A Study On The Architecture Of Jesuit Church In Beijing

The Jesuit was founded in 1540,during the period of religious reform in the 16 th century.It preached and built churches all over the world to promote the spread of Catholicism.Many of its churches generally adopt a unified style,which is reflected in three aspects: the unified "classical Facade",the "single nave space" suitable for missionary,and the "perspective painting" interior decoration to attract the congregation.The Jesuit entered China in the early 17 th century.In Beijing,it successively built three churches,namely South Church(Xuanwumen Church),East Church(Wangfujing Church)and North Church(canchikou Church),all of which conform to the characteristics of "Jesuit style".According to the historical data,this paper discusses the restoration of three churches in the 17th-18 th century,determines their style according to the construction time and builders,and finds their prototypes in Europe.In the 1750 s,the South Church and the East church built by the Jesuits funded by Portugal adopted baroque style.The construction time and architectural style corresponded to the early Baroque period in Europe;At the end of the 17 th century,the North Church,which was built by French funded Jesuits,adopted the Renaissance style.The construction time and architectural style corresponded to the French classical period.This paper sorts out the history of the three Jesuit churches in Beijing,and sums them up into three periods: "Chinese Church Period","European Synchronization Period" and "Modern Hybrid Period".In the Chinese Church Period,the low-key traditional Chinese architecture was widely used in the church.The cross,arched windows and other architectural elements were set on the church to highlight the Catholic doctrine and Western architectural style;In the European Synchronization Period,Baroque style and Renaissance style were adopted,which were equivalent to the same church style of European architectural trend;Today’s church is in the Modern Hybrid Period,which is quite different from the "Jesuit style" of the Jesuit period.Each church is a mixture of Baroque style,Gothic Renaissance style,Roman Renaissance style and so on,and generally adopts the eclecticism style.