Chapter 48 Chapter Four Famous Christian Churches

There are many Christian churches in Beijing, the most famous ones are the South Church and North Church of the Catholic Church, and the North Church of the Orthodox Church. The South Hall is located in the north of Dongdajie Road, Xuanwumen, Beijing. Its predecessor was the scripture hall built by the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci in the Shoushan Academy during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. It has a history of more than 300 years.In the seventh year of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty (1650 A.D.), Tang Ruowang, a German Jesuit priest, was rebuilt on the original site. This church, which was controlled by the Portuguese, lasted from the 29th year of Kangxi (1690 A.D.) to the 10th year of Xianfeng (1860 A.D.). ) has been the cathedral of the Beijing Catholic Diocese for 170 years.This is the oldest surviving Catholic church in Beijing.

In addition to the lobby, the original building of the South Hall is said to have an observatory, a library, an instrument room and residences for missionary translators.After two earthquakes in the Qing Dynasty and a fire in the 40th year of Qianlong (AD 1775), it was severely damaged.Although it was restored later, it was forced to close because of public outrage caused by missionaries smuggling opium.It was not reopened until after the Second Opium War in 1860. In 1900, Nantang was burned down again during the Boxer Rebellion. The existing building of Nantang was built in the 30th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (AD 1904).The top of the church is in the shape of an arch, with exquisite brick carvings on the front, wood carving relief gilt patterns on the top of the columns, and stained glass inlaid doors and windows.A large oil painting of the crucifixion of Jesus is hung in the hall, and a statue of the Virgin Mary stands high on the altar.The whole church is magnificent and magnificent.

Now, Nantang is the religious activity center of patriotic believers in Beijing, and it also receives international friends. Beitang was originally at Canchikou of Fuyou Street.The Beitang was built in the early Qing Dynasty. In the 16th year of Guangxu (AD 1890), the Empress Dowager Cixi planned to expand the Xiyuan. She was afraid that people would look into Zhonghai from the height of the bell tower of the church. Move the church.At the same time, he expressed his willingness to allocate 20 acres of land in the Xishiku area and compensate the relocation fee of 175,000 pounds.In this way, Beitang was moved from the original Fuyou Street Canchikou to the current Xishiku.

In the Beitang courtyard after the relocation, the two traditional Chinese-style pavilions built by the original princes have been preserved. After the relocation, the Beitang was expanded several times and finally became the largest Catholic church in my country. After 1949, the North Hall was once closed.In recent years, after renovation, this church with Chinese and Western architectural styles has officially opened to the public again. The North Pavilion, St. Nicholas Church, is located in the present Russian Embassy on the east side of Dongzhimen North Street, Dongcheng District.This is the earliest Orthodox church in Beijing.

St. Nicholas Church was originally a local Guandi Temple.After the Battle of Yaksa in the 24th year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1685 A.D.), Emperor Kangxi gave this Guandi Temple to the captive Cossack soldiers and their families for prayers by Orthodox believers.In the twenty-eighth year of Kangxi (AD 1689), after the Sino-Russian "Nerchinsk Treaty" was signed, these Cossacks changed the Guandi Temple into the Orthodox Church.Soon, the Tsarist Russian diocese sent a certificate, naming this Orthodox church St. Nicholas Church. In 1900, the St. Nicholas Church was burned down by the Boxers, and a group of believers in the church were killed.After the failure of the Boxer Movement, the Qing government paid tens of thousands of taels of silver for the reconstruction and expansion of the church.The rebuilt church was named "Deadly Hall". All believers who were killed by the Boxers were canonized as "Deadly Saints", and their bones were packed in three Chinese-style coffins and buried under the "Deadly Hall".Shengshengtang covers an area of ​​three acres and has more than 80 houses.It is mainly composed of Shengsheng hall, bell tower, Chinese and foreign studies and widow's house.Fatal Church is a typical cross-shaped Orthodox Church, with five arched forts with crosses on the top of the church, and the interior of the hall is gorgeously decorated.Soon after the museum was rebuilt, Tsarist Russia built the "Dedication Church" in the Russian Consulate in China in Dongjiaomin Lane.Therefore, people customarily call the Fatal Church in the north as the North Hall, and the Dedication Church in the south as the South Hall.

In 1956, the Holy See of Moscow, the Soviet Union ordered that all Soviet priests be transferred back, and the religious property be returned to China, and the teaching rights were handed over to Chinese priests.Soon, the North Pavilion was converted into the Soviet Embassy, ​​and the Fatal Hall building was demolished.Now, in the courtyard of the Russian embassy, ​​there are still a group of Chinese-style ancient buildings ceded to Shengshengtang by the Qing government after the Boxer Rebellion was suppressed, including five rooms in the North Hall and three rooms in the West Hall.This group of buildings with green glazed tube-tile roofs and the dove-shaped kiss beast are rare examples in ancient Chinese architecture and are of high value.