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Protestantism in Sichuan
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Protestantism in Sichuan
The Protestant mission began in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan in 1877, when premises were rented by the China Inland Mission in Chungking. However, compared with Catholicism, 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 and Methodism.
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. The first Protestant missionaries to visit the province were Griffith John of the London Missionary Society (LMS) and Alexander Wylie of the British and Foreign Bible Society (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 (CIM, interdenominational), after landing at Wanhsien, travelled via Shuenkingfu to Chungking, 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, 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 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 lines.
The year 1887 marks the arrival of the Anglican representatives of the CIM, who were members of the Cambridge Seven, namely, William Cassels, 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 of Tibet. In 1896, after helping with mission work in Kalimpong, India, he moved to Tatsienlu, a Khams Tibetan 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 meetings were successively established in Chengtu, Chungking, Tungchwan, Tungliang and Suining. In 1890 the American Baptist Missionary Union (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 (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 (CMM) opened up work in central and west Sichuan, having Chengtu and Kiating as their headquarters.
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Protestantism in Sichuan
The Protestant mission began in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan in 1877, when premises were rented by the China Inland Mission in Chungking. However, compared with Catholicism, 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 and Methodism.
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. The first Protestant missionaries to visit the province were Griffith John of the London Missionary Society (LMS) and Alexander Wylie of the British and Foreign Bible Society (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 (CIM, interdenominational), after landing at Wanhsien, travelled via Shuenkingfu to Chungking, 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, 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 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 lines.
The year 1887 marks the arrival of the Anglican representatives of the CIM, who were members of the Cambridge Seven, namely, William Cassels, 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 of Tibet. In 1896, after helping with mission work in Kalimpong, India, he moved to Tatsienlu, a Khams Tibetan 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 meetings were successively established in Chengtu, Chungking, Tungchwan, Tungliang and Suining. In 1890 the American Baptist Missionary Union (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 (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 (CMM) opened up work in central and west Sichuan, having Chengtu and Kiating as their headquarters.
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