19th century for the
China Inland Mission (CIM). The CIM carried out the first Protestant mission in Sichuan, in 1877. 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. , circa 1920. 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. , first Bishop of the
Anglican Diocese of Szechwan. 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. , before 1905. , 1920. 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. In 1895, the
Anglican Diocese of Szechwan was established with
its seat in
Paoning. William Cassels became the first diocesan bishop after his consecration on 18 October 1895 at
Westminster Abbey. That same year was also marked by a serious outbreak of anti-foreign agitation began in the capital Chengtu, and thence spread throughout the province. In the capital, the property of three Protestant missions and that of the Roman Catholics was destroyed; '', printed by the Canadian Methodist Mission Press. In 1897, the Canadian Methodist Mission Press was established in Kiatingfu, but was moved to the capital city of Chengtu in 1903. 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. 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. In 1898, a riot known as the 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. During this rebellion a Protestant Conference (January 1899) was held at Chungking, resulting in the establishments of
The West China Missionary News and West China Tract Society, as well as the formation of an Advisory Board for West China. From the settlement of the Yü Man-tse Rebellion of 1898 to the
Boxer Rebellion in 1900, a period of nearly two years, the work in Sichuan enjoyed a time of peace and quiet, which ended abruptly in the summer of 1900, when all missionaries of all societies were obliged by consular orders to flee to the coast.
20th century ,
AMEM,
CIM,
CMM,
CMS,
FFMA, and
LMS. The Boxer Rebellion did not affect Sichuan so much as some other parts of China. On the return of the missionaries to their respective stations during the early part of 1901 they found in many places, especially in the western parts of Sichuan, what was going to be known later as the Mass Movement in full swing. This movement may be traced back as far as 1895, when it really began, subsequent to the settlement of the riots which occurred at that time. 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. During that time, however, it was almost entirely confined to the Roman Catholic Church. But after the Boxer settlement, the Mass Movement not only revived amongst the Roman Catholics, but also took hold of the Protestant Church as well. This movement was most perplexing, even to experienced missionaries. 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. Long lists were presented with the names of those who were anxious to become "adherents" of the Church or "learners" of the truth. This movement appealed in different ways to different missionaries and missionary societies. Some of the more optimistic welcomed it as an answer to the prayers of past years and the plenteous sowing of the last decades. Others, who were not quite so enthusiastic, looked askance on the movement, and generally discouraged the establishment of stations under such conditions. A great demand for
scientific literature which followed the Boxer outbreak was so pressing that the
Society for the Diffusion of Christian Knowledge at
Shanghai decided to open a depot in
Chengtu to meet this demand. The Society was able to secure the best position in the most important street, and the ever increasing sale of books, charts, maps, and other literature has justified the Society's decision in opening a depot in that remote province of Western China. The
Canadian Methodist Mission (CMM), recognising that Chengtu, the capital of the province, was the centre of literary activity and influence, moved their Mission Press to that city in 1903. 's
architectural drawing for
West China Union University (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
Tungchwan, during an exploratory trip through China in 1909 as part of the Oriental Educational Investigation Commission. One of the signs of the progressive spirit was a scheme for a Union University. Most of the missionaries had seen the importance of educational institutions, and had sought to provide schools and other facilities to meet the demand for Western learning. But since the adoption by China of Western methods of education, the demand for some institution for higher education had been greatly felt by those specially interested in the spiritual welfare of the educated classes. Then finally in 1910, the
West China Union University was established in Chengtu. It was the fruit of a collective effort of four Protestant mission societies:
American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABFMS,
American Baptist Churches USA),
American Methodist Episcopal Mission (AMEM,
Methodist Episcopal Church),
Canadian Methodist Mission (CMM,
Methodist Church of Canada), and
Friends' Foreign Mission Association (FFMA,
British Quakers). The
Church Missionary Society (CMS,
Church of England) became a partner in the university in 1918. The university grew rapidly in its first decade and remained a key player in tertiary education in Sichuan throughout the
Republican Era. The American Methodist missionary
Joseph Beech, a
Wesleyan University graduate and member of
Psi Upsilon and
Phi Beta Kappa, played an instrumental role in founding and running West China Union University. He served as its founding president and later its chancellor.
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. He also taught
comparative religions at its Theological College, as well as archaeology and anthropology. On 10 May 1906, an American missionary
Robert Roy Service and his wife
Grace Service arrived in Chengtu. 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. Robert and Grace were both graduates of the
University of California, Berkeley. He was an athlete, member of Psi Upsilon and president of the senior class and of the YMCA. Grace was a member of
Kappa Alpha Theta, and treasurer of the
Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). Through YMCA, an organization founded on the principles of
muscular Christianity, Robert introduced Western physical education into the province. In 1910, fields for football and baseball, as well as a tennis court were constructed near the Wen Miao Street in Chengtu; a gymnasium was opened in 1913. 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.
Zenas Sanford Loftis joined the Bathang mission on 17 June 1909, but died from typhus fever and smallpox two months later. By 1922, Bathang became the centre of the Tibetan Christian Mission of the Disciples of Christ. 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. with local converts standing outside the Adventist Church at
Tatsienlu, East Tibet, . In 1914, the
Adventist Mission of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church established a mission station in
Chungking. Their Szechwan Mission was officially formed in 1917. In 1919, the mission was divided into East Szechwan Mission and West Szechwan Mission for easier administration. By the end of 1921, there were 12,954 baptized Protestant Christians in Sichuan, the Methodists enrolled almost one half of this number, namely 5,788. The Anglicans shared almost the other half with 5,474 church members. The American Baptists and English Quakers followed with 1,263 and 429 members respectively. 63 per cent of these 12,954 Protestants were men.
Lutheranism also had a small presence in Chungking. The Lutheran
Holy Cross Church was founded in
Wanhsien in 1925, under the supervision of , a pastor-missionary sent by the
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. By 1934, the Canadian Methodist Mission had joined the
Church of Christ in China (CCC); an annual general meeting of the CCC's Szechwan Synod was held on 9 February 1939. In 1940, the CCC established a mission station in
Lifan, a county lies in the Sichuan-
Khams Tibetan border region, as part of their Border Service Movement. This movement had a marked character of
Social Gospel, with the aim of spreading Christianity to the
Tibetan,
Qiang and
Yi peoples. In 1935, the
True Jesus Church established their first mission station in Chungking. Two years later,
Kwang'an became their new mission centre where they baptized 186 people in one month. In 1939, two American
Mennonite missionaries, , founder of the , and his wife
Nellie Schmidt Bartel, travelled to
Kwangyüan in northeastern Sichuan. In 1941 the Bartels started work in the Szechwan-
Kansu-
Shensi border. A mission centre was established at in early 1949, but all activities had ceased shortly before the
Cultural Revolution launched in 1966. == Current situation ==