Genestier came to Kangding in 1885.[2] He arrived in Gongshan, Yunnan, in 1888.[3] In 1896 he moved to Baihanluo, Yunnan.[4] There he founded the Bahang Catholic Church [fr] in 1898.[2] He also established a missionary post there in June 1899.[5]
In 1905, conflicts against Christianity broke out in Deqing, Yanjing [zh], Zhongdian and Batang. In the same year, Genestier also wanted to build a church at Zhongding, Bingzhongluo, but he was opposed by the lamas at Puhua Temple (普化寺) and the locals.[6] After another religious riot broke out in 1905 in Baihanluo and destroyed the church, Genestier went into exile until the Qing government granted him the fourth-rank of the official hat button (四品頂戴) in 1907. Using the compensation from the Qing government, he then rebuilt the Catholic Church in Baihanluo in 1908.[2] In the same year, he also initiated the construction of the Sacred Heart Church, Zhongding.[4]
Genestier was a "missionary-botanist" according to Jane Kilpatrick in her Fathers of Botany: The discovery of Chinese plants by European missionaries. She indicated that Genestier was the travel companion of André Soulié in the Tibetan borderlands.[7] The botanist George Forrest mentioned Genestier in his "Journey on Upper Salwin, October-December, 1905" report.[8] According to Beolens et al., Genestier received Francis Kingdon-Ward in 1913.[9]
By 1924, Genestier had built five churches and formed a congregation of 978 locals.[3] On 25 June 1925, Genestier officiated the 25th anniversary of the founding of the first missionary post on the Nujiang River.[5]
Genestier died in 1937 and was buried at the Catholic Church in Zhongding.[10] His tomb was destroyed along with the church complex during the Cultural Revolution and rebuilt later.[11]
^ ab吴, 艳 (October 2012). 滇西北民族聚居地建筑地区性与民族性的关联研究 [Associated Research of Regionality and Ethnicity in Minority Settlements of Northwest Yunnan] (PhD) (in Chinese). Tsinghua University. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
^ ab"Georges ANDRÉ" (in French). The France - Asia Research Institute. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
^高, 志英. 贡山县丙中洛地区多种宗教从冲突到并存、交融发展历史研究 [Conflict, coexist and fusion——history study on the religion development of Binzhongluo district, Gongshan county] (PDF). Journal of Yunnan Normal University (in Chinese). 33 (1): 48–52. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
^Chen, Haozhou (2 June 2021). 三江并流区天主教堂本土化特征与共性研究 [Study on Inculturation Characteristics and Commonality of Catholic Church in Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas] (MA). 昆明理工大学. doi:10.27200/d.cnki.gkmlu.2021.001763. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
Editorial Committee of the History of Heritages in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture (2007). 怒江傈族自治州文物志 [History of Heritages in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture]. Kunming: Yunnan University Press. pp. 94–96. ISBN978-7-81112-220-6.
