Beginnings

Li Zhizao (李之藻) was a Ming dynasty official-scholar and Catholic from Hangzhou working in Beijing, who had been converted and baptized by Matteo Ricci. In 1611, when he received news of his father's death, he hurried back to Hangzhou and on the way brought with him two Jesuit priests from Nanjing, Lazaro Cattaneo and Nicolas Trigault. They took care of Li Zhizao's father's funeral and on May the 8th at the Li family's residence held the first Mass ever in Hangzhou. One of the new converts in Hangzhou was a wealthy Imperial Inspector named Yang Tingyun (杨廷筠). He and his entire family were originally Buddhist, but upon his conversion he went so far as to turn his home's Buddhist altar into a chapel. Together, Li Zhizao, Yang Tingyun and Xu Guangqi (of Shanghai) are known as the "Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism" (三大柱石). Later in 1616, during a period of persecution against Christians in Nanjing, many refugees fled to Hangzhou where they were at first housed in the homes of Li Zhizao and Yang Tingyun. It was soon realized that a better solution would be required, and in 1627 Yang Tingyun bought a piece of land near Wulin Gate (武林门) on Guan Road (观巷) and had Hangzhou's first church built there, slightly west of where today's church lies. It was soon followed the next year by another church constructed near Qiantang Gate (钱塘门, once one of the 10 gates in the old city walls of Hangzhou, located at the intersection of today's Hubin 湖滨 and Qingchun 庆春 roads). None of these two churches or the gates and city walls they once stood by remain today however.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

The Cathedral

The current cathedral in Hangzhou, dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, was originally built in 1661 by the Italian Jesuit Martino Martini, and is still one of the oldest churches in China. Its original Romanesque form was designed with three naves, and two rows of columns separating them. The two side altars venerated statues of St. Peter and St. Paul while the central altar was for the worship of Christ. At the time of its completion it had been lavishly decorated and was said by many to be the most beautiful church in China. Of note were also the large frescoes painted all over the church, that as the Jesuit Charles Le Gobien notes in his "Histoire de l'édit de l'empereur de la Chine", were based on standard Western imagery (the conversion of St. Paul, the conversion of the emperor Constantine, etc.), but were painted by Chinese artists in the Chinese brush style.^[1]

In 1691, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing dynasty, the governor of Zhejiang, Zhāng Pénghé (张鹏翮) banned Catholicism, took control of the cathedral and ordered all books contained within to be burned. The following year, under pressure from the Italian Jesuit Prosper Intorcetta, the emperor lifted the ban and ordered the Hangzhou cathedral to be fully restored. Nevertheless, the church was severely damaged later that same year in a fire and remained unrepaired for many years until 1699, when the Kangxi Emperor himself, who was on a tour of southern China, passed by the church. He ordered one of his ministers to go in and inspect the place, after which he decided to grant the church 200 silver taels to complete the repairs. He also had the two characters "敕建" (chìjiàn, "built by order of the emperor") inscribed upon the church gate.^[1]

In 1730, the Yongzheng Emperor again forbade the practice of Catholicism, and the church edifice was subsequently converted into a Taoist temple by the name of Tiānhòu Gōng (天后宫, Temple of the Celestial Empress), but only after the emperor had chiseled his father Kangxi's "敕建" inscription off the gateway. Later, in 1848, it came into the possession of a group of English, Dutch, and French Lazarists, whereupon it resumed operations as a Catholic church.^[1][7]

During the Cultural Revolution the cathedral was put to other uses for a period of about 12 years. The main church hall was divided into 10 or more smaller cells for imprisoning criminals. The other church buildings were also divided up as residences. Finally in 1982 the cathedral reopened, and on December 12 of that year, Mass was once again celebrated. By 1986 all the families that had moved in during the Cultural Revolution were relocated off of the property. The cathedral is now protected as a Municipal Historic Site.^[1][7]