Online
Book Club
Join us for our next fantastic book club session by Zoom
Weds. MAY 7, 5pm PT
At the Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning with China,
by Edward Wong
“The son of Chinese immigrants in Washington, DC, Edward Wong grew up among family secrets. His father toiled in Chinese restaurants and rarely spoke of his native land or his years in the People’s Liberation Army under Mao. Yook Kearn Wong came of age during the Japanese occupation in World War II and the Communist revolution, when he fell under the spell of Mao’s promise of a powerful China. His astonishing journey as a soldier took him from Manchuria during the Korean War to Xinjiang on the Central Asian frontier. In 1962, disillusioned with the Communist Party, he made plans for a desperate escape to Hong Kong.
Wong tells a moving chronicle of a family and a nation that spans decades of momentous change and gives profound insight into a new authoritarian age transforming the world. A groundbreaking book, At the Edge of Empire is the essential work for understanding China today.”
“This book’s power comes from Wong’s broad sense of the patterns of Chinese history, reflected in the lives of a father and son, and from his ability to toggle effortlessly between the epic and the intimate.” —Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic
FACILITATOR Joann Pittman is the Vice-President for Partnerships and China Engagement at ChinaSource. Before joining ChinaSource she spent more than 20 years in China as a teacher, student, and intercultural trainer. She has taught courses in Chinese history, culture, and language at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), Taylor University (IN), and Wheaton College (IL).
REGISTER FOR NEXT BOOKCLUB
FUTURE BOOK CLUB DISCUSSIONS
May 7: At the Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning with China, by Edward Wong
August 6: A Star in the East: The Rise of Christianity in China, by Rodney Stark
November 5: From Banned Book to Best Seller: Bible Mission in Contemporary China, by Cynthia Oh
Come alongside ERRChina/CAC friends and scholars as you engage with works that reflect on past and present Chinese worldviews. You will gain a greater understanding of China and the church, past and present, and its meaning and impact in our current world situation. Together, we’ll make the most of a time of uncertainty, waiting, and strained isolation and spend it in patience, hope, and exploration.
The Feb. 1 meeting on Lian Xi’s BLOOD LETTERS proved a wonderful discussion of Lin Zhao’s complicated life and Christian response to Mao’s China.