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As China struggled to redefine itself at the turn of the twentieth century, nationalism, religion, and material culture intertwined in revealing ways. This phenomenon is evident in the twin biographies of North China's leading Catholic bishop of the time, Alphonse Favier (1837-1905), and the Beitang cathedral, epicenter of the Roman Catholic mission in China through incarnations that began in 1701. After its relocation and reconstruction under Favier's supervision, the cathedral-and Favier-miraculously survived a two-month siege in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. Featuring a French Gothic Revival design augmented by Chinese dragon-shaped gargoyles, marble balustrades in the style of Daoist and Buddhist temples, and other Chinese aesthetic flourishes, Beitang remains an icon of Sino-Western interaction. Anthony Clark draws on archival materials from the Vatican and collections in France, Italy, China, Poland, and the United States to trace the prominent role of French architecture in introducing Western culture and Catholicism to China. A principal device was the aesthetic imagined by the Gothic Revival movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the premier example of this in China being the Beitang cathedral. Bishop Favier's biography is a lens through which to examine Western missionaries' role in colonial endeavors and their complex relationship with the Chinese communities in which they lived and worked.

Gothic revival (Architecture) --- Architecture, French --- Nationalism and architecture --- Architecture and nationalism --- Nationalism in architecture --- Architecture --- French architecture --- Architecture, Gothic --- Gothic revival (Art) --- Architecture, Victorian --- Favier, Alphonse, --- Fan, Guoliang, --- Favier-Duperron, Pierre-Marie-Alphonse, --- Catholic Church --- Xishiku Cathedral (Beijing, China) --- 西什库天主堂 --- Beitang Cathedral --- Pé-T'ang --- 北堂 --- Missions --- History. --- Bishops --- S13B/0400 --- S13B/0800 --- China: Christianity--Roman Catholicism: general works --- China: Christianity--Religious art and architecture --- Church of Rome --- Roman Catholic Church --- Katholische Kirche --- Katolyt︠s︡ʹka t︠s︡erkva --- Römisch-Katholische Kirche --- Römische Kirche --- Ecclesia Catholica --- Eglise catholique --- Eglise catholique-romaine --- Katolicheskai︠a︡ t︠s︡erkovʹ --- Chiesa cattolica --- Iglesia Católica --- Kościół Katolicki --- Katolicki Kościół --- Kościół Rzymskokatolicki --- Nihon Katorikku Kyōkai --- Katholikē Ekklēsia --- Gereja Katolik --- Kenesiyah ha-Ḳatolit --- Kanisa Katoliki --- כנסיה הקתולית --- כנסייה הקתולית --- 가톨릭교 --- 천주교