The People

Han Chinese — Percent Christian: 9.90%, Percent Evangelical: 8.30%, Church growth rate: 10%

Christianity first made an impact on China in AD 635, when Nestorian Bishop Alopen arrived in China. An Imperial Proclamation stated: “Bishop Alopen of the Kingdom of Ta'chin, bringing with him the sutras and images, has come from afar and presented them at our Capital. Having carefully examined the scope of his teaching, we find it to be mysteriously spiritual, and of silent operation. Having observed its principal and most essential points, we reached the conclusion that they cover all that is most important in life. This Teaching is helpful to all creatures and beneficial to all men. So let it have free course throughout the Empire.” By 638 the first church was established in Chang’an.

Various Catholic and Protestant missionary efforts continued from the Medieval period on in spite of significant opposition.The modern Protestant missionary effort dates from Robert Morrison in the early 1800’s. However after the Communist revolution in 1949, all the missionaries were expelled. There were likely fewer than 800,000 Protestant Christians in the country at that time.

Christians continued evangelistic efforts by broadcasting radio programs into the country, often not knowing whether or not there was an impact or even an audience. The Communist revolution not only saw the expulsion of the missionaries but also marked one of the most intense and systematic attempts to stamp out the Christian faith through persecution. But this period saw one of the most explosive church growth rates in history. There are likely 40 to 50 million Mandarin-speaking Christians in China today.

The Painting

2022, Oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches

Yearning to Breathe Free depicts a young girl spontaneously imitating the Statue of Liberty’s pose in the Orsay museum of impressionist art in Paris. The painting represents one of the great struggles of the day, that between authoritarianism and democracy. The painting also represents three stages of this great nation’s history. The past is represented by a large Ming Dynasty vase in the distant background. President Xi Jinping represents the present period of the Peoples’ Republic of China, under the Chinese Communist Party rule. The spirited little girl represents the future of China, in which a new generation demands a greater measure of personal freedom.