Overview

Justin K.H. Tse captures the voices of Cantonese Protestant Christians from the San Francisco, Vancouver, and Hong Kong metropolitan areas as they reflect on their efforts to adapt to secular communities while retaining their identity and beliefs. In the context of the transpacific region between Asia and the Americas, the “Pacific Rim” refers to a window of time in which predominant narratives emphasized skilled migration and the rise of multicultural societies—the era before the rise of Chinese nationalism in 2012 and the Hong Kong protests. Diasporic Cantonese Protestant Christians of this time were frequently portrayed as a homogenous people bringing their Chinese culture and Christian communities from Hong Kong to cities such as Vancouver and San Francisco—sometimes contesting liberal developments like same-sex marriage but also offering new democratic awareness. Sheets of Scattered Sand challenges that depiction of Cantonese Protestants with authentic voices from the community. Based on research done in the San Francisco Bay area, Vancouver, and Hong Kong, author Justin K.H. Tse finds that Cantonese Protestants consider themselves “sheets of scattered sand”—politically disparate and ideologically fragmented, but united in a sense of tension with the secular world. Tse’s work serves as an illuminating prequel to contemporary stories of the Hong Kong protests and a newly emergent Asian American politics, underscoring the importance of incorporating these voices in wider reflections on Christianity and secularity.

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“Tse’s excellent historical sensitivity, solid grasp of pertinent scholarly literature, and effective use of contemporaneous news media enable him to illustrate the ways these actors adapt and adjust over time and in different political scenarios.” —Timothy Tseng, co-editor of Asian American Christianity “Tse’s ethnography and critical analysis not only document the deep complexities and nuances in how the framework of ‘Chineseness’ and Chinese values is deployed as the backdrop in the cultural wars over questions of sexuality and marriage equality, but also unpack the complexities of the Chinese Protestant Christian diasporas in three Pacific Rim cities and the roles they play in shaping the debate over global and transpacific versus North American values and norms.” —Jonathan Tan, author of The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences

Author Information

Justin K.H. Tse is assistant professor of religion and culture at Singapore Management University’s College of Integrative Studies. He is the co-editor of Theological Reflections on the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement.

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