| Christianity came into being in the Palestinian area under the rule of the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD and gradually grew stronger in persecution.Christianity was divided into Catholicism and Orthodox Church in 1054,and the Protestant Reformation in 16th century separated the Protestantism from Catholicism.Therefore,the broad sense of Christianity includes three major sects,Catholicism,Orthodox Church and Protestantism.But in the narrow sense,Christianity only refers to Protestantism.In the period of the Tang Dynasty,Nestorians spread the Christianity to China.During the Yuan Dynasty,the Roman Catholic missionaries also came to China to preach,and the Catholicism had been introduced into the current Anhui province for the first time.In the early Qing Dynasty,the Eastern Orthodox Church was also introduced into China,but it was never introduced into Anhui province.Protestantism started to be introduced into China in the early 19th century.On the eve of the Opium War,both Catholicism and Protestantism had a little missionary activity in parts of Anhui province.After the Opium War,the missionary activities of Catholicism and Protestantism in Anhui province were gradually carried out on a large scale.At the end of 19th century and the early 20th century,Catholicism and Protestantism were successively introduced into Suzhou area.Suzhou area,also known as Suxian area.The scope of the Suzhou region has been changed many times due to the adjustment of administrative divisions in the history.However,the Suzhou area written in this thesis refers to the current prefecture-level city of AnHui province,and its scope only includes the counties of Dangshan,Xiaoxian,Lingbi,Sixian and Yongqiao District.The Christianity written in this thesis only refers to the Protestantism.This thesis mainly describes the spreading course of Protestantism in four counties and one district of the Suzhou region,and briefly summarizes the development process of Catholicism in Suzhou region before the reform and opening up so as to facilitate the analysis of relevant issues.Because the Orthodox Church has a limited scope in China and has not been introduced into AnHui province,so it is not mentioned in the thesis.After the missionaries came to Suzhou area,they established churches on the one hand to carny out religious activities and conducted missionary activities on the other hand by setting up non-profit organizations such as schools and hospitals and organizing social welfare activities.While promoting the missionary work,these social welfare activities have also made a significant contribution to the development of local society.Although the situation in Suzhou area is unrest before the founding of the PRC,the local church is still developing with the efforts of the missionaries and the local believers.In the early days of new China,foreign missionaries were gradually expelled.All the Christian churches in Suzhou area carried out a self-governing,self-supporting and self-preaching reform movement.During the Cultural Revolution,Christianity in all parts of China was severely affected.Since the reform and opening up,with the gradual implementation of the national policy of religious freedom,Christianity in Suzhou area began to enter a new period of development and present some new characteristics of development.In addition,the four counties and one district of the Suzhou region also has common geographical locations,similar natural and cultural environment.The vast plains,the same climate and geographical environment are good for planting the same crops which has prompted the locals to develop the same eating habits,and the same eating habits make the local people almost the same daily routines and festival customs.However,the introduction of Christianity has separated part of the local people from the local traditional lifestyles such as living habits and some festival customs.Therefore,taking the Suzhou area as a whole,it is of great significance to study the interaction between Christianity and local society. |
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