About China Folk House

The China Folk House (CFH, previously known as China Folk House Retreat) is a non-profit 501c(3) organization providing experiential learning programs for students of all ages, families, and life-long learners in the greater Washington DC region.  CFH offers a range of experiential learning opportunities, from day visits to the house site as a “living museum” to weekend workshops on sustainability and cultural programs, to a series of intensive two-week apprenticeships during the summer craft school.

About Research Project

The full title of the research is “The Cizhong Catholic Church: History, Faith, and Community in northwest Yunnan.”

The defining characteristic of the China Folk House and its original community is its Catholic identity.

The story of the Cizhong Catholic Church and faith community is not the only story of the China Folk House, but it is the most unique and important story of the house. Some aspects of the China Folk House are found throughout China—agriculture, foodways, architecture, kinship, craft, even the house as a site for religious rituals is common to all places across China, but every characteristic of the house that is specific to Cizhong is shaped by the Catholic faith, from growing grapes for communion wine, to family relationships recorded in the Catholic cemetery, to each individual having three names (Tibetan, Chinese, Christian). The Catholic identity of Cizhong made it a gathering point for cultural hybridity, both in terms of different ethnic groups within northwest Yunnan, and as a transnational, even global, crossroad. The historical context of the China Folk House is fundamentally the story of Catholicism in Cizhong.

In short, the Catholic Church is central to the story of the House, and the Catholic faith connects to all the themes addressed in each part of the House Museum. Therefore, the research will focus on the history of the Catholic Church in Cizhong and the religious faith of the interconnected Catholic communities in the upper-Mekong / Nujiang region.

The research aims to try the best efforts to answer following questions:

What are the social, cultural, and moral influences Catholicism has had in the region and how did those influences evolve historically? How does the Catholic faith shape thinking and actions? Have the Catholic Church and missionary activities in Cizhong had any impact on the relationships between people at the grassroots level, people’s cognition, grassroots organizational methods, and folk deliberation methods? What kind of impact does it have? Has it changed the top-down hierarchical ideology of Confucianism? How has Catholicism interacted with other belief systems?

The research will result in the production of museum exhibitions that tell the story of the Cizhong Catholic Church through artifacts, video, oral history, and facsimile documents; the publication of texts: a summative 5,000- to 7,000-word essay for the museum website, and a stand-alone monograph (100 – 150 pages) a short book written for a general audience, with photos, interview excerpts, and biographies of individuals to provide a history of the Catholic communities and humanize the story of the Catholic faith in the region today.

Dr. John Flower is principal investigator for the grant responsible for archival and fieldwork research on the Catholic Mission in Cizhong and the writing, editing, and publication of exhibition texts and museum catalog. Pamela Leonard is lead curator for the exhibitions and is responsible for adding research data to the online collections management system (CMS) and museum website.  The project will hire a paid intern to assist with translations, video editing, and data entry, and a paid research assistant for organizing fieldwork in Cizhong and the Mekong/Nujiang region to collect oral histories and documentation of the Catholic church, and for acquisition of additional artifacts.

About Grants

The Dao Feng and Angela Foundation (DFAF) agrees to fund the research project “The Cizhong Catholic Church: History, Faith, and Community in northwest Yunnan” undertaken on behalf of the Museum at China Folk House (CFH).

Total funding for the project is $57,420, disbursed in four payments during the period from May, 2025 to May, 2027.

Our funding of this project stems primarily from a deep respect for historical truth. China Folk House is more than just a cultural project, nor is it solely about showcasing traditional Chinese architectural techniques and aesthetics. This building bears the memory of an ordinary family and community through the vicissitudes of history: the arrival of French Catholic missionaries, the arrival of American fighter pilots during World War II, and the shockwaves of the Cultural Revolution. Ultimately, the building escaped permanent submergence due to dam construction and made its way across the ocean to this very spot. We look forward to the research team led by Dr. John Flower uncovering the historical truth and telling the American people a true, multifaceted, and vivid story.