Foreword by Ricci Institute Founding Director,
Fr. Edward J. Malatesta, S.J. (1932-1998)

"Chinese culture has a five thousand year history. During this long period of time the Han people and some fifty minorities have come to form the most populous nation on earth. As the modernization of China continues its course, China's power and influence in every domain of human endeavor become ever greater. China represents, therefore, a culture, a history, a people which will affect in increasing measure the cultures, histories and peoples of the planet. Christianity has a two thousand year old history which continues to unfold, bringing its values to interact with the cultures and religions of all peoples.

China and Christianity first met in the seventh century and from that time to the present, with greater or lesser intensity, have engaged in a dialogue which has challenged and enriched both partners.
The history of this dialogue can be divided into five major parts:

• The presence of Nestorian Christians beginning with the Tang dynasty and continuing to some extent into the Middle Ages.
• Christian communities founded by Franciscan missionaries from Europe during the Yuan dynasty.
• Christian communities founded by Jesuit and other Catholic missionaries from 1583 until 1800.
• The growth of Protestant and Catholic communities from 1803 to 1949.
• From 1949 to the present, a tumultuous and challenging period of almost fifty years, indigenized Protestant and Catholic communities, public and underground, have developed in remarkable ways.

The first disciples of Jesus formed the earliest Christian communities in the Holy Land. They and their successors then proclaimed the Christian faith in other parts of the world and assisted in the formation of new communities. As the church in each land reached maturity, it began to govern itself and evangelize its own people. Now after thirteen centuries of dialogue with Christianity in which foreign missionaries were the principal partner, Chinese Christianity has entered a new, definitive phase wherein the Chinese are the leaders of Chinese churches and the chief evangelizers of the Chinese population.

This turning-point, filled with promise for the good of China, the universal Church, and the world , presents a suitable moment to look at the dialogue between China and Christianity in the past, in the present, and with an eye to the future in as comprehensive a way as possible. The dialogue has been important, is important, and always will be important. The more we understand it the more effectively we can continue to engage in it for the benefit of all parties."