Two barely known Holy Places in Anyang, North of Henan
By:Fang Hua Faith No. 24 All No.251
Reporter Fanghua of The Faith Press visited recently the Tianjiajing Catholic church in Yuankang County, Linzhou City, Anyang Diocese. The Tianjiajing parish has two churches, dedicated to St. Joseph and Our Lady of Mount Carmel respectively. The parish has over 400 year¡¯s history of Catholic faith and is the cradle of Catholic faith in the northern region of Henan. The following is a report filed by Fanghua.
St. Joseph Church was built in Tianjiajing in early 1889, but was burnt down by the Japanese army in May 1942 during the Sino/Japanese War. Later the church building was used as a warehouse by the Production Squad. The church building was restored to the Catholic Church in the winter of 1982. In 1993, St. Joseph church was rebuilt on a site of 700 sq. meters, with a bell tower 28 m high. It can hold more than a thousand people.
The Our Lady of Mount Carmel church is located on top of a hill of about 100 m high in the south of Tianjiajing. It was an exquisite stone structure in accordance with the Italian design. The structure is pure Roman style. Work started in 1906 and completed in 1908 after a period of three years. The church was formally dedicated on 16th July, on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It was built on an area of 250 sq. m. completely with stone without the use of wood. Stone carvings and engravings were delicate. On each side of the main entrance, was a stone tablet with inscriptions, one in Latin and one in Chinese respectively. The church building was elaborate and magnificent. In 1966, for reasons of breaking down ¡°The Four Olds¡±, it was destroyed with explosive, only ruins of some stone carvings and foundations survived.
The Faith Press Reporter, Fanghua at 6 a.m. on 12th Sept. started the journey to Tianjiajing, Henan, accompanied by a middle-aged painter, Mr. Li, from the village as his tour guide. Traveling in public transport from Da Mingxian, Hebei, the party passed through Handan to Anyang where they transferred to another bus for Linzhou. At around 11 a.m., the coach entered Linzhou. The Reporter was told that the mountain in front was the famous Tai Hangshan. At a distance, clouds and fogs were seen meandering around the range of mountain peaks, but when near, the mountain sides were verdant and luxuriant with trees and grass. What a beautiful sight! Mr. Li explained to the visitor that Linzhou became famous because of the construction of Red Flag irrigation canal. It is a basin enclosed by hills and mountains. The scenery is really beautiful and enchanting. Tianjiajing was only 20 k.m. from the southwest of the Linzhou.
At 1 p.m. the party embarked on another bus journey between Linzhou and Tianjiajing. The bus was owned by a catholic and only one trip was made daily. After leaving Yuan Kang County, the bus climbed up the difficult zigzag path, passing through village settlements with terraced fields and gulleys on both sides.
When passing through one of the ridges, Mr. Li pointed out to the visitor that it was the famous ¡®Retreating Range¡¯ which was so called because during the Boxer Uprising, the mob saw the apparition of Our Lady and they withdrew. At the foot of the hill was a western style church with a cross. There were few families under the shade of trees on the slope, and this was the famous place known as Tianjiajing.
The reporter stayed in the house of Mr. Li, which was built on the slope, surrounded by green trees. The courtyard was fenced in with wood, a typical family house in Tianjiajing.
In the forenoon of 13th Sept., the Reporter was brought to St. Joseph Church, situated on the lower slope of the Mount of Our Lady, and introduced to the president of the Catholics, Mr. Shen Zhongxue, and an 82 old catholic, Shen Xinhua and several sisters from the Congregation of St. Joseph.
According to a legend, the villagers are mainly surnamed Tian. There was a strange old well in the village and passers by, be they human beings or animals would be swallowed by this well for which the village became famous. According to the legend, the first catholic was Shen Feng, who resettled in the village during the Qing Dynasty. Later on, missionaries came and nearly the whole village was converted to the faith. They built a church, known as St. Joseph Church.
During the years of religious persecution in 1900, priests and sisters, from the nearby districts in Lu On, Wei Hui dioceses, took refuge in Tianjiajing. Apparently this was where Catholics gathered. Surrounded by hills and almost inaccessible through the forested slope, away from the busy town, it provided a good hide-out for the refugees. However, the Boxers continued their pursuit and came in great numbers. One day, the priests and Catholics fled to the top of a hill and went down on their knees to pray for their deliverance. They pledged to build a church on the hill should they be spared from the swords of the Boxers. Strange things happened. The Boxers, who came to attack, suddenly retreated and no one came after the Catholics. Years later, a former boxer who lived in the region revealed that on that day they came to Tianjiajing with a mob of few hundreds in hot pursuit of the catholic refugees. They found the Catholics after rounding the bend but they saw beings in white gowns flying over them.. The Boxers considered it a protection from heaven so they ran away in great fear. The place where the Boxers turned back became known as the ¡®Retreating Range¡¯.
For this great favor of the Holy Mother, the bishop planned to build a church dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in thanksgiving for her protection. They gathered building material from the vicinity and the majestic, solid church in Roman architecture, built with stones, was completed in 1908. It is located on top of the ¡®Retreating Range¡¯, accessible from the southern slope with gentle gradient. The northern side of the hill is steep with sliced rock surface. Fir and cypress trees cover the hill slopes and cypress leaves rustles in the wind. It was said that this exquisite building was designed in the Vatican; all structural blocks were made of stones with elaborate engravings, which are still visible even amongst the ruins. It is with deep regret that such a beautiful church was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. It is also gratifying to note that the local Church is planning to rebuild the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Catholics in Tianjiajing are not ungrateful to the wonderful graces of the Holy Mother. The village has produced altogether 7 priests, 3 sisters, and nearly 20 Virgins. In 1958, nearly all the Catholics in Tianjiajing were forced to move out from the village to the nearby Linxian and non-catholics moved in to replace them. Changes in policies again occurred in 1962 and the majority of the original Tianjiajing Catholics returned to their former homeland. Such resettlement exercises brought forth an unexpected result of evangelization, in that other villagers came to know about the Church. During the Cultural Revolution, again, the catholic villagers were under persecution and through the protection of the Holy Mother; they grew stronger in their faith.
Following the national Open and Reform polices, a great number of faithful from Shanxi and Hebei made pilgrimage to Tianjiajing annually on the Feast of Our Lady of Carmel. The Church in Tianjiajing prospers again.
In 1993, under the leadership of the Diocesan Bishop Zhang Huaixin, the Catholics rebuilt the St. Joseph Church which was destroyed by the Japanese during the War of Resistance in China. Now works are in progress for the construction of a cement road, lined with 14 stations of stone monuments, leading to the former site of the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel which will be rebuilt later. The new generation of the Tianjiajing has never been ungrateful to the graces of the Holy Mother. Starting in the 80s, more than 10 religious sisters and.6 priests came from this village (two of them are now furthering their studies in USA) The visit concluded with a farewell lunch with the president of the Catholics and the religious sisters.
The Our Lady of Mount Carmel church is located on top of a hill of about 100 m high in the south of Tianjiajing. It was an exquisite stone structure in accordance with the Italian design. The structure is pure Roman style. Work started in 1906 and completed in 1908 after a period of three years. The church was formally dedicated on 16th July, on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It was built on an area of 250 sq. m. completely with stone without the use of wood. Stone carvings and engravings were delicate. On each side of the main entrance, was a stone tablet with inscriptions, one in Latin and one in Chinese respectively. The church building was elaborate and magnificent. In 1966, for reasons of breaking down ¡°The Four Olds¡±, it was destroyed with explosive, only ruins of some stone carvings and foundations survived.