Investigation And Collaboration:Research By The China Continuation Committee(1913-1922)

The China Continuation Committee was the first national institution in Chinese Christian history to cover all denominations and the beginning of Chinese Christians playing a role of in church affairs.It was established in March 1913 when the National Christian Conference was held.In May 1922,the National Christian Conference was convened under the preparation of the China Continuation Committee.At the meeting,the Chinese representative formally proposed the indigenization for the first time and established the National Christian Council of China,and the mission of the committee was ended.This article focuses on the establishment of the institution and its missions in investigation and Sino-Western cooperation,teasing out the process of its establishment and its tasks in investigation and collaboration.This article also tries to trace back the role played by the China Continuation Committee in the history of Chinese Christianity as well as further understand and understand its historical status and value.The whole paper is divided into five parts.The introduction part mainly introduces the genesis of this article,academic review,and research methods and data sources,discussing the academic value of the topic as well.Compared with the simple mention of previous studies,this paper comprehensively teast out the committee and focus on its most important work and most important contributions.The first chapter of this paper is aimed at comprehensively teasing out the general situation of the establishment of the China Continuation Committee,discussing the background and development process of the establishment of the committee as well as the important organization and core personnel of the committee in the past nine years work.Its emergence and development conformed to the historical trend of the universal unity movement and changes in Chinese society.Finally,this chapter examines its general situation from beginning to end,and summarizes its significance to the development of Chinese Christianity.The second chapter is the focus of this article,which introduces the most important survey and statistical work done during the existence of the China Continuation Committee.This chapter first sorts out the survey statistics done by the early missionaries.Then it discusses a series of work done by the special investigation committee established after the establishment of the committee,especially the national survey started in 1918 and origin of the book Christian Occupation of China.Finally,it summarizes the significance and impact of the survey statistical work,pointing out that the survey activity is the longest and most far-reaching work of the committee,directly affecting the missionary strategy of Western missions in China,and stimulating the rise of the Chinese non-Christian movement.The Chinese political and academic circles,which have affected the lack of statistical traditions of social investigations,began to promote similar work.The third chapter mainly elaborates the role and limitations of the China Continuation Committee as a platform for cooperation between Chinese and Western churches and different denominations.Western missionaries have mastered the power of the church since they came to China.However,with the development of the church,Chinese Christian leaders began to improve their ability and status.Therefore,the power of missionaries was gradually transferred from the Western Chirstians to Chinese Christians.From then on,Chinese Christians understood that they must establish their own churches,which laid the foundation for the establishment of an indigenous church of “Self-governance,Self-support,and Self-preaching" in the future.The role of the committee in the transfer of church power is the main content discussed in this chapter.The final conclusion summarizes the role and limitations of the China Continuation Committee in the history of Chinese Christianity.This article believes that,first,starting from the Committee,and then to the establishment of the National Christian Council of China and the National Committee of Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China,the Committee is the starting point for these tasks.The work it has done has laid the foundation for the development of the Chinese church to reach a "golden period".Second,the work of the committee is limited,and the Chinese society was affected by the May forth New Cultural Movement,World War I,and the trend of Marxism.Thus,the development of Christianity has gradually slowed down,and the "golden period" gradually faded away.Many elites began to look for other paths outside the church.The turmoil in the Chinese society and political situation made the development of the Chinese church full of opportunities and challenges.The China Continuation Committee came into being and fulfilled its missions in such a special period.Its historical influence is worthy of further study.