ABSTRACT
fter the short-lived persecution launched by Shen Que in Nanjing had led to the confiscation of the church and Jesuit residence in the southern capital, Hangzhou had become the main center. It was the home of the “pillars of the faith” Li Zhizao and Yang Tingyun, and under their protection Hangzhou became the base from which Christian communities were established in the Jiangnan region. The main center of religious life was the church. Many scenes in the Diary are situated in one of the churches, mostly in Fuzhou city, but also in Haikou, the district town of Fuqing, Putian, Yongchun, Dehua, Zhangzhou and Wenling. In some of the larger cities the church- cum-residence also functioned as the center for the production and distribution of religious texts, making use of the traditional Chinese technique of woodblock printing. Since the printing boards were preserved, some of the main residences in the course of time accumulated large numbers of them.
