Study On Catholicism In Mountainous Yao Ethnic Of Guangxi Since The Late Qing Dynasty

The thesis aims to analyze, from the perspective of regional cultural history, the development of the Church of the mountainous area in Tuyangsao Yao County, Northern Guangxi Autonomous Region, since the late Qing Dynasty. The author wishes to add this research on development of Catholicism in this mountainous area of the minority autonomous region to the studies on Catholic transmission in South West China ethnic groups,so as to draw some attention from the academia which usually concentrates more on the eastern rural and urban Church. The author supposes that the dissemination and development of the Catholicism in Tuyangsao Yao mountainous area has a profound impact on the local Yao Catholics'faith and life during more than one hundred years. The reason why the local Yao people abandon their traditional religious beliefs and convert to God is complex. The internal adaptability between Yao culture and Catholicism is an important element which cannot be ignored. The development of mountainous area Church in Tuyangsao is the the result of internal and external interactions between Yao Catholics and foreign missionaries. The"Yao cultural characteristic dependency"is the inner key to the development of mountainous area Church in Tuyangsao,which is demonstrated by Yao people's frequent migration and unique form of marriage. It is very crucial, especially when foreign missionaries cannot reside in the Church. Subsequently, the Catholic faith has become one of the main local religions even today.The thesis is composed of three parts: the introduction, the body and the conclusion.The introduction is chapter one. In this part the author gives a review of the Catholicism history research and the background from China - Region - Guangxi three progressive angles,which is followed by a brief explanantion of the choice of subject, definition of the main concepts and basic sources.Based on the spreading process, the reasons for dissemination and transmission features in the mountainous area Church in Tuyangsao, the main body is divided into three chapters. Chapter two examines systematically the historical development of the Catholicism in Tuyangsao Yao mountainous area since the late Qing Dynasty, analyzing the past and the present of the mountainous area Church in Tuyangsao and demonstrating the whole picture of the "century change"of the local Yao Catholics'faith and life. Chapter three discusses the reasons for the Yao Catholics'conversion to God from four aspects: the external"shortage"of Yao Catholics and "shortage and conversion" theory, proposed by the American scholar ,Glock, in the 1980s; the contest between the Taoists and missionaries;the internal adaptability between the traditional culture of Yao people and Catholicism; the individual and casual elements.Chapter four includes three sections,focusing on the evolution of mountainous area Church in Tuyangsao, especially the localization features in the spreading history of Catholicism in the western mountainous areas. The author points out that the development of the mountainous area Church in Tuyangsao is the the result of internal and external interaction between Yao Catholics and foreign missionaries. The first two sections refer to internal force from Yao Catholics, and the last section is about outside support from foreign missionaries. The first section is to illustrate the beginning of Catholicism caused by the frequent movement of Yao people through some examples of the early history of the Catholicism's transmission in the Yao villages. The second section explains the marriage network of Yao Catholics, which is established by the "marriage circle" and "belief circle" and "ethnic circle" , which is a key role in the development of the Church. Frequent movement reflects the relationship of blood and the distance among local Yao Catholics. Network of marriage reflects family ties among them. The establishment of the above two constructs the mode of "differential pattern". It is a unique internal driving force to the development of the mountainous area Church, with a clear characteristic of " minority cultural dependency ". This characteristic is completely different from the village Church or urban Church, without "religious dependency" or strong intervention from officials and squires. The third section refers to the foreign missionaries'special attention to the development of the mountainous area Church in minority of Guangxi, by the missionaries'works which record their strategy shift from Han-people-centered urban regions to the minority-centered rural regions.The last part consists of three sections : a conclusion, a postscript and references. Chapter five, the conclusion, sums up the view of the thesis and puts forward a few immature ideas for future research.