Description
Book SynopsisThe French Religious Protectorate was an institutionalized and enduring policy of the French government, based on a claim by the French state to be guardian of all Catholics in China. The expansive nature of the Protectorate''s claim across nationalities elicited opposition from official and ordinary Chinese, other foreign countries, and even the pope. Yet French authorities believed their Protectorate was essential to their political prominence in the country. This book examines the dynamics of the French policy, the supporting role played in it by ecclesiastical authority, and its function in embittering Sino-foreign relations.In the 1910s, the dissidence of some missionaries and Chinese Catholics introduced turmoil inside the church itself. The rebels viewed the link between French power and the foreign-run church as prejudicial to the evangelistic project. The issue came into the open in 1916, when French authorities seized territory in the city of Tianjin on the grounds of protect
Trade ReviewErnest P. Youngâs long-awaited study is[...] an important contribution in English to the study of the Catholic Church in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century China. In addition to a thoroughly researched history of the controversial French Religious Protectorate, it also provides an insightful discussion of important Chinese contextual considerations [...] In his carefully constructed and eminently accessible presentations, Young helpfully explains Catholic terminology * R.G. Tiedemann, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Specialized Terms and Acronyms ; Introduction ; Chapter 1. The Emergence of the French Religious Protectorate ; Chapter 2. Church and Protectorate Under the Treaties ; Chapter 3. Defending the Protectorate in the Late Nineteenth Century ; Chapter 4. Collecting Indemnities and Enduring Criticism ; Chapter 5. The Complexities of Jiao'an in the Early Twentieth Century: Sichuan and Jiangxi ; Chapter 6. Reform Agendas for the Missions ; Chapter 7. Dissidence and Catholic Patriotism in Tianjin ; Chapter 8. Petitioning Rome ; Chapter 9. The Vatican Engages and Catholics in China Respond ; Chapter 10. The Papacy's New China Policy ; Chapter 11. Falling Short ; Notes ; Glossary ; Bibliography ; Index
