A Catholic Village in North China: Lineage, Temple Cult, Nationalism and Transnational Identity, 1700-2000

The East Asian Program presents a discussion with Henrietta Harrison on the history of a north China village and the Italian missionaries.

Henrietta Harrison, Professor of History, Harvard University. In this talk I will examine the history of a single north China village and the Italian missionaries who worked there. Combining a tight focus on a small community with a long historical perspective has the effect of throwing into relief the interaction between long term social and political changes in China and Europe as well as the changing nature of Catholicism in China. I argue that the rise and fall of the lineage, the temple cult and then nationalism as organising features of Chinese society are crucial in understanding attitudes towards Christianity in China, and that they have to be understood as interacting with the rise of nationalism and revolution, as well as imperialism in Europe.