimulus and enjoyment (witness the popularity of recreation centres). Traditional clothing was simple and austere. In Chairman Mao's time everyone wore the same drab colour. No one dared to depart from the norm. But today's youth like to wear strange, up to date, colourful and personalised clothing.

In the face of this change in the sense of values. the older generation of priests only used a passive attitude of throwing up their hands, worrying and even forbidding looking at television, movies and videos, lest people be tempted. They forbid the wearing of modern clothes, in order to avoid bad example. Naturally it was difficult for youth to be fully convinced. Although the church desires to adapt to the needs of the times and of society, and so is putting a lot of effort into developing audiovisual products, still for the time being the church does not have the means to produce its own CDs and VCDs. It's even more of a dream to think about using radio or television stations to serve the needs of youth and of society.

Under today's standards of love and marriage, the Christian young people's sense of values regarding love, marriage and the family is undergoing violent attack. Triangle love affairs, conception outside of marriage and extra marital affairs have already become serious problems for many youth, for their families and for society as a whole. Therefore, pre marital training and marriage counselling are becoming more and more important. In order to meet this need, Faith Press has published some guidance books about marriage and the family. Your Companion until Old Age, and Are You Ready for Marriage? are examples. The church still needs professional guidance counsellors for marriage.

Traditional spirituality emphasised the saving of one's soul, austere penances, and even the threat of excommunication and the last judgement to morally bind people. However, today's youth have discovered the beauty of this world. They want to live a pleasant life, and enjoy this beautiful world which the Creator has given to us. They want to experience a modern, civilised life. Traditional rules of conduct cannot bind or satisfy today's youth, who are used to thinking for themselves and dare to search for new meaning in life. In the church's liturgy, obscure and unintelligible Scriptures, boring ceremonies and moralistic doctrine do not attract today's thinking, active youth. Liturgical reform in the Chinese church, and some dioceses' efforts to change the prayers and Scriptures into ordinary language, are a good response to this problem. In recent times, the phenomenon of young clergy ‘changing their way of life' is a concrete manifestation of 'emotionalism' or ‘impetuosity' in the spirituality of today's youth. When these young people entered the seminary in the early 1980s, they were full of fervour. After they were ordained priests, they were still daring and energetic. However, when society began to change they found themselves at a loss; they did not have enough experience of life and their spirituality could not handle the challenges facing them. The church likewise did not show concern for them, nor guide them in how to defend themselves against such temptations. To make up for lost time, Faith Press published a translation of George Aschenbrenner's Quickening the Fire in our Midst — The Challenge of Diocesan Priestly Spirituality, the Jiang Fanhua edited book, Walking on the Road to Emmaus, Celibacy For Our Times by Gan Yifeng, and other books on priestly spirituality.

Because the changes and developments in modern society are taking place at a rapid rate, everyone is very busy. A large group of church youth, who have taken on a life of sacrifice, work at many different tasks, with a spirit of continuous service, around the clock. Therefore the church should give these service oriented youth the opportunity to renew themselves. Otherwise more serious problems will arise. Batteries need to be re charged. Many tired and hardworking youth are in need of a rest period. For the sake of the spiritual and mental health of these young people, the church should provide a place and a curriculum for rest and renewal. The Chinese church really needs an institute for the further education of its young clergy. It should also provide a curriculum of study and a place for retreat.

Speaking for society as a whole, it is just now receptive to the Christian moral sense of values. The younger generation acknowledges, and is becoming more and more open to, such Christian values as universal love, compassion, a spirit of sacrifice, equality and forgiveness. Regarding this, Professor Wang Shaochao of Beijing University courageously admits that Chinese young people have already accepted Christian moral values, or will do so in the future.

In the direction of democracy and a legal system

After having the baptism of all kinds of ‘movements' and ‘the ten catastrophic years', today's young people are taking on the ideas of democracy and the rule of law. As people are striving for democracy and freedom, the youth recognise that many of them abuse freedom. ‘Freedom' does not mean liberalism. the unchecked spreading of the idea of me at the centre of the universe, a despising of authority, and destroying structures. For example, too many people ignore traffic regulations, they do not respect public order, do not care for public morals. thoughtlessly spit on the street, etc. The youth think that a legal structure can help to correct this selfish behaviour. Personal relations have also undergone a big change. For example, for hundreds of years, trust among persons revolved around family connections or personal friendships. Such relationships were morally binding. However, in the circumstances of the market economy having norms, young people are acknowledging and accepting the fact that mutually beneficial relations are built on contracts and laws. Faced with the phenomenon of corruption, young people not only detest it, but they think that only a legal system, transparency and democratic structures are able to put a stop to it.

In western countries. under the assault of the influence of ideas of democracy and equality and of modern technology, authority in the family, in the school, in society itself and even in the church, is continually being challenged. In an informational age based on the internet, there is no reference to authority in relations between father and son, or between superiors and subordinates. Everyone communicates equally. Of course, today's youth are much in favour of a sense of values based on equality and democracy. The church should pay close attention to this development among young people. On one hand the church should reflect on how it can play the role of prophet and speak out for justice in society, and thus walk with the youth. On the other hand, it should continually try to understand the change in thinking and in the direction of the sense of values of youth, and give them reasonable, timely and accurate guidance.

Actually, from contact with Christian young people and from observing the changes in their sense of values, it is not difficult to discover problems in the church. For instance, many young people are now going in the direction of life in religious communities. What is motivating them to make this choice? Christian youth are part of Chinese youth as a whole. Naturally they are deeply influenced by changes in the sense of values of youth groups at large. In the past, most of the Christian young people studied in seminaries and novitiates in the interior of China. They did not understand what a religious community was. However, with the chance for Christian young people to study abroad and visits by international visitors, as well as the publication in China of stories about members of religious orders, the opportunity has been presented for young people to know about life in a religious community. Of course, the real reason for change is interior: it is up to them to reflect upon what they want to do with their lives and to make a choice. The strict requirements of the three vows in religious communities, and their community life characterised by democracy, equality, mutual concern and a systematic structure, makes a striking comparison with the dispersed community life in a diocese. At the same time, because the relations between the state and the church are not harmonious at the present time, problems in the supervision of dioceses are surfacing day by day. This has led to a situation of a church which has no energy. The young people, who are working hard to develop church life, are gradually losing their trust and patience. They desire to enter a religious order, which has clear and strict rules of discipline. At least a religious community can provide the opportunity and the help to develop such areas as education. spirituality, works of charity, social service, publishing and the arts. The diocese, which concentrates all its efforts on pastoral work, has no time or energy to take care of the needs of the youth.

Of course it is a good thing that the values of young people are changing, and that Christian young people are looking in the direction of religious congregations. However, we must also emphasise that the local church has to increase its efforts at self strengthening and at establishing a complete system in order to satisfy the spiritual needs of the youth. To gradually set up a religious community compatible to China's national spirit, this is just one more urgent need of the Chinese church. I believe that the time to establish a Chinese religious order has already arrived. At the appointed time, a religious order, in tune with real life, could help to solve the church's problems and meet the needs and challenges of society. At the same time, it is necessary that seminary education takes into account the special characteristics of youth, and teaches them to learn how to gain a foothold in society.

Conclusion

When facing the developments and changes in the sense of values of youth, the church not only needs to be alert. She also needs to anticipate the future directions of developments in youth's values, and formulate policies to deal with them. She should promptly meet the needs of youth and guide them to play a positive role in society. In this essay we have taken a look at only a few of the characteristics of young peoples' sense of values. If the church can really make youth work a priority and offer guidance and help in a timely manner, then the Chinese church would be trusted by the youth, and receive a warm response from them. Therefore, the needs of this generation of youth should be our most important responsibility.

At the present time, the Chinese church has many opportunities, and it also faces many challenges.
We should seize the opportunities, pursue development and show forth our talents. For over twenty years, our Christian churches have been consumed by internal ‘divisions' and ‘factions'. We have wasted a lot of human, spiritual and material energy. We have neglected the needs and feelings of this generation of youth. It is really a shame that we have lost some wonderful opportunities for development. If we can continually investigate and understand more deeply this generation of youth, and continually try to meet their needs, then I believe that, under the light of Christ, young people will become a force within the church, or friends of it, who together with the church will serve other people and make a contribution to society. (For references, please see the Chinese edition).

Ref.: China Study Journal, Vol. 17, n. 3, December 2002, pp. 13-19.