Taiwan

Social tradition, cultural context and the ordination of women

Susan Chuang Shu-Chen

History

The formation and development of Taiwan's culture and history is very complex but, in order to understand present day realities in relation to the ordained ministry we need to briefly look at its history. From the 17th to the 19th centuries,Taiwan was controlled by a succession of foreign governments (the Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish and Ching [Manchu] Dynasty). In 1887 the failing Ching Dynasty made Taiwan a province of China, but eight years later, when China lost the first Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan "in perpetuity".

During the fifty years of Japanese colonial rule, considerable development took place in agriculture, industry, city planning, transportation, public health and education. At the end of World War II, the Allied forces instructed the Chinese Nationalist Government (Kuomingtang or KMT) to accept the Japanese surrender of Taiwan and temporarily undertake military occupation of the island as a trustee on their behalf. However, in 1949 China fell to Communist forces and the KMT government fled to Taiwan along with many soldiers and civilians. In Taiwan, they controlled the people through martial law until as recently as 1987. With their arrival, a Confucian ideology was also introduced to Taiwan. Except for the brief interlude from 1945 to 1949, Taiwan has been effectively separated from the China mainland since 1895. Because of this historical separation, Taiwan and China have developed along separate lines, resulting in quite different political, economic and cultural conditions.

The people

The population of Taiwan in 1992 was over 20 million. About 340,000 (a little under 2%) are Aborigines, the island's original inhabitants, who divide into ten tribes and are racially and linguistically related to the Malayo-Polynesian peoples. The largest segment of the population often called "Taiwanese" makes up about 17 million or 85% (of which 75% is Amoy-speaking and 10% is Hakka). They are descendants of settlers from southeast China who began arriving in Taiwan about four centuries ago. They migrated from the province of Fujian and Guangdong to escape hardship, and seek freedom and happiness in Taiwan. The remaining approximately 2.5 million of the current population consists of "Mainlanders" (i.e. Nationalist Government soldiers and civilians) and their descendants who fled to Taiwan in 1949.

The people of Taiwan adhere to many religions - folk religion, ancestral worship, Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Comprising about 4% of the population, Christians (Roman Catholic and Protestant) are in the minority. Consequently, these deep rooted historical, political, colonial and religious influences greatly effect the present-day culture and attitudes.

The culture and social structure

The society and culture of China, as we know it today, is male dominated (i.e. patriarchal). However, when we talk about the social tradition we cannot but mention the social structure of days gone by. Interestingly enough, in the early days the system was matriarchal; the men would go out hunting while the women remained at home in charge of the community. Having more time to experiment and discover new things, the women learned how to seed plants; the society gradually moved from being a family- and community-centred culture and entered into an agricultural era. In this new era the life style gradually changed as the men moved step by step into agriculture, taking advantage of the female absence during child birth, feeding of the baby and family care. Finally they turned the matriarchal system upside down and began to oppress the women.

For example, the new patriarchal system introduced polygamy. The more wives each man had, the higher the position he attained in the society. The ideal was promoted that "a chaste woman never remarries", thus discouraging women from entering into a second marriage. Finally, women's actions were restricted by the "custom" of foot binding from birth. It was considered an attribute for women to have small, delicate feet which men claimed to be attractive and sexually appealing when looking for a wife. This practice also represented the high-class position of a "lady" who was not allowed (able) to do manual work but instead spent her time in the boudoir concentrating on needlework and embroidery.

The oppression of women went unnoticed until the period of the Ching government in the 19th century when attempts were made to promote the following measures to protect women:

• opposition to the double standard of morality which existed; that women should remain in widowhood but men should take a concubine. This double standard implied that women were the property of men/husbands;
• opposition to the binding of feet. Bound feet was a most unfair, cruel and dehumanizing treatment;
• opposition to the use of cosmetics;
• opposition to marriage through a fortune teller;
• promotion of female education; and
• advocating that women take part in the government

However, the voice of the proponents of these measures was so small that society could not hear or perhaps refused to listen!

In 1971 an incident occurred concerning a Dr. Chong Chau-Man who was challenged by Ms. Lu Sio-Lian. This public attack was called the "New Feminist Era". For the first time women began to develop a true "women's self-consciousness movement". They suggested four major actions:

• criticizing the double standard of morality and encouraging the attitude that males and females should be judged by the same moral codes;
• speaking out against the treatment of females as inferior to males. Members of the movement were encouraged to treat men and women as equals, believing that one should not be made to serve the other but that women and men should live in mutual respect. In like manner, children should be considered equal no matter the gender of the child (instead of preference toward males which still exists today) for they are all God's children;
• emphasizing that the human rights and identity of each person takes priority over gender-based rights. Thus women and men should have the right to develop their rights, pursue their ideals and take part in public affairs; and
• the government promoting the idea that who you are is determined by who you would like to become.

Sadly when what is called "the Kaohsiung Incident" took place on December 10, 1979, Ms. Lu Sio-Lian was amongst the persons arrested and put in jail. Consequently, the "New Feminist Era" lost momentum and disappeared. In 1982 interest in the movement was renewed with a sudden awakening among female social groups. During the past ten years, about twelve such groups have invested much energy and effort to addressing the issues of women who are oppressed and discriminated against. They are involved in practical social care programmes, as well as seeking concrete ways to challenge and change the political constitution of our country. In 1992 we see a new phenomenon within these female communities. As they observe political groups standing together in solidarity with each other, the female groups are also pursuing ways to connect with each other.

The church

The Christian Church in Taiwan receives mixed reviews with regard to women's rights. In spite of many weaknesses, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) has been at the forefront of the women's issues. The early missionaries and Christians advocated the end of foot binding which gave women a special freedom. As early as 1923 the PCT set up a female preaching committee. Women were granted the right to be ordained into full-time Christian ministry in 1950. Women's fellowship groups were established with the hope of enabling females to receive an "abundant life" in Christ and to hold other religious roles. However, after World War II, men insisted that these women's fellowships be abolished, arguing that women's organizations disturbed and inhibited the growth of the church.

It seemed as if the church had returned to the "dark ages," for men were still looking down on women. In fact, women were taught to be Martha figures, servants who would unquestionably serve their masters. Limited roles like cleaning, cooking, decorating and teaching seemed to be the only avenues open to women through which they could share their faith.

The problems of ordained female ministers

The ordination of women from the Reformed tradition in Taiwan began back in 1950. Bearing in mind the afore-mentioned background, for the PCT to take this step was indeed a praise worthy action. However, forty one years have since passed. During that time, only forty-two women have been ordained. This raises the question, why so few? Based on the experiences of my ordained colleagues and potential ministers, it appears that the major obstructions are strongly linked to our cultural traditions which continue to uphold male superiority. This can be best illustrated in the following¹:

1. Minister Chang, a thirty-seven year old, single female, served as an assistant pastor in a local church which had 400 members. She had a special responsibility for the education aspect of the church's ministry. Due to her status as a single person, there was much conflict with the senior pastor's wife who expressed much criticism at times, unreasonably so. After such constant criticism, Ms. Chang was deeply hurt. Furthermore, the local church was unwilling to ordain her although she had undergone the necessary requirements of the PCT. Finally, having served this particular church for five years Ms. Chang chose to leave, taking her pain and sorrow with her.
2. Minister Yang, a younger, single person graduated from theological seminary in 1990. After graduation, she was sent to serve a church in a suburban area, a poor, farming village. She began her ministry full of enthusiasm and applied herself diligently to the task of educating the congregation to gain new insights from the Bible in the context of feminist thought. After a year she was forced to leave this church. Following this action the Presbytery Preaching Committee assigned her to a place where there were no Christians nor a church. The committee gave her the ultimatum that if her evangelical outreach bore no concrete fruit within one year, they would discontinue their support of her and this pioneer work! How can evangelical work be evaluated in such a way? Unfortunately, a year later Ms. Yang decided to tender her resignation because no one had made a Christian commitment. After experiencing situations which hurt her deeply, first by the church and secondly by the Presbytery Committee, she decided for the time being to devote her energy in further theological study overseas and work toward her master's degree, hopefully finding personal healing at the same time.
3. Minister Lee, a friendly, very energetic, active young woman, was greatly influenced by the feminist ideology as a seminary student. After serving two years in church work she felt that women in Taiwan generally, and the female ministers within the PCT, were encountering many difficulties and becoming bitter. Ms. Lee decided to write about the situation faced by female ministers and submitted her article to the PCT weekly newspaper under the heading O Lord, Your Church Has Raped Us - the Female Ministers. The article was published and the initial reaction seemed to be that of fear. but emotions were soon expressed and it received much criticism while Ms. Lee herself, received personal condemnation from male ministers of the PCT. Since then, she has left the church and is working for a non-denominational, international body working for the rights and needs of the victims of child prostitution in Asia.

In the above three situations there are common factors which need to be addressed:

1. The patriarchal system still influences our local churches deeply and there is a strong resistance from the members of our congregations themselves. They do not accept female ministers as having the same status as our male colleagues.
2. Ordained women who are married to laymen have an added burden in that our society decrees that a wife marries into her husband's family and her duty is to follow her husband-to be as a dutiful wife, mother and daughter-in-law. Consequently women are often expected to sacrifice their own career. In Taiwan, it is difficult for an ordained woman to secure a calling to a local church to begin with, but to find a ministry which would fit with her spouse's work situation and family responsibilities is nigh impossible. In fact, it is known that even in our theological institutions, professors advise female students not to seek entry into the theological department. They use the fore-mentioned reason to justify their arguments that for a woman to receive theological education and training for the full time ordained ministry is a waste of energy and education. If there is a clergy couple then this is seen as positive, but the female partner will only be seen as an assistant to the pastor!
3. In this culture there is a mentality that states the female becomes an adult only when she marries; hence the single woman is still seen as young and often is not afforded the respect due to her as a person. There is also great pressure on young adults to marry and produce offspring. Sadly, this kind of thinking pervades our church structures and makes it extremely hard for the young, single minister to establish her identity and be accepted into the rightful role of spiritual leader.

Basic data analysis of PCT (female) ordained ministers

1. Number of women ordained (in chronological order)

1. During the initial twenty years the number of women entering the theological seminary was minimal.
2. The last twenty years has seen a remarkable increase in women dedicating themselves to the ordained ministry.
3. It is interesting to note that during the period 1978-1988, the PCT implemented a special church growth evangelism project which is commonly known as the "Ten Plus One Movement". However, it is difficult to ascertain if this movement contributed to the marked increase of female ordination.

Two other factors need to be considered:

1. There are 1,126 churches within the PCT and 1,000 ordained ministers; of these, only forty-two are female (including those not having pastoral charges).
2. Between 1949-1990 a total of 115 female students entered the theological departments of PCT seminaries.

2. Marriage and female ministers

a.The marital situation of female ministers has changed gradually. Before 1966 female ministers were all single. After 1966 there were clergy couples. From 1984 to the present there is a new trend in which spouses are lay persons. In 1992 we witnessed a new situation, that of a female pastor in a second marriage. (This came about when the husband, also an ordained minister, died and the pastor concerned recently re-married, this time to a layperson. Sadly she has received much criticism from her congregation, especially from the female members who cannot accept her new situation).

Currently the PCT is faced with a new phenomenon, and a serious dilemma, as the younger generation of female ministers have presented us with a very different ideal. Female ministers are showing a preference to marrying not only laypersons, but non-Christian partners as opposed to ordained clergy. Their arguments are as follows:

• They are afraid to be a pastor's wife in Taiwan (it should be noted that over the years, of the students that have received further education at PCT theological institutions or Bible college, a very high percentage of them have become "pastor's wives". Not surprisingly so when we recall the Christian community of Taiwan is very small). We have found the relationship between the minister's wife, female elder and female minister is not without it's conflicts as they seek to establish their roles. More often than not, it is the minister's wife who has the least status and rights, yet much is expected of her.
• If the female minister marries an ordained minister, the clergy partnership will be overshadowed by the assumed male superiority. As things stand now, the female partner will be given the status of assistant and never that of equal partner nor senior pastor. The female minister will loose her identity under this strong cultural structure, which presents many frustrations and set backs, thus hindering her from fulfilling the vocation to which she is called.

3. Current work situation

KEY: P = Partner (married layperson)
C = Clergy Couple
S = Single
ST = Study
SV = Service

From this diagram we find:

1. Only twenty-seven female ministers are serving presently in Taiwan.
2. Those who are serving in local churches are mostly in clergy couples. These three couples serve churches located in rural areas
3. The partner model is more readily accepted by institutions
4. Of the three partner types in column D, two of them are married to non-Christians

4. Leadership and decision-making positions within the PCT structures

Up to this day nearly all the female ministers have been serving in a local church situation. The PCT has a 127-year history, and during that time only one female has been voted to the position of Presbytery Moderator. The person concerned took up this position last year. This is a major break through since she is not only an ordained minister but also single!

In 1992, twelve positions on General Assembly Committees were filled by women (48%), compared with the previous year when eight women were appointed (32%). While there is a percentage increase of participation relative to the overall situation, it is minimal. How can eight to twelve women influence decision-making policies?

Conclusion

On the surface it appears that the ordination of women in Taiwan is very open and acceptable and that the church has been progressive. However, even as the vocation of women is endorsed, the fulfilment of that vocation and ministry is severely handicapped by the very body that ordains them. The church structures and members are still greatly influenced by our cultural thoughts and ideals. Thus, to be an ordained woman is a very hard and painful daily struggle. Indeed, for a woman to take the step of ordination requires great faith and conviction as it can literally be a make or break experience. At times it seems impossible for these few female ministers to fulfil their calling and beliefs, and to play a constructive role in the leadership of the church. We have a long way to go to overcome the cultural influences which are so ingrained in our church and society.

Notes