Christianity was introduced to China in early 19th century and widely spread after 1840s. In 1950, the church called on its believers to shake off the vestige of foreign imperialist influence and uphold patriotism in order to achieve self-administration, self-supporting and self-propagation, which are the cardinal principle of Chinese Christianity. At present, there are about ten million Christian believers, 18 thousand priests and 12 churches or religious sites in China.

Christianity entered China

In the 19th century at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Christianity took a dominant position in Europe and was entering China. The period from 1807 to 1842 was the time Christianity began its dissemination in China.

During this period, quite a number of missionary churches began their activities in China. They represented different Christian sects and their missionaries were mainly from the UK, US and Germany. Many of them were teachers, doctors, professors, writers and so on. At that time, since the Qing government forbade Christianity, the missionary churches could only disseminate religion secretly.

Although relatively recent comer, Christian missionaries adopted measures appreciated and easily accepted by Chinese. For example, they were more enthusiastic in participating in various social activities. They set up colleges and universities, hospitals and charity organizations. In this way, they received warmer welcome from Chinese people.

St. John's University

St. John's University in Shanghai was one of the most famous church universities. It started as St. John's College. In 1877, Samuel Joseph Schereschensky, bishop of American Episcopal Church, began to prepare the establishment of the college. In 1879, the college was formally opened.

At the beginning, in order to attract students and broaden its influence, the college charged no fees and offered free board and lodging as well as other daily necessities.

At the beginning, there were two departments, namely the department of the Chinese language and the department of theology. More departments were established later. In education, the university attached much importance to English study. English was one of the required courses and most courses were taught in English. Since the English levels of the graduates from the university were the best in China, they were welcomed by various enterprises. The original site of St. John’s University is now the campus of East China University of Political Science and Law.