Protestantism in Sichuan

[1] 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.

[3] 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.

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.

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.

[5] 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.

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.

[8] 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.

In 1896, after helping with mission work in Kalimpong, India, he moved to Tatsienlu, a Khams Tibetan city west of Sichuan.

In 1889, Robert John and Mary Jane Davidson of Friends' Foreign Mission Association (FFMA) introduced Quakerism into Tungchwan.

[14] 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.

[18] Then, in 1892, the Canadian Methodist Mission (CMM) opened up work in central and west Sichuan, having Chengtu and Kiating as their headquarters.

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.

[26] In 1898, a riot known as the Yü Man-tse [zh] Rebellion was chiefly directed against the Roman Catholics; the Protestants not coming under the wrath of the rebels, though subject to persecution and petty annoyance from local rowdies.

This movement steadily grew till it was crushed by the Yü Man-tse Rebellion, but immediately after the settlement of those troubles it revived with fresh vigour and strength.

Deputations were constantly arriving from the surrounding districts with offers from the gentry and leading men to open Gospel halls, preaching stations, or schools, free of cost to the missionary societies.

[31][32] The university grew rapidly in its first decade and remained a key player in tertiary education in Sichuan throughout the Republican Era.

[35] David Crockett Graham, an American polymath Baptist minister, served as curator of the university's Museum of Art, Archaeology and Ethnology from 1932 to 1942.

[37] With the help of an English Quaker missionary Henry Hodgkin, they opened up work for the first Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) mission in the province.

[41] In 1908, Albert Shelton and James Clarence Ogden of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society of the Disciples of Christ arrived in Bathang after studying Chinese and Tibetan languages for four years in Tachienlu, where they established a mission station.

[42] Zenas Sanford Loftis joined the Bathang mission on 17 June 1909,[43] but died from typhus fever and smallpox two months later.

Due to the constitution of Sichuan at the time, Bathang fell outside the western boundary and belonged to the special territory of Chwanpien, a mostly Tibetan-inhabited region.

[56] A mission centre was established at Sandui [zh] in early 1949, but all activities had ceased shortly before the Cultural Revolution launched in 1966.

[64] On 14 August 2022, police in Chengtu raided a Sunday gathering of the Early Rain Covenant Church (a congregation of the Reformed tradition founded by Wang Yi) and detained a leader.

[66][68] In December 2019, Pastor Wang Yi was sentenced to nine years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power" and "illegal business activity".

Together with the Journal of the West China Border Research Society established in 1922, these two publications cover a wide range of topics including studies of local languages, customs, religion, economics, medicine, natural environment, and ethnic minorities, as well as translation of historical works concerning the Ba–Shu region.

[71] In 1917, Canadian Methodist missionary Omar Leslie Kilborn published his own Sichuanese-language textbook titled Chinese Lessons for First Year Students in West China [zh].

[79] The 1936 novel Ripple on Stagnant Water by Li Chie-ren gives a detailed account of the conflicts among the three parties in the Chengdu area during the 1890s, namely, the local Christian communities, Elder Brothers Society and the bureaucracy.