Zhalan Cemetery

Zhalan Cemetery (Chinese: 栅栏墓地; pinyin: ténggōng zhàlan) is a former Jesuit burial ground in Beijing. It was initially established in the late Ming Dynasty for the burial of Matteo Ricci. The current setup is a restoration using original carved tombstones, following multiple episodes of desecration and turmoil during the Boxer Rebellion, the 1950s and the Cultural Revolution.

Portal of Zhalan Cemetery with the tombstone of Matteo Ricci in the background
Jesuit tombstones re-erected at Zhalan Cemetery
Tombstone of Matteo Ricci, early 17th century, with surrounding brickwork as added in the early 20th century
Rubbing of Ricci's bilingual epitaph in Latin (left) and Chinese (right)

History

Ricci had wished to be buried in Beijing, as a rare honor for a non-Chinese foreigner and a recognition of the status of the Catholic Church in the Empire.[1] Following his death on 11 May 1610, the Wanli Emperor allowed Diego de Pantoja to create a burial ground. The imperial decision was implemented on a lot that had been recently confiscated from a disgraced eunuch, outside the Fuchengmen gate of the Beijing city fortifications.[2] A funeral ceremony was held on 22 April 1611, with a procession starting from the Jesuit premises where the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception now stands. Ricci's coffin stayed at the cemetery's chapel for several months until it was finally buried in November 1611.

Other Jesuits were buried on the ground in the ensuing years. In 1654, Johann Adam Schall von Bell obtained from the Shunzhi Emperor the authorization to extend the cemetery. Shall von Bell was himself buried there in 1666.

Following the Suppression of the Society of Jesus by the Holy See in 1773, the Lazarists took care of the cemetery, then the archimandrite of the Chinese Orthodox Church, then again the Catholic Church.

The cemetery was vandalized in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, and the bones of the interred Jesuits were dispersed.[3] Its restoration, stipulated by the Boxer Protocol, included the brick framing of some of the delicately carved tombstones. At the same time a church dedicated to Mary was erected nearby (Maweigou Church, zh:馬尾溝教堂).[2]

In the mid-1950s, remains including hundreds of tombstones were moved to the Xibeiwang area of Beijing (now the Catholic Cemetery, zh:北京天主教陵園). A Communist Party of China school, now the Beijing Administration Institute, was established on the grounds. Because of their historical significance, however, the tombstones of Ricci, Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest were kept on the original ground. Other monumental tombstones were aligned against the Maweigou Church's wall.[4]

During the Cultural Revolution, the site was again targeted as a symbol of foreign domination. Instead of destroying the tombstones, however, the Red Guards buried them, which led to their preservation. The Maweigou Church was demolished in the early 1970s.

In the late 1970s, Deng Xiaoping approved the restoration of Matteo Ricci's grave. The tombstones of Ricci, Schall von Bell and Verbiest were once again re-erected on what was believed to be their original locations. 60 additional original tombstones were re-erected in 1984 in a fenced section, of which 14 of Chinese converts and 46 of European missionaries.[2]

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Jean-Luc Dehaene, Jorge Sampaio and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing are among the foreign dignitaries who have visited the cemetery with their Chinese official hosts since.

Tombstones

The tombstone uniquely combine Western and Chinese features. Each of them is topped by a dragon framing the christogram of the Society of Jesus, and includes a text in Latin (to the left) and Chinese (to the right). The epitaph of Matteo Ricci, for example, includes summary biographical information.[5][6]

Notable burials at Zhalan

Among the prominent early modern missionaries and scholars buried there are, listed in chronological order of burial:

Zhengfu Temple Jesuit Cemetery

In the 18th century, a separate cemetery was established by French Jesuits in the Haidian District of Beijing. That cemetery no longer exists, but some of its remaining tombstones are exhibited in the open-air Beijing Art Museum of Stone Carvings (Chinese: 北京石刻艺术博物馆; pinyin: Bĕijīng Shíkè Yìshù Bówùguǎn) at the Zhenjue Temple, including those of Jean-François Gerbillon (1654-1707), Joachim Bouvet (1656-1730), Dominique Parrenin (1665-1741), François Xavier d'Entrecolles (1664-1741), Pierre Nicolas d'Incarville (1706-1757), Michel Benoist (1715-1774) and Pierre-Martial Cibot (1727-1780).[1]

See also

Notes
  1. "Cemeteries and tomb steles". China Daily. 23 December 2019.
  2. "History of Zhalan". Beijing Administrative College.
  3. Peter Neville-Hadley (26 September 2016). "Jesuit Cemetery 利玛窦墓". A Better Guide to Beijing.
  4. Qin Danfeng (29 March 2010). "At last, they rest in peace". Global Times.
  5. "Epigraph on the Tombstone of Matteo Ricci in the Zhalan Cemetery in Beijing". EGO European History Online.
  6. Edward Malatesta; Gao Zhiyu, eds. (1995). Departed, yet present: Zhalan, the oldest Christian cemetery in Beijing. Instituto Cultural de Macau and Ricci Institute, University of San Francisco.


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