Cheng Jingyi

Less than a month before the outbreak of the Boxer Uprising Cheng finished four years of studies in theology in Tianjin, one of the hotspots of fighting during the Allied Intervention.

[2] [3] [4] Cheng's challenging words impressed John R. Mott, who had been pushing world leaders to give more importance to the "younger churches" and equal representation in their leadership.

Cheng, at that time not yet 30 years old, thus became an important member of what historian Daniel Bays calls the "Sino-Foreign Protestant Establishment," the mainstream missionary and Chinese church leadership.

The latter movement spread to some dozen cities, calling "for Christian involvement in forming public opinion and conscience s well as in delivering a practical and social message," and aimed to promote China's nation building.

[5] He was one of the translators of the Christian Union Version of the Bible, along with Calvin Wilson Mateer, Frederick W. Baller and George Owen.