We know relatively little about Chinese churches and their intriguing architecture – especially regarding those that were built during the pre-modern period – although there has been considerable interest in Christianity in China. One reason for the lack of substantial studies on the subject can be explained, at least partially, by the current situation of these churches' remnants and the general complexity of their historical evolution. In Christian traditions, building a church was somehow indicated to be the establishment of a parish, i.e. a church would become, fundamentally as well symbolically, the cultural and liturgical nexus of a Christian society. To better understand Christian rooting in localities, an important issue in Christian missions, it is worth investigating church-building and its relationships with local contexts. This book seeks to do this. The research is especially pertinent to the recent concerns regarding the investigation of Chinese interactions with Christian missions in rural areas. Several aspects of this fascinating history are yet to be discovered, especially as regards underground/rural Chinese churches since the eighteenth century and their extraordinary survival.

The topic of the book is “old churches”, defined as those founded during the pre-1949 period. Some were constructed as early as the seventeenth century. Most of the churches under discussion are related to the Catholic missions of the Congregation of the Mission (CM, or the Vincentians). The primary time range is from the eighteenth century, when the Vincentians first came to China, to the present. By critically examining numerous sources from the archives, and other primary sources, together with the author's fieldwork over many years, the book provides a vivid and detailed story of these churches. Moreover, by viewing “the church” as a legacy for the present, Sweeten elaborates on their historical significance from a current standpoint, reflecting on the material persistence of their architecture through the changing and challenging climate of modern China. Although those “sacred structures”, as the author calls them, suffered fire, demolition, and wars on different occasions and during various times, the very nature of their architecture amplifies the presence of Catholicism. Their “physical and visual impact” (p. 63) became double-edged from the perspective of Catholic missions, which in turn, led to local anti-Christian and xenophobic incidents – they thus became targets of sociopolitical turmoil. That the church was the focus of Catholic identity in these communities was also reflected in their resilient rebuilding afterwards.

The church structures as historical sources are inconsistent and fragmentary. However, Sweeten successfully weaves the threads and pieces them together into a readable story, including the employment of archival sources (both written and visual), not only from the CM but also other religious orders, and Chinese sources. These all embellish the narrative as a whole. As Sweeten aptly states, “the highs and lows of Catholicism in China are clearly reflected by its scared structures” (p. 3). Reading the book is much like reading the history of Catholicism in modern China through the churches’ concrete remnants and their historical footprints. Most of the maps and pictures cited from the archives are precious, and unseen in previous academic publications. The translations and discussions of the Chinese stelae and memorials, attached in the appendices, appear impressive as well.

The research focuses on three areas: Beijing, Tianjin, and the Hebei Province. Sweeten indicates that these geographical areas are “where the bulk of Vincentian mission work took place in terms of making converts and building churches” (p. 34). More prominently, the abundant number of churches that spread over the rustic areas of Hebei is another reason to focus on the broader metropolitan and surrounding areas, as a favourable outlook to conceive how the evangelical “expansion took the form of religious buildings” (p. 12). In addition to six churches in Beijing and three in Tianjin, the book discusses almost 20 major churches in out-of-the-way areas outside of these two municipalities. The investigation thus fills some lacunae in our understanding of rural Catholic congregations, some of which went through changes and crises during the underground period. Most survived the Boxer Uprising of 1899–1901 or were rebuilt after the Cultural Revolution due to their long-term traditions of faith. For instance, the Housangyu village (in the mountainous area west of central Beijing) and Baoding (prefecture in Qing, in central Hebei), both developed into famous “Christian villages” with a strong communal Catholic identity, and held a meaningful legend that Mary had appeared to protect them and their churches from the Boxer's marauding. Baoding boasted of having served the greatest number of Catholics in central Hebei during the early years of the twentieth century (p. 263).

The physical impact of church architecture seems to work both as a cause (for approaching these objects) and an effect (of their influence on local Catholic evolution). The author analyses the former in more detail. His narrative mainly reveals the historical side surrounding the church, and explores less “how” the physical or visual impact of the architecture and the infrastructural compound, crucial to the shaping of Christian communities, worked in local contexts. To analyse this impact is undoubtedly not easy, for the fate of most of the architecture was quite changeable and unstable. One crucial aspect could be the issue of the style. The questions of why the Vincentians proposed that the “properly stated” (pp. 58–9, 321) churches should be built in European architectural style, while they referred to North China in the late nineteenth century, and of how various types of churches, family chapels, and oratories – Chinese style more popularly used for the latter two – functioned in Christian communities and contributed to their collective memory, remain unanswered. As a result, the memory issue raised by this research can only be addressed briefly. The broad meaning of the “Gothic” church style regarding the China mission, as whether it stated something to react to Europe or it could be viewed in any parallel indigenization in Christian evangelization, deserves further examination. In any case, this book provides preliminary and valuable research worthy of further scholarly inquiry.