The China Historical Christian Database (CHCD) is made possible by a diverse, international team of scholars and students. Below is more information about those who have contributed and are currently contributing to the project.
Principal Investigators
Alex MAYFIELD / 马飞立
Alex MAYFIELD is Assistant Professor of History at Asbury University, and he is one of the Co-Principal Investigators for the CHCD. His research interests include global Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, ecumenism, mission history in Asia, and the development of Chinese Christianity in the modern period. He is also dedicated to the development of digital tools and platforms which bridge the divide between the historical academy and the general public, and has been involved in the technical development of the Chinese Christian Propaganda Posters and the Dictionary of African Christian Biography..
Daryl IRELAND / 艾德恩
Daryl IRELAND is the Associate Director of the Center for Global Christianity and Mission, and the project manager of Chinese Christian Propaganda Posters. He focuses on the history of Christianity and mission in Asia. His study of 宋尚節 (John Sung), a Chinese revivalist whose itinerant ministry renewed the spiritual life of tens of thousands in the 1930s, has prompted him to write more broadly about revitalization movements, the role of women in revivalism, and religious conversion in China and Southeast Asia.
Eugenio MENEGON / 梅歐金
Eugenio MENEGON teaches Chinese history and world history in the Department of History at Boston University, and was Director of the Boston University Center for the Study of Asia in 2012-2015. His interests include Chinese-Western relations in late imperial times, Chinese religions and Christianity in China, Chinese science, the intellectual history of Republican China, the history of maritime Asia, and Chinese food history.
Collaborators
Greta FREI/ 詹家睿
Greta Rauch Frei is a PhD student in the History Department at Boston University under the direction of Dr. Eugenio Menegon. She currently serves as the Project Manager for the CHCD. She received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science with a supplemental major in Chinese from the University of Notre Dame. Her research interests include Catholicism in China during the late Qing and Republic periods, Christian literature, translation studies, and digital humanities.
Xian LIU / 刘贤
Xian LIU is Associate Professor at the Institute of Qing History, Renmin University of China, in Beijing. She was educated at Shandong University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she earned BA and MA in History and a PhD in Religious Studies with an emphasis on the history of Chinese Christianity. The author of Religious Studies and Christian Faith: Life and Work of Chen Yuan, she has worked on both Catholic and Protestant Christians in the 20th century. The Institute of Qing History is now engaging in Qing Dynasty Geographic Information System (QDGIS) and other digital humanity projects, and she is currently (2020) working on the collaboration between CHCD and the Institute and training her MA students in source input for the database.
Alexandrs DMITRENKO
Alexandrs DMITRENKO primarily focuses on the research of Christianity in China and foremost the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in China. His research interests also include the Chinese Bible translations, Sino-Russian relations, Chinese history textbooks, modern Chinese history. He has worked as a postdoc researcher at Heidelberg University, being a member of the research team of the German-Russian project on Chinese Perceptions of Russia and the West during the twentieth century. As a Visiting Researcher, he is involved in the development of the China Historical Christian Database in the area of the Orthodox Church in China.
Yiyi ZHANG / 张依伊
Yiyi ZHANG served as the Project Manager for the CHCD during the 2022-23 academic year. She holds a BA in Philosophy from Brandeis University, two MAs from Columbia University (the first in Philosophy and the second in Oral History), and a MTS from Boston College. Her research interests range from comparative philosophy to systematic theology; from abstract theoretical concepts to embodied human experiences. Most recently, her independent research focuses on how philosophical hermeneutics can shed light on the diverse attempts of Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox believers to translate Christian tenets into Chinese by way of Confucian and Daoist terms.
Eric BECKLIN / 柏洋
Eric BECKLIN’s main interests broadly encompass Chinese Christianity with specific focus on the Lutheran Church of China (1920-1949). His doctoral research focuses on the development of the Lutheran Church of China from a collection of mission fields scattered from Manchuria to Guangdong into a nationwide church institution that also became connected to the global Lutheran community following World War II. He is also interested by intercultural interactions of medieval Christians in the Yuan dynasty, religious identity’s role in giving meaning to space, territory, and the built environment, and questions over the nature of East-West dichotomy with respect to Chinese Christianity and the ways that participants in a universal religion like Christianity complicate that constructed dualism.
Raissa DE GRUTTOLA / 德希樂
Raissa DE GRUTTOLA is Research Fellow at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Her field of research include the historical and linguistic features of biblical translation in the Chinese language, with a particular focus on the Catholic version Sigao Shengjing. Her research also covers the presence and the writings of Franciscan missionaries in China and the various versions of the Bible in Chinese. Dr. De Gruttola is currently working on the legacy of Marco Polo in Venice and China. She has been teaching Chinese language at Enna and Perugia University.
Research Assistants
Haoyu LIU/刘浩宇
Haoyu Liu is a junior (2022) majoring in Political Science, Economics, and International Relations at Boston University. In the spring of 2022, He researches the current location of ancient Chinese …
Fiona WINARTO
Fiona WINARTO is a sophomore studying Political Science & Philosophy at Boston University. Beginning from Fall 2023, she is a member of the CHCD’s data collection team.
Haoliang NI / 倪浩梁
I am a sophomore student in the BU History department and minor in International Relationships. My main interest is the relationships and communications between China and Western.
Phoebe HUANG / 黄晟艺
Shengyi (Phoebe) Huang is a sophomore student at Boston University pursuing double majors in Religious Studies and Cultural Anthropology and minoring in History. She currently uses CHCD to do UROP (Undergraduate …
Haoran WANG / 王浩然
Haoran Wang is a marketing graduate student at Boston University. He grew up in Harbin, China, a “city of churches” deeply influenced by Christian culture. His research interests include the …
Haoyu LIU/刘浩宇
Haoyu Liu is a junior (2022) majoring in Political Science, Economics, and International Relations at Boston University. In the spring of 2022, He researches the current location of ancient Chinese …
Huiting WANG / 王惠庭
Huiting Wang is a junior (2023) studying economics at Boston University. Apart from learning economics, she also developed a strong interest in Chinese and Western philosophy. She joined the CHCD …
Jingjing LI / 李晶晶
Jingjing Li is from Boston University major in the International relations and focus on the Asia and the environmental development. She is born in Shanghai, and came to a Christian …
Wenxuan LI / 李雯萱
I am Wenxuan Li. A BU student majoring in Political Science and minoring in Japanese.
Fiona WINARTO
Fiona WINARTO is a sophomore studying Political Science & Philosophy at Boston University. Beginning from Fall 2023, she is a member of the CHCD’s data collection team.
Haoliang NI / 倪浩梁
I am a sophomore student in the BU History department and minor in International Relationships. My main interest is the relationships and communications between China and Western.
Phoebe HUANG / 黄晟艺
Shengyi (Phoebe) Huang is a sophomore student at Boston University pursuing double majors in Religious Studies and Cultural Anthropology and minoring in History. She currently uses CHCD to do UROP (Undergraduate …
Tangyun (Tony) CHEN
My name is Tangyun Chen (prefered name: Tony). I am from Shanghai, China. Currently I am a 18 year-old BU freshman majoring in computer science. The reason why I joined CHCD is …
Yinghan WU
Yinghan Wu is a freshman majoring in Biology at Boston University, and he is also a student passionate about History and East Asian Studies. In the spring of 2023, he …
Aixin YI / 易艾欣
Aixin Yi is a Ph.D. student at the Department of History of Boston University. Her main research concern is Protestant missionary movements in the late imperial and Republican China, with …
Christopher LI / 李源哲
Christopher Li is a senior at Brandeis University, majoring in history, East Asian Studies and International Relations. His main interests are East Asian modern history, especially related to Japanese post-war …
Dan Liu / 刘丹
Dan LIU is a graduate student at Boston University School of Theology. He majored in translation as an undergraduate in China. His interests include modern Chinese Christianity, modern Chinese history …
David LI / 李啓偉
David LI is a graduate student in the Regional Studies – East Asia program at Harvard University. He received his B.A. in History and Economics from Boston University in 2020. …
Haoyu LIU/刘浩宇
Haoyu Liu is a junior (2022) majoring in Political Science, Economics, and International Relations at Boston University. In the spring of 2022, He researches the current location of ancient Chinese …
Nicholas SPERANZA
Nick is a sophomore (2021) studying History with a minor in German at Boston University. As a UROP Humanities Scholars Grant recipient, he spent the summer of 2021 assisting with …
Phillip MAYFIELD / 马惠礼
Phillip MAYFIELD was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He received a BA at the University of Adelaide with a thesis on the White Australia Policy, and a Bachelor of Divinity …
Sophie JOHNSON
Sophie Johnson is currently a junior (2021) at Whitworth University studying history, environmental studies, and jazz performance. Since spring 2021, her work for the CHCD has focused on entering data …
Yue XI / 席悅
Yue XI graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in Psychology in 2022. She was responsible for data collection and entry of the 1931–33 China Church Yearbook and the 1935–36 …
Zupei LI / 李祖霈
李祖霈（Zupei LI）目前（2021）是波士顿大学的一名大三学生，主修历史和国际关系。他生长于中国天津，一座深受欧洲文化影响的城市，因此他对欧洲历史特别感兴趣。目前，他正在为CHCD翻译记录西方传教士在华活动的拉丁文文献。
Alessia Cancedda
Alessia is a student from Marche, Italy, currently on her third year of studying Foreign Languages (English and Chinese) and Cultures in Perugia, at UniPG. She plans on getting her …
Antonella NAPOLITANO
Antonella has a Master’s degree in Chinese at “L’Orientale” University of Naples. She worked at CHCD database for her internship, assisting with the CHCD’s data collection of foreign missionaries taking …
Giulia MANDOLINI
Giulia, from Perugia, is a third-year student studying foreign languages and cultures at the University of Perugia.She has not graduated yet.
Jaira Koh
Jaira Koh is a PhD student in Theology, Ethics, and Philosophy at the Boston University School of Theology under Dr. Filipe Maia. His research is focused on theological approaches to …
Timothy Shin
Timothy Shin is a Ph.D. student at the Boston University School of Theology, studying World Christianity and Mission History. His interests include comparative historical study between Korean and Japanese Christianity …
Camilla CACCIAMANI
Camilla was born in Assisi and currently studying foreign languages and cultures at the University of Perugia. She has not graduated yet; She is in her third and last year …
Caroline DUSTIN / 梅丽宝
Caroline Dustin is a sophomore (2021) studying international relations, with a focus on East Asia and national security, and Chinese language and literature at Boston University. She is from Boston. …
Chiara PORATELLI / 基婭拉
Chiara is a third-year student (2021) in foreign languages and cultures at the University of Perugia, Italy. She is studying English and Chinese.
Crystal Qiyun ZHENG / 郑淇匀
Crystal Qiyun ZHENG is an undergraduate student in History and Political Science at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Since 2020, her role in the CHCD is to assist in categorizing …
Jack Xincheng ZHOU / 周信成
Jack Xincheng ZHOU received a Bachelor of Arts (2021) in International Relations and Economics at Boston University with an interest in East Asia and Sino-American relations. He worked extensively on …
Jiurui GUO / 郭久睿
Jiurui GUO is a second-year undergraduate (2021) with double-majors in linguistics and statistics at the University of Virginia. He is originally from Shijiazhuang, Hebei. In summer 2021, he helped with …
Nicholas SPERANZA
Nick is a sophomore (2021) studying History with a minor in German at Boston University. As a UROP Humanities Scholars Grant recipient, he spent the summer of 2021 assisting with …
Phillip MAYFIELD / 马惠礼
Phillip MAYFIELD was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He received a BA at the University of Adelaide with a thesis on the White Australia Policy, and a Bachelor of Divinity …
Qinglin ZHAO / 赵清琳
Qinglin ZHAO is a third-year graduate student (2021) studying at the Institute of Qing History of Renmin University of China (Beijing). She is tasked with inputting data on Protestant Christianity …
Rucheng WANG / 王儒丞
Rucheng is currently (2021) a junior majoring World History at Boston University with an interest in East Asia Studies. His focus within the CHCD is on data collection about Protestant …
Crystal Qiyun ZHENG / 郑淇匀
Crystal Qiyun ZHENG is an undergraduate student in History and Political Science at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Since 2020, her role in the CHCD is to assist in categorizing …
David LI / 李啓偉
David LI is a graduate student in the Regional Studies – East Asia program at Harvard University. He received his B.A. in History and Economics from Boston University in 2020. …
Jack Xincheng ZHOU / 周信成
Jack Xincheng ZHOU received a Bachelor of Arts (2021) in International Relations and Economics at Boston University with an interest in East Asia and Sino-American relations. He worked extensively on …
Michael Yunpeng ZHANG / 张云鹏
Born and raised in Beijing, Michael Yunpeng ZHANG is currently (2021) a senior at Boston University majoring in History. His focus within the CHCD is on data collection about Protestant …
Qinglin ZHAO / 赵清琳
Qinglin ZHAO is a third-year graduate student (2021) studying at the Institute of Qing History of Renmin University of China (Beijing). She is tasked with inputting data on Protestant Christianity …
Solomon Shuangyu LIANG / 梁爽雨
Solomon Shuangyu LIANG, a Bachelor of Art (2021) in History at Boston University, was mainly engaged in data collection and research interviews for the CHCD. As a native Chinese born …
Xiaoxuan CHEN / 陈晓璇
Xiaoxuan CHEN, from Hebei province in China, is a second-year graduate student (2021) at the Institute of Qing History at Renmin University of China (Beijing), currently responsible for data inputting …
Yang DAI / 戴揚
戴扬（Yang DAI）是神学院的研究生，也是波士顿大学“全球基督教与宣教研究中心”(CGCM)的成员之一。她的研究兴趣在于历史制度分析、分析性叙事、中国基督教知识分子、中国宗教和中国近代史等几部分的交叉之处。目前她在CHCD项目中担任研究助理。
Zupei LI / 李祖霈
李祖霈（Zupei LI）目前（2021）是波士顿大学的一名大三学生，主修历史和国际关系。他生长于中国天津，一座深受欧洲文化影响的城市，因此他对欧洲历史特别感兴趣。目前，他正在为CHCD翻译记录西方传教士在华活动的拉丁文文献。
Ava Ao SHEN / 申奥
Ava Ao SHEN was an international relations and French Studies major at Boston University. She graduated in 2019 and is now pursuing her MA at the School of Advanced International …
David LI / 李啓偉
David LI is a graduate student in the Regional Studies – East Asia program at Harvard University. He received his B.A. in History and Economics from Boston University in 2020. …
Shuohe REN / 任朔禾
Shuohe REN is a native of China. He graduated from Boston University in Computer Science and Mathematics. In 2019, he worked on the data entry into CHCD from the Directory …
Jason LIN / 林承皜
Jason LIN grew up between Taiwan and the U.S. and as a result he’s bilingual and bicultural. He worked for CHCD on the Shanxi proof-of-concept beta project during his senior …