Conclusion

This conclusion of the compendium of essays by Anthony E. Clark summarizes the content and significance of his research on the history of Catholicism in China. It was written as the COVID-19 virus was sweeping across the globe, and Clark reflects upon the comparisons between the virus’ outbreak at Wuhan in 2019 and two French Catholic missionaries, François-Régis Clet, and Jean-Gabriel Perboyre, who were martyred in the Wuchang district of Wuhan in the mid-nineteenth century. Also considered in this conclusion is the trend among scholars to depict China’s relationship with the West and Christianity as one of “conflict” or “cooperation,” highlighting the two extremes of either irreconcilable difference or congruous sameness. Clark concludes this collection of essays with the suggestion that the historical exchange between China and the West has been rather an admixture of conflict and cooperation, but defined mostly as a relationship of friendship.