Glocalization: The Development and Localization of Chinese Christian Hymns between 1807 and 1949
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis article clearly explores the development of Chinese Christian hymns in the context of globalization and localization and sheds lights on the cultural and musical interplay between China and the West, which is academically and culturally important for a better understanding both in the Christian community and for the general population between China and the West.
However, the article need slight improvement. Here are some suggestions for improvement:
1. Line 27: “In comparison to” should be “In comparison with”.
2. Line 32: this conclusion might be too arbitrary.
3. Line 49-55: these few lines have little to do the subject matter of this section and could be deleted or moved to other section of the article.
4. Line 66-69: the criteria for the division of the three periods should be mentioned.
5. Line 73 & Line 541: why Hymns of Praise to the Lord, which made its debut in 1872, was put in the period 1911-1949, instead of the period 1840-1911?
6. Line 89: for this section, the total number of hymnals in this period should also be mentioned, for the total numbers of hymnals in other periods are mentioned.
7. Line 99: “by the Qing government” might be changed to “by the conflict between the Qing government”. By the way, this sentence sound self-contradictory.
8. Line 103: “As a result” is not a proper transitional phrase here, for this sentence is not a cause-effect relation.
9. Line 119 “43rd” vs. Line 129 “2nd”: the superscripts here and elsewhere in this article should be double-checked.
10. Line 129: as in 养心神诗, the bold face and typeface of some Chinese characters here and elsewhere in the article are not consistent and should be double checked.
11. Line 154: which hymnal is “the 49th verse” taken from?
12. Line 162: “printing culture” is mentioned too abruptly and you need some background to introduce this concept.
13. Line 165: does this section have anything to do with “globalization”?
14. Line 167 and elsewhere: some of the book titles should be italicized.
15. Line 166-199: the elaborate exploration of the different editions of Hymns for Nurturing the Spirit is too wordy and should be simplified, and this part should not be take a separate section and might be incorporated into “2.1” or “2.3”.
16. Line 191: what is “the 12-mo”?
17. Line 200: the heading “Cover of Hymns for Nurturing the Spirit and Linguistic Features” is ambiguous and unclear.
18. Line 228 vs. Line 270: the Chinese translation is not consistent.
19. Line 287: “their” should not include all the “people” in Line 286, and so this pronoun is a misuse.
20. Line 289-294: if you further explain why the Chinese version mentioned “specific actions”, this part might be more inspiring.
21. Line 375: it might be better to start a separate paragraph from “one notable hymn book……”
22. Line 387-391 & Line 486-487 & Line 573-574 & Line 707-708: can you cite any example or cite any reference for your conclusion in these lines?
23. Line 498: 义和团运动might be translated into “Boxer Movement”, a neutral term, for “Boxer Rebellion” is too derogatory from a political perspective.
24. Line 545: “Asia countries” might be “other Asian countries”.
25. Line 547-548: these two lines have nothing to do with the subject matter of this paragraph.
26. Line 583: by “trail performances”, do you mean “trial performances”?
27. Line 645: is “humbling” a misspelling of “humbly”?
28. Line 696-697: this sentence does have a good reasoning.
29. Line 710: if you say “Chinese Christian hymns are distinguished by their primary focus on praising God”, it might be taken that other hymns than Chinese ones do not focus on praising God. Is that the case？
30. Line 730: Why do you use “however”? By the way Lines 729-731 do not quite make sense.
Author Response
Dear Distinguished Professor,
Thank you so much for your meticulous review of my paper and for providing me with so many valuable suggestions. I have made necessary modifications in accordance with your recommendations. Your guidance has been instrumental in expanding my understanding of the subject matter. Please see the attachment. I would be extremely grateful if you could kindly review my paper once again.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis is a well-written article based on previous studies and available sources on hymns in China from the early 19th century to 1949. It is clearly organized and coherently argued. However, the article is more successful in its writing and organization of well-used sources than in presenting new material. The central argument, that the indigenization of Chinese hymns represents a common ground between Chinese and Western language and vocal traditions is supported, is supported on the basis of previous studied sources.
There are some areas for improvement. For example, 1) the article argues that it was Ge Maohe, not Liang Fa, who was Morrison’s collaborator on the hymn books. No mention is made of why previous studies have mistaken Liang Fa for Ge Maohe. The assertion of Ge Maohe as the collaborator also needs more evidence to support it. The authors need to add some references and evidence for this claim. 2) The section on “Hymnals in dialects” can be elaborated with more research. Cantonese hymns are an important part of dialect hymns, but they are neglected.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageThe article is written in fluent and clear English. There are no major writing problems.
Author Response
Dear Distinguished Professor,
Thank you so much for your meticulous review of my paper and for providing me with such valuable suggestions. I have made the necessary modifications in accordance with your suggestins. Your guidance has been instrumental in expanding my understanding of the subject matter. Please see the attachment regarding my responses to your suggestions. I would be extremely grateful if you could kindly review my paper once again.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe title could be more specific. "Since the 19th Century China" may be revised into "between 1807 and 1949". The original title seems to suggest there are contents related with New China, which are absent in the article.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageThe article seems to be translated from Chinese into English. Therefore, some Chinese thinking habits may be sensed from the version. If you have an academic editor to assist you, the readability may be enhanced. The word "spread", for instance, is repeatedly used; we would suggest "dissemination". Also, "the author/ authors" cannot be used unless you are commenting on other people's writing. In the abstract, "various aspects ...including.." may be revised into "such aspects...as...". In your expression“Blind adherence” , what do you mean by "blind"? "Methodology" is a general term, so in the abstract, "method" or "approach" may be used. But generally speaking, the English is understandable and clear.
Author Response
Dear Distinguished Professor: Thank you for taking your time to review our paper and for offering us such valuable suggestions. We have taken your advice into consideration and made adjustments to the wording of the title, providing a more specific time frame between 1807 and 1949.
We would like to acknowledge that this paper was originally written in Chinese and subsequently translated. In response to your feedback, we have taken the necessary steps to address the issues regarding inappropriate expressions and instances of Chinglish in the original version. We have carefully revised the abstract section to ensure its accuracy and appropriateness.
We also asked our British friend to proofread the first version. By following his suggestions, we have made some modifications in the paper to make it more idiomatic, logical and coherent. We hope you will find the revised version more readable. We are grateful for your continued attention and guidance.
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe article is well written and coherently structured. The author should be complimented for using Christian hymns to demonstrate the complexity of cross-cultural encounters and the global-local interface in trans-national cultural exchanges.
The end of the article is a bit abrupt. Most of the themes summarized in the conclusion would be more effective if they are put in sections of various time periods. In its present form, the summary looks repetitious and out of place. Instead, the author may want to take the opportunity to reflect on the two main themes of the article: (1) the complexity of cross-cultural encounters, and (2) the glocalization of Chinese Christian hymns. What the author shows is that the global-local encounters in producing Chinese Christian hymns demonstrate the creativity of humankind in expressing common interests and common concerns. The fact that a Chinese hymn is included in American Christian hymn singing testifies the circuitous routes where human beings share the common feelings despite different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Author Response
Dear Distinguished Professor:
Thank you for your approval of our paper in the first round of the review. Many thanks for your valuable suggestions on how to revise the conclusion section. We have rewritten the conclusion part according to your suggestions. As my reponses to your comments are too long, I put them in the attached document. Please see the attachment. Thank you for your continued attention and guidance.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
