R. G. TIEDEMANN

Church spires rise between buildings. Figures are uncertain, but it may be reasonable to accept the latest estimate of 53 million—mainly unregistered—Christians in China, of which 39 million are Protestants and 14 million are Catholics. PHOTO BY BERKSHIRE PUBLISHING.
Christianity in China remained for several centuries a marginal, foreign religion that attracted relatively few converts. Missionaries and Chinese Christians were considered a threat to the political and social order in late imperial, republican, and early