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.
Event Details
Public Talk