Contradictions caused by contradictions introduced by Catholicism

Although Catholicism was introduced to China very early, it developed slowly, especially in southern Anhui. But by the end of the Qing Dynasty, Catholicism began to spread to southern Anhui and soon started a prairie fire. The reason is related to Hubei immigrants.

After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a large number of immigrants poured into southern Anhui, and most of the immigrants in Shuidong area of Xuancheng County came from Hubei Province. The arrival of immigrants inevitably caused many contradictions between locals and tourists. Because of the small number of early immigrants, Hubei immigrants are often at a disadvantage in these conflicts. Hubei immigrants used to believe in Catholicism, but after moving to Shuidong, they also "formed a strong center and concentrated a group of believers". Therefore, they hope to introduce Catholicism into Shuidong and try to gain an advantage in various conflicts by relying on the strength of foreigners and churches. Therefore, Catholicism began to spread to Xuancheng.

This process was recorded in detail in the letter of French missionary Frederick1July 3, 8691day:

Many of the people called are family members of old members. 1868 In February, some of these immigrants came to Nanjing and urged priests to visit their villages. Although they are willing to live in a foreign land for a long time, they think their religious life must be satisfied. This spring, Jin and Han Bolu boarded the "Santa Maria" and went to Ningguo Mansion. They found that in Xucun near Shuidong, they met more than 50 sick, poor and forced Hubei people. 70 of them emigrated, 1 1 have died. 1869, his father Ye Chunrong visited Ningguo Mansion many times. In addition to officiating at the sacraments for church members, he also gave them a lot of financial assistance. These suffering people really regard him as a savior. Especially today, the poultry and livestock in this place are particularly beautiful, because Dad Ye introduced excellent varieties. With the support of the priests, the members rented some fields from the government to make a living, and later gathered many close relatives and friends. In this way, by the end of 1869, about 300 parishioners lived in the neighboring villages of Xucun, Lucun and Shuidong.

The "Xucun" in the above translation is regarded as "Xucun", commonly known as "Daxu Village", which is the first foothold of Catholicism in Xuancheng. Later, Gao Ruotian, Bian Liangbi, Ni Huailun, Ma and other priests came here to preach. In AD 1869, the French missionary Jin founded the first Catholic church in Xucun, Xuancheng.

The Catholic Journal of Holy Religion also recorded the reasons and process of the establishment of the Catholic Church in Daxu Village:

"This town is eight miles northeast of Xucun, with about sixty or seventy residents. Most of them are immigrants from Hubei and Henan provinces, but people and religion account for half of the country. Therefore, since the village was looted by bandits in Tongzhi, the first people who moved to the village were devout religious people in Hubei. It was at that time that this religious minority dared to sit in this most sacred position because there were no important religious ceremonies such as priests and seven sacraments, so they jointly sent representatives to Jiangning, which ruled Jiangsu Province at that time, and invited a priest.

However, the geographical location of the village is remote and the floating population is small. Therefore, in 187 1 year, Father Ye Chunrong built Notre Dame Church in shuidong town, and Xucun Catholic Church was downgraded to a missionary office. In the 12th year of Tongzhi, French missionaries moved in and established the General Tudor Special Zone of Ningguo Government, and the General Church of Ningguo Government was located in the Church of Our Lady of Shuidong.

However, after Catholicism was introduced into Xuancheng, the local contradictions were not solved, but many new contradictions appeared.

First of all, most Catholic priests can't act fairly when dealing with contradictions, and they obviously favor Hubei immigrants in the disputes between local people and guests, which has aroused strong resentment from indigenous people and other guests. Especially in the first year of Guangxu, after Huang was transferred to Ningguo House, "the prudence and self-restraint of priests have not yet reached the height of missionary fire." Some people accused him of being too bureaucratic, so he offended the local gentleman. He frequently intervened and supported Hubei immigrants' lawsuits against local people, which made local people bear a grudge. His missionary enthusiasm went against the wishes of local officials, and he created many new meetings, which made local officials very dissatisfied with him. When he bought land for the parish, he often failed to pay his heirs according to the contract, and his missionary teachers and staff often misunderstood his original intention and went to extremes. Therefore, people focus all their resentment on him. "

Secondly, immigrants themselves are hybrids. Their motives for introducing Catholicism were impure, and then a few people acted recklessly by virtue of their parishioners' status and the strength of the church. Even the missionaries themselves realized: "The purpose of these Protestant friends' conversion to sacred religion is very complicated, and some of them are only for material benefits. "This even aroused people's hatred of Catholicism.

Thirdly, the rapid introduction of Catholicism endangered the ruling foundation of the Qing government, and was naturally feared and secretly obstructed by local officials in southern Anhui. "In Guangde, several officials opposed the church. They prevent people from receiving priests or selling land to priests, and even tear up contracts and treat church guards rudely. " "There is a military attache in Ningguo House, whose title is Commander. The party commander-in-chief hates Catholicism. He is responsible for supervising foreign religions and vowed to eradicate foreign religions as one of his missions. " This is almost the general mentality of local officials towards Catholicism. Their acquiescence and even encouragement undoubtedly boosted and stimulated people's anti-religious sentiment.

"A big storm" is brewing.

However, Lang Huairen was still so enthusiastic in his April 1869 letter to the President of Paris Province: "Missionary activities in Anhui Province were widely carried out and even developed to the west of the province. Due to the famine, members of the neighboring parish were forced to leave their homes and move in with us. Moreover, they are eager for priests, so many central meeting places have been formed. How can we ignore their voices for a long time? The parish is advancing, striding forward like a giant. "

Obviously, he was carried away by his missionary enthusiasm and overestimated China people's tolerance for Catholicism. He didn't realize that due to the deliberate partiality of some missionaries, the conflict between Turks intensified, and the conflict between the church and the local government continued. "The locals are almost all foreigners, but there are thousands of immigrants who want to teach. Because of deep-rooted hatred, teaching difficulties are on the verge. "

Soon, a large-scale destruction of education broke out in southern Anhui. At the end of the first year of Guangxu, soldiers in Ningguo County killed three religious immigrants from Hubei in order to collect rent, and their brother Cheng Mingde was paraded in public. On February 22, 2002, students from six counties in Ningguo Prefecture stormed Xibantou Catholic Church. On May 22nd, He Zhu and others destroyed Oucun Church in Jianping County, and on May 25th, Sun Da Church in Xuancheng City was destroyed. On July 24th, Guo Jian diploma Hu Xiushan, Bai Huiqing and others led the masses to destroy the Church of Our Lady in Shuidong. The "Southern Anhui Religious Plan" finally broke out in an all-round way.

It can be seen that the introduction of Catholicism, instead of eliminating the contradictions brought about by the arrival of a large number of immigrants in southern Anhui, has aroused more and greater contradictions, which is probably unexpected by missionaries from all over the world. Of course, for China people, there are many problems and lessons that we need to think about.