From time to time I would like to post information on missions in China,
mainly from the period 1900-1915. The source of this information is a
book Kratkaja Istorija Duxonvyx Missij v Kitae, published in 1915 or 1916
at the Spiritual Mission in Beijing. The following excerpt deals with
missions in North China in the period just after the Boxer Rebellion.

Missions in Zhili [the present Hebei province]

The follwing mission stations were opened in the province of Zhili. In
Tianjin a station was set up immediately after the return of the
Christians to Beijing from the residence of General Nie. In exchange for
the residences left by us, we were offered a small residence with 16 rooms
in Xiaoguan'er lane in the area of Yaowa on the borders of Chinese
Tianjin. A school and a temporary church in honor of the Protection of
the Theotokos were opened there. In the course of time, during visits of
the missionaries there, 100 people were baptized, for the most part new
arrivals and not permanent residents, and for this reason it was difficult
to form them into a single community. At present [c. 1916] the mission
and the school are run by a former seminarian, Serafim Zhao. This mission
has all the conditions for development and the importance of Tianjin as a
trading port and the presence of the mission among a poor working
population, all speak for its importance for missionary work.

In Yongpingfu and its environs, missionary work began in 1904 when in the
summer several Chinese from this area came to Bishop Innokenty
(Figurovsky) in Jinshanzui with a request to receive them into the
Orthodox Church, to send them a preacher and open a school. Earlier
missionary journeys had been undertaken by hieromonk Simon Kremnev with
the catechist Michael Tang and there had been baptisms of some small
groups. The bishop himself made a trip to Yongpingfu and there he
acquired a piece of property in the middle of the city. Hieromonk
Pallady, the Chinese deacon Michael Tang, the psalomshchik Ivan Fan and
the artist F. Vlasov visited the mission there. Soon they managed to
adapt the yard of one of the houses for the building of a church; an
iconstasis was painted and the church was consecrated in honor of St John
the Baptist. A school was opened and the mission at Yongpingfu became a
center for missionary work in the whole region. Later schools were opened
in Taiying and Jianchanying which lasted for several years. In 1907 Fr
Deacon Michael Tang was made a priest; he began to work independently to
enlighten his fellow countrymen. He began to travel around the
neighboring villages to hold lectures about the faith, all the while
looking capable and zealous people who could instruct their fellow
villagers in the truth of the faith. Thus Stephen Cao, Sergei Chu,
Panteleimon Sun and his son Ermolaos were attracted. They gathered around
themselves catachuments in the villages of Wangjiezhuang. In Beijia Wopu
a school was opened. In Luanzhou 30 people gathered to hear the word of
God and were prepared for baptism by the teacher Theofan Li; at present
108 people have already been baptized there. Fr Michael visits them on
holidays. In Changgezhuang 25 people assemble around Methodius Bao for
prayer and instruction. In Luweishang in 1913, Peter Chang donated a plot
of land and another Christian donated material; others helped with thier
labor and in this way a small stone church was constructed and consecrated
in 1914. Altogether the number of Christians under Fr Michael number 600
people living in different places.

In a1910 an oratory and school were opened in Tongzhou. Serving as priest
there was Fr Michael Ming; he is also in charge of a church in the village
of Dong Dingan where Christianity already existed in the 1860s under the
14th mission. At the school in Tongzhou the teacher was Matthew Yu and in
the neighboring village of Sizi it was David Kang. In Wangjiazhuang there
is a school with 15 students and a teacher Stephen Lyu. There are also a
number of other missionary sites: Paodixiang, Qukouzhen, Xianghexiang,
Zhailuocun, Renxinzhuang, Zhanjiawan, Deze Xinzhuang, Tengxinzhuang,
Jiaogeshu, Xiaojier, Yuejiazhuang, Dongying and Matou. Altogether Fr
Matthew has a flock of 167 people. To further the work of the mission in
this area it will be necessary to erect a new church in Tongzhou because
the house church there now is not large enough.
[translation ends here]

This passage shows that after the Boxer Rebellion and the martyrdom of 222
Chinese Orthodox Christians, missionary work began in earnest in Northern
China. This work was obviously enhanced by the availability of native
clergy like Fr Michael Tang and Fr Michael Ming. Missions were also
opened in other parts of China; information on these missions will be
provided gradually.

Jeremias Norman