Christianity is aminority religion in the southwestern Chinese province ofSichuan.[a] TheEastern Lipo,Kadu people andA-Hmao are ethnic groups present in the province.
A presence of theEast Syriac Christianity can be confirmed inChengdu during the Tang dynasty (618–907),[1] and two monasteries have been located in Chengdu andMount Omei.[2] A report by the 9th-century writerLi Deyu included inA Complete Collection of Tang-era Prose Literature [zh] states that a certainDaqin cleric proficient inophthalmology was present in the Chengdu area.[3]
According to the 12th-centurybiji collectionLoose Records from the Studio of Possible Change by Wu Zeng, during the Tang dynasty, "Hu" missionaries built aDaqin temple [ja] (i.e., an East Syriac church) into the existing ruins of the former Castle of Seven Treasures[b] at Chengdu, which was constructed byancient Shu kings of theKaiming dynasty (666 BC – 316 BC), with pearl curtains installed as decorative applications. It was later destroyed by the Great Fire ofShu Commandery [zh] during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (141 BC – 87 BC). The temple consisted of a gatehouse, halls and towers, just like the former castle, its doors were decorated with curtains made of gold, pearls and green jasper,[4] hence known as thePearl Temple.[c][5]
According to a local tradition inGuanghan (Hanchow,lit. 'Han Prefecture'), its 8th-century prefectFang Guan (Fang Kuan) was an East Syriac Christian. The tradition says that he worshipped the One God alone.[6] At his daily worship, Fang used to kneel on a stone which later came to be known as the Duke Fang Stone.[7] According to local testimonies, his name was carved on the no-longer-extant Nestorian stele at Wangxiangtai (Wang Hsiang T'ai) Temple.[8] The earlier name for the temple was Jingfu Yuan (Ching Fu Yuan), and Jingfu is a term with the meaning "Blessings of Christianity".[9]
The name Bakos, of a priest fromChongqing, is recorded on the left side, second row, at the very top of the "Nestorian"Xi'an Stele.[10] A pilgrim cross and several crosses of Syrian design were identified by aSyriac Orthodox priest Dale Albert Johnson inCiqikou, Chongqing, dated to the 9th century. The pilgrim cross embedded in a stone on Ciqikou street has a simple style as the type carved by pilgrims and travelers.[11] Of the Syrian-designed crosses, one was found on the same street as the pilgrim cross, is fundamentally identical to crosses found inAleppo, Syria.[12] The icon consists of a cross within a circle touching eight points. Two points on each end of the four ends of the cross touch the inner arch of the circle. Each arm of the cross is narrower near the middle than at the ends. The center of the cross draws to a circle at the center.[13] The rest are crosses withinBodhi leaves carved on a round granite stone base sitting in front of a curio shop on a side street in Ciqikou. According to Johnson, crosses within Bodhi leaves (heart shape or spade designs) are identified asPersian crosses associated with theSyrian Christians of India.[14]
According toDavid Crockett Graham,Marco Polo found East Syriac monasteries which still existed in Sichuan andYunnan during the 13th century.[15]
The firstRoman Catholicmission in Sichuan was carried out by the JesuitsLodovico Buglio andGabriel de Magalhães, during the 1640s. After themassacre of Sichuan byZhang Xianzhong, a search for surviving Christians was carried out byBasil Xu [no], the thenintendant ofEastern Sichuan Circuit [zh], and his motherCandida Xu, who were both Catholics. They found a considerable number of converts inBaoning, Candida then invited the priest Claudius Motel to serve the congregation. Several churches were built in Chengdu, Baoning andChongqing under the supervision of Motel.[16]
The predecessor of theDiocese of Chengdu—the Apostolic Vicariate of Setchuen (Sichuan)—was established on 15 October 1696, andArtus de Lionne, a French missionary, was the firstapostolic vicar.[17] In 1753, theParis Foreign Missions Society took over responsibility for Catholic mission in Sichuan. In 1803, the firstsynod ever celebrated in China took place inChongqingzhou, convened byLouis Gabriel Taurin Dufresse.[17][18][19] By 1804, the Sichuanese Catholic community included four French missionaries and eighteen local priests.[20] By 1870, the Church in Sichuan had 80,000 faithful, which was the largest number of Catholics in the entire country.[21]
On 27 March 1846, part of the western territory of the Apostolic Vicariate of Setchuen was split off to form theApostolic Vicariate of Lhasa, which marked the beginning of theParis Foreign Missions Society's Tibetan Mission.
The first group ofSpanish Redemptorists left for China in February 1928: Segundo Miguel Rodríguez, José Morán Pan and Segundo Velasco Arina. They were active in theApostolic Vicariate of Chengtu and theApostolic Vicariate of Ningyuanfu inXichang,[22]:15 and had a house and chapel built in Chengdu.[23] The last Spanish Redemptorists were expelled from China by the Communist government in 1952.[22]:15
TheSichuan Major Seminary [zh] was established in 1984 in Chengdu.[24] In 2000,Lucy Yi Zhenmei, a 19th-century virgin martyr from Mienchow (nowMianyang), was canonised a saint byPope John Paul II. Today, the Catholic population of the province is estimated at 250,000 persons.[25]
In 1868,Griffith John of theLondon Missionary Society andAlexander Wylie of theBritish and Foreign Bible Society entered Sichuan as the firstProtestant missionaries to take up work in that province. They travelled throughout Sichuan and reported the situation along the way to the headquarters of various missionary societies in Britain and missionaries in China, which opened the door for the entry of Protestantism into Sichuan.[26]
However, no other missionaries visited this province again until 1877, when Rev. John McCarthy of theChina Inland Mission (CIM), after landing atWanxian, travelled viaShunqing toChongqing, where he arrived on 1 May. There he rented premises for other CIM missionaries to use as a base.[27][28]
In 1882,American Methodist Episcopalmissionaries arrived in Chongqing (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.[29]
The year 1887 marks the arrival of theAnglican representatives of the CIM.William Cassels, already inholy orders;Arthur T. Polhill-Turner, was reading for orders when he volunteered for China; andMontagu Proctor-Beauchamp. All three were members of theCambridge Seven.[30]
In 1888, the London Missionary Society began work in Sichuan, taking Chongqing as their center, a city in the east of the province. In addition, they had a large district to the south and southeast.[31]
The firstAmerican Baptistmissionaries to reach the province were Rev. W. M. Upcraft and Rev. George Warner, who sailed in 1889. The journey required many weeks before their arrival inSuifu, where they established the first mission station.[32] Four more stations were established inJiading (Kiating, 1894),Yazhou (Yachow, 1894),Ningyuan (1905), andChengdu (Chengtu, 1909).[33]
Robert John and Mary Jane Davidson ofFriends' Foreign Mission Association introducedQuakerism intoTongchuan (Tungchwan) in 1889. Within 19 years fivemonthly meetings were successively established in Chengdu, Chongqing, Tongchuan,Tongliang (Tungliang) andSuining.[34]
At the close of 1891, the Rev. James Heywood Horsburgh, along with Mrs. Horsburgh, Rev. O. M. Jackson, three laymen, and six single women missionaries, entered Sichuan as the first band ofChurch Missionary Society (CMS) missionaries to take up work in that province.[35] By 1894, CMS work had started inMianzhou (Mienchow),Zhongba (Chungpa),Anhsien,Mianzhu (Mienchu) andXindu (Sintu).[36] Theirfirst church was founded in 1894 in Zhongba.[37]
In 1892, theCanadian Methodist Mission established missionary stations inChengdu andLeshan.[38] Achurch and ahospital [zh] were subsequently built inJinjiang District, Chengdu, which was the result of a team effort byO. L. Kilborn,V. C. Hart [zh], G. E. Hartwell, D. W. Stevenson and others.[39] In 1910, the Canadian Mission took over Chongqing district from London Missionary Society.[40]
TheAnglican Diocese of Szechwan was established in 1895, under the supervision of theChurch of England. The foundation of the diocese was the result from the efforts of William Cassels, Arthur T. Polhill-Turner and Montagu Proctor-Beauchamp.[41] Cassels was consecrated as the first diocesan bishop inWestminster Abbey, in the same year.
In 1897,Cecil Polhill, also one of the Cambridge Seven, along with other fourChina Inland Mission missionaries, they established a missionary station inDajianlu (Tatsienlu),Sichuanese Tibet, which paved the way for the future construction ofthe Gospel Church.[42][43]
TheWest China Union University was launched in 1910, in Chengdu. It was the product of a collective effort of four Protestant missionary boards:American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (American Baptist Churches USA),American Methodist Episcopal Mission (Methodist Episcopal Church),Friends' Foreign Mission Association (British Quakers) andCanadian Methodist Mission (Methodist Church of Canada).[44] TheChurch Missionary Society (Church of England) became a partner in the university in 1918.[45][46]
In 1914, theAdventist Mission established a mission station inChongqing. Their Sichuan Mission was officially formed in 1917.[47] In 1919, the mission was divided into East Sichuan Mission and West Sichuan Mission for easier administration.[48][49] The extreme west region was designated the Tibetan Mission headquartered atTachienlu.[47]
By 1922, theForeign Christian Missionary Society had its center at the Tibetan county ofBathang. Due to the constitution of Sichuan at the time, Bathang fell outside the western boundary and belonged to the special territory ofXikang (Chwanpien).[50]
Lutheranism also had a small presence in Chongqing, which was part of east Sichuan. The LutheranHoly Cross Church was founded inWan County in 1925, under the supervision ofGeorge Oliver Lillegard [zh],[51] a pastor-missionary sent by theLutheran Church – Missouri Synod.[22]
In 1940, theChurch of Christ in China established the first mission station inLifan, a county lying in the Sichuan-Khams Tibetan border region, as part of their Border Service Movement. This movement had a marked character ofSocial Gospel, with the aim of spreading Christianity to theTibetan,Qiang andYi peoples.[52]
In 1950 it was estimated there were more than 50,000 Protestants in Sichuan, meeting in hundreds of churches and chapels.[53] Today, the number of Protestants exceeds 200,000—many Christians reside in rural areas.[53]Panzhihua was an area of rapid growth of Christianity in around 2000.[53] ASichuan Theological College exists.
After the communist takeover of China in 1949,Protestant churches in the country were forced to sever their ties with respective overseas churches, which has thus led to the merging of all the denominations into the communist-sanctionedThree-Self Patriotic Church.[54]
As for theCatholic Church in China, all legal worship has to be conducted in government-approved churches belonging to theCatholic Patriotic Association, which does not accept theprimacy of the Roman pontiff.[55]
Some missionaries were arrested and sent to "thought reform centers" in which they underwent disturbing re-education process in a vindictive prison setting.[56]
On 20 June 2009, the police inLangzhong set free 18house church leaders arrested on 9 June.[57]
In 2018,Wang Yi, a well-known pastor from Chengdu and founder of theEarly Rain Covenant Church, along with 100 Christians, was detained by authorities. Wang was reportedly arrested on allegations of "inciting subversion of state power".[58] That same year, four Christian churches in Sichuan were given an ultimatum and told they must join the Three-Self Church or be shut down.[59]
In 2019, 200 congregants in Chengdu began to meet in secret after their state-registered Three-Self church had been shut down.[60]
On 14 August 2022, police in Chengdu raided a Sunday gathering of the Early Rain Covenant Church and detained a leader.[61]
A tinyEastern Orthodox community inChengdu is supported by the United States-basedOrthodox Christian Mission Center.[62] In 2019,Pravoslavie reported on aconvert toRussian Orthodoxy, also from Chengdu.[63]
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