Before the Communist regime occupied the China mainland, more than 14 million Li-ism adherents had received tien li (baptism), and there were 4,800-odd Li-ism temples, with the largest concentrations in Peiping, Tientsin and Shanghai.
據理教史載：抗戰勝利後，經一次全國性的調查、統計，當時正式受過點理（類似基督教的洗禮）的教徒多達一千四百餘萬，理教公所四千八百餘所，尤以北平、天津、上海等處理教堂和信徒最多。