Shujiawan Catholic Church

Shujiawan Catholic Church

Shujiawan Catholic Church is a cultural relic protection unit of Sichuan Province.

Shujiawan Catholic Church is located in Group 13, Shujiawan Village, Huikou Town, Jintang County. Originally built during the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong reign, it was burned down by the Boxers in the 27th year of Guangxu (1901). In the 28th year of Guangxu, a French priest used 10,000 taels of silver from the indemnity to rebuild it. After the liberation, it was once converted into an elementary school. The church was restored to its original appearance in 1977. The main structure faces approximately 120 degrees from northwest to southeast, with a floor plan in the shape of a Chinese character “亚” (Ya), covering an area of about 650 square meters. It is one of the earliest Catholic churches in western Sichuan. Existing structures include a stone memorial archway, the main chapel, left and right wing rooms, as well as left and right rear halls, forming a connected quadrangle courtyard. The surrounding area originally had a stone wall and seven fortress gates, with walls three meters high, some sections of which still remain. The front once had a gatehouse and bell tower, both now ruined.

The stone memorial archway is a three-story, three-bay structure combining Chinese and Western architectural elements. Its pillars are carved with semi-circular floral borders, while the column capitals feature butterfly patterns; the upper left and right sides are decorated with sunflower motifs. Plain half-columns flank the main pillars, with additional small square columns on the outer sides. Further out are two side gates, each adorned with three linked semi-circular raised arches. To the sides of these gates are two sets of interlocking small square columns and plain half-columns. In total, there are three gates, six semi-columns, and six small square columns, all arranged neatly and aesthetically. Adjacent to and perpendicular with the archway is the chapel, constructed with a wood-and-stone structure and a double-eave gable roof covered with small blue tiles, using a post-and-lintel framework. The entire chapel walls are built with a combination of stone and timber, with the lower section of the wall base left plain and the upper section decorated with colored paintings on both inner and outer surfaces. The interior of the chapel is richly ornamented—the column bases are painted with cloud and lotus petal motifs, the eaves columns display patterns of flowers, fruits, clouds, and bats, and the square pillars are adorned with intertwined chrysanthemum designs. The floor is paved with stone slabs. At the entrance to the altar area, there is a three-tiered stepped pathway, with the lowest tier featuring bas-reliefs of flowers, birds, and auspicious symbols. The central altar extends back two bays and houses the statue of Jesus, with stained glass of five colors on the back wall. The side altars each extend back one bay—the left dedicated to Joseph, the right to the Virgin Mary. The upper parts of the back walls retain remnants of nine murals, each paired with two stone bas-reliefs at the bottom: the left showing vine and longevity patterns, the right depicting qilin (Chinese unicorns), and symbols of fortune and longevity. A French-made copper bell also hangs inside the chapel, engraved with floral patterns and crosses.

Overall, the structure exhibits a blend of Chinese and Western styles, especially the hip-and-gable roof at the church entrance end, beneath which two well-preserved stone tablets hang. Their tops feature the “two dragons playing with a pearl” motif, but the tablet surfaces bear no inscriptions. The front walls of the wing rooms are fitted with lattice-panelled doors, wooden-framed windows, and skirt-board paneling, while the rear walls are made of stone slabs. Behind the right courtyard lies a pond, while the kitchen courtyard behind the left courtyard has been demolished, leaving only a well. On the hillside to the rear stands another quadrangle courtyard with a gable-and-hip entry gate and a tile roof, the drip tiles marked with cross patterns. The left and right wing rooms each consist of three bays, built with stone pillars, panel walls, and lattice windows. Because soldiers were stationed here in 1902, it is commonly called the “Barracks.” (Some online sources describe this as the site of the 1902 Jintang County Boxer Uprising and battles, led by Deng Chengsi, a porter from Zhazhen, and Zhou Guiting, a farmer from Sanxing Township.) Inside the building, there remains a fragmentary stone stele inscribed with regulations for protecting church property, erected by the Chengdu General and the Sichuan Governor during the Qing Dynasty.

Inside the church, there are two simple wooden plaques casually placed on the ground, providing a brief introduction to the church. They are divided into four sections: “Shujiawan Catholic Church,” “Condition of the Cultural Relic Itself,” “Historical Background,” and “Value Assessment.” The text indicates that the site was listed as a cultural relic protection unit at the county level (Jintang) in 1988 and at the municipal level (Chengdu) in 1997.

Protected area: The current land occupied by the church.

Construction control zone: 20 meters outward from the drip lines of the east and west wing rooms, 30 meters outward from the platform foundation to the south, and within 30 meters outward from the drip lines to the north.

Further reading:

· Eighth Batch of Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units