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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School The College of the Liberal Arts LAND, CHURCH, AND POWER: FRENCH CATHOLIC MISSION IN GUANGZHOU, 1840-1930 A Dissertation in History by Hongyan Xiang 2014 Hongyan Xiang Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2014 ii The dissertation of Hongyan Xiang was reviewed and approved* by the following: Ronnie Hsia Edwin Earle Sparks Professor of History Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee David G. Atwill Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies Kate Merkel-Hess Assistant Professor of History and Asian Studies Anouk Patel-Campillo Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology Michael Kulikowski Professor of History and Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies Head, Department of History *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii Abstract This is a study of the economic and financial history of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (Société des Missions Étrangères de Paris) in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong (formerly known as Canton) from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. It examines how missionaries acquired and utilized local properties, demonstrating how property acquisitions provided a testing ground for Sino-Western relations. While historians have typically focused on the ways that missionaries affected Chinese populations and policies, I instead argue that living and attempting to gain influence in Guangdong altered missionaries’ tactics and strategies in ways that had far-reaching consequences. The government of China (which over the course of my study changed from an empire to a republic) consistently attempted to restrict foreign missions’ right to purchase Chinese properties. I show that, by indigenizing its property acquisition methods the French Catholic mission in Guangdong was able to accumulate a large quantity of properties both in urban and rural areas, but doing so required negotiating with authorities and commoners, and assistance from both Chinese converts and French authorities. As a result, the Guangzhou French Catholic mission’s economic activities were intertwined with both local society and high level diplomacy. iv Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................. vi Glossary ...................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... ix Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1 Merchants, Missionaries, and Diplomats in Guangdong ....................................... 12 Religions and Local Society............................................................................................. 20 Commerce and the Role of Currency ............................................................................... 30 Chapter 2 The History of the French Catholic Mission in South China ................................. 40 A General History of the Paris Foreign Missions Society ............................................... 49 The Paris Foreign Missions Society in Guangdong ......................................................... 58 Chapter 3 The Opium War, France, and Catholicism ............................................................. 65 Sino-France Relations in Imperial Time .......................................................................... 65 State and Christianity in the Qing Dynasty ...................................................................... 70 Surviving under the Imperial Government....................................................................... 79 The Berthemy Convention of 1865 .......................................................................... 81 The Gérard Convention of 1895 ............................................................................... 90 Chapter 4 Urban Profit: the French Catholic Mission in the City of Guangzhou ................... 111 Obtaining Land for the Construction of the Cathedral ..................................................... 115 The Construction of a Holy Image ................................................................................... 127 Creating a Real Estate Empire for the Mission ................................................................ 133 Properties Belonged to the French Catholic Mission in Other Parts of the City .............. 147 Chapter 5 Rural Economy: the French Catholic Mission in the Rural Areas of Guangdong ....................................................................................................................... 155 The MEP’s Regulations and Resources to Priests ........................................................... 156 Local Chinese Authorities and the Mission ..................................................................... 158 The Importance of Lineages in Mission Economy .......................................................... 167 The Competition between Catholicism and Protestantism .............................................. 180 The Economic Impact of Local Practices ........................................................................ 184 Chapter 6 A New Era under the Republican Government ...................................................... 196 The Anti-Superstition Campaign ..................................................................................... 202 v The Urban Modernization and Church Properties ........................................................... 205 The Anti-Imperialism Campaign and Church Properties ................................................. 212 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 226 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 234 Appendix A Properties purchased by the MEP in Guangdong province by 1733 .......... 252 Appendix B Property deeds surrounding the cathedral ................................................... 253 Appendix C Property deeds of Taojinkeng ..................................................................... 263 Appendix D Property deeds of Jiucang xiang ................................................................. 265 Appendix E Property deeds of Fangdong village of Shixing County ............................. 269 Appendix F Property deeds of Fuhou village of Jieyang ................................................ 273 Appendix G Property deeds of Heyuan .......................................................................... 276 Appendix H Property deeds of Shangtangwei of Boluo ................................................. 283 vi List of Figures Figure 1-1. Guangzhou in 1898. .............................................................................................. 15 Figure 1-2. Drawing of the city blocks of Guangzhou in the Qing dynasty. ........................... 22 Figure 2-1. Arrival years of different mission orders in Guangdong province. ....................... 46 Figure 2-2. List of the MEP Guangdong mission bishops. ...................................................... 64 Figure 3-1. Description of relations between the involved parties. ......................................... 106 Figure 4-1. Plan of territory ceded to the French Catholic Mission at Guangzhou. ................ 123 Figure 4-2. The neighborhood of the Sacred Heart Cathedral. ................................................ 137 Figure 4-3. Property deed in 1861 belonging to the MEP. ..................................................... 141 Figure 4-4. A property contract made in 1786 belonging to a Chinese commoner. ................ 143 Figure 5-1. Guyuzhou chapel of the MEP. .............................................................................. 177 Figure 5-2. Sample property deed of Christian missions issued by the Republican government of China. ....................................................................................................... 194 Figure 6-1. Properties belonged to the French Catholic Mission in Guangzhou. .................... 221 vii Glossary Anhuai li 安怀里 Faxing chanyuan change ji 法性禅唱和集 Bai qi 白契 Feichu bushi xingxiang wuxi kanyu banfa 废 Baimi xiang 白米巷 除卜筮星象巫觋堪与办法 Bao gang 宝岗 Fengshui 风水 Baojia 保甲 Gaopo 高坡 Baoxing ciqi pu 宝兴瓷器铺 Guangdong faguan xuexiao 广东法官学校 Beiyang 北洋 Guangji 广济 Bian men 便门 Guangzhou wan 广州湾 Bianmen 便门 Guide men 归德门 Cai Jinyu chang 蔡金鱼肠 Gushen 古神 Da Qing lü li 大清律例 Haichuang si 海幢寺 Danxia ji 丹霞集 Haiyun chan zao ji 海云禅藻集 Daxin jie 大新街 Hanjun 汉军 Dianhu 佃户 Haoxian jie 豪贤街 Dong men 东门 Hong qi 红契 Dong zhulan 东猪栏 Hubei Huiguan 湖北会馆 Dougu Er 豆鼓二 Jiandao 箭道 Dushi guihua lun 都市规划论 Jiao tian tian buying, jiao di di bushing 叫天 Fangcao jie 芳草街 天不应,叫地地不声 Fangcun 芳村 Jiaoyu 教谕 Jinchai ling 金钗岭 Tianfu jinpu 天福金铺 viii 靖海 天主堂 Jinghai Tianzhu tang Lashiyue 蜡石约 Tong wen guan 同文馆 Juxing li 聚星里 Tonghu dilou 铜壶滴漏 Mai 卖 Waiwubu 外务部 Maima jie 卖麻街 Wenming men 文明门 Minzheng ting 民政厅 xianzhe 先哲 Nanwu gongxue 南武公学 Xiaobei men 小北门 Neizheng bu 内政部 Xiaoshi jie 小市街 Niutou jiao 牛头角 Xiguan 西关 Peiduan 陪断 Xingzheng yuan 行政院 Penglai li 蓬莱里 Yangren xiaxiang, yi li xiangdai, buke Renqing 人情 tiaoxin 洋人下乡,以礼相待,不可挑 Sanyuan gong 三元宫 衅” Shahepu 沙河埔 Yangyin 洋银 Shahexu 沙河圩 Yatang