The Characteristics of T. C. Chao’s Poeticizing Theology

This paper focuses on T. C. Chao’s (Zhao Zichen, 赵紫宸, 1888–1979) poeticizing theology practice, in which he applied poetry to expound and express theological thought. By employing research methodology that integrates historical and logical analysis, this study examines the historical context and the author’s personal theological mission, so as to investigate the formation of his poeticizing theology. This paper analyzes T. C. Chao’s poetry from multiple aspects, including the form, the expression, the core of his thoughts and the poetry’s peculiarities. We found that T. C. Chao’s poeticizing theology shows cultural fusion and a mystic inclination at the textual level, reflecting peculiarities in contextualization, ethics and indigenization at the theological level. These characteristics of T. C. Chao’s poeticizing theolog provide great significance in offering spiritual comfort, advancing indigenous theology, and responding to contemporary intellectual trends. Furthermore, it remains instructive for current practices of cross-cultural fusion that take Chinese culture as the main subject, and emphasize the fusion of inner spirituality and creative transformation.