We are pleased to announce a new name for the ChinaSource Blog: From the West Courtyard.
The new title comes from an old Chinese language curriculum published in 1900 by the well-known American Presbyterian Calvin Mateer. Mateer was famous for his extended evangelistic treks through the villages of Shandong. His collection of sentences and phrases for language students contains many references to life on the road and the daily rhythms of living in Chinese communities.
In lesson ten of his Course of Mandarin Idioms, he teaches the phrase "A man came over from the west courtyard" 有一个人，从西院子过来.
We thought the idea of moving from west to east, of journeying between these two different cultural courtyards, nicely represented the thickest of the common threads that connect the various posts on our blog.
The location of the speaker of this phrase in the east—or at least outside the western courtyard—reflects our desire to root our observations in the non-western context, and to allow the local (Chinese) context to determine what is culturally normative for life and work in China.
Finally, the fact that this entire west-east exchange takes place in the context of language learning highlights the fact that everyone approaches cross-cultural interaction as a learner.
Wherever you are on your journey between courtyards, we hope that this blog will be a place where you can deepen your understanding of China, of what God is doing there, and that it will equip you for whatever role God has for you.
Image credit: Flower Garden in China by cav…, on Flickr.
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