A Study Of Gentlemen In Sichuan Missionary Cases In The Late Qing Dynasty

After the Opium War,China opened its doors and missionaries entered Sichuan.The originally closed rural grassroots society in Sichuan Province suddenly flooded into a group of foreigners wearing long robes,yellow hair and blue eyes.They preached that they must believe in Christ Jesus to be saved.This is naturally unacceptable to the gentry and people deeply influenced by traditional culture.,So the contradiction arises.With the gradual growth of the power of the church,gentlemen who originally belonged to the privileged class in the grassroots society are facing challenges from the church everywhere.First,the church has impacted the gentlemen’s spiritual homeland of "the distinction between the Chinese and the barbarians","the ethical guidelines",and "taking the world as one’s own responsibility";secondly,the church has also impacted the gentlemen’s "contracting litigation","organizing group exercises",and holding "God-welcoming contests"."And other political and cultural privileges;in the end,the missionaries amassed real estate in Sichuan Province,which intensified the conflict with the local gentlemen.In this context,most gentlemen in Sichuan began to actively participate in the fierce anti-religious movement.In the early struggle,they actively led the people of Sichuan Province against religion and became the leaders of the movement.After the gentry power was gradually suppressed by the teaching power,the gentry of Sichuan Province turned to be a strong supporter of the anti-religious movement.They used anonymous postings and essays to propagate anti-religion and became the most powerful propagandists of the anti-religious movement.On the contrary,another small group of gentlemen began to turn to the church and became religious gentry.These gentry were deeply trusted by the church and naturally received the suspicion of the officials and gentlemen of Sichuan Province.Their existence deepened the conflict between the people and the church in Sichuan Province.It should be pointed out that missionaries and aggressors cannot be simply equated,and the church is not exactly a tool of imperialist aggression.The anti-religious movement led and supported by gentlemen has a certain anti-aggressive nature,but it is not a complete anti-rebellion.The Imperial Patriotic Movement is an xenophobic movement in which advanced anti-aggression and backward feudal conservativeness coexist.The change in the role of the gentleman in Sichuan reflects the contradictions of the times and the struggle and decline of a feudal class.