With the wave of Western learning in the 19th century, Christianity, as an important part of Western culture, also began to flow to China in large quantities. In particular, coastal areas such as Guangdong are at the forefront of opening up. Looking at the development of Christianity in the Chaoshan region, it can be roughly divided into three stages.
The first stage originated in 1848-1860. Dispatched by The Basel German Evangelical Missionary Society, the German missionary Rudolf Lechler (1824-1908) began to preach in the Chaoshan Chenghai Yanzao area, opening the prelude to the spread of Christianity in the Chaoshan region. Missionaries represented by Li Liji visited more than 200 cities and villages in the Chaoshan area, but because of the deep-rooted traditional Chinese culture, the cultural exclusion force was strong. Missionaries were repeatedly expelled by regional cultural conservatives, and the missionary work was very difficult. Until the official opening of Shantou in 1860, the overall missionary environment of Christianity in Chaoshan was relaxed, and compared with other regions in the country, Hu Weiqing once said in the article that "it should be recognized that the relationship between people and religion in Chaoshan is still relatively relaxed." ”
The second stage was from the beginning of the 20th century to before the reform and opening up. From 1901 to 1920, after the early spread of Christianity, data show that during this period, there were about 22.4 diners per 10,000 people in chaoshan area, and the spread of Christianity was the second largest in Guangdong Province. By the eve of the founding of new China, a total of 3 foreign sects of Christianity (i.e., Presbyterian, Baptist, and Sabbath) had been introduced to the Chaoshan region; 3 Chinese denominations (i.e. Christian Congregation, True Jesus Church, True Jesus Church of China) and 2 churches founded by Shantou Believers (New Chinese Christian Church and Hakka Chapel) preach in Chaoshan Province; Presbyterian and Baptist organizations were spread throughout Chaoshan and some progress was made in preaching. In addition, the church has undertaken many schools, hospitals and other cultural undertakings in combination with educational missions and medical missions. The number of congregations and congregations gradually increased, and the scale of Christian missions expanded. After the liberation of Shantou City, the churches in the Chaoshan area basically maintained normal religious activities. In the early 1950s, the church participated in patriotic marches such as the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and jointly organized activities such as "three-self" patriotic education. Subsequently, the Church in Shantou City announced that it was free from the control of foreign missions, requiring that the activities and affairs of the church be the responsibility of the Chinese pastor himself, and in 1957, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee was established, and Christianity gradually developed indigenized.
The third stage was held after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, with the comprehensive development of the rectification of chaos, the correct implementation of religious policies brought new opportunities for the development of Christianity, and churches around the world resumed worship one after another. By 1987, the number of believers in Shantou, the first to establish a chapel, had increased to more than 60,000, and the number of churches and pastors had also increased significantly. In the 1980s, a total of 24 members of the Christian "Three Self-Associations" were rated as advanced workers at the service exchange meeting for the construction of the "four modernizations". After the reform and opening up, the Chaoshan regional Christian church has successively received foreign Christian friends, and has invited Hong Kong church people to visit Shantou many times, and carried out sacred music exchange activities with the Chaoshan Christian church. The breadth and depth of the development of Christianity in the Chaoshan region is constantly expanding.