The personal papers of Chinese evangelist John Sung have been donated to the archival collection of the Yale Divinity Library. Sung (1901-1944) was a significant figure of the revival movement in China in the 1920s and 1930s. The YDS library holds the largest North American collection of archival and published documents about the missionary movement and the development of Christianity in China.
 Visitors examine Sung’s papers on display in the Day Missions Reading Room. Photo: Jeanmarie Santopatre ‘16 M.Div./Yale Divinity School |
The Yale Divinity Library celebrated the acquisition with a ceremony on May 8 in the Day Missions Reading Room. Sung’s grandson, Timothy Wang, was on hand to represent the family.
“The diary is an asset to church history,” said Wang, who is himself a minister. “It belongs to the church.”
Though Sung died seventy years ago, he remains influential in contemporary Chinese Christianity
“Sung is a huge figure in the underground house church movement today,” said Assistant Professor of Asian Christianity and Theology Chloe Starr. “His reputation remains phenomenally high.”
Sung was born in China, the son of a Methodist minister. He came to the United States and studied chemistry, earning a doctorate in 1926 from Ohio State University. Despite the offer of various university teaching posts, Sung attended Union Theological Seminary in New York. While there, he had a dramatic conversion experience and fervently committed himself to Christian ministry. Sung withdrew from seminary and returned to China, throwing all of his academic awards into the sea except for his doctorate diploma which he gave to his father.
Sung became an active and well-known revival preacher throughout China and Southeast Asia, attracting large crowds and many converts. Starr described his sermons as “fiery” and said themes of repentance were central to Sung’s theology.
Sung also had an active prayer ministry. He compiled lists of persons who had requested prayer from him and spent several hours each morning praying for each individual by name. Sung’s ministry resulted in many reports of physical healing.
Plagued by ill-health throughout much of his life, Sung died from tuberculosis at age 42.
The donated papers include Sung’s personal diaries, his correspondence, and writings including his sermons and prayer lists. There are thousands of pages in the collection.
YDS Librarian for Asian Christianity Cindy Lu was instrumental in bringing the Sung papers to YDS. After Sung’s death, the papers eventually came into the possession of Sung’s daughter Levi, who published extracts from the diary. Lu met Levi in 2004 and when Lu came to work at the YDS library in 2012, she began discussion with Levi about the donation of the papers. Levi, who passed away in March of this year, eventually agreed to the proposal.
In describing the importance of the Sung collection, Lu echoed Starr in pointing to the continuing significance of his writings.
“I sense his importance and influence in contemporary Asian Christianity.”
The collection also has personal resonance for Lu.
“I became a Christian in high school at 17. Right after, I came across the great testimony of John Sung,” she said. “My faith has been enriched and encouraged by John Sung.”
Lu witnessed the continuing legacy of Sung while living in Singapore in the early 1990s. She attended a prayer group there in Singapore founded by Sung in 1935.
The Sung papers join an already impressive archival collection related to Chinese Christianity. The records of many former missionaries to China are housed in this collection, but Sung’s papers provide insight into the role played by Chinese ministers in the development of the Christian church in China.
Said Lu, “This is a major Chinese language acquisition.”
Speaking briefly at the May 8 ceremony, Dean Gregory Sterling emphasized the importance of collections such as the Sung papers to the YDS library as well as the importance of the library to the broader mission of the school.
“You can’t have a great university without a great library,” Sterling said. “Part of what makes a library special are collections not available anywhere else.”