Protestantism In Sichuan
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Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...
began in the southwestern Chinese province of
Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
in 1877, when premises were rented by the
China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christianity, Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It ...
in
Chungking Chongqing Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the Central People's Government, along with Beijing ...
. However, compared with
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, which had been spread throughout the province for over two centuries at the time, it grew rather slowly, it was not until the late 1980s that Protestantism experienced rapid growth. The two largest denominations in the province before 1950 were
Anglicanism Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
and
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.


History


19th century

Previous to the year 1868, the Protestant Churches of Europe and North America knew little or nothing about the province of Sichuan located in
western China Western China ( zh, s=中国西部, l=, labels=no or zh, s=华西, l=, labels=no) is the west of China. It consists of Southwestern China and Northwestern China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers six provinces ...
. The first Protestant missionaries to visit the province were Griffith John of the
London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...
(LMS) and Alexander Wylie of the
British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The ...
(BFBS). However, this journey did not attempt to establish mission stations in any of the many cities or towns visited. Griffith John's report of the journey was undoubtedly instrumental in drawing attention to that region: "There are a large number of Catholics in the province, and Chungking is one of their strongholds. ..We must not ignore Szechwan. I hope that we will be able to establish the first Protestant Church in Chungking, and I myself could be the first missionary." However, no other missionaries visited the province again until 1877, when Rev. John McCarthy of the
China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christianity, Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It ...
(CIM,
interdenominational Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...
), after landing at Wanhsien, travelled via Shuenkingfu to
Chungking Chongqing Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the Central People's Government, along with Beijing ...
, where he reached on 1 May of that year. There he rented premises for other CIM missionaries to use as a base. After this there followed a period of widespread evangelistic journeys, in which Messrs. Cameron, Nicoll, Easton, Parker, Riley, S. R. Clarke, and Baller, all of the CIM, with Mr. Leaman of the American Presbyterian Mission, and Mr. Mollman of the BFBS, engaged. In 1881 the CIM opened the capital, Chengtu, for settled work. After considerable difficulty, Paoning and Pacheo were occupied during the years 1886 and 1887. In 1882, missionaries of the American Methodist Episcopal Mission (AMEM) arrived in Chungking. Their early efforts encountered strong resistance and riots that led to the abandonment of the mission. It was not until 1889 that these Methodists came back and started the mission again. Their mission concentrated within a diamond-shaped area with the cities of Chengtu,
Suining Suining ( zh, s=遂宁 , t=遂寧; Sichuanese Pinyin: Xu4nin2; Sichuanese pronunciation: ; zh, p=Sùiníng , w=Sui-ning) is a prefecture-level city of eastern Sichuan province in Southwest China. According to the 2020 census, Suining had a p ...
, Tzechung and Chungking as bases. They had an Institutional Church built in Chengtu and a Lewis Memorial Institutional Church in Chungking. During this period, the CIM divided the work of the mission into two distinct parts, namely Western Szechwan and Eastern Szechwan. The distinction is that, taking the Kialing River, which enters the Yangtse opposite Chungking, as the boundary, all the cities, towns, and villages east of this belonged to the East Szechwan branch of the Mission, which was worked on distinctively
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
lines; while all the districts west of the Kialing River belonged to the West Szechwan branch of the CIM, and were generally worked on
Free Church A free church is any Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church neither defines government policy, nor accept church theology or policy definitions from the government. A f ...
lines. The year 1887 marks the arrival of the
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
representatives of the CIM, who were members of the
Cambridge Seven The Cambridge Seven were six students from Cambridge University and one from the Royal Military Academy, who in 1885, decided to become missionaries to China through the China Inland Mission. The seven were: * Charles Thomas Studd * Montagu ...
, namely,
William Cassels William Wharton Cassels (11 March 1858 – 7 November 1925) was an Anglican missionary bishop. Early life and education Cassels was born in Oporto, Portugal, the sixth son of John Cassels, a merchant, and Ethelinda Cox, a distant relation of Wa ...
, future bishop of the Diocese of Szechwan; Montagu Proctor-Beauchamp, and two brothers, Arthur T. and Cecil H. Polhill. Cecil Polhill was at first based in Chengtu and Chungking, but he felt drawn towards the
people The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
of
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
. In 1896, after helping with mission work in
Kalimpong Kalimpong is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The region comes under Gorkhaland Territo ...
, India, he moved to
Tatsienlu Kangding ( zh, c=康定), also known as Dartsedo (), is a county-level city and the seat of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province of Southwest China. Kangding is on the bank of the Dadu River and has been considered the histor ...
, a
Khams Tibetan Khams Tibetan () is the Tibetic languages, Tibetic language used by the majority of the people in Kham. Khams is one of the three branches of the traditional classification of Tibetic languages (the other two being Amdo Tibetan and Ü-Tsang). In ...
city west of Sichuan. The establishing of a missionary station there in 1897 paved the way for the future construction of the Gospel Church of Tatsienlu. One feature of this period was the persistence and tenacity of the missionaries. Many difficulties and disappointments accompanied their efforts; the people were either indifferent or hostile, and the results of their labours were very small. Sickness and death were constantly occurring to hinder and threaten the existence of the work. The 1886 Chungking riot almost extinguished the little churches which had been gathered by the two Missions. After the settlement of the Chungking riots and the re-establishment of Mission work in that city, a period of unprecedented prosperity set in. During this period no less than five additional missionary societies started new work in Sichuan. In 1888 the LMS, whose representative Dr. Griffith John, was the first to enter the province in 1868 as mentioned above, took up permanent work in Chungking. In 1889, Robert John and Mary Jane Davidson of Friends' Foreign Mission Association (FFMA) introduced Quakerism into Tungchwan. Within 19 years five
monthly meeting In the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), a monthly meeting, area meeting (UK),British or regional meeting (AU)Australian is the basic governing body, a congregation which holds regular meetings for business for Quakers in a given area. The ...
s were successively established in Chengtu, Chungking, Tungchwan, Tungliang and
Suining Suining ( zh, s=遂宁 , t=遂寧; Sichuanese Pinyin: Xu4nin2; Sichuanese pronunciation: ; zh, p=Sùiníng , w=Sui-ning) is a prefecture-level city of eastern Sichuan province in Southwest China. According to the 2020 census, Suining had a p ...
. In 1890 the
American Baptist Missionary Union International Ministries is an international Baptist Christian missionary society. It is a constituent board affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. The headquarters is in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States. History The soc ...
(ABMU) started work in the west of the province, having Suifu (1890) and Kiatingfu (1894) as their chief centres. Three more stations were established in Yachowfu (1894), Ningyuanfu (1905), and Chengtu (1909). At the close of 1891, the Rev. James Heywood Horsburgh, together with Mrs. Horsburgh, Rev. O. M. Jackson, three laymen, and six single women missionaries, entered Sichuan as the first band of
Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...
(CMS) missionaries to take up work in that province. By 1894, CMS work had started in Mienchow, Chungpa, Anhsien, Mienchu and Sintu. Their first church was founded in 1894 in Chungpa. Then, in 1892, the
Canadian Methodist Mission The Canadian Methodist Mission (CMM), also known as Missionary Society of the Methodist Church in Canada (MCC; zh, t=美道會, w=Mei3 Tao4 Hui4, p=Měi Dào Huì, l=Beautiful Way Society; former romanization: Mei Dao Hwei or Meh Dao Hwei; also ...
(CMM) opened up work in central and west Sichuan, having Chengtu and Kiating as their headquarters. In 1895, the Anglican Diocese of Szechwan was established with its seat in Paoning. William Cassels became the first diocesan bishop after his consecration on 18 October 1895 at
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
. That same year was also marked by a serious outbreak of anti-foreign agitation began in the capital Chengtu, and thence spread throughout the province. In the capital, the property of three Protestant missions and that of the Roman Catholics was destroyed; and all missionaries of all missions, Protestant and Roman Catholic alike, were thankful to escape with their lives. In 1897, the Canadian Methodist Mission Press was established in Kiatingfu, but was moved to the capital city of Chengtu in 1903. This press produced publications mostly in English, Tibetan, Chinese and Hua Miao, but also printed language lessons in French and German. In addition to printing for the various missions in the western province, a certain amount of work was done for local schools and non-missionary foreigners. Notable among its printings was ''
The West China Missionary News ''The West China Missionary News'' (''WCMN'') was a monthly news magazine published in Chengdu (Chengtu) from 1899 to 1943 by the West China Missions Advisory Board, and printed by Canadian Methodist Mission Press. It was aimed at Protestant mi ...
'', first published in 1899, being the first and longest-running English-language newspaper in Sichuan province. In 1898, a riot known as the Rebellion was chiefly directed against the Roman Catholics; the Protestants not coming under the wrath of the rebels, though subject to persecution and petty annoyance from local rowdies. During this rebellion a Protestant Conference (January 1899) was held at Chungking, resulting in the establishments of ''The West China Missionary News'' and West China Tract Society, as well as the formation of an Advisory Board for West China. From the settlement of the Yü Man-tse Rebellion of 1898 to the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...
in 1900, a period of nearly two years, the work in Sichuan enjoyed a time of peace and quiet, which ended abruptly in the summer of 1900, when all missionaries of all societies were obliged by consular orders to flee to the coast.


20th century

The Boxer Rebellion did not affect Sichuan so much as some other parts of China. On the return of the missionaries to their respective stations during the early part of 1901 they found in many places, especially in the western parts of Sichuan, what was going to be known later as the Mass Movement in full swing. This movement may be traced back as far as 1895, when it really began, subsequent to the settlement of the riots which occurred at that time. This movement steadily grew till it was crushed by the Yü Man-tse Rebellion, but immediately after the settlement of those troubles it revived with fresh vigour and strength. During that time, however, it was almost entirely confined to the Roman Catholic Church. But after the Boxer settlement, the Mass Movement not only revived amongst the Roman Catholics, but also took hold of the Protestant Church as well. This movement was most perplexing, even to experienced missionaries. Deputations were constantly arriving from the surrounding districts with offers from the gentry and leading men to open Gospel halls, preaching stations, or schools, free of cost to the missionary societies. Long lists were presented with the names of those who were anxious to become "adherents" of the Church or "learners" of the truth. This movement appealed in different ways to different missionaries and missionary societies. Some of the more optimistic welcomed it as an answer to the prayers of past years and the plenteous sowing of the last decades. Others, who were not quite so enthusiastic, looked askance on the movement, and generally discouraged the establishment of stations under such conditions. A great demand for
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which followed the Boxer outbreak was so pressing that the Society for the Diffusion of Christian Knowledge at
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
decided to open a depot in Chengtu to meet this demand. The Society was able to secure the best position in the most important street, and the ever increasing sale of books, charts, maps, and other literature has justified the Society's decision in opening a depot in that remote province of Western China. The
Canadian Methodist Mission The Canadian Methodist Mission (CMM), also known as Missionary Society of the Methodist Church in Canada (MCC; zh, t=美道會, w=Mei3 Tao4 Hui4, p=Měi Dào Huì, l=Beautiful Way Society; former romanization: Mei Dao Hwei or Meh Dao Hwei; also ...
(CMM), recognising that Chengtu, the capital of the province, was the centre of literary activity and influence, moved their Mission Press to that city in 1903. One of the signs of the progressive spirit was a scheme for a Union University. Most of the missionaries had seen the importance of educational institutions, and had sought to provide schools and other facilities to meet the demand for Western learning. But since the adoption by China of Western methods of education, the demand for some institution for higher education had been greatly felt by those specially interested in the spiritual welfare of the educated classes. Then finally in 1910, the
West China Union University The West China Union University ( zh, t=華西協合大學), alternatively known as West China University or Huaxi University, was a private Christian university in Chengdu, Sichuan, western China. It was the product of the collective efforts of ...
was established in Chengtu. It was the fruit of a collective effort of four Protestant mission societies: American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABFMS,
American Baptist Churches USA The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline Protestant and Baptist Christian denomination. It is a reorganization from 1907 of the Triennial Convention. The Triennial Convention was renamed as the Northern Baptist Convention in ...
), American Methodist Episcopal Mission (AMEM,
Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...
),
Canadian Methodist Mission The Canadian Methodist Mission (CMM), also known as Missionary Society of the Methodist Church in Canada (MCC; zh, t=美道會, w=Mei3 Tao4 Hui4, p=Měi Dào Huì, l=Beautiful Way Society; former romanization: Mei Dao Hwei or Meh Dao Hwei; also ...
(CMM,
Methodist Church of Canada The Methodist Church was the major Methodist denomination in Canada from its founding in 1884 until it merged with two other denominations to form the United Church of Canada in 1925. The Methodist Church was itself formed from the merger of fou ...
), and Friends' Foreign Mission Association (FFMA,
British Quakers British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...
). The
Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...
(CMS,
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
) became a partner in the university in 1918. The university grew rapidly in its first decade and remained a key player in tertiary education in Sichuan throughout the
Republican Era Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
. The American Methodist missionary
Joseph Beech Joseph Beech, or Joe Beech as he was more commonly known (October 3, 1867 – February 25, 1954), was an American Methodist missionary and educator, member of Psi Upsilon and Phi Beta Kappa, and founding president of the West China Union Univers ...
, a
Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...
graduate and member of
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and
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
, played an instrumental role in founding and running West China Union University. He served as its founding president and later its chancellor. David Crockett Graham, an American
polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...
Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
minister, served as curator of the university's Museum of Art, Archaeology and Ethnology from 1932 to 1942. He also taught
comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including human migration, migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study ...
s at its Theological College, as well as archaeology and anthropology. On 10 May 1906, an American missionary Robert Roy Service and his wife Grace Service arrived in Chengtu. With the help of an English Quaker missionary
Henry Hodgkin Henry Theodore Hodgkin (H. T. Hodgkin; 21 April 1877 – 26 March 1933) was a medical doctor and a British Quaker missionary who, in the course of his 55-year life, co-founded the West China Union University in Chengdu, co-founded and led the ...
, they opened up work for the first
Young Men's Christian Association YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
(YMCA) mission in the province. Robert and Grace were both graduates of the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
. He was an athlete, member of Psi Upsilon and president of the senior class and of the YMCA. Grace was a member of
Kappa Alpha Theta Kappa Alpha Theta (), commonly referred to simply as Theta, is an international Fraternities and sororities, sorority founded on January 27, 1870, at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. It was the first Greek-letter fraternity established ...
, and treasurer of the
Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...
(YWCA). Through YMCA, an organization founded on the principles of
muscular Christianity Muscular Christianity is a religious movement that originated in England in the mid-19th century, characterized by a belief in patriotic duty, discipline, self-sacrifice, masculinity, and the moral and physical beauty of Athletics (physical cultur ...
, Robert introduced Western physical education into the province. In 1910, fields for football and baseball, as well as a tennis court were constructed near the Wen Miao Street in Chengtu; a gymnasium was opened in 1913. In 1908, Albert Shelton and James Clarence Ogden of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society of the
Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...
arrived in Bathang after studying Chinese and Tibetan languages for four years in Tachienlu, where they established a mission station. Zenas Sanford Loftis joined the Bathang mission on 17 June 1909, but died from typhus fever and smallpox two months later. By 1922, Bathang became the centre of the Tibetan Christian Mission of the Disciples of Christ. Due to the constitution of Sichuan at the time, Bathang fell outside the western boundary and belonged to the special territory of Chwanpien, a mostly Tibetan-inhabited region. In 1914, the Adventist Mission of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...
established a mission station in
Chungking Chongqing Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the Central People's Government, along with Beijing ...
. Their Szechwan Mission was officially formed in 1917. In 1919, the mission was divided into East Szechwan Mission and West Szechwan Mission for easier administration. By the end of 1921, there were 12,954 baptized Protestant Christians in Sichuan, the Methodists enrolled almost one half of this number, namely 5,788. The Anglicans shared almost the other half with 5,474 church members. The American Baptists and English Quakers followed with 1,263 and 429 members respectively. 63 per cent of these 12,954 Protestants were men.
Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
also had a small presence in Chungking. The Lutheran Holy Cross Church was founded in Wanhsien in 1925, under the supervision of , a pastor-missionary sent by the
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is an orthodox, traditional confessional Lutheran Christian denomination, denomination in the United States. With 1.7 million members as of 2022 it is the second-l ...
. By 1934, the Canadian Methodist Mission had joined the Church of Christ in China (CCC); an annual general meeting of the CCC's Szechwan Synod was held on 9 February 1939. In 1940, the CCC established a mission station in Lifan, a county lies in the Sichuan-
Khams Tibetan Khams Tibetan () is the Tibetic languages, Tibetic language used by the majority of the people in Kham. Khams is one of the three branches of the traditional classification of Tibetic languages (the other two being Amdo Tibetan and Ü-Tsang). In ...
border region, as part of their Border Service Movement. This movement had a marked character of
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, with the aim of spreading Christianity to the Tibetan, Qiang and
Yi people The Yi or Nuosu people (Nuosu language, Nuosu: , ; see also #Names and subgroups, § Names and subgroups) are an ethnic group in South China, southern China. Numbering nine million people, they are the seventh largest of the 55 Ethnic minorit ...
s. In 1935, the
True Jesus Church The True Jesus Church (TJC) is a non-denominational Christian Church, with Oneness Pentecostal theology, that originated in Beijing, China, during the Pentecostal movement in the early twentieth century. The True Jesus Church is currently one ...
established their first mission station in Chungking. Two years later, Kwang'an became their new mission centre where they baptized 186 people in one month. In 1939, two American
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missionaries, , founder of the , and his wife Nellie Schmidt Bartel, travelled to Kwangyüan in northeastern Sichuan. In 1941 the Bartels started work in the Szechwan-
Kansu Gansu is a province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan and Loess plateaus and border ...
- Shensi border. A mission centre was established at in early 1949, but all activities had ceased shortly before the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
launched in 1966. The Kweichow-Szechwan Mission of the
Christian and Missionary Alliance The Alliance World Fellowship (or The Alliance, also C&MA and CMA) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christian denomination It includes 6.2 million members throughout 88 countries within 22,000 churches. History The Alliance has its origins in ...
(C&MA) had its district on the borders of Kweichow and Szechwan Provinces and adjacent to
Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...
and Hupeh Provinces. The C&MA missionary personnel were all withdrawn during the year 1949.


Current situation

After the communist takeover of China in 1949, Protestant Churches in China were forced to sever their ties with respective overseas Churches, which has thus led to the merging of all the denominations into communist-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Church. In 1958, a "religious reformation" movement swept through Tibet. Churches in Bathang were desanctified and converted into communal canteens, along with demolitions of Buddhist temples and burning of sacred texts.
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reported an arrest of eight Christians in 2010 during a gathering of a house church in
Suining Suining ( zh, s=遂宁 , t=遂寧; Sichuanese Pinyin: Xu4nin2; Sichuanese pronunciation: ; zh, p=Sùiníng , w=Sui-ning) is a prefecture-level city of eastern Sichuan province in Southwest China. According to the 2020 census, Suining had a p ...
, while two were beaten. The police detained them for six hours and treated them as if they were criminals. In 2018, Wang Yi, a well-known pastor from Chengtu, along with 100 Christians, were detained by authorities. Wang was reportedly arrested on allegations of "
inciting subversion of state power In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but ma ...
". That same year, four Christian churches in Sichuan have been given an ultimatum and told they must join the Three-Self Church or be shut down. In 2019, 200 congregants in Chengtu began to meet in secret after their state registered Three-Self church has been shut down. On 17 November 2021, police raided the Qingcaodi Reformed Church in
Deyang Deyang ( zh, s=德阳 , t=德陽 , p=Déyáng) is a prefecture-level city of Sichuan province, China. Deyang is a largely industrial city, with companies such as China National Erzhong Group and Dongfang Electric having major operations there. The ...
. Days later, one of the church members, Liu Wuyi, was detained criminally. On 14 August 2022, police in Chengtu raided a Sunday gathering of the Early Rain Covenant Church (a
congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...
of the
Reformed tradition Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteria ...
founded by Wang Yi) and detained a leader.


Early Rain Covenant Church

Early Rain Covenant Church is one of the largest and most resilient
house churches A house church or home church is a label used to describe a group of Christians who regularly gather for worship in private homes. The group may be part of a larger Christian body, such as a parish, but some have been independent groups that se ...
in Sichuan. The
congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...
was started as Early Rain Blessings Fellowship in April 2005 by Pastor Wang Yi and his wife Jiang Rong, in their own home in
Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
, which was formally established as a house church in April 2008. It had been variously known as Early Rain Blessings Church, Early Rain Reformed Church and Early Rain Reformed Presbyterian Church before changing its name to Early Rain Covenant Church. As the church grew larger, several other house churches in Chengdu have joined Early Rain over time to form the Presbytery of West China Reformed Churches. This has led to other institutional extensions such as a kindergarten, a day school, a seminary (Western China Covenant Theological Seminary), and a
liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...
(Western China Covenant College). In December 2019, Pastor Wang Yi was sentenced to nine years in prison for "
inciting subversion of state power In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but ma ...
" and "illegal business activity".


Impact

''
The West China Missionary News ''The West China Missionary News'' (''WCMN'') was a monthly news magazine published in Chengdu (Chengtu) from 1899 to 1943 by the West China Missions Advisory Board, and printed by Canadian Methodist Mission Press. It was aimed at Protestant mi ...
'', established in 1899 by the West China Missions Advisory Board, was the first and longest-running English-language newspaper in Sichuan. Together with the '' Journal of the West China Border Research Society'' established in 1922, these two publications cover a wide range of topics including studies of local languages,
customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...
,
religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
,
economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
, medicine,
natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...
, and
ethnic minorities The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...
, as well as translation of
historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
works concerning the Ba–Shu region. The 1900 dictionary '' Western Mandarin, or the Spoken Language of Western China'' compiled by Adam Grainger, a British missionary of the
China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christianity, Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It ...
, has 803 pages, 3,786 characters, and 13,484 entries, as well as 401 proverbs. In 1917, Canadian Methodist missionary Omar Leslie Kilborn published his own Sichuanese-language textbook titled '. Prior to 1950, the Protestant churches in Sichuan had a close relationship with Szechwan Lodge under the jurisdiction of the
Grand Lodge of the Philippines The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines is the organizational body based on the Philippines that governs Freemasonry. It currently has its offices at the Plaridel Masonic Temple, a historic building in Erm ...
. In addition to having its meeting point at the
West China Union University The West China Union University ( zh, t=華西協合大學), alternatively known as West China University or Huaxi University, was a private Christian university in Chengdu, Sichuan, western China. It was the product of the collective efforts of ...
in Chengtu, several masters were also missionaries, e.g., American Baptist missionary David Crockett Graham; American Methodist missionary ; Canadian Methodist missionaries Albert James Brace and Thomas Harry Williams. Brace was one of the founders of the West China Border Research Society. Graham organized the first archaeological excavation of what is now known as
Sanxingdui Sanxingdui () is an archaeological site and a major Bronze Age culture in modern Guanghan, Sichuan, China. Largely discovered in 1986, following a preliminary finding in 1927, archaeologists excavated artifacts that radiocarbon dating placed ...
, which is supposedly the capital city of the ancient kingdom of Shu. He wrote "A Preliminary Report of the Hanchow Excavation" published in the ''Journal of the West China Border Research Society''. The work of Protestant missions had led to many firsts in Sichuan. The following table is based on the article "Outline of the History of Protestant Christianity in Sichuan" by Pastor Wang Yi.


In popular culture

The 1936 novel ''
Ripple on Stagnant Water ''Ripple on Stagnant Water'' (), also translated as ''Ripples Across Stagnant Water'', and ''Ripples on Dead Water'', is a novel by Li Jieren. It was first published in 1935. An updated version appeared in 1955. Plot The work follows the marri ...
'' by Li Chie-ren gives a detailed account of the conflicts among the three parties in the
Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
area during the 1890s, namely, the local Christian communities, Elder Brothers Society and the
bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...
. The novel was adapted into a 12-episode television series in 1988 titled ', a feature film in 1992 titled ', and a namesake series in 2008.


Timeline


Maps

File:Map of Szechwan showing stations of CIM, CMS and BCMS.png, Map of Szechwan showing
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
mission stations of
China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christianity, Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It ...
(CIM),
Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...
(CMS) and Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society (BCMS) File:Canadian Methodist Mission in Central Szechwan.png,
Canadian Methodist Mission The Canadian Methodist Mission (CMM), also known as Missionary Society of the Methodist Church in Canada (MCC; zh, t=美道會, w=Mei3 Tao4 Hui4, p=Měi Dào Huì, l=Beautiful Way Society; former romanization: Mei Dao Hwei or Meh Dao Hwei; also ...
in Central Szechwan File:West China Mission (The United Church of Canada).jpg, West China Mission of the
United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...
(
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
) File:American Methodist Episcopal Area in Szechwan.png, American Methodist Episcopal Mission area in Szechwan File:American Baptist Mission in Szchuan.png, Map of Szechwan showing American Baptist Mission stations File:Area of Sz-chwan compared with British Isles.png, Area of Szechwan compared with
British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
. Shaded portion is Friends' Foreign Mission Association's district. File:Friends' District in Sz-Chwan.png, Friends' Foreign Mission Association's district in Szechwan (
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
) File:Protestant Mission Fields in Szechwan.png, Map of Szechwan showing division of the field by six Protestant mission societies in 1922: ABF, CIM, CMM,
CMS CMS may refer to: Computing * Call management system * CMS-2, a programming language implemented for and used by the United States Navy * Code Morphing Software, a technology used by Transmeta * Collection management system for a museum coll ...
, FFMA, and MEFB.


See also

* Christianity in Sichuan **
Church of the East in Sichuan Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
**
Catholic Church in Sichuan The presence of the Catholic Church in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan and city of Chongqing dates back to 1640, when two missionaries, Lodovico Buglio and Gabriel de Magalhães, through Jesuit missions in China, entered the provin ...
** Protestantism in Mianyang * Anti-Christian Movement (China) *
Anti-missionary riots in China Starting with the arrival in China of the Jesuit China missions in 1552, the number of Western missionaries increased gradually. The Treaty of Tientsin in 1858 gave the Christians free run in the country and the right to purchase land to build. ...
* Antireligious campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party * Denunciation Movement *
House church (China) In China, house churches or family churches () are Protestant assemblies in the People's Republic of China that operate independently from the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and China Christian Council (CCC). They represent ...
* :Anglicanism in Sichuan * :Methodism in Sichuan * :Quakerism in Sichuan * :Baptist Christianity in Sichuan * :Sichuanese Protestants * :Protestant churches in Chongqing * :Protestant churches in Sichuan * :Protestant missionaries in Sichuan * :Protestant missionaries in Tibet


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * *


External links

* {{Protestant missions to China Protestantism in Chongqing Protestantism in Tibet * Persecution of Protestants