A brief history of the Bible in China

“To Chinese Christians reading the Bible is like eating rice and praying is like breathing air.”

- Rev Kan Ren Ping, Nanjing.

Hand written Scriptures such as these kept the faith going during the Cultural Revolution.

1823 First Chinese Bible printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

1937 Bible Society opens China Bible House.

1949 Mao Zedong founds the People’s Republic of China.

1966 – 1976 The Cultural Revolution. Bibles are confiscated and destroyed, churches are closed and Christians persecuted.

Precious Bibles are hidden and extracts are copied by hand.

1979 Churches reopen. Printing of Bibles begins using the same printing presses that once printed Mao Zedong’s The Little Red Book.

1980 Chinese Church leaders meet and decide one of their most urgent tasks is the printing of Bibles.

1986 Work on building the Amity Printing Press in Nanjing begins following a worldwide fundraising effort by Bible Society and its supporters.

1987 On 5th December, Bible Society along with the Amity Foundation and the China Christian Council officially open the Amity Printing Press. The first Bibles begin to roll off the printing presses.

1989 The Amity Printing Press prints its one millionth Bible.

1999 ... and its twenty millionth Bible.

2008 The Amity Printing Press moves into new premises with increased capacity to print 12 million Bibles a year.

2010 A milestone of 54 million Bibles printed for Chinese Christians is reached.

2011 The work of printing Bibles continues with the help of Bible Society supporters around the world including Christians in New Zealand such as you.

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This article is from The Word at Work – Summer 2011.