Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Taiyuan

The Immaculate Conception Cathedral is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. It was founded in 1635 and rebuilt twice in 1870 and 1902, and it is the largest Catholic church building in Taiyuan.

The first church building (1635–1724)
Catholicism entered Shanxi in 1620. The Jesuit missionary Michel Trigault, nephew of Nicolas Trigault, came to Taiyuan in 1633 and founded the church in 1635. According to Anthony E. Clark in his book Heaven in Conflict: Franciscans and the Boxer Uprising in Shanxi, the church was a "modest Roman Catholic chapel". Michel Trigault was later arrested in 1665, interrogated, and died in confinement in Guangdong in September 1667.

In 1724, the Yongzheng Emperor proscribed Catholicism in Qing China, and Catholic activities in Taiyuan ceased. The Qing government confiscated the church building during his reign.

The second church building (1870–1900)
The second church building was built in 1870 by the Italian Franciscan missionary Luigi Moccagatta, who began his office as the apostolic vicar of Shanxi at the same year. Wang Ying and Li Jin claimed that this church building faced south rather than west. They asserted that the direction appealed to traditional Chinese culture.

On 24 June 1900, Boxer rebels destroyed the church building during the Taiyuan massacre. Twenty-six clergy members, including the apostolic vicar Gregorio Grassi, were killed. In 1901, two foreign missionaries by the Chinese names of An Huaizhen and Liu Bodi  arranged a compensation of 2,500,000 taels with the Qing Government. They also negotiated with the Qing official Shen Dunhe and took Lingde Hall from Lingde Hall Academy  as a substitute for the cathedral.

The third church building (1902– )
In July 1902, Agapito Fiorentini was appointed as the apostilic vicar of Northern Shanxi. On 4 December 1902, due to opposition from Shanxi students, he negotiated with Zhao Erxun and returned Lingde Hall to Lingde Hall Academy. Zhao compensated Fiorentini 2,000,000 taels to build a new cathedral.

In 1903, Fiorentini initiated the construction of the third church building, which was completed in 1905. The entire church complex had a total area of 133,000 m2.

During the Cultural Revolution, most of the church complex was destroyed. Only the cathedral, the clergy's office, and the convent remains. The current site area is 16,860 m2, and the current building area is about 4300 m2.

In 1985, restoration work was carried out on the cathedral when cracks appeared on the walls due to foundation settlement. A choir's loft was added above the entrance of the cathedral, and the bell towers were rebuilt.

On 31 December 2005, Archbishop Sylvester Li Jiantang celebrated a mass at the cathedral commemorating the centennial anniversary of the completion of the current church building, with Bishop John Huo Cheng and Bishop John Baptist Wang Jin assisting.

In March 2013, the Chinese State Council listed the cathedral among the seventh batch of "Major National Historical and Cultural Sites".

Exterior


According to Wang and Li, the cathedral has a simplified Romanesque Revival style. It faces west and has a Latin cross floor plan. It is 20 m tall, 34 m wide, 70 m long, and has an area of 1400 m2. There are two bell towers, each 35.7 m tall, on both sides of the façade.

The southern bell tower had three bronze bells connected to the clock mechanism at the top of the tower. They could ring automatically according to the time. According to Wang and Li, the sound of the bells could be heard hundreds of Chinese miles away. The clock was from Italy and weighed over a thousand Chinese jin. The entire clock was dismantled during the Cultural Revolution, and its location is unknown.

The cathedral is constructed with bricks and masonry, featuring a wooden ceiling. It is in a rusty red color. Wang and Li speculated that the red color symbolizes the central, sacred status of the cathedral and commemorates the believers who died during the Boxer Rebellion.

Façade
The façade of the cathedral faces west. It has three vertical parts, and is horizontally divided into five unequal sections by six square pillars. Wang Ying and Li Jin observed that the capitals of the pillars are decorated in Chinese style. There are three doors at the bottom of the façade. Above each door, there is a circular window. The central door is the largest, and it is open only on feast days. The two side doors are smaller and are open for regular entry.

On the second floor of the façade, there are three arched niches each containing a sculpture. The original decorations were destroyed, and the sculptures were placed in 2000. On the third floor of the façade, there is a 6 m tall triangular gable signifying the Trinity. An 4 m tall iron cross is at the top of the cathedral.

Wang and Li claimed that the architecture of the façade contains religious ideas. The seven steps in front of the façade and the sevel-petalled arched windows correspond to the seven Catholic sacraments. The decorative pillars have five convex parts divided by four etched lines. According to Wang and Li, these decorations correspond to the five Joyful Mysteries and the four cardinal virtues.

Interior


The cathedral has a maximum occupancy of over 3,000 people. The ceiling height of the nave is 16 m, which is about a third taller than the side aisles. Between the ceilings of the nave and the aisles, there are two sets of arched windows. The walls of the aisles are also lined with rectangular windows. There are coupled Ionic pillars between each pair of windows. There are 20 square marble columns along the two sides of the nave.

There are three altars at the rear of the cathedral, and there are two more altars on the side. According to Wang Zhengwu, the sculpture and carvings on the altar are extremely elaborate.

Affiliated buildings and organizations
After the cathedral was completed, Fiorentini used the compensation to build other church buildings, including the clergy's office, a dining hall, two gardens, a priory, a convent, a nursery, religious schools for boys and girls, and a printing house of the Salesians of Don Bosco. These buildings were in the block currently surrounded by Jiefang Road, Dong Sandao Alley, Yongding Road, and East Chengfang Street.


 * In 1902, St. Joseph's Hospital was founded. It had both outpatient and inpatient services. Wang Ying and Li Jing claimed that the hospital was famous during its time. Currently, the site houses Taiyuan Central Hospital.


 * In 1912, Mingyuan School and St. Clare's Girls' School  were founded. Mingyuan School was the only private secondary school in Taiyuan. The site of Mingyuan School is currently occupied by Taiyuan No.4 High School, and the site of St. Clare's Girls' School is occupied by Jiefang Road Elementary School.