▁by ▁the ▁examples ▁of ▁prominent ▁Catholic ▁mission aries ▁in ▁China ▁such ▁as ▁Mat te o ▁Ric ci ▁and ▁The oph iel ▁Verb ist , ▁the ▁founder ▁of ▁the ▁C . I . C . M ., ▁Ser ru ys ▁and ▁his ▁brother ▁began ▁intens ively ▁studying ▁Mand arin ▁Chinese , ▁Class ical ▁Chinese , ▁and ▁other ▁Chinese ▁dialect s ▁at ▁the ▁Catholic ▁University ▁of ▁Le u ven . ▁After ▁several ▁years ▁of ▁study , ▁Ser ru ys ▁was ▁ord ained ▁a ▁Catholic ▁priest ▁on ▁ 4 ▁August ▁ 1 9 3 6 ▁and ▁depart ed ▁for ▁China ▁one ▁year ▁later ▁in ▁August ▁ 1 9 3 7 . ▁ ▁China ▁ ▁Ser ru ys ▁arrived ▁in ▁T ian jin ▁in ▁November ▁ 1 9 3 7 ▁after ▁a ▁difficult ▁two - month ▁sea ▁voyage , ▁then ▁tra ve led ▁by ▁train ▁to ▁his ▁assigned ▁parish ▁in ▁X ic et ian ▁( ), ▁a ▁small ▁village ▁in ▁Sh an xi ▁Province ▁located ▁between ▁Dat ong ▁city ▁and ▁Hun y uan ▁County ▁along ▁the ▁banks ▁of ▁the ▁Sang gan ▁River . ▁ ▁At ▁the ▁time , ▁the ▁area ▁was ▁occupied ▁by ▁the ▁Japanese ▁Army , ▁while ▁the ▁coun tr ys ide ▁was ▁pat rolled ▁by ▁Chinese ▁gu err illa ▁f igh ters ▁and ▁band its , ▁making ▁travel ▁often ▁dangerous . ▁ ▁Ser ru ys ▁focused ▁his ▁efforts ▁on ▁studying ▁the ▁local ▁dialect , ▁which ▁was ▁a ▁variety ▁of ▁Jin ▁Chinese . ▁ ▁Ser ru ys ' ▁focus ▁on ▁studying ▁the ▁local ▁language ▁was ▁often