The past of Poles in the East is inactive an undiscovered heritage. If we follow the increasing interest in the past of our nation in fresh years, we will announcement a slight awakening in the subject of Poles in Ukraine or Kazakhstan. However, inactive the average Pole will have no thought that there was rather a large Polish diaspora in the territory of present China, which despite the considerable distance between it and its homeland could cultivate Polishness.
In this text we will show where our fellow countrymen came from in Manchuria and how they built the city that all Chinese had heard of.
Harbin on the map of the People's Republic of China.
First Polish contacts with the mediate State
The Harbinian diaspora was not the first contact of our countrymen with China. Already at the beginning of the 13th century, Benedict Pole set out – along with another companions of the papal delegation – to the Far East to the Mongol Khan in Karakorum. His mission will be read in the book De itinere Fratrum Minorum ad Tartaros, the accounts of the first European expedition to the capital of the Mongol Empire (1245–1247).
However, the Polish Jesuit, the pioneer of European sinology, Michał Boym, gained the top fame. He was the author of the atlas of China, the first specified work on a global scale, in which we will find invaluable information on culture, philosophy, science, nature and many another topics concerning the mediate State. The unimaginable accomplishment of Boym was the baptism of Emperor Yongli himself (永曆) – the last of the Ming dynasty. Polish Jesuit besides became a individual imperial MP for the mission to the Pope and King of Portugal to save the Mings from abroad Manchurians – the later Qing dynasty. However, Portugal has already bet on invaders, which has undermined the plans of Boym and Emperor Yongla to keep a native dynasty in China. Who knows what would have happened to China if the head of state had remained a Catholic monarch baptized by a Polish Jesuit.
Another episode, which is known to few, was the establishment of the Jax State – between Russia and China – by Nicephore Jax-Czernichowski. The founder of this country-prince was a fugitive from Russian captivity who, after being raped by the Russians on 1 of the women of his family, himself served justice. Together with their companions, they murdered Lavrientiy Obuchov, the voivode of Ilim, and took refuge in Albazin over Amur. For 20 years (1665–1685) specified a being as the Jaxa State – created by Polish refugees – existed on maps to later fall prey to China itself.
The painting depicts Chinese troops storming Albazin (Jaxa State) in 1685. (Source: Wikipedia)
Historical background of Polish settlement in Manchuria
In 1896, Tsarsk Russia imposed a treaty on China under which it was possible to build a line linking Read (Syberia) and Vladivostok so that the road was as short as possible. In fact, this episode is part of the Amura Railway. This thread departed from the large Transsyberian Railway close the town of Read and led through China, then – across the Sungari River – to Vladivostok and further south, to Port Arthur. The State of the mediate was forced to licence an extraterritorial railway in exchange for material and financial support. This active a severe defeat of China in the First War against Japan (1894–1895).
Japanese ministers discuss with the Chinese envoy the terms of the truce in Shimonoseki. (Source: Bridgeman Art Library)
Before signing a deal with the Chinese side, the Russians deployed their engineers, to guide the most advantageous routes for the construction of the railway. It was not until 1898 that the Main Building Board of the East China Railway decided to send a method expedition to take action in Manchuria, which was headed by Polish engineer Adam Szydłowski – later and besides the first mayor of Harbin. 1 of the tasks delegated from Vladivostok to the group was to find a place to build the administration building. After a period of exploration, on 11 April 1898, Szydłowski decided to build the town of Harbin. The administrative building became a erstwhile distillery, which was redeemed for nearly 500 kilograms of silver. As shortly as the expedition was successful, it reached the Russians, officials and engineers liable for the construction of the railways began to arrive in Harbin. Polish expatriates were besides eager to arrive with them.
The authoritative date of creation of the city is recognised as 16 May 1898. The crucial fact was that not only Polish engineers were behind Russian projects, but besides companies and banks with Polish capital. The flagship example was the Warsaw Industrial Society of Mechanical Plants LRL SA, which produced about 90% of rails under all east railways. Thanks to this, many Poles gained the chance to gain a good wage in the Russian partition. The situation was besides conducive to Polish exiles – including participants of the January uprising, who could undertake work in the Far East.
Even anti-Polish media in Russia reported that it is scandalous that 20% of all employees of the Trans-Syberian Railway are Poles. The case was yet dealt with by Tsar Nicholas II himself, who was explained in this case by the Minister of the Interior. The situation was caused not only by the fact that companies selected workers on the national line, but besides by the fact that Polish workers were elite among engineers in the Russian Empire. They were mostly graduates of the prestigious Petersburg Institute of Communication Engineers, who focused mainly on the construction of the East China Railway. The president of the investment discussed by us was a Chinese figurehead, while the formal vice president was already mentioned Stanisław Kierbedz.
The image shows Stanisław Kierbedz.
It is worth mentioning what he wrote about the Polish contribution to the improvement of the Sergiusz Leonczyk region: “The coordinator of the work on the construction of Harbin from 1901 to 1905 was Ludwik Czajkowski, who had previously served as head of the South-Sushurian Railway construction branch. He was supported by Polish engineers Karol Weber and Valentine Wells. In turn, engineer Stanisław Kwiryn Miller worked on the Main Board of East China Railways from 1911 to 1918. The crucial work for the construction of the railway was done by engineer Stefan A. Offenberg, the manager of the construction of the section between the Chingan Mountains and the Nonni River, the later chief of road service, and from 1921 to 1924 – the deputy manager of the East China Railway for method matters. Under the direction of Offenberg and Kierbedzia, a Chinese tunnel of more than 3 km was built.”[1]. any of the Leonczyk mentioned continued with the success of their career in the reborn Poland.
East China Railway Office in Harbin – 1932. (Source: Wikipedia)
Russian business of Manchuria
To suppress the uprising, the Russian side joined the Alliance of 8 Nations. They besides participated in the attack on Beijing and Tiencin, but as part of a separate escapade. Russia under the pretext of protecting the railway takes control of Manchuria, from which it does not retreat after the collapse of the rebellion. In the later part of the text we will return to the outline of the historical background, which runs respective decades forward.
The clash between boxing troops and the English-Japanese troops. (Source: Wikipedia)
The function of the Catholic Church in Harbin
The position of the Catholic Church was not established in Tsarist Russia and China. Russia fought the Catholic influences of the Roman rite, having it as a carrier of Polishness, and the followers of the east rite were forced to convert to Orthodoxy, eliminating their last diocese in 1875. The Chinese associate the Church with the unauthorised and imposed privileges for the clergy that forced Europeans occupying China. As in the Russian partition, so in the Far East the Catholic Church became active in the positivist work at the base, rejecting the imagination of subsequent romanticist uprisings. In Manchuria, thousands of kilometres distant from Poland, the clergy took work for the patriotic upbringing of Polish-speaking residents there. The first sanctioned Polish organization in the Central State, the alleged Church Committee, was liable for setting up the church. First, a chapel outside the city was erected to later build the parish of St. Stanislaus in the center of Harbin himself. The Committee received a game for the construction from the railway management, but Poles had to pay for the remainder of it from their own pocket. To this end, they collected donations, sold bricks and organized bales to fund the sacral building, which was praised in the letter by the primate of Poland, August Hlond. On 7 October 1906, the foundation stone was dedicated, and on 1 August 1909 the temple itself, as performed by Bishop Jan Feliks Cieplak – suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mogilev. Since December, the parish priest Władysław Ostrowski, who was distinguished by his hot patriotism, took over the parish. There was besides a shelter for homeless people and aged people at the church, as well as a public library of about a 1000 volumes. The parish was home to Polish organizations, and since 1912 besides a primary school called the ‘primary school’. Unfortunately, shortly the Tsarist authorities of Russia forced all officers to pass on to Orthodoxy, resulting in many resignations. With the beginning of planet War I, orphans, deserters and others fleeing the war will find a place in the mentioned churchhouse, which after the war will be converted into a school bursa.
Inside St. Stanislaus Church from Szczepanów in Harbin. (Source: NAC)
Soon a papal delegate was sent to Harbin, who was impressed by the community of 5 1000 faithful. Visiting Manchuria, Archbishop recommended the Holy See to establish a fresh bishopric in the Far East. After specified wonderful news, it was decided to organize a legislature of Polish Catholics surviving in the area. After the week-end meeting, the railway board decided to transfer further areas to build the next church. A fresh temple under St. Joseph was consecrated in 1925. Fr Karol Śliwowski was the bishop of the diocese. In the meantime, further simple schools, the Henryk Sienkiewicz mediate School, were created, and in 1929 – after an unsuccessful episode with the establishment of a seminar – the male St Nicholas advanced School.
A group of seniors in the company of Father Władysław Ostrowski, Henryk Sienkiewicz Catholic Mission Secondary School of Poland (Source: ‘Illustrated regular Courier’ /NAC)
Since 1946, churches and the left estates of parish centres have taken over Chinese authorities. In 1959, St. Stanislaus' Church took over the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics, and in 1966 the church was devastated during the ongoing cultural revolution. In time it was modified and the school was placed. In 2004, however, it was restored as the temple of the Holy Heart of Jesus, which stands today.
Source:
Marian Kałuski, Poles in China, Warsaw 2001.
Andrzej Giza, Poles in Manchuria. History of the Polish Colony in Harbin 1895–1966, 2019.[AN3]
Sergius Leonian, Contribution of Poles to the construction of the Trans-Syberian Railway.
It was besides inspired by the entries from “Sungari snapshots” where she publishes Polka presently residing in Harbin.
[1] S. Leonczyk, Contribution of Poles to the construction of the Trans-Syberian Railway.
photo: wikipedia.commons
