Luther's Reception in China and the Evolution of His Image (1840-2020)

Luther was first recognized in China in the first half of the nineteenth century. Missionaries and Chinese intellectuals formed the two routes publicizing his work and his ideas in China. However, Luther's reception in China was not a holistic copy from the West, but a reshaping process which was greatly influenced by the context of Chinese history and culture. This article explores how Luther was accepted and how his image developed within this historical context from 1840 to the present day, namely how he was perceived as a negative 'divider,' Catholic 'evil destroyer' and Protestant 'great reformer,' a positive 'great reform model,' and an 'enemy of the working and peasant classes.' Today a multiple, tri-dimensional, and more comprehensive perspective on Luther exists.