The Nanjing Union Theological Seminary is the flagship theological seminary of Protestant Christianity in China today. It is managed by the China Christian Council. Prior to the founding of the People's Republic of China, the institution had its beginnings as Nanjing Theological Seminary, established in 1911. In November 1952, ten other theological seminaries in East China would join it to form Nanjing Union Theological Seminary. In 1961, Yanjing Union Theological Seminary of Beijing would likewise join, making a total of twelve seminaries which formed the new seminary.
Seminary during the Japanese occupation
During the massacre in Nanjing during December 1937, the pre-consolidated Nanjing Theological Seminary housed thousands of Chinese civilians in an effort to offer protection from the Japanese soldiers. However, Christian affiliated schools and seminaries suffered during the Japanese Invasion, and many were unofficially moved into unoccupied areas of Free China.
In early 1952, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement worked to reform theological education. The new government saw Christianity as a potentially subversive power and seminaries lost funds from overseas denominations. Y. T. Wu was at the head of a committee to work towards the union of seminaries in East China. By November 1952, eleven theological seminaries from East China were incorporated as Nanjing Union Theological Seminary:
In 1961, a twelfth institution would join the union, Yanjing Union Theological Seminary, Beijing. In December 1952, K. H. Ting would be elected by the board of directors as the new principal. The union brought together a wide theological spectrum of instructors and students. The seminary has long been the main center for training religious leaders, and was reopened as one of China's primary institutions for religious study in 1981. Protestantism regained popularity in China during the 1980s, and the Jinling Theological Seminary, which was the only graduate-level seminary at the time, began publishing a new Theological Review; the Jinling shenxuezhi, or Jinling Theological Review, as well as the publication entitled Zongjiao, or Religion.
