On 29 December 1995, Wu Yangming, a peasant
from Anhui, was executed for founding a counter-revolutionary
sect known as the “Established King”. Wu, who
only had primary school education, became a Christian at
the age of 29 in 1979 but shortly after was drawn into cultist
activities. He was arrested twice and imprisoned but, by
the late eighties, was actively spreading his own bizarre
teachings proclaiming himself to be the Messiah. Cult members
zealously evangelized, attacking the Communist Party and
the State-controlled Protestant Three Self Patriotic Movement
and declaring that the end of the world was imminent. Claiming
to be ‘God Incarnate’, Wu gathered a number
of young girls around him and reportedly raped more than
one hundred women. Finally, one of them escaped and alerted
the police who hunted him down, arrested him and had him
executed. The ‘Established King’ cult is just
one of many cults and heresies which have arisen in China
over the last two decades on the fringes of the orthodox
Christian church. These cults are a reminder that it is
not only evangelical Christianity which is enjoying growth
in modern China – heretical and syncretistic sects
are also flourishing, spawned in the weird twilight zone
between authentic Christian faith and traditional Chinese
folk religion. (Whole article)
"Let all people know that I have come.
I have already brought the glory of Israel to the East...My
work is going to impact the whole universe, and the lightning
has come from the east to the west"
(Words 190).
"Jesus Christ...has already returned,
but nobody seems to know it. People just wait for him listlessly.
He has already come in white clouds (referring to his spirit,
his words, and all that he is). He has descended to be with
the over-comers" (Words 436).
The above horrendous statements are made by
the head of a cult from China. Eastern Lightning, the cult's
leader, proclaims herself as "Christ re-incarnated
at the present end times." The group was named after
the cult's twisted interpretation of Mathew 24:27: "For
as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the
west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man" (NIV,
1973 & 78). The group and its teachings appeared in
the early '90s in the province of Henan, China. In 10 years,
they have spread over 17 provinces. (Whole
article)
EL is not just targeting the Chinese Church.
Their website is in both Chinese and English. It states
that they want to "spread the gospel of the kingdom
era all over the world quickly." In March and April,
the cult members visited at least 15 Chinese churches in
San Francisco Bay Area. Some attended church meetings and
introduced themselves as coming from the House Church in
China. As people warmed toward them, they started to pass
out books and CDs. A brother who went to two consecutive
meetings in two churches saw the same cult member introducing
herself with different names. (Whole
article)
Sister Hong's brainwashing session began when
her Bible class ended. Five peasant women had led the Catholic
nun to a house in a distant village in Henan province two
years ago so that she could teach the life of Jesus. Suddenly,
the women vanished and a man entered. For the next five
days he refused to let her leave and forced her to debate
the Bible. He said the day of judgment is nigh. Jesus has
returned. China—the Great Red Dragon from the Book
of Revelations—faces destruction. By the end, "I
was dizzy. I was confused. He knew the Bible so well,"
says Sister Hong. Her pleading, plus promises to return,
finally won her release. Lightning had struck again. (Whole
article)
As the year 2000 approaches, certain doomsday
sects and cults within the church throughout the world believe
that the change in millennium will herald the end of the
world and the return of Jesus Christ. The church in China
also has to contend with such sects rapidly spreading their
message in certain parts of the country, bringing chaos
and confusion to church congregations wherever these millennial
groups operate. In China, the best known example of this
at the moment is the Eastern Lightning sect. In September's
issue of Tian Feng, the magazine of the China Christian
Council, several writers address the issue of millennial
prophecies, the return of Jesus Christ and the methods of
the Eastern Lightning sect. They warn believers not to fall
under the influence of such teachings. (Whole
article)
Due to the relatively low educational level
and low understanding of faith among many rural believers,
sects and heresies are able to spread fairly quickly in
some areas of China. In the past couple of years, the "Eastern
Lightning" sect has spread like a scar across the whole
of China (for an account of the beliefs of this sect, see
ANS 97.12.3). In May's issue of Tian Feng, the magazine
of the Chinese church, Hong Wen describes the damage this
sect brought to her small rural community
in Shandong Province after it arrived there in Winter 1997.
After arriving in Hong Wen's home town, the
sect managed to claim 300 believers and completely take
over four churches within the space of only one year. The
sect is unique in that it only tries to recruit members
among already established Christian congregations, converting
people who are already believers. The group does not try
to evangelize among unbelievers, saying that "Heaven's
doors are already closed", and so only those who already
believe in God can be saved by re-aligning their beliefs
toward those of the sect and believing in the "right"
way. In order to win over new converts, the sect infiltrates
church groups and tries to locate those whose faith is particularly
weak and not grounded in solid teaching. Group members often
lie about their names and addresses while evangelizing,
and even send single women to young single males' homes
to seduce them into embracing the sect. Sect members only
operate at night or behind closed doors during the day.
(Whole article)
In recent years many heretical sect have appeared
all over China, such as the "Spirit Spirit" sect,
the "Yellers", and the "Established King"
sect, among others. Because many believers in rural areas
have a low educational level and a limited understanding
of the faith, these sects have at times been able to attract
a limited following in certain rural areas. However, up
until now, none of these sects have really managed to thrive
or develop in any extensive way. November's issue of Tian
Feng, the magazine of the Chinese church, reports that recently
a new sect has been spreading rapidly, especially in the
North of China. This sect differs from others in that it
has a fully-developed theory and system of beliefs and also
various tools necessary for propagation purposes, such as
literature and evangelists. The sect has thus managed to
spread more rapidly than other sects in recent times and
continues to operate on a wide scale. As a warning to believers,
November's Tian Feng gives details of the sect and also
some personal accounts of encounters with sect members.
(Whole article)
For centuries the outside world has yearned
to understand the mysterious land of China. Since the late
1970s--when China again opened her doors to foreign tourists
and businessmen-millions of visitors have flocked into the
"Middle Kingdom," sampling her sumptuous food,
photographing her scenic beauties, and experiencing her
bustling marketplaces.
Few, however, have been fortunate enough to
experience the "hidden" China. Woven into the
mosaic of the largest population on earth is a rich thread.
China's ethnic minorities, though numbering more than 100
million people, are largely lost amid the vast ocean of
1.2 billion Han Chinese. Although numerically the minorities
of China account for only 6.7 percent of China's population,
they live in 62.5 percent of China's territory. (Whole
article)
World famous historian Arnold Toynbee said
that the 21st century would be the Chinese century. That
was not a prophecy, but a conclusion based on his life-long
research of world history and cultural changes. At the time
he said this, there seemed to be no supporting evidence,
but recent developments indicate that these words of Toynbee
will indeed become reality. (Whole
article)
A new millennium is dawning and everything
in China seems to be new. A new generation of young people,
comparable in mindset to Generations X and Y in the West,
searches for material riches and temporal pleasure. New
skyscrapers grace the skylines of Shanghai and other cities.
Promising to weather the financial crisis
in Asia, China's leaders continue to push for economic growth
and modernization. As state enterprises are dismantled,
the private sector is becoming dominant.
Will the twenty-first century be China's century
in the world? If China does become a world leader, will
Christian ideas influence her direction? Her goals?
What ideas will truly guide the "search
for modern China?" Will China be an anti-foreign, militant,
and nationalistic people in the 21st century? Will nihilism,
materialism, and atheism be the governing ideas for the
worldview of the Chinese people? Will Buddhism and folk
religions rise again to dominate their thinking? Will a
new version of Confucianism find a hearing among China's
students and teachers? What is the place of the Christian
gospel, a worldview based on the Old and New Testaments,
in China's search for an all-comprehensive national ideology? (Whole
article)
Research:
Check out the Links
page at ChinaSource for an outstanding list of China links
on Business, History and Culture, News, Cities & Provinces,
History of Christianity, Religious News, Economy, Language
Learning, Population, Education, Living in China, Research,
Government, Maps, Studying in China, and Travel.
China
Insight Newsletter:
A bi-monthly newsletter giving an insider's view of China
by Tony Lambert.
