The Research Of The Missionary Case In Yong’an

In late Qing dynasty, there was a strong mood for anti-foreignism and anti-Christians. While the Guangxi Yong’an anti-Missionary case in1898was an influential one in Guangxi province in late Qing dynasty. One French missionary Su Anning and two Christians were murdered in this conflict. The main cause of this Missionary case was the church’s ignorance and lack of understanding of the local people and their customs, which triggered the anger of the local people and the murder. The interesting thing was that people in Yong’an had always hated foreigners and had their local troops. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also had one of their bases here at the beginning stage. Therefore, the local people had a strong antipathy for the Qing government’s catering to foreigners and the churches. Besides, when the case occurred, it was rightly after the Sino-French war and Sino-Japanese war. The Qing dynasty was deteriorated and the foreign forces were quite powerful. Yong’an was the hometown of the famous anti-French general Su Yuanchun. There was a seesaw battle in handling the Missionary case. There were a lot of complicated conflicts of interests between Guangxi local government and central government, between the involved country gentlemen, officials and church. The Missionary case of Yong’an County not only reflected the local situation of Guangxi province, but also the Sino-western relationship in a broader historical background. To understand the causes, treatment and consequences of Yong’an Missionary case can help us better research Guangxi local history, China Christianity history and modern Sino-western relationship history.The article is divided into five parts. Part one is the introduction of the cause and purpose of the research, the current understanding of Yong’an Missionary case and church history by the scholars, the source and methodology of the article and the breakthroughs it has made. Part two is about the history and geography of Yong’an County and the development of its Christianity, especially the local culture and customs, and the activities of missionary Su Anning. Part three is the research of the causes of the Missionary case, including the trigger, the influence and role of the local country gentlemen and the in-depth factors which made the case happen. Part four is the analysis of the treatment of the case from the prospective of local government, central government and France, the exploration of the relationship between China and western countries and China’s status in the world at that time. Part five is the conclusion of the article.