“What could be discovered if Pentecostals in Hong Kong were put on a map?” Alex Mayfield, then a PhD student at Boston University and now a history professor at Asbury University, first raised that question in 2017. He was trying to puzzle out the early history of Pentecostalism on the island.
Encouraged by his Chinese history professor, Eugenio Menegon, Mayfield went through over a thousand Pentecostal periodicals and tracked the movements and activities of Pentecostals in Hong Kong up to 1942. The addresses of their homes, chapels, orphanages, and the like were recorded, along with the names, nationalities, and gender of each Pentecostal believer.
The result produced 4,905 different people, ministries, and locations which were tied together in a thick web of 33,355 relationships. This dense network was used to quantitatively illustrate that Pentecostals were heavily invested in building institutions, prioritizing education, working cooperatively with the government and other denominational bodies, and avoiding the city’s most densely populated areas.
All these findings cut across standard historical narratives that have treated the growth of global Pentecostalism as a sectarian, other-worldly phenomenon that is tied to urbanization and the displacements caused by the modern industrial economy.
If a relatively small sample could produce such new insights, what would become visible if someone looked beyond Hong Kong to all of China, included not just Pentecostal Christians but also Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and Chinese-initiated movements, and expanded the search from 35 to 400 years (1550-1950)?
At that scale, could a person see what role Christians and their institutions played in the formation of modern China? Daryl Ireland, the Associate Director at Boston University’s Center for Global Christianity and Mission (CGCM), was intrigued. Such a question aligned with the Center’s research focus and overlapped with his own expertise. Ireland, Mayfield, and Menegon agreed to expand the original project into the China Historical Christian Database (CHCD), making it an initiative of the CGCM in 2018.
Since that time, the CHCD has become the largest repository of information on Christianity in China ever assembled. It is a global effort. Partnering institutions and scholars from around the world are finding and inputting data. Since the initial launch of the CHCD in July 2022, for example, over 150 scholars and students on four continents have joined the effort to record where every Christian church, school, hospital, orphanage, publishing house, and the like were located in China, and helped identify who worked inside them, whether they were foreigners or Chinese.
The result is a tool that is growing in power. Its limitations are primarily those of the user’s imagination. Some people are using the data to study major missiological issues. For instance, women tended to be less mobile than men, so their social networks were generally smaller. Was that an evangelistic handicap or did their concentrated number of friendships prove to be stronger and more durable than men’s many but possibly fleeting relationships? The social networks of men and women in China may help us better understand the spread of the gospel.
Others use the database more specifically. How many Roman Catholic hospitals were in Guangdong Province, and where were they located? What was the Chinese name of Donald MacGillivray, and who was part of his social network? Did the Russian Orthodox operate any schools? Which missions were active in Kaifeng between 1860 and 1911? Depending on your interests and skills, the CHCD offers a rich store house for uncovering China’s Christian past.
The Center for Global Christianity and Mission just released the second version of the CHCD. The data remains free to download, but most users find the web interface the easiest way to interact with the millions of data points. The CHCD 2.0 allows users to search for people, institutions, and organization; generate geographic and social network maps; or pull up statistical snapshots of mission organizations, such as the China Inland Mission. A fuller demonstration of what the CHCD can do and how to use the web interface can be viewed here.
The new release is an important milestone, but not the end. More still needs to be done. In the immediate future, the CHCD has five priorities:
- Find a better way to deliver the data to users in China. The obstacle is not a firewall obstructing usage, but the interaction between Chinese and American servers as they transfer large amounts of data.
- Enhance the Chinese language search engine. The CHCD functions in English as well as traditional and simplified Chinese; however, users currently searching in Chinese have inconsistent results.
- Expand the number of data points. The CHCD will soon drop new data on Franciscans and Dominicans in China, as well as large additional data sets on Orthodox and Chinese Protestant church leaders. However, since the project covers 400 years and over 400 Christian organizations, more can and needs to be done.
- Build new partnerships. The only way to improve and expand the data is through collaboration. If you want to get involved, please contact us.
- Fund the mission. The CHCD has received several grants in the past, including one from the United States’ National Endowment for the Humanities. However, all the grants have not exceeded the money individual donors combined have given. This project is not driven by the agendas of external funders, but exists because of the enthusiasm, determination, and cooperation of China enthusiasts and people around the world passionate about mission. We continue to rely on donations, and invite you to make a tax-deductible gift that will allow the CHCD to continue to grow.
At a time when the study of Christianity in China is becoming more difficult, the CHCD opens a new portal to explore China’s Christian past. The tool might be different than rummaging through a traditional archive, but by repackaging archival materials into an online tool it invites anyone to ask, “What could be discovered if…?”
Originally from Webpage "ChinaSource"
CCD edited and reprinted with permission
波士顿大学前博士研究生、阿斯伯里大学现历史教授的马飞立（Alex Mayfield）在2017年首次提出这么一个问题：“如果把香港的五旬节派放到一张图上，会发现什么呢？”那时的他正试图解开香港岛上五旬节教会的早期历史谜团。
在中国历史教授梅欧金（Eugenio Menegon）的鼓励下，马飞立查阅了一千多份五旬节派期刊，追踪着五旬节派信徒在香港直至1942年的运动及活动，也一并一一记录下这些人的家庭住址、教会、孤儿院，以及姓名国籍性别等。
其结果是，4905个不同的人、事工组织和地点被33355条关系的细网编织到了一起。从数量上说，这份密集的网络证明了五旬节派在建立机构、重视教育、与政府和其他教派机构合作，以及回避城市人口最密集地区等问题上的大量投入。
所有这些发现都与标准历史叙述所不同，因为这种标准说法将全球五旬节教会的发展视作一种宗派主义和另类现象，是与城市化和现代工业经济造成的人口流动所联系在一起的。
如果一个相对较小的样本就能产生这样的新观点，那么将目光从香港移至整个中国，不仅攘括五旬节派信徒，还包括了新教、天主教、东正教和中国本土发起的运动，再将搜索范围从35年延伸至400年（1550年至1950年），又会发现些什么呢？
在如此番的规模下，可以看出基督徒及其机构在现代中国的形成过程中发挥了怎样的作用吗？艾德恩（Daryl Ireland），这位波士顿大学全球基督教和宣教中心（Center for Global Christianity and Mission）的助理主任，对此饶有兴趣，因为这个问题不仅是与中心的研究重点相符，也与自己的专长重叠。于是，艾德恩、马飞立和梅欧金三人同意将最初的项目扩展为中国基督教历史资料库（China Historical Christian Database），在2018年使之成为全球基督教和宣教中心的一项举措。
从那时起，中国基督教历史资料库已经成为历史上最大的有关中国基督教的信息库。它是一项全球性的努力，有来自全世界的合作机构和学者们在查询及输入数据。自从2022年7月数据库首次启动以来，四大洲有超过150多位学者和大学生加入到这项工程，记录下在中国的每间基督教会、学校、医院、孤儿院、出版社等位置，还帮助确定在这些地方工作过的人员，无论对方是外国人还是中国人。
结果就是，这个工具的功能越发强大，而局限性主要在使用者的想象力上面。一些人利用数据库里的数据研究重要的宣教问题，如女性的流动性往往低于男性，因此她们的社交网络通常要较小，那么这到底是传福音的一大阻碍，还是她们集中起来的友谊要比男性更多、可能消逝得更快的关系更牢固更持久呢？男性和女性在中国的社交网络可能帮助到人们更好地理解福音的传播。
其他人使用数据库则更为具体：广东省有多少家罗马天主教医院？它们位于何处？Donald MacGillivray（译注：季理裴）的中文名是什么？谁又是他社交网络中的一员？俄罗斯东正教会经营过学校吗？开封在1860年至1911年之间活跃过哪些宣教组织？基于人的兴趣和技能，中国基督教历史资料库向人们展示了一个揭开中国基督教过往的宝库。
全球基督教和宣教中心刚刚发布了中国基督教历史资料库的第二版，仍公开免费下载，但大多数使用者认为网络化界面是与数百万个数据点进行互交最简单的方式。第二版数据库允许使用者检索人员、机构和组织；生成地理和社交网络图；亦或是调出如中国内地会（China Inland Mission）等宣教机构的统计快照。中国基督教历史资料库的功能和如何使用网络化界面的全面展示，可以自行点击查看。
新版本是一重要里程碑，但不是终点，还有更多的事情等待完成。在不远的未来，中国基督教历史数据库有五大优先任务：
其一，寻找更好的办法向中国使用者传输数据。阻碍最大的是中美远距离的服务器在传输大量数据时的互动。
其二，增强中文搜索引擎。中国基督教历史资料库既有英文版，也有繁体和简体中文版，但目前使用者用中文检索到的结果与英文版并不一致。
其三，扩大数据点的数量。中国基督教历史资料库不久将提供方济各会和道明会在中国的新数据，以及东正教和中国新教教会领袖们的大量附加数据集合。由于项目覆盖了400年的时间跨度和400多间基督教组织，因此还可以提供更多，需要做的东西也更多。
其四，建设新的合作关系。改善和扩展数据库的唯一途径就是合作。如果正在阅读的您有意愿参与其中，可自行联系，对方非常欢迎（地址可见上方链接）。
其五，资助事工。中国基督教历史资料库过去获得过数笔赠款，包括了美国国家人文基金会的赠款。但是，所有赠款都未能超过个人捐款者赠款的总和。数据库并非受外部资助人的议程驱动，而是因为中国迷和全世界热衷于宣教之人的热情、决心和合作而存在的。他们将继续依靠捐赠，也诚邀正在阅读的您提供免税捐赠，以期中国基督教历史资料库可以继续成长壮大。
当中国基督教的研究变得越来越困难之时，中国基督教历史资料库为探究中国基督教的过去打开了一道新的门户。这份工具可能与翻阅传统档案所不同，但通过将档案资料重新装订成为在线工具，诚邀任何人作如此问：“如果…，会发现什么呢？”
文章原作者为 Daryl Ireland, Alex Mayfield, Eugenio Menegon, Greta Rauch，登载于China Source,原文阅读可按此。本译文为方便读者阅读，有部分修改
绘制中国基督教遗产：中国基督教历史资料库的故事
“What could be discovered if Pentecostals in Hong Kong were put on a map?” Alex Mayfield, then a PhD student at Boston University and now a history professor at Asbury University, first raised that question in 2017. He was trying to puzzle out the early history of Pentecostalism on the island.
Encouraged by his Chinese history professor, Eugenio Menegon, Mayfield went through over a thousand Pentecostal periodicals and tracked the movements and activities of Pentecostals in Hong Kong up to 1942. The addresses of their homes, chapels, orphanages, and the like were recorded, along with the names, nationalities, and gender of each Pentecostal believer.
The result produced 4,905 different people, ministries, and locations which were tied together in a thick web of 33,355 relationships. This dense network was used to quantitatively illustrate that Pentecostals were heavily invested in building institutions, prioritizing education, working cooperatively with the government and other denominational bodies, and avoiding the city’s most densely populated areas.
All these findings cut across standard historical narratives that have treated the growth of global Pentecostalism as a sectarian, other-worldly phenomenon that is tied to urbanization and the displacements caused by the modern industrial economy.
If a relatively small sample could produce such new insights, what would become visible if someone looked beyond Hong Kong to all of China, included not just Pentecostal Christians but also Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and Chinese-initiated movements, and expanded the search from 35 to 400 years (1550-1950)?
At that scale, could a person see what role Christians and their institutions played in the formation of modern China? Daryl Ireland, the Associate Director at Boston University’s Center for Global Christianity and Mission (CGCM), was intrigued. Such a question aligned with the Center’s research focus and overlapped with his own expertise. Ireland, Mayfield, and Menegon agreed to expand the original project into the China Historical Christian Database (CHCD), making it an initiative of the CGCM in 2018.
Since that time, the CHCD has become the largest repository of information on Christianity in China ever assembled. It is a global effort. Partnering institutions and scholars from around the world are finding and inputting data. Since the initial launch of the CHCD in July 2022, for example, over 150 scholars and students on four continents have joined the effort to record where every Christian church, school, hospital, orphanage, publishing house, and the like were located in China, and helped identify who worked inside them, whether they were foreigners or Chinese.
The result is a tool that is growing in power. Its limitations are primarily those of the user’s imagination. Some people are using the data to study major missiological issues. For instance, women tended to be less mobile than men, so their social networks were generally smaller. Was that an evangelistic handicap or did their concentrated number of friendships prove to be stronger and more durable than men’s many but possibly fleeting relationships? The social networks of men and women in China may help us better understand the spread of the gospel.
Others use the database more specifically. How many Roman Catholic hospitals were in Guangdong Province, and where were they located? What was the Chinese name of Donald MacGillivray, and who was part of his social network? Did the Russian Orthodox operate any schools? Which missions were active in Kaifeng between 1860 and 1911? Depending on your interests and skills, the CHCD offers a rich store house for uncovering China’s Christian past.
The Center for Global Christianity and Mission just released the second version of the CHCD. The data remains free to download, but most users find the web interface the easiest way to interact with the millions of data points. The CHCD 2.0 allows users to search for people, institutions, and organization; generate geographic and social network maps; or pull up statistical snapshots of mission organizations, such as the China Inland Mission. A fuller demonstration of what the CHCD can do and how to use the web interface can be viewed here.
The new release is an important milestone, but not the end. More still needs to be done. In the immediate future, the CHCD has five priorities:
- Find a better way to deliver the data to users in China. The obstacle is not a firewall obstructing usage, but the interaction between Chinese and American servers as they transfer large amounts of data.
- Enhance the Chinese language search engine. The CHCD functions in English as well as traditional and simplified Chinese; however, users currently searching in Chinese have inconsistent results.
- Expand the number of data points. The CHCD will soon drop new data on Franciscans and Dominicans in China, as well as large additional data sets on Orthodox and Chinese Protestant church leaders. However, since the project covers 400 years and over 400 Christian organizations, more can and needs to be done.
- Build new partnerships. The only way to improve and expand the data is through collaboration. If you want to get involved, please contact us.
- Fund the mission. The CHCD has received several grants in the past, including one from the United States’ National Endowment for the Humanities. However, all the grants have not exceeded the money individual donors combined have given. This project is not driven by the agendas of external funders, but exists because of the enthusiasm, determination, and cooperation of China enthusiasts and people around the world passionate about mission. We continue to rely on donations, and invite you to make a tax-deductible gift that will allow the CHCD to continue to grow.
At a time when the study of Christianity in China is becoming more difficult, the CHCD opens a new portal to explore China’s Christian past. The tool might be different than rummaging through a traditional archive, but by repackaging archival materials into an online tool it invites anyone to ask, “What could be discovered if…?”
Originally from Webpage "ChinaSource"
CCD edited and reprinted with permission
Mapping China's Christian Legacy: The Story of the China Historical Christian Database
