China. The hymnal Canaan Hymns is one of the most successful underground Christian publications in China. In addition to house churches, it is used in Three-Self Patriotic Movement churches. Bible in China Starting in the early 19th century, many translation of the Bible into Chinese were made by Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox Christians. An early translation was made by British missionary and linguist Robert Morrison (1782–1834). More than 300 million copies of the Bible in Chinese have been published and disseminated since 1823 with active participation of the Protestant missionaries from 1807 to 1953. Unregistered churches and cults Outside of the state-sanctioned Three-Self Church (三自教會), whose doctrines are in line with mainline Protestantism and have pro-government stances, what is intended as "Protestantism" (Jīdūjiào xīnjiào) in China. There are various dissident churches outside of the Three-Self Church. They primarily operate in the form of the so-called "family churches" (家庭教會), "underground churches" (地下教會) or "underground heavens" (地下天國), small worship groups in family homes. These have generally been called "house churches" by Western Christian media. Family church networks are especially present in the provinces of Zhejiang and Henan. They have missionaries in other provinces and even abroad to neighboring states, such as Taiwan. There also includes a variety of cults based on the Bible teachings, such as Eastern Lightning, Mentuhui, Beili Wang, The Shouters, the Total Scope Church, the Fangcheng Fellowship, the China Gospel Fellowship and the Meeting Hall. Many of these less mainstream groups have been labeled "heterodox teachings" () and are suppressed by Chinese legal authorities. Names for God Shangdi (literally "Highest Emperor") is the term used more commonly by Protestants to translate "God". The Catholic Church historically favored Tianzhu (literally "Lord of Heaven"), hence the Chinese name for Catholicism: Tianzhujiao. See also Che Kam Kong Christianity in China Catholic Church in China List of Protestant theological seminaries in the People's Republic of China Chinese Union Version of the Bible Chinese New Hymnal China Christian Council Protestant missions in China 1807–1953 Protestantism in Sichuan Alimujiang Yimiti References Sources Further reading Dunch, Ryan. Fuzhou Protestants and the Making of a Modern China, 1857-1927 (2001) 293p. Fairbank, John King, ed. The missionary enterprise in China and America (1974) online free to borrow 14 essays by scholars Fay, Peter W. "The Protestant Mission and the Opium War," Pacific Historical Review 1971 40(2): 145-161 Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age. Vol. III :