Protestantism in China 1715809 223822699 2008-07-06T00:05:42Z Yoshi Canopus 5212350 {{POV|date=April 2008}} {{citation style}} {{Refimprove|date=April 2008}} {{Christianity in China Portal}} {{See also|Christianity in China}} '''Protestant Christianity''' called '''Xin jiaotu''' (新教徒, literally "new religion followers") entered China in the early 19th century, taking root in a significant way during the [[Qing Dynasty]], and the [[Taiping Rebellion]] was arguably influenced to some degree by Protestant Christian teachings. The last 200 years have seen the growth of indigenous Protestant Chinese Christianity that has far outpaced church growth in the West{{Fact|date=December 2007}}. Nicholas D. Kristof, a columnist of the New York Times wrote on June 25, 2006:{{quote|Although China bans foreign missionaries and sometimes harasses and imprisons Christians, especially in rural areas, Christianity is booming in China. <ref>[http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5717468/Church-growth-in-China-Century.html Church growth in China.(Century marks)(Brief article) Industry & Business Article - Research, News, Information, Contacts, Divisions, Subsidiaries, Business Associations<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>}} There were 250,000 baptized Roman Catholics, but no known Protestant believers in 1800 out of an estimated 362 million Chinese. By 1949, out of a 450 million estimated population, there were only just over 500,000 baptized Protestant Christians<ref>Latourette, (1929)</ref> Anonymous internet columnist [[Spengler (columnist)|Spengler]] commented in 2007 that Christianity, which is mostly Protestant and [[Evangelicalism|evangelical]] by nature in China "will have become a Sino-centric religion two generations from now."<ref name="Fulcrum">{{cite web|title= Christianity finds a fulcrum in Asia|publisher=Asia Times Online|date=August 7, 2007|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/IH07Ad03.html|accessdate=2007-10-25}}</ref> For further discussion of figures see: article [[Christianity in China]]. ==History 1807-1953== {{main|19th Century Protestant Missions in China}} [[Protestant]] Christianity did not arrive in China until [[Robert Morrison (missionary)|Robert Morrison]] of the [[London Missionary Society]] began work in 1807 at [[Macau]]. In 1860 Protestant missions were confined to five coastal cities. By the end of the century, however, the picture had vastly changed. Scores of new missionary societies had been organized, and several thousand missionaries were working in all parts of China. This amazing transformation can be largely traced to the excitement caused by the 1859 [[Great Awakening|Awakening]] in [[Great Britain|Britain]] and the example of [[Hudson Taylor|J. Hudson Taylor]] (1832-1905). By 1865 when the China Inland Mission began, there were already thirty different Protestant groups at work in China<ref>Spence (1991), p. 206</ref>, however the diversity of denominations represented did not equate to more missionaries on the field. In the seven provinces in which Protestant missionaries had already been working, there were an estimated 204 million people with only 91 workers, while there were eleven other provinces in inland China with a population estimated at 197 million, for whom absolutely nothing had been attempted<ref>Taylor (1865), </ref>. Besides the London Missionary Society, and the [[American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions]], there were missionaries affiliated with [[Baptist]]s, [[Southern Baptist]]s, [[Presbyterian]]s, [[Methodist]]s, [[Episcopal Church|Episcopalians]], and [[Wesleyan Church|Wesleyans]]. Most missionaries came from [[England]], the [[United States]], [[Sweden]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Switzerland]], or [[Holland]]<ref>Spence (1991), p. 206</ref>. In addition to the publication and distribution of Christian literature and Bibles, the Protestant Christian missionary movement in China furthered the dispersion of knowledge with other printed works of history and science. As the missionaries went to work among the Chinese, they established and developed schools and introduced the latest techniques in medicine<ref>Spence (1991), p. 206</ref>. The mission schools were viewed with some suspicion by the traditional Chinese teachers, but they differed from the norm by offering a basic education to poor Chinese, both boys and girls, who had no hope of learning at a school before the days of the [[Chinese Republic]] <ref>Spence (1991), p. 208</ref>. The 1800s witnessed the expansion of Christianity beyond the isolated areas of the [[Treaty Ports]] by thousands of new missionaries who entered the interior of China. Western [[missionary|missionaries]] spread Christianity rapidly through the foreign-occupied coastal cities; the [[Taiping Rebellion]] was connected in its origins to the missionary activity. [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[United States|American]] denominations, such as the [[Methodist Church in Britain|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 a significant 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]]. Protestant Christians in China established the first clinics and hospitals<ref>Gulick, (1975) pp. 561-562</ref>, provided the first training for nurses, opened the first modern schools, worked to abolish practices such as [[foot binding]] <ref>Burgess, (1957) pp. 47</ref>, and the unjust treatment of maidservants, as well as launching charitable work and distributing food to the poor. They also opposed the [[opium]] trade<ref>Austin, (2007) </ref> and brought treatment to many who were addicted. Some of the early leaders of the [[Chinese Republic]], such as [[Sun Yat-sen]] were converts to Christianity and were influenced by its teachings.<ref>Soong, (1997) p. 151-178</ref> By the 1950s all foreign missionary work had ceased and the indigenous Chinese churches began a span of growth that would soon outpace the churches of the West. == Bible in China == {{main|Chinese Bible Translations}} A Chinese version of the [[Bible]] was translated by British [[missionary]] and [[linguist]] [[Robert Morrison (missionary)|Robert Morrison]]. More than 300 million copies of the [[Bible]] in [[Chinese language|Chinese]] have been published and disseminated since 1823 with active participation of the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[missionary|missionaries]] between 1807-1953.<ref>[http://www.bjreview.com.cn/books/txt/2006-12/16/content_51073.htm Beijing Review]</ref> ==Contemporary Mainland China since 1949== Since the 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 Protestant [[Three-Self Patriotic Movement]] and [[China Christian Council]] have affiliations with government and follow the regulations imposed upon them. [[Three-Self Patriotic Movement]] by 2005 claimed to have 10-15 millions worshippers, while Protestant unofficial [[house church]]es may have to 30 million members. <ref>[http://www.persecution.org/suffering/countryinfodetail.php?countrycode=16 Internation Christian Concern Report on China] </ref> ==Protestant Worship in Present-Day China== The [[Chinese Union Version]] of the Bible, the [[Chinese New Hymnal]], the [[Lord's Prayer]] as it is written in the [[Chinese Union Version]] and the [[Apostles' Creed]] are usually used in the largest majority of Protestant worship in the present-day China. ==Names for Christianity and God== {{main|Chinese terms for God}} The Chinese language today typically divides Christians into two groups, believers of ''Jidu Xinjiao'', 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, Sovereign 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''. ==See also== * [[Christianity]] * [[Christianity in China]] * [[Chinese house church]] * [[Chinese Union Version]] of the Bible * [[Chinese New Hymnal]] * [[China Christian Council]] ==References== * {{cite book | first = Alvyn | last = Austin | authorlink = Alvyn Austin | year = 2007 | title = China’s Millions: The China Inland Mission and Late Qing Society | publisher = Eerdmans | location = Grand Rapids, Michigan | id =ISBN 978-0-8028-2975-7}} * {{cite book | first = Alan | last = Burgess | authorlink = Alan Burgess | year = 1957 | title = The Small Woman | location = | id = ISBN 1568491840}} * {{cite book | first = Edward V. | last = Gulick | authorlink = Edward V. Gulick | year = 1975 | title = Peter Parker and the Opening of China | publisher = Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 95, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1975) | location = }} * {{cite book | first = Irma Tam | last = Soong | authorlink = Irma Tam Soong | year = 1997 | title = Sun Yat-sen's Christian Schooling in Hawai'i | publisher = The Hawaiian Journal of History, vol. 13 | location = Hawai'i}} * {{cite book | last=Broomhall | first=Marshall | authorlink=Marshall Broomhall | title=Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission with a record of the Perils and Sufferings of Some Who Escaped| origyear= 1901 | url=http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01471430&id=yVtXfdulqUMC&pg=PR3&dq=broomhall+martyred | accessdate=2006-06-21 | publisher=Morgan and Scott | location=London}} * {{cite book | first = Kenneth Scott | last = Latourette | authorlink = Kenneth Scott Latourette | year = 1929 | title = A History of Christian Missions in China | publisher = | location = }} * {{cite book | first = Jonathan D. | last = Spence | authorlink = Jonathan D. Spence | year = 1991 | title = The Search for modern China | publisher = W. W. Norton & Company | location = | id = 0393307808}} * {{cite book | first = James Hudson | last = Taylor | authorlink = Hudson Taylor | year = 1868 | title = China's Spiritual Need and Claims (Third Edition) | publisher = James Nisbet | location = London}} * {{cite book | first = William | last = Townsend | authorlink = William John Townsend | year = 1890 | title = Robert Morrison: the pioneer of Chinese missions | publisher = S.W. Partridge | location = London}} * {{cite book | first = Alexander | last = Wylie | authorlink = Alexander Wylie | year = 1867 | title = Memorials of Protestant Missionaries to the Chinese| publisher = American Presbyterian Mission Press | location = Shanghai}} == Notes== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.bdcconline.net/ Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity] * [http://www.churchinchina.com Information on the Church in China] *[http://www.o-bible.com/ Bible in Chinese] *[http://www.ethnicharvest.org/bibles/chinese.htm Chinese Bible Resources] {{Asia in topic|Protestantism in}} [[Category:Christianity in China]] [[Category:Protestantism by country|China]] [[de:Protestantismus in China]]