Catholic-Confucian Mortuary Practices in a Rural Manchurian Cemetery

• Published in: Historical archaeology Vol. 56; no. 3; pp. 563 - 593
• Main Authors: Sebillaud, Pauline, Berger, Elizabeth, Hou, Kan, Gueguen, Gwendal, Jing, Zhongwei, Peixoto, Xavier, Keute, Jennifer, Devièse, Thibaut
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-09-2022; Springer Nature B.V; The Society for Historical Archaeology
• Subjects: 20th century; Archaeology; Archaeology and Prehistory; Biological anthropology; Catholics; Clergy; Families & family life; Gender roles; History; Humanities and Social Sciences; Immigrants; Material culture; Missionaries; Nutritional status; Original Article; Social Anthropology and ethnology; Social Sciences; Women; Chinese archaeology; funerary archaeology; northeast China; osteoarchaeology; Catholic missionaries; ostéoarchéologie; Archaeologie; archaeology; missionaires catholiques; Northeast China; archéologie chinoise; Chine du Nord-Est; Archéologie funéraire
• ISSN: 0440-9213; 2328-1103
• DOI: 10.1007/s41636-022-00330-x

Catholic missionaries were active among rural populations in Manchuria, in northeast China, around the turn of the 20th century. Their presence influenced everything from the role of women in religious and family life, to the adoption of new material culture, to local burial customs. This investigation of the Pianliancheng cemetery in Jilin Province, in use from the 1890s to the 1930s, reveals the material and embodied traces of this history. Archaeological, bioarchaeological, and historical evidence for cultural hybridization and transnational connections are presented. Specific findings include the history of individual Catholic priests in the mission, the hybridization of Catholic and Confucian burial practices by the Chinese converts, material connections to Chinese immigrant communities abroad, the labor burden and nutritional status of various members of the community, the continuation of foot binding in rural Manchuria, and the influence of conversion on gender roles and family life.