Chinese History

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A boat sailing under a bridge in Yunnan, China with the city and mountains in the background. That day I was the only Chinese among them who had not fled from anything. Yet instead of feeling fortunate, I felt the immense weight of what it means to be Chinese.

This Child Is Chinese, Too

That day I was the only Chinese among them who had not fled from anything. Yet instead of feeling fortunate, I felt the immense weight of what it means to be Chinese.

Looking toward the 2040s: a watchful posture over China and the world. 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.

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.

People examine tables full of books in an open-air market. Looking for a good end-of-summer book? Check out this roundup of the book reviews we’ve done over the last year, from memoir to biography to in-depth history to analysis of the current situation in China.

Summer 2024 Reading Recommendations

Looking for a good end-of-summer book? Check out this roundup of the book reviews we’ve done over the last year, from memoir to biography to in-depth history to analysis of the current situation in China.

Two young Chinese police officers stand in front of a temple. When [Church of the East] missionaries arrived in the Chinese capital of Chang’an in 635, they understood that Christianity in the Middle Kingdom required government approval…The application was successful, and a government edict allowed the new Luminous Teaching, as it called itself, to be spread in all China, including the building of a church in the capital city.

The Long History of Government Oversight and China’s Church

When [Church of the East] missionaries arrived in the Chinese capital of Chang’an in 635, they understood that Christianity in the Middle Kingdom required government approval…The application was successful, and a government edict allowed the new Luminous Teaching, as it called itself, to be spread in all China, including the building of a church in the capital city.

From Brush Strokes to Unicode—How China Became Modern

Official and popular attitudes towards the written language vacillate between shame (characters are too awkward, slowing China’s development) and pride (characters are China’s unique cultural heritage) …China’s place among the nations rises in tandem with the development of her language, revealing the intimate relationship between linguistic modernization and the modernization of the nation itself.

Webinar Recording: Chinese Christianity in the Modern Era

In his April 7 webinar, Dr. Easten Law provided a historical overview of the different threads running through Chinese Christianity’s modern development, including themes of folk religiosity and healing, ethical living, familial belonging, and national salvation. What can these historical themes tell us about the church’s role amidst China’s current inward, nationalistic turn and how should we orient ourselves in response?

Chinese Christianity in the Modern Era: A Webinar

In this webinar, Dr. Easten Law will provide a historical overview of the different threads running through Chinese Christianity’s modern development including themes of folk religiosity and healing, ethical living, familial belonging, and national salvation.

When Nixon Went to China

Fifty years ago on February 21, 1972, Air Force One touched down at Beijing’s Capitol Airport. President Richard Nixon, his wife, and a rather large entourage of officials were onboard. That this visit was momentous is an understatement as it marked the beginning of a thaw that would not only change the relationship between the US and China, but would change the world.