Sacred Heart Cathedral (Guangzhou)

Coordinates: 23°7′2.34″N 113°15′17.4″E / 23.1173167°N 113.254833°E / 23.1173167; 113.254833
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Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
Hanyu Pinyin
Shíshì
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingSek⁶-sat¹
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The Sacred Heart Cathedral, properly the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and also known as the Stone Chamber or Stone House by locals,

Pearl River at the heart of the old town. It is one of the few cathedrals in the world to be entirely built of granite
, including all the walls, pillars, and the twin towers.

History

The site of the cathedral was originally the residence of the Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces in the Qing dynasty. During the Second Opium War, the residence was completely destroyed and Viceroy Ye Mingchen was captured by the British.[citation needed]

Based on the terms of an imperial edict issued by the Daoguang Emperor in February 1846, which promised compensation for churches destroyed and properties taken from the mission, the Société des Missions Étrangères de Paris obtained the site by signing an agreement with the Qing government on January 25, 1861. In his decree of approval, the Xianfeng Emperor wrote "from now on, war should be stopped and peace be sincerely kept forever".[citation needed]

With financial support from

vicar apostolic of Guangdong, oversaw the construction project. A French architect from Nancy, Léon Vautrin,[4] was asked to design the cathedral, in collaboration with Charles Hyacinthe Humbert, also from Nancy. Humbert and another architect from Paris, Antoine Hermitte, who succeeds him at a later time, both travelled to China to oversee the construction of the cathedral.[5] Bishop Guillemin did not get to see completion of the cathedral, as he died at the age of 72 in Paris in 1886, two years before the cathedral was finished. The construction was supervised by his successor, Bishop Augustin Chausse, M.E.P. (邵斯).[citation needed
]

Construction

"Roma 1863"
"Jerusalem 1863"

Construction of the foundation began on June 28, 1861,

troops, all consuls in Canton as well as the missionaries and a score of priests. The bishop and the consul of France, Baron Gilbert de Trenqualye, delivered speeches. Two foundation stones were blessed and laid. The words "Jerusalem 1863" were engraved on the east one and "Roma 1863" on the west one, in reference to the Catholic Church's origin in Jerusalem in the east and headed on Earth by the Pope in Rome in the west. One kilogram of soil taken from Rome and one stone from Jerusalem were laid under the respective foundation stones.[citation needed
]

The construction of the cathedral turned out to be very challenging, mostly because of its all-granite structure and the lack of machinery, which meant the cathedral had to be built by hand. None of the Chinese workers at that time had seen a western cathedral before, not to mention had any experience of building one. Communication was another major problem when the French and the Chinese didn't speak each other's languages. The construction progress was slow for the first few years. Eventually the French employed a Chinese man named Cai Xiao (蔡孝) from Jiexi County as foreman. Cai had many years of experience in building stone houses in his hometown, which enabled him to bring in a lot of unique and creative methods. He barely left the site since being employed. The construction of the cathedral took most of his youth but was able to be finished in his lifetime.[citation needed]

The cathedral was mostly funded by

Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be used on the cathedral.[citation needed
]

The cathedral was finished in 1888 after 25 years of construction.[citation needed]

Architecture

St Clotilde, Paris

The façade of the cathedral was modelled on the

Guangxi province in the early 1980s.[citation needed
]

The cathedral, like most of the great Gothic cathedrals of

sailing ships
.

Repairs

Since its completion in 1888, the cathedral has undergone three major repairs. The first time was in the 1920s and 1930s, when then Bishop

mechanical clock has long gone, so a new 750,000-yuan clock tailored for the clock tower was ordered from a Chinese clock factory.[8]

Mass times

Weekdays: 06:45 (Cantonese)
Saturday: 06:45 (Cantonese), 16:00 (Korean), 19:30 (Mandarin)
Sunday: 07:00 (Cantonese), 08:30 (Cantonese), 10:30 (Mandarin), 15:30 (English)

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ "Stone House to Reopen in October at the Earliest", Life of Guangzhou, 10 August 2006, retrieved 2 February 2009.
  2. ^ Southern Metropolis Daily, cited at Life of Guangzhou.[1]
  3. ^ "Catholic Encyclopedia: Kwang-tung (Prefecture Apostolic)". New Advent. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  4. ^ "L'oeuvre lorraine de Léon Vautrin (1820-1884) ou l'historicisme architectural au service d'une production de série" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-24. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  5. ^ "Docements sur l'église de Canton". BLAMONT.INFO.
  6. ^ Four hills of Kowloon at ProjecTerrae
  7. ISBN 9789622098138
    .
  8. ^ a b "Stone House to Reopen in October at the Earliest". Southern Metropolis Daily. 2006-08-10. Retrieved 2009-02-02.

23°7′2.34″N 113°15′17.4″E / 23.1173167°N 113.254833°E / 23.1173167; 113.254833

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