Salt well Catholic Church

Salt well Catholic Church

Yanjing Catholic Church is located in shangyanjing, Mangkang County, next to national highway 214, covering an area of more than 6000 square meters. Founded by French missionaries in 1855.

brief introduction

Eighty percent of the villagers in the church area believe in Catholicism. There is a local Tibetan priest who is in charge of the religious affairs. His name is Lu Rendi

. Recite the Bible translated into Tibetan. Believers are named after priests, and their names are mostly similar to those of Europeans. Funerals are also conducted according to Catholic rituals. It is the only Catholic Church in Tibet.

origin

It has been nearly a century and a half since Catholicism came to Yanjing in 1865. From 1865 to 1949, there were 17 Foreign priests. Two priests (father Deng Deliang and father BI) came to Yanjing to preach for the first time. After a long journey, the two missionaries came to genla village in Yanjing from pengka in Gongshan mountain to the south, and lived in genla village for a period of time. At that time, there were religious people among the masses. In 1865, they bought the site of shangyanjing from Gongge Lama and built a church with 15 rooms. It is said that there were not many families in the salt well at that time, and many places were uncultivated land. So far, the two priests had their own shelter in the upper salt well, which became a milestone and turning point in their missionary career.

Later, a very spectacular Western-style Church (preaching in English at that time) was built. Since then, believers gradually gathered in shangyanjing to settle down, and the church gradually expanded. However, during the cultural revolution, the original appearance of the church was destroyed. The missionaries not only survived the disaster and restored the church, but also solved the housing problems of the masses, so that the masses could live and work in peace and contentment and gradually understood the cultural connotation of Catholicism. After years of delay, Yanjing not only made achievements in missionary work, but also made contact with the Parisian clergy. At that time, Kangding, Daofu, Luhuo, Batang, etc. in Ganzi, Sichuan had missionary districts belonging to the Paris church, and they also had their fellow missionaries. In this way, they got personnel and material help. Later, through their unremitting efforts, they finally integrated all the churches in the three provinces and one District (Tibetan area) into one Parish, and the parish was set up in Batang For many reasons, the diocese moved to Kangding. The diocese set up a special Tibetan language school for missionaries to study Tibetan. In this way, it can better preach for Tibetan compatriots. The fourth priest of shangyanjing church is named niederon. His achievements are the most remarkable. He not only translated a large number of Tibetan scriptures, but also set up night schools. He hired local teachers to teach for believers, let them read and translate Tibetan scriptures. His action not only improved the quality of believers, but also increased the number of believers, thus enhancing the status and influence of Catholicism in the local area With more and more voices and believers, Catholicism flourished in Yanjing.

Start teaching

As early as the middle ages, it was said that there was a kingdom of elder John north of the Himalayas. Many missionaries tried to cross the Himalayas to preach the gospel in this lost kingdom. Since the 17th century, missionaries have come to Tibet to preach. In history, illegal missionaries in violation of the Sino French treaty experienced many twists and turns. There are many different opinions about the construction of Yanjing Catholic Church. Some say that in 1855, French missionary Deng Deliang founded the Catholic Church in Yanjing. It is also said that the Yanjing Catholic Church was founded in 1862. According to other historical materials, in October 1879, a French missionary surnamed Bai went to Tibet to preach. He first preached in Yanjing. In 1880, he went to Batang to meet father a. biert, who was already there. In 1887, after being expelled from Batang, he went to the archery furnace and then came to Yanjing. In August 1894, he died in Yanjing. In addition, in 1991, Liu Jun published a paper "an analysis of foreign churches in Kangqu" in the Journal of Tibetan studies, which said: "the Yanjing church was founded by the French Priest Lv siduo in the 1860s, with 342 believers."

According to the history of the Qing Dynasty, under the pressure of the three temples of gaxia and Lhasa in Tibet, the Qing government, Britain and Russia, French missionaries were expelled from chavabomuga in eastern Tibet from September to October in 1865 (that is, they were expelled from the control area of gaxia in Tibet) and from the colonial missionary base of chavabomuga, which had been operating for more than ten years. In 1986, the elder aser, who was familiar with the history of Yanjing Catholic Church, recalled that the missionaries who had left chavabomuga soon came to Yanjing and continued to preach. Therefore, the time when Catholicism was introduced into Yanjing can be regarded as from September to October in 1865. The first missionary to come to Yanjing was biet Felix.

Missionaries to Tibet can only preach in the southeast corner of Tibet, namely Yanjing. The missionaries treated the villagers in Yanjing, and then two or three villagers became Catholics, which was the first group of Catholics in Yanjing. From 1850's to 1860's, missionaries bought land in shangyanjing, founded churches, developed believers, and opened Saint pharmacy. Missionaries also brought French wine making technology, and today Yanjing people still make their own wine.

Conflict with Tibetan Buddhism

The spread of Catholicism by foreign missionaries was strongly opposed by local Tibetan Buddhist monks and customs and Tibetan traditional forces. From the establishment of Yanjing Catholic Church to the last conflict between the church and GANGDA temple in 1940s, there were 15 priests in the church, seven of whom were killed. Before the peaceful liberation of Tibet, Catholics were ridiculed by Buddhists because they were foreigners "Guda" (Tibetan "Guda" means slave, which means dog begging for mercy) and often bullied their neighbors,.

In 1940s, there was the last conflict between shangyanjing Catholicism and GANGDA temple. Because Catholicism was protected by the Qing government, the government of the Republic of China and the local garrison, the influence of Catholicism became more and more powerful, the land originally belonging to GANGDA temple was gradually embezzled by the church, and a large number of people who originally believed in Buddhism were forced to convert to Catholicism, which led to the strong dissatisfaction of GANGDA temple and its followers. In the 1940s, the priest Du Zhongxian of the church was forced out of shangyanjing Catholic church by the armed monks of GANGDA temple. It is said that Du Zhongxian went to Nanjing to seek help from the central government, but failed. He returned to Yanjing to continue his missionary work, but was expelled by GANGDA temple. He and local religious people, such as doles, wanted to go to Lhasa through chawabitu, Zayu, Zuogong and other places to falsely accuse local Buddhists of gaxia in Tibet. However, they were killed when they murdered the armed monk of GANGDA temple at the pass of chawaduila (SongLa mountain) at the junction of Yanjing and chawabitu, and the remains were buried by Catholics in the old cemetery of shangyanjing. Since then, the history of foreign missionaries' illegal missionary work in Yanjing came to an end. GANGDA Temple re occupied all the land occupied by the church.

After liberation

In 1951, Catholics applied to the Changdu people's Liberation Committee. After the mediation of the chairman of the committee, bangdaduoji and others, the church became a place for Catholics' religious activities again. During the cultural revolution, churches were destroyed. After the reform and opening up, the church was restored. Nowadays, in Yanjing, there are many families made up of people with different religious beliefs, and they all live in peace.

In 1997, 28 year old lurendi of shangyanjing village became the first Tibetan Catholic priest. Since then, every major festival in shangyanjing village no longer invited priests from Yunnan and other places to come. In 2004, Lu Rendi returned to the secular life, but he continued to serve as the director of the Democratic Management Committee of Yanjing Catholic Church. After him, father Ding Yaohua, a Tibetan from Gongshan County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, joined Shaanxi Catholic theological college in 1997, graduated in July 2004, and became a priest in Yanjing Catholic Church on August 11, 2005. On Sunday, April 18, 2010, Xi'an South Church specially arranged a mass for the bishop in the evening to welcome 32 members of the Yanjing pilgrimage group led by father Ding Yaohua. This is the first time that these Tibetan members have seen the bishop for mass in their lives. They also paid homage to Beitang in Xi'an, Mount Notre Dame in Huxian and mount cross in Meixian. On the evening of April 21, the Yanjing pilgrimage group left Xi'an for Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.

At present, Tibetans in Yanjing are free to believe in Tibetan Buddhism or Catholicism. Like other Tibetans, local Catholics still regard the Tibetan new year as the beginning of the new year, but they also regard Christmas as a major festival. At Christmas, the priest presides over mass, preaches and preaches. All believers and invitees eat in the courtyard of the church. Finally, they dance the traditional Tibetan Guozhuang dance and string dance.

Address: shangyanjing, Mangkang County

Longitude: 97.166596679688

Latitude: 31.123390045163

Ticket information: Free

Chinese PinYin : Yan Jing Tian Zhu Jiao Tang