本书是对1926出版的一本法语手册的翻译及相关研究成果的集成.其学术意义主要体现几个方面:1,这部手册的研究和翻译,让我们得以从异域的角度审视自身历史文化轨迹,丰富了我们对中国近代建筑文化意向的认知.2,这部手册的发现,翻译,注释等研究工作和所获得的学术成果,树立了国际合作开展中国近代建筑遗产研究的范式.这一研究范式为全面发掘中国近代建筑的历史文化内涵,指明了前进的方向.3,这部手册的研究与翻译,为中国本土建筑的研究提供了重要史料,这是本次研究的另一重要的收获和启示.

Abstract: "In 1926, French Jesuit missionaries from Daming published at Xianxian (Hebei province) a little handbook for church construction in Northern China: “Le missionnaire constructeur, conseils-plans” (“The missionary builder: advice-plans”), containing 67 pages of text and 54 plates......the handbook׳s content and its different practical aspects about building materials, masonry, roofs, etc. The book, however, is more than a compilation of technical hints and reveals a lot about the missionaries perception of Chinese building traditions as well as the transmission of Western techniques to Chinese workers.....In the mid-1920s, the Vatican launched the Christian inculturation process in China, which concerned architecture too. Nevertheless, many missionaries resisted, preferring Gothic or Italianate architecture to a new Sino-Christian style. The handbook participated in this debate."--Source: Jesuit Online Bibliography.