Rural Catholics of Shaanxi, China
Yang Yankang
Agence VU
In 1996, I began to focus on the project entitled “Catholics in the villages of Shanxi Province, China.”
Catholicism in China has endured since 1289, when the religion was introduced into China by an Italian priest. As has been the case with other regional associations in China, the experience and development of the Catholic Patriotic Association of Shanxi has been difficult and anything but straightforward. Shanxi province, located in the north-west of China, has a population of 30 million. The region is complicated and varied. The northern part of it is poor and desolate, and so subsistence is very hard. There are eight Catholic parishes in Shanxi province. Mainly I concentrated on the cities of Zhouzhi, Fenfxiang, Sanyuan, Yanan, Shangluo to shoot my subject. Of course, working conditions were very tough.
Preview
Several hundred years have passed since Roman Catholicism came to China, and the development of this religion has been unsteady - like a floating boat. In 1978 the Communist Party adopted a more tolerant policy toward religion and let the Catholic Church be revitalized. The Catholic clergy tried to gather their “lost sheep” in spite of all the difficulties. The converted rebuilt the destroyed churches and renewed their belief, and were thus able to reorganize a Church with high moral caliber, God’s gift to them.
The family is the fundamental unit of the Shanxi Catholic community and religious beliefs are handed down from one generation to the next. Catholics lead a simple and traditional religious life and they maintain an intimate and harmonious relationship with each other.
Pilgrimage and prayer are highly valued by Chinese Catholics who regard the practice of one’s religious beliefs as much more important than collective religious observances.
The village Catholics will give anything for a pilgrimage although for most Chinese farmers, travelling is out of the question. Believers regard all disasters as self-trials that are sent by God, whether they be natural, social or man-made. Catholics appear extremely quiet and composed, and are prepared to face life and experience tribulations from time to time. In fact, they believe that this is how they can get closer to God.
I followed a third-generation priest into the villages of northern Shanxi province.
I found that those believers are so strong that none of life’s tribulations and hardships will ever subdue them. They broadcast Gospel, carry the heavy cross, they want to dedicated their entire lives to building a road to the Kingdom of Heaven, although the life they face is so poor, and the land they till is so infertile.
