Introduction :sx Tiananmen Square .sx Tiananmen Square , the heart of Beijing .sx The shimmering yellow eaves of the imperial palaces fade gracefully north - wards into the depths of the Forbidden City , where swallows swoop among the trees .sx South , the Memorial to the People's Heroes stands dead centre in a waste of concrete and paving-stones , bordered by the giant , neo-Stalinist Great Hall of the People and the Historical Museum .sx Imperial China and Maoist China meet in stark synthesis .sx In the spring of 1976 I was a junior diplomat stationed in Beijing .sx The upper echelons of the Communist Party were locked in silent struggle between the followers of the hard-left , the notorious Gang of Four , and those sympathetic to the oft-purged moderate , Deng Xiaoping .sx The death of Premier Zhou Enlai that January had seen an unprecedented outpouring of popular grief for the man who had sought to blunt the fanatical extremism of the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution .sx In early April 1976 citizens from all walks of life marched into Tiananmen Square with paper wreaths to honour their deceased Premier - and breathe defiance against the leftists .sx On Sunday , 4 April I attended church in the small upper room in Dongdan Street - the only Protestant church open in the whole country .sx Three elderly Chinese pastors went through the motions of public worship for the tiny congregation of resident diplomats , and the odd visiting businessman .sx ( In those days there were no tourists .sx ) No preaching was permitted , and at Easter and Christmas plain-clothes policemen were stationed on the corner of the street opposite the drab , unmarked building to deter any ordinary Chinese foolish enough to enter the building .sx For twenty years the Chinese church had been submerged by the tide of Maoism and many pastors and priests were in labour camps .sx Beijing was full of derelict church buildings .sx South of Tiananmen Square in the old diplomatic quarter a former Catholic church was used as a primary school .sx A cross hung lop-sided from the spire - one of the few the Red Guards had left standing , presumably because it was too dangerous to remove .sx That cross symbolised for me the situation of the church in China .sx Sometimes , cycling through the narrow back-streets of Beijing and coming across yet another church building used as a school , a factory or simply left to decay , I would pray for Chinese Christians .sx But was there actually still a Chinese church in existence ?sx With every street corner plastered with red and white Maoist texts , and every Chinese one met obediently parroting the Party line , it was hard to say .sx After church I wandered down to the square .sx The People's Monument was surrounded by a sea of wreaths .sx Everything was peaceful , with families with their children strolling in the spring sunlight .sx But that night the authorities removed all the wreaths and sealed off the monument with armed guards .sx The people reacted with fury .sx The following day a vast crowd gathered in the square .sx Vehicles were burnt , as was the Public Security building on the south side of the square .sx For the first time since the Communist victory in 1949 a popular demonstration had openly defied the ruling Party in the centre of power .sx Such rebellion could not be tolerated .sx On the evening of 5 April thousands of Workers' Militia armed with heavy staves cleared the square , which was covered in blood .sx At least a hundred people were killed .sx The Gang of Four were triumphant ; Deng Xiaoping was stripped of his posts and purged yet again .sx A heavy pall of fear spread across the country .sx A little later , tens of thousands of workers and citizens were dragooned into a demonstration of support for the Party's demotion of the 'Capitalist roader' , Deng .sx They trudged wearily towards Tiananmen Square waving small paper flags - red , pink , yellow - scrawled with suitable Party slogans .sx There was a distinct lack of enthusiasm , and one man positively scowled when I took a photograph .sx The masses were not amused .sx Then events followed each other at a dizzying pace .sx The great Tangshan earthquake rocked North China , and was widely regarded by the peasants as a portent of the fall of the dynasty - in this case , of Mao's imminent death .sx The old man was rumoured to be seriously ill with Parkinson's disease and virtually a puppet of the Gang of Four , including his wife , Jiang Qing .sx Finally Mao died .sx I was visiting a factory in Shanghai at the time of the announcement , on the afternoon of 9 September 1976 .sx The visit was hurriedly cut short and we were returned to our hotel .sx That evening all the flags across Shanghai and the entire country were lowered .sx The Gang of Four , fearing trouble , hastily despatched Workers' Militia to guard all the main bridges .sx The country was tense and fearful .sx One month later , on 6 October , the Gang of Four were suddenly arrested in a lightning 'palace coup' .sx Two weeks later the streets of Beijing erupted into a joyous celebration of their downfall , and the hope of better times .sx People danced , young men beat gongs and cymbals vigorously and fireworks exploded over Tiananmen Square .sx For once the current 'Party line' coincided exactly with the feelings of ordinary people .sx The following year the people hung small bottles in the trees to express their support for Deng Xiaoping , China's hope for reform , and an end to the nightmare of the Cultural Revolution .sx The Chinese love puns , and in Chinese ' xiaoping' can also mean 'little bottle' .sx Sure enough , Deng returned to power , and the same crowds who had been forced to denounce him the previous year now poured dutifully , but more happily , out on the streets and marched into Tiananmen Square to " celebrate the Party's glorious decision to restore Comrade Deng Xiaoping to all his posts " .sx Reform was in the air , and high hopes of political and economic change .sx In the spring of 1979 I returned to Beijing .sx China was now opening to the outside world .sx All the hard-line policies of Mao were rapidly being undone by Deng whose favourite saying was that " it does not matter whether the cat is black or white , so long as it catches the mouse " - in other words practical economics should take priority over ideological niceties .sx As part of the new 'open door' policy the Communist Party had decided to allow a limited degree of religious toleration .sx With Party permission , all over China churches , temples and mosques were being re - opened after thirteen years of fierce persecution ( 1966-79 ) when all religious expression was outlawed .sx I attended the church in Dongdan Street for three successive Sundays shortly after Easter 1979 , when ordinary Chinese were allowed again to worship publicly .sx Each Sunday the congregation grew a little bit larger .sx The atmosphere was electric .sx Elderly believers who had suffered humiliation for years now quietly whispered " Praise the Lord !sx " and " Hallelujah !sx " to punctuate the prayers .sx During the Communion service , many wept silently as they received the bread and wine .sx For the first time I experienced the deep reverence and seriousness with which Chinese Christians worship their Lord .sx I was deeply moved .sx More than ten years have passed since these events .sx During that decade the Chinese church has sprung up and blossomed .sx It has been my privilege to travel to twenty different provinces , and visit Christians and churches across a wide spectrum - pastors , elders , evangelists , house - church leaders and believers .sx For several years I did not return to Beijing .sx But then , almost accidentally , while passing through to another province , I found myself in Beijing , and in Tiananmen Square once again , at the height of the student movement in May 1989 .sx Tiananmen Square was filled with hundreds of thousands of people .sx Students , workers and ordinary Beijing citizens processed around the square denouncing corruption and calling for political reforms .sx All was orderly .sx Many families had brought their children , and the atmosphere was joyful , almost holiday-like .sx On 17 and 18 May perhaps two million people came out into the streets .sx The students I spoke to were serious and responsible , and hopeful that the government would negotiate with them to initiate political reform .sx Playful cartoons and slogans denounced the hard-line Premier Li Peng , and called on Deng Xiaoping to resign , but all was good-humoured .sx The wheel had turned full circle .sx Deng , the hope of China for reform in the seventies , was now , at the end of the eighties , seen as too old and too conservative to implement political change .sx Here was the contradiction - and soon , the tragedy - of China under Deng .sx Great strides had been made in economic reform , but Deng was not prepared to give up one-Party rule .sx But on that day in May the students and citizens of Beijing were carried forward on a tidal wave of expectancy .sx The democracy movement had spread across China to at least eighty other cities .sx Workers from the factories came to the square by the lorry-load and were cheered loudly .sx I even saw a few lorries filled with army cadets openly demonstrating for the students .sx The scene was noisy with chanted slogans punctuated by the harsh blaring of ambulance horns , come to administer first aid to the many students on hunger strike who had collapsed from exhaustion or heat-stroke .sx But then I heard a new note :sx the sound of hymn-singing .sx Amidst the sea of banners coming into view in front of the Great Hall of the People , the sign of the cross was lifted high .sx The white banner with a large red cross proclaimed in Chinese characters " God so loved the world " .sx I pushed through the crowd to investigate .sx About twenty students , all Christians , were clustered round the banner .sx Their leader held high a small wooden cross .sx They sang heartily , " I am a true soldier of Christ " .sx Then , with dozens of curious spectators holding up tape recorders to catch this unique event , they launched into 'Rock of Ages' .sx I joined in .sx For the first time in forty years Chinese Christians were able to hold an open-air witness in the heart of the capital in Tiananmen Square .sx A day later martial law was declared .sx I was able to get out of Beijing as the tanks surrounded the city , and ordinary citizens began to build barricades .sx Two weeks later the People's Liberation Army crushed the people's hopes .sx Tiananmen Square and the surrounding streets were red with the blood of 2000 to 3000 students and citizens , according to reliable estimates .sx For the moment all hopes of needed political reform in China have been cruelly dashed to the ground .sx The hard-line leftists in the Party have steadily consolidated their control .sx It is against the harsh backdrop of political repression and ideological indoctrination that the Chinese church continues its witness .sx Now , across China , and overseas among the hundred thousand or more Chinese scholars living in exile ( few wish to return to their homeland under the present regime ) , the future of China is being hotly debated .sx The Christian faith is more and more being regarded as a serious option .sx In China and overseas , thousands of students and intellectuals are turning to Christ .sx Faith in the Communist Party has been shattered .sx At a deeper level , traditional Chinese belief in the intrinsic goodness of human nature has been severely shaken by the Beijing massacre .sx The Christian message of sin and redemption has new relevance and freshness to a people emerging from the rubble of Marxism , desperate for true freedom and meaning in life .sx The colossal growth of the Christian church in the Chinese countryside , and now among students and young people , has seriously alarmed the elderly Party ideologues .sx China stands at a spiritual crossroads .sx The next decade will be crucial .sx This book looks in detail at the development of the Christian church in China since the Cultural Revolution ( 1966-76) .sx First we examine the Cultural Revolution period itself , which witnessed both extreme persecution and the embryonic growth of vigorous spiritual life ( chs 2-3) .sx Secondly the new religious policy of the Chinese Communist Party is analysed in depth from the original sources , both at the national and local levels ( chs 4-5) .sx