Géohistoire du christianisme en Chine: le cas du village tibétain catholique de Cizhong et de son vignoble (Yunnan septentrional) (II)
Geohistory of Christianity in China: the case of the Tibetan Catholic village of Cizhong and its vineyard (Northern Yunnan) (II)

Summary/Abstract: Part I traced the spread of Christianity in China over the long term. It made it possible to clarify the context in which the Tibetan Catholic village of Cizhong is located. In this Part II, the aim is to present a case study centered on the Tibetan. Catholic village of Cizhong (茨中; Cízhōng, Tsé-Tchong or even Tse-Zhong, Tsedro, ཊསེ་ཌྲོ, in Tibetan). The study is based in particular on the analysis of the letters of Father Étienne-Jules DUBERNARD (1864-1905) and biographical notices of the Missions étrangères de Paris, and above all on personal field investigations carried out on site in August 2016. Interviews were carried out with several Catholic Tibetan villagers at home as well as the church priest. The first part of this case study focuses on the Catholic missions in Tibet and especially in the “Tibetan Marches” where Cizhong is located. It traces the apostolic impulse in Cizhong then the martyrdom of the village missionaries, notably that of Father Étienne-Jules DUBERNARD (1864-1905). It evokes the end of missionaries after the creation of communist China in 1949 and the ravages of the Cultural Revolution. It shows the partial revival of the local church and Catholic community from 1978. The second part focuses on the Cizhong vineyard. After discussing the Miel de Rose grape variety, always surrounded by a certain mystery, the study describes the originality of the agricultural and oenological practices, as well as the evolution of the landscape. It shows the success of the development of tourism based on the Catholic identity and the vineyard of this village, but also its challenge by the creation of the Wunonglong dam.

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