"At the nexus : De Rotz’s letters to the Shanghai procure" / Pan Zhiyuan

Published in the Journal of the Study on Religion and History No. 2

Abstract:

Through an analysis of a series of letters written by Marc de Rotz, a missionary from the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP) in Nagasaki, to Jean-Baptiste Martinet, the Society’s procurator in Shanghai, this study reveals the crucial role of the Shanghai Procure as a central hub in the Catholic missionary network in East Asia during the late nineteenth century. In the circulation system of the MEP’s Eurasian routes at the time, Shanghai was a vital gateway connecting Japan with the headquarters in Paris, thus forming a close link between Shanghai and Nagasaki. The letters show that in the face of challenges, De Rotz turned to Shanghai for theological guidance, material support, and assistance with personal needs. He consulted with the Jesuit priest Aloysius Sica in Shanghai, through the procurator Martinet, on how to handle the issue of traditional beliefs in Japan, which were similar to thosein China. He requested prints from the Tushanwan Orphanage by Adolphe Vasseur to be replicated and disseminated in Japan. Additionally, with Martinet’s help, he was able to withdraw funds he had raised in Europe from his Shanghai bank account to alleviate a famine in Sotome. The friendship between De Rotz and Martinet further facilitated the exchange of information  and resources  between  them.  This research emphasizes the lasting impact of the Shanghai Procure as a maritime link in the broader network of East-West exchange

"Constructing Christ in iron : the Paris Foreign Mission Society and its architecture in the nineteenth century Singapore and Hong Kong" / Tan, Ian Y.H.

Published in the International Journal of Asian Christianity: Vol. 8 (2025): Iss. 2 : Special Issue: Asian Catholic Materials and Space

Abstract:
The Paris Foreign Mission Society (Missions étrangères de Paris, mep) was instrumental in the introduction of imported building materials like structural iron and steel in Singapore and Hong Kong during the late nineteenth century, particularly through the construction of its churches and printing house respectively. This article explores how the use of iron as a construction material, particularly those produced by French foundries, gave mep missions access and knowledge to pioneer the use of iron as a building material overseas in the context of their mission work in East Asia. This research focuses not only on the material’s ability to accentuate the liturgical qualities and missional zeal produced by these spaces, but also the agentic role of mep priests in transferring architectural trends and modern technology across colonial networks during its heyday. The mep’s decision to use iron based on its superiority over other local materials helped to mitigate challenging local environments such as the poor soil condition of the church building in Singapore and to fulfil the structural and functional needs of the printing house in Hong Kong. Yet as the archival research and on-site surveys show, such technology transfers were not frictionless. There were challenges in communications between constructors in France, and the priests and local contractors in Singapore and Hong Kong, relying on limited letter correspondences and inaccurate building plans, causing delays in realising the mission’s evangelical ambitions in Asia. This article also highlights constructers’ intention to exploit iron’s materiality and structural potential to build Gothic style churches that not only created worship experience that is profoundly spiritual and immersive, but also offered a new identity for the emerging Asian Catholic communities reflecting their aspirations for social mobility.

God's little daughters : Catholic women in nineteenth-century Manchuria / Ji Li.
Outgrowth of the author's thesis (Ph. D.--University of Michigan, 2009) under title: Becoming faithful : Christianity, literacy, and female consciousness in Northeast China, 1830-1930.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface : Discovering the Du letters -- Acknowledgments -- Christianity, gender, and literacy in Northeast China -- Religion, women, and writing in rural China -- Religious knowledge and behavior -- Establishing faith in local society -- Institutionalization and indigenization -- Faith, gender, and a new female literacy in modern China -- Epilogue : Meeting the Du descendants -- Appendix : MEP missionaries and indigenous priests.

Local access dig.pdf. [Li Ji-God's little daughters.pdf]

Missions Étrangères de Paris (MEP) and China from the seventeenth century to the present / edited by Ji Li.

Chiefly English with some French.

Papers from an international conference held July 26-27, 2017 at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction.  Placing the Societe des Missions Etrangeres de Paris (MEP) in Late Imperial and Modem China/  Ji Li --  Cultural Accommodation in the 17th and 18th Centuries.  Nobis Solis Sinensibus : When Jean Basset Identified Himself as Being Chinese to Promote the Term Shangdi /  François Barriquand --  Telling Biblical Stories in Chinese : A Case Study of Two Gospel Texts Initiated by Jean Basset /  Yanrong Chen --  The Formulation and Implementation of the Rules for Virgins and Their Influence on the Historical Process of the Chinese Church /  Zhijie Kang,  Qing Wu --  Intensification of Evangelization in the Early and Mid-19th Century.  Roman Catholic Presence in Guangdong at the Time of the Return of the MEP in the Mid-19th Century /  Jean-Paul Wiest --  La Mort d' Auguste Chapdelaine : Prétexte d'une Guerre, Occasion du Protectorat Religieux de la France en Chine /  Matthieu Masson --  Expansion of MEP Presence in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries.  Bishop Guillemin and the Creation of the French Catholic Mission's Real Estate Empire in South China /  Hongyan Xiang --  MEP Missionary Educational Endeavors in Modem Southwest China : A Case Study of the Latin School and Kanghua Elementary School in Kangding /  Aidong Zhao --  Le Proces en diffamation de Paul-Hubert Pemy : Un aperçu de la sinologie française dans la deuxième moitié du xixe siècle /  Lina Guo --  Conclusion.  Vignettes of Responses by MEP Missionaries to China, 1886-1936 /  Ernest P. Young --  Appendix.  The MEP in China : A Chronology from the 17th Century to the Present /  Jean-Pierre Charbonnier.

"The first scholarly work on the subject by leading scholars in the field, Missions Étrangères de Paris (MEP) and China examines the variety of ways in which MEP missionaries complemented and complicated Catholic Church and French engagement with Chinese society. Key players in the Church's overseas missions in the Far East, many MEP missionaries spent their entire lives working with ordinary Chinese. This volume explores the proactive engagement of MEP missionaries in Bible translation and cultural accommodation, their evangelization efforts in local communities, and the interaction between MEP representatives and various local groups. Each study in this book responds to one or more of the major themes in the history of Christianity in China that include conflicts, accommodations, indigenization, imperialism, and nationalism. Contributors are François Barriquand, Jean Charbonnier, Yanrong Chen, Lina Guo, Zhijie Kang, Ji Li, Matthieu Masson, Jean-Paul Wiest, Qing Wu, Hongyan Xiang, Ernest Young, and Aidong Zhao"-- Provided by publisher.

Local access dig. pdf [Li Ji-MEP China.pdf]

"本書對清乾隆嘉慶期間巴黎外方傳教會在川活動進行了研究. 作者在梳理大量第一手資料的基礎上, 也參考並研究了國內外相關研究論文及專著, 並附錄了一些重要的文獻譯稿, 作者認為, 近代四川教案不斷升級, 固然有涉及中法兩國的政治, 軍事和外交等因素, 但實質上是清代中期民教對抗的延續, 其根源在於中西兩種異質文化的長期碰撞和對峙."--Publ. note.