The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM; ) is the official government supervisory organ for
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. It is colloquially known as the Three-Self Church ().
The National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China () and the
China Christian Council (CCC) are known in China as the ''
lianghui
The Two Sessions (NPC & CPPCC National Committee annual sessions), or in Chinese ''Lianghui'' is a common Mandarin Chinese abbreviation for a pair of organizations which have close relations.
In the Chinese government, the term refers to the ...
'' (two organizations). Together they form the state-sanctioned
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
church in
mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
. They are overseen by the
United Front Work Department
The United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (UFWD; ) is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which is officially tasked with "united front work". For this endeav ...
of the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(CCP) following the State Administration for Religious Affairs' absorption into the United Front Work Department in 2018.
History
Christian Manifesto
In May 1950,
Y. T. Wu and other prominent Protestant leaders such as
T. C. Chao
Tzu-ch'en Chao (; 1888–1979), also known as T. C. Chao, was one of the leading Protestant theological thinkers in China in the early twentieth century.
Life
Chao was born on February 14, 1888, in Xinshi, Deqing County, Zhejiang, China. ...
,
Chen Chonggui
Marcus Cheng (; 18848 March 1963), was a leading Chinese Protestant evangelical leader. Cheng became a prominent evangelical leader and Chinese nationalist and gained international attention in the 1920s. After the establishment of the People's Re ...
, and
Cora Deng
Deng Yuzhi (, September 1900–October 1, 1996) also known as Cora Deng, was a Chinese social and Christian activist, and a feminist. Born in Hubei, she promoted women's education and rights, and
defied the traditional woman's role in Chinese soc ...
met in Beijing with Chinese premier
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...
to discuss Protestant Christianity's relationship with the young
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. "
The Christian Manifesto
"Direction of Endeavor for Chinese Christianity in the Construction of New China", commonly known as "The Christian Manifesto" or "The Three-Self Manifesto", was a political manifesto of Protestants in China whereby they backed the newly fou ...
" was published in July 1950 and its original title was "Direction of Endeavor for Chinese Christianity in the Construction of New China". During the 1950s, 400,000 Protestant Christians publicly endorsed and signed this document.
The purpose of publishing this document was:
to heighten our vigilance against imperialism
Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
, to make known the clear political stand of Christians in New China, to hasten the building of a Chinese church whose affairs are managed by the Chinese themselves, and to indicate the responsibilities that should be taken up by Christians throughout the whole country in national reconstruction in New China.
It further stated the movement promoted the "self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation" () of the Chinese church.
Three-Self Reform Movement
In March 1951, after China's entry into the Korean War, the Religious Affairs Bureau directed religious groups to make elimination of imperialist influences a priority. In mid-April the State Administrative Council called together a conference in Beijing on the subject of "Handling of Christian Organizations Receiving Subsidies from the United States of America". This conference led to the formation of the Preparatory Committee for the Oppose-America, Assist-Korea Three-Self Reform Movement of the Christian Church (TSRM) under China's United Work Front policy. Those who attended the conference issued a "United Declaration" calling churches and other Christian organizations “to thoroughly, permanently and completely sever all relationships with the American missions and all other missions, thus realizing self-government, self-support and self-propagation in the Chinese church." The declaration had the unexpected effect of swelling the membership of congregations that identified themselves as “self-run.”
Establishment
![CCCTSPM](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/CCCTSPM.jpg)
When the TSPM was established in 1954, it promoted a
three-self strategy in order to remove foreign influences from the Chinese churches and to assure the government that the churches would be patriotic to the newly established People's Republic of China. Other Protestant leaders included
Jia Yuming,
Marcus Cheng
Marcus Cheng (; 18848 March 1963), was a leading Chinese Protestant evangelical leader. Cheng became a prominent evangelical leader and Chinese nationalist and gained international attention in the 1920s. After the establishment of the People's Re ...
,
and
Yang Shaotang
Yang may refer to:
* Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy
* Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902
* YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration p ...
.
When "
The Christian Manifesto
"Direction of Endeavor for Chinese Christianity in the Construction of New China", commonly known as "The Christian Manifesto" or "The Three-Self Manifesto", was a political manifesto of Protestants in China whereby they backed the newly fou ...
" was published in the ''
People's Daily'' in 1954, it pledged the support of Christians for
anti-imperialism, anti-feudalism, and anti-bureaucratic capitalism efforts. The movement, in the eyes of critics, allowed the government to infiltrate, subvert, and control much of organized Christianity.
The work towards establishing the Protestant TSPM was seen to have potential also for Chinese Catholics to create a "three-self" (or, in English sources, often translated "three-autonomies") patriotic organization, even though this language was never used in earlier Catholic missiological discourse like it was by Protestant missionaries. Those who resisted were arrested or killed. But by 1957, some Chinese Catholics eventually established the
Catholic Patriotic Association
The Catholic Patriotic Association (), abbreviated CPA, is a state-sanctioned organization of Catholicism in the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1957 after a group of Chinese Catholics met in Beijing with officials from the Chi ...
.
After the Cultural Revolution
From 1966 to 1976 during the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, the expression of religious life in China was effectively banned, including the TSPM. The growth of the
Chinese house church
In China, house churches or family churches (), are Protestant assemblies in the People's Republic of China that operate independently from the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and China Christian Council (CCC). They represent ...
movement during this period was a result of all Chinese Christian worship being driven underground for fear of persecution. In 1979 the government officially restored the TSPM after thirteen years of non-existence,
and in 1980 the
China Christian Council (CCC) was formed. However, many Christians in China were skeptical of the government's intention in reinstituting the TSPM, partly because those entrusted in its local administration were often ones who had participated in repressive actions in the past.
The TSPM is not a denomination, and denominational distinctions do not exist within the organization. Pastors are trained at one of thirteen officially sanctioned seminaries.
Current theological emphasis is on "a protection and promotion of the five basic tenets of Christian faith — the
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
, Christ being both human and God, the
Virgin Birth, Death and Resurrection and the
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messian ...
." The primary role of the TSPM was then delegated to liaison with the Government whereas the CCC serves as an ecclesial organisation focusing on the internal management and affairs of the Church.
However, the TSPM is often charged with being an instrument for the secular Chinese government, which persecutes Christians outside of it. Independent congregation are known as
house churches
A house church or home church is a label used to describe a group of Christians who regularly gather for worship in private homes. The group may be part of a larger Christian body, such as a parish, but some have been independent groups that see ...
. The attempt to bring house church Christians into the fold of "registered" meeting places has met with mixed results.
Since the ascension of
CCP general secretary
The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the Party leader, head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secr ...
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
, the Chinese Government has cracked down on house churches and oppressed their members, actions which the TSPM has supported.
In 2018, the TSPM's parent organization, the State Administration for Religious Affairs, was absorbed into the CCP's United Front Work Department.
In March 2019 Xu Xiaohong, the chairman of the National Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee, gave a speech about the use of Christianity by western powers to destabilize China and the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(CCP). In addition he stated in a speech at the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference that "Anti-China forces in the West are attempting to continue to influence the social stability of our country through Christianity, and even subvert the political power of our country".
He also called for continued state action against independent Christians stating "For individual black sheep who, under the banner of Christianity, participate in subverting national security, we firmly support the country to bring them to justice".
Publications
The ''
Chinese New Hymnal
''The Chinese New Hymnal'' () was published in the early 1980s and is the main hymnal used by the Protestant churches registered through the TSPM in present-day China.
History
''The Chinese New Hymnal'' was begun being edited in the 1980 ...
'', first published in the 1980s, is the official hymnal of the TSPM churches. Editors include
Lin Shengben, a renowned hymn composer in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
.
The ''
Canaan Hymns
''Canaan Hymns'' or ''Songs of Canaan'' ( zh, c=迦南诗选, p=Jiānán Shīxuǎn) is a collection of Chinese hymns composed by Lü Xiaomin, a Christian convert peasant woman with no musical education, beginning in 1990. Lü's theological bac ...
'' hymnal associated with the house churches is also used in TSPM churches. Through its official channels, TSPM has criticized the hymn for supposedly questioning the Movement's view of Christianity in service of Chinese socialism. TSPM church services also feature non-Christian Communist Party songs.
The main periodical of TSPM is ''
Tian Feng
Tian Feng (died November 200), courtesy name Yuanhao, was a Chinese politician serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Eastern Han dynasty.
Life
There are two accounts of Tian Feng's origins: One said that he was from Julu Commande ...
''.
Statement of faith
The following
confession of faith
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets.
The ea ...
was adopted on 8 January 2008:
See also
*
List of the largest Protestant denominations
This is a list of the largest Protestant denominations. It aims to include sizable Protestant communions, federations, alliances, councils, fellowships, and other denominational organisations in the world and provides information regarding the me ...
*
Christianity in China
Christianity in China has been present since at least the 3rd century, and it has gained a significant amount of influence during the last 200 years.
While Christianity may have existed in China before the 3rd century, evidence of its exist ...
*
Protestantism in China
*
Catholic Patriotic Association
The Catholic Patriotic Association (), abbreviated CPA, is a state-sanctioned organization of Catholicism in the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1957 after a group of Chinese Catholics met in Beijing with officials from the Chi ...
*
Henry Venn
*
Chinese Independent Churches The Chinese Independent Churches are a category of churches of Chinese people.
Imperial China Gospel of Grace Church (福音堂)
The Gospel of Grace Church or Grace Evangelical church was founded at Shandong by Xi Sheng-Mo (席胜魔) in 1881. ...
*
Positive Christianity
Positive Christianity (german: Positives Christentum) was a movement within Nazi Germany which promoted the belief that the racial purity of the German people should be maintained by mixing racialistic Nazi ideology with either fundamental or s ...
References
Further reading
*
Daniel H. Bays. ''A New History of Christianity in China.'' (Chichester, West Sussex; Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, Blackwell Guides to Global Christianity, 2012). ), esp. Ch. 7, "Christianity and the New China, 1950–1966.
*
* Philip L. Wickeri. ''Seeking the Common Ground : Protestant Christianity, the Three-Self Movement, and China's United Front.'' (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988). .
* Wallace C. Merwin and Francis P. Jones, ed., ''Documents of the Three-Self Movement: Source Materials for the Study of the Protestant Church in Communist China.'' (New York, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Division of Foreign Missions. Far Eastern Office, 1963). .
External links
*
Chinese Protestant ChurchThe Church in ChinaAmity Foundation
{{Religion in China
Members of the World Council of Churches
Protestantism in China
Christian organizations established in 1951
United and uniting churches
1951 establishments in China
Organizations associated with the Chinese Communist Party