The Immaculate Conception Cathedral ()). A 1947 military court verdict mentions this name. The

Chinese State Council The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the ex ...

also used this name to refer to the cathedral in 2013. is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Taiyuan The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Taiyuan (, ) is an archdiocese located in the city of Taiyuan (Shanxi) in China. History * June 17, 1890: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Shansi 山西北境 from the Apostolic Vicariate of Shansi ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

, China. It was founded in 1635 and rebuilt twice in 1870 and 1902, and it is the largest Catholic church building in Taiyuan.

History

The first church building (1635–1724)

Catholicism entered Shanxi in 1620. The

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary ( zh, s=金弥格, p=Jīn mí gé, links=no), nephew of

Nicolas Trigault Nicolas Trigault (1577–1628) was a Jesuit, and a missionary in China. He was also known by his latinised name Nicolaus Trigautius or Trigaultius, and his Chinese name Jin Nige (). Life and work Born in Douai (then part of the County of Flanders ...

, came to Taiyuan in 1633 and founded the church in 1635. According to

Anthony E. Clark Anthony Eugene Clark (born 12 March 1967) is an American Sinologist, historian, and writer who has authored dozens of books, articles, and other publications in the fields of Sino-Western, Sino-Missionary, and ancient Chinese history. He is the ...

in his book ''Heaven in Conflict: Franciscans and the Boxer Uprising in Shanxi'', the church was a "modest Roman Catholic chapel". Michel Trigault was later arrested in 1665, interrogated, and died in confinement in

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

in September 1667. In 1724, the

Yongzheng Emperor The Yongzheng Emperor (13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735), also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, personal name Yinzhen, was the fourth List of emperors of the Qing dynasty, emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing em ...

proscribed Catholicism in Qing China, and Catholic activities in Taiyuan ceased. The Qing government confiscated the church building during his reign.

The second church building (1870–1900)

The second church building was built in 1870 by the Italian Franciscan missionary

Luigi Moccagatta Luigi Moccagatta (; 9 October 1809 – 6 September 1891) was an Italian missionary and prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Luigi Moccagatta was born in Castellazzo Bormida, Province of Alessandria, Italy, on 9 October 1809. He joined t ...

, who began his office as the apostolic vicar of Shanxi at the same year. Wang Ying and Li Jin claimed that this church building faced south rather than west. They asserted that the direction appealed to traditional Chinese culture. On 24 June 1900, Boxer rebels destroyed the church building during the

Taiyuan massacre The Taiyuan massacre took place during the Boxer Rebellion, July 9, 1900, in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, North China. Sources recall that they were killed in the presence of Yuxian, governor of Shanxi. 44 people were killed. Before the 1900 ma ...

. Twenty-six clergy members, including the apostolic vicar

Gregorio Grassi Gregory Mary Grassi, O.F.M., (in Italian language Gregorio Maria Grassi) (13 December 1833 – 9 July 1900) was an Italian Franciscan friar and bishop who is honored as a Catholic martyr and saint. He is one of the 120 Martyrs of China who we ...

, were killed. In 1901, two foreign missionaries by the Chinese names of An Huaizhen ( zh, t=安懷珍, links=no) and Liu Bodi ( zh, t=劉博第, links=no) arranged a compensation of 2,500,000

taels Tael ( ),"Tael" entry
at the

They also negotiated with the Qing official and took Lingde Hall ( zh, t = 令德堂, links=no) from Lingde Hall Academy ( zh, t=令德堂書院, links=no) as a substitute for the cathedral.

The third church building (1902– )

File:Taiyuan Cathedral.jpg, The front façade of the cathedral, 1907 File:Taiyuan Cathedral 1907.jpg, The cathedral and its surroundings in 1907, photographed by

Édouard Chavannes Émmanuel-Édouard Chavannes (5 October 1865 – 29 January 1918) was a French sinologist and expert on Chinese history and religion, and is best known for his translations of major segments of Sima Qian's ''Records of the Grand Historian'' ...

In July 1902, Agapito Fiorentini was appointed as the apostilic vicar of Northern Shanxi. On 4 December 1902, due to opposition from Shanxi students, he negotiated with

Zhao Erxun Zhao Erxun (23 May 1844 – 3 September 1927), courtesy name Cishan, art name Wubu, was a Chinese political and military officeholder who lived in the late Qing dynasty. He served in numerous high-ranking positions under the Qing government, i ...

and returned Lingde Hall to Lingde Hall Academy. Zhao compensated Fiorentini 2,000,000 taels to build a new cathedral. In 1903, Fiorentini initiated the construction of the third church building, which was completed in 1905. The entire church complex had a total area of . During the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, most of the church complex was destroyed. Only the cathedral, the clergy's office, and the convent remains. The current site area is , and the current building area is about . Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Taiyuan 10 2012-09

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Taiyuan 10 2012-09

In 1985, restoration work was carried out on the cathedral when cracks appeared on the walls due to foundation settlement. A choir's loft was added above the entrance of the cathedral, and the bell towers were rebuilt. On 31 December 2005, Archbishop

Sylvester Li Jiantang Sylvester Li Jiantang (; 23 December 1925 – 13 August 2017) was a Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.2 ...

celebrated a mass at the cathedral commemorating the centennial anniversary of the completion of the current church building, with Bishop

John Huo Cheng John Huo Cheng (; 1 February 1926 – 2 January 2023) was a Chinese Roman Catholic bishop. Life Bishop Huo was born in 1926. After practicing Taoism, he joined the theological seminary and on 14 May 1954 was ordained a priest. During the Cultura ...

and Bishop

John Baptist Wang Jin John Baptist Wang Jin (; April 22, 1924 – September 23, 2014) was a Catholic bishop. Born in China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceedin ...

assisting. In March 2013, the

listed the cathedral among the seventh batch of " Major National Historical and Cultural Sites".

Architecture

Exterior

According to Wang and Li, the cathedral has a simplified

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

style. It faces west and has a Latin cross floor plan. It is tall, wide, long, and has an area of . There are two bell towers, each tall, on both sides of the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

. The southern bell tower had three bronze bells connected to the clock mechanism at the top of the tower. They could ring automatically according to the time. According to Wang and Li, the sound of the bells could be heard hundreds of Chinese miles away. The clock was from Italy and weighed over a thousand Chinese jin. The entire clock was dismantled during the Cultural Revolution, and its location is unknown. The cathedral is constructed with bricks and masonry, featuring a wooden ceiling. It is in a rusty red color. Wang and Li speculated that the red color symbolizes the central, sacred status of the cathedral and commemorates the believers who died during the Boxer Rebellion.

Façade

The façade of the cathedral faces west. It has three vertical parts, and is horizontally divided into five unequal sections by six square pillars. Wang Ying and Li Jin observed that the

capitals Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

of the pillars are decorated in Chinese style. There are three doors at the bottom of the façade. Above each door, there is a circular window. The central door is the largest, and it is open only on feast days. The two side doors are smaller and are open for regular entry. On the second floor of the façade, there are three arched niches each containing a sculpture. The original decorations were destroyed, and the sculptures were placed in 2000. On the third floor of the façade, there is a tall triangular

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

signifying the

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

. An tall iron cross is at the top of the cathedral. Wang and Li claimed that the architecture of the façade contains religious ideas. The seven steps in front of the façade and the sevel-petalled arched windows correspond to the seven Catholic sacraments. The decorative pillars have five convex parts divided by four etched lines. According to Wang and Li, these decorations correspond to the five Joyful Mysteries and the

four cardinal virtues The cardinal virtues are four virtues of mind and character in classical philosophy. They are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. They form a virtue theory of ethics. The term ''cardinal'' comes from the Latin (hinge); these four ...

Interior

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Taiyuan 09 2012-09

The cathedral has a maximum occupancy of over 3,000 people. The ceiling height of the nave is , which is about a third taller than the side aisles. Between the ceilings of the nave and the aisles, there are two sets of arched windows. The walls of the aisles are also lined with rectangular windows. There are

coupled ''Coupled'' is an American dating game show that aired on Fox from May 17 to August 2, 2016. It was hosted by television personality, Terrence J and created by Mark Burnett, of '' Survivor'', '' The Apprentice'', '' Are You Smarter than a 5th ...

Ionic pillars between each pair of windows. There are 20 square marble columns along the two sides of the nave. There are three altars at the rear of the cathedral, and there are two more altars on the side. According to Wang Zhengwu, the sculpture and carvings on the altar are extremely elaborate.

Affiliated buildings and organizations

After the cathedral was completed, Fiorentini used the compensation to build other church buildings, including the clergy's office, a dining hall, two gardens, a priory, a convent, a nursery, religious schools for boys and girls, and a printing house of the

Salesians of Don Bosco The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

. These buildings were in the block currently surrounded by Jiefang Road, Dong Sandao Alley, Yongding Road, and East Chengfang Street. *In 1902, St. Joseph's Hospital ( zh, t=若瑟醫院, links=no) was founded. It had both outpatient and inpatient services. Wang Ying and Li Jing claimed that the hospital was famous during its time. Currently, the site houses Taiyuan Central Hospital ( zh, s=太原中心医院, links=no). *In 1912, Mingyuan School ( zh, t=明原學校, links=no) and St. Clare's Girls' School ( zh, t=加辣女校, links=no) were founded. Mingyuan School was the only private

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

in Taiyuan. The site of Mingyuan School is currently occupied by Taiyuan No.4 High School ( zh, s=太原四中, links=no), and the site of St. Clare's Girls' School is occupied by Jiefang Road Elementary School ( zh, s=解放路小学, links=no).

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

The cathedral's page
on the official website of Xinghualing District, Taiyuan (in Chinese).
The seventh batch of Major National Historical and Cultural Sites
published by the

. The cathedral as the 1647th site on the list as "太原天主堂" ( zh, p=Tài yuán tiān zhǔ táng, l=Taiyuan Catholic Church). {{DEFAULTSORT:Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Taiyuan 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in China 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in China 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in China Roman Catholic cathedrals in China Buildings and structures in Taiyuan Churches in Taiyuan