History of Methodism in Sichuan

[2] Numerous mission properties and native church leaders in Sichuan were respectively destroyed and killed by communists in the mid-1930s.

[6] The AMEM mission work concentrated within a diamond-shaped area with the cities of Chengdu (Chengtu), Suining, Zizhong (Tzechung) and Chongqing (Chungking) as bases.

Two of the men were ministers (Virgil C. Hart [zh], founder of the mission,[14] and George E. Hartwell), and two were doctors (Omar L. Kilborn and David W.

She impressed the missionaries with her straightforward manner, a rare trait in a Chinese, and by her remarkable progress in learning to read.

This press produced publications mostly in English, Tibetan, Chinese and Hua Miao, but also printed language lessons in French and German.

In addition to printing for the various missions in the western province, a certain amount of work was done for local schools and non-missionary foreigners.

[21] Notable among its printings was The West China Missionary News, first published in 1899, being the first and longest-running English-language newspaper in Sichuan province.

Acta Victoriana celebrated their departure by publishing in the November 1906 issue the students' graduating photographs on the journal's frontispiece, and a poem titled "L'Envoi" by Edward Wilson Wallace, one of the Eight.

[23] After 1900, eight more mission stations were established in Renshou (Jenshow, 1905), Rongxian (Junghsien, 1905), Pengzhou (Penghsien, 1907), Ziliujing (Tzeliutsing, 1907), Luzhou (Luchow, 1908), Chongqing (Chungking, 1910), Zhongzhou (Chungchow, 1911) and Fuzhou (Fowchow, 1913).

They rented or bought local buildings to run services, prayer meetings and Bible study classes.

[8] There they opened their own Hart College, and the university's Medical and Dentistry Departments owed their success to these Canadian missionaries.

In 1927, many Canadian missionaries were ordered to evacuate Sichuan due to communist uprisings and the subsequent Chinese Civil War.

[30] When the soldiers evacuated the Lifan valley, they destroyed the people's homes and dumped surplus food into cesspools as they could not carry off.

[34] After the Communist takeover of China in 1949, missionaries were expelled, most church activities were banned, and all mission schools and hospitals were taken over by the government.

[36] In 2018, the detention of 100 Christians in Sichuan, including their pastor Wang Yi, raised concerns about religious crackdown in China.

American Methodist Episcopal Mission field in Sichuan
American Methodist Institutional Church at Chengdu, circa 1920
Joseph Beech (third from left) with (l to r) E. D. Burton ( American Baptist biblical scholar), T. C. Chamberlin (American geologist), Y. T. Wang (interpreter) and R. T. Chamberlin (T. C. Chamberlin's son) at Santai , Sichuan, during an exploratory trip through China in 1909 as part of the Oriental Educational Investigation Commission.
First Canadian Methodist missionaries to Sichuan, sailed in 1891. From left to right, standing: Rev. G. E. Hartwell, Mrs. Hartwell, Rev. O. L. Kilborn, Mrs. Kilborn. Seated: Rev. V. C. Hart, Mrs. Hart, Dr. D. W. Stevenson.
Canadian Methodist Mission in Central Sichuan (Szechwan)
The West China Missionary News , printed by Canadian Methodist Mission Press
Six of the Victoria Eight were sent to Sichuan: N. E. Bowles (Chengdu [Chengtu]), H. D. Robertson (Chengdu), W. E. Sibley ( Pengzhou [Penghsien]), E. W. Wallace (Chongqing [Chungking]), C. J. P. Jolliffe ( Luzhou [Luchow]), and E. W. Morgan ( Fuzhou [Fowchow]). [ 23 ]
Faculty, students and guests of the West China Union University and Middle School. The guests include Bishop Bashford , Rev. Dr. Goucher , Fuh [ zh ] , Military Governor, and Chʻen [ zh ] , Civil Governor of Sichuan. 1915 or 1916.
West China Mission of the United Church of Canada
Canadian Methodist missionaries stationed in Sichuan by 1920