Abstract
Christians in China were often affected by the ban on evangelization. The Mongol Yuan dynasty was the most tolerant, allowing Franciscans to convert many Chinese people in the 14th century.
Two hundred years later, the Jesuits became just as successful. In 1724, the Chinese emperor banned the spread of Christianity, but its enforcement was inconsis- tent.
Some Jesuits could stay in China, even at the imperial court, others could arrive, but they were not allowed to evangelize. The ban on the spread of Christianity also applied to other churches, Orthodox and Protestant.
Everything changed after the defeat of China in the First Opium War, when after 1842 it had to accept the terms of unequal treaties with foreign powers. The ban on the spread of Christianity was lifted and missionaries were free to operate in China.
English and American Protestants introduced Chinese scholars to Western legal and political systems. Thanks to them, too, reforms began in China that were not made at the end of the empire.