Notre Dames des Victoires - Tientsin - 1869
During the course of the 19th century whilst foreign traders exploited China, foreign Christian missionaries sought to convert the vast untapped population to their religion. Judged by today's standards, this too may have amounted to a form of exploitation and many of these missions were as culturally insensitive as the crudest foreign trader. This Roman Catholic Church was built on the banks of the River Hai by the French missionaries on the site of a former Chinese temple. Its style is French Gothic and it is constructed of local black bricks. Within a year, however, the church was to become the backdrop and scene of violent anti-foreign riots which became known as the 'Tientsin Massacre'. On 21 June 1870, rumours abounded amongst the local people that French nuns at the adjacent Orphan Asylum were selling little girls and cutting out the eyes of the boys to make foreign medicine. Given the high mortality rate of abandoned children and a report of what was mistakenly thought to be a jar of eyes (actually pickled onions) in the church's food pantry, an enraged mob of Chinese rioted against what it saw as foreign barbarism. Foreign property was destroyed including this church; 21 foreigners were massacred, including 10 French nuns and in a case of dreadful inconsistency, an unknown number of Chinese converts and orphans.
To view an old photo of the shell of the church taken in the 1910s, go to flickr account of the Library of Congress at www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2162979845/ .
The church was subsequently rebuilt but it continued to suffer damage down the years from either intermittent anti-foreign riots, the Boxer Rebellion, the Cultural Revolution and the massive Tangshan earthquake in 1976 which killed more than 250,000 people. Somehow, despite its chequered history the church has risen from the ashes and it was reconstructed and opened in 1983 as the Wanghailou Church.
Notre Dames des Victoires - Tientsin - 1869
During the course of the 19th century whilst foreign traders exploited China, foreign Christian missionaries sought to convert the vast untapped population to their religion. Judged by today's standards, this too may have amounted to a form of exploitation and many of these missions were as culturally insensitive as the crudest foreign trader. This Roman Catholic Church was built on the banks of the River Hai by the French missionaries on the site of a former Chinese temple. Its style is French Gothic and it is constructed of local black bricks. Within a year, however, the church was to become the backdrop and scene of violent anti-foreign riots which became known as the 'Tientsin Massacre'. On 21 June 1870, rumours abounded amongst the local people that French nuns at the adjacent Orphan Asylum were selling little girls and cutting out the eyes of the boys to make foreign medicine. Given the high mortality rate of abandoned children and a report of what was mistakenly thought to be a jar of eyes (actually pickled onions) in the church's food pantry, an enraged mob of Chinese rioted against what it saw as foreign barbarism. Foreign property was destroyed including this church; 21 foreigners were massacred, including 10 French nuns and in a case of dreadful inconsistency, an unknown number of Chinese converts and orphans.
To view an old photo of the shell of the church taken in the 1910s, go to flickr account of the Library of Congress at www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2162979845/ .
The church was subsequently rebuilt but it continued to suffer damage down the years from either intermittent anti-foreign riots, the Boxer Rebellion, the Cultural Revolution and the massive Tangshan earthquake in 1976 which killed more than 250,000 people. Somehow, despite its chequered history the church has risen from the ashes and it was reconstructed and opened in 1983 as the Wanghailou Church.