Conclusion

Abstract

This chapter revisits the four interpretive motifs of this book: socialization, politicized culture, Christian conversion, and worldview conflicts. Traditional cultural endorsement of filial piety and the sanctity of parenthood comes in clash with Protestant values that attribute human existence to God. Consequently, more often than not, Christian conversion is only the beginning of a troubled mother-daughter relationship. The tension can sometimes be compounded by the fact that the parents’ generation owned a set of moral values shaped by a drastically different formation than that of the younger generation. In some cases, the daughters’ conversion may influence their mothers positively with regard to the Christian faith. Intergenerational storytelling, to a certain extent, has preserved part of Chinese history during the most censored and apathetic phase.