The proposed project extends my previous research on religion and local community, which focuses on the dissemination of Christianity, the construction of indigenous religious identity and the formation of local society (Li 2012 and 2015), in the context of a more complex urban setting.  

 

是次擬議的項目建基於我以前的宗教和地方社區研究。而本次項目的目的是研究在複雜的城市環境之下，基督教是如何傳播以及本土宗教身份和地方社會是如何構建和形成的（Li 2012 及2015）。

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The urban setting under study is Jiangbeicheng, literally “city on the north bank of the Yangtze River”. It belongs to Jiangbei District, one of the nine downtown districts of Chongqing, the largest city in central and western China and the most important port on the “golden waterway” of the upper Yangtze River. Amid the hilly terrain of Chongqing, Jiangbeicheng is strategically located on the tip of a peninsula at the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers. The old city wall of Jiangbeicheng once encircled an area about three square kilometers, sitting atop steep cliffs rising up from the water’s edge to an area of hilly terrain in the north.  

 

本次的研究地區是江北城，字面意思是“長江北岸的城市”。它隸屬於重慶市九區之一的江北區。重慶市是中國中西部最大的城市，亦是長江上游“黃金水道”上最重要的港口。重慶地勢崎嶇，江北城地處嘉陵江與長江交匯處的半島一角，地理位置得天獨厚。另外，江北城的古城牆曾環繞北部陡峭地形之上約三平方公里的區域。

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This project is, first of all, a local history. It is also a micro-study charting the development of a district within a large Chinese city over the course of past two hundred years. Modern scholarship on Chinese cities began with theoretical inquiry into the conception of city and urbanity in late imperial China, with pioneering scholars in the field exhibiting a clear awareness of the conceptual distance between Western and Chinese urban archetypes (Wright 1964; Mann 1984). These scholars examined Chinese cities in terms of their forms and functions, distribution and growth, and differentiated socioeconomic activities, as well as regional constraints and interurban social linkage (Lewis 1971; Elvin and Skinner 1974; Skinner 1977; Buck 1978; Fei 1980). They made an effort to ground the varied and complex history of urban China within the domain of traditional Chinese social and economic history. Of particular note is the groundbreaking scholarship of William Skinner whose analysis of the regional and spatial dynamics of urban development established a framework for the study of urban China (Skinner 1977).  

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這個項目除了關注地方歷史之外，也是一個探討城市地區的微觀研究。關於城市概念和都市風格的現代研究始於晚期帝制中國。該領域的先驅學者意識到西方和中國城市之間的根本性差異（Wright 1964; Mann 1984）。學者們研究了中國城市的形態和功能、分佈和增長、不同的社會經濟活動，以及區域限制和城市間的社會聯繫（Lewis 1971；Elvin 和 Skinner 1974；Skinner 1977；Buck 1978；Fei 1980）。他們在中國傳統社會和經濟史的範疇中，豐富了中國的城市歷史。其中以威廉·斯金納 (William Skinner) 的學術研究最為人所知，他針對城市發展的區域和空間動態的分析為中國城市研究提供了框架 (Skinner 1977)。

 

Since the 1970s, urban China has emerged as a principal concern of research on modern China. Studies of individual cities have begun to emphasize not only the nature of the cityscape but also the social and economic constructs of Chinese cities in general (Steinhardt 1999; Belsky 2005; Li 2005; Fei 2009; Chen 2012). Challenging Weberian ideal types (Weber 1966), scholars have studied corporate institutions, social conflict and establishment of controls in Chinese cities. William Rowe argues that large Chinese cities such as Hankow are later comers to nascent preindustrial capitalism in comparison to European cities (Rowe 1984 and 1989).Scholars have also begun to place more emphasis on public space and urban life.Wang Di (Wang 2003 and 2008) and David Strand (Strand 1993), in their respective studies of Chengdu and Beijing, locate the teahouse and the rickshaw in an arena of contestation in which small business practices, everyday life, urban elites, commoners, and the state interact and display the dynamics of modern urban life. In the past two decades, the research scope of urban historians has expanded to include more treaty ports, coastal cities, and culturally significant cities in central, eastern and frontier China (Johnson 1993; Clausen 1995; Gaubatz 1996; Stapleton 2000; Xu 2000; Meyer-Fong 2003; Shao 2003; Finnane 2004).

 

自 1970 年代以來，中國城市已成為現代中國研究的主要關注點。對個別城市的研究不僅強調城市景觀的性質，而且還注重中國城市的總體社會和經濟結構（Steinhardt 1999；Belsky 2005；Li 2005；Fei 2009；Chen 2012）。為了挑戰韋伯式的理想類型（Weber 1966），學者們研究了在中國城市內如何建立控制制度以及公司制度和城市裏社會衝突的形成。 William Rowe 認為，與歐洲城市相比，漢口等中國大城市較遲發展新興的前工業資本主義（Rowe 1984 和 1989）。同時，學者們也開始更加重視公共空間和城市生活。王鏑（2003 和2008）和 David Strand （1993）在各自對成都和北京的研究中，將茶館和人力車被投放在競爭舞台上以展現現代城市生活的動態。在過去的二十年裡，城市史學家的研究範圍擴大到更多的通商口岸、沿海城市和中國中部、東部以及邊境地區（Johnson 1993; Clausen 1995; Gaubatz 1996; Stapleton 2000; Xu 2000; Meyer-Fong 2003；Shao 2003；Finnane 2004）。  

 

While cultural historians tend to contextualize early twentieth-century Chinese cities, in particular Shanghai, in the discourse of modernity (Goodman 1995; Hershatter 1997; Lu 1999; Lee 1999; Liang 2012), a key aspect of the socio-economic approach is conception of China’s urban form in the transformation from imperial to modern times. Early scholars who situated late imperial Chinese cities between the two worlds of “old and “new” (Elvin and Skinner 1974); more recent studies see a continuity between the traditional and the modern (Dong 2003; Li 2012), the result being an accentuated focus on the nineteenth to twentieth century transitional period.My proposed project will also concentrate on this period as Chongqing becoming a treaty port in 1891 marked a critical challenge to the local society. Although local scholars have studied Chongqing for decades, their work has remained largely disengaged from the international research context and has tended towards articulations of modernization and progressivism (Deng 1982; Wei and Zhou 1983; Wei 1989 and 1991; Zhang 2003). In addition, understanding Chongqing as a political arena, many studies have tended to focus on only two manifestations of the city:Chongqing as a treaty port at the end of the nineteenth century (Nield 2015; Bickers and Jackson 2016), and Chongqing as China’s wartime provisional capital during the anti-Japanese War from 1937 to 1946 (Zhou 2005; Li 2010). Recently, Chinese scholars have begun to articulate local history in the global context of modern state building (Wang 2013).  

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文化歷史學家傾向結合二十世紀早期的中國城市的背景來論述現代化的理論，當中以上海作主題的論文為尤（Goodman 1995；Hershatter 1997；Lu 1999；Lee 1999；Liang 2012）。其中一個關鍵的研究方向是中國從帝制走向近代中轉變的城市形態。早期學者將中國晚期皇城置於“新舊”兩個世界之間（Elvin and Skinner 1974）；而近期的研究卻看到了傳統與現代之間的連續性（Dong 2003; Li 2012），即作為 19 世紀到 20 世紀的過渡時期。是次的項目也將集中在這個時期。隨重慶於1891年成為通商口岸，當地社會開始面臨重大挑戰。儘管當地學者研究重慶已有數十年，但他們的研究在某程度上與國際研究背景脫離，而較傾向於表達現代化和進步主義（Deng 1982; Wei and Zhou 1983; Wei 1989 and 1991; Zhang 2003）。此外，大部分的研究皆將重慶定性為一個政治舞台，往往只關注城市的兩種表現形式：重慶作為 19 世紀末的通商口岸（Nield 2015；Bickers and Jackson 2016），以及重慶作為中國的1937 年至 1946 年抗戰期間的戰時臨時都城（Zhou 2005；Li 2010）。直至最近，中國學者才開始在現代國家建設的全球背景下闡明地方歷史（Wang 2013）。

 

The proposed study of Jiangbeicheng will be undertaken in the context of scholarshipon urban China and will tackle the relatively unexamined topic of city and religion.Among the few scholars studying city and religion, Jeffery Meyer and Susan Naquin carefully illuminate the religious dimension of China’s capital. Meyer examines the symbolic meaning and religious significance of Beijing, while Naquin employs a more social-historical approach to excavate the city’s sacred places and integrate these public arenas into city life (Meyer 1991; Naquin 2000). Compared to their works, my study will focus more on the interaction between different religions and the tension between these religions and the state over utilization of urban space in the nineteenth to twentieth century transformation period.  

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是次江北城的項目將會在現有的中國城市研究基礎下進行，並著重探討相對未經深入探討的城市與宗教議題。在為數不多的研究城市與宗教的學者中，Jeffery Meyer 和 Susan Naquin 仔細闡明了中國首都的宗教特性。 Meyer 考察了北京的象徵意義和宗教意義，而 Naquin 則從社會和歷史性的角度來挖掘城市的聖地，並將這些公共空間融入城市生活（Meyer 1991；Naquin 2000）。然而，我的研究將更著重不同宗教之間的互動和緊張關係，以及這些宗教與國家在 19 至 20 世紀轉型時期對城市空間利用議題上的討論。

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Jiangbeicheng became a part of Chongqing Prefecture as early as the Southern Song (1189). It developed into a major transportation node on the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers during the Ming and Qing dynasties (Wei 1989; Zhou 2002), and was promoted to Sub-Prefecture of Chongqing in 1754. The cityscape began to take shape when the four-gate city wall was built in 1798 during the White Lotus Rebellion, andwas expanded a few times until the Xianfeng era (1860) to accommodate increased population and economic activities. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Christian missionaries and foreign entrepreneurs in Jiangbeicheng became more ambitious in transforming the cityscape. In 1921, the Republican government of Chongqing announced Jiangbeicheng a new business district and established the New Treaty-Port Engineering Bureau. Urban development was interrupted by successive wars until the victory of the Chinese Communist Party. During the socialist construction period in 1950s and 1960s, a cross-river bridge was built five miles away from Jiangbeicheng. A new commercial center emerged as a result, sending Jiangbeicheng into decline. It remained a poor, sluggish and forgotten community throughout the reform era in the 1980s and 1990s, until Chongqing was granted municipal status in 1997 after Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. The only municipality ininland China, Chongqing has the critical mission of driving development of the upper Yangtze River regions and further stimulating the development of western China(Zhang 1998; Hong 2004). Chongqing has since become a “City of Ambition”, one of the largest and fastest-growing cities in the world (Kuyas 2009) with a population of32 million people. Its booming economy has led to an explosion in city development. In 2003, the Chongqing government announced a new development plan and urban design framework to “create a world renowned city … by reshaping the Waterfront District”, an area that includes Jiangbeicheng. Sixty thousand residents of Jiangbeicheng were forced to relocate, and the old Jiangbeicheng was completely demolished in order to make way for a rebuilt CBD (Central Business District). In this study, the life-cycle of Jiangbeicheng as summarized above will be examined under different political regimes and with a focus on religion. Study of the competition between religions and the ability of religious agents to engage with local state forces will provide a new perspective in understanding the transformation of urban China in the global context.  

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早在南宋（1189年），江北城便成為重慶府的一部分。後於明清時期，江北城更發展成為嘉陵江、長江上的重要交通樞紐（Wei 1989; Zhou 2002），並於1754年升格為重慶副府。及後於於1789年，隨四閘城牆在白蓮教之亂建成，江北城的城市面貌亦期逐漸形成。為了容納更多人口和經濟活動，江北城於咸豐年（1860 年）前曾多次擴建。 19世紀下半葉，江北城的基督教傳教士和外國企業家在改變城市面貌方面的態度變得更進取。 1921年，重慶民國政府宣布江北城為新商務區，並成立新通商口岸工程局。直到中國共產黨獲勝前，城市的發展因連續的戰爭而停滯不前。 於1950年代和1960年代的社會主義建設時期，當地於距離江北城五里範圍的地方修建了一座跨江大橋，促成了一個新的商業中心的誕生，以致後來江北城逐步走向沒落。江北城在 1980 年代和 1990 年代的整個改革時期，一直是一個貧窮、呆板和被遺忘的社區。直到 1997 年，重慶繼北京、天津和上海被授予市級地位，便從此成為了“野心之城”。作為中國內陸唯一的直轄市，重慶市肩負著帶動長江上游地區發展、進一步拉動西部大開發的重大使命（Zhang 1998; Hong 2004）。重慶市是一個擁有 3200 萬人口並且是世界上最大和發展最快的城市之一（Kuyas 2009）。其蓬勃發展的經濟導致了爆炸式增長的城市發展。 2003 年，重慶市政府公佈了一項新的發展規劃，並以“透過重塑濱水區打造世界知名城市” 作為城市設計的框架，而江北城是被納入項目的地區之一。結果，政府為了於江北城重建中央商務區，該城的六萬居民被迫搬遷，而舊江北城被徹底拆除。在本研究中，上述總結的江北城的發展生命週期將在不同的政治體制下並以宗教為重點進行研究。研究宗教之間的競爭以及宗教與地方力量的互動，將會為理解全球背景下的中國城市轉型提供新的視角。

 

Secondly, the proposed project addresses issues of religion, city, and the state. The role of religion has been highlighted in understanding Chinese society since the1960s, when scholars began to study religious practices in rural society (Yang 1961; Wolf 1974). Since then, study of Christianity in China and Chinese popular religions has flourished. While the history of Christianity in China is interpreted as a history of indigenization (Madsen 2001; Standaert 2008; Menegon 2009; Lian 2010), the indigenous Chinese popular religions are articulated in the modern and global context of religious revival (Chau 2005; Yang and Tamney 2005). The religion-state framework is underlined (Kindopp 2004; Laamann 2006; Yang 2008), and religion has become an integral part of studying Chinese society (Lagerway 2004 and 2010). These studies have stimulate scholars to challenge the very concept of religion as a modern construction (Goossaet and Palmer 2010), arguing that the historical process of “making the state” is also a process of “making religion” (Ashiwa and Wank 2009). These studies share the view that the historical process of making modern China fundamentally changed China’s religious landscape: rich religious traditions were severely challenged, while “model religions”, such as Christianity, were legitimated in certain periods especially during the first half of the twentieth century. 

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其次，是次擬議項目關注宗教、城市和國家問題。自 1960 年代以來，當學者開始研究農村社會的宗教行為時，宗教便在理解中國社會中擔當了重要的角度（Yang 1961；Wolf 1974）。從此，中國基督教和中國民間宗教的研究蓬勃發展。雖然基督教在中國的歷史被解釋為本土化的歷史（Madsen 2001；Standaert 2008；Menegon 2009；Lian 2010），但中國本土的流行宗教在宗教復興的現代和全球背景下被闡明（Chau 2005；Yang 和Tamney 2005）。在宗教-國家框架下（Kindopp 2004；Laamann 2006；Yang 2008），宗教已成為研究中國社會的一個組成部分（Lagerway 2004 和 2010）。這些研究激發了學者們挑戰宗教作為現代建構的概念（Goossaet 和 Palmer 2010），認為“製造國家”的歷史過程也是“製造宗教”的過程（Ashiwa 和​​ Wank 2009）。這些研究一致認為，近代中國的歷史進程從根本上改變了中國的宗教面貌：豐富的宗教傳統受到嚴重挑戰，而基督教等“模范宗教”在二十世紀上半葉開始被廣泛接受。

 

My proposed project will examine the historical process of such transformation. In this project, the religions of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam,and others, are in constant interaction with each other in shaping the local cityscape. Jiangbeicheng provides a specific locale to explore the competition between religions and the tension between religion and urbanity. A major task in the transformation of Jiangbeicheng was reorganization of various religious sites in order to regulate public space and allow for the construction of modern institutions. A map dated in the twenty-fourth year of Daoguang Emperor (1844) depicts the prosperous religious landscape of Jiangbeicheng before arrival of Catholic and Protestant missionaries (see attachment 1). The map identifies Daoist temples (Yiyang guan, Lvzu ge, Wenxing men, Wenchang gong and Ziyun gong), Buddhist temples (Chaoyin miao, Yixiangong), Confucian temples and ancestral halls (Wenmiao, Wumiao, Lienü fang), as well as temples for various popular gods (Luban miao, Zhangye miao, Chenghuangmiao). The arrival of French Catholic missionaries and American Methodists in the nineteenth century began to challenge this local religious landscape with the first Catholic church built in 1854 and the Protestant gospel church in 1894. Tensions arose between the church and the local people on the purchase of land to build churches, reaching a climax on Jiangbei jiao’an, prominent religious conflicts of Jiangbeicheng, in 1876 and 1886. With the Qing government intervention, the missionaries finally secured the land for the construction of churches and hospitals in downtown Jiangbeicheng. With the indemnity, from the 1870s to 1900s, Christian missions purchased over one hundred houses in all major streets of Jiangbeicheng.  

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我的研究項目將驗證這種轉變的歷史過程。在這個項目中，佛教、道教、儒教、基督教、伊斯蘭教等宗教在塑造當地城市景觀的過程中不斷交流和磨合。江北城提供了一個平台讓我們來探索宗教之間的競爭以及宗教與城市之間的關係。江北城改造的一項主要任務是對各種宗教場所進行重組以規範公共空間以及建設現代機構。道光二十四年（1844年）的地圖描繪了天主教和新教傳教士到來江北城之前繁榮的宗教景觀（見附件1）。地圖上標明了道觀（益陽關、呂祖閣、文興門、文昌宮、紫​​雲宮）、佛寺（朝音廟、義顯宮）、文廟、祠堂（文廟、五廟、烈女坊），以及供奉各神明的祠廟（魯班廟、張掖廟、城隍廟）。 於19 世紀，隨著法國天主教傳教士和美國衛理公會的到來，本地的宗教面貌開始改變。第一座天主教堂和新教福音教堂分別於1854 和1894建造。 教堂與當地人在購買土地上開始出現矛盾和爭執。宗教衝突的高潮於1876年和1886年發生在江北角安。在清政府的干預下，傳教士終於在江北城市中心獲得了建造教堂和醫院的土地。 1870年代至1900年代，基督教會帶著賠償金，在江北城所有主要街道購買了共一百多間房屋。

 

After the fall of the Qing dynasty, competition between religion and local state forces for public space was on stage as reorganization of urban space was a fundamental part of the modernist agenda. In Jiangbeicheng, Wantian temple was turned into a branch of the Minsheng Machine Plant, Wenchang gong was replaced by a public park, and Yiyang guan was turned into a school of poor children. A modern set of public buildings was deemed essential to a modern citizenry (Esherick 2000). A 1934 map reveals the new modernized public space of Jiangbeicheng with many temples having been replaced by modern institutions such as Jiangbei Park (Chongqing’s first civil park), a public library, and a post office (see attachment 2). This transformation of the cityscape continues today. In the brand new Jiangbeicheng CBD, recently rebuilt Catholic and Protestant churches stand side by side while indigenous religious sites have disappeared. My study will tackle the process underlying the construction of these churches and it will investigate whether the transformation of Christianity and other religions in this particular locale will demonstrate a religious response to the urban planning in today’s China.

 

清朝滅亡後，隨著城市空間重組成為現代主義發展的重要議程，宗教與地方力量對公共空間的競爭愈演愈烈。在江北城，萬天寺被改建成民生機械廠，文昌宮被公園取締，而益陽關則改成一所服務清貧兒童的學校。現代化的公共建築被認為是在現代公民的生活中不可或缺的（Esherick 2000）。這張 1934 年出版的地圖展示了江北城的現代化公共空間，當中的寺廟已被江北公園（重慶第一個市民公園）、公共圖書館和郵局等現代機構所取代（見附件 2）。城市景觀的轉變一直維持到今天。在全新的江北城的核心商業區，新建的天主教和新教教堂並排而立，而原住民的宗教場所卻消失了。我的研究將探討這些教堂的建造過程，並了解基督教和其他宗教對當代中國城市規劃作出怎樣的回應。