China Historical Christian Database: Mapping the Spatial and Social Networks of Christianity in China, 1550-1950

FAIN: HAA-280992-21

Boston University (Boston, MA 02215-1390)
Daryl Ray Ireland (Project Director: January 2021 to October 2025)
Eugenio Menegon (Co Project Director: June 2021 to October 2025)

The development of the China Historical Christian Database that seeks to map and visualize the relationships among Chinese Christians, missionaries, and the people with whom they interacted from 1550-1950.

The China Historical Christian Database quantifies and visualizes the place of Christianity in modern China (1550-1950). It provides users the tools to discover where every Christian church, school, hospital, orphanage, publishing house, and the like were located in China, and it documents who worked inside those buildings, both foreign and Chinese. Collectively, this information creates spatial maps and generates relational networks that reveal where, when, and how Western ideas, technologies, and practices entered China. Simultaneously, it uncovers how and through whom Chinese ideas, technologies, and practices were conveyed to the West. This project breaks new ground in providing quantifiable data about modern Sino-Western relations. Scholars can interact with the data through an intuitive website, while advanced users have open access to the CHCD’s data for elaboration. Boston University’s digital infrastructure guarantees the project’s long-term sustainability.