Editor’s note: This June, we are praying for Nanjing, an ancient and important city in eastern China. Nanjing is a port on the Yangtze River, and has a population of nearly 10 million. In this introductory post, several Nanjing pastors talk about the accepting attitude that makes their city special, as well as some of the tragic historical reasons for that openness.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Welcome and Acceptance
China Partnership: How is your city unique among China’s cities?
Du Liwei: Nanjing is unique because it is very accepting of others. This city is very different from others in the Yangtze River area; there is an acceptance of outsiders and a willingness to allow them to come into the city.
Hu Jiang: Historically, Nanjing has been very important. It was the capital city for six different dynasties. (Some people even claim Nanjing was the capital for ten dynasties!)
Zhang Ming: The connection between Taiwan and Nanjing is very close, because Nanjing was the capital city for Nationalist China before the CCP. The headquarters of the Three Self Church is also in Nanjing.
This city is very different from others in the Yangtze River area; there is an acceptance of outsiders and a willingness to allow them to come into the city.
Hu Jiang: The seminary for the Three Self Church is in Nanjing, and a lot of the Three Self pastors are raised up here.
Liang Mai: There are a lot of universities in Nanjing, and the city has an intense university culture. A lot of pastors here started in student ministry, then later became pastors.
A lot of sad events have happened in Nanjing, and a lot of people have been killed here. This includes not only the most famous event in 1937. Before that, there were at least three or four times in its long history that the population of the whole city was killed.
Nanjing has a laidback culture, and people say it might be because of this. People say you don’t need to worry or pursue things too much, just enjoy today’s life. There is very much a culture of welcome, acceptance, and letting people come into your space.
A lot of sad events have happened in Nanjing, and a lot of people have been killed here.
Constantly Changing Population
Du Liwei: Because of Nanjing’s history, the dialect here is different from nearby cities. It is more connected with Anhui Province than other nearby cities. [Nanjing is in Jiangsu Province, but the city is surrounded by Anhui on the north, south, and western sides.] In the 1937 massacre, most of the downtown population was killed. People from nearby cities in Anhui came in as the new population, so the dialect changed.
Liu Mu: Most cities in China have a long history, and generation after generation stays in the same place. But after the Rape of Nanjing, the people who were still living in the city left. Nanjing is kind of like America, with a short history. Everyone here is a newcomer, so the city is welcoming to new people.
Hu Jiang: When the Nationalists went to Taiwan [in 1949 when the Communist Party founded the PRC and the Nationalist Party lost], the population was reduced again and more new people came in. In Nanjing it is almost like a habit: people go away or die, and new people come in.
Nanjing is kind of like America, with a short history. Everyone here is a newcomer, so the city is welcoming to new people.
Du Liwei: Relatives bring relatives, neighbors bring neighbors. Within Nanjing, certain areas of the city connected and gathered people from different cities. It almost feels like Nanjing has been occupied, with the population coming from other, nearby cities.
Liang Mai, Du Liwei, Hu Jiang, and Zhang Ming are pseudonyms for house church pastors in Nanjing.
Pray for the welcoming and accepting city of Nanjing to be full of people with hearts open to the gospel.
