Four Christian movements were needed for Christianity to take hold in China. As a result of a colonial past, a Communist government, cultural revolution and a history of a patriarchal and culturally obedient society, Christianity has come and gone several times as the political and social contexts in China change. Below is a brief outline of major events in Chinese-Christian history:
635 A.D. – Christianity first introduced by a Syrian missionary. Church survived for 200 years before dispersing.
1275 A.D. – Catholic missionaries came in high numbers, churches built, Christians found favour with rulers, but no root in Chinese faith and culture.
1500 A.D. – Catholic missionaries try to adapt Christianity to Chinese culture – a key component to later success — but evidence of the church again disappears as conflicts between the emperor and the Catholic Church come to a head.
1807 – Scotsman Robert Morrison is the first Protestant missionary to bring Christianity to China. It survives, but colonialism breeds hostility towards Western thought and Christianity.
1912 – The Republic of China formed in Nanjing, ending thousands of years of imperial dynasties
1949 – People's Republic of China formed (Communist government established); changes in the social-political order: independence and nationalism are implanted in the country. Ties established between government and church in order for church to remain active.
1950 – The Three Self Patriotic Movement announced to help ensure loyalty and make the church distinctly Chinese. Self-governance, self-support and self-propagation were the goals.
1966 – 1976 — Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution — a spiritual shift takes place. Between 1966 and 1968, the destruction of the Four Olds (Old Custom, Old Culture, Old Habits and Old Ideas) takes place as religious and educational institutions were targeted and nuns, priests, monks, authors, professors and artists were beaten or forced to kill themselves.
1980 – China Christian Council established
1985 – post-denominationalism begins — joint worship among Christians; church unity
1998 — today — Reconstruction of theological thought; endeavours to enable Chinese Christians to be fully Christian while remaining fully Chinese; adapting faith to a socialist environment.
