Welcome and Introduction to the Sources
Welcome to our digital history archive/tour of the sparsely documented history of the Chinese Christian experience during Mao's Cultural Revolution(1966-1976). For a thorough background reading on Christianity in China we recommend checking out the Bibliography page.
For readers unfamiliar with the Cultural Revolution, here's a good place start: What is the Cultural Revolution?
Historiography
Several historians and missiologists in the past decades have attempted to sketch the growth of Christianity in China during the twentieth century, foremost of which are the works of Daniel Bays, Lian Xi, Philip Wickeri, and Tony Lambert.
However, even these historians have been unable to reconstruct a clear picture of the Christian experience
from the years 1966-1976 during Cultural Revolution. Daniel Bays, one of the preeminent historians of Christianity in China, remarks:
For readers unfamiliar with the Cultural Revolution, here's a good place start: What is the Cultural Revolution?
Historiography
Several historians and missiologists in the past decades have attempted to sketch the growth of Christianity in China during the twentieth century, foremost of which are the works of Daniel Bays, Lian Xi, Philip Wickeri, and Tony Lambert.
However, even these historians have been unable to reconstruct a clear picture of the Christian experience
from the years 1966-1976 during Cultural Revolution. Daniel Bays, one of the preeminent historians of Christianity in China, remarks:
From 1967 on, the entire next 10 or 11 years of Christian history in China are still a black hole, the details of which are very scarce. There are almost no documentary sources to consult, no statistics, very few photographs. We are left with the anecdotal stories of things that happened to people individually or that they personally witnessed during these years.
~A New History of Christianity in China(2012) (p. 185)
Bays' statement is true for not just for Christian history but history of the Maoist era in general. Most of the published video and audio from Mao's China gets reproduced all over youtube for various documentaries––even this published footage is extremely limited. The Cold War documentary series includes all of the best available footage and provides the best contextualized account of China during the Cold War:
For sources on Christianity, the most substantial sources prior to the Cultural Revolution come out of the registered Chinese Catholic Church and the Three Self Patriotic Church(TSP) movements. In 1951-1952, all foreign missionaries were expelled from China, and the work of the church was fully committed to the Chinese. During the Land Reform Movement and the Great Leap Forward, the TSP and CCC managed to keep records and maintain organized leadership. However, after 1966, even these groups were shut down by the PCP and Chinese Christians were forced into hiding. Mao's Cultural Revolution unleashed mass chaos on the people of China and all vestiges of "foreign imperialist" or "backwards elements" were destroyed. Thousands of Buddhist temples and Christian Churches were desecrated, burned and destroyed. Ancient Chinese monuments, sculptures and pottery was demolished. This was a time of tragic loss for Chinese culture.
In the midst of the Cold War and the chaotic destruction of the Cultural Revolution there are almost no substantial extant sources to show what happened. Even the Great Leap Forward has more recently begun to be reinvestigated by Chinese scholars(like Yang, Jisheng), and this only at great personal risk. This invites the question: where are the sources?
Where are the sources?
There are very few written primary sources on the Christian experience of the Cultural Revolution because those living in this time were focused on survival. Those available are memoirs written after the fact, such as Wang Mingdao's A Stone Made Smooth. A single scholarly anthology of Christian experiences during the Cultural Revolution has yet to be compiled, but there are the voices of those still living. These men and women––the survivors––are the primary sources for this history. Their stories are often the only sources available.
Still, these people are difficult to locate and even more difficult to interview. The PCP continues to target Christians today. Many are afraid to tell their stories, and reporters and even professional historians often remain hesitant to cite the names of these people.
In the midst of the Cold War and the chaotic destruction of the Cultural Revolution there are almost no substantial extant sources to show what happened. Even the Great Leap Forward has more recently begun to be reinvestigated by Chinese scholars(like Yang, Jisheng), and this only at great personal risk. This invites the question: where are the sources?
Where are the sources?
There are very few written primary sources on the Christian experience of the Cultural Revolution because those living in this time were focused on survival. Those available are memoirs written after the fact, such as Wang Mingdao's A Stone Made Smooth. A single scholarly anthology of Christian experiences during the Cultural Revolution has yet to be compiled, but there are the voices of those still living. These men and women––the survivors––are the primary sources for this history. Their stories are often the only sources available.
Still, these people are difficult to locate and even more difficult to interview. The PCP continues to target Christians today. Many are afraid to tell their stories, and reporters and even professional historians often remain hesitant to cite the names of these people.
Obstacles of Censorship and Fear
Although the Constitution grants "freedom of religious belief," the constitution does not protect freedom of religious activity or expression. Christianity Today reports that in 2014, over 400 churches were forced to remove the image of the cross from the building in an effort to remove Christian symbolism from Zhejian city.
Although the Constitution grants "freedom of religious belief," the constitution does not protect freedom of religious activity or expression. Christianity Today reports that in 2014, over 400 churches were forced to remove the image of the cross from the building in an effort to remove Christian symbolism from Zhejian city.
Human Rights Watch reporters and researchers have also recognized government restrictions on religion:
Although the constitution guarantees freedom of religion, the government restricts religious practices to officially approved mosques, churches, temples, and monasteries organized by five officially recognized religious organizations; any religious activity not considered by the state to be "normal" is prohibited.
-Country Summary: China. Human Rights Watch 2015 World Report
Human Rights Watch World Report January 2015: Country Summary for China
The Goal: Recovering a lost History
Today China makes headlines because of the explosive growth of Christianity, with the Telegraph recently reporting that China will become the "most Christian nation in the world." The Communist government officially acknowledges that there are 22 million Christians living in China today, but outsider estimates are as much as five times that number. This growth is perceived as a major threat to the ruling Communist party. Human Rights Watch has documented numerous abuses of religious liberty, cases in which Buddhists, Christians, and Falun Gong were targeted because of religious expression. This abuse makes research difficult and sometimes impossible in China still today.
The Chinese Government refuses to acknowledge the atrocities committed against its own people, both in the past and in the present. The present crisis is nothing new, but the memory of the origins of this conflict may be lost if the records of the survivors are not preserved. The church in China has seen explosive growth over the last three decades, but there was a time in which no one thought that the Chinese church would survive. During the Cultural Revolution, it was thought that religion would be destroyed, but by the late 70's and early 80's, the reality was the opposite.
This site is an effort to address that misunderstanding and present the story of the survival of the Chinese Christian Church during the Cultural Revolution.
This site is an effort to address that misunderstanding and present the story of the survival of the Chinese Christian Church during the Cultural Revolution.