Chapter 56 2. Kangxi North Hall

The Catholic Church in the northwest of the palace is commonly known as "North Church".Beitang is located at No. 33 Xishiku Street, Xicheng District, Beijing today.Since there is a south hall, why build a north hall?This starts with the story between Emperor Kangxi, Louis XIV and missionaries.There were at least fifty French Jesuits who came to China during the Kangxi period, among which Bai Jin, Zhang Cheng, Hong Ruohan, Liu Ying, and Li Ming who came to China during the Kangxi period were the most important.Here I will focus on introducing Bai Jin and Zhang Cheng among them. Bai Jin (Joachim Bouvet, 1656-1730), Jesuit, French.King Louis XIV of France issued an edict to dispatch Bai Jin, Zhang Cheng, Hong Ruohan, Liu Ying, Li Ming and others to provide fees in the name of "King Mathematicians" and sail eastward by boat. In the twenty-sixth year of Kangxi (1687) ) to Ningbo, and to Beijing the following year.After they lived in Nantang in Beijing, they presented gifts to Emperor Kangxi, including more than 30 boxes of instruments, and were received and entertained in Qianqing Palace.After Bai Jin and Zhang Cheng learned Manchu and Chinese, they and Xu Risheng (Portuguese) taught mathematics to Emperor Kangxi, such as geometry and algebra. They taught for two or three hours a day, and prepared Manchu teaching plans before the lecture.Bai Jin and Zhang Cheng successively compiled more than 20 kinds of textbooks in Manchu, including "Principles of Geometry".Emperor Kangxi asked them to lecture on astronomy, geometry and instrument usage in the palace. Xu Risheng compiled Chinese textbooks and lectured on Western music theory and instrument performance.Bai Jin was also ordered to compile human anatomy and translate it into Manchu.

Sent by Emperor Kangxi, Bai Jin went to Europe to meet King Louis XIV of France, and brought forty-nine exquisite thread-bound books with him. He arrived in France four years later, making "Louis XIV happy and surprised".Bai Jinjin wrote a report introducing Emperor Kangxi in French, which was later published as "The Biography of Emperor Kangxi". This was the first time that Emperor Kangxi of China was introduced to the West.He also brought the "Manchu and Han Clothes Atlas" and made 46 copper engravings.When Bai Jin returned to Beijing, he brought a letter from Louis XIV to Emperor Kangxi.The map of Asia he brought served as a reference for the Sino-Russian Nerchinsk negotiations.Bai Jin also selected five Jesuits with scientific backgrounds to bring to China, and they later worked in the Qing Palace Building Office.He brought back Ba Duoming, Lei Xiaosi, etc., and participated in the surveying and mapping of the land. It took nine years to compile and draw the "Huangyu Quanpan Map".And Li Ming's "Report on China's Recent Events" had a profound impact on Europeans' understanding of China.

Zhang Cheng (Jean Francois Gerbillon, 1654-1707), Jesuit, French.In the thirty-second year of Kangxi (1693), Emperor Kangxi suffered from malaria, and the imperial doctor could not cure it. French missionaries Bai Jin and Zhang Cheng presented the western medicine "Cinchona Cream" (quinine), which cured Emperor Kangxi's illness.For this reason, Emperor Kangxi rewarded them to build a church at the present West Canchikou of Ziguang Pavilion in Zhongnanhai (diagonally opposite to the branch of the National Library on Wenjin Street).The French Jesuits originally lived in Nantang, but suffered from not having their own church.After receiving the new site, Zhang Cheng presided over the construction of the North Hall.Four years after the construction of Beitang started, it was completed in the 42nd year of Kangxi (1703). A north hall.In the seventh year of Daoguang (1827), the Qing government confiscated Beitang, demolished the hall, and sold the land.After the signing of the Treaty of Beijing in the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), the North Hall was returned and rebuilt.In the fourth year of Tongzhi (1865), the North Hall was rebuilt and became the second North Hall.The north hall is 50 meters long, 21.3 meters wide, and the bell tower is about 25 meters high. The new hall is taller than the old one.The Museum of Animals and Plants (also known as the Hall of Birds) was established in the hall, displaying more than 800 species of rare bird specimens, as well as butterflies and animal specimens.In the twelfth year of Guangxu (1886), the Xiyuan Sanhai began to be renovated to prepare for the care of the Empress Dowager Cixi after Emperor Guangxu took charge.Therefore, the Canchikou Catholic Church (North Church) in the northwest of Zhonghai was moved to Xishiku in Xi'an Gate for reconstruction.

In the thirteenth year of Guangxu (1887), the Beitang was built at the new site of Xishiku, which is the third Beitang.Above the pointed arched gate in the middle of the North Hall, there is a wooden plaque inscribed "The Thirteenth Year of Emperor Guangxu's Construction of the Catholic Church".Xinbeitang and its affiliated buildings have a large area, stretching from east to east, west to West Huangchenggen, south to Xi'anmen Street, north to today's Beijing Medical College, including Xiudaowan, library, back garden, printing factory, orphanage, hospital , and the priest's dormitory, etc.The lobby of the North Hall has a construction area of ​​about 2,200 square meters, a height of 16.5 meters, and a tower of about 31 meters high.There is a platform in front of the hall, surrounded by white marble railings.On both sides of the main entrance of the lobby, there are two Chinese-style stele pavilions. In the pavilions, there are respectively a stele for the relocation of the Catholic Church in the 14th year of Guangxu (1888) and a stele for the Catholic Church in Manchu and Chinese.There is a chanting building inside the main entrance of the lobby, which belongs to the Gothic architectural form (using pointed arches to make the house rise straight up).

If the South Hall mainly reflects the influence of Western culture on China through the Jesuits, then the North Hall reflects more the huge influence of Chinese traditional culture spreading to Europe.Such as: (1) When Louis XIII was a prince, he drank soup from a porcelain bowl from China.Cardinal Richelieu, prime minister of Louis XIII, once displayed his collection of Chinese lacquer screens, lacquer beds and more than 400 pieces of Chinese porcelain in his official residence. (2) Bai Jin went to France in the thirty-second year of Kangxi (1693) with gifts prepared by Emperor Kangxi for King Louis XIV of France, such as ginseng, silk, porcelain, and thread-bound books in Chinese and Manchu.After Bai Jin arrived in Paris, he was summoned by Louis XIV.Louis XIV returned letters and gifts to Emperor Kangxi.

Letter from Louis XIV to Emperor Kangxi: Bai Jinhou published "The Biography of Emperor Kangxi" in Paris, which included his own portrait of Emperor Kangxi to present to King Louis XIV of France. (3) Louis XIV spent tens of millions to rebuild the Palace of Versailles and decorated it with precious cultural relics from China at that time.Louis XIV liked to use Chinese furniture or Chinese-style furniture imitated by French craftsmen, Chinese blue and white porcelain pots, and French Neville pottery pots imitating Chinese patterns.Queen Mary also has a full set of Chinese furniture.The princes and nobles of European countries also imitated and built various Chinese-style pavilions, taking pride in it, and it has become a common practice.

(4) Louis XIV built a small castle on the west side of the Palace of Versailles, and built a porcelain house in the castle garden imitating the Nanjing Porcelain Tower in China.Porcelain houses are mainly decorated with blue and white porcelain vases and blue and white patterns.The rooms and halls are decorated in Chinese style, and the furniture used is mainly Chinese style, especially Diana's room is covered with porcelain. (5) In the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi (1700), a New Year's ball named "Emperor of China" was held at the Palais Marly in Paris, France. According to records: "The emperor of China rode a sedan chair, and more than 30 people performed in front of him. Leading, the band is playing music." Attending the court banquet hosted by Louis XIV for them, they also demonstrated the use of chopsticks, and then exhibited Chinese silk and paintings.At that time, "Chinese style" was popular in the whole French society, and people's conversations mostly revolved around China and Chinese people.Chinese-style artistic fashion is popular in Europe and has influenced the whole of Europe.

(6) The Jesuits of Huifa presented Louis XIV the "Four Books", "The Great Learning", and "The Doctrine of the Mean", which were translated into Latin from Chinese and Manchurian, and later translated the "Five Classics" from Chinese and Manchurian into Latin.Known as the most accurate map in the world at that time, "Huang Yu Pan Pan Map", among the ten Jesuits involved in the survey and mapping, seven were French Jesuits.They brought the "Huangyu Quanpan Tu" back to Europe, made 41 copperplate maps, and then sent them back to the Qing court.French geographer Donville made a French version of the map of China based on the "Huangyu Panpan Map", which influenced the whole of Europe.