Making religion, making local society: social formation and identity construction of a Catholic village in nineteenth-century Manchuria

Abstract

This paper explores place-making and identity construction at the frontier of the Qing Empire by focusing on a Catholic village in southern Manchuria. It examines the formation of the village and the negotiation of its religious identity in the long nineteenth century. Developed from a few migrant Catholic families from other parts of China, the village came into being in the early nineteenth century, but official administrative order was not established in it until 1906. The growth of Christianity in the community thus coincided with the formation of the local society. The early settlers developed their identity through the performance of rituals, regulated by the local church founded by French missionaries from the Société de Missions Étrangères de Paris, who emphasized the strictness of Catholic ritual performance in order to differentiate it from other Chinese popular religions. Rigorous Catholic identity became critical for early immigrants in establishing their community and social status, and grew into an integral part of the local culture. As the state control intensified at fin de siècle, Christianity became a resource of governance over the local society. Relying on archival materials and fieldwork, this paper investigates how the mosaic of political and religious forces interacted with Chinese immigrants and foreign missionaries to create a Catholic community. It also illuminates a microhistorical perspective into how local experience is shaped by and fits into changing political discourses on religion, state, and indigenous identity.