Watchman Nee is considered one of the most important indigenous
church leaders and thinkers in the history of Chinese Christianity. There are few
leaders in the history of Chinese Christianity whose influence is as prevalent as
Watchman Nee's.
Nee produced more than 40 volumes of devotional, sermonic as well as
theological works. His writings were translated into many Eastern languages
such as, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Tagalog as well as Western languages,
such as English, French and Spanish. His books continue to influence many
Christian groups ranging from charismatic renewal groups to mainline churches
all over the world.
He is the founder of the "Little Flock", the largest Protestant Christian
denomination in China at the time of the Communist regime in 1949. The "Little
Flock" began in 1923 with a few members and in less than 20 years grew to
become more than 700 congregations with 70,000 members. At that time some
estimated that out of the 700,000-1,000,000 member Protestant church
community in China, the "Little Flock" had 100,000 members. Regardless of the
numbers, this 20-year-old Christian movement proved to itself to be a
tremendous achievement. Even under Communist oppression and persecution
during the 50's and 60's, the "Little Flock" continued to grow. And today, the
movement is still active throughout China. Moreover, the distinctive "Little Flock"
theology, practice and spirituality is rooted in many Chinese Christian circles
whether in China or overseas.

Life of Watchman Nee

 Watchman Nee was born into a family with a Christian heritage. His
grandfather, U Cheng Nee, was the one of the first ordained Chinese ministers of
the Congregational missions in the Fukien Province of China. Nee was the third
child of nine, but the first male child. Since Chinese tradition favors sons,
relatives despised families with no male children. When Nee's mother was
expecting the third child she prayed to God earnestly asking for a son and
dedicated this third child to God similar to Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:1-20. God
heard her prayer. On November 4, 1903, Nee Shu-Tsu (later known as
Watchman Nee) was born. Nee later changed his name to "Duo Sheng"
("Watchman" in English) meaning, "sound of the gong," or a watchman to raise
the people of God for service.
Throughout his youth, Nee attended schools founded by the Church
Missionary Society in Fuzhow, China. And in all areas he showed extraordinary
intellectual promise. When he was 18 years of age, Nee dedicated his life to
Christ through the preaching of Miss Dora Yu, an ex-medical student, who
forfeited a lucrative occupation and dedicated her life to the preaching of the
word of Christ. Nee, at that time, knew it was all or nothing. When he was
baptized, he declared, "Lord, I leave my world behind. Your cross separates me
from it forever, and I have entered into another. I stand where you have placed
me in Christ!"1
Nee and other students who had a common zeal for the spreading of the
gospel among the young people in their town and local schools and colleges
gathered in prayer and Bible study. They set up their own meetings and engaged in vigorous street evangelism. Between the years 1923-1928, Nee published the
magazines Revival and Christian, as well as the book The Spiritual Man. Nee
was instrumental in the spiritual revival among students at that time.

NEE'S LATER LIFE
As the Chinese civil war continued, Nee's work was affected more and
more and in 1942, Nee, together with his brother, a research chemist,
established China Biological and Chemical Laboratory (CBC) to support the
financial needs of his 'apostles.' The profits of this company were being used to
support his work. However, the Shanghai church elders disapproved of Nee's
involvement with this company and asked him not to preach in their church. With
Nee's involvement, CBC became one of the foremost pharmaceutical importers
and manufacturing wholesalers in China. In 1945, nonetheless, Nee began to
disengage himself from CBC and later turned the entire CBC enterprise to the
church. This action brought prosperity to the church yet later became the subject
of criticism by the Communist Party.
On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was established.
Despite others' entreaties, Nee and his wife returned again to Shanghai from
overseas. Nee wanted to be with his brothers and sisters in Christ. For the first
two years of the Communist rule, Nee was still able to do ministry, bringing 3-
4,000 people every Sunday, in the Shanghai church. But on April 10, 1952, Nee
was arrested. He was accused of espionage, counter-revolutionary activities,
financial and even moral irregularities. The indictment running 2,296 pages
against Nee was made public in January 1956. Many Little Flock believers were
arrested and churches throughout the country were closed by force. The
Shanghai assembly was eventually closed and made into a factory.
Nee was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment, however, he was not
released in 1967, when his sentence was complete. It was common for prisoners
who were considered 'unreformed' to be given an additional five to seven years
of sentencing and on June 1, 1972, soon after he was moved from the Shanghai
prison to a rural work camp, Watchman Nee died at age 69.

Find out more: http://www.thirdmill.org/newfiles/hue_mountfort/CH.Mountfort.watchman.nee.bio.pdf