Since 1949—Policy Swings and the “Christianity Fever”
What matters most is not only the dates, but the habits Christians learned for living between lines.
China and Christian Faith
In this seven-part ChinaSource series, China and Christian Faith, edited from a lecture delivered at Harvard Law School on May 1, 2025, Samuel Ling reflects on China’s history, Christianity, and the relationship between China and Christianity. Ling also explores what the future of Chinese Christianity could be in China and among the diaspora spread throughout the nations. Take this journey through history and into the future of with China and Christianity.
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Two Tracks—Liberal and Fundamentalist Currents in China
Two tracks took root: social modernizers built schools and bridges; evangelists planted chapels and courage. China’s church still needs the gifts of both.
Crisis and Critique, 1862–1927
From 1862 to 1927, China’s crises produced both scapegoats and gifts: Christianity was resisted as foreign and embraced in service—while new ideologies recast the debate.
Traditional China Meets Christianity
Traditional China’s worldview—Confucianism, Daoism/folk religion, Buddhism, and the management of “heterodoxy”—shaped how Christianity was first seen: foreign, sometimes tolerated, and often misunderstood.
Four Questions for the 2040s
A new series adapted from Sam Ling’s 2025 HLS lecture asks four guiding questions across four axes—China, the West, the church, and ideas—to help us think and serve faithfully as we look toward the 2040s.