A Study on Perception of Catholic of Lagrené and Qiying ― Focusing on the Negotiation(1844-1846) of Legalization of Catholic ―

Chinese people in the past had a strong Confucian traditional idea that religions are politically dangerous because they foster social unrest. Accordingly, Christianity was the most important object to be ostracized among challenges by the East in the 19th century. To the Qing Dynasty, western countries are aggressor nations and missionary workers were also westerners. Therefore, their missionary work by illegally sneaking into the interior of China was a big threat to the Qing Dynasty’s reign. And the Qing Dynasty considered Catholic potential anti-Qing power breaking social orders seriously. Qiying recognized Catholic under the Qing Dynasty’s basic perception. Although Qiying agreed on legalization of Catholic as a member of outside negotiation fraction, he has similar perception of Catholic to the prohibition period of Catholic. The only thing he wanted was to have westerners stay within the five ports anyway, and to control the people’s Christianity by regarding them as illegal believers. Although Catholic of Chinese people was allowed according to Emperor Dao-guang’s order, perception of the Qing Dynasty for Catholic was nearly the same as the prohibition period. Further, restricted policies of Christianity had been implemented according to this perception until the Tianjin-Beijing Treaty. France that had been a traditional Catholic protector for a long time began establishing its tradition as a Chinese Catholic protector by dispatching missionary workers of Society of Jesus to China in the Louis XⅣ period. France’s protection of Chinese Catholic was its tradition and duty, and it has intention to get political authority and fame in China. Under this political heritage, Lagrené tried to become a protector of Chinese Catholic for himself without instructions of the government. Lagrené who focused on his sense of duty as a protector of Chinese Catholic without understanding of Chinese traditional Confucian society and the long-term prohibition period by the Qing Dynasty created a foundation for the French protectorate over Catholic missions in China in the 19th century which originated from the Louis XⅣ period. As a matter of fact, France’s missionary policy in the 19th century focused on political authority and a duty as a Catholic protector on the foundation made by him irrespective of the monarchical period or the republican period in France. Therefore it is possible to say that anti-Christian movement against it shook China in the 19th century.