Karl Ludvig Reichelt

Karl Ludvig Reichelt ( Chinese  艾香德 , Pinyin ài xiāng dé , W.-G. Ai Hsiang-te , born September 1, 1877 in Barbu , † March 13, 1952 in Taofong Shan , Hong Kong ) was a Norwegian , Lutheran missionary and Religious scholar in China . He was seconded by the Norwegian Missionary Society (NMS) from 1903 to 1922 . In 1922 he founded the Nordic Christian Buddhist Mission with the Taofong Shan Christian Pilgrimage Center in Hong Kong. He became known for his work among Buddhists and his writings on Buddhism .

Youth and education

Karl Ludvig Reichelt grew up in a pietistic environment in Barbu, near Arendal . His father Carl Ludvig Reichelt was a captain. He died when Karl Ludvig was still a child. His mother, Othilie Helene Gundersen, director of an orphanage, made sure that the son did the teacher training at Notodden lærerskole . He graduated in 1895 and then spent some time teaching in Telemark . In his spare time he worked as a lay preacher. At the age of 20 he moved to the Misjonshøgskolen in Stavanger . After six years he was ordained on March 20, 1903 in Oslo Cathedral by Bishop Anton Christian Bang .

plant

In 1903 Reichelt was sent to China by the Norwegian Missionary Society (NMS). In October he reached Shanghai with his fiancée and future wife, Anna Dorothea Gerhardsen (marriage 1905) , but soon went to Hunan . Gerhardsen followed shortly afterwards. They began their language studies in the provincial capital, Changsha .

The first time he worked as a missionary in Hunan. After completing the one-year language course, he was sent to Ningxiang . In 1906 he had an experience there that would be groundbreaking for his later work. He visited the famous Miyin Si Buddhist monastery in Weishan for the first time . He later wrote about his experience there that he had for the first time gained a glimpse into a unique and exclusive world of deep religiosity, of mysticism and heartbreaking tragedy and of great wealth. As one of the first missionaries he felt called to work specifically among Buddhists and a cultural dialogue with Buddhists and enlightened Buddhist lay people. First he worked as a pioneer missionary in Hunan and Hubei until 1911, then as a teacher at the Bible School in Shekou (1913–1920).

He maintained a lively exchange with Buddhists and in 1919 had the honor of being present when a Buddhist monk was renamed. During a stay in Norway 1920–1922 he obtained permission from the NMS to set up a Christian pilgrimage center for Buddhist and Daoist monks. He traveled through Sweden , Denmark , Finland , Germany and the United States to get support for his project. He also received commitments, including a commitment from the Church of Sweden and the Danish Missionary Fellowship. A coordination committee of the three Scandinavian countries was established to ensure a minimum of support, even if not enough donations were received, and the NMS also promised to pay the salaries, although Reichelt would work on his own responsibility.

Reichelt and Notto Normann Thelle traveled back and founded the center they had planned in front of the gates of Nanjing , the so-called Qingfeng shan ( Chinese  清風 山 , Pinyin Qīngfēng shān , W.-G. Chingfong shan , dt. Mountain of the Shining Wind) . Soon afterwards the first wandering monks came to the "Christian monastery". At times, up to 1000 visitors a year came. Some became Christians and were baptized.

Through his study of Buddhism and monks, Reichelt developed new views on missionary strategies. His views sparked controversy. His supporters were particularly offended by the fact that he saw Buddhism as a preparation for the gospel (praeparatio evangelica) , as well as his dialogical method and his positive assessment of other religions. Many Buddhists were amazed at how he expressed Christian ideas with Buddhist-tinged terms. The NMS feared that Reichelt's openness to Buddhism was going too far. Especially his statement that “sparks of light and connection points through God's Holy Spirit in the holy scriptures, their rituals and their systems of thought” are present. Finally, the NMS called Reichelt home for consultations regarding these statements and some financial problem. The final separation took place in 1925.

In 1926 Reichelt founded the Nordiske Kristne Buddhistmisjon ( Den Nordiske Østasia-misjon , later Areopagus ). He continued his work in Nanjing and in 1927 22 Chinese people were baptized. In the same year, however, the center was destroyed in a riot. Reichelt and Thelle had to flee the city.

They continued their work in Shanghai for two years until they were granted reparations payments that made it possible to establish a center in the New Territories . In 1929 Reichelt built the Taofong Shan ("Mountain of the Dao Wind") in Sha Tin . The Danish architect Johannes Prip-Mǿller designed the center according to Buddhist criteria. Since then, this institute has been the seat of the Buddhist Mission in China.

From there, Reichelt made regular trips to Buddhist monasteries and tried to enter into dialogue with Buddhists and Daoists. His son Gerhart Reichelt, who had mostly grown up in Norway, temporarily became his assistant and employee. Reichelt left China due to the communist seizure of power in 1947 and finally took up residence in Hong Kong in 1951. He died on Taofong shan on March 13, 1952.

Fonts

Reichelt wrote popular and scholarly works on China and Buddhism, published several treatises and books in Chinese, and published articles and travelogues in the in-house magazine "Daofeng" for decades. His works include Religions of China (1913) and From Convenience Types and shrines in East Asia (three volumes, 1947–1949).

heritage

Reichelt was awarded the Sankt Olav Medal in 1939 and in 1941 he was made an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University for his extensive research on religious life in East Asia .

His son and von Thelle's sons continued his work. The center continues to exist with an emphasis on philosophical studies and interreligious dialogue. With the settlement of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Hong Kong, an important ecclesiastical center for Hong Kong emerged.

Works

• Kinas religioner. Haandbok i den kinesiske religionshistorie , Stavanger 1913, 2nd edition 1922.
• Det rene land. ("Tsing tou"). En oversættelse af the remarkable Buddhist script "De vigtigste Momenter ved Dyrkelsen av" Det rene lands lære "med vedføjede indledningsbemærkninger , København 1928.
• Mot Tibet grænser. With Arthur Hertzberg. 1933.
• Fromhetstyper og helligdommer i Øst-Asia , I - III, 1947-49.
  • English translation: Meditation and Piety in the Far East: a Religious-Psychological Study by Karl Ludvig Reichelt , Sverre Holth, New York: Harper & Brothers 1954.
• Laotse . Gyldendal, 1948. Translation of the Daodejing ,
  • reissued in 1982: Tao te ching and an introduction by Henry Henne. Gyldendal, 1982. ISBN 82-05-13333-6 ,
  • reissued in 2001: Tao te ching: utvalgte taoistiske skrifter , edited by Rune Svarverud and Notto R. Thelle; translated from Karl Ludvig Reichelt (Tao te ching) and Rune Svarverud ( Zhuangzi ). De norske bokklubbene, 2001. ISBN 82-525-4104-6
• Religion in Chinese garments. Tetlie, Joseph (transl.) Cambridge; Clarke 2004. ISBN 0-227-17234-5
• Truth and tradition in Chinese buddhism. A study of Chinese Mahayana buddhism. New York; Paragon Book Repr. Corp. 1968.

literature

• Hakan Eilert: Boundlessness: Studies in Karl Ludwig Reichelt's Missionary Thinking with Special Regard to the Buddhist Christian Encounter , Studia Missionalia Upsaliensia XXIV: Århus 1974. ISBN 87-7003-251-3
• Eric J. Sharpe: Karl Ludvig Reichelt, missionary, scholar and pilgrim . Hong Kong: Tao Fong Shan Ecumenical Center, ca.1984.
• Notto Normann Thelle: Karl Ludvig Reichelt. En kristen banebryter i Øst-Asia . Den nordiske Kristne Buddhistmisjon, Oslo 1954.
• Notto Reidar Thelle: Reichelts misjon and livsverk - en utfordring til vår tid . In: Norsk Tidsskrift for Misjon , 1/1995, pp. 33-52.
• Rolv Olsen: "Prevailing winds" ; an analysis of the liturgical inculturation efforts of Karl Ludvig Reichert. Lund; Lund Univ., Center for Theology and Religious Studies 2007. (Studia missionalia Svecana; 104). ISBN 91-85424-99-4 ; 978-91-85424-99-3

Web links

• Karl Ludvig Reichelt in the store norske leksikon (Norwegian)
• Karl Ludvig Reichelt in Norsk biografisk leksikon (Norwegian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Notto R. Thelle: Karl Ludvig Reichelt Store Norske Leksikon
2. ↑ points of light and connection points brought forth by God's Holy Spirit ... in their sacred writings (and) in their rituals and thinking systems