"Following the prohibition of missionary activity after 1724, China's Christians were effectively cut off from all foreign theological guidance. The ensuing isolation forced China's Christian communities to become self-reliant in perpetuating the basic principles of their faith. Left to their own devices, the missionary seed developed into a panoply of indigenous traditions, with Christian ancestry as the common denominator. Christianity thus underwent the same process of inculturation as previous religious traditions in China, such as Buddhism and Judaism. As the guardian of orthodox morality, the prosecuting state sought to exercise all-pervading control over popular thoughts and social functions. This study therefore presents the campaigns against Christians during this period as part and parcel of the campaign against 'heresy' and 'heretical' movements in general." -- Publisher description.

Defining the research parameters -- Aims and structure -- Our sources : a word of caution -- Geography -- Through inculturation to Chinese Christianity -- Accommodation and inculturation -- Japan's 'hidden Christians' -- The evolution of Chinese Christianity -- Christian missions and popular religious culture -- The philosophical background -- Christianity and the Manchurian elite -- Late imperial Christianity : popular cult or alien creed? -- Filial sons and a world of demons -- Ancestral tablets and auspicious inscriptions -- Interaction with other movements -- Peasant millenarianism and Christian theology -- Guilt, sin, universal harmony -- Healing and black magic -- Death and afterlife -- Materialism and superstition : attitudes towards religious discipline -- Matrimony and filial duty -- Inherited identity in Christian villages -- Itinerant Christians, private religious practice, and the interest of the state -- A protective father : official perceptions of Christianity and government action against sectarian movements -- The philosophical basis for anti-heresy campaigns -- The Confucian order and the importance of family ties -- State-sanctioned orthodoxy and 'heresy' -- Christianity as target : a chronology of state action -- The Yongzheng Edict of 1724 -- The Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns (1736-1821) -- The Adeodato Affair and the persecution of 1805 -- The persecution of 1811 and its aftermath -- Relaxation of anti-Christian state action during the Daoguang period -- The perplexed official : Christianity as heterodox mystery -- The official description of heresy -- 'Heretical' writings -- Christianity as internal menace -- Between social control and official paranoia -- Poverty and persecution -- The state versus Christian 'heresy' -- Christianity as alien intrusion -- Conclusion : Chinese Christianity and the fear of 'heresy'.