Christianity in China has developed since at least the 7th century CE. Some consider the first entry of the Christian religion into China to be the introduction of Nestorianism around 635. Today, the population of Chinese Christians sits at 3% of the general population.[1] For more background see Religion in China.
History
Earliest period
For a fuller account see Nestorianism in China
Traditional Christian thought suggested that St. Thomas, known as "the Apostle of India" or possibly St. Bartholomew were the first to spread the Christian gospel in China. Third century Christian writer Arnobius mentions in a text a people known as the "Seres" as being among the groups (he enumerates also the Persians and Medes) which had been evangelized at that time. While there is evidence that Christianity existed in Mesopotamia and Persia by the early fourth century, there is no documentation that it had entered China.
Nestorianism was in China spread by European or Middle-Eastern travellers who arrived in the seventh century CE or earlier, as documented by the Nestorian Stone of Xi'an (then called Chang'an), dating from 635.
Medieval period
In 1289, Franciscan friars from Europe initiated mission work in China. This mission collapsed in 1368, as the Ming Dynasty abolished Christianity in China.
Post-Reformation
For a fuller account see Jesuit pre-modern China missions
The first Jesuit attempt to reach China was made in 1552 by Francis Xavier, but he died the same year on the Chinese island of Shangchuan, without having reached the mainland. In 1582, Jesuits once again initiated mission work in China, introducing Western science, mathematics, and astronomy. One of these missionaries was Matteo Ricci.
In the early 18th century, the Chinese Rites controversy, a dispute within the Catholic Church, arose over whether Chinese folk religion rituals and offerings to the emperor constituted idolatry.
Modern Age
The Missionary Period
During the 1840s, Western missionaries spread Christianity rapidly through the foreign occupied coastal cities; the Taiping Rebellion was connected in its origins to the missionary activity. British and American denominations, such as the British Methodist Church, continued to send missionaries until they were prevented from doing so following the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Protestant missionaries played an extremely important role in introducing knowledge of China to the United States and the United States to China. The book The Small Woman and film Inn of the Sixth Happiness tell the story of one such missionary, Gladys Aylward.
It is recorded that the first martyrdom of a Protestant Christian Chinese occurred in 1871 in Poklo , Guangdong. Che Kam Kong (or Chea Kunkong) visited Hong Kong in 1865, and in 1866 became a Christian. He proseltyzed extensively over the next five years, allegedly bringing about the conversion of over a hundred people in Poklo. Town elders, concerned with this abandonment of tradition, warned Che to stop, yet he refused. He was kidnapped and tortured in 1871 in an attempt to force him to give up his beliefs. He is said to have declared, "You may kill my body but you cannot destroy my soul". He was taken outside the city gates and killed; his body was cut up and thrown into a nearby river.
First Protestant Missionaries
For a fuller account see Protestant missions in China .
Catholic Missionary Efforts
Church education
Both Catholics and Protestants founded numerous educational institutions in China from the primary to the university level.
Japanese Occupation Period
During this period, Christian organizations had their first experience with autonomy from the Western-guided structures of the missionary church organizations.
Christianity in the contemporary PRC
Today, the Chinese language typically divides Christians into two groups, members of Jidu jiao, (literally, Christianity) Protestantism, and members of Tianzhu jiao (literally, Tianzhu religion), Catholicism (see Protestantism in China and Catholicism in China.)
Official Christian Organizations
Since loosening of restrictions on religion after the 1970s, Christianity has grown significantly within the People's Republic. It is still, however, tightly controlled by government authorities. The Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council (Protestant) and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which has disavowed the Pope and is considered schismatic by other Roman Catholics, have affiliations with government and must follow the regulations imposed upon them.
House Churches
Many Christians choose however to meet independently of these organisations, typically in house churches. These fellowships are not officially registered and are seen as illegal entities and are often persecuted heavily. For this reason some meetings take place underground, coining the term "underground church". These Christians have been persecuted throughout the 20th century, especially during the Cultural Revolution, and there remains some official harassment in the form of arrests and interrogations of Chinese Christians. At the same time, there has been increasing tolerance of house churches since the late 1970s.
Contemporary Trends
Chinese Christian Brother Yun's book "The Heavenly Man" achieved the Christian Book of the Year award in 2003. The book describes Yun's life from his call to preach the gospel across China and the enlargement of the house church movement.
Estimates of Christians in China are difficult to obtain because of the numbers of Christians unwilling to reveal their beliefs, the hostility of the national government towards some Christian sects, and difficulties in obtaining accurate statistics on house churches.
International visitors and Christianity
In large, international cities such as Beijing, foreign visitors have established Christian church communities which meet in public establishments such as hotels. These churches and fellowships, however, are typically restricted only to holders of non-Chinese passports.
American officials visiting China have on multiple occasions visited Chinese churches. Most recently, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice attended Palm Sunday services in Beijing.
Demographics/Geography
A high proportion of Christians are concentrated in Hebei province, in particular Catholics. Many internationally-reported arrests of Catholic leaders have occurred in that province. Hebei is also home to the town of Donglu, site of an alleged Marian apparition and pilgrimage center.
Orthodox Christianity in China
There are a small number of adherents of Russian Orthodoxy in northern China, predominantly in Harbin. The first mission was undertaken by Russians in the 17th century. See Orthodoxy in China for fuller coverage.
Names for Christianity and God
The Chinese language today typically divides Christians into two groups, believers of Jidu jiao, Protestantism, and Tianzhu jiao, Catholicism. The terms originate with different terms for God used in Chinese. The Catholic church historically favored Tianzhu (literally, Lord of Heaven) over Shangdi (literally, Sovreign Above), an alternate term used more commonly by Protestants.
The current term for the Protestant denomination refers to the Mandarin Chinese translation of Christ, Jidu.
(For full coverage see Chinese terms for God)
See also
Further Reading
- Robert Morrison - A Master Builder, Marshall Broomhall , SCM, London, 1924
- The Church of the Tang Dynasty, John Foster, SPCK, London, 1939
- The Lost Churches of China, Leonard M. Outerbridge, Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1952
- The Story of Mary Liu, Edward Hunter, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1956
- Come Wind, Come Weather, Leslie Lyall, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1956
- Red Sky at Night, Leslie Lyall, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1961
- Christianity in China, George N. Patterson, World Books, London, 1969
- The Cross and the Lotus, Lee Shiu Keung, Christian Study Centre on Chinese Religion and Culture, Hong Kong, 1971
- Decision for China, Paul T. K. Shi, St John's University Press, N.Y., 1971
- The Jesus Family in China, D. Vaughan Rees, Paternoster Press, Exeter, 1973
- Christians and China, V. Hayward, Christian Journals Ltd, Belfast, 1974
References
Last updated: 10-19-2005 02:07:50
